LAST DAYS

And this is how Clayton has been spending his last days at La-Z-boy.

Longboarding down the now empty production building and through the offices.

UMMM...59-0

Can I rant for a bit? Well...It is my blog so I don't know why I am asking because I will do what I want anyway.

A couple of weeks ago BYU won Washington on what many called a "controversial" call. I will admit I don't like the celebration penalties in football. If a player does something good he should be allowed to celebrate. However, a rule is a rule (I WOULD say that even if BYU was the one that got the "controversial" call) and players need to abide by the rule. The thing that makes me mad is that BYU critics (which lately seems to be 85% of America) say that they won the game because of the "controversial" excessive celebration call after a Jake Locker touchdown. Because of the call Washington got penalized 10 yards on the extra point kick. 35 yard field goal is STILL pretty much a chipshot. If your field goal kicker can't make a 35 yarder then they should go back and be a little league football waterboy. So on what should be an easy kick was blocked by BYU and that is what caused BYU TO WIN THE GAME...NOT THE CALL. People whine so much about call before the kick that they FAIL TO REMEMBER THAT BYU BLOCKED THE KICK. Hello. Anyone out there!?! BYU didn't play a great game, I will give you that but nonetheless they blocked the kick. Ok. I feel better now (three weeks later).


So I was a little worried going into the UCLA game a week later after UCLA got a huge win off of ranked Tenn. Shocked was I. Shocked. Was. I. 4 quarters later and the score was 59 to umm...0 for BYU. Anyone expecting that? Not I. This is going to be a good year.


Mostly I wanted to do this post to show off the awesome shirts Clayton and I scored off of Ebay.

Pretty sweet in an old school kinda way...right!?!

Kace with his birthday present cougar paws from the ever so awesome Aunt and Uncle (hmmm who could that be?) I think they got used more as a seat cushion on the bleachers than they did on his hands.

Birthday boy won a t-shirt. Cool.

So for those of you keeping track (just humor me and pretend you are) BYU is now 4-0 with wins against Northern Iowa, Washington, UCLA, and Wyoming "are you gonna flip me off coach" Cowboys. Bring on Utah State.

AN IHOP BIRTHDAY

I am not a fan of a big breakfast.

Cold bowl of cereal usually does it for me.

Wheaties are the best.

Not into the sugary stuff.

Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

However, it was not my birthday on Saturday, it was Kace's.

On to iHop we go.

I would rather "hop" past iHop, but whatever.

it wasn't my birthday.

ummm side note: to the family members who live in SLC or spent the night in Sandy (which was a few blocks away from the iHop) how come those who traveled long and far (from Logan) got at the restaurant 1/2 hour earlier than you!?! Which I might add was the DESIGNATED meeting time.
That's my nephew sportin' his brand new BYU shirt
Tydon was not a happy camper. I think he was sick.
OK so I find this kinda funny. Kace calls soccer cleats "stilts." Strange I know.
Tydon still not happy. The iHop floor is NOT the place I would choose to lay. I think they vacuum it every other month. I wonder how many diseases he picked up?
The ice cream birthday treat. Now that is my idea of breakfast!

Happy birthday Kace!

ps. Maybe I have been in the iPod world too long but is iHop written "iHop" or "IHOP" or "Ihop"? Interesting...

LAGOON

The slogan says, "Lagoon...It's what fun is." I think it should be, "Lagoon...It's how headaches are caused," or "Lagoon...It's how puke happens," or "Lagoon...It brings out the worst language in the best of people." (Clayton).

So there we were heading down I-15 towards Lagoon for Icon Lagoon day, which really should be called Icon Lagoon night or Icon Lagoon evening seeing how it is open to Icon employees from 5pm-11pm. Whatever. Anyway back to the story at hand...Lagoon. I have been an employee of Icon for 9 years and have never, ever been to Lagoon day where it is open to just ICON employees for $11 bucks. What is worse? Being an employee of Icon for 9 years or not taking advantage of Icon Lagoon Day? hmmm...

Loading up with OTC motion sickness pills we pulled into the parking lot and looked at the monstrosity before us. Second thoughts? Maybe. But we were there and we paid $1,899,632.00 in gas to get there, so there was no turning back. After paying for Rachel and Nate to get in (by the way Rachel you owe me $22.00 which I WILL be taking off rent...FYI), taking a 30 minute bathroom break for me (just what you wanted to know), we started our night of rides. Here is the summary of our rides.

