Summer is Over!

Its been a long, fun-filled summer for us all. I haven't posted for so long because I haven't had time to think about it. Here is a re-cap of the Ball family 2009 summer:

In June, the boys and I went to visit my Mom in Afton. It poured rain the entire time. There was not one moment that it was not raining. Although it was nice to be there for a visit, we were bummed about it. I made a blanket for a church humanitarian project and Ryan and Andrew caught up on their Cartoon Network, as we don't have cable and they feel they haven't to get as much as possible in....Andrew does anyway.

In July Steve and I went with our Neighbors on a 10 day getaway to Alaska. We visited Fairbanks, Denali national park and did a 7 days cruise with 5 stops and little alaskan villages. Steve was almost late for one departure, made it by 2 min as they were litteraly pulling up the anchor to leave. We enjoyed sleeping in, not making one meal ourselves, swimming and seeing that vast part of the world. It is beautiful, no doubt...and Unbelieveably wild. Didn't see a bear. Didn't see a moose. Saw hubburd glaicer, a few baby seals and the beautiful pacific ocean. Loved it. Our boys went to their Grandma marcia and Grampa Merle's House. They were spoiled rotton, got to eat out a lot, watch movies. Ryan built bike jumps out in the field and would call and tell me he'd get up at 6 am to go outside and work on them. Their grandparents bought them each a special gift, Andrew a unicycle and Ryan a BMX bike. Andrew has yet to be able to ride the unicycle, but he doesn't practice as much as he used to. Ryan is just now getting used to the bike and is learning to jump with it. They had a great time.

In August, we headed to L.A for the X-games. We stayed in a hotel close to the ocean. We were there 5 days. We got to see the Skate Boarding BIG AIR, which was amazing, and the BMX big air. Our seats weren't together for the biking, Ryan and I sat on one side of the Staples center while Steve and Andrew were on the other. You can Steve and Andrew on youtube when one of the bikers makes a first ever 2 front flip trick. They are just a red and green blur, but if you pause it at ....you can see them. ;-)

Later that month we went to Bear Lake for 2 days to swim and relax. Steve and Andrew took a jet ski out, and returned about 5 hours later. It had run out of Gas and Steve pulled the ski and Andrew back to shore by swimming. Turns out that they could have used the reserve tanks, had Steve know it had one. :-) Both boys were burnt pretty badly. Other than that, we had a great time. It was followed by a Trip to star Valley to see my little brother and his family. They live in Rexburg, but were up to visit. We went to the Lincoln County fair, were Ryan participated in a magician trick. The guy had a gicantic balloon which we blowed up with a leaf blower, had 6 people climb in (Ryan being first) and then blew it up till it popped. It was pretty cool. I went up on stage for the Hypnotist. I went up because I thought my kids would be entertained by it. It didn't work on me, and in my own opinion, everyone around me was faking, including myself, as I didn't want to be tapped on the sholder and told to "go take a seat." I did it again the following day so Steve could watch. We have it all on tape, and I must say, I'm a pretty good actress. :-)

To end the summer, we went to the Merritt Family Reunion to Riverdale in Preston id. It is a little water "resort" that has natural hot springs pool. The main attraction is the very tall waterslide. You have to walk up 5 flights of stairs. Steve made it a goal to go up at least 50 times, which he did. I just did it 25 times, and who knows on the boys, they went all day. I did, however, make a record of the fast going up and coming down. From the time I entered the stairwell to the time I fell into the water was 33 seconds. I hit my head coming down but it was all worth it. :-)

Great summer, great family. I now have a fall and winter to enjoy and it starts off with the best part: Kids going back to school!

Family Party

Well, this weekend we had a family cookout to celebrate my older Sisters B-day, my two neices and one of their Husbands. My sister made delicous Icecream Cakes, my brother made Chicken and everyone else brought Salads. What was fun was getting everyone together just to remember how nice family is, where we come from so that we can stay on the same path, and that we can be there for eachother. I love my family!

