Our Week in Utah!

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything, so just a warning picture overload!! We went to American Fork for the fourth of July and ended up staying an extra week! We had so much fun! None of my kids wanted to come home! They were begging me to stay one more week. Here are some of the highlights of the week. Jenny, Cami, Mom, and I took all the kids to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. This picture is all of the cousins! Even baby Will, (who I miss so much!)

We just spent the week letting the kids play! We launched water balloons...

And swam in the wading pool..... Can you find the 3 water balloons in this picture? (don't ask)

We went up A.F. Canyon and roasted hot dogs....

Jenny was the designated hot dog roaster!

Tyra and Sage stayed busy eating ice out of the cooler....

And of course grandpa provided entertainment for the kids. He had our own family Olympic games. First event was the balance beam.

Then the javelin throw....

And the shot put.....

I love Stetsons face in this picture.

After the Olympics and dinner Grandma had even more projects for the kids. We painted little wooden fire trucks for the kids to play with. It was so much fun! I can't imagine why the kids didn't want to come home?! Thanks for a memorable trip! We love you guys!

Summer Fun!

We had another swim meet this weekend in St. George. The kids did awesome. They both took all firsts except one {Stetson got second in the IM (100 yd. 25 of each stroke).}

After the swim meet we went boating out to Sand Hollow. The weather was great, but there were so many boats out on the lake it was way to crowded to get any good water to ski. We tubed a little until our boat died. We had it in the shop at the end of last summer. This was the first time we had it out since, and it was running horrible, we had to nurse it back to the ramp. The kids still had fun playing in the sand and swimming off the shore.

D.J. Tony Came on Friday to the rec. center to host a kick off reading this summer for the library. He was amazing with the kids. They had hula hoop contests, dance contests, gave away prizes. Even i was up dancing carefree abandoning all reservations. I think I had more fun than the kids! As we were leaving Stetson said, "that was the funnest thing I've ever done!" D.J Tony is from Vegas, and I am trying to get him to come and do a combined b-day party for my kids, (their b-days are all in the summer). We'll see if that works out!

Stetson was a pro at hula hooping!

Kennedi did good too. Boy can she ever wiggle those hips!

While the big kids have stayed busy this summer swimming, Maverick has stayed busy too! Getting into trouble. I put all the stools up on the cupboard because he likes to play with the ice machine on the fridge. That didn't stop this smart little fart! He found the salt in the pantry. One more great use for salt! What am I going to do with this kid???

Maverick at Sand Hollow.

This Weekend......

We started off the weekend at Justin's brothers house to help him with the community luau that he hosts every year. He cooks the authentic pig in a pit. We helped prepare the pig and get the pit ready. I must say after seeing the pigs and (smelling them) before hand it makes it a little unappetising to eat later. This is the pit layered with tons of rocks and then a bunch of firewood. We lit the wood on fire and let it burn to get the rocks hot, then wrapped the pig in burlap and layered banana leaves on top of the rocks and threw the pig in to cook all night and day.

Yori had bought his girls this little goat that Maverick was infatuated with. He played with it, and fed it FOREVER. Pretty Cute.

After we were done at Yori's that night Justin dropped me off at Red Hills Golf Course in St. George to meet some friends and participate in a midnight 5K run. It was really fun. The race started at about 11:15pm. and the moon hadn't come out yet so it was pretty dark. We had glow in the dark "stuff" on and the trail was marked with a few lights on the ground. It was hard to see anything and was not the best running conditions, but was still fun. I just started running about 6 months ago, and LOVE it. I have only ran one other 5K and improved my time by 3 minutes, so I was excited and pleased considering the conditions. By the way, that is the full moon in the background of our picture. It came out right when we were done running.

These are the girls I ran with Tiffany Hansen, Keri Graves, and me! Thanks for the fun time girls, I can't wait for the next one!

That morning the kids had a swim meet at 7:30am, ouch that came early! Sorry I didn't get any pics of the meet, but Kennedi and Stetson kicked some butt. They took first in every race! They have really improved times and have focused more on technique this year. Good job kids!

After the meet we headed back to St.George for the Luau. It was fun, the food was great, but the highlight was watching the kids run their own sno-cone stand. They were loving the fact that they were running their own "store" and making so much money. They donated all the money they made to Yori (Justin's brother) who recently had a tumor the size of a watermelon removed along with one of his kidneys and a rib. It was a scary time for us all worrying about him, and his recovery. We are so happy and relieved he is doing so well! We love you Yori! Thanks for the great party.

Trek 2008

First, push pause on my music at the bottom of my blog then push play on the slide show.

We Survived Trek! It was the one of the greatest things I have ever done. I can't believe how strong the youth are. We went 32 mi. in 3 days in 100 degree heat, through a sandy wash, up steep hills, over rocks, after an 11 mile day we got to camp at 11:30 pm and were given broth and a roll for dinner, and I didn't here one complaining word. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I had some very spiritual experiences and probably got more out of it than our trek kids did. I felt privileged and grateful to have the opportunity to go.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Anniversary Baby!

