I want a simple life like that

Have I ever mentioned that my sister Valerie and I use to HATE each other? Sad to say it's true. I was a pretty good kid. I didn't give my parents many problems and they admit that I was their easiest to raise...HOWEVER, I do remember how frustrated my mom would get and I remember making my mom cry because Valerie and I were always fighting. I really don't know why now. I use to try to borrow her clothes without asking. I would wear a shirt and try to put it back without her knowing...hmmmm maybe I should have thought about the fact that we went to the same VERY SMALL school....how did this not come into my reasoning, I don't know but she would get SO MAD at me.
I'm guessing this note came about the following way.
Val- "Chalise you are NEVER allowed to wear anything of mine again!!!"
Chalise (trying to act like nothing Val could say would affect me in the least) "I don't care". As you can see I was really well versed in the language of come backs.
Valerie goes and writes a note to prove to me later that I said I didn't care...I just said I didn't care, not that I wouldn't, and besides I don't know who Chaise is so obviously I didn't have to live by that note right? I found this note when we were in Parowan a couple weeks ago on the back of a recipe card my mom was using. I quickly took off the shirt I had borrowed from Val. whoow, good thing she didn't see me.
Actually it seemed like the day Val moved out of the house, we became best friends. Last year when I called to tell her we were moving to Omaha, she just started crying. Yeah, I think we have gotten over our little spats. We even have the bruises to prove it
Those are our bruises from the 3 legged race we totally ROCKED on the 4th of July. This picture was taken a week later. I'm pretty proud of that bruise.

This last year, when I would lay in bed before going to sleep, I would imagine the things I would do when we got to Parowan. Do you know what some of the things I was most excited for? *Hanging out laundry on the line (no picture of that :-(

*Mowing the lawn

*Riding my bikeAmmon and I took several trips to the grocery store on our bikes. "What! we don't have any root beer for root beer floats? We will be right back" and off we were like a flash of lightning to get our bikes. On one of our trips to the store we found this cute little girl for sale We decided we would buy her up because you never know when you can use an extra baby. Plus she was really cute and was calling me mama. How could I resist

Remember those root beer floats I was talking about? Well as you can see, they were enjoyed by these little hoodlums.

I married an amazing man! Wait, let me say that again. I MARRIED AN AMAAAAAAAZING MAN!!!!!! My dad had some old pallets in the back yard that he uses for firewood. Out of the blue, Ammon just went and found a nail-gun and went to work. My Dad helped him find what he needed and in a couple of hours, the kids had a little hut.

He even made Addie this broom. Isn't it cute? That hat that my nephew is wearing is my Dad 100%. Every time my dad was working outside as I was growing up, he was wearing that hat. That hat has seen over 30 years of growing gardens, weeding and camping up the canyon. It is so worn out but I hope the day never comes where that goes in the trash. I think I would cry if that hat was thrown away. I love that hat.They decorated the inside very nice with stickers and had many snacks out there. I guess Seth and Kimball are having a musical hour. As you can see it was quite cute and cozy.

This is Shelby. Shelby is my parents dog that we got when I was 14. I love Shelby and my children love Shelby. I don't know that we will ever see Shelby again so it was hard to say goodbye to her. She has been such a good dog Good ol' Shelby-Lou. What a great friend you have been

Speaking of wonderful friends. I was so glad I also got to see my bosom friend Aubrey while I was home. Every now and then, you find a friend that you know is going to be a lifelong friend. Someone that no matter how long it has been, your friendship doesn't change. I am lucky enough to have a few of those and Aubrey is one of them. She is such an amazing person and I wish SO bad that we could live next to each other again. What an awesome example she is. Love ya Miss Hawaii, I mean Aubs.
OK so this is a really really bad picture but my camera would not take a good picture of this but it is a story worth telling.

What would you think if you were driving down the road and you look over and see someone driving in the car next to you with their tongue sticking all the way out, drooling all over the place and scraping their tongue with a credit card? You would probably think that they were mentally unstable and no matter how hard they try, their mouth is never going to accept a credit card so they should just quit swiping and check themselves into a mental institution right? Well I hope you will give them the benefit of the doubt from now on because you never know, that person could just be trying to get a stinger out of their tongue. She (or he) could have been drinking a bottle of pop and feel something go in her mouth and then feel her tongue start to feel very funny and hurting. Did you know that if you stick your tongue out for a very long time, you drool A LOT!!! especially if your tongue has been stung by a bee? Totally true. Go ahead and try it. Or you can take my word for it so people don't start wondering about your sanity.

by the way, Lavender essential oil, although helps bee stings feel better, does NOT taste good. Just so ya know
p.s. that picture is the bee

an entertaining evening

Tonight we had a family movie night and watched the movie "8 Below" It's a movie about sled dogs and the kids....well, they really got into it. The movie wasn't a comedy but Ammon and I couldn't stop laughing. Our kids became the entertainment. Let me give some examples.
At one point in the movie, a man has a radio and falls through the ice. Let's just say if Addie thought she was in the movie and was that character. Here is the jist of her conversation with herself "Oh, HE FORGOT HIS RADIO!! I've got my radio, and dying! WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT? DYING!!!!" Now she says all of this focusing straight on the TV and very excitedly and she CANNOT hold still. She was VERY into it!
At another point, there is a dog that falls down a glacier and dies. Wow, those kids were quite upset. Addie was getting a little teary and I look over at Kimball and his lower lip is just jutted out, and quivering. He had the biggest crocodile tears in his eyes and just buries his head into my chest and cries and cries. It was so sad but so sweet. I explained to them that this is just a movie and this really didn't happen. He was okay after that.
At another point, Kimball asked if when he turns into an animal, if I will still love him?....Kimball acts like an animal many days and I still love him so I had no problem saying "Of course Kimball." He said he was going to turn into a zebra. Maybe I should explain that we don't believe in reincarnation :-) Addie then asked me if Kimball was a zebra and I was a lion, if I would eat him? Hmmmmm....where is she going with that.
I wish I could remember all the other funny things from watching the movie with them. Mostly, it was just watching their reactions to everything.
p.s. oh, and Addie kept calling the meteor's, Meat eater's. I thought it was cute

Holy picture overload Batman!

