The Pixie & a Dragonfly

2011-05-27T21:47:00.000-06:00

Come read our new blog..... http://fiveinourhive.wordpress.com

2011-03-29T14:45:00.000-06:00

"Jesus KNOWS me, this I LOVE!!"

Moving - FINALLY!!!

2010-06-10T08:37:00.002-06:00

It has begun......We finally get to start moving into our new house!!! Hannah and I are SO excited. We have a cute little 3 bedroom cottage in Salt Lake City. After we found it remodeling began....New carpet, new bathroom, new paint through out...It has a fantastic yard and Hannah can't wait to plant a garden and set up her trampoline! We moved all our stuff out of dad and Karen's basement yesterday and we'll move the rest from the farm on Saturday....Watch for pictures and a house warming invite!!!

A Truly Inspiring Life....

2010-04-09T12:16:00.003-06:00

I gotta start this blog with...I love FaceBook (I know pathetic) but being on FB has allowed me to get back in touch with some special souls that have truly touched my life for the better and these friends each in their own way have inspired me to become the person I am still trying to perfect! Becoming re-connected with these friends has re-lit the sparks their fires started, for some...(Jenny, Angel, Suzy, Tammy) those sparks go back to the days of Sunbeams, MIA, and scary 7th grade. Others...Rebecca (we all called her Becca), Donna, Angela, Andrea, Robin - (just to name a few) were my dearest friends in a great new adventure...All of us fresh outta High School, Fresh outta the sticks (Utah, Idaho and Colorado for most of us) and into the grand State of NY all wandering into a little church in Yorktown, New York as nannies fresh off the airplane and all looking for that one seed we knew would help us establish some small piece of what we were use too, and help us meet new friends in our new world. And more recently..Amy, Karen, Brenda, Geni and Becca - I've seen the lemons life has given you all yet you make the BEST lemonades ever.....My friends inspire one to greatness!!

One of these fantastic women in my life (she'll know who she is after she reads this) that I haven't seen since we both headed our separate ways after a couple of years in nanny-land has re-surfaced (20 years later) as my friend on facebook. She is a crazy blogger (sometimes 2-3 times a day) and lets me glimpse into her life through her musings. I LOVE reading this lady's blogs and I am truly inspired by her and the life she has lived. Why does she inspire me....Because she has LIVED her life for good or bad she has lived it, owned it and rejoiced in it! When things were and are fantastic she rejoices in those moments. She thanks her maker and her family for enjoying those time with her. When her life has been in the shit (and TRUST me it truly has been) She pulls up her boot straps improves where she messed up and moves forward and she once again thanks her maker and her family for standing by her through those times and for the things she learned! I tell her regularly how much her story means to me and how I enjoy reading about her triumphs and failures. There was a book a few years ago Eat, Pray, Love. It was a HUGE success - top of the best sellers etc. I being a very avid reader, of course read this book and to be completely honest...I could NOT choke my way through it! I was so disappointed to be reading once again how some individual "threw in the towel" on their life and ran away to find themselves!! In this book this woman left her marriage , her job and for a long time her family to go about her personal journey. What a luxury!!! Reading my friends blog is real life...She hasn't thrown in the towel, left her friends, family or her child behind, nor ran away from the messes she has made. She has faced her situations, and her maker, she wrestles her demons and more importantly faces her child in her brightest and darkest moments. In doing the things she has done I know sometimes she has to swallowed her pride, and dug through the muck in order to apologized and make things right. Ito me that is what life is.... Like they say "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger!" THAT IS INSPIRATIONAL!!

I know I have learned running away never fixes ANYTHING. No matter what you run away from or how far you run IT will come back and you will have to face it, own it and deal with it one way or another! Thesed are things we will always carry with us no matter how deep we try to burry them. But the knowledge that you did the best you could with what you had makes those situations more bearable and their burdens much easier to carry. I believe the same holds true for the blessings and good things we get and do with our lives, and those things also help make the shitty things livable! And great friends make the ride a lot more fun!!

So to ALL my friends and family that inspire me, guide me and help me become a better person - To each of you I say thank you and I love you!! xoxo

Turn the page.....

2010-03-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

...and once again it is blank.

Presidents Day Weekend!

2010-02-16T13:58:00.012-07:00

Hello Lava Hot Springs!! This is so my favorite place to go play and relax. We went with Karen and Daryl and some of their kids. They have a fantastic little house that we all had a great time lounging and vegging in.

We went t o Dinner at the White Wolf....

Logan + Hannah=Best Buds!!!

We had a fantastic weekend Playing in the snow,

Hannah so done with this snow-playing adventure!

