Night Time Madness

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We start getting kids ready for bed at 8 pm.  It is usually organized chaos.  I decided I would take some pictures of the process.  Now I know why it takes the boys so long to brush their teeth.  With toys, texting and bugging of each other we are lucky to start scriptures and prayers by 8:30 and have them officially in bed by 9.

Road Trip

We loved our Roanoke trip so much last year that we are getting ready for another one. This time we are going to spend two weeks out east and hit Nauvoo, Illinois on the way home. I am dreading the drive, but with 8 kids we aren't in the position at this time to fly. That is my goal though, to be able to go on an awesome vacation with the entire family and fly there. A Disney Cruise sounds like a ton of fun.

Janese and I will take turns driving the two 12 hour days, but with me doing the lions share. While I drive Janese handles throwing food, water and other items to the kids in the back of the van to keep them happy.

Janese will spend the entire week before we leave getting everything planned and purchased and then I will load up the van the night before and hope we leave enough room for the kids. With being gone for two weeks we are also going to have to figure out how to do laundry. I don't want to overwhelm Grandpa by how much laundry we have to do as a family of ten.

I am very excited to see my family and this time enjoy some historical sites of Virginia. It will be a great trip. This time I plan on making a video diary of the trip. I will post it on www.livinginhd.com/christley when we get back.

Now I have to get used to saying "ya'll" again.

Funny Sayings

"You don't know the recipe." That is what I was told when Ireland (our youngest) explained to me why I couldn't make him a grilled cheese sandwich.

When Tyler was four years old we had just landed in Roanoke, VA for a family reunion. Tyler, Zakary and I were in the very first row and Tyler stood up in his seat while we were waiting to be let off the plane and looked at the people sitting behind us. In a very loud and excited voice he turned to me and said "Dad, the guy behind us is bigger than his seat." At that point I started turned red and prayed the door would open any second. Tyler then took another look and changed his mind, "No, he is bigger than a horse!" At that moment the door opened and I grabbed the boys and sprinted to luggage claim.

Quinton in the middle of church asked my dad why he had so many chins.

Makena while reading the scriptures as a family proceeded to read to us about "butt and honey" instead of butter and honey.

Tyler when 3 years old wanted pretzels in the middle of church service and said "Give me pretzels, dad." When I asked him how to ask for them nicely he screamed, "Give me pretzels penis head!"

With 8 of them we get a lot of crazy things said around the house and unfortunately in public. It is a blast though and something we try to remember to embarrass the living daylights out of them when they are older.

End of the school year

With eight kids our schedules are usually pretty hectic. Now that we are at the end of the school year it only becomes crazier. Right now we are working with four different schools and two different school calendars. Tyler and Madison share the traditional school year calendar and the rest of the kids share the modified schedule. Tyler and Madison have seven days of school left and the other kids are off on June 5th. For Tyler final exams start this week and end the beginning of next week. Madison has some end of the year tests. The elementary school kids have plays, field trips, and award ceremonies. Ireland has kindergarten graduation and they all have choir concerts, piano recitals and tons of paperwork to be field out for next school year.

One great thing for next year is that we will be dropping down to only three schools. That doesn't sounds like a huge difference, but Zakary, Megan and Quinton will be attending the same schools as the other kids. Finally after five years the kids will be able to either carpool or walk together to the same schools. That is huge! Previous school day schedules included myself getting up and driving Tyler to school across town. Then I would then rush back to the house and in 15 minutes jump in the shower and get ready for the day, encourage the other kids to finish getting ready and then race back with the other three kids across town to their school while Janese took Madison, Tanner and Makena to school and Ireland to preschool. If my three were not going to switch schools this next school year I would be getting up at 5:45 am taking Madison and Tyler to early morning seminary, come home and maybe go back to sleep for a few minutes, then take Zakary to middle school and then come home again to turn around again and take Megan and Quinton to elementary school. What a relief!

I think Janese has mixed emotions about this school year coming to a close. She will get to sleep in throughout the summer, well as much as you can with 8 kids thundering around in the morning, but she will also have eight kids running around the house wanting to do this and do that and to be taken here and there and hearing them say those two dreaded words as a parent during summer break, "I'm bored".

I am excited that we are at the end of the school year for the kids. This is a fun time for everyone even though it plays havoc on our calendars and gas mileage.

Origins of Swine Flu

The true origins of the swine flu pandemic. Who could have known that such a devastating form of influenza, (technically "devastation" is still to be proven) was caused by such a cute, innocent little baby. Beware moms! While nuzzling up to that little sweetheart of yours, you could become the next victim.

Rumors that the "dog flu" is on the rise could not be confirmed.

