The Clark Family

One year with no posts & Las Vegas

2010-09-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

Sooo, since it was my one year anniversary since doing my last post, and since I mainly use my blog to read and stalk other people's blogs :), I figured what the heck, I'll do a post since I just got back from a trip.

Every August we go to Las Vegas and meet my sister & brother in law. They live in Utah so its about half way for both of us. We always have such a blast and when we leave I already can't wait until the next year. This year was no different. We did lots of fun stuff and I miss them already.

The first show we saw was The Mentalist. The Mentalist is on TV on Thursday nights and he did some pretty amazing things. Both Me and Myrna were chosen to help out on stage.

I wanted to do some things that I knew Brandon would love since he always has to put up with the shopping that us girls love. My friend had told me about a place called The Gun Store. Its a shooting range with all kinds of cool guns, some like the military use. Brandon chose the "Iraqi Pack" Shooting machine guns and a hand gun. He was in heaven! Myrna and I also shot. It was lots of fun. At the beginning you get to pick a couple target posters, sad to say that I shot the hostage on my target poster...whoops :)

As you can tell from the smile on Brandon's face.....he had the BEST time!!!!

Another thing I knew Brandon would enjoy was The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. He loves watching animal planet and shark week, etc. Stuff I think gets quite boring, but he loves it!

We went to see The Donny & Marie Show. Yeah, go ahead and laugh if you want to...lol, I was a little skeptical myself at first when we decided to buy the tickets. But we all loved it and thought it was GREAT!!!

We have such a fun time the days just fly by so quick! But it was another year of good times and fun memories!!!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

This Labor Day Weekend we were able to get out of town and go up to my parents cabin in Pinetop-Lakeside. The weather was nice, and we were able to relax and spend time with our family and friends. We all had a fun time together, laughing, playing games, riding, and visiting. Here are some pictures of the good time we had. (sorry for the picture overload) :)

This is all the kids that were there. 10 kids together can be fun!

My sister, Tara and my mom working in the kitchen. We had lots and lots of yummy food while we were there!

I know this picture is a little blurry, but here is my crazy husband dancin' it up for all of us!

This was the night we spent doing karaoke. It was very loud, funny, and had a lot of off tune singers!

Fun times for everyone!

My dad sleeping through all the loud music and singing! Shayla, Sydney, Jake, & Clayton enjoying a good ol' game of UNO.

Melissa working away on her blanket

Guitar Hero was a big hit too. All I can say is it wasn't ever very quiet around!

Brandon, Me & Clayton

Kelsie riding on a quad

It has been years since I rode, so I had to ride and see if I still remembered how!

Then of course here is Clayton, my little dare devil, having the time of his life!
Clayton loves to ride!!
We had a great weekend and enjoyed every one's company and the outdoors! The kids already want to know when we will be going back.

Bye Bye Summer!

2009-09-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today is the 1st day of September, and yesterday when I was out I couldn't help but notice all the fall decorations. And although I am a huge fan of summer, I love the fall season! Now I wouldn't mind skipping winter and going right to spring....cause I really hate the cold, but I know that isn't possible. So even though it is still a little toasty outside, I think I am ready to say "bye bye" to summer and "hello" to fall!

So today I thought I better can some strawberry jam before the strawberries are out of season. It is great on homemade bread or rolls!! yum yum! It does take some time, but it is worth the effort!

The little baby jars are so cute, and they make great gifts too! I have someone who always request for their birthday some of my rolls and jam. So to have it on hand makes it easy.

Now i can't wait for pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie, soups, and best of all.... the holidays!

Las Vegas

2009-08-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

Well it's only been about 8 months......but believe it or not I'm going to blog!! No pressure or nothing from a few people....ahem! But since we just got home from a trip guess its a perfect time to start!

We just got back from Vegas. Every August for the past several years we go there. We meet my brother and sister in law. Both her and my birthdays are in August and we live in Arizona and they live in Utah.....so Vegas is right in between. We always have so much fun!! I look forward to it every year!!

Brandon & Me

Dustin & Myrna

Brandon providing us some entertainment in our hotel room. With those earphones on he was sooo loud! I thought for sure people were going to start banging on the walls in the room next to us!!