Karen and Sadie like to watch playing in the snow...

Soaking in the Hot Pots,

See Karen Daryl CAN smile....It just hurts!

Eating a yummy Valentine's Day feast (Thanks Daryl and Shawn) and

Vegging out in front of the Olympics for hours.

!!!GO TEAM USA!!!

It was snowy and sunny and SO pretty! These deer were along the side of the road eating this farmers hay. They were so cute!!

We sent the kids on a Valentine Treasure Hunt....

We had a FANTASTIC weekend! Thanks Karen and Daryl!!! xoxo

A few days past Halloween....

2009-11-10T15:17:00.006-07:00

Gross carving pumpkins...Love to do it it is one of our favorite Halloween activities...Hannah was feeling very macabre this year. The pumpkin she carved for home was throwing-up and then she carved one at Papa's house that had it's brains oozing out the top of it's head! This from the kid that up til last year was terrified to walk near the Halloween aisle at the grocery store!?! Go Figure....We had a great Halloween - Hannah was a 1905's Bobby-Sockser, and she looked FANTASTIC!!

We also went to a great event at The Gateway called "Thrill the World" It was about one hundred people dressed up as zombies and synced around the world to all dance the Zombie dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller.

It was fun and while we were at Gateway Maxine and her cousin Stacy had some Halloween bonding moments as Chucky twins and presidents.

Hannah tried channeling Ozzy with glasses and her black finger nail polish....

Watch for more pics soon of the scary ghoul's we went Trick or Treating with.....

Draper Elementary ~ Day 1

2009-10-22T15:48:00.002-06:00

Rainy morning on the first day.

Mrs. McBride..HJG's New Teacher

HJG at her table with her new friends (the little girl behind/next to her shares the same birthday!)

Fourth Graders from Dilworth...She will miss her crazy class-mates!

This week has been "Red Ribbon Week" we have dressed in crazy hats, clothes inside-out and sweats so far. Tomorrow is School Pride so she will wear Blue and white...She loves the Mac computers in the computer lab, they went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch, and she get to ride the school bus home to Papa and Grandma Karen's 4 days a week with all her friends and she LOVES that!! The move has made our commute much easier and our mornings much smoother and HJG is really liking her new school, teacher and friends!!

I SCREAM! YOU SCREAM.........

2009-10-21T17:52:00.006-06:00

Kids eating Ice Cream....

BIG SMILES!

Oh No a messy FACE...

mmm a BIG lick!

Grown Ups(?) love it too!!!

??Why??

2009-10-19T15:30:00.006-06:00

??WHY??

That is the question I ask....after having spent a good majority of Sunday night in the Emergency Room. One of my dearest friends/sisters hit the bottom of her barrel and tried to take herself out of this life-that is the small part of the issue. There is a bigger part to the issue at hand called Alcoholism and drinking lead to her "blacking out" NOT "passing out" and while she can not remember many of the events that unfolded Sunday afternoon they are forever burned in my memory as well as 3 others. Seeing one of your best friends unconscious, lying on the floor with the equipment from the ambulance scattered around her, seeing her shirt covered in her partners blood because her partner got cut while struggling to pull the knife out of her hands before she could hurt herself and then hearing she doesn't remember is a scary thing. Scarier though is to hear this friend say "I am jealous others get to get out of this life and not deal with the shit." I'm sorry but WHAT THE F*CK!?!?! I don't care who you are or what you've done YOU are needed here in this life by someone! My friend has beautiful children that NEED their Mama, she has brothers and sisters that need her, parents that need her, friends that need her and besides people that need her people these same people love her and would go to the ends of the earth for her!

I watch and hear on a daily basis as 2 of my cousin's (both chose to leave this world for their own sad, selfish reasons) children struggle everyday to survive in this world with 1 parent permanently ripped from their lives, I watch a teenage girl struggle at learning to become a confident beautiful woman in a house full of boys, I watch a teenage boy struggle with out the soft warmth a mommy gives in the same house full of boys. On the flip side I still hear a 6 year old sobbing at his daddy's funeral he has no understanding as to why his Dad is gone, he just knows he is gone and NEVER coming back....Never to sit at another soccer game, horse show, school play, high school graduation, wedding or birth of a grandchild. As a mommy I could never dream of PURPOSELY ruining those days in Hannah's life by taking my own life. I have watched my parents struggle through the loss of my brother due to a motorcycle accident - The pain they carry every day is real I can't begin to imagine how much worse it would be had he taken his own life. I have watched over the last month as my Aunt and Uncle STRUGGLE every moment to understand WHY their son chose to take his own life knowing that they will never be able to answer that question in this lifetime.

