like a fly on meat {"educators"}

there was never a boy that loved cars a much as chase ray.

i used to think brennan liked cars,

and he did, but it's nothing like the love affair that chase has with his.

they go where he goes.

playing with them everywhere is his entire life.

i never knew a boy could be entertained for HOURS on end with anything, let alone a tiny little toy car.

he can find or make a race track out of anything.

there were tubs at brennan's basketball practice last wednesday night,

and he was set for the entire hour.

he sleeps with one race car clutched in his hand during his entire nap,

and then brings it out of his crib like we glued it into his hand.

when i check on him before i go to bed at night i will usually find about 5 cars stowed away until his back, and one in each hand, with the binky laying next to him in his crib because his hands are full of cars.

also, he calls elevators "educators."

and he'd like to spend his entire day in just a diaper, and never have his car playing disrupted by anything. too bad for him that he's the third kid, and his entire life revolves around car pool pick ups, dance and basketball practices, and grocery store runs.

good thing for him,

cars can go everywhere.

even in "educators."

pressure (!) {LOVE YOUR CAR!}

(!) on my car=low tire pressure.

your car may be different.

but just know that today (!) means low tire pressure.

OK.

.......

my little (!) wouldn't go off.

and john has taught me that (!) on my car is like driving your car through sand.

and you don't want your car driving through sand.

b/c your car doesn't want to drive through the sand.

it's bad for the steering.

and it's bad for the alignment.

so after ignoring the (!) for a month,

i finally decided that i would just go already.

but who really has time to fix their (!) ??!!

i do, thanks to john.

{remember, (!) means tire pressure on my car}.

so we dropped brennan off at preschool and flew into Ray's Garage at 12:52pm, 

with chase babbling in the back and max in her "bow-way" stuff.

we had about 3 minutes to make it to "bow-way" class by 1.

at 12:55 we were back on our way,

minus the (!).

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's what i was thinking.

so if your car is doing (!),

{or whatever your car does to tell you your tire pressure is low},

you should stop by Ray's Garage.

John will even fix your car in the snow.

tell him i told you to DEMAND he fix your car in the snow.

{but only if it's your (!)...b/c i don't want to get into too much trouble here}

and since you are already there,

you might as well get your coolant checked with how cold it's been this winter,

and then you should probably just get your oil changed too.

b/c you're already there and all.

and it IS almost February.

LOVE YOUR CAR!

or let John love it for you.

at Ray's.

Call John today!

801-561-5671

Ray's {where everybody knows your naaaaaammmeeee}

"making your way in the world today,

takes everything you've got.

taking a break from all your worries,

sure could help a lot."

"wouldn't you like to get away?"

{with feeling now...}

"sometimes you wanna go,

where everybody knows your naaaaaaameeee,

{dun, dun, dun}

-drums/cymbal-

and they're always glad you caaaaaaammmeeee,

{dun, dun, dun}

-drums/cymbal-

you wanna be where you can see,

troubles are all the same.

you wanna be where everybody knows your name."

 "you wanna go where you know,

people are all the same,

 you wanna go where

everybody knows,

your name."

....................................................

this morning i took the kids to Ray's for an oil change.

John owns it now.

but Ray was there today too.

he still visits once a week.

now that he's a retired man.

Ray started the shop in 1975,

and sold it to John 9 years ago.

it's clean,

comfortable,

and friendly.

but most of all,

honest.

{my favorite kind of shop}.

while Jiffy Lube lures you in with low face value fees for an oil change,

you end up paying an arm and a leg by the time your bill is done with the things 

they didn't include in the sticker price they had on their sign out front.

Ray's does the work for an honest price,

no gimmics or up sells to sneak up your price.

......................

so MINDY-van got the royal treatment today,

all hoisted up on the shiny red and yellow lifter.

lubed up, and freshened with new windshield wipers for the winter.

MINDY-van sang to me all the way home.

so happy to have all of her parts properly working again.

oil change=better gas mileage.

apparently,

a car or truck that is well maintained works the way it's designed to,

and therefore uses less fuel.

who knew?!

children using technological devices in waiting rooms,

make less noise.

i knew:) 

so did you.

RAY'S GARAGE

where everybody knows

YOUR

name.

{and your kid's names too.}

Call John

and get your car set up for all of your car or truck needs.

new wipers for the winter?

check the tred on your tires?

make sure the air pressure is right for the new winter temps?

and say hi to Ray if he's there.

so he'll know your name too.

see ya there!

801-561-5671

176 West 9240 South

Sandy, Utah

84070

and...

if you "LIKE" them on Facebook by tomorrow at midnight,

you will be automatically entered to win a 

FREE OIL CHANGE!

money in your pocket;)

click here to "LIKE" Ray's Garage on Facebook.

reunited.

today i dressed us all in long sleeves,

shoes,

and pants.

REUNITED AT LAST!!!