1. Rocket's re-entry
2. Rocket's blast off
3. Paid extra to go on the Sky Coaster (awesome)

Clayton is the bravest-scaredest person I know. He is terrified of heights. Good think he brought an extra pair of pants.

All suited up.

Getting ready.

Goooooooing up. By this point Clayton was whispering pre-vulgarity vulgarities under his breath (however nothing I hear this day even came close to what I heard the day we went sky diving).

If you were at Lagoon (or in a 50 mile radius of Lagoon) you probably heard Clayton yell, "oh S@$%!" at the top of his lungs on the way down. Mothers, cover your childrens ears. In all I give the sky coaster a B grade. Not nearly as scary as sky diving, but still thrilling.

4. Wicked (not so awesome)

Oh how I wanted to DIE when it was over. Apparently motion sickness pills only work on a maximum of 3 rides for me. They need to put that on the bottle.

Clayton just looooves to have his picture taken.

5. Puff the Magic Dragon (now that is my kinda ride...until the 3rd time around the track) Tydon and I.

After we had taken in all the "F-U-N" we could handle, we watched Tydon go on a few rides and then headed home.
Kace, Clayton, Tydon, myself and Nate at dinner. Why Kace always has to pull weird poses I will never know. Strange parents=strange kid I guess.

LABOR DAY PAST AND PRESENT

Ahhh...Labor day. Growing up the "vacation" meant day to labor. Thanks Dad. Since leaving home I have realized that was just an excuse my dad used to get us to work more on the farm. Now I realize that Labor Day really means day to rest from your labors. Am I not right!?!

Labor 2008 was not an exceptionally thrilling day. In fact it was an exceptionally, excruciatingly boring day. Between watching 6 hours of Untamed & Uncut on the Animal Planet on our hidabed (I sometimes think that we use the hidabed more than our regular bed...odd), wandering aimlessly around Ross, TJ Max, Downeast Home and the Mall (without purchasing anything) the highlight of our day was this (or at least the highlight of my day was this)...

Oh yes we did! We had a girl's night that was just facialishly fun. Clayton has officially renamed Labor Day...Gay-bor Day. He said there is absolutely no way to feel manly when you have a mud mask on. Anyone up for a mud mask double date? Reason # 189 why I love my husband - he will do anything for me, even when he knows that I will post this humiliating picture on the www for all to see.

Since Labor Day was such a let down (with the mud mask basking being the exception) I thought I would reminisce with a picture of Labor Day 2006

Oh your eyes do not deceive you. Clayton is "proudly" modeling a brownie-raspberry shake from Bear Lake in the bile/throw up form. You know that your husband really loves you when he lets you puke all over him.

It was a good day. We basked in the Bear Lake sun and got a shake on the drive home (shamefully not a tradition anymore). On the road home was when things took a turn for the worse. The ol' escort (R.I.P) decided to take a dump on us on the way into Logan Canyon. Luckily (or unluckily for her), Clayton's cousin, Rachelle had been at Bear Lake that day too and was headed home as well and was just a couple of minutes behind us. Not knowing what was going to happen, she was nice enough to give us a ride back into Logan. We piled in to her small SUV with the other passengers (4 kids, 1 baby and another grownup). About halfway through the canyon I started feeling nauseous. However, I made it through the canyon without losing my shake. We were coming around by USU when I started grabbing Clayton's leg. The rest of the conversation is below:

Clayton: Do you need me to roll down the window?

Heidi: Yes.

Rachelle: Do you want me to pull over?

Heidi: No, I think that I can make it home (famous last words. Although, we were about 5 minutes from our house).

Heidi: (gripping Clayton's leg even tighter) uhhh...Rachelle I think you need to pull ov... blahhhhhh, blahhhh, blahhhh (that is the sound of throw up).

Clayton: oh Heidi STOP!

Heidi: blahhhhh, blahhhhhhhhhhh, blahhhhhh

Clayton: NO! Heidi STOP!

Heidi: blahhhh, blahhhhhhhhhhhhh, blahhhhhhh (in my head I am saying "Are you SERIOUS Clayton. Do you really think that I can stop!?!")

Clayton: NO. NO. NO. STOP!!

