Does anyone have some time for sale?!

Okay, the other night our Dish quit working for no apparent reason and through further research we found out that the receiver has gone bad. Those of you who know me know that I am a tv junkie and this particular receiver was a dual receiver and that took two of our three tv's out leaving the kids tv (which is currently locked on their channels and their remote is broken . . . makes it tough to catch the morning news and see if your boys who are camping some 70 miles from one of the big wildfires in CA are okay since I can't even see the mountain outside of my window for the smoke!). So I called them and sure enough the receiver was bad. Well as long as we're going to get a new receiver we may as well get the DVR and the HDTV that we've been meaning to do right?! So they said they could come today (which I'm STILL waiting!) and get everything hooked up for me and I need to be here from 12 - 5. Hmmmm, I'll get off work a little early and come home, but, yikes the girls have an acting class this summer that starts today from 1-2:30. It'll work! I'll only be gone for a few minutes to drop off/pick up and leave them a note on the door.

(Long intro for this story...I'm such a girl right?!) I'm running out the door to take the girls to their class and Chloe has attached herself to a blue pen and a little notepad. I try and get it away from her, but that vice-like grip and high pierced scream make me change my mind and I decide that we aren't going anywhere so it's not that big of a deal if she draws on her arm and legs (which she LOVES to do if given the chance!). So as we are almost pulling into the parking lot for the class Drew comments about Chloe having ink all over...ya ya...I know...I expected it, but, as I turn around I did NOT expect what I saw!! She had somehow chewed the end off of the pen and now the ink had bled alllllll over her. My mind is racing as I'm imagining what it will look like by the time I get home because I don't have TIME to take care of it right now...I mean my TV is at stake!!!!!! So I hurry and wipe off as much as I can and the second we get home I rush her to the tub and I scrub, and scrub, spray hairspray, scrub more, spray more hairspray, read the label on the googone to see if I can use it on skin, and finally reached the conclusion that the only thing that will take care of this is time...does anyone have some extra time that I can have??? Now for some pics...



Here we are being modest and everything!




A close-up of the hands




A blurry pic of her face

pop quiz!

You Are Aurora! (A.K.A. Sleeping Beauty.)

Thoughtful and loving. Authority figures probably have been sheltering you all of your life. Thankfully you're a very tranquil person who is content with what life has given you, but secretly you want to know how the outside world works.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

hmmm . . . some of it sounds right, but I don't quite agree with the sheltered pampered bit that I see when I watch Sleeping Beauty.

Take the Quiz here!

again . . . some of it sounds right, but some of it belongs on another target altogether!!

Daddies and Daughters . . . can it GET any better?!

Scott had the awesome priviledge of taking Joslyn & Drew geo-caching for a daddy-daughter activity for Activity Days. They had been anticipating it for a month! He has a gps unit from work and so they asked him to lead one of the groups. He spent the wee hours of the morning figuring out how to geo-cache (I've been dying to do it with the family for ages!), so that he could LEAD a group. They had a lot of fun and now I think he'll be willing & able to go on a family outing. I think it sounds like a blast!

Here's Drew pointing at dad taking a picture of her.

A triumphant group of girls who found their cache!!

There were about 4 pictures of these girls and Drew keeps her stellar pose throughout all of them!

After the hike, Scott Hyde gave a lesson to the girls about the Sermon on the Mount . . . doesn't that scene just beg for a spiritual moment??

These girls are all pointing out the star of the day . . .

a lizard!

Everyone hiked up a little mountain and Joslyn wasn't about to go up that thing so she sat with Sis. Burleson on the rock while they waited for them to return.

(No pictures of Scott and the girls . . . at least not on OUR camera)


They had a lot of fun! I'm a little jealous, I like having moments with the older kids that we can just enjoy each others company and not worry about the little ones. Joslyn, Drew, and Ellie had shots one day and we drove into town after I got off work. Scott met up with us shopping afterwards and we all went out to eat dinner and then Scott took all of the kids home except Joslyn and she and I did the grocery shopping and drove home together. It was nice to have some time with just the two of us . . . that RARELY happens! We decided that before school starts she and I need a day in town together and can go shopping for clothes and maybe even pick out some make-up for middle school. I can't believe that she's that old!!

