Camping Trip- Labor Day

So we were able to go camping over Labor Day. Of course we decided to do it very late and were unable to find a great campsite, but we were able to go to a fun little place about 1 1/2 hours away.

This is us sitting at the campsite early in the morning.

My brother and his girlfriend came along. We were really close to the river and had fun sitting by the river, playing LOTS and LOTS of Settlers (fun game),hiking, and we were going to go fishing, but it got really windy on the last day, so we packed up quickly and took off for a BBQ back in Sacramento.

This is us walking to the river on one of our little hikes : )

Our Lives Since Summer

Just a quick update on us:

JASON- Still doing signs on weekends (early Saturday am and Sunday pm). My parents have been helping us out since we don;t have very much time this fall-THANK YOU!!! We have lost several routes and possibly could loose some more, so he is starting to look for other work. We hope somewhere in a hospital.

He is still OCCASIONALLY doing installs for Pinnacle (security systems), and is he cannot find a hospital job, we are hoping he gets to be the service tech in January when my brother leaves.

Reffing football is one of his favorite things to do, and this fall is no different. He is almost done (he only had about three weeks left), but has had lots of games on Thursday evenings, Friday evenings, adn even some Saturdays. It is easy for him to go since he loves it so much, I just wish they would offer football year round : )

When he isn't doing any of these other fun things, he is super busy with school. He is taking one class and tutoring for the class he took last year. The tutoring gives us a little money, too. He is doing very well in his class getting the highest score in the class on two of his lab tests!!

He loves teaching his primary class, but hope they call another teacher for him soon so he won't be alone anymore.

MINDY- Going to school full time. This takes up most of my time. I am taking 16 units this semester including one online class. The online class is my hardest class, but I still have straight A's right now (and over 100% in three of my classes). 7 classes is taking its toll with tests and homework, but I am managing. In one two week time period, I had 5 mid-terms, 3 tests, and 4 papers due. I think the difference this time is I actually LOVE what I am doing. I think I should have gone into the medical field to begin with, though I wasn't quite mature enough to make that decision when I got my BS. I can't wait to start my career as a Medical Assistant. Next semester I even get to wear scrubs and give shots and take blood- YEAH!

One thing I have been really thinking about now that I am going back to school is becoming a PA (Physician's Assistant). It requires a little more school before I can apply, but I am loving this so much, I don't want to stop! And then I could work in an ER with Jason : ) I actually am really looking forward to that aspect, though I am not rushing it and will work as a MA for some time before continuing on.

I also help Jason with the sign routes as we have found with me driving it saves about 30 minutes on each route (about 1 hour overall- one more hour of sleep-it's so worth it!)

I also have been helping Jason's Mom out a lot since she had knee replacement surgery and cannot drive herself anywhere. Jason and I were able to go to the hospital with her for the surgery and visited her three more times there. We also went and saw her frequently in the "nursing home" she was at for recovery. Now she is staying with Jason's brother Curtis, but needs rides to Doctor's, so I have been helping out with that.

I also teach primary and love my class. Each Sunday I am so excited to look up the lesson and figure out what I am going to be teaching the little kids. It sure makes me feel good to teach them about our Savior.

CAT- Many of you are wondering who Cat is. She is my brother Shaun's girlfriend who happens to be living with us. I add her only to tell you we have a roommate. We hang out with them occasionally and play games, go to Haunted Houses, or go to Pumpkin Patches. Its kinda nice having a built in couple to play with!

Summer Adventures- Part 3

I guess I should start with the 4th of July. Jason had to work all day (unfortunately), but we were able to go to our ward's breakfast in the morning. Then my parents and I went to our little neighborhood parade. It was cute and small. Then my entire family came over for some yummy BBQ and pool time. Afterwards, we went to a local place that does fireworks and had fun watching those. It was a perfect day!