Heidi: blahhhh, blahhhh, blahhhh

This went on for about 4 minutes until Rachelle could pull over. By the time I got out of the car I was done. Nothing left to puke up. It was all over Clayton and all over her new car. Yea I felt pretty cool. Seriously I can't believe how much I upchucked. One would have thought that I had 10 shakes. You wanted to know all this. You know you did. The picture was taken after Clayton had wiped most of it off of him. 2 showers later and our hair and skin still smelled like puke. Maybe a full body facial would would have done the trick. If only...

BOX ELDER COUNTY FAIR

Ahhhh...the fair. You might say that it is a tradition for Clayton and I. One of our first dates was to the fair. Since that date we have gone every year. I go for the tradition, Clayton goes for the fair burger. Before I dive into my post on the fair (and the hilarity's of it) I must warn all my Tremonton readers. To you readers I say...please love me after you read this post. Know that I have a soft spot in my heart for Tremonton for that is where Clayton was born and raised. Also, many of the things talked about in this post happen in most fair's not just Box Elder's. So if our relationship is in danger - please stop reading.

ok let's get on with it shall we?

FAIR BURGERS. Everyone loves the fairburger. I personally don't understand the love/obsession for these burgers. Really, I don't. Don't be shocked. If you look deep inside your stomach you will also see that they are just an average burger. gasp. did she really say that? Yes I did. They are just an AVERAGE BURGER. Would someone please explain to me the "awesomeness" of the fairburger? Is the concept that you are eating a burger at the fair what makes it so special? For those of you who are absolutely confused let me explain the fair burger. It is a beef patty between two white buns with melted cheese on it. Sounding special so far? I didn't think so. Once you get that concoction you have the option to put ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, pickles and tomatoes on it. Hmmm...that is what I put on my burgers at home. Interesting. Clayton will starve himself all day just so he can have two fairburgers. At the fair this year he told me the reason I couldn't detect the "specialness" of the burger was because I don't get a double. He claimed that the double is much, much better then the single. I took a bite of his double and...yep just your average burger. Someone else (you know who you are) told me that it is the homegrown tomatoes you can put on the burger that makes it so good. They are pretty good tomatoes, but I still am not buying in to it (sorry person who will rename anonymous). I have had burgers at home, at the Owl, at Wendys, Red Robin, and Chili's that are all better then the fair burger. I'm not saying that the fairburger is bad, I'm just saying that is is nothing special. Now that I have made enemy's with pretty much every Tremontonite let's move on...

Famous? They may be "famous" but not fabulous.

Look special? Didn't think so.

Enjoying the burger. I think he is faking it.

THE BOOTHS. I love going and looking at all the booths that businesses put up. Ok so really I like going and getting all the free stuff they have to offer. Yes I am a mooch. Yes I am. Sadly, there wasn't much to offer me this year. Clayton scored a free try on the Groll Family Fitness bicep curl machine (yes I am a exs graduate so I should know the "technical" name...oh well).

THE ANIMALS. I got pictures of someone the "finest" animals Box Elder County has to offer. First up the Holmgren beef. I thought the butt shot was nice. That's were the good beef is, is it not? Ok so like I really know. Anyways, we went to the fair with Spencer and Aubrey (shout out) and these fine cattle belong to Spencer's family. I wanted to break the news to them (the cattle not the Holmgrens) that they were about to be taken to the slaughter house to become the next fairburger...but then decided that was a little cruel.
Ahh...the homosexual sheep. They also had the Ku Klux Klan sheep, but I didn't get pic's of them.
We spotted Joe Dirt at the fair partaking in the bunny sights. I really, really hope no one knows this man because I will feel sooo bad. These sightings are another one of the reasons I love fairs.
"This rooster has Tremonton hair" Clayton McMurdie - August 2008

It's big and poofy and has two extremely different colors.

Remember that Clayton the one who was raised in Tremonton said that...not me!

THE RIDES. As you know I don't handle rides very well. However, I love the Ferris wheel. I don't love paying 10 bucks to ride the Ferris wheel but I do love the Ferris wheel. Oh yeah, you read me right...10 BUCKS! Seriously why don't I just give them my first born or my right arm.

I think that is us.

So good times at the fair as always. Until next year BE County Fair, until next year.

---this post is dedicated to Michelle. Thank you for waiting so patiently---

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HADDERS

I'm a little late on this post...
I've been busy.
Really I have.
I hope that Hadlee can forgive me.
August 27th was my niece, Hadlee's birthday.

Did I mention that Hadlee and I have the same middle name? Jo. Pretty sweet I think. Not that I am vain or anything, but it is the coolest middle name around. Those of you thinking up hillbilly jokes...let's not go there, ok?

