Firm Retreat- Greer, AZ

For 2009 Shiloh's Law Firm put us up in Greer, Arizona at the Red Setters Inn and Cottages. It is right next to the ShowLow/Pinetop area and located right on the Little Colorado. Nothing for miles and viewing the stars at night was spectacular. It was beautiful!! We were all in the cabin pictured above, the fires never died down, and the service was wonderful- fresh bread or cookies, breakfast and lunch, and the staff was very helpful even when I locked my keys in the room twice.

• Brett and CJ Rigg
• Jim and Rita Ledbetter
• Mike and Colleen Gilboy
• Lindsay Rich
• William Fischbach
• Patricia Prekup
• Brian and Lindsay Hepworth
• The New Guy :) (Clyde)

Grandma and Grandpa Conder drove down on Wednesday to get their yearly dose of "grandkids without parents." It's nice to know that they love it so much that I don't have to worry!

We left on Thursday, and it took about 4 hours to get there. That night we essentially unpacked, relaxed and gabbed. We went to Molly's for dinner and had "Mormon gravy!" We were quite loud and had a wonderful time.

On Friday the attorneys had all their meetings so CJ and I tried Cross Country skiing. It was way too patchy and we ended up falling and just laughing a lot. At lunch Shiloh told my embarrassing "chili burger" story, and I continued to hear and be teased about that for the next two days. After lunch Rita, Colleen, Lindsay, and I went Horseback riding in the snow- how beautiful. We were going to go on a sleigh ride, but the attorneys got their Escalade stuck in the snow and mud for two hours. At dinner I received my dessert first- yummy lava cake- why not I'm on vacation and my kids aren't around. Back at the cabin we stayed up playing pictionary- boys vs girls! Brian and Lindsay Hepworth showed up for the evening too.

On Saturday we woke up early- I was the alarm clock for everyone. We went to Sunrise Ski Resort and spent the next 7 hours skiing. Since I had only been once when I was 13 with my Father I soon found out I was starting at Level 0. Brett the magnificent skier first tried to help me, but CJ took over and spent a good portion of her day skiing the easy slopes with me. At the end of the day she convinced me to try a blue, which I did and struggled with. To her credit she did an amazing job as a coach and friend to get me down off the mountain. Shiloh stayed at the lodge and kept track of the 12 people skiing or boarding- then sledded for a couple runs. It was a fun and exhausting day!! (I was extremely sore for 4 continuous days afterwards) I am also wearing my "Nacho Libre" pants- haha Thanks Colleen!

My First lift to try out the bunny slope!

Such great form!- hehe Getting better- now lets try out the real deal Pure fun with friends!

Despite the severe sunburn and muscle pain

On Sunday we drove home in the Escalade with Will. It was a nice relaxing and fun trip-

PS: Once Colleen sends me pictures I will update. bc she took over 200 pics

Thank you to the Ledbetter Law Firm!

Girl Scout Cookies Galore!!

Once I got home from California, I had 82 cases or 984 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies dropped off at my home. I then had to separate them into 11 groups for people to pick up, and then I had to deliver all 180 of Emma's that she sold. Can I say Holy Cow!! I had to take a picture to remind me not to do this again.These are all the boxes in my front room

These are all the cookies Emma sold!!!

Disneyland 2009

Grandpa and Ryan on Pirates of the Carribean Emma and Maya with Tinker Bell and Dew Drop

Sean with Grandpa, Emma with Shiloh, and Maya with Angela

Emma's first Roller Coaster

Great Picture Shiloh- that is Emma and I!

Grandpa and Grandma Hoggard decided to take all 4 of their grandkids to Disneyland on February 13th and 14th. It was a blast, a rough beginning with a flat tire, but it was a lot of fun. It was Maya and Ryan's first time, and I wasn't pregnant! The first day it was cold and rainy, but the next day was great weather (just way too much PDA!!!) I did go on Tower of Terror and have decided that it is one of the best rides on earth- what a rush!! On Sunday we went to Huntington Beach and the Urgent Care. Yeah- Ryan got "come-back elbow" or "nurse-maid elbow." It was so sad to watch him not use his arm at all, and terrible to watch the Dr. fix his dislocated elbow. We came home on Monday (Presidents Day.) Thanks for a wonderful time!!

Emma loved searching for shellsThere were a million surfers and high waves.

Kicking it by the water, Ryan was not a big fan!

Emma, Shiloh, Sean, Maya, and Aunt Angela

Shiloh's DC Trip

February 8-11, 2009

Smithsonian When I find out what he's pointing at I will put it here!

