Big Brother

So last night I was talking with Corbin about life. Discussing going to college, dating, you know, all the social aspects of College life. He is getting very excited. Somehow we got on the subject of getting married. I have always told my kids they should wait until they are at least 25 yrs old to get married. Over the last few years Corbin has taken on a lot of responsibility and at times seems much older that his 17 yrs. I figure he would be ok if he married right after his mission because he is so responsible. Anyway long story short I told him I could see Kortney getting married during her first year of college. She is a sweetheart and very naive. Corbin was so cute he said he would keep the guys away and he would be the one cleaning his gun on the porch when her date showed up. It was the first time I have seem him be really protective of his sister, I thought it was very sweet. There is hope for this gang, now if I could get him and Trevor to be friends I will consider my child rearing a success.

Taking time......

So usually when I am working and it is slow they offer a lot of VTO (voluntary time off) but for some reason not today. Which actually is a good thing because with all the time between calls I have been able to get up to date with the blogs. I have even had time to read extended family members like Joe & Misha, Corey and his family, ect. Can I say how much I love blogs. We started trying out facebook but to be honest I really don't care what so & so's friend is doing. I love being able to keep up on the family with what little extra time I do have these days. I will admit facebook is quick if you only have a minute.

With so much to do and so little time to do it, it is sometimes hard to take the time. I am grateful for Kristen, who must have all kinds of time (right:]), for putting together the family blog. What a great thing. Now just think if everyone participated. WOW!!!!

Anyway life is good and of course crazy busy just like the rest of you. I am looking forward to some much need me time in a few weeks. I am taking off for a long weekend with noone and nothing but my books (not school books) and my swimsuit to parts warmer than here to lay in the sun, soak up some vitamin b, and read to my hearts content. No you cannot come. I do love you though.

Back to school.

Wow that was a quick vacation. In fact it didn't feel like a vacation at all. I spent the first week working my shifts plus about 20 hours or so of OT, perfect for holiday spending and yet there is no time to shop. Needless to say Christmas came and went and I had to scrounge for stocking stuffers because the store was out of the usual peanuts my kids like. We had a small but nice Christmas. At first it didn't feel small (in the pocketbook) but when I added it all up I did pretty well staying within reason.

School this semester will be busy, lots of reading and plenty of quizes in most of my classes. I should be plenty busy. I am excited that if all goes well I should have my Associates degree at the end of fall 2009 semester.

Sorry about my earlier comments, I didn't mean to create a stir. I was just dissappointed that we all couldn't get together for the family party. I understand that everyone had good reasons, it just wasn't as fun without everyone there. Anyway most of us got together for New Years and it was great seeing Greg and Natasha and their family. You are welcome to stay with us anytime.

Today is the anniversary of Denton's death, it is also Aprils birthday. This year seems harder than years past, I don't really know why but we all seem to be more upset. I wonder when it will stop hurting. I know most of you didn't like Denton and you all had good reasons not too, but as always when you live with someone you learn all their personalities and even though some may drive you nuts, you look passed those because you can see the good there as well. Denton had alot of good in him. He was a great provider, he was a good dad, and he was usually a good husband. I guess that is all there is. None of us are perfect and maybe this year I am able to miss the good a little more than resent the bad. Who knows, that is enough reflection for now.
I need to get kids to bed and help with a science project that is due tomorrow and we are just starting tonight. Maybe that is what I miss, his help with all these things I hate to do.

Ooops....

Hold on if shopping for dad. In the car on the way to April's Saturday I found out that it is not Chuck Norris but Clint Eastwood. So if you went out and bought a bunch of Chuck Norris movies take them back and exchange them for Clint Eastwood, actually it sounded like you would be safe with any old western.

The family party was lonely without everyone there. I sure wish we could all get together, put our own selfish interests aside and just enjoy one anothers company. Maybe that is too much to ask.

How about we all get together for Thanksgiving next year. It's a pretty harmless Holiday, and plenty of time to get back home. Just a thought.