{thank you thank you fall weather}.

it rained all day while we ran errands.

not hard.

just enough to enjoy the sprinkle in and out of the car.

sean's birthday present.

safety and emissions for the van.

new brake pads.

turning the rotors on the back wheels.

and such.

vehicle registration.

watch battery.

cha ching cha ching cha ching.

my house is back in order.

and it's a lovely place to be:)

in july

 my car battery died twice today.

the second time was its last.

i am now the proud owner of a brand new car battery.

thank you carl the car guy for installing it for free.

you are the best.

and linsey for jumping my car this morning.

i love you pioneer woman.

and richelle 

{insert MOST AWESOME SWIM TEACHER on the planet here} 

for waiting an extra fifteen minutes for us to have our car jump started 

to get to swimming lessons late.

bless her.

boo on the pool cover for breaking after lunch.

we are sad we couldn't get in and swim the second time.

little max just didn't understand.

and it was 68* tonight.

in july.

my mom offered me a blanket and a coat.

i turned her down both times.

i just wanted to enjoy shivering.

in july.

it was wonderful.

cold, crisp, and wonderful.

i'm recharged for the 90's again now.

cue angel choir singing here.

skinny dipping in alaska

right after john found a nail in our tire,

the rain drenched us with warm bath water on our way into costco.

big fat drops that made us look like we had just showered.
max's face was dripping from her chin.
brennan's head could have mopped my kitchen floor.
which it needs,
but that's not what we're talking about right now.
or maybe it is.
anyway,
do you know how cold it is to go into costco in the summer when you are soaking wet?
COLD.
all of that air conditioning blowing on our soaking wet selves,
and we might as well have gone skinny dipping in alaska.
and of course we had to make a stop in the freezer of veggies and fruits.
so, what did we do?
bought a fuzzy blanket and some purple smoothies on our way out.
not only were the little chickadees dry,
but so was our cart.
b/c really,
who wants to eat soggy bread.

call john.

our car got oiled today.
and a new boot.
if you live in utah and need an honest mechanic,
john at ray's is your man.
it's john's garage, but it used to be ray's,
so he kept the name ray's,
but it's really john's.
just still called ray's. {801.561.5671}
get it?
fast, honest, AND friendly.
bieber fever was in heaven.
i caught up on family and life with john,
while bieber ran from tire, to under the car, to the engine hanging, to the tire, to under the car, to the tire, telling john and his other mechanic everything he saw.
max woo-ed all of the men with her smile and glittery eyes.
then john drove us all home and took the jeep back to his shop for the boot to get fixed.
so max could take a nap.
you won't get that at jiffy lube.
i think it's the left one.
the boot.
not jiffy lube.
and since i love NOT having a car payment,
john said we'd better get the boot fixed.
as much as i hate spending money on my car,
i love giving it to john.
plus, he reads my blog.
at least he used to.
and he was the best home teacher i've ever had.

seriously, call john for your car's needs.

...

btw, this bieber gets his haircuts for FREE.

he definitely does NOT pay $750 every 2 weeks for his haircuts like the famous bieber does.

i heard that on the radio yesterday.

started thinking about how we could pay off our student loans faster if the famous bieber paid me that $750 to cut his hair like my bieber.

you know,

because i'm already cutting my bieber's hair,

and it looks really good.

so i could cut the famous bieber's hair.

every 2 weeks.

for $750 each time.

now that is what i call a part time job.

i wonder how long it takes.

a few snips a month and you've paid your mortgage!

SNAP!

or snip,

i guess.

once upon a time, we went to chico

*scroll down after this post, i added pictures to my posts from this week.
once upon a time,
we drove to chico.
i vow to never.
ever.
drive anywhere longer than 3 hours away while nursing a baby.
i can't read in cars.
it makes me car sick.
so i took pictures.
the following occurred.
salt flats. classic driving landmark.
i still don't know what it really is.the pork loin ate a cheeseburger.

right through the wrapper.

and 5 days later we found three bites left in the once was scout master's work bag.

gross.

we would stop,

feed,

change,

gas.
only to have both children need to be changed again within 10 minutes of leaving our previous stop.

these kids.
i love them.

when we left,

it was summer.

we went through the worst construction you could ever imagine.

it added 2 1/2 hours onto our trip.

totalling 14 hours in the car.
horrid.

and we still had to drive back to come home.

i almost cried.

sean got to hold the magic wand.

we were the end of line.

it was awkward.

trust me.

you drive 200 yards while holding a duct taped stick and see how it feels.

awkward.

that's how it feels.

i remember thinking that the construction was over when i took this picture.

oh, how i was wrong.

it was not.

where i started my college career.

and where i met sean.

i love this town.

we stayed in aunt judi's cabin.

i loved how it felt.

and i thought this spiderweb was beautiful.

every morning.

i just had to look at it in the light.

insert picture of stacy here.

she was standing right next to me.

brennan stole a piece of cake.

and officially had the DIRTIEST day of his life.

no joke.
insert jen, ryan, stacy, and gavin.

i drove by my old sorority house.

funny how it looks like our house we just bought.
i always loved that cute little alpha gam house.

and then came the reunion.
and no,

facebook didn't ruin the thrill.

i thought it would.

but it didn't.

and it wasn't even mine.

but i could tell,

it didn't.

and it won't.

social network or not.

there's nothing like people in the flesh.

dancing shoes were on.

music loud.

free non-alcoholic beverages.
they surely lost money on us!!!

(jen's husband thought sean was getting plastered b/c he went back to the bar so many times. until he found out sean was getting cokes.)

insert luis's house and family, and chico steve,

we saw them too.

the wonderful ysasaga's watched our children while we "reunion-ed."

bless them.

brennan learned to use an ipad.

then we drove home.

and it felt like fall.
it changed in 4 days.

funny how that can happen.

to us too.
interesting what makes you love a place.
the people.

the places.
the food.

the traditions you have to hit to try to recreate the things you loved.
but it's never the same.

just a hint of what it was
which might not be so bad.