Please remeber there is someone in this world that LOVES and NEEDS you more than you can ever know or more than they can ever express to you. Reach for their hand because it is ALWAYS extended for you to grab hold of and they will help pull you out!!!

As the Seasons Turn.....

2009-10-09T15:29:00.005-06:00

Wow it has been a long time since I blogged. Life as always is crazy busy. I have a new job at Cybersource with Maxine she is on the online fraud team and I am on the payment gateway side. We commute to American Fork which aside from the horrid stench of dead chickens boiled in horse pee that seems to linger in the air its not to bad! The job and company are great. Hannah is still at Dilworth Elementary for a couple more days/weeks. We are thinking of moving her to Draper Elementary because it is on the way to work for us and she has friends at that school as well as Papa and Grandma Karen where she would ride the school bus to after school. More to come on that though......

As for the rest of life....I had another cousin commit suicide on 2 September 2009. This is my second cousin to do this in just over a year on the same side of the family. In talking and crying with the few cousins that are left my cousin Travis pointed out some VERY FRIGHTENING (not often talked about) statistics:
*Over 33,000 people in the United States die by suicide every year.

*Suicide is fourth leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18 and 65 years in the United States.

*Currently, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States.

*A person dies by suicide about every 16 minutes in the United States. An attempt is estimated to be made once every minute.

*There are four male suicides for every female suicide, but three times as many females as males attempt suicide.

*Every day, approximately 90 Americans take their own life, and 2,300 more attempt to do so.

These really caused he and I some major thought process, internal review as well as external review...We both have kids and don't want to see their lives completely messed up because of (not just the suicides) but the amount of death they have been effected by in the last 4 years beginning with my brothers motorcycle accident, then both great-grandparents, then 2 cousins. We have always been a close family so each loss has been a major blow. As a family we did the Out of the Darkness suicide awareness walk for the second year. It is a very healing event but this was the second year we have done it and it was very sad to see how much bigger the walk had gotten and how many more families have and are affected by suicide. REMEMBER FRIENDS, FAMILY and BLOG STALKERS.....Someone will ALWAYS be there to share a light when yours is out!!!

The walk and the reason.....

On to some happier musings.....I turned 40...(NOT sure that is really happier - pretending to throw-up) Actually it wasn't too horrific I did survive and Maxine put together a fun party with most of our crazy friends showing up to celebrate! We also took my dad to dinner at The Melting Pot because his birthday is the day before mine.

Hannah spent a FANTASTIC weekend in St. George with her best buddy Logan and his family over the UEA weekend. They went shopping in Vegas, hiking in Zion's, then I joined then Saturday night and we went to Tuachan Theater and saw Aida. Hannah my little musical princess was in complete rapture for 2 1/2 hours, she cried at the end and said "Mommy, that was so beautiful!" and we have been listening to the sound track non-stop ever since. I am so glad she has such a love and understanding of music and that it stirs such emotion that she recognizes. She has ALWAYS loved music and finds a song in everything. When she and Logan were little (4-ish) Hannah did not stop singing and Logan would look at her and say "MOM, Why does she do that?" (She still does it we are all just used to it now -lol) It was so fun to spend the weekend with the VanHorn's and to see my cute friend Karen truly happy...she deserves it and it has been a long time coming!!

The Motley Crew

Lindsey and Maria are CRAZY!!

This weekend we get to move furniture and clean house.....So excited to start putting together my craft/sewing room and finally have a dinning room table to eat on...lol!!!

Happy Rainy June

2009-06-17T12:01:00.007-06:00

What a fun filled weekend we had. It started Thursday with a trip on The Front Runner Train up to Ogden with Maxine, Zack and Rana.

Friday was a trip to Boondocks with Hannah and her best buddy Logan..

A little mini golf:

Some Bumper Boats:

Saturday was met with a double header on the Softball field - The Blue Angels won one and lost one. Then it was off to Hannah's Great Grandma's 80th Birthday Party and fun playing with cousins.

Sunday was a day out with Papa....He knows were every crazy, interesting thing to see in Utah off the beaten trail is. So off to Promontory Utah we headed to see the Golden Spike, the Spiral Jetty on the very north end of the great Salt Lake, We did some Geocaching and went to ATK - Thyokol to see where they build weapons of mass destruction and rockets and boosters to get into space. It was a fun weekend and we managed to stay dry through it all!!!

Our future Tony Winner....

2009-05-27T09:46:00.003-06:00

Hannah has been taking Speech Level Voice Lessons for 2 years from an awesome lady Named Teri Stock. Last night Hannah had a recital and she was AWESOME!! She sang "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music. You can check out her video on Facebook.....