Me and Jason at the fireworks that night! Taken with a camera phone : )

My brother Brendon had a big summer this year, too! I was able to go to his graduation (Jason could only come to his before graduation breakfast since he had to work). It was another beautiful day! Shaun, Me, Breanna, Brendon, Amberlyn, and Cara

And he also received his Eagle Scout award this year. He is the last of my brother's to complete it. All of them were able to come and attend the ceremony which was really cool. That means all the men in my family are Eagle Scouts (and too bad all the in-laws are so close but never got it-heehee).All four brothers and my dad- The Eagle Scout Clan!

Part ov every summer is Grandma and Grandpa camp. Since I live so close to my parents, I get to be a part of this every year. This year, both mom's of the participants decided to come and stay the week to cut back on Travel, so I got to see my sisters and sister-in-law all week! One day, we met up with all the grandkids and were able to go to the Sacramento River. It was a blast to go swimming with all of them, but we had to keep careful close watch to make sure none of them drifted away!

The women enjoying themselves- including my mom : )McCoy, Boston, and Kayden, the three brothers enjoying the river in a small raft

After Grandma and Grandpa camp, my sister decided to stay a week longer with her boys. One night, I invited all the boys to have a slumber party at my house. We went swimming and they all were loving it! Sterling and Colton even went swimming in the deep end and Ryland started to love the life jacket and got brave. They are so cute!

In the POOL!

Well, i guess this sums up our summer. though Jason was REALLY busy with work, were able to enjoy our sevles all summer long. Without work for me all summer, I was able to start healing and focusing on making me better!

Summer Adventures- Family Reunion

Hutchings Hold'Em 2008My entire family-wow there's a lot of us!

One of the really fun things we did this summer was my family reunion in Flagstaff, AZ. So yes, just three short days after arriving home form Utah, we took off and drove (AGAIN) to AZ for my immediate family's reunion. THe theme was Hutchings Hold 'Em . It was a cowboy, card fun theme and we all enjoyed it!All the nieces and nephews at the campground (background)

Flagstaff is a beautiful place, and if I ever lived in AZ, this is where it would be. There are trees and it is not as hot or ugly as the rest of AZ (I only say that cause I like green and AZ is very brown). We camped at a small KOA campground and enjoyed lots of yummy food, playing games, visiting and talking, playing with the kids, and just plain fun at the campsite. But we did not stay at the campground that much, our days were filled with lots to do. The first night we ate at a dinner theater (cowboy style). Sunday we went to church and spent the evening putting funny make-up on and making up skits for fun. Jason's group all decked out in some fun make-up!

Mindy's group who all "killed" my dad!

Monday we went to Sugarbowl (a ski resort) and rode the ski lift to the top and enjoyed the scenery and beautiful view of the area. All the nephews at the top of the ski lift : )

But Monday we also went and visited the Grand Canyon. I have been (when I was younger I think), but this was spectacular. It was truly breathtaking. The pictures do not do it justice, and I can't believe how beautiful the sunset was.

Tuesday was spent packing and heading out towards home. I t was sad to say good-bye, but I knew I would be seeing most of them shortly when they came for Grandma and Grandpa Camp (in the next edition). That is one of the benefits of living next to my parents, everyone who comes and visits them gets us, too :)

Until next time . . . .

Summer Adventures Part 1- Trip to AZ and UT

Before I backtrack and tell everyone what happened at work, I figured I would start by telling you the "good stuff" that has happened this summer. I am not sure how far I will get in telling, but bare with me.


The summer started off with a mostly solo trip from me to visit my sister who lives in Cottonwood, AZ and my brother in Salt Lake City, UT. Jason came at the end of the trip in Utah, but I did a lot of solo driving. My first stop was to my sisters. After 12 hours and almost running out of gas on a dirt road, I enjoyed four days with my sister, her husband (who amazingly was off work all four days) and her four kids. This is my first time visiting her with out her nearly popping out a kid, and it was fun. We got to have one day together just us and watched a movie, went shopping, and just had fun. I also enjoyed hiking with the whole family on Monday (Memorial Day) in Sedona which is only 30 minutes away from where they live. The picture above is of all the kids right before we left on the hike. We actually went about 3 miles round trip which was pretty good for such little legs. We even made it out without any bruises or scrapes. I was also able to play lots of games with my sister and her hubby (he's the game player, not my sister) and she even got me hooked on "The Bachelorette". On Tuesday, I allowed her and her hubby to go out on a date and watched the kids all afternoon. We went to the park and out to eat, got prizes from Family Dollar, and enjoyed some fun naps. I really had a great time there.This is a picture of my niece at the park. She looks exactly like I did when i was a kid. I have a picture of me on the swings at this same age, and we look the same : )

