Just The 4 Of Us

Lately . . .

2012-02-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Lately, life has been crazy, busy as always! Here are a few things that have been happening in the past few weeks. I have been out of town almost every Saturday since the beginning of the year judging dance/drill team competitions. I love it but it's hard to work all week and leave every Saturday. And basically my backside hurts from spending all weekend sitting on high school bleachers:) My judging is almost over, but McKell's competitive dance stuff starts this weekend.

McKell and I did take one weekend off and go watch my oldest niece compete in the Jr. Miss pageant in Rexburg. Emily did fabulous and really she is beautiful inside and out. Lots of family came to watch, including my parents.

The girls watching the pageant. It was a long night but really great.

Braxton went with Megan to the Sweetheart's Dance this past weekend. I got home in time to snap a picture.

And of course, lots of time hanging out with friends. McKell and Ali at Pizza Pie Cafe.

McKell and Emma being silly - what cute girls!

Happy Birthday:)

2012-02-05T21:02:00.000-08:00

Today this goofy, yet groovy, guy turns another year older. He is absolutely the best husband and father ever! I don't know how I got so lucky:)

Happy Birthday Derek!

Finally Christmas 2011

2012-02-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas was filled with all things wonderful:

Cousins and lots of family

Movies

Getting gifts

Giving gifts

Talent shows

Minute To Win It Games

And lots of other stuff too like a hilarious family sing along, great food, Ugg boots, and tickets to Wicked:) Truly the most wonderful time of the year!

December 2011

2011-12-31T20:49:00.001-08:00

I love the holidays. I feel like we did a lot of things to prepare this year, but I didn't have my camera out for most of it, which is so unlike me. Here are a few things we did this month, before Christmas:)

Jay, Hollie and their girls stopped to spend the night on their way home from Park City. We loved having them here. The girls had lots of fun playing and I loved reading some of our Christmas stories to them. I got to read some that my kids are too old for like, "Dora's Christmas Present" and "Arthur's Christmas." Also, one of my favorites, "I Believe in Santa Claus." It was great.

Also, another last this month - Braxton went to his last Christmas dance at LHS. He went with Serena, a girl from another area of Utah that he met at an FBLA conference.

And one more picture of them because I realized this is the only picture that got taken of our tree or any decorations this year.

McKell made this wonderful gingerbread house at Activity Days and was so proud of it. She did a great job and she was so pleased with how it turned out.

I noticed I had taken this picture along with many others at the school - empty stage and empty risers - this probably doesn't mean much to most people but to me it means my programs are over:) They were all great but it is such a great feeling when they are done and I can stand alone and clean up the auditorium in complete silence.

A few other things that I don't want to forget that happened, even though I have no pictures: we had pizza by the tree, drove through our neighborhood to look at Christmas lights, delivered neighbor gifts, had a yummy breakfast and played games with Ken and Janae and their family, and I went to a fun "Favorite Things" friends party with some fabulous gals in my neighborhood. December was great!

Giving Thanks

2011-12-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

I'm so behind and I don't feel like I can post any December pictures until I put these pictures on from Thanksgiving. We, of course, had a wonderful Thanksgiving spent at my parents house. It was an off year so there was only 3 out of 7 of my siblings there but it was still fun.

My dad carving the turkey. I have been snapping as many pictures of my dad as possible lately. It has been a long year for him. Although, I have never really mentioned it (because I have had an extremely hard time processing it myself) and will say more about it in the future, he was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in March and it has been tough watching him go through some intense chemotherapy treatment. We have been so, so blessed this year that he is responding well to treatment. I am so thankful he is here with us to celebrate.

It's tradition to use the plates that my siblings and I decorated for my grandma when we were kids. McKell always thinks it is great to use mine.

My brother and his wife had these shirts made for their girls that announced they were expecting a baby in July. Some great news!

We ate a lot of yummy food. My mom is such a great cook.

We went through all the ads and wrote our Christmas lists. My mom, sisters, and I always go shopping on Black Friday. However, I went out at about midnight and stayed out all night into the next afternoon and realized I am way too old to stay up all night. By mid-morning I felt terribly tired and sick and had to take a break and rest in my sister's suburban. It didn't even phase my younger sister she just kept going and going.

Braxton and Haylie hanging out. It is sad to think that Braxton may not be with us next Thanksgiving as he turns 19 next September and is hoping to leave soon after that for a mission. Time goes too fast!

Of course, the hot tub is always a hit.

And to end the weekend we helped my mom set up her Christmas tree. I don't think McKell was doing much, she just likes to climb the ladder:) I feel so blessed to have such a great family.

October is Over

2011-11-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

We stayed busy in October. We started the month by visiting my parents. We had lots of fun and almost the whole family went to dinner.

Braxton, Haylie and Chase

Tasha, McKell, Lauren, Livi

We made jam with my mom and it is yummy:)

After we got home we ate an entire jar in about 3 days. It is so good!

This little lady became the proud owner of her own cell phone.

She is in heaven:)

McKell and I met Allison, Mom, Natalie and Tasha in Salt Lake one Saturday for Thriller. It was a fantastic show and of course McKell LOVED the dance with a girl in black pointe shoes. McKell wanted to get this picture until this guy leaned over to bite her neck!

For Fall Break we headed for Park City, we shopped, ate good food and mainly relaxed. It was nice to spend time together.

We glittered pumpkins and they were super cute - black and purple this year.

McKell dressed as a hippie for Halloween and went with a whole group of friends trick-or-treating and then to a little party. She had a great time and after she had been gone a few hours she texted me how much she loves Halloween.

And, the very last day of October this car went home with someone else. We sold it to a young college student who thought it was super nice. I hope she likes it as much as I have for the last 15 years. I was seriously so sad when she pulled out of the driveway.

Beautiful Ballerina

2011-10-12T16:33:00.001-07:00

The highlight of October for this beautiful ballerina has been starting pointe class. Last year, all she wanted for Christmas was pointe shoes. She is in heaven:)

McKell wanted to get a few pictures in her pointe shoes. My sister-in-law, Tasha, is a photographer and took some amazing shots for us.

I love the look of this picture. Tasha is so talented and I feel so lucky she is willing to share her talents with us. Like I said, we just wanted a few shots of the pointe shoes, and then Tasha came up with the perfect dress to wear, a crown, and the perfect poses that made all the photos just beautiful. Thanks Tasha:) We love them!!

Officially an Adult

2011-09-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

It's official, Braxton turned 18 yesterday.

He got to sleep in (Derek did his paper route) and then came with us to watch McKell in USU's Homecoming parade.
He didn't have a free night that we could go out to dinner, so he fit us in for lunch after the parade. I think I have multiple pictures that look just like this of Braxton and Ryan each year when we celebrate Braxton's birthday.

He reluctantly sat on the saddle while we wished him a happy birthday. It seems like we have been celebrating everyone's birthday at Texas Roadhouse lately.

He requested ice cream cake, which we had today. At eighteen, Braxton is a senior in high school, loves to watch sports, has way too much fun teasing McKell, is the favorite cousin to a lot of my nieces and nephews, still has a hard, hard time getting up for his paper route, complains about paying for his own gas, recently became the owner of a yellow motor scooter, always wants the last word in an argument, and is addicted to chocolate and treats. But more importantly, he is kind, respectful to others and a good student. Happy 18th Birthday Braxton!

Homecoming 2011

2011-09-20T14:56:00.001-07:00

Braxton went to his last Homecoming dance on Saturday night. I have a feeling this year is going to fly by.

He went with Katie and had a great time. And of course, he looked so handsome:)

The whole group. I wish I would have taken the pictures a little earlier, before it was so dark.

They ate dinner in Ryan's backyard and I was able to go over and help cook and get things ready. Ryan's mom had decorated the table so cute - it was all in crimson and gold (the school colors.)

These 4 got to serve the group. Ryan has a brother the same age as McKell so they each invited a friend and were able to serve that night. They had a great time.

Earlier in the week, as part of Homecoming, the seniors painted the street, and apparently had a huge paint fight.

Growing Up and Moving On

2011-09-17T13:39:00.001-07:00

This beautiful girl is growing up and has moved on to middle school. She looked so grown up on her first day of 6th grade. So far, she thinks middle school has been boring. She has some fun teachers and has already made a lot of new friends.

Here she is on her first day of elementary school with her Kindergarten teacher, Miss Dopp.

And her first day of middle school. She is growing up too fast!

The Last First Day

2011-09-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, but Braxton started his senior year of high school. I can't believe he will soon be done. He has fairly easy classes this year and is enjoying every moment of his last year. The picture above completes his first day of school pictures and I am sure he is glad since he will hardly stop long enough for me to snap the photo.

First day of 11th Grade

First day of 10th Grade

First day of high school (9th Grade) - the sad thing is that this doesn't seem like that long ago. I still remember driving him to the high school that morning.

First day of 8th Grade

First day of 7th Grade

First day of 6th Grade

First day of 5th Grade

First day of 4th Grade - I am glad that Janae (my friend) had taken this photo because it is the only one I have of Braxton on the first day. I love that Braxton and Corey were wearing the same shirt. It wasn't a planned thing.

First day of 3rd Grade

First day of 2nd Grade

First day of 1st Grade - I am somewhat surprised that he has a Pokemon backpack. He was really into Pokemon, but I have never really let my kids get character things, like shirts and backpacks. He must have really begged:)

First day of Kindergarten - Braxton was so excited to go to Kindergarten and he was so ready, he could already read. I will never forget dropping him off that first day at Hillcrest. He was our only child at this point and it was a HUGE thing for me.

And finally his first day of Preschool - I can't believe how fast time goes!

Bear Lake

2011-08-21T20:13:00.001-07:00

We spent a few fabulous and relaxing days in Bear Lake. Derek has been so busy at work and has barely taken any time off this summer so when he finally decided he could get away we left for Bear Lake. At the last minute, McKell brought a friend and I am so glad she did - the girls had a ton of fun.

Here are the girls on the way to Pickleville Playhouse. We saw "Who Shot Juanito Bandito?" and it was super cute.

We ended up being in Bear Lake the same time as my sister Natalie and her family. The kids swam at their condo.

Here is Jaden taking a break from swimming to eat his pizza.

The next morning we were off to one of the few places that has a beach along Bear Lake right now. Here is Rylee digging in the sand.

The kids decided to bury their legs. It was a beautiful day and we spent hours just playing in the sand and in the water.

Beach babes covered in sand.

Derek, McKell and Meg would go pretty far out and had lots of fun trying to push each other off the tubes.

We rented a bike and took quite the ride. We found out that McKell is not really the best driver as we crashed into somebody's lawn. Meg, however, was pretty good.

Derek was of course the best driver of the bike. I'm so glad we got to go and spend time together and Derek was able to get a much-needed break.

More Summer Fun

2011-08-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

Sadly, our summer days are quickly coming to an end. The kids have had so much stuff going on. Here's how we spent some of our days.

Dog Sitting

Rock Painting

Bike Riding

Flower Planting and Weeding

YM High Adventuring

APTC Camping

Lunching

Discovery Gateway Discovering

and Playing

Lemonade Selling (it was a hot day and these two made $20 in 2 hours)

Motorcycle Riding

Goodbye - ing (My oldest nephew left on a mission to Atlanta, Georgia,

we are so proud of him but it was hard to see him go.)

Boating

Nordstrom shopping (Yes, this girl was in heaven)

Straight Sliding

Swimming

And more Swimming

Summer Fun

2011-08-03T17:46:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it is already August. Summer has been so much fun. Although both my kids say they are ready for school to start, I am so not ready to go back to work. Here are a couple of things that have happened this summer.

Ross Park:

Every year we meet up with my mom and sisters at this fun water park in Pocatello.

Braxton and Ryan floating in the lazy river.

Haylie in the lazy river.

The girls had so much fun - McKell didn't want to leave.