Memorial Day Weekend in pictures....

2009-05-27T09:15:00.004-06:00

Why you should keep your tequila and beer away from puppies.....
Yes a nice fire to hang by...

Cute Friends to share the fire with!

Probably better not to talk about....
Who loves ya baby??
Max and the W!
Future Rock StarsFood we NEED food!!!

Go Fish...........!

Disneyland!!!

2009-05-13T12:19:00.005-06:00

What a whirl win trip of fun....2 parks in 2 days, swimming at the pool and had a ball. My poor mom is now sick with Bronchial Pneumonia cuz we wore her out :( Aside from that the trip was FANTASTIC!!!!!

Making tuna crackers on the plane....
Our Pin Lanyards.....Swapping pins with the Disney cast members was one of the kids favs!!
Hannah and Ayden..Favorite cousin's!
Me and my mommy looking soggy after a ride through Grizzly Gulch!!!
It's a Bug's Life!!

This kid is going to win a Tony one day!!!
A is for AWESOME trip!!!
Waiting in line is always a fav!! Hannah kept that hat on for 2 days!!
Toon Town

Disneyland 2009!!! Ayden, Hannah and GrammyShuttle ride back to the car...tired happy kids!!!

Spring Time

2009-05-01T10:29:00.004-06:00

Well I think spring has sprung.

We officially started the softball season.

Hannah has moved up to the 9-10 year old division, this is now the real deal the girls get to pitch and it is so exciting to watch. It does take over our whole life for the next 8 weeks though - Between practice twice a week and games twice a week Softball is pretty much what we do in May/June.

But it is so fun to watch. Hannah's team - The Blue Angel's - are far more interested in how loud they can sing chant and cheer as opposed to how well the catch, field and hit the ball but that is all part of the fun!

Us parents in the stands freak and stress out over the games and the calls far more than our girls do.

It is cloudy and rainy today - It teases us all week it is nice and sunny and then the weekend comes and so do the clouds and rain!!! Thank goodness Hannah and I are off to some warm California sun with grandma for a couple of days.....

Monday

2009-04-27T10:24:00.005-06:00

We had so much fun in Wendover with all our crazy friends. We all went to see the Loverboy concert - Nothing like seeing one of your favorite bands from your youth and seeing them old, greying or bald and sporting beer bellies to make you realize 40 is only 5 months away!!

and FINALLY!!!

2009-04-21T18:06:00.006-06:00

The kick ass swing set is complete! I climbed all over it, hung on the monkey bars slid down the slides, stood on the swings and I didn't die and the thing didn't collapse so I say bring on the munchkins!! It only took me 12 hours and 2 weeks between snow storms to get it all done....Here are the photos:

Me putting in.....then looking out the window

The back side complete w/prayer flags!

And the finished product!!!

Also here are some pics of the critters at The Farm!!

Babbette and Abby our year old lambs

Rosie our 13 year old quarter horse

Kronk and Eizma the Evil Killer geese

Nanook the bear she is 15 weeks old and weighing in at 70 lbs

and 3 baby kitties born in our barn!!

Spring Break

2009-04-19T09:31:00.007-06:00

What a fun Spring Break we have had!! Pixie spent time playing and having sleep overs with all her grandparent's, going to movies, doing lots of reading (she is a little book worm reading is one of her favorite hobbies)

It was a beautiful weekend...not super warm but the sun has been out, we have been playing out side and there is no rain in the forecast until Thursday, but rain we can deal with it is suppose to rain in the spring but no more snow!!

Last Friday the 3 of us went with Papa, G'ma Karen and Ayden to the Delta Geode beds and dug for rocks...We found some beauties! The kids cant wait for Papa to get his rock saw all hooked up so they can see what sparkling crystal finds await them inside the geodes they found

Here are a few pics of this past weekend - Working on the swing set,

then going for a walk along the Jordan River Parkway with Papa, G'ma Karen, Papa's buddy Peter and all 3 big dogs (Nanook our 14 week old Newfie, and Thelma and Louise G-ma's black labs)! It was a perfect day!!

Still waiting for Spring....

2009-04-14T10:53:00.003-06:00

Well yesterday was a great teaser...again - 70 degrees clear sunny a beautiful day..then...WHAM! Rain-snow winter storm warnings and it is freezing again! Oh well welcome to Utah - Someday the new huge redwood swing set will be put together, every time we get a splash of warm we run outside and work on it but then have to pack it in cuz it gets cold.

