OH what a night!!

This is our great date night with our moms. It ended up being an adventure beyond anything we could have imagined.. So I will start from the beginning. In October I saw on a blog you could put in for the Church Christmas program with Yes David Archaleta and the Morman Tabernacle Choir. So I did.. Two months later in the mail I got tickets and thought how did I get these. Then I remembered I put in for the drawing. So we decided we would take our moms because no children under 8 were allowed. So I wondered why all the people in the lines where holding babies in the freezing cold. Obviously they don't know how to read. So two days before the concert we debated on giving the tickets to Jakes boss so we could go to Fillmore and decorate dads grave. But we didn't. So we headed up to the big city ready for the big night. Arriving an hour early going through security waiting in line forever in the cold. By the time we got in with 30 minutes tell show time there were no seats left. Thats right I said it NO SEATS LEFT. THe over book the concerts by 5,000. ARE YOU KIDDING ME.. So they told us we had to go into the over flow but you had to have a blue ticket to get in to show you were here on time and just didn't get a seat. So now waiting in line at the overflow theater with our blue tickets in had. They announce that it is now full. How can this be I have a ticket for the full conference center and a blue ticket for the overflow theater. By this point in time Jake was pretty mad to say the least he was throwing in the towel and told me to never do anything like this through the church again. So we walked over to look at the lights at Temple square and at the old Tabernacle was another overflow seating so we thought we would try it out. So as we were looking for our tickets the people were like come on in now worries. The concert has started come sit down. So my advice to you is if you want to go to the Christmas concert next year. Just go and sit in the the tabernacle, because idiots like up are trying to use the tickets that they received in the mail. We did watch the concert on the big screen in the old tabernacle. There was a sweet spirit there and I loved David Archaletas voice. He is still very giggly but the boy can sing. So in all we had a great night and loved the concert, got some exercise and spent some quality time with our moms. But the best part of the night was the lady running full speed UP the DOWN escalator. I am pretty sure it left a mark.

Merry Christmas

We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year... We are very excited for next year.. Porter will get to get baptized, and I think because of Jakes good luck this year on the hunting draws. He won't get to hunt too much this year.. YEAH.. I am excited to get to start working with the young women in our ward, and some amazing ladies in the presidency..May you all have the peace and love of Christmas in your hearts the entire year..

Thankful Smankful

Since it is the month of November and you are supposed to be Thankful for everything in your life. I have been reading on face book some of the Thankful post that people write each day. The one word that keeps coming to my mind is "REALLY". After losing a parent I don't think the holidays are ever the same. Each holiday brings many reminders of the lose that you have suffered, and how much the person means to you. I think if it weren't for my 3 cute little boys I don't know that I would ever hang up a holiday decoration or worry about a meal or getting involved in holiday festivities. But the reason for this post is to share in what I am Thankful for. I am Thankful for family. For the bond that even with a death can not be taken away. Each family has it's own problems, and it's own corks. But in the end they are what keeps life moving. We do what we do to help each member of our family and make their burdens less, but sometimes we make the burdens more. But in the end it is the family that we take with us, and what we do here on earth is to earn the opportunity to be with our family forever. I am so Thankful for my family this week and all that they do for me. Not only my little family but extended family. This is my note of Thankfulness. I hope you all eat tons of turkey and get fat...

APPLE FEST

My cousins talked us into coming to

Fillmore and running in the apple fest race. It was a blast we ran a 5K and then the little kids entered in a childrens fun run 1 miler. Dreyton took 3rd place he was beat by an 11 year old girl and a 9 year old boy.

Porter took 8th behind his cute cousins paige and colby but towards the end a little girl tried to pass him. That wasn't going to happen and porter poured it on. I have never seen him run that fast and didn't know he could run that fast to not be passed by a girl. In the pictures my face is so red. Everyone kept asking if I was all right. I was fine. But anytime I run I turn as read as a tomato and stay that way for a long time.
This is me and my cute boys right before the kids fun run. We had a blast with all our cousins and aunts. We all started and finished our races is what is important. My Aunt Jackie did amazing for her first 5k. Terri and I ran with her and we all pushed each other. My two cousins ronni and christy did great. My mom also won her catagory and kicked butt.



It was fun as we ran past Christy and Brandons house all the little kids and grandma grandpa and brett and brandon stood there cheering us on.. It was so fun to see how much support family can be. had both grandmas and grandpa jack there cheering us on. I didn't get a picture of grandma and grandpa mcbride they took off before the Cameras came out. Aunt Paula was even there to cheer us on. I hope next year we can get her to run with us. I think this could become a tradition on the McBride side. You can tell on the top picture that even keller got into the racing spirit and hopped out of the runner stroller and ran all the way in.

Caution Ride at your own risk...

