It's been a while...

So I know I just used this picture but I didn't really point out that little fella on the right side of your screen.  I know I have a lot of blogging to do for little B but for some reason, tonight, I can't get my grandpa off the brain. I look at this picture, and I see my grandma (obviously) and I see my grandpa (another obvious)  but when I take a second look, I see so much more.  I see me, I see my mom, I see my siblings, my cousins, I see sleep overs, and werthers candies, I see a Coke bottle and the Utah Jazz, I see a magnifying glass and a pair of perfectly shined cowboy boots.  I see a semi truck and a bottle of Old Spice.  I see my sweet little baby boy and the arms he just left.  I see my grandpa.  MY GRANDPA! 

Sometimes I feel like I wasn't old enough to understand what happened, to understand what we lost, or what we went through.  I love my grandma dearly, I think she is amazing and such a good example as to what a good person is.  Note, I said good person, not a perfect person.  She has her faults but she understands what they are, and let me tell you, I'd only beg for her faults compared to mine!  Haha!  But as I say that, I laugh because no matter what my faults are I know she loves me, whole heartedly and ALWAYS.  Grandma has a lot of love to give, but it is ONE LOVE.  It is always the same, always consistent.  She accepts you for who you are, no matter what.  With that said, I go back to my grandpa.  I feel like I didn't know him the way I wish I could have.  I am not going to blame it on selfishness, or anything crazy like that, but, I will say that I was young.  I was young and I didn't fully understand the heartache that I still feel, that I see my mom feel, that I see my grandma and aunts and uncle feel.  I almost wish I had more to talk about, to write about, to hide about.  He was such an amazing man and although my opportunities with him were short lived, they were remembered and they always will be. I love you Grandpa, I love you more than I know how to say, to type, to write, or to think.  I hope you hear the thoughts in my mind and can feel the love that I have for you.  I have to see you again, I have to feel you again, I have to hear your voice.  Please save your favorite memories for me, I'd love to hear your side of all these stories I hear!  I love you old man.  Excuse me, Old Handsome Man!

XOXO,

Shaylee

Missin' My Momma...

As some of you know, my parents are leaving to start their latest journey. My dad has been gone for about 5 months now, making sacrifices that are beyond words and now has come the time for my mom to join him. Although we've tried to prepare ourselves for this time over the past few months, I am no where near ready for this change in my life. My keyboard is flooded with tears as I type these words, my momma is'a leavin'. It's so bizarre, I've known that this was coming but I don't think I really understood how I would handle it when it arrived. My heart has been hurting since my dad left but reality is, we've all dealt with it and we still had my mom here to keep us sane. Don't get me wrong, my dad is the other half of me, and I miss him each day. I've even found myself avoiding him just so I didn't have to feel these feelings. My dad is the rock of this family, he always has been, and it is that very reason I knew that the decision he was making was right. While he is our rock, my mom is our heart. She is the fuel to this family, she is the truest piece to this puzzle. She is so amazing, so creative, so funny, so tender, so sweet, so sincere, so perfect. Yes, my mom is perfect, and she really and truely is my very best friend. How does one live without their very best friend? Who am I going to call when I want to run a quick errand to Sam's Club (secretly knowing that we'll end up at JC Penny's)? Who do I call when I need help hanging decorations because I just can't do it the same way she can? Who do I call when I need help picking out flowers, and for the cheapest price? Where do I go when I need to get away? There are times that the only reason my butt gets out to run is to see what Shell is up to. Where am I going to go to steal a can of soup for lunch or a roll of TP cause I forgot? I know that there are a million answers to these questions, and I know that there are many of loved ones that are going to be our support, but I'm sorry, you just aren't my mom. You can try, and I know you will, I know that we will be given love and we will still laugh and live our lives, but I can also guarantee that it wont be the same.




I recently stumbled upon this quote and of course it brought me to tears, and now, to my knees.




"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path"




This quote can be read and interpreted in any way that you like, but the way I read it was like this... My mom has been given an opportunity, and yes, it is an opportunity. No matter how much my heart hurts or how bad I hate the opportunity, it is a good one and I'm proud of my dad for seeking it. For challenging our will and our love. This has done nothing but test and strengthen our family and the love that we have for each other. Anywho, my mom is taking a different path, and although different, it doesn't mean that it is the wrong one. My mother deserves a new path, as long as she remembers her way back home, and I know she will. At the end of the day, there is nothing that has ever come between the love I have for my mother, and let me tell you, Houston sure as hell won't either! I love you mom, I am so proud of you and although I can't quite wrap my mind around this, I know you are doing all of this because you love us. You need to learn a few things Shell, do it to.


"If God lead you to it, he will see you through it"




Love you Momma

Little Red Riding Hood 2011

This year I was introduced to biking, and two weeks later Lisa talked me into riding the "Little Red Riding Hood" bike ride in Lewiston, Idaho.