Payton and Halle looked so cute in their swim caps. It was such a fun, relaxing day.

Food Funatics:

This was a summer camp that McKell participated in. She had a blast. They made a cookbook and learned to cook lots of fun recipes. She has made many of the things at home for us and they are good. I am so proud of her.

The best part of the camp was that some of her fun friends were in it also. Berkley, Heather, McKell, Sydnee, and Cambrie loved going each day and they even went on a few field trips too.

Here she is with a caramel. They learned an easy and yummy recipe for caramels. We have made them at home a few times and everyone loves them. McKell does such a good job wrapping them. Other things she has made are: Spicy Oven French Fries, Cheddar Chowder, and Potato Pizza Wedges.

Every time she has a friend over they want to make something. McKell and Meg decided to make cookies but they really only wanted to eat the dough with no chocolate chips. Silly girls:)

100th Post

2011-07-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

It just so happens that I have finally made it to 100 posts. It seems only fitting that it is about my family because they are so important to me. I had my camera the day we had our family pictures taken and got some fun shots. My sister-in-law took the real photos. She is in the bottom middle picture with her daughter taking a much needed break after getting 35 people including herself organized for the pictures. Thanks Tasha:) Also, I was playing around and somehow ended up with this photo collage. I'm not sure I like it and I will probably never be able to do it again.

This photo collage customized with Smilebox

Our Fabulous Fourth of July

2011-07-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

We started our celebration by roasting hot dogs for dinner and s'mores for dessert. It was fun and yummy, even though I cooked my hot dog in the house (because I don't like any black on my hot dog) and I don't like marshmallows so while everyone else eats s'mores, I eat a Hershey bar - or two:)

Derek claims he was roasting the best marshmallows - I guess I will believe him since I won't taste them.

Preslie and Halle are ready to roast their dinner.

The kids played some games, not sure what but apparently McKell and Lauren were in charge.

The guys played basketball. I think it was the old guys versus the young guys. I think I heard that the old guys won.

Hollie painted fingernails and toenails.
This has become a fun tradition in our family of girls. She even painted fireworks on McKell's toenails which were so cute.
On the morning of the 4th we went to the parade.
We watched our favorite BHS Honeybee - Haylie!
We had the Price reunion at my parents that afternoon. Here is Fred, John, Bobbie and Dad - according to the kids these guys are the "real" Price's.

It was a fun water party.

That night we did sparklers while we waited for the fireworks to start.

The fireworks were great and we found a great, new place (thanks Michelle) to watch them.

West Yellowstone

2011-07-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

For the past three years around the 4th of July we have gone to West Yellowstone to go to the Playmill. We always have a great time and see a great show. This year was even better because we had lots of other family go with us.

Here are Lauren and McKell posing outside of McDonald's where we ate lunch before the show.

We had some time before the show to go around to the little shops and of course Braxton did his classic pose by this bear. He has done this same thing for the past three years.

We stopped at my favorite stop, "The Rustic Candy Shop," and loaded up on yummy treats and fudge.
The show always starts with a sing-a-long. We saw "High School Musical" and everyone liked it and we had all ages of kids from 17 down to 2.

The girls loved to get this picture with "Ryan and Sharpay."

Payton missed the first picture, but she really wanted to pose with the girl in the sparkly shirt.

Here is McKell with the people who played "Troy and Gabriella."

McKell got our program autographed by all the actors in the show. This guy was on American Idol at one point, Jon Peter Lewis. We had tons of fun and can't wait for next year.

Dance Review Week

2011-07-09T20:46:00.001-07:00

The dance review is the middle of June and is filled with all things dance. It is such a fun and exciting time for McKell. The week is full of practices and dress rehearsals and of course there are 3 nights of performances.

McKell listening for directions at dress rehearsal.

Dancing to "Round and Round."
Here is her best rock pose for the opening number at the concert, "Party Rock!"
McKell and Lizzie in the dressing room getting ready to perform.
She was again in three competitive numbers this year: "Glam."
A hip hop dance to "Tricky."

And her favorite dance this year, Shake It Up." It was a fun year and she only took one week off before she started the summer dance program. She just can't get enough of it.

Memorial Day

2011-06-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

I am so behind and want to finish all of our May happenings before I can move onto June and then July.

We spent Memorial Weekend in Idaho, as usual. Derek and my dad put up the big flag out front.

As you can see, they had lots of help raising the flag. All the kids wanted a turn to help pull the rope.
It is always a highlight to see the Veteran's do their little program at the cemetery.

We got to see a lot of my cousins and their kids at the cemetery.

And spend time with our immediate family - McKell, Olivia, Raegan, and Matt

Braxton and Haylie

A few other highlights from the weekend: Eating tacos from a taco truck, although this may sound strange the food is really good from this dumpy truck that sells food from the side of the road and Derek won't leave Idaho to come home until he has had a few.
And as always - the hot tub. The kids could spend hours in here, playing and chatting. Good times:)

Tea Time, Again:)

2011-06-20T14:58:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun at our tea party last year that we just had to do it again. It was fabulous!

Savanna made this sign to welcome everyone to, "The Royal Tea Party."

Savanna sang a song to get us started.

We used our best manners and did our fanciest poses.

We had a yummy lunch and lots of treats.

And ended with a kids photo shoot since Tasha had all her props and fun stuff. The picture above and the pictures below (minus the one of McKell were taken by McKell, she set up the shots and took the pictures, overall she did a pretty good job.) Here is Olivia and Raegan - we missed you Haylie!

McKell loved to dress up in her tutu and this huge feathered hairpiece. Just her style!

Preslie, Lauren, Savanna, and Ava

Jace, Rylee, Jaden

Payton and Halle

We still didn't have everyone there because Haylie had a softball tournament. So, we will try to get 100% next year. I can't wait!

The End

2011-06-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

It is sadly the end of elementary school for McKell. Her last day was packed full. Our school always does fun things to celebrate the outgoing 5th graders. First up they had a graduation ceremony - complete with paper hats. Each student got to tell their favorite elementary school memory and what they want to be when they grow up. McKell's favorite memory was when Mrs. Eames (her 4th grade teacher) would play funny music in class. McKell loved Mrs. Eames and still says that she is her favorite teacher ever. When she grows up she wants to be a dancer, surprise, surprise:)

Her and some friends danced in the 5th grade talent show. They choreographed the dance and picked the music and it was super cute. They did such a good job.

Not only did she dance for the talent show but she got to be one of the announcers. There were 2 boys and 2 girls in the 5th grade that got to do funny skits/introductions and announce the order of the show. McKell and Cambrie planned carefully, practiced hard, and thought of really funny stuff. They had to do a try out in front of their class and then the top students from each class tried out in front of a teacher. These 2 were super excited when they were chosen. It is for sure something that she will always remember from elementary school. And I am so glad she is not hesitant to be a little silly in front of people.

She has had such a great time in elementary school, but she is soooo ready to go to middle school. It is hard not to be excited for her, but I will miss going to school with her every day and looking for her on the playground. It will be different next year when I still go to teach at the elementary and she is at a different school. McKell has made tons of fun friends. Above, her and Meg eating popsicles.

Sydnee and Kendahl

Heather, Ashley, Emma, Berkley, Meg, McKell, Sophia

And again some more posing with boys - sooo not ready for that. However, I sure do love the boys her age that I have taught over the past few years. They are super cute.

Last Days . . .

2011-05-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the year is winding down and school is officially over - TOMORROW! Lots of fun stuff has been happening. Here's a recap:

Lacrosse Party:

Braxton will rarely let me take any pictures of him but I snapped this at the end of the Lacrosse dinner as he and Ryan were leaving. This has been Braxton's first year and he has done such a great job.

NOVA Graduation:
McKell graduated from the NOVA program (similar to DARE.) This has been a fun part of 5th grade for her.

Fun Run:
All the fourth and fifth graders in our district participate in the Fun Run. McKell doesn't like to run and so we have been calling it the Un -Fun Run:) She is glad, glad, glad it is over!

5th Grade Honor Day:
Every year the PTA sponsors an activity for the fifth grade. Each year it is something different. When Braxton was in 5th grade, I went with his group to the Hogle Zoo. So, I took the day off and went with McKell and the 5th grade to the Clark Planetarium and the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake City. Here are the girls on the bus.

The kids had a great time looking around the planetarium and we watched a fun 3D movie. We took tons of pictures - and now the girls are even letting the boys join in on the pictures. I don't know if I am ready for that yet. There were so many kids (McKell included) that brought cameras and they took pictures of EVERYTHING, every display, every fish, every spider - it was so funny.

The aquarium was McKell's favorite part of the day. McKell and Sydnee loved watching the penguins eat and jump around in and out of the water.

Touching the stingray was a big deal - McKell wanted to touch it but every time she did she would scream.
One last picture riding the frog at the aquarium. It was such a fun day and I am so glad that I went. Lots more activities tomorrow with the annual 5th grade talent show and graduation - McKell is dancing in the talent show and she is also one of the announcers. She is excited!

Easter

2011-05-02T15:57:00.001-07:00

We spent Easter in Idaho at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We colored eggs. The two below are McKell's favorites.

We had a big family dinner on Easter Sunday. The kids played outside most of the day.

These two got a special Easter present - a real, live bunny. Everyone loved it!

Getting ready for the big Easter egg hunt. The big kids hid the eggs and the little kids went on the hunt. It was lots of fun and the kids got lots of money, candy, and prizes.

McKell on the hunt for some eggs.

All the grandkids that were there that day. I can't believe how fast these kids are growing up, time goes too fast! We had a great time - we always do when we are with family.

You Say It's Your Birthday

2011-04-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

McKell turned eleven last Sunday. She picked to eat out at Texas Roadhouse on Saturday night. Grandma and Grandpa Pinnock were here and got to celebrate with us.

She decided that to have her birthday on Sunday is a little boring, but we had cupcakes and ice cream. She got to open 11 presents and loved having a big chocolate birthday milkshake, a new tradition that we stole from the Arfmann's (thanks).

Instead of a big party, I talked her into having a small get together with her closest friends. Monday after school we went for ice cream at Coldstone. They ate and talked and did a lot of laughing.

They decided to go outside and pose for some pictures. I have said it many, many times but McKell's friends are just so great. I get to teach them all at the school and they are so fun, kind, silly, and totally cute.

Eleven things about McKell: She has great fashion-sense, loves math, she is counting down the days left of elementary school, still loves to dance, is NOT a morning person, is dying to have a cell phone, loves to jump on the trampoline, likes to be in charge, loves cookies and cream Hershey bars, likes spending time with her cousins, loves to hear stories about when I was her age. Happy Birthday McKell.

Hollywood Vibe

2011-04-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again - dance competition season and McKell LOVES IT! And, who am I kidding, so do I:) In the middle of March she went to "Hollywood Vibe" her first dance convention in Ogden. She had a great time taking classes from the best. I got to go along and just loved it and thought it was such a great experience for her.

Here was most of our little group of 5th and 6th graders. This was after the first night. They were pretty worn out.

Back at it again the next day - just stretching getting ready to dance.

One of the highlights was taking class from Ade (from "So You Think You Can Dance") pictured above. They also had classes in tap, lyrical, ballet, jazz, and hip hop with the teachers pictured below.

And this last picture below is at the first competition of the season. It is her favorite competitive number this year, it is a dance with 6 girls to "Shake it Up." This dance got a platinum (the highest) that day. She has also decided that she doesn't like wearing her glasses to dance this year so it is harder for me to spot her on the floor. She is darling either way.

Meg, Emme, McKell

Jr. Prom

2011-03-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Braxton went to Jr. Prom:)

The answer. His date left this cute flower on his jeep one night.

The corsage. It was beautiful, complete with red feathers and silver ribbon. I loved it. I guess his date did too.

The tuxedo. He thought it was really cool to wear a tux and he looked so handsome.