12 years and we still got the heat! hehehe (inside joke). I can remember like it was yesterday, my mom coming in to my room to wake me up for my big wedding day! I can remember the butterflies I had in my stomach and all the nervous energy that was all bundled up inside! I am happy to say that after 12 years I still feel butterflies! I couldn't have dreamed a better life. Justin is such an amazing Father and husband, and works so hard to provide for our little family. I love you with all my heart. Love ya baby! You might be wondering what fun things, weekend trips we might have planned for the big day. We celebrated by going to see Kung Fu Panda with the kids and Yori's (justin's bro.) family. It was so cute and way funny! Definitely a must see in my book.
As far as a weekend getaway...we were called by the stake presidency to be ma and pa on trek.http://gobringthemhome.com Whoo Hoo! We get to go dress up like pioneers and pull a handcart through the desert for 4 days for our big romantic trip. Oh ya, did I mention we are in charge of ten teenagers too! We leave Wed. at 6am. I've never been on trek but have heard alot about it. I have heard mixed reviews, some people are all for it and others don't care for it. I am kind of dreading it but excited in a way too, does that make any sense? Anyway, I will be experiencing it first hand in 2 days. I will let you know how it goes.

Last Day of School!!!

For the end of the year gifts for Kennedi and Stetson's teachers I made these t-shirts for them. I had all of the kids draw a sef portrait and then I scanned them onto the computer, printed them on iron on tranfer paper, and had them sign under their picture. They turned out so cute!

School is finally out! Yahoo! This is Kennedi with her third grade teacher Heidi Ogden. We are good friends with her and her family. Kennedi loved having Heidi for her teacher. She did a great job. Heidi really gave Kennedi that extra push she needed to excel, especially in reading. Kennedi got strait A's all year, and got the citizenship award, as well as most likely to "swim in the Olympics" awarded by her teacher (she is also the swim team coach). Kennedi had a great year, worked really hard, and is such a great student and friend to everyone.

Kennedi's class. Kennedi is on the front row with her little "posse". Mariah, Kennedi, Tati, and Jordan . Tatianna is Kennedi's BFF, and have been in the same class since kindergarten!

Stetson had Mrs. Hughs for kindergarten, who is also in our ward. She did an amazing job! My hat goes off to her for all of her hard work. She had 30 kindergartners all day with no aide. I don't know how she did it. I went in to help one day a week, and it gave me a better appreciation for teachers, especially good ones that love their job, and try to really shape and mold and make a difference in their students lives! Kindergarten was pretty easy for Stetson, he is the oldest in his class (Aug. b-day and we kept him back a year). He needs a real challenge in first grade. Anyway, he had a great year, made lots of friends ,and was the one everyone wanted to play with, and sit by at lunch. He is such a loving and caring little boy.

Last week Stetson came home from school and told me he earned a "paw". The paws are a reward system the school uses. Teachers can give paws out to children when they see them doing good things, picking up trash, sticking up for their friends, etc. Stetson said some bully(a third grader) was being mean to him and 2 of his friends at recess, pushing them and saying mean things. So Stetson said to the bully, "don't push me again or i am going to take you down." Of course the bully pushed him so Stetson shot the double leg on him and took him down. The kid got a bloody nose when he hit he ground. He went crying to the teacher. She called Stetson over... and gave him a paw for sticking up for his friends. What an awesome teacher! I'm sure she watched the whole incident. Justin and I were laughing so hard as Stetson was telling us about it. I can just picture it, and of course Justin is thinking "thats my boy". Moral of the story, wrestling pays off in self defense, and I would totally want to be Stetson's friend.

Baseball Party!!!!!

The party turned out great! I am the type that stresses all day, cleaning, cooking, cupcake making, pool filling, wanting everything perfect, that it is hard for me to enjoy it, but the kids had a great time and that is all that matters. Right? We had a slip~n~slide, the wading pool, hot tub, and trampoline for them to play on. They loved racing on this 3 track slide. So fun for rambunctious boys to just play hard. We had hot dogs, chips, watermelon for dinner.

After dinner we gave out awards to each of the kids. I just made candy bar covers customized for each player. Kennedi got the "hardest worker" and Stetson got the "most amazing catch". He caught a pop fly out of sheer luck, and was looking around to find the ball it took him a while to realize it was in his mitt. It was hilarious!

Then for dessert I made these "sweet" baseball cupcakes. They turned out pretty cute, but took forever to put all the laces on.

These certificates went with the candy bars! I think the kids had a great time. I guess in the end all of the stressing is worth it. To see my kids having such fun and their cute, smiling, little faces makes all the effort pay off. It was a party my kids will remember forever.

Swimming, Mud Fight, & Baseball

I haven't posting any pictures from my camera lately. My computer has been acting up~it's a dinosaur. Anyway, I thought I would post some of the activities we have been doing to lately.Swimming. This is Justin throwing Stetson for a back flip! Once Justin started this he had a job all day long. Over memorial day we went up to Yori's (Justins brother who lives in St. George). He has this awesome pool. It's huge, heated, and tons of fun. We swam barbecued and relaxed. The kids played all day!

Guess whose the instigator of this one? You guessed it, Justin. He is so crazy and fun, this is part of why I love the guy. We came home from our date night and the kids had built this awesome sand castle with the babysitter (don't know what happened to the picture I took of it). Justin couldn't take not getting down and dirty and playing in the sand with the kids. He had changed his clothes faster than you could say Flash Gordon and was right in there playing with them. One thing led to another and this was the result! It was a pretty fun night, until I had to do the laundry, ugh.

We just had our last baseball game. Justin coached and pitched to the kids. Kennedi and Stetson were on the same team, so nice not to have to run from one game to the next. Next year Kennedi will go up to machine pitch. The kids had a great season. We have a couple of kids that can really PLAY! We were undefeated. Kennedi and Steston can really hit the ball. We are having the end of the year party up at our house tomorrow, (pictures to come.)