Potty Training Open and Shut

Everyone told me I would fail at potty training Tex.

I think my success is a lock!

What Goes Around, Comes Around

On September 15, Liv and I loaded up our gear, the boat, and the babies, into Bens truck to set off for a week of fun in the sun in Lake Powell.

Ben's final words to us went something like this..."please try not to wreck or damage the boat, my truck, or the houseboat this week while i'm gone. (Deep down inside I know he's cringing at the thought of us two girls and our babies hauling all this stuff down there, by ourselves. We aren't exactly know for our light feet on the road!) Try not to lose anything, and don't do anything I wouldn't do...". Basically the same thing he says to me everytime I go anywhere.

Well, we made through the week, all equipment in tact, smiling that we had made it through another long boating season without any major damage or losses. Or so we thought. Somewhere near Kanab, the front of the boat cover kept snapping off the front of the boat. (In my defense, it does this a lot and i've made repeated requests for it to get repaired.) After having heaved up my McDonald's more than once, I lost my patience with the cover and finally decided to tuck it back into the boat and continue the rest of the drive home sans a front bow cover. No big deal...until the next day when Ben went to clean and prep the boat for winter storage and the bow cover was no where to be found...to make a long story short it had blown out somewhere between a polygamous planatation is southern Utah, and Copper Lane. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEkkkkkkk????????? I had tried to hard to make this a seamless trip of damages and losses. In my mind, I was thinking I did pretty good at only losing a $300 boat cover. At least I didn't burn down the houseboat or wreck the truck...right????? Not the right answer in this economy.

But luck would have my fate when Ben called Unlimited Covers and they mentioned that some lady had found one of their covers alongside a road in southern utah, a few weeks back. What are the chances it could be ours...well, see for yourself. All I have to say, is I hope that what goes around comes around. This lady just redeemed me! Please read the following:

Ben,

I am in Mesa, (Phoenix area) Arizona, and was on a GREAT trip with my 86 yr old mother, on our way to Bryce and Zion Nat'l Parks, for Mama to view for the first time, and we didn't realize that we went right by Lake Powell, which we had a large family reunion, celebrating their 50th Anniversary 17 yrs ago. We drove up that gravel road to the top of it, overlooking the lake, so I could get some pictures. Taking my cell phone out first, I took a picture of Mama first, so immediately sent to Papa's email address (who was home), then I laid my cell phone on top of the trunk open (so when I got back in the car I could send the photo of Mama) while I got out my camera attached to the tripod from the back seat of the car, to take some "auto timed" pictures of the both of us. (Sending this photo to you) Then I replaced the Camera/tripod in the rear seat, and drove on to Page, LEAVING my cell phone on the trunk!!! Naturally it fell off, I am sure driving back down that gravel road, and I didn't miss it until we checked into a motel in Page! I had Mama call my cell phone from her cell phone, so I could FIND it, then thinking back, realized what had happened to it! DUH! It was on my return trip to Lake Powell to see if I could find it, or see if someone had turned it in, when I spotted your tarp, and flipped a "U" to go back and pick it up. I was VERY adamant about trying to find the owner, and with the tags on it, was excited to arrive back home and contact the manufacturer! I took several pictures of it and with a tape measure laid on top, so they could see the demensions of it. It has taken so long for them to do so that I was sure they were just going to disregard my message. (I think I found your tarp on Sept. 22, and I feel quite certain that you had lost it shortly before I found it, on that day!) I did not find my phone, but it was turned into the Police department, in Page, 2 weeks after I lost it, and 30 minutes after I ordered a new one, (which I cancelled) and after I had finally conceeded that I would never see it again, They put it in the mail and sent it back after I gave them my Credit Card number for the shipping fees, but when it arrived, it was without a battery, and was in sad shape being run over, so I reordered my "cancelled new phone". Of course I LOVED that phone, and they discontinued that type of phone.

If you will give me your mailing address I will ship it to you. If you choose to reimburse me for the shipping costs, that would be great. I will put my return address on it as well as the shipping costs right under my address, just in case the Mailing company does not stamp it clearly on it.

