Broc My Ten Year Old

Broc actually turned 10 on the 3rd of April but I have been such a slacker and didn't post anything about him. But I love this kid. He has taught me so much about being a Mom. But here is ten things about this amazing kid:
1.)He loves anything electronic Wii, DSI, my phone....I could keep going on.
2.)He loves riding his motor bike (even though he's getting to big for it).
3.)He loves to read....seriously it can be a pain when he doesn't go to bed on time.
4.)UTAH, UTAH, UTAH, he misses it so very very much.....or maybe just his favorite cousin Hunter. But either way he wishes he was in UTAH.
5.)He loves being with his Dad. They go fishing and camping a lot.
6.)His favorite color is black and only feels comfortable in jean pants.
7.)He is so very creative. He writes stories that are genius.
8.)He is the best scramble egg chef in the world.....oh yeah I think I want some now.
9.)He is the best BIG brother any kid could have. (He's really my life saver.)
10.)His smile makes the world peaceful!!!!!

Taking Command (Ceremony)

Billy's Command Ceremony
We have been getting ready for this for about a month now. I have to tell you I'm glad it's done now. It was outside and it was a beautiful day to have it, nice breeze with the sun out shining.
They welcomed me by giving me a beautiful bouqet of yellow flowers. After the Ceremony we had a reception which many many people came too. It was actually a huge learning experience for me. I feel so out of place and very very uneducated when it comes military stuff. This is all new and incredibly overwhelming at times. But I have a bunch of amazing woman around me that help me to figure it all out.


Parker The Little Stinker

A New Day (Yeah I know it's been awhile)

So I will catch you up on whats been going on in our life since last time I posted.

1.) Billy came HOME from Afghone-alot 2.)We got PCS orders to move to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (By Feb 1st 2011 yikes 3.) Had Christmas as a Family 4.) Moved Billy to FLW, MO 5.) Packed and moved the rest of us to FLW, MO 6.) Unpacked and am now living in FLW, MO......and missing North Carolina and all my awesome friends a TON!


We couldn't have done all of this craziness without my Mom and Dad coming out and helping us. They watched the kids while Billy and I moved his stuff to Missouri. Then they stayed and helped me with all the packing (and running around with my head chopped off). My Dad even got sick and had to be in the hospital for a little while. But they pulled through and still helped me. Man how is it that I got the best parents in the WHOLE WORLD? I don't know either.....but I did!!!!

Oh Days Like This!!!

So this morning while we were at playgroup at a friends house Parker had an accident. I feel horrible because I let him go out back without me(which he does in our backyard everyday without any problems). He was out there maybe 30 seconds and I hear him crying and coming to the door. I go to see him and he has a mouth full of blood. I rush him to the sink and the minute he turned and looked at me I knew. His big tooth in the front was pushed up into his gums and he had a huge fat lip. I tried to stay very calm and call our dentist to see what he suggested. He referred me to a Pediatric Dentist. I called them and they said to come right over. One of the little boys said he fell off the tricycle and fell onto the wooden step. By this point my emotions were catching up with me. I'm sure all the playgroup moms just wanted to give me a big hug and tell me it would all be all right. I hurried to the car and off to the dentist we went. Poor Parker cried so much that he fell asleep. I got there and he woke up while I took him inside. I filled out paper work and they took us back about 10 minutes later. They needed x-rays (which me in my delicate state couldn't hold him). He screamed while the nurse held him. Oh how I hate that cry. You know the 'Mom why are you letting them do this to me cry???' So the doctor looked at his x-rays and said, "The tooth has been pushed up a little bit but most of it has been broken off. I was actually relieved to hear that. It means the tooth just might have a chances of healing and not dying. I knew they can always cap a broken tooth to make it look good again. So we have to go back in 2 weeks (which Billy will be here to help me with it YIPPEE!!!). They will check to see if there is damage and also fix the broken tooth. So I just want to say how grateful I am to have people that know how to fix things like a baby's tooth. People with kindness and understanding....especially when they know mom is a little shookin up by the whole mess. (I seriously almost lost my breakfast when I saw his mouth.) I'm grateful for great friends who call me to make sure Parker and I are okay. I truly am blessed to be where I am right now.
Thanks Everyone!!!