The date. He went with Madi and they had a fabulous time. I am so glad he went, his high school years are coming to an end too quickly.

Rockstar

2011-02-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

Miss McKell is quite the little rockstar. She never stops moving. She loves to sing, dance, drum, and sometimes just be crazy.

One night her and Cam decided to put on a concert. Cam played drums and sometimes the guitar while McKell sang and danced.

Derek and I were invited to watch the very loud concert put on by the "Bedazzled Heroes." Yes, a name they made up themselves.

About a week later she rocked out at the Justin Bieber movie. I love the poses she is always doing. She has never been one to shy away from the camera. Sometimes I feel like her personal paparazzi:)
Here she is with Berkley and Meg rocking out to Thriller at school for an activity with our principal.
I wouldn't trade her rockstar personality for anything. She is tons of fun. And today she even rocked the school spelling bee and took 5th place. She is the best.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T18:54:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Valentine's Day. Last week in class McKell made this huge envelope to collect her Valentine's. It was so cute. She also got to get dressed up and go to the "Manners Tea" a tradition at our elementary school.

The minute we got in the house after school she dumped her envelope to look through and read all the valentine's from her class. She got quite the haul, her class has 35 kids in it.

With Valentine's Day on a Monday, I decided to do something different. Derek and I had already went out over the weekend so we had a dinner at home for the four of us. McKell helped me decorate after school. And the roses in the middle were my Valentine's gift from Derek that were delivered to me at work today. I love them:) The dinner was yummy (takeout from Chili's).

Of course, we ended with chocolates and treats.

Did You Know?

2011-02-05T17:45:00.001-08:00

Derek has been alive for 18.4 million minutes

His heart has beat 1.29 billion times

He has slept 98 thousand hours

Did you know he turned a year older today?

Did you know that when I met Derek my life became ten billion times better?

Well, now you do!

10 for '10

2011-01-03T15:28:00.000-08:00

Here's to 2010 - in pictures:)

Derek (and me) turned the big 35 in 2010. When we moved into our current neighborhood, 10 years ago, we were the youngest couple that lived up here. I remember multiple times saying how old I thought everyone was - they were around 10 years older than us at that time which is 35. So, all I can say is either we are old or 35 really isn't that old. I may have somewhat of a breakdown in August when I turn 36 and will be closer to 40 than 30:)

McKell turned 10 and has been around for an entire decade. She has been such a joy. In 2010, she started her last year of elementary school, walked in her last Halloween parade, danced a lot, and played with friends. She is growing up, she is 10 going on about 16.

Derek took his young men on a little trip. They did some service, went to the sand dunes, and more. His calling as YM President has been a big part of 2010, it is great, but keeps him busy and he loves it and the boys.

Our family had a neat experience of participating in a mini pioneer trek. It seriously was hard. I learned a few things that day: 1. It made me appreciate all that I have and what the pioneers went through and 2: I will never be crossing the plains with a handcart or without one for that matter.

McKell made a summer list. She said her favorite thing was going to the Hogle Zoo. The list kept us busy this summer, but, allowed us to spend a lot of time together as a family and do fun things. We will be making another this summer.

The girls in my family all got together and had a tea party. We made some great memories and hopefully we will have another this summer since we missed Allison and Stacey.

FOOTBALL 2010 - many days and nights were spent watching and cheering for LHS. Braxton spent even more time practicing and playing. It has been a big part of high school for him and he loves it and we love to watch him.

We spent many holidays and just some random weekends with my family. Honestly, family is everything. I love that my family is close. It makes me sad when I talk to people who don't spend time with their parents or their siblings, they are truly missing out. My immediate family consists of 35 wonderful people and we love spending time with them.

Derek spent some time this year at Crossfit and still enjoys it. He won the 12-week challenge this past fall.

Braxton turned 17 this year and is a junior. He loves driving and has been dating and going to dances. I am so glad he enjoys high school. He is still a great kid. Overall, as I was trying to think what big things we had done in 2010, I couldn't come up with anything that was just huge. We have just done normal, everyday things, but have had a fun year.

So here's to 2011. A year that will be great and full of firsts for McKell as she heads off to middle school, and a year of lasts as Braxton will start his senior year. Hope your 2011 is great too.

A Christmas Story

2010-12-31T14:48:00.001-08:00

We left on Christmas Eve for my parents house. The kids decorated some Christmas masks and showed them off parade-style. We like to do a structured project and this one was fast, simple, and kid-friendly.

Here is McKell complete with her "Miss America" style wave.

We had our annual talent show which was great. McKell played the piano and sang, but I didn't snap any pictures of her so here is Jacob and Rylee playing a piano duet. It was fabulous.

We opened presents and got lots of fun stuff.

Santa came and brought us even more good stuff:)

And here is Derek at his finest, modeling his new shorts and temperature gauge:) Overall, this Christmas story is a happy one, but instead of living happily ever after we have made 2 trips to the doctor and 3 trips to the pharmacy and I am still sick. The end.

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time

2010-12-20T20:15:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year. The colors, lights, music, everything. It is my favorite time of the year. We have had lots of fun celebrating.

We went to Salt Lake to see the lights with Allison and Thomas, Greg, Tasha, and their girls, and Jay and Hollie and their girls. I have such a wonderful family and love spending the holidays with them.

We were able to wear our Christmas pajamas to school for our school music assembly. A fun tradition. The program (my program) was fun and fabulous and best of all - OVER:)

McKell played in her Christmas piano recital.

We had a girls night out and put on our best or worst Christmas sweaters and exchanged gifts. It was fabulous (thanks Amanda, our marvelous hostess). There was great food, great conversation, and great fun. Love this group of ladies that live in my neighborhood.

But, most of all I have been thinking about why we really celebrate. Whenever I think of this, I am reminded of the time I spent in Bethlehem. I took these pictures 2 years ago at Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The star pictured above is the spot where it is said that baby Jesus was born and laid in a manger. It feels almost unreal to think that I have been to the place where Jesus was born so long ago. I am so thankful for my Savior and for the many blessings and wonderful things in my life. I feel extremely lucky. Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

This is so late, but a quick post (for my own purposes) of our wonderful Thanksgiving. All 35 members of my immediate family were at my parents. It makes for a fun, crazy and LOUD holiday. Because we were all there, I attempted to get a picture of all 19 grandchildren.

Attempt 1: Not quite ready.

Attempt 2: My nephew Chase is a character, he is the one with his shirt over his face, if you couldn't guess.

Attempt 3: This one is still not great but will have to do.

Most of us went to a movie, "The Secretariat" one night. A great family show!

Also, one afternoon, we snuck off for some alone time (the four of us) and went to the Playmill's production of, "White Christmas" which was fabulous (even the second time around, McKell and I had both seen LHS's production earlier that week.) I have had the songs stuck in my head ever since. Last, but not least, mom, all 6 sisters and 1 sister-in-law, did some serious black Friday shopping:) I love the holidays.

So Thankful

2010-11-24T19:02:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving and have so many things to be thankful for - but mostly, Derek, Braxton, and McKell. I love being a part of their lives - here are a few things they have been up to.

At the end of October, Derek won the Beauty in Strength 12-week challenge at Crossfit. He was pretty happy and we were so proud of him.

Braxton went to the Girl's Choice dance with cute Ellie. They spray painted these shirts and put each other's names on the back. They went with a pretty big group and had lots of fun. And she even thought it was okay to come in and get a picture. Yay for me:)

McKell was excited to perform at the USU Women's Basketball game and thinks it was great practice for the men's game in about a week.

McKell and Berkley after the fabulous performance. Happy Thanksgiving!

October 2010

2010-11-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

October is over - I can't believe it! As with every month, it went fast and we stayed busy:)

Football officially ended at the end of October. LHS had a good season and went to the playoffs but lost in the first round. Braxton was disappointed but thinks they will be even better next year.

We had a fun Halloween. We did pretty simple pumpkins, McKell got this kit and decorated her pumpkin it was easy and mess-free. The best part was that it had a little balloon that she used to make her pumpkin look like it was blowing a bubble. So cute!

There was lots of stuff going on at the school during the week of Halloween. McKell was chosen to do a glitter pumpkin with our principal.

We had funky socks day and these two looked adorable, as usual.

She dressed up as a "fifties girl" for Halloween.

She walked in her very LAST Halloween parade at the school. This made me realize just how much and how fast she is growing up.

She went trick-or-treating with her fun group of friends and they hit all of their neighborhoods. By the time they hit our house they were pretty worn out. I just love these girls, they are fabulous little friends.

At the last minute, Braxton and Johnny (Braxton's friend) decided to go to a costume party. This was his last-minute homemade costume (made by me) and he said it was one of the best costumes at the party. Yay for me since McKell had told a friend earlier that morning that she was going to learn how to sew when she was a mom because her mom can't sew anything. Sad, and true. I guess she will have to rely on her grandma or one of her aunts to teach her. Braxton was "Facebook" if you can't tell. Overall, a great October and I am so excited for the holidays:)

Time Flies

2010-10-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

September came and went - fast!! You know what they say, time flies when you are having fun - or in our case when you are busy. Here is a quick recap of September.

Homecoming:

Lots of fun stuff going on during Homecoming Week - I think Braxton had a great time.

Braxton rode in the parade with the football team. He is on top of the truck on the far right.

Here is our cheering section. These two got tons of candy and loved seeing all the people they knew in the parade.

The cheerleaders wrote on all the car windows.

These are some action shots (from the school website) at the game - Braxton is #59. I love these!

And last but not least, the dance. Braxton's date had called and came to answer him for the dance with this poster and lifesavers. Although I have no pictures, Braxton and his friends had went to his date's house and drew a chalk outline of a body and wrote, "I'm dying to go to the dance with you." So this was her answer.

Looking so handsome for the dance. I realized it is hard to have a son and not a daughter in this dance thing because I couldn't get a picture of the two of them because Braxton had to pick her up.

The shoes - the guys in Braxton's group decided to wear Vans with their attire. The group of 14 had a great time.

Braxton also celebrated his 17th birthday with dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Also, a few nights later with pizza and cake at our house with some friends.

And really last but certainly not least just so I don't forget - McKell was elected the class secretary of her 5th grade class this month and was so excited, mainly because she got to take the attendance everyday and enter it in to the computer. Fun, Fun!

Seventeen

2010-09-24T19:09:00.000-07:00

1. Braxton has size 11 feet
2. Got his Eagle Scout Award at 13
3. Has had a paper route for 4 years
4. San Diego Chargers fan
5. He is very, very forgetful
6. Buys his own gas (and complains about it nonstop)
7. Loves spaghetti
8. Likes to have his shoes match his outfit
9. Would eat an A1 XT from Burger King for every meal if we would let him
10. Loves to wear new socks
11. Not great at driving directions
12. Sends around 2000 text messages each month
13. Has turned our basement into his own personal apartment
14. Proud to be an LHS Grizzly
15. Has been pulled over by the police twice but has not gotten a ticket
16. Would rather hang out with friends than with his family
17. Has proven he can eat large quantities of gummy worms/sharks/bears

Braxton is 17 today. Happy Birthday!

I love this picture of Braxton (thanks Aubrey.) Derek's cousin and her friend have just started a photography business. Check their stuff out at beposhphotography.blogspot.com

One Year Older And Wiser Too

2010-08-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Jen! Thanks for everything you do for me and our awesome family - you are the best part of it.

Fabulous

2010-08-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

It is way too soon, but school actually started last Wednesday. Both kids looked fabulous.

Braxton on his first day of his Junior year. I can't believe it either. I wanted to take many more pictures of him but he pretty much refuses. He has some harder classes this year and is still enjoying football. Time is going too fast - in the past few weeks he has actually gotten some postcards from colleges in the mail. I am so not ready for that. "Pointless, " was his answer when I asked him how the first day of school was. (They did only go for a half day)

Miss McKell on her first day of 5th grade. She had a fabulous outfit.