Our new big dog Nanook is loving the farm she lollops all over the yard tripping over her own huge paws it is so funny to watch her - It's Like a cartoon. I think she is weighing in at 60 lbs and she is 14 weeks old. Pixie thinks she is a pony and tries to sit on Nanook - thank goodness Nanook is a good sport and happily rolls around the pasture playing with Pixie - I think our little dog Coco would eat Pixie if she tried to play with her like that..

Kokopelie is not sure what she thinks of the new puppy especially when she went to answer the front door yesterday and found that Nanook had decided to help her garden and had spread the bag of potting soil all over the front stoop...naughty puppy!

Pixie has also been a busy kid she went to Disneyland a few weeks ago and had a great time!!

and keeping with being spoiled we are off to see the mouse again with her best cousin and grandma in May!!

Enough with the snow!!!

2009-03-31T17:54:00.003-06:00

OK - what happened to in like a lion.....Out like a lamb?? Here we are the end of March and I am getting emails from work notifying me of a winter storm warning and 9-13 inches of snow!! ENOUGH I SAY!! I am ready to camp and be warm and work in my yard. Pixie has a half finished swing set that is waiting for warm weather to get finished. The only member of our family liking this cold is our crazy new baby dog. Her Name is Nanook (which means Polar Bear is Native American) She is going to be as big as a polar bear but Nanook is all black. She is a 12 week old Newfoundland and is weighing in at a trim 60 lbs at this stage. She looks like a baby bear loping around the yard. Here are a couple of pictures of her with the breeder Zoe we bought her from:

TGIF...

2009-02-20T09:24:00.002-07:00

Wow another week of 2009 already gone. Time does fly. Kokopelie has been sick again her sinuses are kicking her butt this winter. Pixie is in love..LOL she has had a crush on the same boy since the day she laid eyes on him the first day of Kindergarten and come to find out her "likes" her too. Needless to say she has been on Cloud nine for a week....I am not sure I am ready for this!!!! She is still a very grounded old soul though. She was stalking blogs with me the other day and we watched a video on Rabacles blog of Hannah's little buddy singing Happy Birthday to you to his grandma. Hannah got big tears in her eyes and said "Oh mommy I am so proud of "I" He can sing a whole song and singing, that's his favorite thing!!" I is our friend and he has autism. He and his family moved to Delaware a couple of years ago and we miss them every day!!! Tomorrow watch for some photos we are off on the annual Huber Family Sledding adventure and it should be hilarious..It usually is!!! Work is busy finally for Pixie and we have been nailed with snow (82" in 10 days) up at the resort!! I should be there skiing and not sitting in front of this computer!!! Happy Friday! xoxo

PS As for Sen. Buttars comments: "And finally, this is how senator Buttars refers to the "radical gay movement.""They're probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of." I am really quite impressed at least he realizes what a powerful force he is dealing with!! What a GIT!!!!

Happy Heart Day

2009-02-08T18:15:00.002-07:00

What a weekend....It started out quiet for Pixie and I, mean while Kokopeli went and kicked it up with her OLD (she is going o be 40 in 6 weeks) high school buddies at a birthday party Friday night. Then we spent Saturday enjoying brunch and shopping with our buddy Nate and his BAND OF HOOLIGANS! Nate rapidly ditched us and just the girls hit Ikea looking for new flooring for the farm's kitchen. Saturday night we whooped it up by heading to Turtlefly's for some very wild cooking making....The munchkins ate about 15 lbs of cookie dough and frosting, but they did manage to get a bit of it on the actual baked cookies...Turtlefly thought she was baking them for the WHOLE primary and so they will be eating cookies for a LONG time. Rumor has it the Butterfly was found in a sugar coma in her bed with a half empty bottle of sprinkles this morning! So we then took those sugar over loaded children to Color*Me*Mine in Park City; yeah not the best idea we ever had 4-4year olds running around a ceramic shop but as our friends run it had 3 of their 5 kids and their 140 lb dog haunting the store we knew we were fine. After much mess making...I mean color creating we all had lovely plates, ice cream dishes and trivets to put in the kiln to fire into lovely treasures. It was a great weekend now I sit here in Nate's kitchen abusing his Internet (sorry if the cops show up Nate...I didn't mean to go to that web site) AND as for you Ms Turtlefly....JUNE MY ASS!!! XOXO

Hello 2009!!!