Deseret News Article on Billy

Afghanistan gives some perspective to rivalry | Deseret News
Afghanistan gives some perspective to rivalry | Deseret News

Utah Man

So this time of year always gets me edgy. No not Thanksgiving....The BIG University of Utah vs. Brigham Young University game. I know Billy will kill me if he knew I was going to Blog about this (but he's been on 'lockdown' sota speak with the Internet) so here I go. 11 years ago this coming Saturday the U played BYU at 'Ed' Stadium. The game started off like all teams playing their rivals.....hostel. But this time Billy was on there turf and they had the advantage. From the beginning of the game the cheerleaders had been pelted with pennies and tortillas (tortillas.....I don't know why. But there you have it). Even during half time there was a bunch of BYU students threatening the Ute cheerleaders. So Billy had already been on edge the whole time. I'm not sure what time in the game but it was after half time that the whole mess began. The Utes had just made a touchdown and like always the cheerleaders (both teams did this after touchdowns) run their flags down the field in a celebratory manner. They ran past the BYU student section and a young (and stupid) 19 year old jumped onto the field and tackled Billy from behind. Now Billy at first had no idea what had happened and he flipped over to see this guy (he didn't realize how young he was until later that night when Billy and I watched the news and saw the whole thing again). The kid didn't let go and Billy really thought this was one of the threats coming true and so he just started to throw punches. He punched and punched until he was pulled off by the security. This was a bit of a rush and if you ever see the video of it you will see Billy's response afterwards. Now you're probably wondering why I get edgy around this time. It was the next month that made me lose faith in people who are supposed to be good Christians (now I'm not talking about everyone only a few people). After this happened we stayed the weekend at my parents and late Sunday night drove home to SLC. Early (and I mean a quarter to 5:00am) we got a phone call from a local radio station wanting to interview Billy. He politely told them no thank you. During the next day or so we were told that BYU and the young man planned to sue us (I didn't understand why because Billy had defended himself but I soon found out that many many people didn't really know the truth of what happened) so we got a lawyer to protected us. She told us to not speak to anyone about the incident. For weeks after it was all over the news and radio....some of it was true but most of it was messed up. Billy was gone nights either working or cheering for games or events. So I had the pleasure of answering our phone. I have never been so shocked at how people can get so uptight about football. I got people yelling at me telling me that Billy was the devil and we should be careful. I had people confused that he was married and that he wasn't some kind of beer drinking frat boy. I guess most BYU students think that only non-LDS people go to the U. I was shocked that people would go to such lengths to find our phone number (it was unlisted). We also had someone toilet paper our car the night we got home from staying the weekend at my parents. We lived in a locked gated apartment building so this took a little planning for the person who did it. One night I got home and we had over 150 phone calls on our caller ID. Our old school message recorded had used the whole tape to record as many messages as possible. These messages were not nice and I soon got very sad at people who were supposed to be of my same faith. I stopped answering the phone all together. The 19 year old boy was a week away from going on a mission to Mexico and they placed him on hold from getting set apart until our Stake President had an interview with Billy and I about the whole mess. The church wanted to make sure their was no legal action being taken against the young man. We of course would never sue him over something so stupid. The young man had even called and talk to me and Billy on the phone. It was very obvious that he made a stupid mistake and did it because it was a dare. I knew a mission would do him some good. Every year since then around this time of year we get phone calls or our family gets calls for us wanting an interview with Billy. He gave one interview about 6 months after the whole mess because the TV program paid us $500.00 (it really helped out). So a couple of months ago Billy asked for help with donations to help a children's hospital out there in Afghanistan. My brother in law is a Lindon Police Officer and my sister Tracey is a part of the Police Department Wives Club. They took on Billy's request as a service project and ran with it. They put it in the local newspaper and have gotten a huge response. They have worked so very hard to collect so many items. But they still need to collect money to send the items over there. So a couple of days ago my sister Tracey called because a newspaper man put two and two together about Billy and wants an interview with him for his news article about this Saturdays game. I told Billy about it thinking I already had the answer about the whole thing but he surprised me. He said he would do it if they put in the article about the The Children's Hospital. He knows their is a huge need for clothes, bottles, formula, and anything that can ease the suffering he sees every day. So I guess that is why I'm blogging about this (frustrating) time in our life. So if you can help in anyway leave a comment and I will give you more information. I know I am going to regret blogging about this but if we can get more support for the Hospital it will be worth it for me.