Fabulous headband

Fabulous accessories

Fabulous (and cute) friends

And fabulous teacher - After school she said there was one thing she figured out about her teacher, when I asked what it was she replied, "Mom, she really loves us, she loves me and my whole class." Seriously, fabulous!

Squeezing It All In

2010-08-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

The end of summer has come way too fast. At the beginning of August, I realized there were still multiple things that I wanted our family to do so I started planning and luckily we squeezed all of the activities in, and just in time.

Jackson Hole

This is such a fun kids pool that we discovered last year. We packed up for a day trip and lots of family joined us.

The fabulous four - these four were all born in the same year just a few months apart and have been best buddies. I have loved watching these 4 grow up.

The teenage crew

The slide was a huge hit.

The big kids spent a few hours in a pool by themselves playing volleyball.

My parents have recently acquired a cabin near Jackson so we went to take a look around. The kids had a great time running around on the deck - I can't wait to stay there.

Drive-In Movie

We had to hit the drive-in while we were in Idaho Falls so McKell could mark it off her list.

Bear Lake
McKell went to Bear Lake with Sydnee one morning and Derek and I drove down later that afternoon and picked her up. She had so much fun playing in the water. It is so beautiful there. We shopped a little and went to dinner. This will be on my list next summer. I am wanting to go stay for a few days. Again , so beautiful and relaxing.

Rock Haus
The last item to be completed on the summer "to do" list. We just finished tonight and school starts Wednesday. It really has taken us all summer to finish all the tasks but it has been so much fun. We will be making a list next summer for sure - it has kept us on the go but allowed us to spend time together as a family and make so many wonderful memories so it was completely worth it.

These 3 rocked the Rock Haus. It is a lot more complicated than we thought - but fun.

Derek

McKell

Braxton

TeA pArTy

2010-08-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

My mom and I hosted a fabulous tea party for all the girls in our family. I belong to a family of 6 sisters, 1 sister-in-law, and 12 granddaughters, so it is about time we got dressed up and had a party. It was lots of fun and hopefully a lasting memory for our girls.

Grandma gave a short lesson on manners and etiquette before we began.

Each mom served her daughter. We served sandwiches, jello, fruit kabobs, and lots of yummy chocolate treats. A few of my nieces were nervous about coming because they didn't want to drink tea. They were relieved when I told them our tea was either strawberry lemonade or chocolate milk.

Even our youngest guests sat politely and ate.

My two oldest nieces were great sports and hopefully had fun - they got to sit at the adult table. Notice their cute hairpieces - my sister-in-law, Tasha, is a photographer and brought all the cute table cloths, table decorations, colorful little chairs and fancy hair things for all of us.

McKell had lots of fun. She loves to get dressed up. She borrowed this tutu from Tasha and fell in love with this hot pink feathered tiara. She looked adorable.

Everyone had a grand time and my mom sent every family home with a little tea set to remember this day. We missed Stacey and Allison, we may just have to do another one when they are both in town.

Trekkies

2010-07-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

I'm not talking Star Trek, just pioneer trek. Since I didn't get this posted right after it happened at the end of June, I decided Pioneer Day would be an appropriate time to post about our pioneer trek. Our youth did a one-day trek in Salt Lake for youth conference this year and McKell and I were able to go and participate along with Derek and Braxton.

This was our little pioneer family - we had to wear full pioneer clothing.

The boys - they were amazing not only did they pull our handcart the entire time, they helped many other families who were struggling. These are some strong boys:)

Here are the women/girls doing the women's pull. It was hard, but Janae and Nicole pulled in the front while me, Lexie, and Donna pushed. It was a steep hill.

We were worried about this little one. It was a really hard, uphill walk and so hot. She made it the entire way but was bored and tired. Of course, I kept reminding her that "pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked . . . " I think she caught a little glimpse of how hard it was for the children to cross the plains.

They had some pioneer games and Derek got in and won the stick pull. Are you surprised??

Here we are in action. I really thought that a one-day trek would be no big deal but it was hard. It was completely straight up and steep to the top and it was about 95 degrees outside. I am so glad I was done after one day and not going clear across the plains. It was a great experience for our youth. I'm so glad our family was able to participate.

We worked hard on the trek and the next day we played hard at Cowabunga Bay Water Park in Draper. I think everyone went home completely worn out.

One last picture for today, we had our annual neighborhood parade and watched our favorite girl and had a yummy breakfast.

Made A List - Checking Things Off

2010-07-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

In order to accomplish some of our "summer list," McKell and I decided to take a girls' trip to Salt Lake. Luckily, some other girls we like to spend time with just happened to be there. We started off at the Discovery Gateway.

These five girlies had tons of fun playing, building, discovering:)

Of course while we were at the Gateway, we had to get some shopping time in. Thanks to Allison for letting us stay at her house. McKell had a great time playing, especially with the two dogs.

The next day we went to the zoo.

We saw the new baby elephant. If you look closely you can see her right under her mom.

McKell loved watching the giraffes. This one was supposed to be eating, but instead it was wrapping its tongue around this pole. Crazy and gross.

She went into this little burrow and the prairie dogs were running all around her.

We ended our trip with some more shopping and a stop at Dough Girl cookies. The cookies are absolutely to die for. We get to check off a few more things on our list with this trip and we also saw Karate Kid this weekend. Sadly, I don't know if we will be able to get the entire list completed since there are only about 30 days left until I go back to work and 32 until school starts. We always knew there would be at least 1 thing that wouldn't happen until fall (American Girl store), but we will see what we can do with the rest. Wish me luck or think of me a good lesson to teach McKell about making lists and not completing them if we don't get through everything:)

Celebrating July Fourth

2010-07-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

I love the 4th of July. We had a great time celebrating. We started our weekend by heading to West Yellowstone to see "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." It was fabulous.

Friday night the adults went to the temple and then back to Natalie's for pizza and root beer floats.
Saturday was the parade. It was freezing - I guess that is how Idaho weather is. The parade was pretty uneventful this year. The only highlight was watching Haylie with the drill team.

After lunch we headed out for some fun - go carts, rock climbing and bounce houses. Everyone had a great time.

McKell

Braxton

Derek

McKell

Braxton

Then off to the fireworks. We found a great place to sit - we could see, smell, hear and feel the fireworks as they went off.
Our weekend ended with an extended family reunion. It was great catching up with cousins I haven't seen in a while. McKell got to run the pop toss and help with the raffle.

I love being a part of this wonderful family.

Summer Bucket List

2010-06-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

McKell is a list maker (she takes after me.) I told her to write a few things down that she wanted to do this summer. So here it is - AND we have already done some of them.

Things to do in the

SUMMER!!!!!!

1. Try sub zero ice cream - DONE 06/18/10

2. Visit Discovery Gateway Kids - DONE 07/13/10

3. Jackson Hole swimming pool - DONE 08/06/10

4. Have ice cream at Arctic Circle - DONE 06/14/10

5. Go to Hogle Zoo - DONE 07/14/10

6. American Girl Doll store

7. Go to the school library - DONE June-July:-)

8. See Toy Story 3 - DONE 06/18/10

9. See Karate Kid - DONE 07/16/10

10. Go to the drive in movie - DONE 08/07/10

11. Go to the Playmill - DONE 07/01/10

12. Go to Ross Park - DONE 06/24/10

13. Go to the Rock Haus

14. Go to Bear Lake

15. Go to Summerfest - DONE 06/17/10

16. Shop at Gateway - DONE 07/13/10

17. Ride bikes to Aggie Ice Cream - DONE 06/30/10

18. Swim at Cowabunga Bay - DONE 06/29/10

Ross Park

2010-06-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun day yesterday meeting my sisters and lots of cousins at Ross Park. It is probably about half-way between my house and all of theirs. Adults, big kids, medium-sized kids, little kids, and babies all had a great time.

Dance, Dance, Dance

2010-06-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

We just finished up the end of dance this year. As always, it was 3 nights of recitals. The first 2 nights are the same show and this year it was, "The Greatest Show on Earth."

This cute (and crazy) dancer got to be a clown and was great. It was a really cute circus-themed night.She loved all the clown makeup and the big star around her left eye. The last night is a completely different show and showcases all the competitive numbers of the studio. It really is a fabulous night of dance. Grandma, Tasha, Payton, Halle, Lauren and Allison all joined us to watch McKell. (Thanks, it means so much.)

McKell was in 3 competitive dances this year.

"Rockin' Robin" - Here she is with Meg before the show.

"Move, Shake, Drop"

And "Party Time" - Here she is in action on the front right doing a toe touch.

Fun times, I love watching this little dancer!

Young Men's Trip to Idaho

2010-06-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I took some of the boys from our Young Mens to Idaho for little trip.

Monday we drove to Rexburg and cleaned out a shed (a whole dump truck of junk) for a lady in my parents ward. It was great to have my Dad there and the boys really did a good job. After we went to the sand hills and had a great time.

A friend of our family growing up came and scared us to death on his dune buggy. I think I found what I want for Father's Day.

We were supposed to climb Table Rock on Tuesday but we found out Tuesday morning at 8 AM that the trail was closed due to snow and mud - suddenly my plans were out the window. We improvised with a visit to the Craters of the Moon Park. We explored the lava tube caves and enjoyed the 'beautiful' scenery.

After we toured a decommissioned nuclear power plant by the Idaho National Laboratory. We spent the evening having a barbecue, making smores, and watching a movie.

Wednesday morning we had a big breakfast and then had a devotional at the temple. My brother-in-law, Greg, joined us - we talked to the boys about missions and saw some pictures taken by the Hubble telescope on display at the Idaho Falls visitor center.

Most young mens groups would have called this their summer high adventure - but since we slept in beds, hiked on paved trails, watched movies, and had Jen make and clean up our meals, I hesitate - but we sure had a great time.

School Is Out

2010-06-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

Finally, school is over. The last few weeks seemed to drag on.

McKell got this bucket full of bubblegum from her teacher. She was the only person in her class that turned in all 100 + homework assignments and got 100% on all of them. She is a great student.

She had such fun on the last day of 4th grade. Our school had an "UP" day where they gave the kids a card with their new teacher on it and they were able to go and meet and talk with their teacher for next year. McKell was very excited because she got the teacher she wanted (pictured above.) Braxton had this teacher and still says she is his favorite. Honestly, she is fabulous.

I just love this group of girls. They had a blast on the last day of school - running through the sprinkler with the principal, dancing, and of course, posing for pictures.

When the final bell rang the whole class ran to say one last goodbye to their teacher. I'm so glad I had my camera and got this shot. When I asked McKell what she will miss most about 4th grade she said her teacher and math. It was a great year. I can't believe she only has one more year of elementary school and then off to middle school.

Memorial Day

2010-06-05T21:09:00.001-07:00

We always go the same places and do the same things on Memorial Day, but it is always an enjoyable time.

We visited the cemetery.

We watched the Veterans do the flag ceremony.

The little kids played.

And so did the big kids.

These guys waited patiently while we cooked breakfast.

We ate a yummy breakfast.

It was a great weekend. I love that my family has traditions that we look forward to year after year. Can't wait until next year.

Piano Recital and Fun Run

2010-05-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

With the end of the school year fast approaching, McKell gets to participate in lots of fun events. The only two things the piano recital and the Fun Run have in common is that McKell participated in them and she is glad they are both over.

She did a great job at the piano recital. She played, "Give Said the Little Stream" and "Indians." She has a fabulous teacher who really explains things. Although McKell complains about piano and practicing sometimes, she is really good at it. She understands it so much and can pick up any song quickly. She says she wants to quit, but that isn't an option so she will take a break until August which she is looking forward to.

The next event was the 1 mile Fun Run that all the fourth and fifth graders in our school have to participate in. McKell was less than thrilled about this since she doesn't really like to run. However, she pushed hard in the practices and the real race and did a great job. Here she is running. (She is on the far right.)