A family photo! Finally! I took some threatning, harrassing, bribeing and finally me counting down from 10 to 1 for everyone in the Ball Family to get outside and let me snap the photo. I didn't even make them wear matching shirts, just please stand still and smile nicely. This should last a few years. :-)

Our First Garden!

Well, the Ball family is making history. We are planting our first Garden. This yard of ours has a lot of trees, so finding an area that wasn't too shady was a challenge, but we did get a small plot. If we do a good job and our harvest is good, perhaps Steve will help me dig up some bushes for next years garden...keep your fingers crossed. This is what we are going to plant:

Spinach

Butterhead Lettuce

Onion

Radish

Carrot

cucumber

Zucchini

Pole Peas

And up in the front between some rose bushes, we are planting Sweet Peppers and Tomatoes. Should be a good harvest!

Buffing up Andrew

Well, I did it. I finally signed Andrew up for the gym. Last week the family went on a Bike ride to Kaysville Park, and He Just about died...literally. After arriving home, he sat in the chair with the sweats and then chills. Then he got a headache, a neck ache and went to sleep at 6:30. He slept clear to moring. He was so tiered and worn out for the next 4 days. It was crazy crazy. It was a tip off that my son is going to enter 8th grade and recieve the reward for the biggest pansy in class if I don't intervien and help him out. So, we signed up. Its perfect timing, as he has his physical Merit Badge to accomplish...12 weeks of 6 days a week of consecutive excersise. Its a tuff one, won't be completed until July 28...and in the process, hopefully we will buff him in the process. His mile took 14:26 min....I'll report back...our goal is to get him to do a 10 min mile...he should be able to do that with me helping him each nite. Happy Thursday!

Lagoon...its what fun is!

Well, we did it...we splurged and bought Lagoon Summer Passes. The boys and I went on Saturday for a few hours, as it was not busy. It was not busy at all, which was nice for them...we went on 7 rides while there. Here is the problem: next time we won't be so lucky and when we wait an hour for one 60 sec ride, I think it will suck all the fun out. I know Steve hates standing in line, but the boys don't seem to mind. What I see happening, is that Andrew and Ryan can become closer and maybe even friends, talking while in line, and experiencing this fun together.

I then went to Kimberly's Morp Dance in North Ogden. I was excited to chaperone it, and see her date and what all the high school kids did at these things. Question answered. Nothing but stand around, talk, and occationally move. I sound like my grandpa complaining about "todays generation" but seriously, no dancing. Oh, they jumped here and there, and did a few funky moves, but as a whole, just stood there and talked. They seemed to be having a super time, however, and Kimberly and her date looked great. Kim and I had our picture taken, as I got a free one for being there, and I didn't want to take one of myself, so I pulled her into it...I'll post it later. It was fun, and I'm glad I got to go.

Steve and Jeremy took Ryan and Tyler to the gun show in SLC, to see what was new, get some ammo and spend some boy time. Andrew had to stay home with me and do catch up homework for school...he has a lot to catch up on! He is now sleeping upstairs after a long and hard bike ride. We rode around town for about 2 hours, and when we got home, he could barely walk, and was completely worn out. He went right to sleep (at 6:30) and is still in bed, probably for the night. I enjoyed it much, Steve and ryan played the game "who can knock the other off their bike" and it made for a nice Sunday.

Well, theres a pretty boring catch up with the ball family entry. I'll post some photos later in the week...and as alway, hope you all have a great week too!

Finally, we did the Worlds Easter on Monday. Andrew was gone with his dad out of town, so Ryan and I waited for his return in order to make it more fun. What was nice for me was I waited until I dropped the kids off at school to buy any Easter items. Everything was 50% off, and that made it nice. I bought a few candy items, a kick ball for Ryan. I went home and put the stuff in baskets and hid them behind a bush in our back yard. Ryan loves money more than anything, so instead of candy in the eggs, I put a quarter in each one, 28 eggs total and distributed them around the yard. Ryan found his first egg, found the quarter in it, and went wild with excitement knowing that more eggs ment more money. End result...Ryan 19 eggs, Andrew 9. I guess he just wanted them more! Both boys were happy and it was great to have such a wonderful backyard to enjoy it in. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and so blessed to have sold our home and that we get to enjoy living here in Kaysville.