Myrna in shock from the performance!!

We had adjoining rooms, and every night we would stay up late and play card games. We went to a few shows, and of course ate alot!! Shopped and walked up and down the strip.

Myrna & Me on the strip

Eating at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill Restaurant. Myrna loves him.....so she was thrilled!! And she was able to go in the Toby Keith store and buy some souvenirs.

The only bad thing about the trip is that is went WAY to fast!!! 4 days just flew by! But we had a blast, and can't wait until next year!

BEWARE!!

2009-01-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

Drivers BEWARE!!! Today Kelsie got her driver's permit! She has been studying hard and was nervous when she went in to take the test. When she came out she had a sad look on her face and shook her head no to Clayton. So Clayton turned to me and says, "oh brother mom, she failed!" So after we thought she did not pass, she got a big smile, started laughing, did a little jump, and said "just kidding! I passed!!" So she has already started bugging me like crazy wanting to practice driving. So here we go again....kid number 2 driving. Only one more to go!

Holiday Traditions

2009-01-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

As all the Christmas decorations are put away and the holidays have seem to have flown by once again, I think of all the wonderful traditions that we look forward to each year.

*First and foremost is spending so much time with our family and friends! Parties and get togethers are so much fun and getting to see those that we don't get to see as often as we would like to. Here is a picture of my family with my Mom, Dad, my family, my brother Randy and his family, and my sister Tara and her family. This was taken at our annual party at Aunt Connie's house that is with all of our extended family on my mom's side.
*The annual Mabry Family "Adult" party. You have to be 18 and older to attend this one! Dinner is always brought in and we play the present game. Always fun with lots of laughs!

*Receiving a copy of the "Mabry Messenger". The messenger is family newsletters complied together in a book. Here is a picture of this years copy which is the 27th annual year. And yes, I still have every messenger I have received since I married into the family.

*The annual Mabry Family Christmas Eve dinner. Which is always held at a church because the family is too big! The Christmas play put on by all the kids in the family with the costumes that Grandma Mabry has made and scenery that has been painted and made by other family members.

*Christmas Eve at The Costley's home. We go there after the Mabry dinner. At the Costley's there is always lots of friends and some family. We have lots of yummy soups in bread bowls, play the present game, and eat tons of desserts. After this we are ready to explode!!! Considering we hit 2 dinners in a row! I always save room at the first dinner and caution my kids to do the same! :)

*Eating Christmas breakfast all together. Something that sadly does not happen enough during the rest of the year!

*Christmas Day dinner at my Uncle Danny & Aunt Shellie's house with all the Aunts, Uncles, & cousins on my mom's side of the family.

*Getting a plate of Grandma Naegle's fudge!! Yummy! :)

*Getting Brandon's mom's annual Christmas gift....A calender with tons of pictures of all the family and documenting all the birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Brandon comes from a family with 12 kids....so yeah, its hard to remember and keep track of everything! :) So this is something we look forward to getting and hanging up each year.

I know there are probably lots of other things that I am leaving out, but I know how blessed we are to be apart of such wonderful families that have these traditions along with our own that our family has created. I'm kind of sad that it is over already, but that is the great thing about traditions....you always have next year to look forward to them! I hope that everyone was blessed with a wonderful holiday season!

When you get a chance will you "please" update your blog!

2008-12-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

I have been told several times now that I seriously need to update my blog. It just seems that I have been in a "slump" as you would say... lately. The days keep flyin' by and I just wasn't feeling the Christmas spirit as I normally do. I love this time of year but it just wasn't feeling the same as it normally does. So try to get festive...pull out the lights...Brandon gets them put up on the house...some of them decide to go out. Take them all down. Put up the Christmas tree....some lights decide they aren't going to work this year too. Start to get frustrated...so they decide they will flick on and start to work before I throw them out too! Christmas shopping...usually way ahead of the game by now, but just starting to get in the swing of things. Love to bake and take treats to everyone.....haven't baked a thing this year. Christmas cards...lets see...just mailed them out today and it is what...the 17th? Sheesh!