After the race she took a much-needed break.

She did have a fun hanging out with friends after the race.

Her favorite part of participating was getting the T-shirt and having everyone sign it. She thinks the shirt is so cool.

A Few Things . . .

2010-05-10T20:32:00.001-07:00

Now, I'm no Julie Andrews, but I thought this was just too cute. For teacher appreciation at the school a mom decorated my door with this poster. I thought she did a great job. Some of my younger students who are not familiar with "The Sound of Music" asked why I was dressed like a maid and others thought it was a picture of me getting married. I love my job:)

My Spring Program is also over and was great. McKell sang in a trio with Erika and Berkley in the program. She has such a cute voice. She also just sang a duet for Mother's Day at church. I'm glad she is developing a love for singing and music.

I went to Women's Conference with my mom, 5 sisters, and 1 sister-in-law. We had a great time going to the classes, staying up late, chatting, and shopping. My sister's suburban was so packed for the ride home there was hardly a place to sit. Great memories!

And last, but not least, check out my new bike that I got spoiled with for Mother's Day. I fell in love with it at the store and luckily my sweet husband bought it. I hope the weather warms up so McKell and I can ride to school before summer break.

Party Time

2010-04-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

McKell wanted to go bowling for her birthday party this year. It was kindof a last minute party but she said it was her best party ever. We met after school and had a snack and then off to the bowling alley. All the girls were great little bowlers. The high score that day was 106.

McKell has such a great group of friends - Erika, McKell, Meg, Sydnee, Berkley, Kendahl and Cambrie. They cheered for each other and at the end they added up the total score for all the bowlers.

We ended with presents, cupcakes and ice cream. A great day!!

Ten Years Ago . . .

2010-04-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago -

Y2K was all the buzz

Derek and I were both students at USU

Braxton was nearly finished with Kindergarten

And this beautiful girl was born

I can't believe she has been with us for an entire decade. I can't believe I haven't had a baby for a decade. She has brought so much happiness, silliness, and joy into our lives.

At ten, McKell knows exactly what she wants, she is kind and sensitive, has great fashion sense, loves to shop, and is full of giggles. I can't imagine life without her.

She wanted this pink cruiser for her birthday - and of course she got it. She spent her birthday doing something she loves, dancing at a competition and then dinner with the family and Meg. She will celebrate with friends on Monday. Happy 10th Birthday!!

"Honest Abe"

2010-04-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

Doesn't Derek make a great Abraham Lincoln? McKell had to present a "book talk" for her class. She could either do a power point or dress up to present it. However, she was completely against dressing up herself as Abe. Our answer - make Dad do it. And he was happy to.

April Fools

2010-04-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

We are usually pretty much duds around here. This year however, we had a little fun for April Fools Day.

Last week McKell thought it would be fun to put a For Sale sign in our yard for an April Fools joke. Last night I called a neighbor, who is a realtor, and asked him to drop off a sign on his way home - so about 6 PM last night our neighbors got this surprise.

(Oh yeah - Mother Nature - good job on the April Fools joke with the snow.)

We had several calls and visits from concerned neighbors. We all loved it even though we almost gave our favorite neighbor a heart attack.

I also got to work early and hung a sign, which said "Please use other stairs" on one of the stairways going to the 2nd floor of our office. It was pretty funny to hear people complain and wonder why the stairs were closed. Even more funny was to watch them turn around and head towards the other stairs.

One other thing - we are not moving to San Diego - Happy April Fools Day.

California or Bust!

2010-04-01T05:06:00.000-07:00

It has been about 12 years since we left Idaho to come to Utah. The intent was to come to USU, finish school, and quickly move back to Idaho – this apparently did not work out as planned.

So, for the last 12 years we have kept looking for job opportunities in Idaho so we can move back. Finally a good opportunity has come – but in the wrong direction.

The company I work for asked me a couple of weeks ago to consider a move to help with sales in our San Diego office. After making about ten pro and con lists, long talks with Jen and the kids, and generally freaking out – I accepted the position.

The job will be similar to what I am doing now but will include a few other product lines I am not as familiar with. The plan now is for me to start in May with the family moving down shortly after school is out.

Logan – we have loved you. It is crazy to think how much has changed with our family since we came here. We will keep you posted – wish us luck.

Thinking of Spring

2010-03-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'm just not loving this view from my front door today. I am so sick of this cold, winter weather. I'm actually dreaming of doing this.

I love planting my flower beds in the spring. I just can't wait!

Everything and Nothing

2010-03-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while because I feel like nothing has really been going on. Yet, we are so completely busy every day that it seems like everything is happening. Our weeks are full of lessons, practices, school and work. McKell has started dance competition season so she has had dance multiple times a week and now our Saturdays are full of competitions. Which we love, of course. A few weeks ago she danced in Pocatello and it was fun to have Grandma, Hollie, and some cousins come to watch. McKell is doing great and I love watching her improve each time:)

After the competition we went back to my parents and hung out. The cousins got to play and we had a late celebration for my parents birthday. They were out of town on their real birthday.

I love this picture of the cousins huddled up making plans.

Braxton is doing track this year. It is a first for him and he is doing great. We went to our first track meet at the high school this past week. He is doing the high jump. It is really amazing to watch him run and jump over the bar.

Fun-Filled February

2010-02-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

We have had a lot of visiting going on this month. Derek's parents came for his birthday and then Greg and Tasha came over President's Day weekend for a few days. McKell and Payton had lots of fun rolling out and decorating Valentine cookies.

Grandma sent us some yummy Valentine treats.

We went bowling and had lots of fun. I think Braxton won both games.

I judged a drill team competition in Idaho and we were able to spend some time with family. We went swimming at Green Canyon to celebrate my nephew's birthday.

In The Spotlight

2010-02-25T19:44:00.000-08:00

Check out my strong and athletic husband :) He was chosen for the Athlete Spotlight at Crossfit.

http://crossfitcachevalley.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/derek-pinnock/

Happy Birthday

2010-02-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to a :

wonderful husband and father

a great provider and hard worker

a helpful son and son-in-law (sometimes too helpful, right mom?)

the coolest guy I know.

Derek's parents came to celebrate. We had dinner
at the Beehive Grill.

Also, with an icecream cake. He didn't want 35 candles, he

settled for around 13. Happy Birthday Derek. I love you.

Goodbye January

2010-01-31T12:37:00.000-08:00

January is a long month. It started like this . . .

Not much happened this month. McKell and I attended the USU/BSU gymnastics meet and then we took a family outing to see "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" which after much complaining from our kids (about how I ruined a Saturday afternoon by making them go, and they didn't even want to go, and couldn't they just stay home) they really ended up liking it. Crazy me for wanting to make some family memories, I guess.

And now the month ends with even more of this . . .

Goodbye January, and next time take the white stuff with you.

Top 9 of 2009

2010-01-25T15:30:00.000-08:00

I realize we have been in 2010 for almost a month but I have wanted to do a quick recap 2009. Here it is (in no particular order):

1. Derek said 2009 was the year of projects. We had a huge tree taken out of our backyard, got a new roof, and buried the trampoline. We also painted a bedroom and bathroom downstairs for Braxton (thanks Hollie.)

2. Braxton had a big year - he turned 16, started driving and dating. This has also been a big thing for me as I have had a hard time letting go. It is slowly getting easier.

3. Got a new car. Finally, after 13 years of the Honda we moved onto something bigger.

4. Took a fun family vacation to Yellowstone Park and Jackson.

5. Derek ran a 5K and beat his previous time by 1 minute.

6. McKell turned 9, danced, spent a lot of time with friends, danced, got and survived the swine flu, and danced. Busy year for her.

7. Spent many holidays with my family: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas

8. My dad survived a serious motorcycle accident and multiple injuries. We are so blessed that slowly he has made a full recovery. He and my mom also celebrated 40 years of marriage.

9. Last, I had 3 (Spring, Veteran's Day, and Christmas) successful music programs and wrote and got a grant funded for my classroom.

Overall, 2009, was a great year. I am looking forward to a busy, fun, and probably sometimes stressful 2010.

Date Night

2010-01-09T18:13:00.002-08:00

Jen and I have entered an interesting chapter in our lives where every once in awhile both of the kids are at their friends house and it is just the two of us - we actually really like it. Last night was one of those nights so Jen and I decided to have a little date night.

We started by going out to dinner at El Toro, our favorite place to eat in Logan, and then headed to Hollywood Video (I am a little embarrassed to admit the next part) and rented a couple of episodes of Gilmore Girls.

We watched a couple of episodes and then picked up McKell from her friends. A while later Brax was home and our family was together again, which was great but it meant our date night was over.

I really like spending time with Jen. She is a great wife and my very best friend (sorry Destry you are in 2nd place). I am happy that Jen and I have can enjoy spending time together - just us. I feel lucky to have her in my life. I love you Jen.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T15:10:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, we sure did. We left our house on Christmas Eve to spend a few days at my parents house. There was lots of fun, food, family and presents as you can see in the picture.

We started our Christmas Eve party by making candy bar trains. I think the kids and adults had a good time. Each family made a train.

Pinnock family

Arfmann family

Hansen family

Taylor family

Price family

(Sorry Lemons' family, you were there, I didn't get a picture)

We had our annual talent show, McKell played the piano and sang.

We opened presents

We gave presents

Santa brought us so much stuff - including a new computer

We also wore matching pj's - a new tradition for us this year!

McKell's favorite gift - a hot pink iPod (she is holding it in this picture, it is just small)

Braxton's favorite gift - a PS3 (He set it up and grandma's house and here he is playing it)

On Christmas Day we went to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks, the kids and I liked it, Derek didn't.

Other highlights of Christmas 2009: Sitting in the hot tub, a prime rib dinner (yummy) on Sunday, driving around to see Christmas lights, watching movies, and mainly just spending time with the people we love most - our family:) Hope yours was this great!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

2009-12-17T20:32:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love the holidays. I love the decorations, the lights, Christmas trees, shopping, holiday parties, Christmas songs, just everything about Christmas time. So much has been happening. Derek's family had their Christmas party last weekend at a beautiful cabin in Ashton. It had lots of fun things to do. The little kids spent most of their time sitting in the hot tub.

Braxton spent a lot of his time playing ping pong. He had lots of fun.

Our trip was cut a little short because we were worried about the

weather and came home to lots of snow.

December is a month of multiple performances. McKell played her violin with the school orchestra and also had a piano recital this week. This is her practicing right before we left for the recital. She did a fabulous job.

This is McKell and some of her friends right after the Christmas Music program (my program) at the school. It is finally over - I am so glad! All the kids did such a great job. It is so much work, but so thrilling to watch the kids perform and sing loud and know all the words to every song. A huge payoff for me. I seriously love my job. Also, it is a great perk to be the music teacher and have a front row seat to watch McKell sing. Now, I can finally finish the last of my shopping.

Church News

2009-12-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at our ward Christmas breakfast, our old priest quorum advisor showed me the current edition of the Church News. I was surprised to see an article about the Eagle Scout project of one of my priests. He raised wheat on some land of the advisor, had it processed into flour, and donated it to the local food bank. To see the full article go to: http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58289/Law-of-the-harvest-yields-flour-for-food-bank.html

This was such a fun project - our priests were able to help cultivate the soil and get it ready for planting, plant the wheat using a very old drill, lay and move irrigation sprinkler pipe, ride along in the combine as the wheat was harvested, and finally deliver the flour to the food bank.

None of these boys have ever been around a farm. It was so fun to watch them drive a tractor and learn about where some of our food actually comes from. Working with the youth has always been at the top of my "Callings I Never Want" list - but it has been great - mainly because of my great boys.