We took a quick trip to the state fair with grandma Jana.. What an experience it was. It was hot as heck and I was complaining of the heat and porter was thirsty and keller was wild and drey wanted to ride the rides that were 4 bucks for the ferris wheel. So the only person not complaining was nana. But in the long run it was a blast. Porter said it was one of the best summer days this year. Porter and Dreyton rode the mechanical bull T-BONE as you can see by porters stickers that says he rode T-Bone. It was hilarious. Drey had a grin on the entire time from ear to ear and loved every minute as you can see.

When it

was finally porters turn, i thought he was going to back out. This is so not like him to try something like this. But after getting his glove on he made a running start to jump onto the bull and smacked right into the side of it. Chest bump style.. I wish I had the video

a camera. I would have won Americas funniest home videos. But once the bull started he had a two handed death grip on it and his legs were squeezing so tight that the flipped out on the side. It was so funny. He made it the entire time and held on for dear life literally. But he loved it. Next came the big yellow slide. I had to beg porter to come with Drey and I and Keller was screaming because he wasn't going to get to go. So Porter,drey, kel and I started the huge hike to the top of the stairs. Believe me carrying three rugs and keller I could feel the burn. But 3/4 the way up Porter said mom hold my hand. I said why buddy he said I am going to PUKE.. I looked over and he was pale. He then said I am going to pass out. ARE YOU KIDDING ME.. BUt slowly we moved on to the top. Racing down Porter was the winner and didn't want to do it again. But the other three of us did it again. keller was made when we wouldn't do it again. But I am glad we did it only twice. I woke up and my butt hurts so bad today from landing on the jumps and bumps of the slide. But all in all the state fair was a blast. THanks NANA for making us all get out of our comfort zone and do something different..

Tradition

I guess I need to keep up with

tradition and post the first day of school pictures. Yes they wore the same shirt not planned. We didn't even know we had bought the same shirt. Drey spiced his shirt up with a Shawn white pair of shorts and porter stuck with the green pair of sports shirts(decided that was a battle not worth fighting)..Keller has missed them so much. He loves to walk to them to the bus and pick them up from the bus. But in between bus trips he calls them and wants to go get them. They are also in the same class this year. Which could be the best or the worst thing for a teacher. But they have loved the first week and are now seasoned bus riders. I still can't believe they are old enough to be second graders. I still think it was yesterday sitting in NICU at Utah valley in April after porter was born watching it snow.. Time flies...

Whicker White trash Weekend

It has become one of my favorite events.. My friends husband drives in the Nephi crash derby.. This year I invited everyone of my cousins and friends because I loved it so much last year.. Those who took me up on the offer this year I think were very glad they did. We had a blast..




Ryan and Ashely and their cute boys and Katie and Mark and Ella joined us in the fun. We

BBQ-ed at Jarrets before in Mona and then headed down to the derby.. Thanks to Candi we had great seats and Jason had an entire cheering section.. We had a blast.. Candi bought my kids a light stick so that their derby wasn't ruined. BUt I am thinking drums for her kids would be a great pay back.. It was fun to see the kids playing together and watching them giggle and scream.. We had a blast the only thing missing was my dad. I noticed the void . But we had a blast and the countdown is on for next years derby. But next up on the agenda. The mascot bowl in Lehi..

A week in Millard

This past week I took the boys and headed to Fillmore for swim lessons. But we learned so much more . We stayed with Terri and Ross. My moms sister and husband. They had big plans that when their kids graduated with my mom and dad they would buy a condo in mesquite and spend every weekend there. Dad put a little kink in that plan , and it was fun to hear Terri and Ross talk about things my dad and mom had planned in their future, but at the same time it was sad that those dreams never did get to come true. It was fun to have ross tell the boys about their grandpa John and some of the crazy things that he had done. I enjoyed a dinner with all of my grandparents. I spent nights at the show house helping grandma Edna, and enjoyed a nice ride with grandma Marlene and a talk on the rocking chairs on her porch until dark. Wow they are all great people. I also loved how laid back everything was. No one was in a hurry and I loved it. I got to go visit with my dad everyday. It was peaceful to have time to sit and visit and look at the mountains. My cousins have kids my kids ages and we slipped and slide and rode bikes, and played until we were exhausted . Terri was amazing giving the boys one on one attention and helping them with their swimming. She is so much fun, and the boys are ready to go back next week. After the long week we went to the ute Stampede rodeo. By looking at the picture of the three boys can you tell which one just ate dust and his leg was bleeding.

But fun was had by all and I had the best week of the summer of 2010.. Thanks to all the fillmore cousins for entertaining us and making us feel so loved.

A true Fisherman!!

