KANSAS OR BUST!

Like I said in the previous post, we drove up to Kansas this past week to see Garth Brooks in concert. We left last Sunday and stayed a week with Kristin and Chad. It was fun to see everyone but at the same time is kinda blew because EVERYONE...I mean EVERYONE INCLUDING STELLA got sick! Everyday another person was sick. Rylee kicked us off, then Kent, then Amanda, followed by Sophie/Stella, Kristin, Chad and then me! Mom luckily came whenI think it had already died away! That kinda stunk but it was still fun to visit with everyone and help Kristin and Chad get settled in their new townhome! We had quite the week with the sickness running through the house, moving/settling them in, experiencing a cold day with NO heat, and seeing GARTH! It was fun visiting with family and friends. Thanks SO much Kristin and Chad for you hospitality and especially letting us bring Lil Stella along! Here are a few pics from our little trip aside from the concert!

Rylee and Sophie dancing the new Garth Brooks CD Mom bought--yes Sophie prefers to be naked!

Boston LOVES Rylee and is ALWAYS smiling at her!

COUSINS!

While we were in Kansas, Boston turned 6 months which means I can now OFFICIALLY start rice cereal!! I don't think Boston new what to expect and he's not quite a pro at eating it just yet but he seems to like it some what. He'll learn how to handle it soon enough!

GARTH! GARTH! GARTH!

Mom flew in for it too! We all went-Kristin, Chad, Mom and me-Kent hung out with the kids at home for us--he's not much of a concert goer..

Yes, that is correct! I'm talking about GARTH BROOKS! And YES I did just get to see him in concert this past week...not just ONCE...but TWO TIMES!!!!!! I was THRILLED and it was ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS BOTH TIMES! Amanda had gotten tickets from Brandon for her birthday to the concert. I had previously purchased my own tickets to the show. Well, Brandon ended up not being able to fly down to Kansas City with her so since I was going to be in town as well, she invited me! Thank you again and again Amanda! So I was able to go Tuesday night AND Friday night! IT WAS AMAZING! I have always said that seeing Garth Brooks in concert was on my "List of Things to Do Before I Die" list! The 8 hour drive to Kansas was TOTALLY worth it, the price we paid for tickets was worth it (it wasn't outrageously priced) and the performance was BEYOND worth it! I was on my feet the WHOLE time..BOTH TIMES...screaming every word to all of his songs! Trisha Yearwood opened for him and she was AMAZING as well! They sound JUST like they do on the radio! Garth has SOOO much energy I swear he could be A.D.D. He gets his energy from the crowd and just goes CRAZY! I'm sorry for those of you who weren't able to attend any of those 9 concerts that he was only performing in Kansas City (why I really don't know..)...because it was probably the BEST concert I have EVER been to and WILL ever go to...unless I get to see him again someday (which I am hoping because I do want to hear him sing my fav "Standing Outside the Fire" which he didn't sing either nights!). LOVED IT!....LOVED IT!!!!!

These pics were from the second night...forgot my camera when Amanda and I went! OPPS!

ADDICTED.....AGAIN!



They say the first step to breaking addictions is to first admit to yourself you have a problem. Well, I'm doing just that! I'M ADDICTED TO EXCEDRIN AND DR. PEPPER!

Last summer, I randomly would get headaches. Due to my past history growing up of having to take Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aleve, PLUS any OTHER kind of anti-inflammatory meds for my knees, heels, and anything else that was inflamed or injured during my soccer career, my body no longer reacts to those drugs...AT ALL! They just DO NOT work! So I had to move to the stronger stuff last summer when I my headaches came on...Excedrin here I come! Things were fine at first but then I started to notice that my headaches cleared up faster if I took excedrin WITH a Dr. Pepper! Fine, no biggy! Then I started noticing that everyday at work around 12:30 or so a headache would kick in, I'd leave for lunch take 2 excedrin and buy a Dr. Pepper and within a few minutes my headache would be gone! This went on ALL summer pretty much EVERYDAY! We were trying to get pregnant (what seemed like FOREVER....) and soI thought that maybe this could be part of my problem. So I decided to end this addiction. It was VERY hard! I really had to fight my headaches everyday. I wouldn't take excedrin and I stayed clear of my dear friend Dr. Pepper! Then BAM the next month I found out I was pregnant. I'm not saying this is the reason I got pregnant or the reason I was having problems GETTING pregnant but hey maybe it helped! Things were going good on the addiction side especially knowing that I wasn't going to have ANY OF THAT when I was pregnant. All was fine and dandy until my headaches started to come back during my pregnancy! Tylenol NEVER helped but I just had to deal! In NO WAY did I want to harm my little baby! So I fought it!



