The Problem with Dogs and Kids Under, or On Top of the Same Roof

Chula comforting Tagg when he was sick.  

I love my kids dearly, even fiercely.  I love our dog too.  She's great.  I can take her out in the front yard without a leash and AlMoSt not worry she will run away.  She's playful and affectionate, and I love that too.  She loves cars.  One time I went out to the garage to find her sitting calmly sitting in the driver's seat of Reese's car with the hazard lights on.  She got in through the sun roof.  The problem with the kids is that they give her WAY too many opportunities to be a dog; toys and shoes left for her to chew, doors wide open for her to escape, etc, etc.  Here is a list of things she has done in the last two weeks.

1.  Dug two different holes under the fence to get into each of the neighbors' backyards.

2.  Ate all our neighbors bird food.  

3.  Learned how to climb OVER our fence.  It's high and she is not big.  You should see her jump!

4.  Got on the roof twice.  

5.  Jumped from our second story balcony to the ground.  She was fine.  I kind of wish she had gotten a little hurt so she won't do it again.  

6.  She is currently working on digging a pit for our trampoline.  It may be a long time before that's done.  

And here she is on the roof.  

Kyle and Erica!!!!

Our GREAT friends Kyle and Erica came down for a visit.  We knew them in Seattle. Funny.......we all moved to and from Seattle around the same time.  It was SO fun to see them.  I miss them.  Erica is as sweet and lovely as ever, and Kyle continues - despite having been away from us for over 2 years, to be a huge hit with the kids.  It's so great to see old friends doing well and making a difference in the world. We love these two!  

Kyle and Tagg

Travellers

Hey everybody.  Reese here.  Why Reese, you ask?  Well, the truth is that while I'm usually an avid dish doer, I just couldn't get excited about it tonight.  So, I thought and thought about what I could do for Kat that she genuinely dislikes more than doing dishes, such that she'd be happy to wash if I took the "other" task.  Well, I nailed it - to Kat, writing the blog ranks somewhere between the chicken pox and getting hit by a car.  So here I am doing my duty, and she is happily doing dishes, knowing she just bought herself at least another few weeks before she has to post again.

So, what to update you on.  Well, as she mentioned we did go to San Francisco which was a hoot.  For all those who have a money tree growing in their back yard, I highly recommend moving there (make sure to bring and transplant the tree).  If you don't have a $ tree, a visit is about all you should risk.  It is beautiful and a blast, make no mistake.  We saw all the basic stuff one is meant to see there - Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, etc., and we also snuck across the bridge to see a Redwood forest, which was fantastic; I always love to go to places like Seattle or San Francisco that are completely metropolitan but have nonetheless shown the foresight to preserve some natural sanctuaries.  We loved hiking through Muir Woods - it was probably our favorite part of the trip.

Alcatraz!!

Muir Woods

We were also lucky enough to get out to Utah to attend the sealing/wedding of my little sis MaShay.  She is the youngest of six siblings in my family, and the only girl, so it was quite an affair.  She was also the last of the lot of us to be married, which added to the meaningfulness of the occasion.  I can't remember a more spiritual time in quite a while than standing in the temple with all my siblings and our spouses, seeing the last of us sealed for time and eternity.  My mom was of course a blubbering mess and pops wasn't much better.  I can't blame them, though.  Who could imagine anything better than standing with all of your kids and their spouses in the temple.  What an overwhelming, indescribable blessing it was to be there. 

In classic form, the five brothers stayed up playing basketball till 4:00am the night before the wedding proving to each other yet again that while we may not have moves, we'll not leave the court till somebody is injured beyond the ability to continue.  I love those stinkin' brothers and sister of mine.  Jessica - (Cody's wife and the last woman to marry into the Reynolds cult) had the hardest time understanding why we just stay up, and stay up, and stay up, coming up with the absolute lamest reasons imaginable to keep awake.  And then, when we can't physically stand any longer, rather than deliberately turning in, we just decide to "watch a movie"; that is actually unspoken code for, "let's start a movie; that way we all fall asleep and spend the night in the same room."  We just love each other, and when we get to be together it's just hard to waste time sleeping.  I think we did however reach an all time low at Christmas when the idea well had run completely dry so we just started smacking each other in the face - I wish I could explain how it is that this was so hysterical, but I cannot - just take my word for it: smacking people you love in the face - very, very funny.  

Wedding went swimmingly, MaShay found herself a winner of an eternal best buddy.  Trust me, the brothers were not going to be easy on this one, but Jason (the husband) really is the whole package (yes, of course that means he can play soccer).

We were grateful to be able to spend a lot of time with Kat's sister Ashley and her husband Mike.  They're great, and their kids are a blast, not to mention that mammoth of a dog that they call a pet, most would call a . . . well, a horse.  It's a 110 pound black great dane that bounds about, leveling whatever might be foolish enough to stand in her way - sweet as she is, she's just huge!  I loved wrestling her, and the kids liked riding her.  Our kids also had a great time playing with theirs in the snow in the back yard.  For Tay and Payte it's been years since they've played in snow, and they were beside themselves.  We were grateful to have Mike and Ashley there - they provided nice respite from the madness and mayhem of the Reynolds tornado.  They are also good at living life the right way - we sure love those guys.  It's also so much fun to see our kids building relationships with their cousins - times like those you just wish it wasn't so hard to get together.  However, the time apart sure does make you appreciate the time together.