Andrew Being His Handsome Self

Andrew has been part of our family for over 13 years! He is fun, has a great sense of humor and is a Valiant Boy. He is and will be great as he gets older. He plans on serving a Mission, going to college and completely enjoying life. I love how he'll joke with me and my favorite thing he does is empty the dishwasher...I hate emptying the dishwasher!

Ryan Ball May 5th 2000

Ryan came to us on May 5th, 2000. He was a cutie, with quite an attitude. It was tempting to call him, "cry'in Ryan". But, after a few short years (they seem short now), he has grown into a fun, loving and cheerful boy. He turns 9 here in a month! I can't believe how old he is, and although I miss his cute little self, I am enjoying his current age and all the crazy stuff he does.

The Flu Visits Us Again

Its midnight. Ryan lays on the couch wide awake after a night of throwing up and an afternoon of sleeping it off. We have been doing the marathon mini series, "the 10th Kingdom." I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, its rather boring. But Ryan loves it and he feels to sick to move but not sick enough to sleep. I still have yet to scrub the carpet clean from last nights escapde, I'll probably need to rent a steam cleaner. Nice huh? :-)

Steve and Andrew are nestled in the heart of Denver tonight, a father and son trip to see Steves dad during spring break. I hope they have a great time and bond well. Ryan and I will enjoy a nice week of not making a real meal. Ryan lives on Peanut Butter/Marshmellow sandwhiches and smoothies. I am really going to enjoy not cooking!

I know I was supposed to update more often, but it will have to wait. I am a few words to say about conference, which I enjoyed and a few words to say about the boys, but...I am super tiered and I know I'm not going to be able to write clearly or what I really want to say...later ya all.

Youtube figured out...I think

I have just spent 30 min trying to figure out how to post on youtube. I am no better than my mom who I used to laugh at when she couldn't work the VCR. Now I have teen-agers laugh at me when I can't publish on Youtube...what goes around comes around. On a side note, my mom can work her Tivo...I can't. I have to ask her to do it for me. Even Andrew can work it when we visit, and I have yet to have any desire to try and figure it out. Funny huh? Here is the video that is on youtube...I think. :-)

Whats Happening This Week

Its Monday, and I have yet to accomplish anything of greatness, except screw around with the computer long enough to not accomplish anything. :-) I have considered what I want my blog to look like, what heritage I want to leave behind here, as I suppose it will be in cyberspace until our nation ends and life as we know it is over courtesy of President Obama. I've considered not using phrases such as above, but then, that wouldn't be me and so leave it I will.

Our week holds nothing to exciting, other than my book club on Thursday which I am not really looking forward to. Its just not working for me, I'm not clicking with these ladies. I will give it more time, but not too much more. There is scouts, young mens and cleaning my bathrooms. Live is good, we are truely blessed to have nothing so important and life threatning. What a great day we live in. I know there will be a time, however, that I will be held accountable for all my "free" time that I did nothing with. I am slowly being enlightened, and will hopefully do more to enrich other lives and help were needed. My goals for the week? Laundry catch up. A actual dinner each night for the family. A few ebay items listed. Reading Fablehaven with the kids. Preparing to go on a trip to Star Valley for confrence weekend...hopefully a stop off at Jared and Sandras and Gwennas.

There, now there is something to read. I plan on generally writing what happened the past week, not what I am currently up to. It will kind of be a journal that I write for my whole family. Feel free to comment, like one would on facebook. The only difference is is that A: its not facebook property, B: Jeremys friends friends are reading what my comments are, C: unlike facebook, you are only reading this if you actually care and took the time to open a new page, type in the address and scroll. A little more effort is required, therefore you are one of the people in my life I either love, appreciate, admire or perhpas all three.

Happy March 30th week! Talk on Sunday.

An alternative to Facebook

Well, its the year 2009, and I suppose its about time to take advantage of the internet and all its possibilites to share with friends and family whats going on in our lives. I don't care for facebook. I'm about 20 years to old for myspace. Here you can read about all of my families happenings, see photos and comment if you care. :-)