Ok, so I am in the process of taking a break from studying for finals. I realized earlier today that my math final is tomorrow not Wednesday. I had planned to finish everything else today and focus on math tomorrow. No such luck, oh well, hopefully it will come back to me. I have fried my brain for tonight and now I am going to bed. Maybe if I sleep on my math book I will absorb it in my sleep? Wouldn't that be nice.

Now for my next stresser. Corbin has a girlfriend. Yes, it is true. In fact he has spent the last two evenings, plus every day last week with her, and the week before that, you get the picture. He is with her all the time. She is a nice girl but really, what can they have to talk about. If they aren't together then they are texting. It's been a while since I was his age but don't they get sick of each other? I keep telling him that if he keeps this up he is going to have to buy her a pretty nice Christmas gift or else they will be sick of each other and break up. We can hope.

Tis the Season

Today is Friday and instead of going to school today was set aside as a study day for finals. I spent the last three days studying for a math test and still I'm not sure if I passed. I decided to take the day off and go shopping. I had done very little since Thanksgiving and was reminded at the dentist (did I mention that I broke a tooth and had to get a crown, merry Christmas to me.) that Christmas is only 2 weeks away. Needless to say I dragged Heidi along for company and we went to several stores. I believe I got most and then some for everyone on my list.

Family members, dad could use a new wallet, bilfold style, early movies with Chuck Norris or Charles Bronson (Yes, I'm serious), movie passes are always a good idea, and maybe black socks. Those first items were suggestions from Euniece

Korinn's birthday is next week, she is going to be 8 and getting baptized on Jan 3. She really wants Grandpa Brenchley to baptize and confirm her. I am trying to get her to allow Corbin to do the baptism so dad won't have to get wet, we will see. Of course you are all invited to join us.

So I guess I should update my own blog. Heidi is right, I rarely have time to blog, either read or write. In fact right now I am sitting in English class listening to presentations and figure I should be able to do both.

Life is pretty busy right now. I have been planning my schedule both for school and work and trying to get them to work together. Not this time. I will be going to school everyday next semester, which means laundry will be done at night and the house will always be a mess. Oh well, the kids will have to pitch in.

The kids are doing well. Corbin, Trevor and Kortney all made honor roll, Kortney even got straight A's. She was very excited about that. Corbin, and I, are both excited that he received a full tuition scholarship to Snow College, based on his grades and ACT score. He is a great example for all of us. My kids will be hearing about the importance of good grades due to this. He now just needs to worry about housing, which is very cheap, and food. He is going to try for other scholarships to help cover those expenses.

We hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and eat lots of turkey!

What to do.............

So what would you do if you had someones computer and it went straight to their blog page? Well you would put in a blog for them, (you all know you would) I was using Debbie's laptop to catch up on my blogs. I in to my site and was reading blogs. Well I need to update my names as my brother is changing his site. Anyway I went in to sign in and it brought me straight to here. I will update a little bit for her. She is really busy with school, work and kids. At the moment she is at a play with Trevor,Kortney, and Kenzie. Its a play that the high school is putting on and her neighbor is in it. The play is Beauty and the Beast. I am here watching here kids and Survivor.I think that I will also fold some of her laundry, as I have nothing better to do.

As for Thanksgiving, she is having dinner here at her house. My family will be here, mainly because the Seahawks play the Cowboys which are Mike and Corbin's teams! Sad I know but to me its not a holiday without lots of family. She will also have Dentin's parents over, I am not sure about his brother thats still here but probably him too. We will then peruse the newspaper to see what deals are out there and yep, Black Friday here we come!!!!

I guess I better stop now and figure out how to get on my own site.

Happy Thanksgiving!

more about D.C. ( sorry some is repeat)

this trip to DC was boring except for the museums and the world war two memorial. oh and i wont forget the changing of the gaurds ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetary.



That was Trevor's two cents.



Unfortunately he is probably right. My one complaint was that everything closed at 5:30 pm. It really limited what we could cover in just 3 days. Also I would probably have left Korinn and maybe Trent home. We did alot of walking and after a few hours they were both tired.