2009-02-01T17:54:00.002-07:00

WOW!! I just turned around and it is already February! Life on the farm is busy as ever...Feeding animals every day, keeping up on the pooper scooping....Trust me following the horse around...BIG job!! So if you have any kids 11 or older that need a little character building we have just the job for them!! ;) Dragonfly is finally busy booking reservations for Snowbird and really liking the free ski perks....Skiing once a week is good for ones soul! Kokopelie has finally slowed down at work and is trying to ignore the fact that her BIG 40 is just around the corner!!! Pixie is loving school. Math is her favorite subject and she is learning how to square dance and apparently that rocks because she get to dance with "the boy of her dreams"...Seriously she is 9 I swear I am sending her to live with the nuns when she turns 12!!!
I hope all you stalkers are safe and well and having a FANTASTIC 2009!!!

2008-12-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Holidays!!!

Just Rambling......

2008-11-29T19:24:00.003-07:00

So you meet some people and think "Wow..we could be friends!" but as things move along all you seem to find is lies trickery and feel as though you are trapped in a house of mirrors. How can people seem to be your friend in one breath then belittle and hurt you behind your back?? I have had this situation and find it quite disheartening. I thought that kind of behavior was best left in High School and not dragged into ones thirties and on!

I must also add I have some very wonderful friends to which I am truly grateful and I am very lucky to call my wives! To those wonderful ladies I say THANK YOU and I love you all!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and PEACE TO ALL!!!! xoxo

Time Flies....

2008-10-18T18:51:00.002-06:00

Wow it has been a long time since I blogged. Life is plugging away. Pixie is in third grade and LOVES school. Math is her favorite. Kokopelie is working hard in cyber fraud land...This is their busiest time of year as the crazy Christmas seasons begins. Dragonfly is now working for Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort in their travel and lodging department. Can you say FREE SKIING!! wahoo. The farm is growing well and crazy as ever...2 sheep, 2 geese, 2 chickns, 1 dog we are down a bunny but have aded a horse named Rosie!! Pixie is in heaven!! Look out 4-H here we come!!
Happy Hallowen!!!!!

Good Bye.....

2008-06-27T12:10:00.003-06:00

Michelle Erickson

10/14/1971 ~ 6/10/2008

Our loving mother, daughter, niece, cousin and friend returned to the Sanctuary of her Heavenly Father on June 10, 2008.

Michelle was born October 14, 1971 in Alexandria, Louisiana.

She is survived by her two wonderful children, Kari (13) and Delaney (12) Uncles; her best friend, Dave Uncles; her loving mom and step-dad, Jeanine and Bill Mulhair; as well as many other aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Michelle was preceded in death by her father, Michael Erickson; numerous grandparents;

her aunt, Lynne; cousin, Tyler, and a few of her friends. She was met with great love.

Michelle is now at peace and will be greatly missed and always loved.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to her children at the Michelle Erickson Memorial Fund at America First Credit Union.

Memorial Services will be held Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 12:00 noon at the Valley View Funeral Home Chapel, 4335 West 4100 South. The family will receive friends at a visitation one hour prior to the service. Under the direction of Valley View Funeral Home.

2008-06-17T10:26:00.002-06:00

MICHELLE ERICKSON

Missing since 06/10/08
Height - 5'5"
Weight 135 lbs
Hair - Red w/ blonde highlights (chin length cut now)
DOB - 10/14/71
Also missing is her car 2001 red pontiac grande am 4 door Licsence Plate 209 NKU (Has pink sparkley Superman sticker on rear window on drivers side.

Contact SL County Sheriffs office @ 743-7000 w/info
Case Number 08-51305

This is our counsin - She has been missing since 06/09/08 and was spotted in Idaho near Pocatello. Please pass this around!!!! Thanks

What a Pride weekend!

2008-06-10T11:54:00.004-06:00

What a busy weekend.....we started Friday night with the White Party at Paper Moon with all our crazy friends, Then up bright and early to breakfast with my cute friend Karen and then off to Pixie's first Voice Lesson Recitel. What a STAR she is!! She was so brave and did a fantastic job!! Then it was to our house for a great BBQ, a big fire in the fire pit and an exciting night with friends. Sunday we got up early rode traxx downtown and watch the GLBT Parade and then went to the festival - We ran into old friends and caught up on old times. The sun was out and it was a beautiful fun day. Kokopelie and I volunteered in the Family Photo exhibit booth for a few hours and it was really exciting to watch people come in and see all the gay and lesbian family pictures and feel their excitment as they signed up to be a part of the next showing of the photographs. Personally I think they should be on display perminatly in the Gay and Lesbian Community Center!!
As for yesterday.....us and a few more of our buddies made the executive choice to all call in to work with 24 hour tumors and we loaded up the kids and went to Pineview Lake for the day. It was SO FANTASTIC!!! The lake was cold the sun was warm and the kids all played in the sand and surf until they couldn't stand it anymore! We all headed home sunburned and mostly recovered from the weekend!