Tag ... I'm It!

(Thanks Karen!)

3 Joys:

1. Being outside in the summer at dusk with the family.
2. Exploring at the beach ... again with the family.
3. The last day of school ... do you see a theme??

3 Fears:

1. No question ... SNAKES!
2. What kinds of things my children may have to endure in this lifetime
3. Dying when my kids are young.

3 Goals:

1. Try to teach my kids the best that I can ... and always remember where they came from.
2. To get my life organized (because I can never start something until I'm organized and I'm waiting a LOOOONG time to be organized to ever start anything ... Jenn I NEEEEED YOU!!)
3. To try and be positive ... UGH (lol).

3 Obsessions:

1. My kids & husband
2. Office supplies/scrapbook supplies (because if you say scrapbook supplies it makes it sound better!)
3. The Boston Red Sox

3 Random Facts:

1. I hate housework ... like dusting, mopping floors, doing laundry (they are my least favorite), but love to cook & try new recipes (when I was young I would pretend to have my own cooking show)
2. My hips are double-jointed and I can make them "pop" out ... kind of gross.
3. I thought my name was Julie Ellen Asay Monkey until I was about 5!

3 People to Tag:

1. Jenn Gordon
2. Amy Johnson
3. Susan Nardone

The Aquarium at Crescent City

The lighthouse & the Redwoods

Making the Most of the Coast!

Ross and Jodi's family showed up Monday night and we headed out the next morning for Crescent City, CA. We had so much fun on our trip! Pictures just don't do those Redwood trees justice! Wednesday we drove down to the Trees of Mystery http://www.treesofmystery.net/ and saw a giant Paul Bunyon with his ox Blue. The kids climbed on Paul's foot and we took some pictures and I thought there was a recording they were playing, but the statue talked to us and asked us questions and answered our questions. Ellie even talked to him! They have a fun trail that they take you on through the Redwood and show you the different kinds of trees that you can see everywhere in the forest, and then you can ride a gondola up a mountain through the Redwoods . . . it is pretty high! Austin was pretty worried about getting on the ride and he stayed back to go on the last car. I didn't think he would go (I have never seen him so pasty white before!), and when I was heading up I was really hoping that he didn't go! It was so high up it almost made ME dizzy! It was SO neat! Chloe thought it was about the coolest thing ever and she stood up in the seat and banged on the windows shrieking with delight the whole way. We waited at the top to see if Austin did make it and he emerged with a giant grin on his face! We even went on a second run.


The kids swam at the pool every day and were pretty wiped out every night. Austin and Matt thought they needed to go to the workout room every day and have a little workout.


We went on a few different drives and drove through a couple of trees. There were some really neat tidepools that we explored and played on the beach a bit. We went on one hike that said it was a mile, but we decided later that it was a mile to the marker that was about 1/3 the way into the hike. Josh took off and decided that he was going back and I tried to convince him to stay with us and then Jodi arrived and he decided to stay with us. The rest of the crew had kept going and so Jodi, Josh, Ellie and myself were hiking along at a snails pace. Eventually Ellie had to go potty and then she started getting tired which can be a sign of her sugars going low, so I put her on my back and hiked the rest of the way out. I guess Josh was more into the rocks than into the hike and finally Jodi just sat down and let him play and when I got out Ross went back after them. I really enjoyed the hike even with the length and trouble.


We saw an awesome lighthouse that becomes an island twice a day when the tide comes in. It was really fun to learn the history and tour inside. One day we went to an aquarium where we got to pet a shark as well as withstand the torment of the largest gift shop of Northern California.

