Road Trip

Mark and I get to go away!! Just for a few days but I am so excited. We are going to help my niece Kesseli and her family move back east. Her husband Jon is graduating medical school and starts his residency in Indiana. They have three little guys, a moving van and their car so we get to help with the move. Then we will be only a few hours from my cousin Jann. She lives in Maryland. I just can't be that close and not go see her. I think she has lived there for 14 years(?) and we have always wanted to visit her so here we go!!! We will spend a few days with her and doing the Washington DC stuff and then we will head home. We will be coming home through North Carolina so Mark can see all of Jeff Gordons cars. A must see!! My plan is to take a ton of pictures so be prepared.

Kade's Prom Night

Doesn't he look so handsome? He really had a great time. He took Tayler Duncan and they went with Kasey Costner, Kourtni Ashcroft, Easton Sherwood and Kim Smith. They got all dressed up early and headed into Farmington. Kourtni's sister is a photographer and she took their pictures. They turned out so good. Then they went to Tayler's house and had dinner. The girls decided they didn't want to go to a fancy restaurant they wanted Kasey's mom to cook for them. Kasey's mom Linda grew up in Hong Kong and she cooks authentic Chinese food that is to die for. They made a smart decision!! So Linda cooked and they ate at Tayler's . It was all fancy and delicious. Then it was off to the dance. They must of had a great time there because when they made it to breakfast at my house at about 1:00 am they were all exhausted but with big smiles. We fed them waffles, fruit, and apple dumplings. They ate, laughed and then went home to sleep. The one thing I know for sure is I am way to old to stay up until 2:30 in the morning. It was so worth it but I am so glad it is only once a year!!

Kade and Tayler

Kade and Tayler being Goofs

The whole gang

Oh the FUN

A Day In The Life Of Kensie Shay

Kensie's typical day goes like this:

Sleep in until the last possible second.
Hurry and get ready.
Make it to class just on time.
Go to school all day.
Sometimes go to lunch with mom.
Go to work.
Social life after work every night.
Home late.
Sleep.

A couple of weeks ago she had a little bit of a schedule change that I feel is very much worth sharing. Her day started out the usual way. Getting up a little late and rushing around to make it to class on time. She let the dog out back and then started her car to let it warm up. She then went into her closet to find her shoes. This is when her day was about to change. (Kensie's closet is a walk in. For the last four years her closet door has been a little bit sticky and hard to open from the outside. ) As she was digging for her shoes she bumped to door and sure enough it closed. She then discovered that the door does not open at all from the inside! So there she was locked in her closet, her cell phone on her bed, all the light's on, her music blasting, the dog still outside, and her car running!! She tried everything to get out but nothing worked so for the next five hours she cried and beat on the door. Lucky for her her brothers had early release and got home around 1:30. Kace, who thought it was really odd that Kensie's car was at the house and it was running, sat down on the couch and heard something strange coming from Kensie's room. He went to investigate and eventually opened the closet door. Kensie was finally FREE!! She grabbed her phone right then and called me at work. " Mom , guess where I have been for the last five hours? Locked in my closet!!" Now being the kind, wonderful, loving mother that I am I immediately bust out laughing. "Mom!! It was terrifying!! And the worst part is I really, really have to pee!!!" Still being the amazing mother that I am, I was then rolling on the floor with laughter and huge tears running down my face. Her car was really warm and still had gas in it. The dog was happy to finally be in the house. She was thrilled to have her phone back. And her bladder felt much better!!
Kensie has been a really good sport about this!! She has survived not only the trauma of being locked away, five hours without texting but also the countless jokes told at her expense. (It didn't take long for this story to get told to everyone) They really have been great jokes!! A lot of them have to do with her coming out of the closet!!! I have also informed her that I will be installing a 72 hour kit in her closet made just for her. It will be in a large bucket with a double roll of TP to make sure all her needs are met. I am taking suggestions for additional items

Mark Is Feeling His Age

Poor Mark, he is really feeling his age. He woke up this morning and remembered he is now married to a 39 year old lady!! HA HA

A Date To Prom?

Kade's junior prom is coming up and so he decided he would ask Tayler Duncan. He wanted to ask her in a cute way so Kensie and I helped him out. He took her a balloon bouquet. It was tied to a box of Jolly Time popcorn that also had a story attached. The story went like this: (every time a color is mentioned she is suppose to pop that color balloon)

Once upon a time, in a not so far away land, lived a handsome young prince who drove a horseless silver carriage. A grand ball was quickly approaching and the prince didn't want to get stuck taking an ugly green frog. After looking far and wide throughout the kingdom, over mountain, through forests, even the deep blue sea he came across an enchanted castle. He soon discovered that living in the castle was a beautiful princess who wore a pretty pink dress. His heart leapt with great joy to finally discover the perfect date to the grand ball. Now, he awaits her answer, holding his breath, trying not to turn red in the face, hoping they will have a popping good time!