Snowman

Dancing with Livi

Smoothie Time!

Kat and the girls were able to get to the open house of the new Draper Temple that is set to be dedicated shortly.  They went with our coolio cousin Katherine (sp? hope she's not reading this).  They loved it; I'm so glad my kids now have some perspective on where we're going when we say we're headed to the temple.  All you Utah folks are pretty dang lucky to have such great temple access!  

Anywho, as you can see all is quite well, kiddies are great, life is fantastic, and well, the dishes look to be done so I'll be signing off.  Take 'er easy cluck cluck.

Sans Computer :(

I always have an excuse not to post. But.......my latest excuse has been legitimized by the absence of my laptop. I'm coming close to a month without now. Here's the story. Reese and I vacationed in San Francisco last month. We packed everything so as to carry it onto the plane. But, the overhead compartments were "full" (which we later discovered weren't). The airlines made us check our baggage which contained my computer, which was either damaged in flight, or damaged by those reckless baggage dudes. I was REALLY bugged as US Airways refused to give any compensation. I rely on my laptop for lots of things, but it's been kind of nice in a SmAll way. I haven't found myself more productive (I can get a lot done in a day). But, I've been more thoughtful and more in tune with the needs of my family and of others. I'm getting my priorities in line......again.
I'm doing this on Reese's computer, still not knowing when I'll replace mine, and I'm just fine with that. I don't think I've ever posted without pictures. CrAzY! That's more than half the reason I look at any one's blog. I love pictures.

Bloggin' in Bulk

I apologize to anyone who even looks like this anymore for not updating in a while. I'll try to be good about it from here on out. Wait, maybe I'll go for better, not good.

We went to my parents' house for Christmas!! It was SO much fun!

Look out ladies! Ross is home from his mission as of Dec. 24th.

I love Ross! I'm pumped he's home.

At the airport.

Ross and Mo.

Does anyone notice anything different about me? Okay I'll tell ya. Earrings! I was allergic to metal my whole life. I must have outgrown it! I've worn the beautiful jewelry my daughters give me from time and time and, yay, no rash. I got my ears pierced in October without any problems and got earrings for Christmas for the first time ever. It's been fun.

My sweet Dad and sweet Lilly

Tagg and Taden. Don't they look like trouble?

Payte and Mo

The kids had a blast with their uncles.

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Mom, Maranda, Lilly, and Tay

The kids AdOrE my mom. She is the BEST! She's so imaginative and fun. She gets a hotel room for the herself and the kids when we come. They love it.

The holidays took their toll on Dak and Tagg. Too much partying I suppose.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Reese's cousin Katherine and her GORGEOUS family came to Florida for the long weekend. I'm SO glad they came. They were tons of fun to be around and made easy house guests. And guess what?! There was frost on the ground Thanksgiving morning. I soak in every cloudy, cold day we get.

We went canoeing on The Little Manattee River near Mom and Dad's. So fun.

Mom, Payte, Dak and Dad

Tagg HATES boating. I think he really just hates wearing a life jacket. I managed to get a smile out of him.

Tay and Noelle getting comfortable

Big Cats and Little Kats

I said "Little Kats" because Tay's first name is Kathleen and she is SUPER little (for her age).

Tay's birthday was on November 7th. She was lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents there. She's seven going on 30. Her interests and tastes are way beyond her years.

Here is a list of things she wanted for her birthday.

1. Homemade chicken noodle soup

2. A Precious Moments figurine

3. An abacus

4. A subtraction book

Tay loves to write, read and play the piano, which she will choose to do over playing with other kids. I learn A LOT from her example. She always wants to do the right thing and is super disciplined. We challenged Tay to read the Book of Mormon by herself before her baptism in November. She's on track and honestly loves it.

I need to watch myself! For her, doing the right thing means doing what Mom does. In November the kids voted in school. She, not knowing anything about either candidate (my fault) voted for Obama, like everyone else. Of course, Payte voted for Obama because his name sounded cooler.

She had an "I VOTED!" sticker on her shirt when she got home from school. I asked, "Who'd ya vote for?" She proudly said, "Obama! Are you voting for him too?"

"Probably not," was my response.

She immediately broke down. She thought she had done something terrible. In vain tried to explain that everything was okay. On the real election day she tried in desperation to get me to change my vote. She fumed all the way to the bus and wouldn't hug, much less look at me as she stormed on.

I love that girl so much!

Reese's old boss Abilio took us to Big Cat Rescue. It's a reserve for all kinds of exotic cats that have been rescued from people's attempts at turning them into domestic pets. We were able to walk around the cages and with the cats in close proximity. They had all kinds of cats; lions, tigers, panthers, jaguars, leopards. You name it they had it.

Has anyone ever seen or heard of Christian and Lion? He's on youtube. He was a domesticated lion who was set free in Africa. He had a joyful reunion with his owners some time later. I kept thinking of that while we were at this park. Christian the Lion is the antithesis of what this park is all about.