The next stop on my journey was to see my brother Chad and his family. It was my first time seeing my new nephew and he looks just like a cabbage patch kid!

This picture was the very first picture my nephew Kayden took in his life, so I had to post it for him-heehee.

While I was there, Chad took me on a tour of our Church Headquarters (since that is where he is now working) and it was amazing. I had really been struggling with my testimony and going to church, and it really helped remind me of everything I knew to be true. We also went on a long bike ride and enjoyed the "spring-like" weather they were experiencing at the end of May. I also took the boys to a park in Orem (south of SLC and north of Provo) where I met up with a friend i hadn't seen in a long while. I also took the boys to the mall and got them a crazy game and fun tattoos. Friday night we went to Chuck E. Cheese (kind of a tradition with these boys, I take them every time we visit them).This is a picture of my bro with his three boys winning some fun tickets! On that Saturday, Jason flew in early in the morning. After picking him up at the airport, we rushed to Eagle Mountain (where his sister Janelle lives) and saw her son being baptized. It was really neat. Right after, we headed to the temple to see her and her family be sealed together in the South Jordan temple. It was a beautiful day and we were so happy to be there. We went to a small reception for them afterwards and then headed back to my brother's to play games and sleep. We arrived home the next day which made my trip a total of 9 days! A DEFINITE much needed vacation for sure!

This is Jason kissing his niece Adella at the temple.


This is Jason with his two sisters Lynn (on the left) and Janelle (on the right) at the temple after the ceremony.

Jason's Jobs Update 7/23/08

Jason has been SOOOOOOOOOO busy this summer. He has been working two jobs and 7 days a week.

His first job is placing new home development signs for his brother’s booming business in Elk Grove and Natomas (two neighboring communities of Sacramento. It takes up Friday nights and/or Saturday mornings as well as Sunday nights and/or Monday mornings. It is hard work and takes about 7-8 hours to do, but we cannot complain about the income it provides FOR SURE. Mindy actually assists him by driving the truck so he can easily jump out and place the signs. It is the time for both of us to be together as we hardly get the opportunity to see each other and talk. It isn’t so bad once we get going, it’s the getting going that is the hardest. Jason will be keeping this job in the fall due to the great income it provides and since it will not conflict with his schooling.

The second job Jason has been doing is installing security systems for Pinnacle Security. He works Monday through Saturday and usually starts between 10am and 1pm and sometimes does not get home until 12midnight. Since the work is paid by the install, Jason is trying to get as many as he can to help with money and his end of summer bonus. It is hard work, with sometime when he is just waiting for an install usually in the area playing his PSP pr watching a movie on it. He usually gets 2-3 a day and that is great for the weekly income as well. He is hoping for a service tech position in the fall, but we will not know about it until close to fall. He would be able to do this on the days he is not in school. He has enjoyed it for the most part, but hates the fact that he really can’t spend time with me, go on vacations, or spend time with all the family that is around.

Jason is doing an amazing job. Mindy is so grateful for his efforts as it has allowed her the MUCH needed time off work right now. We are looking forward to the fall when we will be able to see each other hopefully a few more evenings. And yes, Jason will be reffing again this fall, but only on Thursdays and Fridays, not Saturdays like he did last year : ) Way to go Jason for working his butt off !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quick Mindy Update

Work Sucked
Nervous Breakdown
Quit my job
Seeing Psychologists/Psychiatrists
Getting better