Have you had your rest? Are you fully awake? Grab some pixie sticks and sit on down because this is going to be a Loooooooooong post. I have been anxious to share these photos of my family reunion but dreading actually sitting down and blogging about it because there are so many fun pictures that capture great memories that I am just going to have to share so I hope you're ready.
Alright, we have already posted about Ammons fun family reunion and now it is time for the fun Vincent family reunion. There are 39 of us now (I think) and everyone was able to make it except for 1 brother-in-law, which is fine because he stinks anyway...Just kidding Jason, you were VERY very missed.
It all started out on Sunday evening with pictures....are you ready to see my cute family? Well here they are

My cute Mumsie and Popsicle....the most wonderful parents I've ever had ;-)

Me own lil family. I think we took about 20 pictures with 3 different cameras and there is not ONE where everyone is looking at the camera or has their hand up their shirt. Luckily in this picture it is Kimball instead of Ammon who's hand is up his shirt. I kid, I kidHere is all the siblings with Mom and Dad.....I love my family So much. They are wonderful

I've always wanted to be the thdar of the thsow!Here is the whole kit and caboodle...minus Jason of course. Sorry the picture isn't very good, I had to download a copy of it from Shutterfly.


And here we are in all our glory
My oldest sister Darla and her family
My brother Denny and his family


My sister Michelle and her family

I love this picture of Michelle and Tess. This was the first time I got to meet Tess and she is such a doll

My sister Paige and her girls

My brother Kyle and his family

My sister Valerie and her familyAmmon and I wanted to get a picture together...
Here he is getting ready for his "drill team" photo shoot
awwwwww...."Help! someone save me....He's going in for the kill"
uhhhhh... Ammon?

Now that's better
Have you ever wondered how many kids will fit on a swing set?


OK, now onto the reunion. The whole thing was based on Pioneers. My mom made bonnets for all the girl and pioneer caps for all the boys.

Is everybody ready for the Pioneer macarayna?
Pioneer Pastimes
The boys hand ground the wheat into flour
Then the girls made bread out of the flour

My nieces Kaycee and Becca and my sister Valerie...aren't they such cute pioneers?

Then we made our own butter. Shake shake shake, shake that booty, shake that booty

Being a pioneer is exhausting work

We all took turns making a meal. Ammon and I did biscuits and gravy...yummmm
My sister Michelle bought some rope and Ammon made a swing out front. I think there was someone on that swing 90% of the time. Why did we never do this before?

My niece Haley was pushing Addie on the swing and Addie was a little nervous about running into the tree trunk. Haley promised her she wouldn't let that happen but Addie decided to say a prayer anyway (while she was swinging). She bowed her head and said "Dear Lord, please bless that my guts won't fall out"

What hansom lads. I love those pioneer hats.
My mom arranged for us to go on a hay-ride through town. I love Parowan



Addie and Kimball all ready for the ride...for some reason, this seems to be Kimballs favorite pose when I point a camera at him
Side note: Did you know that the hymn Cary On is actually written about Parowan? That was it's original title. Every time I drive into Parowan, in my mind, I start singing "Firm as the mountains around us..."

After we got back, my mom helped all the grandkids put on a little play with all the uses of flour sacks. It was quite cute.

That night, we went out to the Parowan gap and ate stew and the yummy bread that everyone helped to make. Doesn't Addie look so genuinely happy in this picture? I took her away from playing with her cousins to snap a picture of her and Kimball.
Avonlea was a happy little pioneer.
If you are from Parowan, I am sure at some time in your life, you have sat exactly where Addie is sitting. I remember that being a spaceship, and many other things in my imagination as a kid.

My mom and Dad put on a cute little skit for us. Sure love those guys.

Ready to crash at the end of a long fun day.

The next morning we woke up and all hiked the "P"hill. Kyle and Lena had breakfast up there waiting for us. The kids all did really well, and I was grateful for my brother in law Jack, who offered to carry Kimball on his shoulders.
I love the view from the P, however, as a mom, I did not love how my heart did spasms every time my kids got even near the edge. I've decided I'm not a very fun mom when it comes to trusting my kids around heights....yikes

Addie and sweet Liv. These 2 are so cute. I could listen to Liv talk for hours with her sweet little voice. I have the cutest nieces and nephews ever!!!

After the P, we did a little scavenger hunt around Parowan, finding and learning about all the different monuments. Then there was plenty of Crockett, games for the kids and lots and lots of good food.

To end our reunion, we rented the Parowan pool and had SO much fun! Kimball is so dang strong. Just look at all those bulging muscles. He becomes the incredible Hulk and his muscles turn green...either that, or he has a bad case of gangrene


I wish I would have been able to take video of the splash contest.....or rather, the welts and broken blood vessles on my brother in laws back that came from the splash contest but alas, I did not.
The best part of the whole reunion was just all the laughs and jokes and just being together. I am so glad we were able to be there
Now Pat yourself on the back (but don't give yourself any welts), you have made it through the entire post!!!! wee haw