Happy Birthday Grandpa Turek

I'm a slacker (what's new?) but today is my dad's birthday. Hard to believe he's still alive and kicking after all my brothers and sisters have put him through. It must be because he has such an angelic daughter like myself that keeps him sane. Here's a little shout out to you dad. The kids put on their birthday suits just for the occasion. We love you!

Calico Family Pictures

The Whole Calico-Hiatt Family

Our little {clan}

The Grandkids
Payton, Julia, Riley & Porter
{Julia is not amused}

Julia and Riley
(I love this picture!)

Thanks to Blair and Julie we had some family photo's taken. Thanks to Tav's skills we look somewhat presentable to sit on some desks at work...and of course on the wall of our house! Let's just say it's been a while since we've had a family photo taken. The last one we took with Todd's family was when I was prego with Porter. This was an overdue event.

Struggling

I really didn't think it would take me this long to do a catch up on life. It's not that we haven't been doing anything "blog worthy" but I just haven't taken the time to post anything. So....Here goes nothing:

{we're still not sure how this was a three way tie for 2nd--because Payton beat both the other boys but they all look happy, don't they? Payton was just trying to find a spot on the podium with the other two}

Wrestling: Another season has come to a close. Payton did pretty well this year but has a lot to learn. Out of the tournaments he went to this year he brought home 3 sliver and 1 gold medal.

Spring Break: We spent the first four days here at home in the COLD. First day it snowed and then the next was rain....it wasn't my idea of a nice spring break. Thursday after a half day of work Tiffani and I took our kids down to Henderson to stay with Cheri for the rest of the week. The kids had a ball swimming, playing at a cool park, swimming, playing with cousins, swimming, playing the wii and more swimming. I didn't take a ton of pictures but here's a few. I really needed a picture of Tiff, Cheri and I going on our "little" bike ride. We set out Saturday morning while Cheri's hubby kept all the kids (I know...what a guy! 12 kids!) It ended up being a 20 mile ride and I was dead when we got home. I blame my poor attitude on the wind (of course I would go again in a heart beat).

Easter Weekend: I should actually say the week leading up to Easter weekend because it was filled with fun. It was Trudi and Cheri's Spring Break so they spent most of their time in St. George. One day the girls got together to make necklaces out of washers that I wear all too often. Another day the kids got to go swimming at the rec center. The kicker was the Friday the kids were out of school we went on a hike. It was a bit more than we expected and packing Julia the whole way took its tole on my body but it was fun. (don't ask my teenage nieces if they liked it because they will lie and tell you NO!!) The Saturday before Easter we played in the sand with my family. They loved being buried and finding treats in the sand. {of course I took NO pictures but will have to get some from someone else} Then Sunday was spent at Todd's G-pa & G-ma Wittwer's. It was one party after another.

Now it's just back to life which can be pretty boring.
(Julia fell asleep on the floor the other day. I love her two binkies...it's hard to pick just one!)

Invest in Gold!

When I go to work I hear these "Invest in Gold" commercials. You know the ones? {Bald man with monopoly like mustache} Well, we just invested in a little this weekend. I'll post pictures when I have some {thanks to Tiff with her camera}. Payton brought home his first gold medal from wrestling. Sure he was at an advantage only having to wrestle two boys instead of three and sure he was faster because he wasn't quite as big as the other boys but we're still proud of him! He was in the heaviest weight division weighing the least of the three heaviest kids in Kindergarten {if that makes sense}. He weighed in at 63 lbs and the heaviest kid weighed 75 lbs. That is a big kindergarten baby! I have video footage but of course we're not digitally enhanced...yet so you'll just have to make due with my bragging session in writing...until I can prove otherwise. I just wish the gold was really worth something {I mean more than the memories and big head of my son}

Ready?....Wrestle!

It has begun!! Thanks to Uncle Jordan we now have our own wrestling gear. Yeah??

A Sweet Surprise...for Todd

A warning for the girls:

DON'T BE JEALOUS OF ME!

So on my way home from work yesterday I called Todd and asked if he had picked the kids up from Tiffani's. He said he hadn't because he had been delayed and he had a surprise for me when I got home. My first question was, "Is it another dead animal?" He laughed a bit and just said he wouldn't tell me. I'd just have to wait until I got home.

Well, I picked up the kids and hurried home to see the great surprise. It was a surprise but it was greater for Todd than for me. I shared in his joy as he told me the story about our new pet, "The Calico Buck". One of his buddies, Seth, had taken a set of old sheds Todd and his dad had found hunting a long time ago. (for you non-hunting folk I'm not talking about storage sheds. I'm talking about deer sheds--their antlers that fall off every year and Todd loves hiking around finding them) The sheds were old, broken and falling apart but Todd hung onto them because they were a matching set and I think some of it was for sentimental reasons--being that he found them with his dad and all.

Seth took them over a year ago and has been working on them, fixing them up and restoring them to what the original probably looked like. He was working with another of Todd's buddies, Jeff, who does taxidermy and was giving Seth pointers to help him out. Seth was trying to fix them up as a surprise for Todd to give to him. After Seth got them looking good he'd take them to Jeff for more tips on what to do next. After a while of doing this the sheds were looking great and Jeff got the brainy idea that they couldn't just be sheds given to Todd, they needed to go on a body. So these two buddies worked together for over a year on this buck that they now call the Calico Buck. Todd was in awe when they just gave it to him last night. He didn't know what to say because he was so taken back. When he shared the story with me he kept saying, "I don't get it. Why would they do all that for me?" Well, I know why--I married him, duh! It's awesome to see his friends show him by doing something awesome for him. Heaven knows I can't compete with that.

I just need to write a letter to those boys now and let them know the deer on the wall has stolen Todd's eye and I just can't compete anymore. He used to look at me like that. At least when I think we have no money left we will always have two bucks to our name!

The deer on the right is the one from Jeff and Seth and the one of the left Todd shot a couple years ago.

Happy Birthday Grandma Turek

Today is my mom's birthday. Tiff and I have been brainstorming of what we can do for her birthday to celebrate. We talked about going out to lunch or dinner with just the girls but then Tiff reminded me that my mom and dad are on some stinking diet and eating out would not be one of the best ideas because of what she CANNOT EAT!! So, Tiff came up with a brilliant plan which I hope to post pictures and the event when the day is done. Stay tuned for a physically challenging activity that even a grandma can do. It's gunna be FUN!!

ok so I'm not the best photographer but I think the pictures will say it all.

It took a little convincing to get them on their bikes

This isn't everyone but the most we could get to hold still for a picture

One picture I am missing is Tiffani's truck LOADED with bikes.

(Four adult bikes, four kids bikes and one bike trailor!)
And, YES! my mom and dad are still walking and speaking to us!