So glad I found you in the end. It was very worth the try....

You're The Best, Bobby!

I've posted this pic mostly because it's a classic picture of Patron, but also because he deserves a little credit every now again. We haven't seen much of him lately because just as we were walking out the door to Lake Powell, he received a phone call from an account he has been trying to land for months. When he hung up he had to tell me he couldn't come with Tex and I and had to stay behind because he had to be to work first thing in the morning for this new account. This was a huge answer to our prayers, but a small disappointment at the same time because Lake Powell is our most favorite place to be together and something we had been looking forward to all year. Going without our Captain just wouldn't be the same. But my forever-sweet and trusting husband finished loading me, Tex, the boat and the truck and kissed us goodbye and begged us not to wreck the truck, boat or houseboat...which luckily we didn't. He spent the next week working 60 hours while we sunned ourselves in beautiful southern Utah.

His unselfish labor of love for our family and future continues constantly and most often it goes unappreciated. Just this week and Ben and his best friend were getting ready to go to priesthood and dinner, one of their favorite traditions; when he received a frantic phone call from a friend trapped up in the mountains several hours away, in desperate need of their help. Casey and Ben didn't hesitate to throw their packs and gear on and go rescue Bens friend and his wife. Neither of them returned to their beds until later the next day after hiking through freezing cold water and a steep mountain of snow. Casey made it back just in time for the birth of his fourth child, and poor Patron made it back just to turn around and have dinner and some Rook time with my family. I'm sure he would have preferred to go to sleep after having been awake and hiking for 48 hours, but he helped me make all the food, load the car...and cooked the steaks in the rain for everyone!

I often forget and take for granted the sacarafices that Bobby makes to provide for our family and care for those he loves. He is truly is Good Timber.

Company Party

LETTER FROM AN EXCELLENT BOSS Dear Employees:

As the CEO of this organization, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barrack Obama is our President and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way. To compensate for these increases, our prices would have to increase by about 10%. But since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state of the economy, we will have to lay off sixty of our employees instead. This has really been bothering me since I believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who would have to go.

So, this is what I did. I walked through our parking lots and found sixty 'Obama' bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the ones to let go. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. They voted for change...... I gave it to them.

I will see the rest of you at the annual company picnic.


THE BOSS

Julie and Julia

Sometimes on my way home from work, I like to fall from the radar and sneak into Barnes and Noble for a little time away from the rest of my world. I never tell anyone I am going, nor that I have been...I chuck my cell phone into the bottom of purse, where it will later take me an hour to retrieve, but this assures that I will not be tempted by useless texting or Facebook updates. After a warm carmel apple cider, even in the summer, I gather more books than I can carry or will bother to look at, and then I find the softest and cosiest chair that happens to be the furthest away from the childrens section, and settle in for an hour or two.

For the past year or I have been devouring the cooking section in conjuction with my new little culinary adventure. Amongst all the cookbooks was Julie and Julia, a sassy novel about a girls journey for happiness in life via Julia Child and Mastering The Art of French Cooking. I purchased it and ended up adoring it. I passed it on to my dearest reading buddy, Amy Dalley, who also laughed as hard as I did when she read it.

After finishing the book, I decided it was time to get serious about this culinary school business and to stop talking and start taking action. A year later Snooty and I are cutting up crustaceans (I was sooo sad to learn that they don't really squeal when you add them to a pot of boiling water!) and learning how to whip up all sorts of things, some that are disasters and some that are culinary delights! Chef Bucvher thinks we really are two crazy birds, but he likes that we want to add butter, cream, parmesan and booze to just about everything we concoct and are not interested in doing anything low-fat or low-carb.

While I usually have the policy of never seeing a movie that is made from a favorite book of mine, I made the exception for this one and played a little hooky after a theater friend scored me a seat to a private screening at the last minute. I figured since Julie inspired me, just as Julia inspired her, it would be worth it, and it was! Meryl Streep does an amazing job as portraying Julia Child and steals the show.