Clayton and I stopped at the local Wal*Mart (a.k.a. the Devil's storehouse. Where are you Target?) and bought Hadlee the Camp Rock CD. I'm not going to lie...Hadlee also got the Camp Rock DVD which I am pretty stoked to watch. Then again I still need to borrow High School Musical 2 from her before 3 comes out in the fall.
I hope for Brady's sake he isn't sucking the boogers out of Clayton's nose. Clayton has enough in there to clog a drain. However, with all the nose waxing he has his mom help him with there isn't a lot for those boogers to cling on too. The reason we might have kids...Chloe. Holy crap! What a little fireball. Let me rephrase that...what an adorable little fireball. Seriously Chloe is one of the cutest little kids I have ever seen (then again I think all my nieces and nephew's are cute...am I biased?). Especially when she dresses herself like in the above picture. If I had half of the energy she has I probably could run around the world...twice.

Hope you had a great birthday Hadlee Jo. We love you!

BYU vs N. IOWA

If you don't know by now that I am a huge BYU football fan you should stop reading this post right now and take my blog off of your favorites list (just let me pretend it is on that list...ok!).

Being the fan that I am I must recap the game. If I was to describe it in one word the word would be BORING. Let's be honest, ok. Northern Iowa is not an exciting team to play. Let me rephrase that...ANY Division 1 AA school is not an exciting team to play. Oh well. We won (even with a sloppy 3rd quarter) and we got $5 BYU shirts too.

However my favorite conversation of the day did not happen at the game. It happened on the way to the game. My 5 year-old nephew, Kace decided to ride with us instead of mom, pops and Rachel. Really though can you blame the kid? Clayton and I are a lot cooler.

Kace: That man in the white car is drinking beer.

Heidi: That is not good.

Kace: It's that Mountain stuff.

Heidi: Mountain Dew?

Kace: yeah. He is drinking and driving. He better call Bob DeBry.

I think that Kace watches a little too much TV. Funny nonetheless.

"Heidi you take pictures like we have never been to a game before." Clayton McMurdie - August 30, 2008

Rachel and Kace.

1 Sam's Club bag of Sweedish Fish, 80 handfulls of peanut m&m's, 1 bag of mixed nuts, one giant slushy later and Kace was finally able to enjoy the game.

Always a good time at BYU games. Especially when they win 41-17. Bring on Washington.

GROWING...OLD

Old. That is what I am getting. I don't feel it. I don't feel like I look it (I choose not to see those lines around my eyes). But, it has been brought to my attention that yes I, Heidi am getting old.

PROOF #1
Some of you know that I go in to ICON at 630am to run for a hour before I start my big girl job (also at ICON). Last week one of the fab shop workers and I had the following conversation after my run.

* names have been changed

Ronald: Heidi, you need to slap that guy I work with!
Heidi: Who?
Ronald: That young kid, Travis.
Heidi: Why do I need to slap Travis?
Ronald: Well I was telling him about this girl who was in here running (that is me) and he said, "who that OLDER woman?"

OLDER WOMAN!?! Seriously if I ever see this "kid" I will rip his eyes out with my "old" arthritis infected hands and then knee him in the "you know where" with my osteoporosis diseased knee. If this brutal act of youthfulness causes me to get a hip replacement in the process it will be so worth it! jerk.

PROOF #2
Clayton and I decided to embrace our youthfulness with a go kart ride in Layton on Friday. These karts are so fast that you have to sign a waver before you ride them basically saying that if you DIE then you can't sue them. If I didn't die skydiving I won't die riding go karts. We also had to purchase these sweet Osama bin Laden head things to wear under our helmets.
This is were the old part comes in. About 15 seconds into our ride I wanted to throw up. I almost pulled over to do just that, but toughed it out by going 0.6 mph to calm my head down. Clayton also felt the effects, but he put on his toughest man face won the round against the punk kid we were racing.
I seriously thought I would die. That is not an exageration. Death was lookin' real nice. We are in so much trouble for our Lagoon trip this coming Friday. Now that will be an exciting post.

I guess I should have seen this coming, the oldness. I do go to bed at 815pm and have to visit the bathroom as often as a 98 year-old lady. However, I have decided to embrace this new phase in my life. Today, I will head to Smith's and buy my first bottle of prune juice and box of depends. Oh how exciting life is about to become.