BUT....I am definitely feeling the Christmas spirit now! We took the kids to see the lights at the Temple, I'm getting lots of Christmas cards in the mail...which I LOVE to look at, and starting on Friday we have parties or get togethers every night until Christmas which I am so looking forward to because that means we will be with our family or friends every night! Yes, I do love the Christmas season....it just took me a little while to get that jump start I needed!! I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season. As they say, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

Patterson Elementary School Picnic

2008-11-21T12:51:00.000-08:00

Today was Patterson's school picnic. They have this every year in November, where you bring your child lunch and eat with them. We have done this so many times, since all of our kids have attended Patterson but what makes today so different is that it was our last. Clayton is in 6th grade now and will be going to junior high next year. I still remember dropping him off at Patterson for his first day of kindergarten. How does the time go by so fast!
I feel..................old!!

Big Goof up!!!

2008-11-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, we were not on The Price is Right today. :( When we were at the taping they told us November 3rd, the paper work says November 3rd, but guess what it was not November 3rd!!! Everyone was here for my sister-in-law's party all sitting around when it started and when the contestants started coming down we were like, oh no! these are not the people on our show! Can you believe it! We found out that what they did is flip flopped the episodes. The 3:00pm taping came on today and we were the 1:00pm taping, which we we are NOW told it will be on tomorrow!

Unfortunately everyone can't come back tomorrow. Some people even took off work. So tomorrow we will have another party..... just a lot smaller! :) BUMMER!!

The Price is Right!!!!

2008-11-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

On September 8, 2008 while on a girl's trip to

California we went to The Price is Right game show.

There were 8 of us and we had ordered our tickets

many months in advance, but that does not guarantee

you a seat. We had to get in line outside the CBS studios

at 4:00am and wait with our tickets to see if we would be

able to get in. After many hours in line we got a seat number

and the official "name tag" and we were set to get in!

They search your bags and take away your phones, cameras,

and any electronics you may have, and then send you through

a metal detector. So we were not able to take any pictures

while we were inside.

We had shirts made, they were black and white and on

the front they said:

"Arizona girls are

"HOT"

for Drew!"

During the show my sister-in-law, Myrna Clark was

chosen to be a contestant. We were sooo excited!!

She actually made it on stage and she wins big!!

$34,000 in prizes!!

Here we are after the show. The sign she is holding is what they hold up while in the show when they call out who the next contestant will be. This is because it is SOOO loud in there that you may not hear when they call you.

Well the time has finally arrived the show will air tomorrow!!

November 3rd

@ 9:00am

on channel 5

We will get to see how silly we all look on TV, because of course at the end we are all on stage jumping up and down!

Myrna lives in Utah (the only one who is actually not a "Arizona Girl") she is having a Price is Right party so I have flown to Utah to be there to watch and re-live all the fun!!:) Yeah!

Can't wait till tomorrow morning!!

"Am I doing the right things?"

2008-10-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

Have you ever asked yourself the question, "Am I doing the right things?" Well I know I do ALL the time! Having teenage kids can sometimes be a trial and especially when you feel like you are always the "mean" or "bad" parent. We have had to deal with this a lot lately because it seems like there are so many parents now that just don't care what their kids are doing or if they even come home at night!! I know it may sound crazy to a lot of us but I deal with it ALL the time because we will not let our kids do the same things. Our kids get teased that their "mommy" is calling checking on them all the time, or they have to actually come home at night and not just get to stay wherever, they might even have to be home at 10:30!!! Imagine that! Well I received this email today that I would like to share and it just reassured me that I am doing the things that I should be and hopefully it will help my kids even though they may not think so!!

Mean Moms

Someday when my children are old enough

understand the logic that motivates a

parent, I will tell them, as my Mean ole Mom

told me:

I loved you enough....

to ask where you were going, with whom,

and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you

discover that your new best friend was a

creep.

I loved you enough to stand over you for two

hours while you cleaned your room, a job that

should have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger,

disappointment, and tears in my eyes.

Children must learn that their parents aren't

perfect.

I loved you enough to let you assume the

responsibility for your actions even when

the

penalties were so harsh they almost broke

my heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough...to

say

NO when I knew you would hate me for it.