Since we were new to this crazy sport we weren't sure what to expect with this race and for short notice, I think we did pretty good. Thankfully, Lifetime was a huge support and they gave us each a Lifetime 25 Year shirt for us to wear. With that, we decided to throw in a little twist, we wore TuTu's! Yes, the new girls from Lifetime showed up to LRRH wearing TuTu's! The night before the race we all got together to pick up our registration packets, we had a couple of stops in between which included the "Protect Your Junk" booth, they sold an anti chaffing cream. This was our all time favorite place to stop, and I must admit, it was probably because of their slogan... "Lube. Ride Hard. Repeat." Isn't that just so funny?

We woke up the next morning, got ready, and headed out on our 36 mile journey. I really didn't know what to expect because I had just gotten my bike merely two weeks before this event and I obviously hadn't rode that far... EVER! The first 12 miles were the hardest, I really thought I was going to give up. That attitude was completely mental because my body really was okay. After our first stop, I took a little goo and I was back on the saddle. It was such a pleasurable ride after that. Nearly everyone that past us said "Love the TuTu's", or made some kind of comment. That was a really good encouragement throughout the ride and it made it that much more fun.

Once the race was over, we decided to stay the night in Lewiston with Mary and her family. It was really nice to just take a break and enjoy our weekend away from home. It was a great experience with our little riding gang and I can't wait to do it again next year! Here are pictures of all the fun...

Sometimes...

The other day B and I were in the house and all of a sudden an unfamiliar noise came from the front driveway. We got up, hollered at Koda to join us, and we walked out to find this...

Tyler was cleaning out the vacuum with a leaf blower, hmmm...?

At first I was wondering why in the world he was doing it, then I thought, "At what point did he think... I know, leaf blower!"

Oops, caught ya! Haha, at least the vacuum is now clean.

Wonder what he'll use to clean the leaf blower?

I'll keep you posted...

Math Science Olympiad!

A couple of weeks ago my mom headed down to TX for her first of many trips, while she was gone Kai was able to hang out with us. Since my mom usually watches B on Monday's, and she was gone, I had to take the day off. Who am I kidding? I was glad to finally have a good excuse to take a day off of work and spend it with my little guy, or in this case, guys. Lucky for me, that same day Kai was participating in the Weber County Math Science Olympiad. Kai is an A+ student in just about every subject so the fact that he was going to represent his school in two different categories was no surprise to me. The picture of him above was before he headed off to school, he was so excited and I think I was just as excited for him!

These pictures are of him and his friend who did the Tial Trials with him. They didn't place but they sure did good and I was proud of them any ways.

Kai's second event was Krypto and, drum roll please......

First Place!!!

As this picture was taken Maci and I were both in tears. We were so proud of him and to see the excitement on his face was priceless. These are the moments that we are going to miss the most but the ones we are most grateful to have.
So proud of you Kai, we are so lucky to have such a smart and good looking kid in our family. Always stay focused when it comes to your school work and always have the same enthusiasm that you do now, I know there are big plans for you in your future and we will always be there cheering you on! Love you :)

Easter!

Man O' Man have we been busy, this weekend was Easter and in a nut shell, this is what happened....

And a little of this...

Oh, and this...






and it ended like this...


Happy Easter Everyone!!!!!!!

GooGoo for GaGa!!!

GaGa Tickets- $100

Hotel Room- $50

Room Service- $22

Wigs- $14

Best Concert With My Sister- PRICELESS!!!

After almost a year of anticipation the big night came, my absolute favorite gal came to the SLC,

The Lady of GaGa!!!!

Her tickets went on sale almost a year ago and of course Maci and I had to attend. She just had Reece and I was about to find out I was pregnant so the excitement for a girls night was off the charts! We originally just planned to ride the Front Runner down but we decided that if we were going to take a night away from our kiddos we were going to make it worth it. Brookie hooked us up with a room at the Sheraton so we had all day to go shopping and get ready for the main event.

For those of you that know anything about Lady GaGa you know that she is a little extreme and we knew that we were in for quite the show, from both her and her fans. We thought that if we didn't do something a little fun we'd be the odd ones out so Maci had the most brilliant idea... WIGS!!!

I absolutely LOVED wearing the wig. At first we were a little emarassed but once we got ready we were comfortable and couldn't wait to get our GaGa on.

The moment our shuttle dropped us off we saw this...

Yes, that man does not have pants on. Believe it or not, this group of women (haha) were NOTHING compared to what was in the arena. It was awesome!!!

This is a picture of Miss GaGa herself, she was nothing short of AMAZING that night. We had such great seats and I don't think I was sitting in it during the whole concert. There were so many different kinds of people there and that made the experience that much better. It was like you knew what you were getting into before you even walked in the door and once you were inside it was a whole different world but everyone just loved to be apart of it. Weird, but fun! Later that night Maci and I had an experience that is too lengthy to type but let's just say it was the first time Maci or myself ever felt judged in such a negative way. We were there having a good time and just because we looked the way we did and we were there supporting GaGa some old man felt like he could talk to me, push me, and treat me like garbage. He was set in his ways and was against what we were there for. Guess what ESA, those are the kind of people you shouldn't have working at a Lady GaGa concert!!

It was such an eye opener and such a good reminder to treat those around you the way you want to be treated. Who cares if a man wants to wear a bra and thong, or shoot no pants at all? It was such a fun night and is full of memories (or pieces of memories) that Maci and I will never forget. I can't wait until she tours next year, I'm already counting down the days!