One Year Ago

2009-11-19T21:12:00.000-08:00

Up until today, November 2009, has been an exact repeat of November 2008. The month of November starts with me in full-out panic mode. I am frantically teaching every child in K-5th grade multiple Christmas songs for our holiday program in December. I am writing the program and thinking of any way possible to get the kids to memorize all the words to these songs. Also, as part of my job, I have to help with our school Art program. So, now November means thinking of a theme for a Christmas tree, purchasing all the supplies for the kids to make ornaments, putting up a tree and getting it decorated. And also last November when I was just so busy I couldn't do one more thing, I left for a weekend to judge a dance/drill competition in Pocatello. I also did this again last weekend. With all the school stuff I am also planning a Christmas dinner/activity for the sisters in my ward (Did this last year too.) I also have the same hacking cough and sore throat, just like last year. This month has been identical to last November until today. Today I went to work, took McKell to piano lessons and gymnastics, just everyday stuff.
Last year on November 19, I boarded a plane about 8:00 a.m. and 14 hours later ended up in Israel. I have been thinking a lot about this trip this month and what an amazing time that we had. Derek and I went with my parents and siblings for 10 days and had the time of our lives.

So last November I was sailing across the Sea of Galilee (Derek's favorite part of the trip)

Walking along a street where they say Jesus carried his cross to be crucified

(my favorite part of the trip)

Floating in the Dead Sea

Singing Christmas carols in the Shepherds' fields

Attending a baptism at the River Jordan

Strolling through the Garden of Gethsemane

Touring Jesus' tomb

And mainly enjoying my family in Jerusalem

Like I said a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. These are a very few of the pictures (I took around 500) that I have. It would be great to be there again right now. Thanks to my parents who took us on this amazing journey.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

We have had lots of Halloween fun. We "bedazzled" our pumpkins with lots of glitter.

McKell is pretty much obsessed with the peace sign right now.

Love the polka dots

The "boy" version of glitter pumpkins.

Had a fun family night at the Pumpkin Walk

McKell got to dress up for a dance party, school Halloween parade and trick-or-treating.

McKell loved her "Twister" costume. It was cute!

For the most part a great October, I can't believe it is over. I do have a few Halloween gripes, of course. How old is too old for trick-or-treating? We had some college-age students come. On the plus side they did tell me I had picked the best candy to give. We also had a few high school boys. I couldn't even get my high school boy to put on a costume to go to a party. How young is too young for trick-or-treating? I had a mom and a dad come with a baby, probably like 4 months old. The baby was dressed up, but the parents said they had to wake him up to come trick-or-treating. My question? How is the baby going to eat the candy? Also, last one - I had two kids come with a mom and dad, the kids each took a treat for their bag. Then the mom reached over and grabbed a few to put in a grocery sack that was packed full for herself. The dad started to step up onto the porch to grab one for his also full grocery sack and I conveniently shut my screen door. Maybe I'm just being mean, but I was bugged. However, I do love when kids in my neighborhood come and especially my students from school. It is so fun to see them.

Also, does anyone out there know why my blog won't say it has been updated on other blog lists? It keeps saying the last time it has been updated was 4 weeks ago. Let me know.

The End and The Beginning

2009-10-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

The Ending:
Last week was the end of Braxton's football season. It has been a different year, our team hasn't been great. We ended the season winning only 1 game which is pretty sad. However, Braxton (#85) played well and had lots of playing time. Better luck next year.

The Beginning:

Also, last week Braxton was asked on his first date. He was asked to the girl's choice, Blackout dance, in November. The girl brought over a pumpkin and left it on the door step with a cute poem about carving a smile on the pumpkin if he could go to the dance and a frown if he couldn't. Braxton carved a smile and wrote a poem and took it back to her porch. I can't believe he is old enough to date. So many new experiences with the dating and driving stuff.

Although it is getting easier, I have had a hard time letting go. Braxton has a history of forgetting things. I can't count the number of jackets he has lost or how many times he has forgotten his backpack at various places and yet I let him leave for school driving a car. After I had told these things to a woman in my neighborhood she patted my shoulder and said, "well a car is a lot bigger than a backpack or a jacket, so maybe he will remember to bring it home." I hope so:) I guess I will have to get used to all the changes. One thing I know for sure - I'm getting old!

H1N1??

2009-10-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

It has been 6 days of sickness at our house.

Saturday - By late afternoon on our way home from Salt Lake, McKell started feeling sick. By the time we reached home she was running a fever and throwing up. Yuck!

Sunday - McKell wouldn't even move out of her bed. The fever and throwing up continued and then just her whole body ached. I was pretty worried.

Monday - McKell woke up with a cough. We were at the doctor first thing in the morning. I felt so bad for McKell, she was standing at the sink the entire appointment because she was still throwing up and she seriously had not eaten for 2 days. The doctor wouldn't test for swine flu because McKell was not a baby or an elderly person. However, he did say there is no other flu going around so he thought this was the real deal. His main concern was that she had no fluids in her. He said if she could not keep something down he would admit McKell to the hospital Tuesday morning. Luckily, McKell kept down a whole 12 ounces of Gatorade!! Monday afternoon was full of sneezing and sinus pressure, coughing, fever, etc.

Tuesday - McKell slept in and actually sat up and watched a few DVD's. Still the only thing she was keeping down was Gatorade.

Wednesday - She woke up and said, "I actually feel better." She came out into the kitchen area (wearing a mask). She was wondering what she was missing at school and thinking about her friends and then she got a few surprises. First Sydnee came with a card and popsicles. Then a few other friends left a big poster and cupcakes on our doorstep and hid while McKell came out and found them. They jumped out and started screaming. They had been missing each other. McKell was feeling better but I thought she better stay home for one more day to be sure. We are so grateful for such great, caring friends who were wondering if McKell was going to be okay. Thanks girls!!

Thursday - Our last day home and McKell has been feeling a lot better. She went to piano lessons and gymnastics.

Friday - Back to school - and we are both actually glad to be going back. I have had a substitute all week. My six days have been full of cleaning, scrubbing, Clorox wiping, spraying, sanitizing, washing, and hoping that no one else gets this.

Braxton's Twin

2009-09-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

I love to read the comics in the newspaper each day (funnies to Grandma Pinnock). One of my favorites is 'Zits', it is about a teenager, his friends, and his interactions with his uncool parents (I relate way too well to the fat and bald father). The teenager character could be Braxton's twin, especially this week (click on image for larger size).

P.S. This is posted by Derek - Jen doesn't think that me or comics are funny at all.

Suddenly Sixteen

2009-09-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

Sixteen years ago, today, Braxton was born. Where has the time gone? The day started with a trip to the DMV to get his driver's license. Then he drove Derek to work and drove himself to school in the Jeep. I couldn't believe Derek let him do this.

After school he played in his football game. Braxton (#85) did great, but we lost horribly.

Then it was dinner and presents at Texas Roadhouse.

Braxton's had a great week. It has also been Homecoming Week at the high school and he rode with the football team in the parade yesterday. Happy 16th Birthday Braxton. We love you.

Miss McKell

2009-09-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of shots of this beautiful girl. My sister-in-law, Tasha, took these. She is just getting into photography and is doing an amazing job. Thanks Tash - I love them.

First Days and Rockstars

2009-08-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

School is back in session. McKell was ready to go.

She had the perfect boots.

The perfect accessories.

The perfect hair bow.

The perfect outfit.

And the perfect teacher. All together it was the most perfect first day of fourth grade.

I always ask my kids what they think of the first day and how they felt. McKell's response - "I felt just like a rockstar!" I hope she always feels like this. I love this little rockstar - she is growing up way too fast!

Unlike McKell who posed for 20 minutes, I barely got 1 shot of Braxton on his first day of 10th grade. I can't believe he will be 16 in less than one month.

It's Over

2009-08-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

It is officially the last day of summer. We've had lots of family, friends, and fun. A quick recap of our summer vacation.

McKell took 2 weeks of swimming lessons. She did great!

Braxton and Ryan floated the canal.

Lots of bike and scooter rides with Sydnee.

McKell, Lauren, and Jaden
We had a fun Fourth of July with my entire family in Idaho.

Braxton played basketball while visiting grandma.

We took a week-long vacation to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone Park.

We spent a day shopping and playing in Salt Lake with Hollie and Allison.

A fun day at the pool with Ryan and Sydnee.

Braxton spent a couple of weeks in June and all of August at football camp and practices.
They had their first scrimmage a few days ago.

McKell and Meg had a day of makeup and scooter-riding.

And for the last weekend of the summer, McKell had a late-night with Meg and Cambrie.

A fun night full of making commercials,

root beer floats, and tons of giggles.

The last picture of the summer - Ryan brought over their new puppy for McKell to see.

Tree - Hater

2009-08-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

I guess I will admit it - I am pretty much a tree-hater. I wish that my yard was just full of grass and flowers, and had no trees. I think I feel this way because we have tons of trees that are all way too big and overgrown. In fact, we have had the biggest tree in the neighborhood in our backyard. It finally came down about 2 weeks ago - and I am so glad it did. It completely ruined our yard. It ended up being a much bigger project than anyone expected.

Here is the tree towering over our house.

First, Vini (the tree arborist), went up in this bucket and cut a bunch of branches.

For the branches over our house and our neighbors houses they had to use a crane and lower all the branches down. It was a pretty scary thing to watch.

Lots of branches and leaves to clean up.

After they got all the leaves and branches and everything off, they finally cut the tree down.

It seemed like it took forever for it to fall over. McKell said she felt like we were in an earthquake because it shook the ground when it fell. The trunk was about 5 feet wide and about 15 feet around. Absolutely huge. This is Vini, I think he was just as happy as I was that the tree was down.

Another Goodbye

2009-08-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

We spent Wednesday in Salt Lake. My sister, Hollie, and her family were spending a couple of hours there on their way to Arizona, where they are relocating. It was great to spend some time with them. McKell went with Hollie and her girls to the Discovery Gateway while Braxton and I did some school shopping. McKell had a blast!

McKell pretending to be a shopkeeper. She thought the cash register was great.

Lauren, McKell, and Hollie anchoring the news. Allison said Hollie was wonderful at reading the teleprompter and broadcasting the breaking news of an old woman swallowing a horse. Maybe a night job for her when her day job as mom is over. (ha, ha)
McKell, Lauren, and Savanna doing the weather forecast.
Preslie

Lauren and McKell - these two are 3 weeks apart in age and have always been close. They have a lot of the same interests and always have fun together. Although we have never lived super close to them, these two have been best of friends. When we go to grandma's house they always have to have a sleepover and will stay up all night talking.

Me, Allison, and Hollie

It was hard to say goodbye and will be different when we go for a visit to Idaho and have them not be there, but with free long distance, I'm sure we will be talking just as much. Just ask Braxton - he says all I do is talk on the phone with my sisters and according to him one time with Hollie I was on for 181 minutes. I don't know?? I wish them the best and can't wait to go and visit them.

Time to Say Goodbye

2009-08-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

It is finally time to say farewell to my Honda. I've driven this car for 13 years. With 198,000 miles, it has been with me for a good part of my adult life. We drove it all the way through college and beyond. Derek drove me to the hospital in it when I was having McKell and I seriously almost had to lay on the horn outside of our apartment building to get him to come out because he couldn't find a hat and he didn't have time to comb his hair. What?? I have driven it to hundreds of games, practices, dance and music lessons. I can't even count the times it has been driven to Idaho and back to visit family. We've now moved on to bigger and better.

I have liked this Ford Explorer more than I thought and it seats 7. So, call me if you need a ride.

P.S. I couldn't really part with the Honda. Right now it is safely parked in my parents garage waiting to come home for when we have 3 drivers - in 53 days - YIKES!

Reunion Time

2009-07-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

We ended our week-long trip to Yellowstone and Jackson with a fun family reunion in Pocatello. Everyone had lots of fun swimming and sliding.

McKell

Derek

Grandpa Pinnock - who didn't really have a slide pass, but luckily the workers let him go down once because all his grandkids were waiting at the bottom.

It was great to visit and catch up with everyone.

