Glad to be done! Will never do again.

Russ wanted a fixer upper home. He got one! Here are some before and after pictures. I am not sure it does the work we did justice but it at least gives you an idea of what we went through.

I was talking to my friend today and he said that we did our own version of This Old House. I have many many more pictures. I just wanted to show the rooms that had the most dramatic change.

House!

So I haven't posted anything for the last little while because life got crazy fast. We sold the house in 3 weeks of putting it on the market. A Big thank you to the hard work of Leslie Thorup our Aunt and agent. The big thing was we had two weeks to move out and still a lot of work to do on the house. We didn't get much sleep and needless to say the kids didn't like us very much. Every time the kids talked to me I would snap and send them outside to play. I was a LITTLE stressed during that time frame. Russ and I would start our days at 8 am by dragging the boys out of bed to get them to school before 8:35. Russ went to work all day and would get home about 6. I still really don't know what I did all day but I was beat by the time Russ got home. I would have sent the kids out to play like as soon as Collin walked in the door at 3:30. Russ would start working on the house and pray to God that someone would show up to help him. Most the time Reid (father in law) would show up at like 8 and stay until 10 or 11. Thank you again Reid for all your help. As well as Levi, Scott, Derek and Andy. Russ and I would stay up until we dropped. That was about 1 am for me and 4 am for Russ. It was a very long two weeks.

I finally found us a place to move into on Wed and we moved in on Saturday the 25th of Oct. We are living in a beautiful basement apartment in Sandy. It is about 1,500 sq ft. We have 3 bedrooms and a great land lord. We love our new place we are right across the street from a really big park and the boys have found a new love for tennis. (Russ won state in tennis doubles when he was 17. So he likes the boys new love.) It is weird to be in an area with money. The ward is like 10 X's the size of our old ward so we like the idea of getting lost for a while.

Don't feel to sorry for the kids just yet. I told them that after the house sold we would take them on a vacation. So when Christina and Seth asked us to fly out to Cali for a week and do Disneyland we jumped on a plane. Well we waited a couple of weeks and had some interesting stuff happen before we left.

We love Utah football in fact we have had season tickets for the last 8 years. So it was no surprise that I got us a baby sitter to watch the kids for the Thursday night TCU Utah game. I asked my 14 year old baby sitter to come over for about 3 hours before Cassadee showed up to take over. This game she also had Danny and Sammy for about an hour before Cass would get there to take over. At 5 pm I get a phone call from Amber saying that she thought Kaleb had broke his arm. Now as mean as this may sound I was not going to leave the game unless I knew for sure his arm was broken. They wont let you back in after you have already showed up for the game. So I called Cass and asked her to take Kaleb to Alta View kids care. She was on her way. Andy got a hold of Christina and she came over. I called my mom and asked her to go help Cass and I had Amber's mom come pick her up. Cass and Christina took him to the Dr and Adam
(Cass boyfriend) stayed with the kids. The game started at 6 pm. My mom got to Alta View about 7:30 and called to tell me Kaleb's elbow was broken and Alta was sending Kaleb to Primary children's Hospital. Well I was about 2 blocks away from Primary. My mom called my at about 9:30 pm to say they were almost to the Hospital and to meet her there. At this point I was already waiting for the tracks train to pick me up. The was over and some how Utah pulled the game out thin air and won. So I was very glad I stayed for two reasons. If I would have left I would have just had to turn around and come right back.

The Dr came in and checked on Kaleb. They got to take more X-rays because the ones from Alta View didn't come through right. At about midnight they finally gave him drugs for the first time all night. The bone Dr thought it would be best to try and set his arm first before they did surgery. If you are a parent with a kid that needs to have any bones set leave the room. I stayed and just about past out on his bed. Elbows are not supposed to move like that and the popping sounds just made me want to throw up. The Dr laughed at me and said it was a good thing I caught myself because most the time the parent hits the floor before anyone else knows what is going on. The Dr got his arm set and Kaleb didn't need surgery. He now has a green cast and loves the attention that people give him. He holds it up to someone and says ouch and they always say what did you do. Kaleb says "Danny pushed my off the top bunk." he leave out that he stole Danny's UT ball and tried to hide on the top bunk.

