Hunter's Whit!

Last night, Jeremy was teasing Hunter about eating his meat, and he asked him, "Hey Hunter, are you a Meat-atarian?" Hunter quickly responded, "No, I am a mac-and-cheese-aterian!"

Blown Out Tire

Well, driving home from picking up the kids in Layton on Friday afternoon was certainly an adventure! We were just riding along laughing and talking when all of a sudden we could hear a loud grinding noise from the back of the van. We quickly pulled over and discovered that the tire had blown out. Colton was a great help as he put his practiced abilities into effect. Luckily I had made Colton read the car's instruction manual on changing a tire when he was a WEBELO scout, because he was able to recall how to get the spare out from under the car. If I had been stranded on the road without him, I would have laid on the ground and started to cry because I NEVER would have figured it out. As it was, Colton and I were able to get it changed without too much trouble. Of course, people were honking and blaring their horns at us on the freeway, but that seemed a little strange to me until I realized that Hunter was standing against the fence facing the railroad tracks taking a leak. He can't EVER pass up the opportunity to take a leak.

Yahtzee!

On Thanksgiving, we were all sitting around the kitchen table with our family playing a rowdy game of Yahtzee. We were all drinking soda out of our blue plastic cups and having a good time shaking the dice and laughing at each other. Our mistake in choosing blue plastic cups to drink out of was made evident when Ashlynn attempted to take a drink out of the blue plastic dice shaker. We all laughed lightly at her simple mistake; but erupted in raucous laughter when shortly after, when Laura scooped up the dice and plopped them in her cup and started shaking up her soda covered dice. Hilarious...we will make sure not to make that mistake again.

Christmas Music

I have been listening to Christmas music ever since the day after Halloween. I love how it relaxes me and brings happy thoughts and feelings to me and my kids. I have been getting a lot of flack from others though as they hear me singing along or as they hear it playing on my work computer. I am surprised by each of their reasons for being bothered by such fun music. All in all though, I can't believe that they are unable or unwilling to let their hearts be filled with the Christmas spirit. Many of them, I am sure, are only willing to let it happen on Christmas day. I would hope that more people would keep the feelings of Christ's birthday in their hearts through out the year. (You can lump me in with those who need a little more spirit).

I have to tell you that when Laura and I were delivering the paper the other morning together that we were singing to the radio all of the carols at the top of our lungs in the car. We had a blast! I wonder what we sounded like when we had to stop for porches and we were singing out the window. The time certainly went by fast for us. I felt like we had been floating around the neighborhood while we were delivering...almost like a sleigh on a cloud of snow...

Merry Christmas Y'all!!!! Get in the mood!!!!

Detoxing

I am starting a new diet today...detoxing for the next two weeks. No sugar and nothing that tastes good...can't wait for the jitters and the shakes! MMMMMMmmmmmm...shakes!

Hunter's Testimony

We have been learning in FHE about the beginnings and the organization of the LDS church. We have been watching videos and having fun discussions about Joseph Smith's role in the history of the church. I knew Hunter was listening, but I didn't know how much he was absorbing. So last sunday when Hunter was excited to bear his own personal testimony about his beliefs at church, I was interested in hearing if he had picked up much from our lessons. Many of the other little children were easily reciting the normal, "I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet", and I figured that Hunter would include that statement also in his testimony. Early into his testimony I could tell that he was thoughtfully trying to say something about how Joseph Smith restored the gospel to the earth, since that was what we had been focusing on in our FHE lessons. He truly surprised us all though when he thoughtfully and with great confidence testified, "I know that Joseph Smith destroyed the church!" Man, was he proud of himself when he sat down. Many of us were stiffling our laughter so hard that tears were streaming down our faces. He was so sincere... He later told me that he was trying to say, "Restored the church". He knew that he had said it wrong, but he was still happy with the effort. If we could all have such faith in ourselves, we would never worry about openning our mouths to share the gospel. What a great example Hunter was to all of us on Sunday!

"Rainy Days and Sundays Always Get Me Down"...

The kids and I had a full weekend. We went for a bike ride in the rain (Laura got hurt going over a bump). I stood out in the rain at work for two hours letting parents know that we had cancelled their soccer games. We watched Colton play his soccer game in a terrible rain storm (He hurt his knee from an illegal slide tackle done on him). And just when I thought it couldn't rain any harder, it picked the time that I was delivering papers in the morning to dump as hard as a waterfall. Are you seeing a rainy pattern...? Luckily, I found some good deals on rain coats for the kids (after the rain finally stopped.) Oh well, we will be better prepared for the next storm.

Well, my diet and excercise program has not been very successful this week. As Laura said, "Man, we have a lot of desserts in our house!" I tried to be good, but we made fair scones (Thanks to Jeremy and Janet for supplying the irresistable mix). Who can really resist a fair scone, or two? Pudding, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, apple pie and ice cream, and of course popcorn at the dollar movie... I swear I only had a bite or two, and I never touched the cookies... Oh, and can I count walking around Walmart for an hour and a half as a good workout? If not then I didn't really get a good work out in all week. I will have to try harder this week.

Where is my heart?

