Finally!

Finally the kids are out for Christmas break! I thought it would never happen. It seems like every other school got out on Friday, but our poor kids had to go through Tuesday! They didn't mind as they were just playing the last 2 days, but I'd rather they were playing with me! I'm selfish that way. I've had a terrible head cold since Saturday, the first one I have had in several years. I have simply GOT to get better by this Saturday since we are staying with Jackson and his ANC is getting pretty low from his chemo. I am downing the vitamin C like nobody's business! Keep your fingers crossed for me! So today we slept in, and it was glorious. Kylie and Brian are on their way to the temple, and I think some baking for the rest of us is in order!
I haven't posted in a while because I still don't have a camera. A post without pictures just isn't the same. I'll tell you, Santa had better bring me a camera in a few days or he will be sleeping outside in the snow! I have felt completely lost without a camera the last couple of months. You might as well take my right arm too! I feel like I have missed so much. Thank heavens I have had my Mother in Law's camera for major events. Don't disappoint me Santa! I really hope to be posting again in a few days, with lots of pictures to share!
It is snowing right now and it makes Christmas break seem more exciting. The kids are loving every minute of it! It is supposed to clear out by the time we leave to Washington, so that's all I care about! Clear roads! We finally got around to watching the First Presidency Christmas devotional Monday night, and we all loved when President Monson instructed us to not only think about what we are going to spend our money on this Christmas, but how are we going to spend our time? I have spent the last day calling all the homeless shelters and other places trying to find a place for us to volunteer. EVERYTHING is full through the holidays! Crazy! I finally found a place for us to serve, after a million phone calls and 2 million transfers all over the place.(At least it felt that way!) Bright and early tomorrow morning we are headed down to Welfare Square for some good old service to be rendered. We can't wait. I have no idea what we will be doing, but I am sure it will be great for the kids. (Brian and I too!) Hope you are all enjoying your break so far! This is such a great season to reflect on our blessings, and they sure are many. Merry Christmas!

WHAT!! My baby is 9!

Man it is really time for a catch up post! I am on a little leave of absence from work right now, but have never felt busier! How does that happen? Although there are about 10 things I need to post about...only one thing matters right now. Yesterday Tyson turned 9! I can't believe my baby is 9 years old! I hate that he is growing up, although he gets more and more fun each year. Tyson is such a character in our family. The boy NEVER holds still. He is jumping, flipping, doing handstands, and moving ALL day long. He is exhausting to watch! It is no wonder I can't get any weight on this boy. He must burn 5,000 calories an hour! Tyson loves basketball, gymnastics, scouts, playing the wii, playing with his friends, singing all the time, and fishing/camping with his Dad. He has decided he likes school this year, although still isn't loving reading like the girls do. He loves math and is quite a whiz at it too. I am so grateful for this little boy in our family. He is almost always happy and is a great helper to me. He is a mamas boy all the way, and I get the privilege of "snuggling" him every night at bed time. That is when he likes to talk my ear off. He is good at stalling bed time! Brian and Tyson spend many hours watching "monster jam", and all kinds of hunting shows, and just talking boy talk. Tyson is so lucky to have a Dad that LOVES being with him every minute that he can. He gets pretty sick of us girls! We had a small party with a few friends and cousins yesterday after school. They started out sledding for an hour or so, then came home for hot chocolate and pizza. Our first big snow storm came just at the right time. Tyson loves sledding! Next they opened presents and then had cake and ice cream. Tyson has such great friends and cousins, and they were so much fun to have all together! After the party was over, we watched Night at the Museum 2, and had popcorn, Tyson's favorite snack.

Tyson REFUSED to wear a hat. Whatever dude!


They were totally bugged I made them stop and pose for a picture!


An awesome nerf sword from Carter! Thank heavens it is nerf!


A sweet pocket knife from Davin! YIKES!


A super fun remote control truck from Wes, Brax, and Dex! He LOVES it!


A Wii accessory kit from G& G Wade. FUN!



His Favorite gift from Mom and Dad. A RIPSTICK with light up wheels! Suhwheet!


As you can tell, Tyson scored once again! It was a great day! Now that sledding is over, the snow needs to melt so he can ride his ripstick! I think waiting until April is going to be torture! Happy Birthday Buddy! We love you to pieces!

Snow and a sleepover!