Those were the most difficult battles of all.

I'm

glad I won them, because in the end you

won, too.

And someday when your children are old

enough to understand the logic that motivates

parents, you will tell them.

Was your mom mean? I know mine was...

We had the meanest mother in the whole

world!

Mother insisted on knowing where we were

at all

times. You'd think we were convicts in a

prison. She

had to know who our friends were, and

what we were

doing with them. She insisted that if we

said we

would be gone for a hour, we would be

gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had

the nerve

to break the Child Labor Laws by making

us work. We had to wash the dishes, make

the beds, learn to

cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty

the trash

and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she

would lie

awake at night thinking of more things for

us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth,

the

whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By

the time

we were teenagers, she could read our minds

and had eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was

really tough!

Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk

the horn

when they drove up. They had to come up to

the door

so she could meet them. While everyone else

could

date when they were 12 or 13, we had to

wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out on

lots of

things other kids experienced. None of us

have ever

been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's

property or ever arrested for any crime. It

was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all

educated,

honest adults. We are doing our best to be

mean

parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world

today.

It just doesn't have enough Mean Moms!!

author unknown

So.....because I love my kids I will keep being the "mean" or "bad" mom!! :o)

Listening to promptings

2008-10-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I am reflecting on things that happened yesterday. Brandon was supposed to meet a friend at 7:00am to work on a truck for him. Well he didn't show so Brandon just went ahead and went to work. After some time passed he kept having a strong feeling that he needed to go over to his house. Well he listened and left work. When he got there his truck was in the driveway but he got no answer. So again he felt like something was wrong and he needed to get inside. (Me, I would have just left) He got inside and found his friend in the bathroom passed out and bleeding all over from a hitting his head. He was rushed to the hospital and after many test were done we have found out that he has a brain tumor. Brandon stayed at the hospital all day with him and then went with him to Phoenix when he was transferred to another hospital that will be able to help him more with his condition. He is supposed to have surgery to have it removed and we are very worried about the outcome. But who knows what would have happened it Brandon had not followed the feelings and promptings he was having. I know that sometimes I second guess myself when I feel promptings, and I need to remember that the spirit guiding us is a gift. I'm so grateful that Brandon knew what he needed to do and never second guessed himself.

Friends........

2008-10-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

A true friend is one who walks in, when the rest of the world walks out.

Author unknown

This is my friend Melissa. We have been friends since we were little girls. We met when our moms became friends and we were in the same ward together. We enjoy doing a lot of the same things, so we do a lot of projects together. It makes it more fun that way! I always know that I can count on her if I ever need anything or if I need to vent to someone. :)

Every Wednesday we meet for lunch. We always plan our schedules around it and unless there is something that totally cannot be changed we are always there. Our favorite place to eat is El Charro, which is a little mexican restaurant in downtown Mesa that has been there forever.

We look forward to being able to visit and eat good food! What more could you ask for.....=)

Preston goes to homecoming

2008-10-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

Last night was Desert Ridge High School's

homecoming dance. Preston's date was his

girlfriend, Hannah.

This is the group of kids that they went with.

They all went to dinner at the Macaroni Grill

on Stapley & Baseline before the dance.

Preston looked so handsome! He wore a black shirt and black pants with a gold tie to match Hannah's dress. He said they had a really fun time.

Man, kids grow up so fast! :(

Tagged!!

2008-10-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my friend Loree! Ok here it goes.....let me see what 7 things I can think of!

1. I hate hamburgers! Haven't ate a hamburger since I was a little kid and my mom gave them to me. Don't eat ANYTHING with hamburger in it, spaghetti, chili, sloppy joe's, tacos, casseroles, yeah, yeah, you get the picture!

2. I go out to lunch everyday during the week and sometimes on Saturdays. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, going out to lunch! I meet either my husband or friends. Call me sometime :)

3. I sleep with my TV on all night long. I love to watch TRU tv (formally called court tv). I love forensics and investigation shows. Thankfully it doesn't bother my husband that the tv is on, he can sleep through anything!