So in the one moment I have to sit down let me tell you what has been going on. So Russ and I put our house up for sale. We did this about 1 month ago. The next day Russ was asked to be the Elders Quorum President. He told them that we were selling the house and the stake president wished us well and sent us on our way. What luck do we have. So Russ and I have been working on the house fixing it up while waiting for someone to buy the house. Well it paid off we sold the house with in 3 weeks of having it on the market. The very first people to look at our house came back and bought it. The day they came back to look at the house I had been in training at Great Life for 3 days so the house was not in very good shape. I have 3 kids running around trashing the house a baby sitter who didn't know that I had people coming over. Russ was trying to find a way home without a car so he was late. The family showed up to see the house. I hadn't done dishes for 2 days and clothes were all over the house. Russ finally got home and heard the agent talking to Kaleb. Well Kaleb was sitting on the potty pooping. The door wide open having an entire conversation with the agent. To add to the story Kaleb left the bathroom leaving the lid up and not flushing. The family must have really liked the house. They put in an offer the next morning on the 11Th of October. They want to close on the 25Th of this month. So we have been very stressed trying to find a place to move too. Russ has been working so hard to finish up the house. I can not wait to have this house behind us. I will post some before and after pictures to show you what we have done to the house.

What a week!

This is just my Little gripe of the week. Why is it that as mom of my cute little family. I am the one so easily forgotten. Last Friday Collin started saying he didn't feel good. Now for the last couple of months when he doesn't want to do something he is all of a sudden ill. So I didn't think much of it until he barfed. So I kept him home and that just started a week of fun for me. Collin was sick for about 12 hours and better fast. Rachael got sick on Saturday night and kept me up all night. I was late to church on Sunday and Russ stayed home with Rachael. Everyone else was seeming healthy until Wednesday when both Russ and Kaleb got sick. Now this would suck any week but to add to the stress we just put out house up for sale.

Wednesday night as I was deep cleaning my van because Kaleb got sick all over the back seat. I got a call asking if someone could look at our house in 15 minutes. I just about lost it. I told them that I just couldn't do it. I finished the night out by not killing anyone in the house. I was very pleased with myself. Thursday morning I let Kaleb and Russell sleep in while I took Collin to school. Rachael who gets up every morning at about 7:30 sharp just hung out with daddy. Russ stayed home and as I was cleaning the house so that it would be respectable for people to look at I got another call. We have someone in your area who would like to look at your house. Can they be there in 20 minutes. So this time I said yes how stupid can I be to think that I could handle 2 kids and Russ home and get my house ready to show. So needless to say the psycho hose beast came out in full force. She took over my body and just started yelling. I sometimes love when she shows up but then feel bad after her terror is over. I was hidding dishes in the dish washer and just being crazy. Russ had to get out of bed to save the kids. the worst part is they showed up 4 hours later.

We took Friday off from painting and cleaning and did family night out with Russ' family. It was good to see Andy now that he is a cop and works on the weekends we don't see him any more. Saturday I went to go look at a place for us to live. I got home and some people were looking at our house. The only problem was we didn't get a call that they wanted to see it. So my house wasn't ready for a showing. But Russ said that all he could hear the lady say was " I love this house." They left and we got ready to go to the football game. Go UTAH!!!!

The football game was okay. You know it isn't a good game when you win and your fans boo you. At the game I started to feel funny but didn't think much of it. Come Sunday morning I had a fever and body hurt all over. The house illness had finally come my way. Listening to Russ try to get everyone ready for church would have been very funny to watch. I could hear all kinds of craziness coming out of his mouth as he was dressing and feeding the kids. I slept most of the day. Monday comes and I still don't feel so hot Russ gets the boys off to school. He then goes off to work and leaves his aligning wife home to pick Kaleb up from preschool and to stay home with Rachael all day. I should have been sleeping and getting myself healthy so that I can take care of the family. So why is it that after taking care of the entire family the mom still has to deal with them when she is sick?

It is FINALLY here!!

This has taken so much time and energy for us to finally get this site up. www.sparkgifts.com.
We have talked about it so much that people told us it would never happen. Here it is!!! We are not just talkers but we really are doers. Thank you for taking a look at letting everyone know about our new site.

God Is with us every day!

This was a very interesting and eventful weekend for my little family. My father in law Reid has been talking to our cousins boyfriend Jake about how much fun it would be to go up to the Olympic Park in Park City. That is were Jake works on the Bob Sleds. He takes care of the track and drives the sleds down so that people can experience it. Russ and I wanted to go so I got a baby sitter for Rachael and thought that the park has a lot to do so we took the boys.