SO I have been thinking a lot about my dad lately. Fathers day was hard , but the 4th of July was our holiday. It was Grandpa Deans birthday so we flocked to Fillmore for fun and games. We spent many night up the canyon four wheel riding, family very competitive volleyball games. But dad loved to dutch oven cook for everyone. He would get up early and cook a great breakfast be the last to eat, clean the ovens and then start preparing for lunch. He loved it. But we loved the food. That is something I really miss about my dad. I also miss a his jokes. I won't share them with you but it is really funny how I will run into one of dads old friends or a family friend and they will say remember when you dad would say this or do this. Yea how can you forget. One thing I can say about dad is he is one of a kind. But lately I have spent time with each of my siblings and each one of us has some of my dads characteristics in them. SO I guess he is still going to live on. I think he would be proud of us and how we have handled things and kept going. I also feel really bad that the grandkids didn't get to know him. They would have loved him and he would have loved them. Dads classic joke was if it would have happened to anyone else it would have killed them. I think that statement is so true. Many people having that severe of strokes it would have killed them. But he toughed it out and was a tough guy. Sorry for the whiney post but just wanted to remember dad on this holiday season. It is the best.

What do you do???

So the most asked question is " Jodi now that you are out of school what do you do with all your free time?" are you kidding me???? I sit at home and watch TV and eat bon bons what do you think I do? From running kids to and from tennis, baseball games and practice, to friends house to play, and just trying to keep them busy and not fighting I really don't do much with my free time because there is not a lot of it. But I wouldn't have it any other way. If there is a down second then we read and do math facts and porter hates doing school in the summer the poor kid. But we are staying pretty busy and entertained. Just a little side note Porter graduated 1st grade right on level in reading and math. He had the most amazing teacher. Which is going to make it hard for all the other teachers to compete with the 1st grade experience. I appreciated her willingness to help and work with porter and his allergies. Now we are just going to try and work on and get porters asthma that he seems to be developing under control and his broken foot better and we should continue to have a great summer. Plus next week round one of swim lessons start.

SO YOU HAD A BAD DAY!

Where to begin. Ok at the beginning. Sfor the rest of her life. I don't like to cut hair, that is why I didn't go to beauty school. I don't even like to do my own hair everyday (so I don't). But I have cut Jakes hair for the last 10 years. Every time he asks. I complain and let him know how bad I hate it and how stupid it is that there are people who go to school to cut hair, and he won't pay them to do it. I have had my fair share of good and bad hair cuts with Jake. More good then bad, he rarely complains. So last night he asked for a hair cut. I have decided that since he feels strongly about me cutting his hair. So I agreed and decided I would do it with out complaining and do my best. So I started out like I always do. When it came to the sides i usually use the blending blades. But Jake bought a new shaver and it doesn't have blending sides. AAGGHH.. So no complaining by me I just tried to do it myself with the shaver and the comb. So after doing the entire side I stepped back to look at the master piece. I dropped the razor and the comb. I couldn't believe it. He had spots that I could see the scalp at, he had some right and left angles in there. It was horrible. So I threw a little fit and sat down to decide what I should do to fix it. So I decided I could fix it and used the little razor. BUT NO it wasn't charged so it had to be charged for 10 minutes and then used for 30 seconds. SO to drag out this horrible experience it did. I told Jake that I didn't need to worry about hating cutting his hair anymore that after he saw his hair he wouldn't let me touch it again. He kept encouraging me to fix, and keller and porter helped by brushing the hair off. But it was horrible. By the time we were done Jake was shaved at 1/4 inch and in some places shorter. So today Jake woke up and realized how bad it was and shaved it all short. Almost a bic short. But I am pretty sure I am fired. I wasn't going to say anything but Jake came home and asked why I hadn't blogged about the haircut. So I decided I better. I told him that we couldn't go to Fillmore this weekend to my cousins baby blessing, because I was so embarassed and all my family would see it.

Catching UP

I have spent the last week at the Ball park.. We had a week full of high school games. Then on the only day we didn't have a high school game. We had a practice t-ball game. It has been crazy. We held our annual swing for life pink game and raised over $1000 for breast cancer. Which I thought was pretty good for a couple hours of work. After last year and the experience that I had with the swing for life, and I can tell that she knew it was something that I felt passionate about. She made the cutest little baby quilt and donated it. She is the best. She still is one of my biggest fans and supporters in my old age. We then hosted a tournament with 25 teams. It was crazy but fun. We had girls from Fillmore to Ogden in Payson and the town was cray with school buses. But this week I have thought about my dad a lot. At the swing for life game a man that knew my dad from the day he moved to Payson came up and asked how he was doing. I told him that he had passed on. It made me cry. The guy said that it was a great loss to the world to lose such a great man like that. I know that, but I sure miss him. But the best part of the week was we needed help. We had three different booths to run girls to play games, and scores to be kept. Many people stepped up and helped out. But we needed snack shack help and I new just who to call. I sent out a text and with in 15 minutes my mother was there and her and Deb had it whipped into shape and business was taken care of. Jake was even the best salesman that the we had at the tshirt and hoodie shop. I thought a lot about family this weekend and the support that the girls had this weekend from their family. There is nothing better then family. Even though when we all went through out teen age years and they were so not cool. They are the best aren't they. No matter what you do wrong or right they will be there to carry you. I love my family and could not ask for more. But once again like I said at dads funeral and all the time. Make sure you take time to stop and thank them for all that they do.. You just never know when you won't have them to thank anymore... :-)

