The 'Stang and Scrapbooking

Two weekends ago, I got to go out to Salt Lake for the

SCRAPBOOK EXPO!!!!

As most of you know, it has now become a tradition for me and my sister and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and all sorts of our friends to go and pretty much eat, sleep, and drink scrapbooking for 2 whole days!!! We all look forward to it twice a year and this year was especially fun because we had the biggest group yet (13 of us "scrappers"), we won stuff AND, we had decorations. We had so many people this year, my Mom and I went in with the Early Birds on Friday so we would have enough seats. I got bright green plastic table cloths and bright green star-shaped balloons so that everyone could see where we were! It was sweet...don't worry.

So, I drove out Thursday night to go pick Peck up in Morgan and then about 11:00 that night we went to get the Mama from the airport. Adam's car broke down earlier that week, so the spoiled little punk's mommy rented him a car because he had places to be and no way to get there.
And what do ya know?
The only car they had left was the one you see below.

THAT'S RIGHT!
A CHERRY RED, CONVERTIBLE MUSTANG
SPOILED.
LIKE I SAID EARLIER.

This picture he's not really posing, but the one below it he is posing and it's blurry. Oops.

Poser

One of the best parts of Expo this time, was that a bunch of us got to play the Mummy Wrap Game!
Basically, you have two people, one person has to wrap the other person in toilet paper, and whoever can do it the fastest, WINS!
April and Michelle, Julie and Jenny, and me and my partner, ummm...
Christine? Catheryn? Kathleen? I can't remember her name. Anyway...

We all got to play! Here we are before we started while they were giving us the instructions, listening very intently, of course.

Here I am IN ACTION while my teammate was spinning for all she was worth.

Here we all are after

I WON!!!

Yah, I'm pretty much awesome, and CLEARLY, the best Mummy Wrapper in town. I won a cute little shadow box kit! Score!

Well, that's pretty much it for Expo.
Until March 20th and 21st....

Husband Tag

Alright, well, I've never done a "tag" before, but I liked this one and this is the first time anyone has specifically named me in their tag, so here you go, Mandi!

1. What is his name? James Albert Foster - He is named, and called, Albert after a man Albert's dad met on his mission to Germany.

2. Who eats more? Depends on the day

3. Who said I love you first? Albert did and it was a "good thing" he did!

4. Who is taller? Albert by about 4 inches

5. Who is smarter? Albert may be smarter, but I'm always right!!! :D

6. Who is more sensitive? Me, I guess. Neither one of us are really emotional and neither one of us cries a lot.

7. Who does the laundry? I do, but Albert irons his dress pants - I can't stand ironing dress pants...

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do and we never switch. I tried once, and it went over very poorly.

9. Who pays the bills? My used-to-be banker.

10. Who cooks more? I do, but Albert is actually a really good cook. He takes after his dad.

11. Who is more stubborn? Ummm.... That totally depends on what the subject is. We are both pretty stubborn.

12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Again, it depends on the topic, but usually Albert because (like it was stated earlier) I am always right! ;)

13. Who has more siblings? Albert - he is #2 of 7, I am #3 of 4.

14. What do you like to do together? 4-wheeling is our favorite thing to do together, but we also enjoy taking walks with Moki, camping, traveling, rock crawling, watching movies, playing games (against each other - we have a hard time being on the same team) and we also like to just talk. Some of the best times we have are at night just laying in bed talking. **I know, that sounds cheezy!**

15. Who eats more sweets? Pretty sure I do, but Albert does have a rockin' stash of goodies in his desk at work, so maybe it's him.

16. How did you meet? In Psychology class at SUU on Albert's birthday in 2001. Albert's roommate Gub (pronounced GOOB) made hime sit by me because the chick he liked was sitting right in front of me and that was the last seat around. So he sat by me and he smelled SOOOOO BAD! He had just filled up his car with gas and spilled it all over himself. So we got to talking and he asked me if he smelled bad. I told him "NO!". Ummm... yah... flat out lie! Sorry, honey! Anyway, we got through class that day and he asked me out at the end of class 2 days later, and the rest is history!

17. Who asked who out first? ***Please refer to the previous question that, apparently, I got a little carried away with.***

18. Who kissed who first? Okay, here's another funny story! Sorry for the lengthy answers.... So we went out on a date the weekend after we met and then hung out and had a blast the next week. The following weekend, I was taking a trip home for something (I can't remember). So, the night before I left, he took me home and was walking me up to my door and he pretty much planted one right on the smacker and RAN AWAY! If you'd like to hear a better version from me directly, you can call me!

19. Who proposed? Albert proposed February 17, 2002 at 3 Peaks out in Enoch in his roommate KC's truck next to a rock that someone spray painted "Will you marry me?"