June

2008-06-02T10:13:00.006-06:00

OK all you blog stalkers that keep bugging me to post....This blog is for you!! It is the last week of school and Pixie can hardly wait for summer to begin! She is off to camp at the local B*oys and G*irls Club, and a week of Rock Climbing Camp at Momentum Gym. She also is going to take Horse back riding and tennis lessons and she is VERY excited about that!!We have loads of camping trips and a big river run planned for the summer. The farm is going great the lambs are growing and eating all the weeds in the pasture its awesome....The geese are insane - they really act like their name sakes (Esma and Kronk - Yes from the Emperors New Groove) Esma is a B**ch and Kronk is...well the nicest way to put it his he is mentaly challenged but a good laugh.

This past weekend Pixe and I went hiking up to Tim*pano*gos Cave (poor Kokopelie had to work). That is such a great hike and makes youu realize the majesty of this beautiful place we are lucky enough to call home! We dragged Papa and grandma with us and poor grandma just gets humiliated by Papa's sense of fashion (his theory is EVERYTHING matches camo-especially his stripy railroad over-alls!)

We are looking forward to a great Pride Day weekend and a healthy happy Summer!!

The begining of the hike

View from 1/2 way

On our way...... a tunnel on the trail

Yes the white stuff on the right is SNOW!Cooling off....
The "heart" of Timpanogos Cavecool cave formations
American Fork Canyon-veiw from near the cave entrance
Grandma, Papa and Pixie

E-I-E-I-O

2008-04-30T10:25:00.002-06:00

YES we are farmers....There has been a few changes to the make up of our little Urban Farm - As of last night we have 2 baby Lambs (they are about 1 week old) we have to bottle feed them 3 times a day for the next 6 weeks - We are still debating on name so give us your suggestions!! We have also added 2 geese one is brown and named Kronc and the other will be white and her name is Eisma (think Emperors New Groove) I am trying to convince Kokopelie we need a Llama to call Kusco but she isn't buying it..lol! We are tearing apart the house and working hard to plant a big garden and wishing it would get warm!

Old McDonald had a Farm......?

2008-03-06T14:05:00.003-07:00

We are now officially farmers!! LMAO - as of yesterday we are now the proud owners of 1 male Pygmy goat named "Bucky" and a very fluffy Lion Head Bunny that Pixie has named "Zinnia". Add those to the dog and 3 fish we already have and we are getting quite the little menagerie of critters (not to mention the horse, cats and chickens that live next door)! It is fun! It also gives me some hope that spring is FINALLY on it's way. I am ready for some sunshine, camping, BBQ's and looong warm summer nights!

Happy Monday?

2008-02-25T10:21:00.003-07:00

Wow it has been a little while since I last blogged....We have been busy playing and taking care of sick parents the last few weeks....The weekend of the 17-18 we did another trip tp Lava Hot Springs, we took Pixie and M and headed north..It was a BEAUTIFUL weekend and the hot pots felt great!!

Ice Skating

2008-02-13T10:51:00.002-07:00

What a fun night.....We went Ice Skating for Winter Pride at the Galliva*n Center. It was so much fun. Pixie LOVES ice skating - Actually she is a total winter baby she loves the snow, skiing ice skating and now has added snow shoeing to her winter activities list! Tonight is the big Ralley on Capitol Hill to remove the co-habitation wording from the adoption and foster parenting laws in this backwards State we have choosen to live and love in. It should be interesting and exciting! Hopfully our voices will be heard and atleast a small seed will be planted on this HUGE issue.

What a great weekend!!

2008-02-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

WOW!! We had a busy and terriffic weekend! It started friday night with the opening activity of Winter Pride. It was BINGO night with the Cyber Sluts and it was awesome! Between party fouls and cupcake eating contests it was quiet the event! They raised over $1200.00 for charity which is amazing!

Saturday morning poor Kokopelie had to work so Pixie and I went on an adventure with my dad (Papa) and Grandma K. We headed up American Fork Canyon to do some snow shoeing. This was a first for Pixie and I and what fun it was!! We climbed and fell and laughed and pulled papa out of the snow...We saw moose and deer, avoided snowmobilers and tubers. Fordid streams and ponds and even got pink cheecks from the sun! It was a fantastic day! We can't wait to do it again. I get a deal at work through the Outdoor Rec Department so we can rent ALL kinds of outdoor play equipment and it is going to be great to access all the fun stuff they have!

Sunday was a mellow day...We went to a 90th Birthday Party for Kokopelies Grandma and it was fun to meet some more of her family. After that we staid close to home and got Valentine's ready for the school.