I swear Utah is bi-polar! It can't decide what season it wants to be. We had 70's, then snow a few weeks ago, then high 60's again all this week, and snow today! The kids always have a blast playing in the first good snowfall. I can't tell you how much we got today because it is still snowing like crazy! Tyson and Sydney had a couple friends over and built a snow "ramp" off the front porch steps. Yikes! They have also fine tuned their plan to become rich shoveling all the neighbors driveways this winter. If you live close by, consider yourself warned! Meanwhile Kylie is upstairs sleeping the afternoon away. She had 5 friends over for a sleepover last night and bed time ended up around 4:30a.m.! They were so loud it was unbelievable, but they were having such a great time that I couldn't bear to tell them to quiet down! I was thoroughly entertained just listening to them! They played wii, dance dance revolution, painted nails, ate pizza, watched a scary movie, and other activities that had them laughing so loud I was waiting for cops to show up and give us a ticket for disturbing the peace or whatever. I have no idea what they were doing around 2 am but it sounded like a herd of elephants upstairs. I was waiting for my ceiling fan to come down on me any minute! I am so mad I didn't get pictures of them, because they ratted their hair to high heaven and played rock band like pro's. It was quite the sight! Kylie has such a great group of friends, we love when they come over! Even if it means a sleepless night for all!

4 excited kids! Think the excitement will last 6 more months? (Tyson in front)



Tyson and Carter hard at work!

Pinewood Derby//Halloween 2009

Tyson had his first ever pinewood derby the end of October. He and Brian had a great time making his car. Tyson was so excited when it was finally pinewood derby night, that as you can imagine, he was once again bouncing off the walls. Man, it seems like I say that a lot about my boy! He had a great time and took 3rd place out of 18 boys. Not bad for a rookie! Brian has already figured out what he needs to do to lock in first place next year. Good grief! Isn't this just for fun?

Brian and Tyson with their finished product! Looks great guys!


Tyson after one of his wins. Look at that grin!


Tyson and Carter. Phew! They were still best buds after the race!


Any guesses on how Tyson felt about the results?


What a great bunch of goofy cub scouts!




We had a great Halloween, and HOORAY the weather cooperated for us. It was a beautiful night. Kylie was a pregnant housewife, and decided that having a huge belly in front of you isn't much fun. She was so glad to take out that pillow at the end of the day! She hated it so much that when it came time for her to go to a friends Halloween party she changed her costume completely and became a pink lady bug. I didn't get any pictures of that, darn it! She had a fun time at the party but totally missed getting lots of candy. Thankfully Sydney and Tyson shared a little!
Sydney put together a creative smore costume. She looked great, but man she could hardly move in this costume...so she ended up ditching the graham cracker part of it by the time the evening was half over.
Tyson and his best buddy Carter were cheerleaders. And DANG cute ones too! Their costume came complete with a cheer and everything! I took these two trick or treating and they lasted for 3 1/2 hours and came home with over 8lbs of candy! Holy cow! I have never laughed so hard though, they were absolutely a blast to hang out with. Carter's Mom made homemade chicken noodle soup, scones, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to fill us up right before we headed out. YUM! It was soooo stinking good! Thanks a bunch Natalie! When the boys got home they sorted and organized their ridiculous amounts of candy. They were soo dang funny! It was a great night, with only one little problem...now I've just got to figure out a way to keep my hands out of the pounds and pounds of chocolate floating around the house! Wish me luck!

Have you ever seen 2 cuter cheerleaders?


Look out BYU and UTE cheerleaders!


Sorry I had this on the wrong setting! Still cuties though!


Tyson smiling with his giant load! Get this candy out of my house!

You really can't get the idea of how much candy this really was because it is spread so far apart. It was 8.8 lbs of candy! Any takers?

I video recorded the girl's last swim meet from the camera, and I have been trying for days to figure out how to get it onto my computer. I can view it but can't save it to download onto my blog. Help anyone?

It's that time of year again!

The kids have been tirelessly harassing me to carve pumpkins. I have been putting them off for a while waiting until it got closer to Halloween. Let's face it...once carved, pumpkins last a very short time! Yesterday I had a very frustrating day at work (surprise,surprise!) and I couldn't stop stewing about it. Then when the kids wouldn't cooperate doing homework, I desperately needed a break. It had been a long weekend with Kylie and Sydney sick, me working, and Brian out of town. So, I headed out the door the hit the gym. Somehow I can get all my frustrations out on the treadmill. It is so therapeutic for me! Anyway, when I got home Grandpa had taken Kylie to the store and they came home with PUMPKINS, and DONUTS!! We carved and painted, had donuts and hot chocolate, and had a GREAT time! It made for the perfect FHE night! I am so grateful for Brian's parents who are aware of the days I am struggling, and step in to help. They are so good to us. Kylie painted Sponge Bob, Tyson drew his all by himself and then Dad carved it, Sydney and I created a "sick" pumpkin (too much candy I guess!, and Grandpa carved a great looking pumpkin too! Grandma was in charge of pictures. I feel so helpless without a camera still, so that was MUCH appreciated! It is snowing like crazy outside right now. Winter has arrived. Guess it had to happen soon or later, although I would have preferred later! Happy Halloween!