20. His best features? Oh geez... sorry, Mom.... I really like his bum. Albert has a perfectly shaped back side (in my opinion). I also really love his lips and his eyelashes and, as you can see in the picture above, he just has a rockin' hot body all around! Particularly his buldging biceps and rippling pectorals! :-O

I love you, Albert!!!

On Time Birthday Shout Out

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADAM!!!

Today is baby brother's 22 birthday! As you saw in an earlier posting, Adam was out to visit us (well, Sue, mostly ;) ) this last weekend. Since I knew his birthday was coming up, I thought it would be nice to have a little birthday cake for him. So, we went Mama Roberts' Style with a delicious Texas Sheet Cake!

MMMMM.......

Albert, Sue and I all sang a rousing round of "Happy Birthday", and had some scrumptious cake! It was ALMOST as good as yours, Mom!

Pay no attention to the crappy cutting job by yours truly. It was pathetic!

Sooooooo crooked!

Good thing it was really good so we wouldn't notice the ugly and uneven shapes of the pieces.

Well, once again, Happy Birthday, Adam!

Late Birthday Shout Out

A VERY HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR, SWEET HUSBAND!

SORRY THIS IS SUCH A LATE POSTING, BABE. I KNOW, I'M A SLACKER!

ANYWAY...

HERE ARE A COUPLE OF PIX OF ALBERT WITH HIS BIRTHDAY PRESENT. I AM PRETTY LUCKY BECAUSE I DON'T USUALLY HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT I'M GOING TO GET ALBERT FOR HIS BIRHTDAY BECAUSE HE USUALLY GETS SOMETHING FOR HIMSELF THAT MORE THAN COUNTS FOR A BIRTHDAY OR ANNIVERSARY OR VALENTINES (ETC...) GIFT. ALL THE STUFF HE WANTS FOR GIFTS, I CAN'T BUY HIM UNLESS HE SPECIFICALLY TELLS ME WHAT IT IS, AND WHERE TO GET IT. SO, THIS YEAR, "I" BOUGHT HIM AN 18 FOOT FLAT BED BIG BUBBA TRAILER THAT "I" GOT A SLAMMIN' GOOD DEAL ON! NOW WE HAVE A TOY HAULER FOR THE ROCK CRAWLER, 4-WHEELERS AND WHATEVER ELSE WE NEED TO HAUL.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALBERT!!!

Starvation Sprint Triathlon

Back in August, the week after my first triathlon, I did a team triathlon in Duchesne call the Starvation Sprint. Starvation because I swam in Starvation Lake. Jarom Grant (one of Albert's oldest friends) did the mountain biking and his sister LaCol did the run. It was fun, but very different than swimming in a pool with lanes and you can see the bottom. Nope, in this lake, you almost freeze to death (I was one of 2 people NOT in a wet suit, which will be remidied next year) before you finish and you have to pop your head up every 10-15 strokes so you're going in the right direction.

Needless to say, I was the first one out of the water, only because the other girl not in a wet suit drown from hypothermia (kidding of course), and because I thought I was going to cramp up and drown! But, it was fun and I would love to do it again next year!

Ward Camp-Out and Wheelin'

EVERY SEPTEMBER, OUR WARD HOSTS A CAMPOUT. THE DIFFERENCE ABOUT THIS YEAR...

#1 - IT WAS FREEZING!

#2 - ADAM GOT TO COME CAMPING WITH US!

#3 - WE TOOK OUR 4-WHEELERS UP WITH US AND WHEELED AROUND ON SATURDAY.

HAVE I EVER MENTIONED THAT

I LOVE 4-WHEELING!!!!!

HERE ARE LOUANN, CAMILLE, ZADEN, ADAM, SUE, MERCEDES AND JULIE ALL CHILLIN' (LITERALLY) OUT AND TALKING AND HAVING A GRAND OLD TIME.

HERE ARE THE DUDES. SMARTER THAN THE GIRLS AND ADAM. LEE,SHAUN, ALBERT AND MIKE WERE ALL STITTING BY THE FIRE.
HERE I AM WITH A REALLY SWEET LITTLE GIRL NAMED BROOKLYN.

WHAT A CUTIE!

MOKI AND I HAD SOME SNUGGLE TIME TOGETHER THE NEXT MORNING.
WHAT A FUNNY LITTLE DOG.
OOPS! A LITTLE OUT OF ORDER, BUT DEFINITELY WORTH MENTIONING ANYWAY.

HERE ARE ADAM AND SUE.

AAHHHH.....CUTE!

AGAIN....

AHHH.....CUTE!

(EVEN WITH THE MEXI-STACH)

WE HAD A GREAT TIME WHEELING! I THINK WE HAD 6 OR 7 WHEELERS AND 1 RHINO.

