10 years ago today!

Once there was a cute girl:

Who met a cute guy:

They dated for quite a while:

The guy went on a mission:

Then he came back and the cute girl and cute guy dated some more:

Then 10 years ago on JUNE 1st, 2002, they got engaged!!  He popped the question in Cedar City - she said YES!  And they celebrated their engagement in St. George, UT.  Happy Engagement Anniversary Shane!!

Why we should just get a wolf.

Seriously:
Best Dog Ever. 

Memorial Day Weekend: hiking and sand hollow

Sunday after Church, we, the Family of Petty - decided to go, where no Petty had gone before in search of strange new creatures.  So we buzzed up the way to a trail head and started walking.  We were hoping to find the dessert tortoise.  There's tortoise fencing all over Washington County - and we were determined to find our selves a shelled creature. 

We did!  It was dead.  In respect for it's decaying little baby tortoise body - we did not photograph the turtle. 










However, we did find many a lizard and this cute little horny toad!































On the way back, Ashton sustained "Pokies!!!" in his shoes, and had to be carried, while working his dramatic death pose.

On Monday, we joined the throngs of memorial day recreators at Sand Hollow.  Shane did some sand 4-wheeling - and had a blast!  He found a way to maneuver his 4X4 so that it sheeted across the sand, much to his joy.  He compared it to snowmobiling in the way he could get the very large beast to 'float' up the dunes.

The family camped out at the beach.  We made sand castles, squirted squirt guns, jumped waves.  We waded deeper into the waters than last time.  Nathan even tried his face at snorkeling!  Not his favorite, but I think after a few practices in the tub, we might get it down a little better!

We bedded down on the blanket when we needed to warm up and have snacks - and this is where I sustained an awesome sunburn on my right leg.  I sun screened except the legs, and man that upper leg just got SCORCHED! 







Ashton's favorite toy was a plastic cup that I put in with the sand toys.  He played at the edge of the water with that little plastic cup for nearly an hour!  Of course when I went to take a picture (he also had a cute little sun hat on most of the day) the camera was out of batteries. 






















We hit some lunch at Carl's Jr. on the way home, took showers and put Ashton down for his nap.  Sand Hollow is certainly a favorite family place to go.

What ALMOST happened this week.

Last Friday Night - Holly and I went to The Piano Guys concert.  If you don't know who The Piano Guys - stop reading right now!  And go to this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgAlQuqzl8o&feature=BFa&list=UUmKurapML4BF9Bjtj4RbvXw

or this one:
 http://www.youtube.com/user/thepianoguys?feature=results_main

Yes, that's us.  In the front row.

and watch a few videos, before you continue the story. Seriously.  Go NOW.  I suggest watching Cold Play - Paradise,  Cello Wars, So Happy Together, Bourne Vivaldi... heck!  They're ALL good!  Jon and Steve are from St. George, which makes them all the more appealing.

Okay, now that you're back, you can just imagine how much fun Holly and I had in the VERY FRONT ROW and just off DIRECT CENTER of this concert!! We were completely centered with Jon Schmidt. (piano)  They had what they called their 'facebook' concert.  They put a link up one week before the concert, only on facebook.  They needed to play some music for some PBS guy, and decided they might as well make it a show, since the Tuacahn Theatre was available. 

Jon playing the piano, upsidedown!

They Also said that on Monday (three days later) they would need about 60 extras to be in a new video they were shooting!  SHANE happens to be off of work on Monday!  So I signed us up.  They called us Saturday to get our ages.  And then texted us Saturday night to say they'd be excited to work with us and we'd see them Monday Afternoon.  We were to be dressed in Sunday best, they're filming a wedding scene. Of course, Holly volunteered to watch the boys. Because she's awesome.

So Monday comes.  We get about our morning, playing and doing a little shopping.  It's A HOT day on Monday.  Mid 90's, so I shoot an email to see if we'd be filming in or out.  IN!!  That's good, we can't possibly spend several hours in the afternoon, in our Sunday Best withering away in the hot desert sun. 