The Metro is definately the way to travel in D.C. We took it to the Pentagon, Arilington National Cemetary, the Mall (where all the Museums and Monuments are), and then out to our friends, the Curtis family. We missed seeing Nicole and her family, they were in Idaho that weekend.



Corbin had the camera and loved Arlington and the WWII monument. He took most of the pictures and very few of them have people in them, but he seemed to be having a good time.



Trent was very impressed with the Lincoln Memorial and Korinn loved standing up on the subway. Kortney I am really not sure about. She was upset because she left her camera either where we ate lunch or on the subway. I think her favorite part was shopping.

It's a new month

Ok, so I just realized that my last few posts were saved not posted. So here is about our trip to D.C.

Well I just noticed it has been a month since my last post. This why I don't write in a journal. I realize it is important but I really don't like to write. The kids and I had a great time in D.C. My only complaint would be that everything closed early. The city pretty much shuts down at 5:30 pm. Now I can understand the government buildings but the museums as well? What about all of us tourists that want to put in a full day. It really limited us on what we could see. Also if I could do it again I would probably leave home Korinn and maybe even Trent. There was alot of walking and they got tired. Trevor was really good about giving piggy back rides but Corbin complained about a hurt shoulder and wasn't very willing. I plan to go back without the kids so I can spend more time looking and reading. I think the younger kids liked the monuments best. Corbin seemed to enjoy the war monuments and Arlington National Cemetary. He had the camera and took most of the pictures. Too bad they have very few people in them. I'm not really sure about Trevor and Kortney. Trevor had fun in the Air and Space Museum. There is an interactive section that you can try out a bunch of things dealing mainly with air currents. Why planes fly

Procrastination

So one of my many faults is procrastination. I have a tendancy to put off what needs to be done until the last minute. This bad habit has begun to show itself at school. Mainly in my English class. This class is the one that focus' on writing a big research paper. My instructor is a goofy kid who is in the process of writing his disertation and so had some time on his hand and decided to teach. He tends to go off on tangents and we really don't seem to be learning a whole lot. Anyway I decided to write my paper on Asperger's Syndrome. With Trent being diagnosed I thought it would help to get a little more info. The last couple of short essays have been ok, I mainly described what Asperger's is. Now it gets more in depth and I am not sure the direction I want to go. I have been doing research all night and I can't seem to locate anything else besides several different and yet the same descriptions of Asperger's. So I decided to update my blog. Ahh procrastination!!!

Life is crazy hectic these days. What is it with these teachers. We spend the first few weeks doing nothing and then all of a sudden they all decide to get pro-active and now I am swimming in homework. Luckily work is slow so I have had a lot more time off. This really is the perfect job for me right now.

The kids are doing well. Corbins team is doing better this year, although they have had a few upsets the last few games. He is now trying to decide on colleges for next year. So far he is thinking about Utah State or Snow, they both have good engineering departments. It's weird to think of him in college. When did he grow up? Trevors team is doing great! They are undefeated and having a great season so far. I am still hopeful that he will want to play next year but it's not looking very promising. Kortney loves Jr. High. She is doing well and her social life just continues to grow. There are so many girls her age in the neighborhood that she is always with someone. I am just glad that so far they are all good girls and staying out of trouble. Now if she could just learn how to tell time. Her latest and greatest desire is to have a cell phone. What is with all these little kids thinking that they need to be connected at all times. She wants it to txt all her friends, whats wrong with using the phone? Trent just joined the black belt club in karate. He gets to learn weapons, sparring, and two extra lessons a month. He is doing quite well and is now a purple belt. Needless to say he really enjoys it. Korinn is a very busy little girl and bossy as ever. I spend more time reminding her that I am mom than is necessary. She really wants to take cheer and tumbling lessons but unfortunately the only time they are offered at the place by us is on tues. I work tues. so she will have to wait until winter.

As you can see life is good, we are all busy and that makes for a crazy schedule. We are currently planning a trip to D.C. in a few weeks. That will be fun, I hope. We're very excited.