HERE ARE MIKE AND BRETT.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 4-WHEELING ADVENTRURE ON SATURDAY, WE CAME ACROSS A TREE THAT HAD FALLEN DOWN RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR TRAIL. WELL, NO PROBLEM! KEVIN JUST HAPPENDED TO HAVE AN AXE IN THE BACK OF HIS RHINO, SO HE CHOPPED THE TREE AND PROMPTLY MOVED IT OUT OF OUR WAY!

MY HOT HUBBY ON HIS WHEELER!

HERE ARE KEVIN AND LOUANN AND THE 3 BOYS BRETT, RAEF AND TYLER.
ADAM, SUE AND MOKI TAKING A BREAK TO STRETCH THEIR LEGS.

UNFORTUNATELY, WE WERE UNABLE TO STRETCH SUE'S LEGS ANY LONGER THAN THEY ARE. HA HA, SUE!
ADAM AND SUE FOUND A BOTTLE OF BUD LIGHT ON THE TRAIL AND DECIDED TO TRY SOME!
WILL AND TRACI DIDN'T COME UP THE NIGHT BEFORE TO HAVE DINNER WITH THE WARD, BUT THEY CAME UP AND WENT WHEELING WITH US ON SATURDAY.

WELL, THAT WAS A FUN TIME! WE'LL DEFINITELY DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR!

Peck's First Rock Crawling Experience

The same weekend of the demo derby, we took Adam out in Albert's rock crawler. He even got to drive!

SORRY, MOM!

Check him out! He's a natural!

DUH!

Silly me! I somehow forgot to post pix from one of my very favorite events of the year...

The Duchesne Count Fair

Demolition Derby!!!

So, here we are, MULLET WIG and all. And we got to take Adam with us this year!

Adam came out for the weekend and had an awesome time at the derby.

Here are Will and Traci at the Derby with us...and for those of you who are wondering,

Yes, Will is a TRUE REDNECK! ;)

Will actually lost that tooth in a mountain biking accident about 5 days before they got married.

Albert and Adam enjoying themselves THOUROUGHLY at the derby.

Here are a couple of videos that I took. Hope you enjoy them!

And now, we will put our hillbilly alternate personalities back in the closet and store them until next summer!

Catching up a bit...

UBIC

Here are some pix from our night at the UBIC concert. For those of you that don't know what UBIC is, let me explain.

UBIC stands for Uintah Basin in Celebration. What we are supposed to be celebrating, no one really knows. From what I hear, it used to stand for something else that had to do with the farming community out here, but now it's just a really great excuse to have a good time. It's a week long event and the city puts on lots of different events (my triathlon was part of UBIC), including talent shows, carnival-type booths and games, a parade fireworks... the whole bit. On Saturday night, they always have a free concert and fireworks. We really like going to this event and haven't missed it since we moved here, but now it's a little different because Albert is a firefighter and has to help set off the fireworks. Which, for him, is great fun! He would much rather be the one blowing stuff up (legally) than just sitting there watching the show. The draw back for me, obviously, is that I don't get to have a cute moment with my hubby to watch a great fireworks display, BUT it is pretty hot to have a firefighter for a husband! ;)

So, here we are during the concert. At least we can sit together for that part of the night!

Our good friends, Elisha and Sam. Sam happens to be the newest firefighter on the department, so Elisha and I got to hang out and watch the fireworks while Sam and Albert were playing Pyrotechnician.
Our other very good friends, Landon and Mandi. They just moved out here this Spring and we're so glad to have them close!
Alisha and Mandi making weird faces.

Sorry these next few pix are blurry. It was dark outside and my camera couldn't focus very well, but you get the gist of it.

Landon and Mandi's little boy, Brenon, stripping! Just kidding. He was actually just getting his PJ's on so he could go to sleep in the car on the way home.
Still trying to get dressed in the dark.
Alisha and Jaron. Landon and Mandi's other little boy. What a sweet little kiddo! And that's all for UBIC.

Oh, how does my garden grow....

WEEDS!

Grandpa Jones would be so embarrassed to see this picture. This was about a month ago and my garden hadn't been weeded in about 3 weeks. I guess you could say I don't have a COMPLETELY black thumb.

Before...


Moki loves to play in the garden and chase grasshoppers. What a good helper! He didn't get in my way AT ALL while I was weeding (note the sarcasm).
After about and hour of chasing and eating grasshoppers, Moki started to feel a little sick. So, he promptly threw all the grasshoppers back up and then thought he was hungry again, and decided that my cucumbers looked good.

That's right.

My dog is a freak.

Not only does he like to pick my peas straight off the vine, but now he has discovered cucumbers. I would like to know how I acquired an animal who loves veggies. Weird.