Inside the five balloons to pop were slips of paper. It said: Tayler, How about Prom? Kade

Kade and Kensie snuck up and put them on her doorstep. He then texted her and told her there was a surprise waited outside her door.

The first thing the next morning she texted him and told him there wasn't anything on her doorstep. He was totally bummed and Kensie and I were just mad that someone would steal her balloons!! When I got to work she had left me a message telling me she really did get them and she didn't want him to know until she answered him. So I played along just happy that there wasn't a balloon thief running around in Kirtland!

The next night there was a knock on our door and when we opened it there was a letter addressed to Kade taped to the door. This is what the letter said:

The wonderful fondness that I have felt towards you

is now gone, I have found that my indifference towards you

increases with every day. The more I see you the more

you appear in my eyes to be an object of disdain and contempt

I feel myself in every way completely bound and determined

to dislike you. Believe me, I have absolutely no intention

of going to this dance with you. The last time we talked

just left me in a very grumpy and sour mood and by no means

gave me high and valued opinion of you and your abilities

it seems your personality is constantly in conflict with mine.

If we go the the dance, I'd experience nothing but the

harassment of friends and family added to everlasting dis-

pleasure of being with you. I could not think of anyone more

boring, stuck-up, big-headed and annoying than you and less

desirable to go to prom with.

I hope you will try in your own little way to understand that

I speak sincerely and hope that you will do me the favor of

completely avoiding me in the future. I hope that you will stop

being my friend since you seem to always be full of immense

lies, deceit, and betrayal. You do not have the slightest bit of

cleverness and good sense. Please believe me when I say I

am very sorry this had to happen, but it is important for me to

want to go to prom with you on April 10.

with love, Tayler

You should have seen his face fall when he read it. It was bad! He read it and then had Kensie read it out loud. It was still bad! Kade's only comment was "Wow, that makes me feel way less of a person." We really felt bad for him. Poor guy!!

Then next morning we found this on the doorstep.

Wow, now he is really feeling way low!! Then he remembers that she told him she didn't find anything on her doorstep so how did she have the popcorn to give back. He knew then something was up. Sure enough, there was a not inside the popcorn.

So if you go back to the letter and read every other line you will see that Kade really does have a date for his Junior Prom! I think he will always remember how he asked Tayler to the prom and how she answered. Fun times!!

Happy Birthday

March 6th Kace turned 14!! I can't stand that my baby is 14! He wanted his girls to take him out for his birthday and Kensie and I were up for that. We took him to lunch, went shopping because he had birthday money to spend, and then we saw Alice in Wonderland. It was a really fun day. I think he had a very good start to his fourteenth year. Happy Birthday Kace, we love you!!

(Don't you just love his card? Inside it said "Bet you didn't think you were going to get a paper pickle for your birthday!" He loved it! Also, this picture was taken first thing in the morning thus the hair!)

Two Months???

I can't believe it has been two months since I posted anything so here is a quick update.

Mark has been feeling his age. He went and visited the eye doctor and had to get glasses again. Not just glasses...Bifocals!!! He thinks this is the sign that he is indeed old. I told him that will be when he has to get Trifocals!

Kensie is busy with college and her social life!! We are so proud of her because this semester she received a scholarship. If she keeps her grades up it will follow her every semester until she graduates!!! Yeah!!! It pays all her tuition and some of her books.

Kade finally got his drivers license!! It really is nice to have another driver helping do all the running around. He is also right in the middle of baseball. I can't believe it's already that time again. He is also in the middle of plans for Prom!!

Kace has been super busy. He participated in the district Science Olympiad and took first in the Solar System! He was then chosen for the state team. The next weekend they went to New Mexico Tech and competed against several other schools from all over the state. He took 3rd in Disease Detector! If that wasn't enough he finished 4th in the school and district Geography Bee! He told me he is ready for a rest.

The best thing that has happened to me is that for Valentines Day my husband took me on a very romantic trip. He took me to Home Depot!!! I was so excited. We bought each other ceramic tile for the master bathroom. Our bathroom has needed some updating since we moved in four years ago and something else always came up. But not this time! Mark has been working so hard in there and it is looking sooooo nice. Kensie has a friend who didn't think this was romantic at all. To me there is nothing more romantic than my sweet husband working so hard to do something just to make me smile!! Thanks Honey!