12 Is Too Close to 13

Hyatt decided to turn 12. Even though I told him not to. I begged him not to. I threatened to stop feeding him, so he would stop growing. I kicked, I screamed, I whined. He did it anyway. So. . . in honor of his 12th birthday, and in keeping with some very outrageous tradition that Matt got started a few years back. . . we took an unexpected trip. We woke up a couple of days before Hyatt's birthday, and Matt said to me "Let's go see the Yankees again" (now, I have never seen the Yankees play, but Hyatt and Matt have done it a few times. . . remember what I said about an outrageous tradition) So we packed up the next day and off we went, but this time we went to California to see the Yankees. Much warmer, and much easier. We took the boys to Huntington beach, and stayed in a brand new hotel that was right on the beach. We did all the fun stuff. We ate at all the great spots, we shopped at at the great shops, we rode waves, we ate doughnuts made by surfers (why do old surfers make such great doughnuts. . . gee I wonder), and we went to the game at Anaheim Stadium. We packed so much fun in to 4 days, it felt like 2 weeks.

Two things happened on this trip. First, I decided it was ok for Hyatt to turn 12. He is so much fun to hang out with. He is funny and smart, and brave. He is a little too brave. The life guards at Huntington had to remind him of that. . . over the loud speaker. I decided that even though I hate that he is growing up, I love who he is growing up to be, so I can enjoy it. But I may still complain once in a while. I get to do that. The day he is taller than me, which at the current rate of things will be sometime this year, I get to REALLY complain. The second thing I discovered is that I LOVE major league baseball. LOVE IT! No more letting the boys go with out me. I want in on all the fun. Matt thinks he may have created a monster.

We had a fabulous trip. It was all so perfect. The hotel had even decorated our room for Hyatt's birthday when we got there. (Matt is such a fun dad!) They had a huge poster, signs and a big huge box of treats for Hyatt to take to the game. If you ever get a chance to go to Huntington, stay at the Shore Breaks Hotel, it is the best! A huge thanks to my Mom and Dad for keeping not only Griffin, but the dog too! THANK YOU!! It was so fun to have time with the older boys, and do all the crazy stuff we can't really do with Griff. You guys are the best!

St George Marathon

Hyatt and I made a quick trip to St. George to watch Kris run the marathon. She was amazing! It was so fun to see her cross the finish line. The last time I saw her cross a finish line was her fist marathon a couple of years ago in Dublin Ireland. It was so exciting to see her run again. She had a great race, and could have run even faster then she did (which was already pretty darn fast), but decided to stay with her running partner who had a little trouble mid race. That is just the kind of gal she is! When I grow up I want to be just like Kris. She just decides she wants to do something and the next thing you know she is doing it. It is just that simple! So far this year she has run a marathon or two, written a book that will be released in the spring (check her out on Amazon. . . Kris Chandler and the book is called Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me), studied birds in Ecuador, learned how to sail, kayaked all over Utah and Montana, been the best mom that 4 kids could ever ask for, AND talked me down "off the ledge" about 50 times. Those are just a few things she has done, and she has a million more planned. She is the coolest.

We stayed at the Entrada Inn, which Hyatt thought was pretty cool because High School Musical 2 was filmed there. He tried to pretend like he didn't think it was cool, but he and Clark were not fooling anyone. They had a great time.

The pool was so nice. The only bummer was they wouldn't let them jump off the rocks. The weather was perfect, and we all had a great time. I am shooting for the half marathon in 6 months. We will see how that goes. For now I was content to watch my sister and enjoy spending time with her and my mom. Thanks Kris!

Meet The Newest Member of Our Family. . . And Her Brother

Last December, Matt and I had a small lapse in reasonable judgement. We decided we wanted to get the boys a puppy. We looked and looked, and we decided on a labradoodle. Then we went and looked at dogs. Luckily we brought my parents with us. My dad, in a nice "not really trying to get in your business" kind of way, told us that we had lost our minds, and that we were stupid to get a dog in the middle of December, and that Labradoodles were just mutts with an expensive price tag. (You see, my dad. . . he never really says what he thinks, it has always been a problem with him!) So we waited. And waited. And waited. But, because we like being pecked to death with questions from our children. . . we told them that we were going to get them a puppy. So the great puppy search began. Everyday for weeks Hyatt would bring us pictures of a different breed. He would research them and print pictures, and tell us that this was the dog for him. Then I would find something wrong with the breed, and crush his hopes and dreams over and over again. It became a ritual. Then my dad called us one day and told us he had found the dog for us. A hunting dog, of course. Not some wimpy sissy dog, like a labradoodle, but a rugged "boys dog" that will bring pheasants back to you after you shoot them out of the sky with your shot gun.
"A cocker spaniel" my dad said over the phone.
"A what?" I said.
"You mean to tell me that you want me to get the same dog as Oprah freakin' Winfrey? "
"Yep"