The finished products! Don't they look great!

Joy in the Journey

Monday night for FHE I had every person in the family write on a piece of paper the 5 things in their life that were most important to them. It could be anything at all. Some of the answers were : family, testimony/relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, basic necessities of life (food, shelter, clothing), good health, education,and so on. The fact of it is, all the things that are MOST important to us, we have. We absolutely have everything that is most important to us right now. We are so blessed. Why then is it so hard at times to see that? Why do we put so much focus and energy on wanting things that, in the end, don't matter. Why can't we find joy in the journey of life more often, to find the joy in the NOW. It seems as if we are always looking forward to another stage of life, or for certain changes to come. I don't know anyone who ever sat back later in life and wished their kids had grown up faster. It makes me sick how fast mine are growing up. I don't know anyone who hasn't gone through a trial of some kind, only to find that it ended up being a blessing in disguise or that they had grown tremendously during the process. It's just how it works. And even when we are going through those trials or have to do things everyday that we would rather not be doing (like going to work!)we can, and need to find joy in the NOW. NOTHING lasts forever. Everything changes. What a true blessing that is. It is how we learn and grow. How much easier would life be if we could just find joy in the little things each day. If we really look, we can find good in everything. That is right...EVERYTHING. I dare you to put it to the test. There absolutely is a positive to everything that happens. It just might be hard to find, or take a while to figure out. We have to go through the sorrows of life so that we can truly appreciate and more fully recognize the tender mercies of our loving Heavenly Father. I am newly determined and looking forward to focusing on the joys of the NOW! And not just on the days when everything seems happy and easy. Finding joy in the NOW, every single day. Even the hard days. Won't you join me?

Lehi Frenzy Swim Team!

Swim meet season has begun. Here we go again! After a nice year long break, the girls are back at it. They had a week and a half of practice and then their first meet was this weekend. I almost forgot how stinking LONG swim meets are! Almost! Friday was 4-9p.m. and Saturday 9-12am.This was a much larger meet than normal though, so it was a not such a great way to break us in slowly! And of course, out of those 8 hrs your child swims an average of 6 min total, between all of their events! Let me tell you, those 6 minutes are pretty exciting though! Kylie and Sydney did AWESOME!! Brian and I were soo proud of them!I thought it would take a month or two before they were back in shape and in competing form. WRONG! They both kicked butt at their meet, and cut major time off each of their events. Kylie shaved 13 seconds off her 100 free and Sydney 9 seconds off her 100 IM. ( 100IM Is Individual Medley which is 25 yards of each of the 4 strokes: butterfly, back, breast and free). Their coach was impressed and knows they will continue to shave time off as they get in better shape. It was so fun to watch them and see them improve from last year. We even came home with a couple ribbons! Now if it just wasn't so HOT, LOUD, CROWDED, and FOREVER LONG in those dang indoor pools! Also, I really need to learn how to photograph swimmers. I manage to snap the picture as soon as they go under the water every time! It is a lot harder than it looks! I still have no camera (sigh...) so I used Heathers, and her camera is a little too fancy for me. Seriously these pictures are terrible. Heather tells me after the meet...that I need hold down the button half way to focus, and then take the picture. Oops...but now I know, so no more blurry pictures I promise!

Sydney in her first event (purple cap) 100 IM (look at her in the lead!)



Kylie stepping up on the block for her first event (crummy picture I know)


Kylie was smiling the whole time during her 100 breast stroke
So glad she is having FUN!



Swimming fast is EXHAUSTING! Sydney's well deserved nap!


We have such an awesome group of kids on the team, fabulous coaches, and the girls are having a GREAT time. Go Lehi Frenzy!

McKenna Can!

