Text books

Sorry that the pictures are sideways. These are my textbooks for the summer. I just wanted to show everyone how hard I'll be working. Plus, I will be finishing my thesis (fingers crossed).

For INST 6720

For Psych/Educ 7610
(Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, just in case you couldn't read it)

Memories: Snow Fun

When we lived at our old house on Oregon Ave., we would play in the snow a lot. I remember one particular year we built a snow fort. Really all we did was make an outline of a house in the snow while packing up some snow for the walls (which were only about 2 inches high). I'm pretty sure we did this in the fall with the leaves too.

I also remember that my dad would get his big snow shovel out, let us sit on it, and then take us for rides around the yard. The year I was too big was a sad one for me. I had to sit and watch as the boys got rides around the yard. I completely understand now how difficult it would be just to take a small child around on a shovel. Not exactly the most comfortable tool to pull around.

I know that one year we built a snowman in the back yard. I don't remember it, but we have a picture of it. It's face was made out of yucky tomatoes that didn't get picked from the garden. It was a scrawny thing (not much snow).

While I was on my mission I received a picture in a letter of the boys (Mike, Bryan, Seth, and Deloy) with a HUGE, GIANT, MONSTROUS snow man they had built in my mom's front yard. Seriously, Seth was sitting on a normal sized ladder, and he wasn't even as tall as it. I would have enjoyed seeing them build that thing.

Mayes Family Reunion Schedule

Here's somewhat of a schedule for the reunion:

Saturday, July 2
early a.m.: Mayes breakfast at park
afternoon: whatever (possibly go to Horseshoe Bend)
evening: Haggen potluck (probably at Five Springs)

Sunday, July 3
Church
8:00 a.m.: 3rd ward (Geraldine, Richard M. and family, Adrin and family, Isaac and family, Erik and family, Eli and family all attend)
9:15 a.m.: 4th ward (Lloyd and family, Kenneth attend)
1:30 p.m.: 1st ward (Juanita, Hans and family attend)
3:00 p.m.: 2nd ward (Mike and family, Mark and family, LaFonda and family attend)

Monday, July 4
Morning and afternoon: ??? (Haven't planned yet)
Evening: Navajo Taco Dinner at Janet and Kirk's house (Mike's old house on 5th street)

Kirk on the Quad

Ethan turns One!

Although Ethan doesn't technically turn one until this week, we had a birthday party for him last night. It was quite a group. We were actually able to hold the whole thing outside. Erik BBQ'd and the rest of us sat and ate. It was pretty fun. Ethan is such a fun kid. He still isn't sure about his Aunt Shawnee, though. It's probably because the only time I really get to hold him is when I try to get him to go to sleep. He seemed to have a great time, though. He loved the cake and ice cream.

Ethan currently doesn't say much, except his baby talk. One thing he does say is "Who 'dat?" So, in honor of the 'who' part, Sandy made him an owl cake. I thought it was pretty cute. It fell apart because the white cake wasn't very strong. It didn't matter, though, because it tasted just fine.

The Owl

Bekah, Sariah, Ethan and I

Ethan just about to go down the slide. He wasn't too sure about it.

Ethan eating his hot dog.

I LOVE this one of Ethan. He's so cute!

Auntie and Ethan

With Mommy

With Daddy

Checking out the dirty patio before it got cleaned off.

With Grandma H.

He got lots of new clothes, which he needed. He also got a few toys, which he loved. Happy birthday, Ethan!

Riding the Quad

Last night we had a family gathering. (More on that in the next post.) Whitney brought her new quad that her uncle Kletey bought for her. Mike started giving rides to the kids. They all loved it. He even gave Kirk a ride and he laughed so hard! Mom got a video, which I'll have to upload later. We all enjoyed watching that one. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

Bekah and Mike

Jay and Sam (Mark's kids)

Sam and Whitney
Sam LOVED the quad. I'm pretty sure he wants one for himself.

Jay and Wilson

Mark and Sam

Pictures from Watching the 3 H's

I finally figured out how to upload the pictures from my phone. Here are the pictures of my time with the 3 H's.

Hannah and Hayden saying hi to Mom and Dad

Feeding Linda's chickens. I thought they would be afraid of them, but they warmed right up and were eager to help.

Hayden posing for a picture, showing his muscles.

Heidi being all cute in her cowboy boots and jeans.

Hayden and Hannah with the chickens again.

Hayden with Richard's bird. They were enthralled by it.