As we go about our morning, we drop by the Ivin's Animal Shelter.  They have a great foster program where you can take a pet home and try them out for a few weeks before you make the solid decision to keep the animal.  They have the cutest little terrier.  He's sweet and spunky and for whatever crazy reason - we take him home.

We're still waiting - it's about 1:30ish by now, to hear about the video shoot.  So I shoot them another text to ask if there is a tentative time, so I can have a sitter ready. 

We load the dog, go buy some lunch, and get some dry dog food.  Shane then drops us all off back home and runs back the Animal Shelter for a crate to borrow, as ours is still in Cedar City at the farm.  While he's gone I get another text from the Piano Guys.  They won't need us for the shoot.  They had so many people sign up that they randomly selected some and we weren't on that list. But not to worry, they have our information and will use us another time.

So, No video, this time, but at least we have a little dog.

Until Wednesday, when I'm walking Nathan to the 'End of Shcool' block party our neighborhood is throwing.  (Which was AWESOME, by the way)  A friend an I were talking, the dog was on his leash.  Another little dog walked by and FAST AS A SNAKE the dog I think I have control of, jumped out and bit the neighbor dog on the face.  Hard!  I picked up our shelter dog and lifted the neighbor dog in the air too!!  So my friend's husband jumped up and got them separated.  That was the deal breaker for me.  The little dog was GREAT in the house.  The kids could wrestle with him, and he didn't shed much, and he minded his own business, but he's just not good with other animals at all.  Our next door neighbors have dogs too - and the little terrier spent his whole time in yard trying to jump the fences.

Luckily, one of the block party hosts is a vet, and said the neighbor dog was fine.  WHEW!!  We just can't have a dog that can't play outside with us without wanting to run away or be aggressive with all the other animals he comes in contact with!! No wonder his shelter name was "Tuffy."

So the little dog went back to the shelter.  And the boys are just fine. They loved him, but weren't too upset when he was gone.

Those are the things that ALMOST happened this week.  We were ALMOST in a music video and we ALMOST had a dog.

Crazy!

NQ's Preschool Graduation

Here he is, the newest graduate of the Petty house!  Today there was a little program for the Preschool Kids on their last day of school.  Teachers, Mrs. George and Ms. Mitchell have done a great job with this little class!  The kids recited some rhymes and sang some songs.  One of our favorites, that we recited with frequency, goes like this:

One, two, three, four, five - once I caught a fish alive.

Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten - then I let him go again.

Why did you let him go?

Because he bit my finger so.

Which finger did he bite?

This little finger on the right.

Even Ashton loves this poem and can recite it with a partner.  After the presentation of certificates, the graduates had some snacks: pineapple, Kit Kat's, Capri Sun, brownies, and cupcakes. Nathan sat by his best friend, Logan. 

Logan really didn't like going to school.  It was a crying mess at the door every day they dropped him off.  Then one day Logan saw that Nathan was wearing a Mario shirt.  They bonded - and after that they were best buds.  We heard at our house about Logan, and Logan's house heard all about Nathan.  Even Ms. Mitchell and Mrs. George mentioned about how they were 'buds' at school.  So proud of my Nathan for helping Logan enjoy school!

Nathan signed a card for each of his teachers and inside the envelope was also a gift certificate to Krave Frozen Yogurt. Between Great Harvest Bread or Krave, Nathan said Krave would be more fun.

Congratulations Nathan!  You are officially on your way to Kindergarten.

P.S. He's headed to Dixie Sun in the fall.  We just felt prompted that the duel language aspect of Dixie Sun was right for Nathan.  Today both of his preschool teachers again encouraged that choice, and said that Nathan was perfect for that learning.

Strawberries, New Trampoline, Splash Park

Some Stuff the Petty's have been doing:

The fruits continue to grow.  We enjoyed fresh strawberries the other morning, right from the plants.  It was so fun watching the kids eat them with little strawberry juice around their little mouths.

Pomegranate flower

Little grape clusters

Strawberries!