This morning Brett, Heather, Brian and I ran a 5k. It was a fundraiser for a 12 year old girl in our neighborhood who has leukemia for the second time. She was in remission at age 10 and now it is back. She is going through experimental chemo treatments 5 days a week. She was there at the race, smiling and happy. Her family says she has the most positive attitude, and nothing gets her down.You can read her story at McKennacan.blogspot.com. There were about 300 racers, so it was like a traffic jam on the narrower parts of the route! It was awesome there was such a big turnout for our little neighborhood! Brian beat us all with a time of around 24 min! Not bad for a guy who doesn't exercise! He also swigged a diet mt. dew right before the race. Maybe I ought to try that next time! Brett would have been that fast too, but he went the first mile and a half with Heather and I. But then he said his legs were hurting because he was going "too slow"! Sorry Brett, but if you were 4'11" that pace would NOT be "too slow!" But honestly, their legs are a foot longer than ours! That is the ONLY reason they beat us!:) I'm sure some heart defected twin slowed Heather down some too, but she was kind enough to slow her pace and run with me. That's the price you pay being the twin with the "normal" heart! Heather and I finished with a time of 32 min. It was about 2-3 min slower than any 5k we have run, but this one had a few hills and it slowed us down quite a bit! The last 3/4 mile is uphill. URGG! I thought I might die. I LOATHE running uphill! Anyway, we made it and it was for a great cause. We actually ran right by our house and my sweet daughters had made signs and were there cheering us on! In fact they were also our photographers for the event. Thanks kids! The theme of the race was McKenna Can because if anyone can beat leukemia twice, McKenna can!
p.s. Happy Birthday to Becky! I love you sooo much sis! Hope your day was FABULOUS!

Brian gives our cheering section a high 5!


The corner of the photo is Kylie's poster, Brett is in the white Lehi soccer t-shirt and Heather and I are on both sides of him, in orange and pink.


Heather and I crossing the finish line.


Hooray..it's all over!


So while you are all praying with me for my nephew Jackson and his chemo treatments, and I know you are, throw in an extra prayer for McKenna. Seriously, you guys ROCK!

September Fun

I can't believe September is almost over. Seriously? The highlight of the month for us was : GETTING GRASS! We laid sod a week ago today. It was back breaking work, literally. I pulled a muscle or something in my back and have been pretty much down all week. Saturday I felt good enough to climb to Timp Caves, and had a good day yesterday too. But the entire week was a wash for me. URGG. I will seriously empathize with people and back pain now. I have never felt so frustrated or helpless. Not to mention that Brian was out of town deer hunting all week too! Sigh. He should be back today sometime, just as my back is finally on the mend! Doesn't the grass look awesome though. It was probably worth it....I'm just not quite to the point of admitting it yet. I'm still bitter :)

This was a team effort for sure!



A view from the side


Sydney enjoying the fruits of her labor!


This was the easier of the back breaking tasks. Lifting the HEAVY pieces of sod is what did me in!


A view from the front. Whew! All done.

We climbed Timp Caves yesterday. I LOVE Timp caves. The hike up is challenging, but not too hard. It is beautiful and peaceful, and inside the caves are really cool. This is the 2nd time this month we have done it...and if it were up to me, we would go every Saturday. I am pretty sure I will not be able to drag Kylie up there again for a while. It is not an easy hike, and she is 13 after all. To say the least, she didn't want to go yesterday. She did go, and ended up having fun, although I don't think she will admit it. Tyson and his new BFF Carter (other than his cousins, of course) practically RAN up the mile and a half STEEP mountain. They were seriously crazy, those boys! Somebody has got to find a way to harness little boys energy and bottle it up! I know I can drag those two up anytime...they loved it as much as I did. They were a little disgusted at how slow the rest of us were though. They said they got tired of "waiting" around for us! I did beat them down the mountain though. I had to go BAD, and so I ran down, which they kept telling me was against the rules. Which it is, but when you gotta go, you gotta go!

Just starting our hike


Break Time!


This is how Kylie felt about the day! LOVE it!


These two are inseperable!


View of the Valley below. If I remember right, this is about half way up. (THe dark haired girl is Syd's friend CJ.


Grandma and the kids inside the cave


The kids and I inside the cave


Brian did get a deer on Friday morning. Maybe it was Saturday...I don't really remember. I just know he has been gone for a long time, and I am ready to have him home! He was disappointed it wasn't a bigger deer, but his Dad still has a tag, so they are hoping to shoot a bigger one before today. Either way, my kitchen is about to become a slaughter house. I do like the jerky once it is all finished, so I won't complain. As long as I don't have to do the butchering, and just the eating.

Jackson, I thought of you often this week, buddy. As I laid in bed for what felt like FOREVER with my injured back, I knew that what you were going through was a LOT harder than what I was going through. And I knew if you had a smile on your face, and were being a trooper (which I knew you were) then so could I. Thanks for being my inspiration. We are praying hard that your mouth sores, nausea, and fatigue are about to be kicked to the curb!

You'll be swinging high again soon buddy! Hang tight!

We are looking forward to a great week with some very exciting visitors! They might be from California. Hooray! We are thrilled to no end! Family pictures are in order too, since it has been like....geesh I don't even know when we took the last ones! Swim team is about to start, the weather is changing, and the stinking deer hunt is ALMOST over! It really is the end of September, isn't it? Bring on those beautiful fall colors.