2008-02-06T09:17:00.001-07:00

Good Morning and happy Wednesday!! I so was NOT ready to wake up to more white stuff falling from the sky my lovely commute took me almost 90 mins (usually it's 40) We all went to a sneak preview of The Spiderwick Chronicels - It was a fun movie....Wouldn't reccomend it for kids under 6 or 7 though its a bit scarey! Here are 3 of the pictures from our photo shoot the other night we have to pick up the disk to get the rest.....

Happy Tuesday!

2008-02-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Well the weekend was good!..Kokopelie and I got a wild hair and drove up to Lava Hot Springs for the day Saturday morning...It was great! The warm water felt great and it was just a nice get away for the day! Then we came home and hit Pat's BBQ and it was great to see the friends we have missed due to our winter hibernation. Sunday was a mellow day stayed home (no wild Super Bowl Party) We did laundry, homework and watched the game! Pixie and I were very excited to see the Giants win! I am NOT going to mention the L Word other than Shane keeps this up and the viewers are going to need antibiotics for the STD we are going to catch from watching all her escapades!! LOL

Last night we went and had our family picture taken for the Winter Pride Family Art Show. It was fun...The lady doing the pics was a good friend of Kokopelies so we had a laugh and caught up with some other families as we were coming and going (they were also getting their pics taken for the exhibit) I am excited for Winter Pride....It was LOADS of fun last year!

TGIF

2008-02-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Yeah it is friday...I get to bug out of work early to go to Parent Teachers with Pixie. She loves these meetings..LOL you can tell she is only in second grade! lol They are fun for me to go to as well I love hearing about her antics in class. Her teacher always say she is a riot!

This weekend we are going to have a day of R & R we Kokopelie and I are going to go soak our bones in Crystal Hot Springs - then head to Pat's BBQ to hang with friends listen to good music and pig out!! YUM!!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Hump Day

2008-01-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

Good morning blog land.....Life is great. Spent last night braving the horrid snow to go eat dinner with my dad and step-mom. They are so great to our little family! Pixie LOVES her Papa - They were planing their annual summer camp-out that is NO Parents allowed only the 2 grandkids, G'ma and Papa. It is the kids favorite summer activity.

Kokopeli's back is slowly getting better..weather permitting we may do a day trip to Lava Hot Springs and soak away some stress this weekend. We are also meeting a bunch of friends for dinner at Pat's BBQ this weekend....We invited a ton of friends because we have been feeling a little out of touch..we tend to hibernate in the winter.

Welcome to Monday!!

2008-01-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

OK I am going to rant a bit..WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THIS SEASONS L WORD!?!?!?!? Does anyone else hate it as much as Koko and I do?? I am SO disappointed in most of this seasons story lines..Is poor Shane destine to NEVER keep the great women she falls in love with? I don't want Bette and Tina to get back together..I think Bette is the cow of the century (yes she is hot, sexy, etc but she is a BITCH) We won't even mention Jenny....GAWD is all I can say! The only good story lines this year are Alice (although her taking that photo to out someone was SO NOT cool) and Max.

Ok aside from last nights episode the rest of our weekend was such fun!! We did the Family Tubing Adventure on Saturday afternoon. It was a warm beautiful winter day. Then Sunday we saw the epic classic (destine to win awards) Veggie Tales Movie, watched a bunch of crazy drunk lesbians play football in the snow and had a wander through the gay mecca better known as IKEA. It was a good weekend!

TGIF!!!

2008-01-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hooray for Friday! I love the weekends and this one in particular is going to be loads of fun. We are heading up to Gorgoza Park near Park City to do some tubing with all the cousins tomorrow afternoon. I love getting together with my crazy family...We are all so different but have a great time playing and hanging out together.

Things at home are pretty mellow, Kokopelie blew out her back about 10 days ago so she has been going to Physical therapy 3x's a week trying to get better. I feel so bad for her she can't sleep, sit, or walk for very long before she is in major pain. She has taken to sleeping in the recliner because that is the most comfortable....Hopefully it will be better soon.

As for the Pixie..she is as energetic as ever....she loves 2nd grade and works really hard in school. Math and reading are her favorite subjects! Right now she is trying to finish reading The Spiderwick Chronicle's before the movie comes out - She is almost there she is on book 3 out of 5 in the series.

The Begining....

2008-01-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, I am new to this blogging thing - I have never been much of a journal/diary keeper but I have plenty of friends that blog and I love reading about their lives and situations and figured I might as well give it a try....Wish me luck and share your advise!!