The Importance of Eye Protection

It has been a crazy week. On Monday Tyler was playing at his cousin's house and was shot in the right eye with an Airsoft plastic pellet. At first they thought it was like a poke in the eye, but then quickly realized something serious was wrong. He was rushed to the emergency room with a serious eye injury. Luckily the pellet did not penetrate the eye. He has a hyphema and for a little while lost all vision in his right now. It has been five days since the incident and he is slowly getting better. We have had to take him to see the eye doctor every day and he is on mandatory bed rests and no hockey for a month.

He is learning an important lesson. I keep reminding him there is a reason why those airsoft guns come with safety glasses.

St George Adventure 2008

We had a wonderful time in St. George. It started and ended with a bang.

We left Denver after school on Thursday, August 28th. The trip was going well until we heard a huge bang. I was driving the van and the left rear tire lost half of its tread. I was able to keep control of the van and pull over to the side of the road. We were on a slight incline and while I was changing the tire, the jack collapsed. Luckily no one was hurt. I called road side assistance and Janese got the kids out of van and up on the side of the embankment. Before the tow truck arrived a local resident, Glen Wilson from Rifle, CO, pulled over and offered to help. We tried to use his jack, but the same thing happened and this time our axle slid slowly to the asphalt. I told Glen thanks for trying and that we would wait for the tow truck. Thank goodness he was determined to help. He drove back to his work and got a giant jack. I had to help him lift it out of the bed of his truck. Glen was done changing our tire before I got a call from the tow truck driver telling me he was 15 minutes away. Glen wouldn't give me his address or phone number, so I want to publicly thank him for his help. He truly was a good Samaritan.

We arrived in St. George Friday morning around 3:40 am. Amie and Dean's house in St. George has no personal pictures anywhere. They left the doors unlocked for us and once we walked in we worried what would happen if we were in the wrong house? That would not have been good. Luckily we made it to the right place.

Amie and the kids showed up as we were heading out to lunch. That started a totally fun filled weekend. We went and played two games of laser tag courtesy of Mom and Becky, we hiked several times and then hung out and played card games, the Wii, and tons of Guitar Hero. The kids all got along so well. They played tons of tennis and swam at the pool. There's an awesome little rec center just down the street from their house. The smaller kids also played a ton in the desert. Q and Ireland came back to the house sometimes completely red. They were with Harrison and Hayden and built some type of fort in the open space next to their house. Some of it came out in the wash and other parts look like they will be permanent reminders of our trip.

One part of the trip that I enjoyed was having Kori torment the kids. She loves to hold them down and tickle them until they say she is their favorite aunt. She's going to have to be careful though, because at least one time Tyler and Hailey were able to get her down and give her a taste of her own medicine. All of the kids are getting huge! They had a blast with Aunt Kori and were very happy that she came down. I am glad that I am not the only one that likes to torment the kids.

I am very glad we got to go and spend time with everyone. Thank you Mom and Becky for allowing us to be there.

We left on September 1st for the 9 hour drive home. It was sad to leave. The trip was pretty uneventful until we got two hours outside of Denver. As I said at the beginning our trip started with and ended with a bang. As you guessed it another tire blew between Eagle and Avon Colorado. This time Janese was driving and it was our right rear tire and it completely came apart. The first time the tire at least stayed inflated so I could control the vehicle. The right rear tire disintegrated and with no air in the tire the van started fishtailing down the freeway at 75 mph. Thank goodness Janese was able to keep control of the vehicle and no cars were around us. After getting the car under control we were able to pull over on the side of the road.

When the first time blew I thought it was a total fluke. I assumed that it was a flaw in that one tire and that when we got back to Denver I would have the store replace it. Now that both rear tires were gone and our jack was completely destroyed we were hosed. I call roadside assistance and we waited for someone to show up. The biggest issue was how in the world we were going to get everyone to safety. Tow trucks do not come equipped to transport ten people. Luckily the roadside assistance guy went above and beyond and kept calling around for us until he finally connected with the Eagle County Sheriff's Department. They came out with one of their SUV patrol vehicles to help. When they realized we would not all fit inside his car he radioed the jail and they drove out one of their jail transport vans. The kids thought it was the coolest things ever. Megan asked if she could be cuffed. The Deputies took them a couple exits up and dropped them off at WalMart while I stayed with the van. I was told the tow truck would be there soon, but I ended up waiting for close to five hours. We had to get two hotel rooms for the night and I also found out that the store that sold us the original tires had put the wrong type on our van. They had installed four passenger tires that were not rated to handle a van our sizes.

The next morning I woke up early and walked to the next exit to WalMart and had them put four new Light Truck tires on the van. At 10:30 am we were finally able to get back on the road and head home. We made it home at 12:30 pm on September 2nd safe and sound.

Now that we are home I am doing battle with the tire company to reimburse us for all of the unexpected expenses caused by their error. I think it will turn out well. They are showing they are going to step up and handle this so far. I got two repair estimates on the damage the exploding tires did to the van. The lowest was $2,500.

It was an insane, but very fun weekend. Even though it began and ended with some craziness, it was well worth it and I can not wait to do it again.