Fried

My camera is fried. Dead. Won't even turn on. You get the idea. I hate not having a camera! And I have been dying to post the great pictures Brian took of him and Tyson up on Boulder Mountain. The good news is that I can take the card in and still get the pictures off my camera...so they are not lost. Hooray for that! Wait...I just realized that the camera died while Brian had it on Boulder Mountain. Maybe it took a little dip in one of the fishing Lakes. That might explain it's sudden death. Not to place the blame or anything...I'm just saying! :)

Anyhow, life is going fabulous. Nothing to complain about (except the dead camera.) I have learned to really enjoy and cherish the good times, you never know how long they might last! I am still working less hours (after begging my manager for months) and really, really loving that. I feel like a new woman! I really don't know how some Mom's work full time. Part time is enough for me. I guess I am just a big wimp. But I am sooo grateful for the reduction in hours, and hopefully I can keep doing it for a while. It seriously has made the hugest difference for me :) :)
I am pretty sure my family is enjoying having the "real" me back too!

Tyson started gymnastics this month, and after 2 lessons in level 1 they moved him to level 2. His coach said he has "mad skills" and could go very far in gymnastics. I'm not sure that is what Brian and I really want...but it is killing some time until basketball starts. And he LOVES it...so that is an added bonus! The girls are finishing up gymnastics also, and getting ready to start swim team again Oct. 1. I swear these two like to play musical sports. Try a new one every month! I knew they couldn't stay away from swim too long though. I am excited for them to start, because it means gym time for me. Whew! It's been a while!

Lastly, Jackson. My awesome, handsome, unbelievable 14 year old nephew Jackson. He is facing chemo for the 2nd time in his 14 years. I ache for him and his family, but am soo grateful for the fact that there is help available for him. We weren't sure there was going to be, so this is a huge blessing. It is no news to any of you that Jackson and his family have the greatest faith, strength and positive perspectives EVAH! They are going to come through this with flying colors. Still won't you join me in praying for them? Thanks! I knew you would.

Tyson and Sydney 1st day of School

We took a little final hoorah trip the day after school started. Who says you can't celebrate the first day of school by missing the second? We went to Lake Powell and enjoyed a day at the beach. The weather was so great and we only got the van stuck in the sand twice! The kids loved, loved, loved jet skiing, and cliff jumping. Don't have pictures of either, because cameras and water don't do well together. But trust me, the kids were all smiles! We got to see the biggest sandstorm Brian and I had ever seen in our lives. It was literally an huge wall covering the whole horizon, of pink sand coming at us. They actually evacuated all the beaches, but not quite soon enough. Brian was out on the Lake when it happened and thought it was great fun jumping the jet skis over the HUGE waves, until he started getting pelted with sand. He said it felt like he was getting hit with a sand blaster. OUCH! He rushed back into the shore, with no harm done! The sandstorm lasted a couple hours. So we went bowling, to dinner, and ice cream instead of the Lake the 2nd day. Hey, we are flexible like that. On our way home we stopped in Kanab to visit with the Grandparents. Grandpa White (who turned 90 in May) let the kids wreak havoc in his garden, and we came away with bags full of carrots, tomatoes, squash, and green beans. They were all soooo yummy! We even got to see 2 bucks just chilling in his garden, until Grandpa chased them away. I guess he doesn't like sharing his hard work with the wild life. Can't say I blame him. Then Grandma Wade fed us yummy lunch and let the kids feed her hummingbirds. We had such a great time, and we got to visit each grandparent for a couple of hours. I am so glad we stopped because the kids really got to spend some quality time getting to know their great grandparents better. They are such great examples, and so fun to be with!
Tyson has been really into praying mantis lately, they are EVERYWHERE around our house!) and his favorite thing to do is catch them, and then let them wander around his room. Seriously? Someone should have warned me that scooping up praying mantis's off your son's bed, and wall, and floor, was in the job description for Mother.
Well, school is in full swing, and so far so good. Tyson has been hesitant to say the least on a few days, but all in all the kids are loving this new school, and new year. They have great teachers, and Sydney and Tyson have loved riding their bikes to school every morning. I keep telling them to enjoy it because the snow will be here before we know it! End of summer/the start of fall is my favorite time of year!

Dad and Tyson having fun at the Lake


Sydney takin' it easy!


Beautiful Lake Powell



YUM! Picking fresh vegetables!


Grandpa helping the kids wash the carrots


Grandpa giving those deer a piece of his mind!


Off they go to find a new garden to raid!


Tyson with one of his many new friends


Honestly.