While it wasn't exactly the same as the book, because it never is, the movie was still fun and light-hearted and I very much enjoyed my alone time in the theater, just like I do at Barnes and Noble. Hopefully, you will get the chance to see this film and enjoy it as much as I did.
If not, pick up the book. You'll love it more than the movie.

Bon Appetit!

Armanie Michelle and Cecily Marchae Turn Three!

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Watch our for the twinners
Because they're no longer 2!

It's Back...

In an attempt to avoid being black-listed by the one "not for profit" insurance conglomerate here in Zion, I decided it would be best to plunk down a couple of bills for Tex' pneumonia medicine at none other than the ghetto-fabulous Wal Mart, so as not to leave a trail of evidence.

I normally avoid frequenting the above mentioned establishment, because I am proud to be an American. I drive an American car. I invest in American companies. I fly an American flag on American holidays. I buy American-grown produce, from my local farmers market. I proudly stand and cross my heart for the American Pledge of Allegiance, and National Anthem. And so will my children. I try to travel within America to support the communities that depend on tourism. (IE. Lake Powell and The Res. They were here first.)
I avoid leaving America, because whenever I do, all I want is to come back as quickly as possible. (In all fairness, I do have to take full credit for the camel fiasco in Cairo and the botched sex-trafficking abduction in Turkey with my fellow Donna.)

But most importantly I vote, I'm a small business owner, and I pay taxes for not only my family, but for every Rodriguez brother I employ that sends his money back to The Motherland. So no, I do not generally patronize the shining star of Bentonville, Arkansas; because I do not feel at home when I shop there. And because they supposedly make little children in china slave away for their meager bowl of rice, especially the girls...

But supposedly, Wal Mart is rolling back their prices, one smile at a time, supposedly saving us a couple of coins. That said, I thought I would do my part to help pull our country out of it's economic blood bath by putting some money, (that I don't have because it's all going to taxes in an effort to support our up and coming socialized agenda and it's benefactors), back into the community while my prescription was being filled. I thought I would pick up a few things to pass the time and to avoid feeding my FB addiction.

It was all going well enough until I came to the "ethnic" aisle. That is when I forced to pay a $1.74 more for name brand soy sauce, because Wal Mart is trying to roll back the savings and is no longer stocking "lite" soy sauce in either Great Value or Kikkomans. I hade to spring for the knock-off Jap-crap the was undoubtedly manufactured south of the border and then plastered with an "authentic" label. Normally this wouldn't have been that big of a deal, right? $1.74 certainly isn't my most guilty splurge...

But it was the final straw after I went to find some Herdez Salsa Verde...and the entire Mexican section of the "ethnic" aisle had been wiped out clean of almost everything but some nasty processed Taco Bell queso dip. Eeeewww!

At that point my day went from bad, to "Alexander And The No Good, Very Bad, Horrible Day". I looked to my left, and then to my right, and then I left my cart filled with necessities right in the middle of Juanita's Childcare Service and strolled out of Wally World (one that actually is NOT located in the ghet-toe), to my local west-side Food King.

Smiths has never seemed so patriotic to me.

Happy Belated Fathers Day....

Dear Daddy,

• Thanks for being my best friend and taking me to work with you! I love it when you let me have candy before breakfast and snacks before dinner, even though Mom disapproves.

• Even bigger thanks for letting me sometimes have fast food for lunch when i'm at work with you, even though Mom HATES for me to eat fast food. Thanks for letting sometimes eat the Frosty first, and then the nuggets, because you understand my cravings for sweets, a trait I inherited from you.

• I love it when you let me help you mow the lawn, fix your jeep, wash the boat, clean the garage, and all the others things I get to tag along for. I love you more for this because I know that when I am doing these things with you I make more messes than I help clean up, but you do this because you want me to learn the value of hard work, just as you have.

• I love the mornings when I wake up and Mom is gone and it's just you and me. I love how you let me snuggle in bed with you and my milk until I'm completely awake and not crabby anymore. I love how you let me eat my waffles WITH syrup and the occasional shot of whip cream, even though I make a sticky mess everywhere and you don't like messes. I love when we get to be lazy and watch the history and military channel, Speed TV, ESPN, and best of all, TruTV, because these are WAY better than constantly having to watch the Food Network and MSNBC with Mom.