Being Aunt Shawnee

I love being an aunt. I have the cutest nieces and nephews in the world! When I come home for breaks, they are always so eager to see me and yell "Aunt Shawnee!!!" while running towards me. It's one of the best things about coming home. I haven't gotten to see them all as much as I'd like, but that's how summer goes. (Plus, I haven't felt all that well, so I haven't made much of an effort to get out as much as I usually do.)

Some of my favorite things with the little ones:
-snuggling on the couch or in Grandma's chair while watching TV.
-unexpected squeezes from Wilson (a boy who doesn't stop for much) and snuggling on the yard swing under a blanket
-watching Hayden and Wilson try to sign 'I love you'
-receiving bouquets of picked flowers (dandelions)
-eating lunch with Sariah after summer school
-feeding Heidi fries at McDonald's (she's only 9 months old but grunted a lot until she got what she wanted)
-watching Hannah and Hayden make friends with all of the animals at Linda and Richard's house

Whitney wearing my USU sweatshirt with Wilson watching.

Heidi at McDonald's, happy because she finally got her french fry.

Bryan, Hannah, and Hayden in the tent. Bryan set it up in the living room and they all slept in there one night.

Ethan and Heidi. He is 3 months older than her, which you can't tell because she's a bit bigger than him. (Just found out that he's in the 5th percentile for height and weight for his age...small boy.)

Wilson and Mike on the yard swing watching a pumper suck sand out of the water system.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity of watching the 3 H's for a few days while Bryan got lasik surgery. I took them back to Mom's house. I was feeling a little under the weather so I wasn't as happy as I usually am with them. Hannah kept asking me what was wrong and I would tell her my head hurt. At one point I smiled at something she did and she said, "Your head feels better!" I felt so bad that I wasn't as fun-loving as I usually am. I'm sure they think I'm a grumpy aunt now.

While they were here we went out to Linda's house so they could see McKay's ducks. They ended up seeing Karren's dog, Richard's bird, Linda's chickens, McKay's ducks, Erik's horse, and McKay's lizard. (A regular farm!) I think they really enjoyed themselves. I have pictures, but they are on my cell phone. I'm still trying to figure out how to upload the pictures to the blog. We also went to the library and the park. We didn't stay at the park for very long because it was too cold. The kids were so good the whole time. I just wasn't ready for how much time Heidi, the youngest, required. She wanted to be more mobile, which required me holding her. Good thing she's so cute. ;)

On the way back to Gillette it PORED rain the whole way. When we got back, Bryan's basement was flooded. He had to get fans and all sorts of water-removing things. Poor house. He also had about 3 inches of standing water in his back yard, which he was able to pump to the street. So much water! Anyhow, I was grateful that I could be with the kids. They're so entertaining and I love 'em!

And finally, here is a picture of Bryan in his sleeping goggles that he had to wear after Lasik. Doesn't he look handsome?

Memories: Dancing in the kitchen

Every once in a while my mom would pull out a record to play (yes, records) and then try to teach us to dance. The record had songs that were all different beats so we could learn various dances. I remember doing a triangle dance and a square dance (where our feet were to go in a diagram of a square). We each had our chance to dance with mom and then with each other. I think that was one of the few activities we could all do together without getting angry with each other. I don't think the lessons stuck as none of us enjoy dancing too much. Great memories, though.

Cliff Jumping

On the way back from Gillette, we decided to stop at the side of the road on the side of the mountain. (A few of us were sick to our stomachs.) There was a huge rock (big enough to be a small cliff for the kids) right next to the parking area and the kids decided to climb it.

This is Grandma showing them the 'safe' way to the top of the rock.

It wasn't too long that the kids wanted to jump off the rock with Mike catching them.

Here is Whitney on her way down.

Mike and Wilson on the rock.

Wilson taking his turn jumping.

Hayden's Birthday

Last weekend my mom, me, Mike, Whitney, and Wilson went over to Gillette for Hayden's birthday. It was a quick trip, but well worth it. When we got there, it was time for the party. They had it at the church so all the family could fit in one place.

This is Hayden opening some of his presents. He was very excited that they were all for him.

Grandma and Heidi watching the opening of the gifts.

After the party we went back to Bryan's house. They started cleaning up the yard and I watched the kids play.

Here is Wilson getting ready to play ball.

Hayden and Whitney riding bikes.

Wilson driving around the yard.

We left on Sunday morning and headed back to Lovell. Like I said, a short trip. But well worth it.