Elk, and Bison and a Bear, Oh My!

2009-07-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

Although it wasn't Disneyland (last year's summer vacation), we had a great time in Yellowstone Park and Jackson Hole. I don't think our kids were excited about this family vacation, but they ended up having a great time. We saw a lot of beautiful and exciting things.

We saw quite a few elk.

This bison was right off the side of the road.

We were really hoping to see some bears and we saw one.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone was amazing.

We shopped and took pictures in West Yellowstone and went to Footloose at the Playmill. It was fabulous. A huge highlight of the trip. We loved it.

We headed to Jackson Hole and got attacked by a bison (luckily it was fake). Aren't these guys great posers!

We rode the Alpine Slide and jumped on a Bungee Trampoline.

On the last day of our trip, Mom, Hollie and family, and Natalie and family, met us at this great indoor pool. We had a picnic and tons of fun in the pool. This was a great place for little kids. I think almost every person went on the slides. I was the only one with my camera so I added a couple of extra shots.McKell loved the slides, she is usually hesitant, but she had fun!

Justin and Rylee - I love Rylee's face in this picture. She loves the water.

Jayson and Ava

Braxton and Jace

We had a great time. I love spending time with Der and the kids and it was great to end our trip with some extended family.

Celebrating Forty

2009-07-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

My parents were born the same day, the same year, in the same hospital. They grew up a few miles apart and dated through high school. My mom waited for my dad on his mission and today, they are celebrating FORTY years of marriage.

They raised 7 children. I don't know how we were so lucky to get them as parents. They have done so much for each one of us. In forty years this family of 9 has grown into 35!

You have both set such a great example of hard-work, compassion, and love. We love you. Happy Anniversary.

July Fourth

2009-07-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

The Fourth of July weekend was full of fun. We went to the drive-in, a city parade, had a barbecue at my parents, played all afternoon in the water, watched a parade put on by some very creative kids, went to the Idaho Falls fireworks, made smores, and then did our own fireworks. So fun!!

McKell and Derek - This was McKell's first drive-in experience.

Raegan, Lauren, McKell, and Olivia at the parade.

My entire family (all 35) got together for a picnic.

The kids had a blast on this blow-up water toy.

Braxton and Haylie (my niece) even got in on the water fun. I can't believe how grown up these two are. They have always been close and still like being around each other. We watched Haylie in the parade with the drill team. Crazy! I still remember my drill team days.

Raegan, Lauren, Payton, Savanna, McKell, Olivia, Jace, and Justin (who got to be the driver), put on their own parade for us that evening. They even made up a cheer/dance to show us.

Everyone loves to make smores.

Dream to Dance

2009-06-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

McKell had her dance reviews about 3 weeks ago and the theme was, "To Dream To Dance." They do a total of 3 shows. Seriously, the Saturday night show was fabulous. It is a showcase of all their competitive numbers. There were lots of great dancers. I dare say that McKell loves dance as much as I do. She has taken dance for just over 6 years and joined the competitive group 2 years ago. She loves the competitions and the dances that they learn. She has some amazing teachers. Dance is tons of fun and I love the confidence it has given McKell. I love to watch her perform and to watch her improve each time. She is a great little dancer. Her favorite dance this year was a specialty number, "Shake a Tailfeather." (pictured above)

"New Soul"

McKell and Meg backstage

The finale

So Much to Blog - So Little Time

2009-06-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

I can't ever seem to keep up with this blogging thing. I take tons of cute pictures and have lots to post, but never seem to get around to it. You would think that since it is summer I would have much more time, but it is just as busy as ever around here even now that I don't have to go to work everyday. So much has happened, so here it is all at once or at least most of it.

Memorial Day 2009

We had a blast playing with cousins.

Playing basketball

Making smores

Rocking out

Visiting the cemetery

Dad's Accident
Two days after Memorial Day my dad was in a serious motorcycle accident. Here are some details (I took this from my sister's blog, who I think took it from another sister. Isn't family great?) My dad was in an induced coma for a week after the accident to help expediate the healing of his ribs so he could start breathing on his own. They kept him in intensive care for 10 days and then moved him to the recovery floor for 3 or 4 days, where they kept him extremely and sometimes comically medicated. Can you say hallucinations? You wouldn't believe some of the stuff he was saying. He was released from the hospital on Tuesday, June 9th. Since then, my mom has become his full time nurse- helping him with everything from eating, getting up, bathroom, etc. His right hand is broken and has pins in it and his left side is practically debilitated right now with all the pain. He will be going to lots of therapy for his hand, is still a little beat up on his face- but got most of his stitches out, and his left side is painfully sore (with 7 broken ribs and a broken scapula.) He can get up and down really slowly and has been glad to be at home. He is still weak, but improving everyday. It's a miracle that he is still alive and still has full use of his brain and all his organs.

We made a quick trip down while he was still in the hospital right after school got out and I have been down since. It will be a pretty long recovery process. It is so different to see my dad this way. He is a person who never slows down and works all day and all night and right now he is moving pretty slow. It is great if he can make it out to the mailbox and back now. I have been so touched by all the phone calls, visitors, and seriously the stack of get well cards he has gotten. They live in a great little community.

Last Day of School

Last day of 3rd grade

I can't believe how fast the school year has gone. My kids have had a great year. Braxton survived (and loved) his first year of high school. He got all A's and one B this last semester. He got pretty involved and met lots of new people. He is doing great and looking forward to football, driving without his parents in the car, and turning 16 (I can't believe it either) in the next few months. McKell loved third grade, had a great teacher, made some fun new friends, learned to write in cursive, passed off all her multiplication and division facts and is ready to move on to fourth grade.

Happy Belated Birthday McKell

2009-05-22T15:46:00.001-07:00

McKell celebrated her NINTH birthday on April 17. Here are NINE things you may or may not know about McKell.

1. McKell loves to dance. She has taken dance for 6 years and seriously can't wait for dance each week. She started competitive dance 2 years ago and just loves it. Her and her friend even make up dances at school to teach other girls at recess.

2. McKell is totally into clothes and fashion. This is a new thing, but it seems like everyday is a fashion show. She loves putting together outfits and loves matching shoes and accessories. Her favorite places to shop - Abercrombie and Gymboree.

3. McKell is kind to everyone. McKell's teacher told me that she just really appreciates how nice McKell is to all the students in her class. She includes everyone and tries to never hurt anyone's feelings. I hope she will always remember how important this is. She is also very kind to animals (a trait she did not get from me.)

4. McKell is creative. She loves to draw and decorate.

5. McKell is a good student. She loves school and does well on all her assignments. This year she has passed all her multiplication and division timings and learned how to write in cursive. She has loved her teacher.

6. McKell is a "daddy's girl." She likes to hang out and be with me, but loves to spend time with Derek. She loves to go on lunch dates with him and has even been helping him in the yard.

7. McKell loves babies. She always loves to hold brand new babies and now that she is getting bigger she wants to carry them around. She really likes all the baby nieces and nephews and wishes she had a baby sister. As for now when we go to grandma's she uses Halle (her cousin) as her baby. Luckily, Halle is a really good baby and lets McKell pack her around.

8. McKell is a girly girl. She loves pink, dance, gymnastics, shopping, jewelry, hair accessories, make up, and all that great girl stuff.

9. McKell is silly. She loves to make people laugh. When she gets together with friends they do the silliest things and just giggle.

McKell celebrated her birthday by having a fun, friends party. We went to see Hannah Montana, The Movie and then had presents, pizza, and cupcakes. We are so lucky to have McKell in our family.

Anniversary

2009-05-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my one-year anniversary of joining CrossFit (http://www.crossfitcachevalley.com). Besides my marriage, I think that CF is the only thing I have consistently stuck with for so long. I have pretty much gone to CF three to four times a week, starting May 12 of last year. Here are some random thoughts/memories of CF.

My first WOD (workout of the day): Newbie
3 rounds of 10 pushups, 15 pullups, & 20 situps

Todays WOD:
5 rounds of 400 meter run, 7 kettlebell thrusters (35#), 14 pullups, & 7 burpees

My favorite WOD: Murph
1 mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, & 1 mile run

My least favorite WOD: Fran
21 - 15 - 9 reps of thrusters (95#) & pullups

My favorite CF people: Dean and the original 4 PM class members
Least favorite CF person: I call him 'Grunt'

Number of people I have taken to CF: 7 (including Destry)
Number that still go to CF: 1 (yes, a little disheartening)

Longest WOD: Murph - 1 hour, 1 minute
Shortest WOD: Baseline - 4 minutes

First goal - be able to do eight pushups in a row, I did 25 in a row today
Latest goal - ten double unders in a row, I struggle to do two in row (lots of work to do)

Number of people in the 4 PM class on my first day: 1 (me)
Number of people in the 4 PM class today: 22

Number of CF t-shirts I have: 4
Number of weeks I wore only CF t-shirts to work: 1

It has been a great year. I look forward to the WOD tomorrow and those of the next year. A big thanks to Brad (the trainer/owner) for bringing CF to Logan and inspiring me, along with over 100 others, to change their lives.

Easter

2009-04-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend at home this year. We are usually out of town over Easter but we had some other things happening that we had to be home for (Der got put in as YM President on Easter.) On Saturday morning (April 11) Derek ran a 5K with a bunch of people from Crossfit (his gym.) The kids and I, of course, went to cheer him on. He did an amazing job and beat his time from the First Dam Run in November by 1 minute. I am so proud of him. His ending time was 29 minutes and 10 seconds.

Coloring eggs

Braxton and McKell on Easter Sunday

Spring Break

2009-04-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

This past week has been Spring Break, which means no school for the kids and no work for me. It seems like we have been gone so much lately that I was looking forward to spending some time at home. We basically had nothing planned so we had lots of late nights, lots of friends for the kids, and lots of fun. McKell left town on Tuesday afternoon with a friend to spend the night in Salt Lake and had a blast (thanks Meg and Bobbie.) They shopped, swam, and went to Thanksgiving Point. It was really her first night away from us (other than sleepovers with cousins) and I truly missed her. Finally, on Thursday, I felt like we should do something so we all headed to Salt Lake to visit the Clark Planetarium and do some shopping.

Braxton and McKell doing a weather forecast.

Walking on the moon

McKell exploring Mars

Derek and McKell in the 3D movie - Cute glasses

Two crazy aliens in the gift shop

McKell and Allison in the U2 Laser/Light Show

Two Great Weekends

2009-03-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

Weekends go way too fast, especially when when you're having fun!! We have left town for the past two weekends and had a great time with our family. The end of February, we left for Idaho to see our newest nephew, Jaden, and to try and help Natalie without being too much in the way. McKell had a great time playing with Jace and Rylee and of course holding the new baby.

Last weekend Allison called and said that my parents were in Salt Lake and we should come and join them all. At the last minute, I packed an overnight bag and we left Saturday after McKell's dance practice. We stopped at the Gateway for some quick shopping and then attended the temple with Thomas, Allison, mom and dad. We had dinner after at Allison's and had pie to celebrate mom and dad's birthday, which was on the 6th. (Yes, they share a birthday, born the same day, same year, even born in the same hospital. When I was growing up I thought everybody's parents had the same birthday.)

We purchased Guitar Hero before we left and Braxton brought it with us and hooked it up at Thomas and Allison's house. Everyone had a great time rockin' out. Derek on guitar, Thomas singing, and Braxton on the drums. Allison also took her turn at the microphone. This was my first experience with Guitar Hero and I was mainly worried about the "band" being way too noisy for Allison's upstairs neighbors.

McKell is always looking for something to do and spent most of the time tap dancing in my mom's high heels. Thank goodness Allison found her a project - painting and decorating some blocks. She had a great time. Thanks to Thomas and Allison for being great hosts.