So Saturday morning we head up to the park to enjoy the beautiful day. We picked up Jake and his son Benjamin. On our way we found out that Reid, Andy and the boys had just left and that it would take them about an hour to get up to us. So we took everyone to Wendy's to have lunch. It was so nice to sit down and finally talk to Jake. He has been around for the last year or so but we only ever see each other at family events. So we talked about life and having kids and how very interesting they can be. Because my two boys thought it would be fun to make a castle out of lunch. Collin started to put his fries into his frosty. Kaleb thought it looked like so much fun and wanting to one up his brother put his chicken nuggets in his frosty. He ate every nugget and had a good time I just didn't watch him eat it.

Reid called and we finished out drive up to the Bob sled run. We did our intro video and sign our if you die its not our fault papers. The boys liked trying on every helmet in the place and we headed out to wait in line. The boys loved watching every sled go down and Kaleb kept asking if he could go down as well. The Bob sled rules are you must be 14 to ride. But Kaleb didn't care he kept asking if he go to go down with us. Collin, Kaleb and Danny my nephew thought it looked like a blast to push the sleds down the track. So when we go to the front of the line they asked if they could help push.

The crew members said that it was OK and I thought to myself how cute. So the boys and Russ lined up behind the sled they call the big banana and off they went. I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't have my camera out to take a picture of how cute the boys were. Everyone kept saying how fun and cute it was until.

The sled starting moving to fast for the boys. Collin and Danny let go but Kaleb wanted to keep running with his daddy. The last thing I saw was Russ pushing off and Kaleb still hanging on. Kaleb's little legs just kept right along with the fast moving sled. I was yelling "Let go, let go" and his little legs flew up in the air and he was still holding onto the back of the sled. Andy was running after the sled as fast as he could. I think it helped he just finished the Police academy. He said later that all he could hear was my blood curdling scream as he took off running.

All of a sudden Kaleb was gone from my sight. I have never felt so helpless, scared and out of my body as I did in that moment. I just stood there in shock thinking Oh my god. I don't remember ever saying a prayer so fast in my life. As I looked down the track just dumb founded Andy was on his way back with Kaleb in his arms. I could see that he was crying and alert. But I felt like I couldn't move to run to his side. Every breath was like an hour in time. Russ took Kaleb in his arms and that was went I could see his face. The left side of his face was covered in road rash. So I finally calmed down enough to grab my camera and take some pictures.

A mom that was standing in line gave Kaleb a sucker to help calm him down.

It didn't work.

This is the after picture with his sled.

We took him to the doctor to have him checked out. Kaleb was starting to get back to his old self. He was waiting for his X-ray on his neck he looked at as and said "I almost made it to the finish line." I just laughed because it was out of no where.

He is doing very well and his face is looking much better. Thank you everyone for your support.

So here I go again I am going to start up a new business. This is for Cookie Lee Jewelry. I love this stuff and I think it will be a fun way to get out of the house. I will add more information on here in the next day or two. If you have any questions just email me tina.thorup@comcast.net.

I am doing a catalog show to earn my start up cost. So the sooner you order the sooner I get started. You can look at the catalog on my friends site http://www.cookielee.biz/stacymalone.

Our summer camping trip

So this was our first trip of the summer. We started out last Friday going to Nephi for a pioneer wagon pageant. Just a little back ground we have been staying in a spring bar tent for the last 8 years. Well after a very difficult rainy camping adventure back in April. We thought it best for my little family to get a tent trailer so we all would have a little more space. We picked one up later that month and have never really taken it out for a spin. Well not to stay that we didn't try too. I thought the trailer could go anywhere that the truck could go. So we did some damage and lost the piece that cranks the trailer up. So we didn't end up using the trailer that weekend. Thanks to Levi my brother and John my brother in law. They fixed it the best they could and got it working.



Any how Nephi has a pageant no one knows about and it happens every other year. We stayed Friday night and I stayed up talking with my uncle Steven until 2:30 in the morning. I love being able to learn new things about the people I love. My uncle was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis a few years ago. He is still very young at only 38 and is sometimes forced to use a wheel chair. I love those late night talks that seems to allow deep honest conversation.



Saturday was a nice day with the kids off playing with the cousins. That night was fun we did a fun chuck wagon dinner and went through a family history of the Willie and Martin handcart company. Then on to the pageant it was well worth the trip. At least for me pour Russ got to take care of Rachael. It was very late and she was tired so he took her out to the car and put her to sleep. He did that within the first 20 minutes of the play so he missed the entire thing.