A new attorney at Shiloh's Firm just left the JAG, but got permission to finish one case. Therefore, all the attorneys were able to go to DC and play. . . I mean learn. Despite the fact that Shiloh took the camera, he only took a couple of pictures. He was able to visit a lot of places in the few days he was there, and would call and be so excited about seeing the place where Abe Lincoln died (across from the theatre.) He had a wonderful time, and I am glad he was able to go.

2009 Daddy Daughter Dance

Emma's school has a yearly Daddy Daughter Dance around Valentines Day. It was on February 6th this year. They were both very eager to attend, Emma wrote her Dad a note to invite him, and Shiloh planned a nice dinner before the dance. In preparation Emma allowed me to play with her hair and she wore a nice new dress for the occasion. I thought they were so cute walking out the door together. They had a wonderful time, and stayed up late dancing and enjoying each others company.

What a Trip!

Tonight a good friend of mine, CJ, called me up to see if the kids and I wanted to go to McDonalds for dinner and mini FHE. We met at 5 and were the only one's in there for an hour and a half- it was beautiful. The kids played well together and they ate well. We were starting to think about leaving when this kid showed up- and when he walked in I immediately thought "here comes trouble" BUT if you know me I always give people the benefit of the doubt.

He walks over to Ryan and stares him down, until Ryan came over to me. So I naturally held him and was finishing my conversation with CJ, when suddenly all hell broke loose. I normally don't cuss, but seriously this was as close as I have been. This "bully" as we call him now, had gone up the playplace and started punching and slapping our kids. They were screaming a scared help and crying out in pain. I don't think I have ever moved so fast in my life! I literally ran up the kids playplace and told the kid "You don't ever touch these kids." His face turned pale and he looked about as scared as any child can get; went down the slide and ran out. Meanwhile I start to console my children who had been punched in the gut and private. CJ's had gone down to meet their mom. When I get down, a conversation about bullies became our topic and what to do. CJ's oldest was slapped and had red scratches on her face, while two others suffered gut punches. After calming our kids down and getting our kids into our vans, CJ went and talked to the father who claims this isn't true and his son doesn't have any problems- "WHAT!!!" (When we were leaving the "7" kids knew we were with them and started to taunt the boy by calling him a big bully- good grief. Well at least they know that their momma's got their back :))

Just to let you know my kids are perfectly fine, have learned a good lesson, and probably won't be asking to go to McDonalds anytime soon. What I find funny is when talking about this to CJ after all the kids went to bed, is that apparently all of Mcdonalds heard me tell the kid to not touch our kids and that it was the maddest she has ever heard a mom's voice get. I will admit that my voice sounded rough because I was a little scared and extremely mad, but I had thought that I held back the noise level. Which I'm sure I did, but the decible level was still pretty high. With that knowledge in my mind- why didn't the father come in to get his kid? or even better why didn't he come and ask why a complete stranger is yelling at his child?

It's amazing how much I have realized from this experience. I am very protective over my children and their friends, I can control my anger and yet scare the crap out of someone, and that I can hustle up a playplace extremely fast! LOL- who knew!

Under Major Construction

I am teaching myself the HTML of blog templates! Therefore my blog will be undergoing some major construction. Since I do not have huge amounts of time- my blog might look silly at times. You can have a good laugh if you wish!

I have figured out how to get rid of the annoying little lines around pictures and headings or how to make them huge and hillarious. How to create any size of columns and multiple ones at that. If you have a question ask me- it's actually a lot simpler than I first thought. Anyways please forgive my changes and mismatched stuff at the moment! Thank you.

I have also discovered facebook, but already have internal struggles as to whether or not I should keep it up. What do you guys think? Anyways figuring this HTML out is a good outlet for me. Not that I have anything else to do HA! Hope you are all looking forward to Valentines Day- I know that I am!!

Have you done any of these?... Just copy and paste this to your blog and highlight or Bold the ones that you HAVE done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported by ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (bought plenty)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
87. Visited the White House.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someones life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Flown in a hot air balloon

My third broken finger!

You know those days where you plan every minute, and if all goes smooth there will be no stress and you will sleep well that night. Yeah, I had one of those days- everything was going smooth until I started setting up for YW Night in Excellence. I was moving a heavy podium into another room and smashed my hand between the podium and a steal framed door. Needless to say- it hurt, but I didn't cry and I told myself that I had lots to accomplish so I ignored it. I ripped a bunch of skin off of my left forefinger and it bleed underneath so it looks terrible! But not as terrible as my first two. My first: right forefinger playing basketball. My second: right thumb canning apples at the church cannery. Ouch! I've only broken toes, fingers, and a tiny bone in my wrist roller blading. Hopefully I never break anything else!!