"Well, that's rugged." I thought.
"But, not just any Cocker Spaniel, a Field Cocker, they are totally different" He said. " They will hunt all day AND make the perfect pet, and I have found the best breeder in the United States and he will have a pup to you by June."
"JUNE!" I said. "It's only January, and I am already undergoing a slow form of torture with questions about WHEN, WHEN, WHEN!"
But, it was done. So the wait began. Hyatt marked off the days in his calendar. He talked about it with all his friends, and anyone else who would listen. The twins thought up names, and played make-believe in the little dog crate we had in the garage.We read all the books, watched all the videos. Googled images of Field Cocker's until the keyboard wore out. Then June finally came. 2 puppies in that litter.
Both males.
So we went on waiting.
This time the date was August. The week school starts, we told the boys. Well, that week came and it went. The poor kids couldn't take it anymore. It was like moving the date of Christmas, or changing the finish line at a marathon. But, last week, the day finally arrived. The boys all loaded in Grandma and Grandpa's car and left school early to make the trip to the airport to get the dog. There were pictures taken, hugs and kisses for the dog, even some welcome home posters made. They brought the dog home and loved it for 3 whole hours. . . right up until I walked in, took one look at the dog, and told them it was the
WRONG DOG.
"Not our dog" I said, "Not the dog from the pictures, not the dog we were promised, and look a little closer here, NOT EVEN A FEMALE!" (Because I am wildly outnumbered here, this was an important detail. I was not about to get a male dog, do you think I am crazy? )
So, upon further inspection( and a priceless look of embarrassment on my dad's face for not even noticing) it was discovered that our dog had been switched at the airport, and sent to Georgia. We had a dog alright, but it was our dogs brother.

I thought my kids were going to die.

They cried and they moaned, and they bitterly wrapped their little "Christmas present" back up, and took him back to the airport. So, we began the waiting game again. Luckily we only had to wait one day. Back to the airport, new posters, new pictures. New Dog. And now we have our dog. The right dog. The perfect dog. The dog we have been waiting for all year.
And. . . she was worth the wait!


Sky Blue Sage
"SAGE"

She only chews things that she can get her mouth around, so that's only EVERYTHING. Including Griffin. Griff is my new best friend, he wants me to hold him all day long.He dreams of being be taller. He eats lunch ON the table now, not at the table. He follows me where ever I go, looking over his shoulder all the while. He has a love- hate relationship with the dog. He is not sure she was worth the wait. But as for the rest of us, we love her, and want her to stay.

Footnote: In fairness to my dad, he clearly would have noticed that this was the wrong dog if he hadn't be swept up in the emotion of three little boys jumping for joy about a new dog. I don't even think he got a chance to look at the dog, because the boys were mauling him. So Dad, you know I am going to hassle you about this forever, but let it be said, that it really would have happened to anyone, and we love you for finding us the perfect dog.

Now will you help us train her?
Please?

This is her brother.
Brady insisted we call him "Kevin".
I'm not sure why, but it may be because he recently was subjected to a screening of the movie
"Footloose"
Anyway, we liked Kevin, but he was not nearly as cute, and we were happy to trade.

First Day of School

Here they are. Ready to go. Like most mom's, I both love and hate this day. I miss them so much when they are gone, but it helps me appreciate how much I love the chaos and confusion of four rowdy boys in the house.
This year they all got a candy bar poster from their Grandma and Grandpa. So cute! No one wants to eat the candy because the poster is too cool. I am sure they will cave soon. Thanks Pat and Duke!

Look at Brady's face! Do you think he likes it?

New Teachers

Brady and Coleman started Spanish Immersion this year. They are so excited about it. Soon they will be getting in on Matt and Hyatt's secret conversation's. Check out their teacher! Cole had a big smile on his face when he got a look at her. I wonder why?

Okay, so I know this is a horrible picture, apparently I don't know how to use my camera, but I had to throw it in because you can see how much taller Hyatt is than his teacher. It is so funny! I'm not sure how much she likes it though!

Boys of Summer

I do this every year. I try to squeeze every last fun thing I can think of into the last two weeks of summer. Call it a panic attack if you must, but I just can't help myself. These next few pictures are some of the highlights of the craziness. Matt and I took Hyatt to his first concert. Kenny Chesney. He loved it! Matt, of course, hooked us up with super good seats so he is totally ruined now, and thinks all concerts are like this, but it was so fun we couldn't resist. We will make him sit in the nose bleeds for the John Hiatt concert in October, that will straighten him out. I think the drunk girls in cowboy hats freaked him out a little, but he put on a brave face.