Happy Birthday Captain America

Today is Billy's Birthday and he is really, really and I mean really old. I get to give him a hard time because he's not here to defend himself. See he's all the way over in Afghanistan helping to make life a little better for someone else. I think it's perfect that Billy's Birthday is also Veteran's Day. I am thankful for Billy who serves his country honorably and all the rest of the veterans for keeping our country safe and preserving our freedom!! I get to see first hand some of what our Soldiers give up. Like Birthdays with their families.

Billy thank you for being my Captain America. Thank you for blessing my life and giving me so very very much. I hope that you know that we are thinking of you today and love you. HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

35 Things About Billy
1.)He loves to scuba dive!
2.)He hates getting shots (and yet his occupation has it as the #1 job requirement)
3.)He hates to play video games (Yet he will do it to spend time with Broc)
4.)He plays the guitar.
5.)He speaks and understands Spanish. (no he didn't serve a Spanish speaking Mission)
6.)He's the Treat Fairy (Zona adds, "And we love it!")
7.)Billy's drug is Triathlons (He's addicted to them and he's really good at them too).
8.)Billy can and would eat a whole gallon of ice cream if you let him.
9.)When Billy and I got married he hated Seafood (he'd never really tried it). Now it's his favorite.
10.)He lived and played soccer in Mexico while he was a teenager.
11.)He loves to ride his motorcycle.
12.)His favorite color is RED!
13.)The University of Utah is the ONLY true school out there (just look how it threw up on our car)
14.)He loves soccer.
15.)As a kid he wanted to grow up and be a Fire Fighter.
16.)Billy loves and I mean loves to make lists....he's MR. List Man
17.)Billy has one sister and 3 brothers.
18.)Billy loves to go out on one on one time with the kids.
19.)Billy has his Master's Degree (and is currently working on a 2nd one)
20.)Billy loooooovvvvvves the Beach
21.)Billy is the most dependable person I know. (he would do anything for his Family and Friends)
22.)He loves Country music!
23.)He secretly loves to sing LOUD. (ssshhhhh! don't tell him I told you)
24.)His dream job would be to run a scuba charter.....and scuba dive all day.
25.)He has tattoos all over his arms and back (but his favorite is my name just over his rear).
26.)He's an amazing father
27.)When he was a kid (12 years old) he and a couple of friends decided to break into some cars and steal cd's. Our first year of marriage our car got broken into and they stole our radio and all our cd's. I knew it was Karma getting back at him.
28.)He takes his responsibilities very seriously.
29.)He loves dogs (and pretty much any animal)
30.)He loves to travel and would love to ride coast to coast on his motorcycle.
31.)My mother (and I quote) said, "I had reservations about you marrying Billy. But Tara I know you have always made the right chose." I know my mom doesn't feel this way anymore. And most days she loves her sons-n-law more than her own sons. (j/k kind of).
32.)He secretly loves Broadway shows and can be seen singing musicals.
33.)Billy wants to learn to surf.
34.)Billy loves candy in any form.
35.)He loves Romantic Comedies.
And one to grow......
36.)He is the most loved Dad I know.