Wow it has been awhile. I am on my work computer so there are no pictures currently to add, I will get to that. It has been a crazy several weeks. The kids and I made it to So. Cal the week of the 24th. We visited lots of friends and had a great time. I left the older three so they could enjoy the youth super activity at the beach. Towards the end of the activity poor little Kortney got hit by a wave that knocked her down and as she was getting up another larger wave hit her she tumbled and broke her collar bone. We really must have weak collar bones in this family that makes two for her and Corbin is just ahead with three. It was pretty awful having her hurt in Ca and me stuck here in Ut. I am just so greatful for great friends who take care of my kids when I can't, thanks Diana.

School has also started. The kids went back Monday. It has been a great week. I cleaned a little, still procrastinating the painting, and read the rest of the twilight series. I start next Wed. and I am almost excited. I went over and got my books, ouch! It is quite expensive, thank goodness for govt. grants. I was noticing all the pretty young things there getting ready as well. All that primping and posing for the opposite sex, I am so glad that is not me. I think it will be ok going back to campus. There were quite a few just like me, older and heading back to finish.

Corbin and Trevor had their first games this week. Trevor has decided football is not for him but he will finish out the season. I am hoping he will change his mind. I wish there were boys in the neighborhood he could play catch with. Maybe then he could improve and would decide it's not so bad. Corbin had an ok game. They lost 2-0, but he said he played great and did his job. He is now the smallest guy on the line, but he held his own and protected the quarterback. Not that it did any good. The kid threw 6 interceptions I believe. What are you going to do? He came home tolerable, not mad or anything so that was good. Trevor had 4 scrimmages and they did great. His team is expected to loose because they are a new team and yet between them and four of the other schools they won 3 and tied the other, against the likes of Provo, Timpview, Orem and Timpanogos. Not bad for the new kids. He did ok. He's second string safety and he got 1 fumble recovery, a tackle or two and almost intercepted. If he worked harder and maybe played another year or two he would be pretty good, too bad he hates the two-a-days and conditioning. Maybe the games will make it worth it. I can only hope.

It's 1:15 am and I am working. This is one of the few times I have actually had to work this shift. In the past I have been able to get it off. Not this time. I am sitting here contemplating my choices for my new schedule. I have to work around Corbin and now Trevors football schedules plus leave time for school. It has been mind boggling. Hopefully I got it right and all is well that ends well.

About school, I am registered for the fall at UVU. I am now trying to decide if I should continue there or go to one of the community colleges and just get an x-ray tech cert and try it out. I still am not sure that is the right field for me. I battle with the fact that buisness has been the field I have always been in and enjoyed. I feel like time is passing and I am slowly drowning in undecision. Once I make a decision I am not sure it is the right one. I do know that my current employment is not the career for me. I just have to stick it out so we can get to D.C. and Orlando in the spring. Maybe a trip to the Bahamas for Corbin to do some scuba diving.

As for our current life. We have been pretty slow this week. Nothing on schedule and nothing to do. I am still trying to get time off for a few vacations this summer, Ca with kids and Montana with in-laws. Trent has found a new passion. We had a ward bbq and they played softball. He has had a glove for a few years now but never used it. He took his glove, bat and ball and had a blast. He now spends most of his days asking someone to pitch to him, or he "pitches" to himself. He does pretty well but at times he gets pretty upset with himself for missing. I have to keep telling him not to give up and if he can control his emotions than maybe he can play on a city team some day. He is still doing Karate and that helps. We'll see.

Life is back to normal. All the camps are over and we now have a few weeks before anything else is going on. The boys made it back safe. Trevor loved the river rafting and repelling, Corbin loved it all. He saw some pretty cool things scuba diving off Catalina and now they are trying to plan an even more adventurous trip, maybe in Mexico. Who knows if Jetblue continues to work out for us he could go scuba diving in the Carribean.

I am trying to figure out a trip to California the week of the 20th. It sort of conflicts with a trip Kortney is making to New York to hang with Greg and Natasha (she really can't wait to spend time with Gavin and Bella). She tells me she can fly by herself to California but I don't know we will have to see.

So far we have spent a lot of time at the outdoor pool in Lehi. The kids love it because it has diving boards and is more than 3 ft deep. I took a few pictures and will add them soon.