• I love riding in your truck with you. I love how you care about my safety so much that you make sure Mom always put's me in the car seat, even when she thinks your not looking (and when you don't make me sit in it on the way to church). Thanks for letting me watch Einsteins and Bob the Builder while we are driving, even though I know you think they are super annoying and you would much rather be listening to Rush or Michael Buble.

• Thank you for providing for me and all my needs. I know you work hard everyday and that it doesn't stop when you come home. I know your example is teaching me to appreciate what I have and to work hard for what I want.
  

• Lastly, thanks for always taking me to Cabelas to see the animals. It's still my favorite and always will be. Especially when you let me have my favorite lunch when we are done.
  

-Your Monkey, Tex


Hey Vegas,

It looks like you still here with us, telling us what to do with our lives. There was a time when none of us wanted to hear it from you, but I think this year i'll let you share your masters-and-PhD-know-all (Gag!!!), with all of us. Only because we know you haven' t become an old coyote for nothing. So here is why the Donnas and I will be listening this year.


Because we are all still a little bit afraid of you and your boots, and we know that suffering through one of your discourses in life is not nearly as bad as picking up pinecones and lifting sawd rolls that are bigger than our own body weight.

Speaking of body weight, we haven't forgotten, "Out of the pop, Chubby!". And because of your obssession with your own vanity and ours, we will try and shuck a few extra pounds this year, in a pathetic attempt to please you. We will also pretend that you do not have a Zorro scar, that you didn't get your hip replaced, and that you didn't get your hand shot off in an effort to eliminate some of your pesky outdoor friends. We will just plain out forget that you are getting old. And just in case we forget, we know you will remind us that you are still wearing the same size pants as when you were 18, and that we are not.

We will let you earn your grandparenting priviledges back; despite your inconsistent use of our car seats and lifejackets; your inability to adhere to our children's dietary habits, your neglect of Cache and his tendency to roam, your teaching Tex to "go like the big boys" outside in the yard, and your general theory that you raised all 8 of us without any of us dying and we all turned out just fine.

At the end of the day Vegas, all us girls know how much you love your grandbabies, (even though you like to drive around the yard with the babies on the 4-wheeler, telling us to get back to work) and however much you lack the ability to be up to speed on safety standards for grandparenting, we know there is no place they would rather be than with "Pappa Dave".

Here's to teaching us the importance of working like slaves, the lessons of shadiness in life-that grey is your reality and that black and white do not exist, but that the color of happiness is whatever color we choose to make it, and that you'll disown us if we ever cut our Texas BQ hair too short again.

Thanks for tending to the Holy Land, even though you have to mow from sunrise to sunset and that there is always a "gusher" somewhere on the compound. We know how magical and enchanting it is for the babies to come and play with you and Coco up there, and that some of the greatest lessons in life that they will ever learn, they will learn from the two of you. Maybe not in the most traditional of ways, but the "Wright" way.

Thanks for ALWAYS having the music on, even at 5:00am when we are camping! However annoying you might find our love for "Let's Get Rocked" and "Dangerous", you have only yourself to blame for all the years we had to listen to all the girls you, Willie and Julio have loved before. You created the Uptown Girls, now you have to maintain them.

Thanks for marrying our amazing mother and for supporting her in her efforts to raise us with a sense of independence and appreciation for doing things right, the first time around. If you hadn't been away on business working hard to support our family, Coco might not have had the resources to teach us everything that she did. Because of her we have learned to become amazing domestic advisors, chefs, business consultants, contractors, lawyers, seamstresses, financial advisors, landscape architects, interior designers, and most importantly-mothers and fathers.

Thanks for hanging in there with one another, through the really good and the really bad, and for putting your personal desires aside for our happiness. A family that works and plays together, stays together.

Here's to "anyways anyways..."