I took the boys back to Montana for one more week of fun. This is Brady and Coleman at our favorite ice cream shop, we sent this picture to Matt to rub it in that we were eating huckleberry ice cream with out him. Not nice, I know.

This is my cute 11 year old, on Hebgen Lake again. Deep thoughts running through that head. (Actually it was just REALLY early in the morning, and he was still a little out of it).

We took several more jet skiing trips. We are trying to find the best place to go. On this trip we found the WORST place to go. Utah Lake. Worst place, hands down. (It makes me so mad too, because it could be such a beautiful place, but this is not the place for my environmentalist rant. Where is the place for that by the way, because I feel one coming on? ) The sunset was pretty though. Griff was being carried off by the giant sized mosquitoes, so I couldn't take many pictures.

We spent several days at our nice neighbor's pool. The water slide is better than any water park around, and it is so gorgeous! It was so nice of them to let us swim so much!

We made the obligatory trip to Lagoon. I didn't even bring a camera this time, but I did snap a couple of pictures of Griff on the kiddie rides for the first time.

He loved the elephants. He loved riding them all by his big self while all of us stood outside and made goofy faces at him and waved wildly. I don't know which was more fun, the ride, or seeing us act like idiots.

Another Day In Paradise

Just another day in Paradise. Paradise, Utah that is. My Dad and I took the boys up for one last day of fishing before school started. I am sure there will actually be more days of fishing after school gets going, but we will have to sluff then, so I won't be able to post about it, lest you all think I am a bad mother. We had a great time. Fish, Dirt, Sunshine, and Fresh Raspberry Shakes from Maddox Drive In.
It's good to be one of these boys.

Trout Hunters.
We are trying to teach the boys how to read the water. It is pretty easy when you can see the fish rising all over the place. Paradise spoils them. We will take them back to Hebgen where they have to work for it, right Dad?

After scoping things out, it's time to get into some fish. Cole started the day off right!

Life is pretty good!

Then Brady hooked one, and we were off and running. At the end of the day, everyone caught fish but me. LOOSER! But, as we say in the Chandler family (especially on days we get skunked) "It's just good to get out!" And it was.

Have you ever heard the expression "Like shooting fish in a barrel." Well, this is what it looks like. The boys found the "barrel" that they keep the fish to stock the streams with, and they thought they had died and gone to heaven. . . until Grandpa told them that those fish were off limits, and they couldn't catch them.

It didn't stop Cole from stripping down just to "get a little closer look" He only picked a couple up dad. Sorry.

This is what the end of the day looks like. Tired and hungry. Nothing that a quick stop to Maddox Drive-In couldn't fix. Great Day!

We Miss This Kid!

Hyatt is at Outdoor Education Camp all week. He is a brave little guy, he went all by himself, with no friends! He decided he wanted to go, even though none of his friends were going. He is so tough! He was a little nervous the morning I dropped him off, but he made a few friends while waiting for the bus, so he was happy. I think I was more nervous than he was. I know he is having a great experience, and I am proud of him for doing the hard thing. We miss him, but it is pretty quiet with out him picking on the twins. Maybe he will like them better when he gets back. For a day or two anyway.


We are having fun with out him though!

Cole and Brady are pretty proud of their "surfing" skills

I love the look on Coleman's face, he was so loving being better than Cassidy at something in the water, but then she figured it out too. She is an amazing swimmer, and it is hard on the ego to have a GIRL (who is also younger than you) be so much better at something. I love it !

Montana Fun

We took a trip up to the cabin for 2 weeks. The next few (okay, more than a few) posts are all from the trip. It was a blast! The boys did it all. I snapped these pictures from the car while waiting for the boys to get ice cream at a little shop in West. They illustrate one of the best things about the cabin this year. . . Cousins. We were all there, except Alex and Jessie (who we missed). I gave the boys 20 bucks and told them to go get ice cream for themselves. They were not tall enough to get the attendant's attention, so they had to make a plan.

When Carson couldn't hold Brady up any more, he took one for the team.

Success!

Pull The Tail Off The Donkey, I Mean Cow

Every year at this little rodeo they let all the kids climb the fence and try to pull a ribbon off of a calf. It is the highlight of the rodeo for the boys (go figure). They break the kids up in to two groups, under 7 and 7-12. This year they all got to get in on the action.
Look at that calf! Scared out of it's mind!

Brady and Cole ran pretty fast, but they didn't get the ribbon. They did get two shiny gold dollars though.

This guy, however, managed to chase that calf down first and get the ribbon. He could not have been more proud of himself! He won a gift certificate to the local bar and grill, and most of all, he won braggin' rights. One happy kid!