One crazy week

So my crazy week is here. We have Diana Johnson and her son Tony staying with us while he and Corbin are going to football camp. Unfortunately with my work and running all of the kids to their various camps we haven't been able to do anything fun. Today Trent was bumbed out because his karate studio got flooded last night so camp was cancelled today. Trevor is enjoying both of his camps. We will see if he still enjoys football come August and two-a-day practices in the heat.

Heidi and I drove to St. George for a quick overnight stay. We went to my Aunt Cheryls burial sevice. The funeral was Thurs but we had a wedding that day. We left after the wedding and drove that night. The burial was Fri. It was a sad occasion but it was nice to see the relatives again. While we were staying at grandpa Huntmans we found a history of Aunt Nancy. Pamela had put it together from her journal. It was fun to read. She was the town historian or so it seemed. It was interesting to read about her feelings and the happenings within the family and the town. It made me think about what I will be leaving behind for my posterity. As of now not much. I hope to change that. Computers are such handy things these days and should make it easier to compile thoughts and feelings, life histories. I intend to try anyway.

Schools out!!!!!! Yeah!

Schools out for summer. The kids and I are very happy. This month proves to be a crazy one with everyone (except Korinn) going to some kind of camp. Corbin will be going to football daily as well as the BYU football camp with his friend Tony. At the end of the month his young men's group is headed to Catalina to do some scuba diving for the week. He is extremely excited.
Trevor is in basketball camp at the junior high, he also decided he wants to play football (yeah) so he has a football camp for three days in the middle of the month and then the same week as Corbin he will be going to Moab to the high adventure camp. White water rafting, repelling, mountain biking, are just a few of the activities he will be doing. Sunscreen will be a must for him.
Kortney gets to go to her first girls camp. They are going up above Heber somewhere to a church camp. No tents for them. She will have a bunk but will be bringing her own pad. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed camping in tents. I am very excited for her. I hope she has a great time and comes home with wonderful memories.
Trent is going to Karate Kamp. It is a week long camp at his dojo where he will learn to use weapons (just what I need) and move up a level. He has been working hard at grandmas earning money to help pay for his camp. He is very excited and has decided to learn how to use a sword.
So that just leaves Korinn and I with nothing to do (right). Maybe we will spend our days laying by the pool and getting a tan.

Madness begins again

So my stress level is increasing once again. I have just finished enrolling in summer semester at UVSC soon to be UVU. I am a little concerned about my english class. It ends the middle of June and I have to write a 25 page research paper. Not one of my strong points. I am a little excited because I think I finally have some direction in my life. I found out that UVU is a satelite campus for Weber states x-ray technician program. I feel like that is the direction I am going to go. At least for now. I am also taking a math class with the hopes that I can finish by mid summer and start the next class and finish that by the end of summer. We will see.

As for other exciting news. Kortney broke her colllar bone on the left side playing steal the flag at school. She was getting someone out of "prison" and tripped and fell just right. Her collar snapped. She was in quite a bit of pain at first but after getting the x-ray and some ibuprophen she seems to have bounced back. She has a dance recital the first week of June so we are hoping she is healed in time.

Corbin went to Prom last weekend and didn't have a great time. He went with someone he didn't really know and unfortunately the couple they went with madeout the whole time. It was quite awkward and he was a little disappointed. I feel bad for him I wish he would have had a better time. The only positive is that he wasn't out alot of money, the girls parents supplied the dinner and a photographer for pictures. We'll have to see if he gets any of the pictures. Next time I think he will take someone he likes or at least go with his friends and maybe a larger group.

New York day 2

Day 2 we headed for the Statue of Liberty. Greg and Gavin joined us. Greg had yet to do much sight seeing so off we went. We got a late start and ended up waiting in line for about an hour. We did finally get a decent pretzel from a street vendor. We took a boat over and enjoyed watching Greg wrestle with Gavin, he wanted to swim with the ducks. Once the boat started Gavin settled down and enjoyed the ride. The Statue of Liberty is amazing. On a side note, in order to get inside her you have to make reservations at least 3 days in advance. We were unaware of that so we stayed on the outside. After lunch and a few souvenirs we headed back and met up with Natasha. We stopped to get a purse for Heidi on Canal street and then headed to Macys so Corbin could pick up something for his prom date. Oh yeah he's going to prom. We didn't do to much walking this time and took the subway. Greg was a trooper and carried Gavin and his stroller up and down all those stairs. Our last stop was Rockefeller center. The kids had no idea what I was talking about as I tried to describe the place to them so we had to stop.