The first one didn't fill him up, so he picked the other one (yes, I can only grow one or two at a time) that was on the vine. SIGH.
After...
Ahhhh! Much better. And wouldn't ya know it? My garden has done so much better ever since I took those pesky weeds out.
I know, it's not much of a garden, but the past few years, I have done a bigger garden than this and it's just too much for just Albert and I.
I didn't take a picture of the ginormous bag of weeds I plucked out, but i honestly think it weighed 50-60 pounds. Holy crap. No wonder my back was sore.

Some of the fruits of my labors!

YUM!!!

I love summer and this is one of the reasons. Fresh garden veggies.

I can't get enough!

I thought this year I would try something new with my garden.

Cantaloupe and Watermelon!

I have heard that these can be kind of hard to grow in my area, but I thought, why not!? And guess what??? I have success!

Here is a tiny little watermelon that is about the size of a big gum ball.

This is about a month later and now my melons are about the size of a softball. I didn't look really hard, but I could only find this one watermelon. I have like 15 cantaloupes, though! I can't wait for these to ripen!

That's all from my garden for now!

The next part I need to update on, I don't have any pictures. Bummer. But, it was exciting, nonetheless!

One of my very oldest friends, Alyson, came out to Roosevelt for a visit last weekend!!! It was so great to have her out here! She got here Friday night, so we ate dinner, took a walk, and then watched "Where the Heart Is". Cute movie, by the way, and a great chick flick. The next day, we went and did a session at the Vernal Temple and then went to lunch at Winger's. When we got back to Roosevelt, Albert took us up Uinta Canyon to the Pole Creek Cave and Pole Creek Sinks. It was a lot of fun to walk around in the cool, muddy cave and the truck ride up was fun too. It's really bumpy, so it makes for a good time! When we got back, we went to dinner at Hollow Moon Cafe (which also doubled as our anniversary dinner) then went back home and watched Second Hand Lions. Another really great flick! I had never even heard of it, but i really liked it. On Sunday, we went to church, came home, ate lunch, talked for a while, and then it was time for Alyson to go home. Frown.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend! As we've gotten older and life has happened, we've drifted apart a bit, so it was so great to be able to get back in touch.

Thanx, Little Al, for coming to see me!

First signs of Fall

I didn't have to work on Friday, so I took an impromptu trip out to Park City and Oakley Thurday night to visit my good friend, Kelli (thanx again, Kelli, for letting me come out for a quick visit!), and to do a little shopping. I took the back way through Tabiona and over Wolf Creek, and while I was driving, I could have sworn I saw some leaves on the trees changing already! What??? It's too early still, right?

NOPE.

I was home on Saturday and took a good look around. You want to know what I found?

Fall leaves!

Not very many of them yet, but they're definitely there and on several different trees! Yikes! I love fall; in fact, it's my favorite season, but I've been enjoying summer so much, I haven't wanted it to end. But it is quickly coming to a close.

Here are a couple of my trees that have fall colors already.

This is my apple tree in our backyard.

I guess it's almost time to say goodbye to this awesome summer and start getting ready for Fall. Yesterday and today have actually felt a lot like Fall. We got some rain yesterday and then a really wicked wind storm accompanied by some rain last night and today. We have our windows open and the temperature in my house has not gone above 67 degrees today. Definitely Fall weather for the first day of September!

Crappy Situation

(pun intended)

Our neighbors down the street found out last week that their sewer pipes had collapsed.

YUCK!

A bunch of the guys in the neighborhood spent most of the day Saturday helping the Hill's dig and replace the pipe. They called Albert about 5 o'clock to come help, so this is what we did the rest of the night.

You can't really tell, but these mounds of dirt were almost as tall as the house and the trench the guys were working in was deeper than any of them are tall.

I was talking to my next door neighbor and she said that our sewer pipe are made of the same cheap stuff and that it might be a good idea to get sewer insurance so that when this happens to us (because it's bound to happen in the next year or two), we won't have to pay for this mess. Albert will be calling our insurance agent to do just that tomorrow morning.

Millions of peaches; peaches for ME!

Millions of peaches; peaches for....

$15.00 a box.

Okay, I know this has been a really long post, but I'm almost done. I promise!

Albert had a guy come into his work on Friday from Tremonton and he was selling peaches. YUM! I love peaches and Albert knows that, so he was a dear and bought me a box. Only drawback is that I have to do something with them all before they go bad. It's not a very big box, but you'd be surprised how many peaches can fit in a 1 foot x 2 foot x 1 foot box.

After 2 batches of peach freezer jam, homemade fresh peach pie, homemade fresh peach ice cream, peaches and cream, and about 4-5 pounds of plain sliced peaches to go in the freezer, this is what I had left in my box.

WOW.

Here are most of the peaches in their various forms. I am excited, however, to have fresh peaches during the winter!

Alright, I'm done. I'm sure you're all happy about it, too! Sorry this is such a long post, but I haven't posted anything real in about 3 weeks or so. Have to catch up.

Later.