Nathan had a stomach bug for about a week.  We had a few days of vomit, and days and days of diarrhea.  Our little boy was lethargic and pale faced.  He wouldn't eat for days, thus concerning us further, but finally we had a break through - and now he's doing much better.  These finger painting pictures are of what Ashton was doing while NATHAN was napping!!  He napped for days!  Truly the sign of a sick NQ.  He doesn't nap, as a rule.

A shout out to HOLLY who, when heard we had sickness, brought us a casserole and probiotics for Nathan's ailing tummy.  That was awesome.  Thank you!!
Shane's dad found us this FREE trampoline!  It's in good condition, and the boys are enjoying it!  I would love to put a net around it, going to scour the KSL listings, and whatnot, to see if I can find a used, affordable one. There was very little jumping on this during the days of sick.

Today we went to the splash park and played for about an hour. Ashton lost his pants time and time again, so finally I just took them off, he had on a swim diaper.  His little face would look at me all perplexed, and a little amused as he pointed down, "Pants fall down!" He enjoyed the waterfall for most of his rec time.  Nathan spent most of his time at the spraying fountain.

 All was good and well, until we got in the car and Nathan started changing out of his swim trunks.  His knees were COVERED in hives!!!!  We got right home to check it out.  His stomach had some, and bum cheeks were one huge hive each, and his knees and feet had them!!  I don't know what would have caused such a reaction!  The GUESS is the chlorine water trapped by his swim trunks, against his skin and rubbing on his knees - and then his sandals on his toes trapped the allergy holding water against his skin.  He's had hives before, when he was a baby - but we played all last summer at the splash pads with NO PROBLEM!!  I hope this isn't lasting - we DEPEND on the splash park!!

Drinking the waterfall, quickly informed to NOT do that.

After an allergy pill and a shower, they quickly disappeared. Maybe his little immune system isn't quite back to where it needs to be. But this is what we've been up to for the last week or so, mostly staying in.

May the 4th: Sand Hollow

So, I guess Star Wars day is a big deal in parts of the country.  Not mine.  Shane came home from work today, saying "May the 4th be With You," as I saw about a billion times on Facebook. Along with pictures of kids with Light Sabers.   In a tone that conveyed my 'over it already' feelings I told him, "That was funny two years ago."  He got the BIGGEST kick out of that.  He must have had a pretty boring day because, "That was the funniest thing I've heard ALL day!" came from his mouth between chuckles. 

Anyway, the boys and I had a great day!  Aside from being the May the 4th, I decided it was going to be a beach day.  We loaded up the car with swim suits, towels, drinks, snacks and the sort and headed for Sand Hollow.  Tomorrow is the IRONMAN competition in St. George (I guess one of only 7 full Ironman competitions that are done in the country.) On our way to Sand Hollow we passed runners and hundreds of bikers.  At the reservoir we encountered hundreds more people doing practice swims.  We make the decision to go to the OTHER side of the beach, where the ATVs go, but the beach was certainly more barren. 

We plopped down and made merry.  The sun was warm, the water cool.  We enjoyed putting our toes in, and playing in a little 'pool' nearby the big lake beach.  The boys threw sand mud balls at each other, played with the dump trucks we brought and enjoyed the new place place.  They'd of stayed all day, but after the wind picked up and stayed up - I grew tired of sand in my ears and teeth. 

We made it home at about 2.  We lunched, showered, and put Ashton down for a nap.  At 4 o'clock, SHANE CAME HOME!!  EARLY!!  FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AGES!  So I sent Shane and Nathan to the Father/Son camp out at the Bishop's farm.  They didn't stay the night, because Shane has to work Saturday's, but they went for dinner and a program and 'boy time.' 

Later Shane commented that during dinner, Nathan put down his sandwich and said "First, today we went to Sand Hollow, and now we're here!  This is the best day ever!!" I appreciate that he recognizes his blessings!! I'm sorry that I didn't spent more of the rare daddy time with Shane, but knew that this little outing was important for the two of them to do together.  At a little after 8, they returned home, showered once more, had a snack and we all feel exhausted into bed.