One Year Older

2009-02-05T10:07:00.001-08:00

In case your wondering, yes, I'm still alive. I just can't seem to keep up with things. However, I couldn't let today pass without posting to say Happy Birthday to Derek. I completely lucked out when I married him. He is such a hard-worker, great provider, and fun dad to our kids. He rarely misses a game, a dance competition, or an orchestra/piano recital. I can't imagine my life without him. He is always there to help me whether it's with our kids, videotaping one of my music programs, or just to bring me a much-needed, cold Diet Coke on a Friday afternoon. (I teach about 420 students every week.) Derek, I love you, have a great 34th birthday. Oh, and did I mention he is the strongest person I know! (ha, ha)

First Dam Run 2008

2008-11-05T18:42:00.000-08:00

The First Dam Run was last Saturday and it was great. This year was different than last year. Some things were missing from last year and some things were here this year that weren't there last year. It made for a wonderful day. Here is a list:

Things Missing This Year

Running with the kids - my favorite part of the race last year was coming around a corner and seeing Brax and McKell and then running with them for about a block, it gave me a second wind to tackle the remaining half of the race. This year McKell was at dance and Braxton was several minutes ahead of me most of the race.

The cold - the weather on Saturday was great running weather. Last year it was 30 F the morning of the race, this year the temperature was about 45 F with no wind and overcast. I was warm (but not too warm) through the whole race - I was just right.

Jitters - I don't know if I have just been too busy or better prepared but I was not that nervous for the race. I was excited - especially the morning of the race - but I wasn't nervous. I think I was just so happy to be there with my family I didn't think about whether to be nervous or not.

Knee brace - last year when I ran and for most of this year I have worn a knee brace on my right knee. If I didn't my knee would throb for a while after I ran. I stopped wearing it about a month ago when I ran. Thankfully I didn't have any pain in my knee after the race.

Things Present This Year

Family - this year there were 10 of us from our family who ran. Dad, Mom, two brothers, two sister-in-laws, two nephews, Brax, and myself all ran. It was fun to watch and then cheer for each person as they approached then crossed the finish line. I only wish I could have been there to watch Braxton (22 min) and Glade (29 min) finish. I was so proud of each person who ran the race. Hopefully we will have even more family in the race next year.

Destry - last year Destry (below in green) ran with me for the first mile to where the 5k route turns and the 10k route goes straight (Destry ran the 10k last year). This year Destry ran with me the whole race. I wanted to run with Brax, Glade, and Destry for at least the first mile but Braxton was way ahead of me after a few seconds, Glade just got further and further away from me during entire race, but Destry stayed with me the whole race. I felt bad for Destry and kept thinking that he should ditch me and run his own race but I was so glad that he stayed. He set a great pace for me and encouraged me to keep going when I was tired. We finished in 30 minutes, two minutes faster than last year. A big thanks to Destry.

Glade - as I mentioned above, I had hoped to run with Glade (pictured below right) for the first mile but I wasn't able to. Even though I wasn't able to run with Glade I could easily spot his bald head bobbing above the crowd. This made me laugh for a minute until I realized that I look the same way from behind as Glade. He did great and I am so proud of him.

Ribbons - we were very surprised when they started to read those who placed in each of the categories - Tate, Connor, Brax, and Dad all won a ribbon for their category. It was great.

It was a great day. I can't wait until next year. I think that plan is to try to run a race in SE Idaho next spring and then tackle First Dam Run next year.

Halloween

2008-11-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Halloween is over.

First, McKell chose to be a hula girl

and got to wear her costume to school,

had an awesome class party, and walked in the Halloween parade.

Then we had a pizza that looked like a pumpkin.

Next, we went trick-or-treating with Sydnee and some cousins.

Finally, went swimming with Connor, Tate, Attley and Mckinley.

GREAT FUN!!!

Overwhelmed!?!

2008-10-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a month since I have posted on my blog. Yes, it has been updated since then, but Derek has been writing the most recent posts. The title should explain it all. Since school started I have been so OVERWHELMED!! It seems that I have not had a moment with nothing going on. I did not go to my classroom once during the summer. In fact, I didn't even think about school or lesson plans. I have been behind on planning my own music lesson plans and then I got a few new responsibilities at work that have just about put me over the edge.

This bulletin board hangs in my classroom and no I didn't just undecorate it to put up something new. It has looked this way since the first day of school on August 20. I have a great idea of how to decorate it. In fact, I have all the materials which sat in a stack on my table at home for about a month and now they are in a drawer in my classroom. This bulletin board has been a constant reminder of how much I have to do and no time to do it.

Other than work, I was also in charge of our ward's Super Saturday just over a week ago and it was just so time consuming. I had to find 5 speakers organize 3 home decor projects, collect all the money, pick up the projects, and make sure that a luncheon was going to happen. Also all the advertising, etc. I am so glad it is over. Not to mention all the football practices, games, dance lessons and gymnastics that I have to get my kids to. My house is a disaster. The laundry hampers are full (and it seems that I can do laundry all night and they are still full??) Most of our meals have been eaten out.

When I was at my breaking point, a few weeks ago, my 18-month-old niece was diagnosed with leukemia. It was at this point I realized that I had to stop and decide what was important to me and what I was going to put off until later. About two days after we found out about my niece, I had planned to miss Braxton's football game so I could do my dishes instead. Needless to say I went to the game and the dishes waited for me until the game was over. Many things were put on hold as we packed up that week to visit my sister and her daughter in the hospital. For now, the bulletin board will stay empty because I still don't have the time to get it done. Now it is a reminder that nothing is as important as family.

We Finally Got The Shot

2008-10-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

Braxton has had seven games and so far we have either forgot our camera or did not have it ready at the right time to get a good shot of Braxton making a big play. With two games left we were really feeling the pressure.

Braxton's game last night was against Ben Lomond and there was plenty of opportunities. The game started pretty even but after each team scored two touchdowns we were on fire. I think it was because of the play below. Braxton blocked the punt and his teammate picked it up and ran it in for a touchdown.

Braxton did really well on defense. He was actually the defensive player of the game last week. He got several sacks on the quarterback. Below Braxton is two steps away from a sack (this was in the first quarter).

And a few minutes later, we got the best shot - Braxton single handedly sacked the quarterback. It was awesome! Here is Braxton half of a second from taking the quarterback to the ground.

We felt really good - finally having a good shot of Braxton doing really well on defense but we still wanted to get a good shot of him catching the ball. We almost had our chance. The picture below is Braxton very close to catching the ball, unfortunately a defender jumped in at the wrong time and intercepted it instead. You can see Braxton ready to catch the ball and head for a touchdown - better luck next time.

McKell and I got a chance to talk to Braxton during half-time, which we haven't been able to do before. He told me he was really tired. He would have had to be - he played practically every play in the first half and we scored 8 touchdowns so there were many kickoffs and big plays that he had to run a lot.

It was a really good game. Braxton (along with most of the 1st string players) didn't play much in the second half. I can't believe next week is the last game. What a season!

First Dam Update 2

2008-10-14T06:10:00.001-07:00

The race information is now up and can be viewed at http://www.topofutahmarathon.com/Firstdam.php/

The race will start at 10 AM on Nov. 1, 2008. You can pre-register by sending in a registration form (link found on site) or you can register the day of the race. The cost is $18 (with shirt) or $12 (without shirt) if you register before noon on Oct. 31, 2008. If you register the morning of the race the cost is $20 (with) or $14 (without shirt).

Everyone is welcome to run it with us. I think that there will be quite a few of us. Email or call me if you have any questions. Thanks
Derek

First Dam Update

2008-10-09T11:56:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update about the First Dam Run - I called Al's Sporting Goods to see if they have any information about the race yet - they have not received anything yet. I also called the race director and got his voice mail. The voice mail message said that he did not have everything together yet but will post the information at:

www.topofutahmarathon.com

I looked there and found the like to the First Dam Run at http://www.topofutahmarathon.com/Firstdam.php/

This link shows the information from the last year but I assume that it will be the same for this year. I know that date will be Nov. 1 this year so plan on that. It may be another week until we get the rest of the information and are able to register. You can register the morning of the race but will not be able to get a shirt (not a great loss).

I will post any information that I get here. Thanks for your support, I am really looking forward to this race. It will be fun for all of us. Plan on going out to lunch after.

So, overall the update is that there is no update - sorry.

Derek

Fashion Parade

2008-10-07T13:42:00.001-07:00

I am at a tradeshow for work at Houston, Texas. This entails sitting (and standing) in a 10 x 10 foot booth displaying the products that I sell. I am surrounded by booths of other companies doing the same thing. I patiently wait (and smile) for someone to mosey over to my booth and then I pounce – launching into my sales pitch - then I wait for the next person to show some interest and repeat

While I wait, I have been getting quite a fashion parade. The dress varies widely (and sometimes wildly). On one end there are those who are giving talks about their research, they are often in suits with ties. On the other end there are t-shirts, Levis, and the occasional wranglers tucked into cowboy boots. However, there is one reoccurring component of the fashion parade – the sports jacket.

I believe that the sports jacket has created a false sense of fashion for most of those wearing them. I can imagine them thinking, “Since this is a professional meeting, I should probably dress up, I know, I will just wear my sports jacket.”

I emphasize ‘my’ here because after five years of attending these tradeshows I am pretty sure that most of the men only have ‘a’ sports jacket and it has also been the only sports jacket they ever owned. It stays buried in the back of the closet and rarely sees the light of day.

The main problem with the sports jacket is that it does not include a dress-up of any other article of clothing. Their regular daily shirts (polo shirts, dress shirts, and t-shirts) and pants (dress slacks, khakis, and Levis) are worn but are mistakenly kicked-up a notch with the sports jacket addition.

There apparently is no concern whether the olive green button-up shirt, tan khaki pants, and Nike shoes go together with a gray corduroy sports jacket. There is also no concern whether the sports jacket their parents bought them for college graduation in 1968 is still in style today.

Luckily for me I outgrew (and out-gained) any chance of making a sports jacket fashion mistake. Now if I can just figure out the pesky rules of what not to wear after Labor Day I will be a fashion expert. I’d better go, there is a guy coming towards me whose herringbone pattern of his sports jacket is clashing with his Hawaiian shirt.

Houston, we have a problem.

2008-10-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

I am on a business trip in Houston, Texas - I am not that excited about being here. Even though it is fun to spend someone else’s money traveling – I would much rather be home.

I usually take the airport shuttle from Logan to the Salt Lake airport. This gives me a chance to either relax and catch up on a little sleep or listen to stories from the driver on the way to the airport. Sometimes I want to pretend I am deaf (it worked so well for Elaine on Seinfeld). But this time was a little different.

We had gone to Salt Lake on Saturday and were staying at Destry and Trish’s. Jen said that she would take me to the airport but later Destry volunteered for the early morning drop-off. Against Jen’s advice, I accepted Destry’s offer.

It was a nice and quick 25 minute drive to the airport - no crazy stories just a random sampling of music from Destry’s iPod to keep us awake. Along the way we stopped for a breakfast burrito, I got my wallet out to pay but Destry took care of it (thanks again). When you are in a car and are fat, it is difficult to get your wallet out of your back pocket – it is even harder to get it back into your pocket so I just set my wallet on my lap.

We got to the airport and I got out, grabbed my luggage, and said good-bye to Destry. I took one step into the terminal and realized I had left my wallet in Destry’s car. I figured he was gone but I didn’t panic because this is the 21st century and everyone has cell phones. I immediately called Destry’s phone – it went right to voice mail – I panicked.

To make a long story short, Destry drove home, was informed that I was stranded at the airport, got his phone, drove back to the airport, gave me my wallet, and drove me back to his house – I had missed my 6:50 AM flight and was bumped to the 12:50 PM flight. I felt quite embarrassed but it was nice to go back to Destry’s, have another breakfast, and see the kids again one last time.

Even though Destry offered to take me to the airport again, Jen insisted and took me back to the airport. All I had to do was admit that Jen is always right and agree to do whatever she says for the rest of my life.