Beckation

So we ventured out for spring break, along with the entire state of Utah and California and headed to San Diego. But I was determined we were going to go and have fun with or without him. But he came.. We left early and made a pit stop to see M&M world and had a 3 hour walk from the MGM to the Mirage to see the white tigers. Only to find out that they didn't have white tigers anymore and the lions were at the MGM. But things turned up and then we hit California and a little traffic.. NEED I SAY MORE.
But upon arriving at the Condo and a great hook up. It was beautiful. Not many people, a baby pool, hot tub, and regular size pool, ping pong table and fire place. It was perfect. We then had a hook up at the Zoo and Wild Animal Park. Which in the long run was my favorite place. If you have never gone to the Wild animal park it is a must.
The entire trip Jake Porter and Dreyton battled over slug bugs. I didn't play because I knew I would win and wanted to give Jake a chance to beat the boys. They are slug bug finding magnets. There were 2 of these and Porter got both of the whale slug bugs.
We ventured out to the beach for a couple of days. Jake loved burring the boys. Keller just ran around and threw dirt in every ones hair, and face. He was a stinker at the beach. But such a trooper with a massive wipe out and huge goose egg black eye was his best souvenir.
LEGOLAND was horrible. There were so many people that the strollers cause traffic jams. Waiting in lines for 45 minutes for rides, and no fast passes this day. Probably won't ever go again. So if anybody wants to take porter let me know.. But we survived and loved it.. We had a great time and came home with a tan..

Life as I know it..

Yesterday I was driving home from getting the boys haircut, and I said "Porter do you know what starts Monday?" He said "No What!" I said "Softball" His reply was "Now we can't play tennis everyday anymore and it is going to be hard, but we get to go on our trip to stay at the Hotemple." The trip to St George he loves but he is a coaches kid and has learned I guess. Lets just hope that the weather warms up so they can play at the ball field in warm and not freeze.. I love softball but this year it is going to be tough. Lots going on with the kids, and working. I hope I can pull it off. I am ready for warm weather that is for sure. So now life as we know it is now changing and it revolves around softball. I always think that life will slow down. But it never does. It just seems to get busier and busier and busier.

Has it really been a year (sappy post a head)

I have reflected these last couple of days of the events of a year ago.

I have been an emotional wreck, and have thought to myself many times did this really happen? That was a very emotional spiritual time for my sibling , grandmother, mother and I. I am so thankful we were all there to share in my fathers last moments on earth.

I have also thought a lot about my mother and grandmother at this time. What must it feel like. To lose your spouse of 30 some odd years. To lose a child. If I ever lost a child I do not know what I would do. Those last few days of loved ones family and friends coming into to say there good byes, He knew. He knew what was coming and as each of these dear family and friends gathered around him and held his hand. They recalled special times with him and he held to them tightly. I remember the night of moms birthday I was leaving to go feed the baby, and remember him not wanting to let go of my hand. So I stayed, I stayed and held my dads hands. What I would give to have his tire stained black hands hugging me, or watching me play ball. He worked with his hands and worked so hard. I miss him so. But I am glad he is able to move and be healthy.
Our family has had a roller coaster of a year dealing with the new life we have. We have gone from mom taking care of almost his every need to free time that we don't know what to do with. I don't think we all realized what a task John was. But we wouldn't change it for a minute. The opportunity that we have to say we helped in taking care of our dad. that the tables were turned and we were able to give a little bit back after all that he had given to us in life. Porter is the one who really still is interested and likes to talk about Johns death. He is always asking me questions about it, and what he looked like. He makes little comments all the time. He almost daily tells me that he misses John. He also told me the other day that after wrestling I said that was really nice of your grandpa J.Dee to watch you wrestle. He then told me that his grandpa John watches him wrestle from heaven. I think that is so true. I also think that if my dad is watching over all these little grand kids. I think that they will be all right. Sorry about the long sappy post but wanted to let out some anger, sadness, happiness and all these millions of emotions that come with dealing with death. I do love and miss my dad so much.