Anyway, my headaches FINALLY subsided and no longer came around. I think my body new I wasn't going to give in. I went the rest of my pregnancy free from headache pain...until the DAY AFTER BOSTON WAS BORN!!!!!! Funny coincidence huh?!? Apparently I had a blood patch done from my epidural that apparently was the cause of the PAINFUL headaches...I mean really these were the WORST I had EVER experienced! That seemed to help for maybe a day then the headaches came back...long story short...after MUCH PAIN, NAUSEA, NEUROLOGISTS VISITS, ER VISITS, CAT SCANS, NOT HOLDING MY SON OR BREASTFEEDING HIM...AND MORE the solution FINALLY came....CAFFEINE!! It took what seemed like an ETERNITY for them to figure it out but the neurologist prescribed me caffeine pills and told me to drink caffeinated drinks. THAT HEALED ME! After about a week and a half my headaches were GONE! Guess my body is meant for caffeine!!



Well...today I got a headache. As I went to the cupboard to grab my excedrin, I realized an old pattern coming about....around 2:30ish every day or so...I get a headache and need a Dr. Pepper with an excedrin! HELP! Will this EVER stop?!? I really do try! At first I tried just taking ONE excedrin with NO Dr. Pepper but that no longer works! I HAVE TO HAVE TWO EXCEDRIN WITH A DR PEPPER! I need to stop! Sometimes I really can't help it...but I can't let this happen! It's not HEALTHY AND I'm trying to cut calories/carbonation so this DOESN'T HELP! So I'm going to try to stop it.....and admitting my problem is the first step...I think this is hereditary because my Great Grandma T always had to start her day with a coke and an excedrin for a little PEP in her day! HA! Bless that woman! You gotta love her!

DAD'S THE BIG 5-0!

Ok so I know it's taking me forever to write about this weekend but hey little by little as I collect the pictures this blog will be complete...soon people SOON!!

Daddy turned 50 August 28th! He was going to be up in Utah to help get Kelli settled in for school and also for the BYU game (those who don't know my dad is a HUGE BYU fan...like HUGE!) that weekend. So instead of going home to Louisiana, mom decided to suprise dad and fly all the kids out to Utah! I hope he was surpised but knowing him he probably had a hint that we were all coming. Regardless it was ALOT of fun. Dad wanted to show BYU how the south does football so we all tailgated before---but of course our tailgating was very minimal compared to the south. We got none other than FRIED chicken and LONG NECK ROOT BEERS for the occasion! I unfortunately didn't get to see much of the game because it was so freaking hot, I took Boston underneath the bleachers to keep him cool along with all the other mom's in the stadium! Kari sat and kept me company as we waited for the game to be over! BYU DID pull off the win! GOOO COUGARS! I think they did this in honor of my dad's birthday...besides he practically KNOWS EACH PLAYER!! HA!

This is the day before the game-we all surprised him and ate out at RED ROBIN..YUM!!! Some of the family didn't make this picture....

Our small little tailgating party..HA! All for you daddy! The best part was when Arizona fans walked by Dad wanted us to yell "COUGAR BAIT COUGAR BAIT!" Kent REALLY got into this...so did Rylee! Good times!

Boss in his BYU gear Aunt Aundrea helped us make! WOW he looks SO small compared to now..and that was only 2 months ago!

Uh Kristin...your daughter is walking in the street with oncoming traffic...gotta love Soph Soph!

Boss with Aunt Kari

Supporting the COUGARS!

Kari and Brandon NOT supporting the cougars...

Afterwards, we headed to my Aunt Aundrea's where we killed daddy with another surprise! ALL HIS SIBLINGS AND HIS PARENTS WERE IN TOWN TOO...Bronco Mendenhall was in the works but he was a little busy doing press after the game..sorry dad! I don't want to post more about this until I get pictures but needless to say it was a GREAT day and it was FABULOUS to hang with the fam for the weekend! CONGRATS DADDY FOR HITTING THE BIG 5-0! WE LOVE YOU!

TRICK OR TREAT

It took me forever to even decide to post this but I guess I will for memories sake. I was SO excited to dress Boston up in his costume for Halloween. We had a little Halloween party at Kiers and Taylor's (although a FEW decided NOT to dress up...you know who you are...). I HATE getting costumes for Kent and I because I'm SO not creative and can NEVER figure out what to be. I always end up disappointed. We searched of cheap decent costumes and of course failed so we finally went to our last minute resort ideas. Kent of course went back to what he is EVERY year, Joe Dirt or some form of white trash, and I took an idea from a friend (Jenny) to be a black-eyed pea--so creative I know! Kent's costume turned out fine but mine and Boston's...umm I was a little upset about but whatever. I ended up just looking gross. Boston was cute at FIRST but when I applied his nose/whiskers I don't think he liked it too much. He SCREAMED and SCREAMED so they came out only okay but I decided to leave it instead of trying to torture him more by taking it off and reapplying. By the time we made it to Kiers and Taylor's he had somehow managed to smear all of his whiskers OFF! I was SO upset because I hadn't taken pictures yet! Oh well...so much for his cute 1st Halloween costume....