The Cough....continued

So, I still have the cough. It's been over 4 weeks. I am in Lovell visiting family and decided to see the doctor while I was here. When I went in on Thursday. The doctor decided, without doing anything, that it's probably asthma related. So he sent me straight way to see the respirator therapist. She gave me some breathing tests, a breathing treatment, and then the tests again. She said that if it was asthma related, the scores on the tests should have been significantly better the second time, which they weren't. So I was sent back to the doctor. He listened to my lungs and then quoted some author by saying something like "a mystery shrouded in confusion, blah, blah, blah". Since he couldn't figure out what the cause of the cough was, he decided to treat the cough itself. (FINALLY!!!) He gave me some cough syrup and some cough pellets (little gems that are pretty cool looking). They really haven't gotten rid of the cough. Today it was pretty bad. I wasn't able to stay at church for the whole time. I left early for a nap. After church my brother Erik came over and gave me a blessing for health and strength. I have faith that it will help.

Memories: Hugging it Out

I know my mom hates when I post stories like this, but I think it shows how creative she was as a parent. I have a brother that's less than 2 years younger than me. We were pretty good friends until we decided to become enemies. I'm pretty sure we argued over everything, just like most siblings do. There were a few times we even got physical and fought it out. (That stopped once I he got bigger than me.) I'm sure we drove our parents nuts with everything we fought about. One time my mom got so fed up with us that she set the timer and made us hug for 5 minutes. She said that every time we moved or said something mean she would add time. I'm not sure how long we ended up standing there hugging. I use the term 'hug' loosely because we were barely touching each other. I think it was a good method of punishment. I sure didn't want to have to stand in the kitchen hugging it out any more.

The Cough of 2011

It began on Saturday, April 16 while taking a nap. I woke up with a tickle in my throat. By that evening it became a full-blown cough. It became so bad that I couldn't talk over the next week without coughing. By the time my mom came the following weekend, I got a sore throat. On my birthday I called to make an appointment with the doctor at the student health center for the next day. The good news about going to the health center is that the doctor visits are free because they're paid through student fees. It was a good thing because the doctor ran a BUNCH of tests. Blood work, a chest x-ray, a breathing treatment, and a shot of antibiotic. He also gave me prescriptions for another antibiotic, a steroid, and a cough suppressant. When I went back after a couple of days, he said my lungs sounded TONS better, even though I still had a cough. They weren't able to pinpoint it to an exact virus, but they said it was something like RSV, whooping cough, or such. I am now on day 16 of the cough. My neck is tight and sore from coughing so much. I can't wait until it's over.

My Birthday Weekend

My birthday was this week. On a Monday. Yuck. The worst possible day for a birthday, right? Wrong! When it's on a Monday, you get to celebrate all weekend long. The celebration began on Friday afternoon when my mom got here. She doesn't leave home often, so this was a super-special occasion. That afternoon/evening we toured Logan, USU, went shopping, and had dinner at Texas Roadhouse (one of my favorites). When we got home, we even had time to watch a movie.

At about 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, I woke up because I was scratching my hands really hard. They itched so bad. I put lotion on right away. Didn't help. I then figured it must be an allergic reaction. I searched through my drawers for an antihistamine. Of course I didn't have any. So, I woke up my mom out of a deep sleep. I asked if she had anything. She remembered that she might have put some in her car. So I went out and searched. There it was! I took some and then iced my hands to a numbing point. I felt much better. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night.

The next morning we were supposed to go to the temple. Mom sent me back to bed and she went by herself. (Go Mom!) I really slept a long time. I guess that antihistamine really put me out. By the time I woke up, she had been home 2 hours and had gotten some work done. I felt like such a poor host. Oh, I guess I should mention that by Saturday, I had had a cough for a whole week. It took a lot out of me. That afternoon we went down to Lehi to visit some of my cousins (Patricia, Ashlie, Spencer, Lauri Jo and their families/friend). It was a good visit. We were both wiped by the time we got back to Logan, but we still watched a movie.

Sunday morning my mom left. She decided she would leave a day early so that I could rest. My hands were still pretty swollen, although not as itchy as before. I felt bad that she left, but sort of glad that I didn't have to worry about her while I was ill.

Monday came and went uneventfully. I spent the day in bed. I woke up with a sore throat on top of the cough I'd had for a week. I decided to finally make a doctor's appointment for Tuesday. I got a few birthday calls on Monday, which I didn't answer because I had no voice and would have coughed more than talked. I do appreciate all the calls, emails, and messages on Facebook. I have to say it was the most low-key birthday I've ever had.