I have been reviewing my life lately since I was notified last week that one of my cross country buddies from High School just past away from a heart attack. He was only 40 and still in the prime of his life. I felt honored that his friends and family wanted to include me in his services because of my connection to him from our montana state championship team...how long ago. While I couldn't attend, my heart was with all of my friends in Montana this past week. How fleeting is life?

Along these same lines, I have decided to participate in my work's Biggest Loser contest that starts on the 1st of Oct. My eye doctor is afraid that my current loss of sight in my left eye is related to a recent onset of diabetes. I now have a new sense of determination... Wish me luck.

Circus - Tigers and Clowns...oh, my!

The kids and I had an absolute blast at the circus last night. We were on the very last row on the upper deck of the Energy Solutions Arena. Talk about vertigo.:) I guess I shouldn't complain since the tickets were only $5 a piece.

I hoped that the kids would enjoy the experience, but I couldn't have forced them to have more fun than they seemed to have had on their own. Hunter couldn't soak it up fast enough.

The funniest thing about the whole night occurred on our drive home. We happened to pass an area where a skunk had obviously been run over and the smell was very strong. I heard Hunter exclaim from the back seat, "Ewww, I can still smell the elephants all the way out here!"

Family Bowling Night

Well, I have officially started on the downward track athletically. The kids and I went bowling tonight for family home evening. All the kids were amazing. I, on the other hand, could have used some oxygen and a cortezone shot or two. Laura got two strikes and a spare...she followed each instruction to a tee. Colton got a strike and a couple of spares. Hunter got a strike. And Ashlynn was simply consistent. Colton and Laura bowled without bumpers and I couldn't have been more proud of them. They all have great form...natural Kehr bowlers.

The problem was that I couldn't close out a frame to save my life...what an embarrasement. But, I was enjoying myself so much watching the kids and giving them advice when they asked for it that I couldn't focus on my own game. (That's my story.) In retrospect, I guess that I didn't really see my lack of game as a problem. Except...they were all gunning for their old man. Ha! I am glad that they were so focused on their own successes that they didn't feel the need to rub it in too bad.

At the end of the game though, I was losing to Ashlynn by one point...should I have done the gracious thing and thrown a couple of gutter balls? I guess I probably could of and maybe I should have, but she needs to win on her own merits...LOL! That's when kids will truly know that they have succeeded.

I am so grateful that they are able to live in the moment. They were all so appreciative that we could go bowling. Of course, I think they are hoping that Grandma and Grandpa are willing to compete against them when they come out again. Now, if they can beat Grandpa, then that would really be something...

Porch Delivery

A couple of early mornings ago, the girls and I were delivering papers together. I received notice that one of my customers turned 80 and could no longer walk to the front of her driveway to pick up her paper. The request for a "porch service" didn't sit well with me, but it did say she was 80.

When I pulled into her driveway, I believed that it turned slightly and went in front of her home. I quickly realized that wasn't the case when my lights shone on the beautifully manacured grass...and I was in the middle of it. I was so upset about leaving tire marks on her lawn that the only notice that there was a chain link fence behind me was when I heard the loud sound of plastic bumper to metal. With the girls screaming in the back, and me surpressing inappropriate language, I stopped the car soon enough that I only flattened the fence so that it was parallel with the ground...(Flat, Ha!) Luckily, I was able to straighten the fence back up and it looked good as new. I then said a little prayer that the customer was really 80 years old and that she wouldn't be strong enough to walk out of her home and that she couldn't see far enough away to notice the tire marks on her lawn. Sadly, I didn't receive any confirmation that my prayer would be answered.

The next day, I was happy to see that the tire marks had been covered by the grass and there was no sign of my passing. Thank you for small miracles. Don't you think such a story could be shared in testimony meeting? Not!!!!

Out of Gas, Again!

Well, I woke up yesterday morning and couldn't get out of bed. Apparently, I am officially too old and too out of shape to push a minivan out of traffic, down a busy street, into a park, and around to the parking stalls. Of course, I only had help pushing it into the parking stall (thanks nice ladies!) I had plenty of people who believed that honking their horns at me unceasingly would help me get that vehicle out of their way so much faster. How frustrating...I was on my way to put gas into the vehicle and it couldn't wait 200 more yards. I thought the "E" meant "Enough". Now I know better. Luckily, the van wasn't full of kids at the time.

Don't touch that!

The other day, I came out of my room and entered the kitchen area where Hunter, Ashlynn, and Laura were eating breakfast. I noticed what appeared to be a smooth and shiny rock. In exasperation, I asked the kids, "Who brought a rock into the house?" As I got closer and upon deeper inspection, I realized it looked more like the upstairs neighbor's dog, Jackson, had left us a small and accidental gift on the floor. I asked, "Who let the dog in?" The kids then crowed around the little nugget and began commenting on it. Statements like, "Ewwww, it's from the dog," and, "No, it's a rock," eminated from the kids. I even went so far as to poke it with my big toe. As we were thus engaged, we heard a low and slightly embarressed voice from the bathroom... "Don't touch that!" came the 12 year old voice from behind the bathroom door.

Yuck, I poked it with my toe!!!!