His smeared makeup---I couldn't get a smile out of him the whole time he was in his costume! Maybe he doesn't like dressing up...???

Besides my greatly disappointed costume dilemma, the night was fun with GREAT themed food thanks to Kiers and myself! I was very proud at how creative I was---well thanks to the help of the food network! I thought it turned out well. That was my one proud moment of Halloween I guess this year. Next year (like I say every year after Halloween) I'm going to plan Kent and mine's costumes EARLY on and maybe Boston will be better about letting me paint on his face next year...

This is the food if you can't tell there are EYEBALL cupcakes, CARMEL apples, GHOST pudding dessert, Kiersten's SPIDERWEB 7 layer dip, and cheese and crackers!

One thing Boston DID like was the PJ's MiMi sent him (thanks mom!)! He was probably SO happy to be out of that HOT lion costume! Hey, atleast we ended with a smile!

BACK WHEN...

Kent was unpacking a few more things today and came across a bunch of old pictures! He found these two pictures from a few years back...

This was New Year's Eve 2003! It was during this Christmas break from school that Kent and I first hit it off. Kent invited Kari and I to New Year's Eve with the singles ward and then to go 4-wheeling after. Of course I would NEVER turn down a good 4-wheeling trip and also a fun night with Kent! It was my BEST New Year's Eve EVER! We got SOO muddy but it was definately worth it...that's all part of the fun! I rode with Kent on his 4-wheeler OF COURSE and we definately had a fun time. I remember trying to impress him by showing him that I knew had to drive one and I ended up flinging Jenny and myself off while pulling a donut! Oh well, all part of the fun right?! This is also the night Kent promised Kari he would come up for her college graduation to support a good friend and I was VERY excited to be able to see him that coming April. Little did I know that I would be seeing him MUCH sooner than that and that I would also be engaged to him just days after Kari graduated! This great night ended with a sweet, strong hug (I knew there was chemistry just from that goodbye hug! HA!) with a hope that he would keep in touch with me while I was up at BYU-I...and that he did!

IT'S CARVING TIME!!!!

Sadly, Boston wasn't apart of the carving process! I felt bad but what can you do? We had left the house at 10:30 that morning--we were out talking to builders in Keller, driving around Keller getting to know the area more, grabbing lunch, going to the pumpkin patch and FINALLY making it home around 6 pm with only 1 or 2 cat naps all day! So I had to let him sleep so he would be happy! So sorry little man!

We started carving away. This was my first time actually cleaning out the inside of the pumpkin all by myself! I was quite proud! It seemed like it took me forever and Kent did his in like 10 seconds! We finished our pumpkins right before we had to get Boston up to eat, PERFECT timing! I know it was the night before Halloween but then again a few years back we carved our pumpkins TOO early and it rotted. Kent wouldn't let me get another one before Halloween so I was stuck with a rotted pumpkin that year! This year I KNEW they would be good for Halloween night!

My finished product!

Kent's finished product..aww now I felt so bad because when we came home and took this picture somehow a big chunk of the pirate's head was GONE! We couldn't find it ANYWHERE! Who knows what happened..sorry babe!

SIDE NOTE: This day was a really fun day spent together! I must add though that we almost ran out of gas...for the SECOND time! Kent likes to drive until the VERY last drop of gas is GONE! We were out in Flowermound (not TOO familiar with the area) and we couldn't find a gas station for the LIFE of us! Visions of Kent pushing the Lexus were coming back into my head! I just KNEW we wouldn't make it! Then finally what seemed like an eternity we found a gas station! We were lucky let me tell you!

WE'RE GOING ON A PUMPKIN HUNT!

On Tuesday we finally made our way over to the pumpkin patch--okay, okay I know what you're thinking, "The day before Halloween?!?"...but for some reason it was our first chance to get out there! I have NEVER been to a pumkin patch and was SOO happy when I got their to see what it was all about! It was TOO cute! I can't wait until next year so Boston can enjoy some of the things they have to do there for the kids-horseback rides, hayrides, petting zoo, rides, spacewalks, and MORE! We walked around looking for the PERFECT pumpkin but of course being the day before Halloween most of the GREAT pumpkins had been picked WEEKS ago! Most the the left over pumpkins weren't perfectly shaped or had dents in them. Oh well! So we finally found one, took a few pictures and headed to check out! Since we waited til the last day possible the lady at the check out gave us a GREAT deal on pumpkins--buy 1 get TWO FREE! I was SOO excited! We all got our own pumpkin for a semi-reasonable price! We will DEFINATELY be back next year!

I don't know if Boston is too sure about these pumpkins...

So EXCITED to get home a carve our pumpkins!

Our PERFECT pumpkins (kinda...)! We each got our own thanks to the check out lady! Boston couldn't take his eye of his pumpkin

My FIRST pumpkin!