Sunday it was time to pack up and head out. This was the chance that Russ and I took to try camping on our own with just the 5 of us. This was a little scary for me just because we have always gone camping with family and my mom always does the food. So this was a chance for me to see how I can camp on my own.

Next we headed out to the Burr trail at a camp ground Russ found on the internet. I was getting a little worried as we got closer to the site. We kept driving into a vast nothingness and we came around the bend and ended up with big trees. It was a beautiful spot Russ can always find us $4.00 camping spots.

The first night we took a 30 mile drive down the Burr trail to Capitol Reef. We went back to the site where we were the only people in the entire place. So the kids being up late and very loud was not an issue. During our 3 day stay in Escalante state park we went over hells back bone. It is a road that is only big enough for one car and has a 2,000 foot drop on both sides and goes for a half mile. That isn't the worst road out there hwy 12 has a road that they just laid on top of a mountain and it doesn't have any rails. This road goes for about a mile and it is very windy and most people including me drive in the middle on the yellow line. We took a hike on the petrified forest trail the kids loved that hike. Also Russ and Collin took a walk around Devils Garden while I sat in the car with other kids as they slept. I think that Collin just loved his time alone with his daddy.

On Wednesday we headed out for Bryce for the family reunion. This was a little weired and kind of crazy because we had planned on meeting up with Russ' parents but drama was going on back home. My sister in law Kimmie had to go in for surgery to have her Gallbladder removed on the day they were to leave. So needless to say they didn't make it down because Eve stayed home to help with the new baby. Kimmie is doing much better. The first thing we did after getting set up was shower because we didn't have any water for 3 days. Jack did a big family BBQ and it was nice to be able to connect with family. Thursday Kevin took us on a hike that he called a leisurely stroll needless to say it was for the most part just that. What he didn't tell us is that we had to drop down about 30 feet into a hole into order to have that stroll. My family of 5 loved the hike and Collin keeps asking when he can go on Kevin's Trap again. That night we went to the rodeo and just hung out. On Friday we went into Bryce and helped the kids get their Jr ranger badge. They still have the badges on everything they wear. It was a fun and interesting time with the family.

Saturday we headed out for a 6 hour drive to spend one night at my family reunion in Ogden canyon. I love this side of my family it is my grandpa Dunn's side. This is a family that just knows how to love everyone and let go of judgement. The best part was that I had family that I haven't seen in at least 10 years.

I am so glad that we took the time to do this vacation. Russ is always worried to take time off of work he feels they need him to much. I like him better when we take time to be together just us and as a family.

So this has been the hardest summer for me with all the kids home. I have been very lucky my school has had an all day year round preschool. So for the last couple of years kids have gone to school early and gotten out later. Last year was the best because Collin was in kindergarten half a day and Kaleb was in the all day program. So i got very use to kids gone and only having Rachael home. I liked the freedom and the kids liked the structure. I not only have all 3 of my kids but I am also taking care of my 3 month old cousin. Needless to say I have been going crazy at home with the kids. I can't seem to get them to help around the house. I even pulled the cable out of the wall because I got so sick of the TV. I have a Zoo pass but it has been so hot that I can't get myself to walk that long by myself with 4 kids. I also have a pool pass for the out door pool at the West Valley fitness center. I have taken them many times but that is all they want to do. So I have been trying to find an out let still looking for it. I did go out and dye my hair dark brown with hot pink mixed in. I told Russ that I might be trying to hang onto my youth. I know, I still have 2 years before I turn 30.

Aug 25th first day of school bring it on baby!

Playing with the blog

So I have finally had two minutes to play with the blog site. This is alot easier then I thought it would be. My cousin April has been working on her own business that does digital scrapbooking. I have learned a little about how it works and I like what little I have made. But now with my new found blogger I get to learn more about how to make fun pages so that I can add them to my blog.

I wanted to add some pictures of my cute little family so here they are.

I know that no body knows about this site just yet but I am getting it out there. So Russ has put together a really cool website called www.lift-kit-tips.com. It has some good information on lift kits for your off road vehicle. Our www.sparkgifts.com site is still a work in progress and it might be for a while. I am really looking forward to thatsite being done and doing what it is meant to do.

This is a really cool product that April Oaks has been working on for a while. Check out her website.

First Entry

Today is the day that I start a blog of my cute little family. I look forward to letting others into my life. I have a deep love for my husband and kids and it will be fun to have them see it in writting.