-Bitty, The Uptown Girls, Coney Baloney, and The Mexican



Hey Cam,

Do you remember way back when we were in high school together, I was a junior and you were a senior, long before we had to grow up and become responsible adults? Oh to be so young again!

I'll never forget the night I was in the mood to go water skiing, and being the in-tune brother that you are, you went and hitched up the old Carina at 1:00am, and we drove down to Utah lake and slept in the Jeep until sunrise, just so we could have the nice glass of the early morning. Do you remember how when we arrived at the lake it was closed off and we couldn't get through the gate or pass the tire-rippers and the state attendant didn't arrive until 9:00am? I haven't forgotten us somehow figuring out how to open the gate, and how you and I carefully placed a random 2 x 10 over the tire-rippers so that we could sneak in, praying that our little maneuver wouldn't fail us and leave us in a state of disaster. After all that work we finally made it onto the water only to have me drive you through the lillypads. We were quite a team!

A decade or so later, you and I are still having fun with one another, but now we get to not only be each others better-business-half, we are raising our children together. And just like that summer night years ago, you are just as in-tune with your parenting as you were with me way back then. I have no doubt that your four remaining children know how much you love and care for them, despite the mountains your climbing to provide for them. You have done a great job with all four of your kids and I am proud of you. Kylie is sweet and sensitive, Bronson knows the importance of standing up for what you believe in, that little stinker Cecily Marchae continues to be on a constant mission much like her namesake, and little Miss Armanie has more love to give than she knows what to do with, especially for her Daddy.

On this special day i'm sure you will remember,
Good timber does not grow with ease
The stronger wind, the stronger the trees
The further the sky the greater the length
The more the storm; the more the strength
By sun and cold, by rain and snow
In trees and men, good timbers grow.

Happy Fathers Day Cam




To: Greg

From: Your bossiest, know-it-all SIL

Thanks for letting me steal your title as reigning croquet king. I'm feeling all sorts of warm and fuzzy in my newfound glory, knowing that you have been defeated and that it absolutely is just killing you. I'm sure you would like to blame it on the fact that you've been re-roofing Vegas and Coco's roof and you were too physically exhausted to be on your "A" game, but let's be honest; I have some pretty amazing skills you just can't trump! And that's saying a lot, given my golfing abilities. Just ask Brock...

But one thing is for sure Gaston, you are pretty much golden when it comes to being a father. Tex loves when you run with him around and throw him in the air and spend time with him, just as I know Marky Mark and little Brown Bear do. Thanks for sharing your energy and enthusiasm for life with all of our children, even if it makes Tootie and her grocery budget nuts.

And rest assured Gaston, you are always welcome to listen to 311 around me and Patron. In fact, Patron wont' tell you to turn it off, he will tell you to turn it up. I'll just tell you to get back to work. Happy Fathers Day, we all love you!

Elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, wrist,,,said Barb!

...At least that's what Barb Jones told me when I was little. While Barb knew and taught me a lot, what she didn't know was that I never wanted to be a pageant princess. (Except for those rodeo princesses that get to ride around the arena on fancy horses, with glittery tops and tragic hair. But mostly because I loved their blingy earrings and wanted to ride like them.)

While I never had the need to master the skill of waiving, I have had tons of fun helping these women get ready for all their glamour and glitz! From tiaras and tears; lipstick, lipgloss, and laughter; doing on makeup on these talented girls is quite entertaining. It's amazing all the work they go to in preparation for their "parade" so to speak.

So congratulations and good luck to all you pageant princesses, I hope you find yourselves doing a little karaoke to Kelly Clarkson's, ...A Moment Like This. Just be sure to blot and not wipe, and don't forget to do a lipstick check before smiling!

Why Wright Chicks Don't Hire Nannies

A few weekends ago when a lot of our family was in town, Liv and I had to run into Sams Club really quickly so we could get back to feed Vegas and his workers. Instead of battling Boots and Booty all through the store, they found their own entertainment and we could shop twice as fast. However, it wasn't so easy going when it came time to leave...I think Sams was tired of babysitting for us, and were happy to see our ragamuffin children leave the store!