4. I am a ice fanatic! I eat cups and cups of Sonic ice all day long!! I know it sounds weird but I actually crave it. I used to go to the gas station or Sonic like 5 times a day to get a drink so I could eat all the ice out of it, but now that sonic sells bags of ice I just go and buy bags of it!

5. I was not born in the United States. I was born in Panama. Like as in the Panama Canal. I keep saying that one day I'm going to take a trip there to see what it is like since I was a baby when we left there and I don't remember a thing about it. Of course except what my mom tells me!

6. I LOVE and I mean LOVE, Disneyland!! Whenever I plan a trip to go there I always tell my husband that the kids are only young for so long and we need to go. His response is always, yeah right, I think you love it more than the kids do! He's probably right :)

7. Ok finally, last one. I like to read. I like to go outside, read a book, and eat ice. I sit on my porch because I HATE being cold and I like the warmth outside. I finally had to start going to the library to check out books because it was getting too expensive buying books all the time plus my bookcases are out of room. So the library works out good!

Yeah! I'm done!! I choose to tag....Tara, Erica, Monica, Mandy, Melissa, Ginger, & Colette

Have Fun!! :)

Bunko Pajama Party!

2008-10-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

I play in a bunko group with 12 women. So once a year it is your turn to host bunko at your house. I decided I wanted to have a PJ party and have everyone come in their pajamas. I made dinner and had everyone bring a kitchen gift to exchange. So we ate, played, laughed, and even all got to go home with a gift!

As you can see, we had lots of fun!! :)

Mother/Daughter Activity

2008-10-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

Last night was the mother/daughter activity that I have been working on like crazy! Everything turned out great!! I think everyone had a really nice time. I received a lot of nice compliments and was told by many of what a fun evening they had. This was the table with most of the leaders wedding pictures. The girls had a great time laughing and looking at all of us many years ago when we got married.

This is Loree who was our guest speaker last night. She did a amazing job!! The things she told the girls were just what they needed to hear and then with her personality added in it was a great talk!! I'm so grateful to her for all her preparation and for spending her evening with us.

This is Janae who made this beautiful wedding cake for us. It was so yummy!

Some pictures of the girls and their moms putting together their wedding time capsules!

Aren't they cute!! :)

Paint Cans GALORE!!

2008-09-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

For the past week I have been working on transforming these paint cans into time capsules for our young women mother/daughter night. I didn't think I would ever get done!! But with the help of my great Hubby we pulled it off and got them all finished up tonight. Just in time for tomorrows activity. I think they turned out cute! Inside they will put things like what their ideal wedding will have. What temple they would like to be sealed in. How many kids they want to have and what favorite names they have picked out for them. A picture what kind of wedding dress they would like to have, qualities they want in a husband, and then a note from their mom of the things she hopes for them. On the top it says that it is to be opened on the night of their engagement. I think the girls will have a fun time making them. Our theme for the night is "Following the path to be sealed for eternity" we have a fun night planned for the girls and their moms. We will be having dinner and then I have asked a special guest speaker from our ward, Loree Zito to talk about preparing now for a temple marriage. I know she will do a great job!!
Everyone has put so much time and effort into preparing for this activity, hope everything goes well!

My Calling

2008-09-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

I have been running all over town today trying to get things I need in preparation for a mother/daughter activity we are having this Wednesday for Young Women. As I finally got home I was thinking about how much I love my calling for church. I'm am excited about the neat things we have planned on Wednesday night and how it is SO worth all the trouble, time, and effort I have to put into the activity in order to make it a successful night! I love the girls in our ward! I love what strong spirits they have and when I read posts on their facebooks and etc. about how much they love the temple it makes me so proud of them for the choices they are making in such a tough world! You girls are the BEST!!!

We have finally joined the world of Bloggers!

2008-09-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

Yay! We did it! We can offically say we have a blog. I never thought of it being a journal and now that I see how it all works I wish I would have done it sooner! I have never been good at keeping a journal and I'm sure one day I will reget not writing down so many memories about our family. So this is my new goal, to keep this updated (we will see how it goes!) so that we can print it out and keep a record of our day to day life. Things that are recorded today might not seem so important or signifigant, but tomorrow it becomes a memory and those are ever so precious!!