When it was time to leave we decided to drive south and drive through The Avenue of the Giants because it would be something we hadn't seen and should only add an extra hour to our drive. Well we were on the road by 9am and got home at about 10:30 that night!! I guess we didn't figure in the stopping along the way and taking some hikes, and fighting the hordes of Harley's that were having some sort of "convention" down that way (I was just glad that we stayed up north for the whole time instead of going south like we had thought of doing . . . we would have been deaf by the time we got home!). There was one spot that we stopped and walked, ran, nearly gave Julie a heart attack running across a giant toppled Redwood (Josh took off running back and forth on it . . . and it was a LOONG way down!!). Then we stopped at a visitors center that had a giant truck that a champion of saving the Redwoods had made out of a giant Redwood. They had a stuffed bear in the drivers seat and I said to Josh, "Look at that bear that's driving the truck!" Josh said, "He's not driving, bears can't drive!" "Well what's he doing then?!" After thinking for a bit, "He's in time out!"


We had a great time with Ross & Jodi's family! We'll definitely have to do it again ( . . . hmmm maybe a house near Disneyland with a pool . . . )

Lady Byrd Johnson Park

Check out my Slide Show!

Beaches & Tide Pools

School's Out For Summer!!

The last week of school was SOOOO crazy! I'm not sure why everything gets made into such a big deal here . . . but we had graduation ceremonies for both Austin and Joslyn.



The weather was so hot here a few weeks ago . . . we already broke 100 degrees! Austin was supposed to go to the Wild Island water park last week for making his AR goal for the whole year and of course the weather turned cold, so they postponed the trip for a week. Wouldn't you know that it stayed cold for two more weeks! It was pretty nice that they gave the kids free passes to the park to go during the summer . . . I thought they would just be out a trip.



The last week of school Austin called and asked me to pick him up early every day . . . "they are letting you check us out!" Thursday (the 5th) was his graduation day. They had graduation gowns and everything. We had heard that it took about 2 hours. Chloe was sick with a cough and Scott didn't want to leave her with the girls for that long and so I went by myself (I'm sure the pictures would have been better if Scott had taken them because it's his camera and I haven't used it in ages!). The ceremony ended up lasting about 20 minutes!! (A new principal who didn't get into the speeches as much as the old principal . . . my kind of guy!) Afterwards the school puts on a big dance for the kids and it's a really big to-do, very much like my high school proms! Girls in prom dresses and some kids having limos and everything. (Give me a break . . . 8th grade?!) A group of us went on a mother-son outing instead. There were 5 boys and 4 moms, and we drove in and went to eat and then to see the new Indiana Jones movie. We got home at about 1:00 in the morning . . . it was a blast!



Then Friday morning Scott had to work and I went in to see Joslyn's "Advancement Ceremony". I was glad they didn't blow it out of proportion. They had a really nice slide show of pictures they had taken over the whole school year and then they had all of the kids come up and get a certificate. (I don't have any pictures . . . I got to the school and realized I'd forgotten the camera & didn't have time to run home and get it . . . although there weren't really great picture opportunities because I was too far away).


By Saturday Ellie had come down with Chloe's cough and her ketones were outrageously high. I spent the day checking her blood sugars every couple of hours and giving her shots (even in the night). Saturday evening we had a ward dinner and talent show. My kids had all signed up to be in skits and our family had one together as well as Scott and I being in one for the Primary Presidency. We didn't show up until the dinner was about done and then we quarantined Ellie and Chloe from everyone else. My friend had the sign up sheet and I asked her to move all of our talents to the beginning (so the first like 7 acts were the Bassett's!) Austin played Star Wars on his trumpet while a couple of little boys pretended to have a sword fight with their light sabers. Joslyn danced with a girl in her tap class. Drew had Austin, Joslyn and I do a skit with her, and the rest of us did a skit together. We started the show with our Primary Presidency doing a "Tammy Fae Makeover Party" and we had button up shirts that we had cut holes in the sleeves and we sat on our husbands laps while they put their arms in the sleeves and had to put makeup on us without seeing what they were doing. It was a riot I had tears streaming down my face by the time it was done from laughing so hard. We planned on leaving as soon as we were done and the girls wanted to stay and watch, so Scott took me, Austin and the little girls home and went back to pick up the other two. They didn't make it home until almost 10:00 that night!

We finally have Ellie's ketones under control and her sugars are back to a normal state and we're just dealing with the cough. We're heading to California with Ross and Jodi's family on Tuesday & can't wait to see them!!


That's all for now.