We also went to see Cheryl and Joe. We had a short visit with them because Cheryl was not doing well. Seeing her in bed was an eye opener for me. I did not see my mom get that sick when she had cancer and it was hard to see Cheryl so fragile and small. Cancer is an awful illness and I hope never to experience it myself or with my kids.

We couldn't agree on a place to eat so it was back to the subway and a stop at Mcdonalds and Subway on the way back to Gregs. We had a great time and a wonderful visit . We have to go back and head to the top of the Empire State Building at night to see all of the lights. Next time we will have to stay an extra day or just plan to rest after that overnight flight.

New York

So the kids and I headed to New York for a few days over spring break. We flew Jetblue, the "shut eye", and got in about 6 am. I ended up flying jumpseat, back w/ the flt attendants, so shut eye for me did not happen. When we arrived at Greg and Natashas we visited for a little bit and then I had to get a little bit of sleep. After a short nap the kids and I went into the city on the subway. I was very impressed with how easy it was. Natasha gave us a great map and Corbin was great at navigating. The hardest thing was knowing which direction to head once you got out of the subway. We stopped at Central park and spent quite a while looking for the Balto statue. When the boys were little the movie Balto was one of their favorites. I really wanted to show them the statue. They thought I was crazy, asking people for directions to the statue of Balto. It took us a while but we found it.




The next stop was FAO swartz toy store. Trevor, our lego fan, loved all of the statues made from legos. This was a favorite, if you can't tell it is of the Harry Potter group. I also took a picture of Corbin next to chewbacca but decided not to add it. We did alot of walking just to see the sights and walked right by the Empire State Building without realizing it. The entrance area was under construction and we walked right under it. I am not sure if there was a favorite for any of them but I do know that after getting very little sleep and walking for hours the bus tour we took was my favorite. We even saw filming being done, I wasn't brave enough to go up and ask what was being filmed and I couldn't convince Corbin to do it for me. I kept pointing out places on the tours that I had seen in movies or tv shows. We got off at the Twin Tower site and was a little dissapointed that there wasn't really any sort of memorial any more, at least that I could see. We did peek through the fence to see the construction area.


We ended up in Time square late in the afternoon and it was crazy loud and crowded. There were so many people, tourists to be exact and it wasn't even tourist season yet. I would hate to be there when it was. By about 7pm we were exhausted and headed back to Gregs for some authentic NY pizza. We were starving and it was delicious. We had a great first day and were looking forward to the next. We had to decide between the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. The boys wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building and Kortney wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. I couldn't afford both so I decided that I didn't want to stand in line for three hours to get to the top of the Empire State Building so the Statue of Liberty won.

Spring break is coming

So I finally added the pictures of Korinn now I will update you on our activities.

The girls are enjoying their dance classes and will be having a performance in May. Trent is getting ready to advance to a yellow belt in Karate, and trying to learn his recital piece for piano. Trevor and Corbin are both in track and just today I noticed that Trevor has almost caught up with Corbin in height. Only about 4 in to go. He passed me up a while ago.

This next week is Spring Break and the older kids and I are off to New York to visit Greg and Natasha and to see the sights. We are trying out the flight benefits with Jetblue, and hopefully all will go well. I am a little concerned about the return flt, but so far there are plenty of seats. After we get back Trevor and Corbin want to go to California to visit their friends there. If it works out they will go by themselves Friday returning Sunday or Monday. It should be quite the week. I have promised Trent and Korinn a flight to San Diego to stay for a few days with a friend there after we get back and I find out when testing is.

ok, so here are the pictures of curly locks. She really looked cute and we have curled her hair often.