If you can't beat em' join em'

What would your son do if he was bribed $2 from his sisters/cousins?


p.s Kylie already posted this picture of Tyson and Wesley and I am sure Heather will too. But seriously, it will NEVER get old!

To the People I share My Birthday With

Happy Birthday Heather and Preston! I seriously share my Birthday with the best 2 people EVER. Not to mention 3 years ago my cat had kittens on this same day. I love getting to share my birthday with 2 people that I love dearly. I wish I had time for a long, mushy post, but I think you will forgive me, and accept this shout out to Heather and Preston as short as this: HAPPY BIRTHDAY guys! I LOVE YOU!!!For now, I am heading out the door to Cedar City to attend my nephew Tyler's H.S Graduation. Any guesses on what my next post will be about?







ps. This CUTE little guy Dax Challis was born yesterday to Shawn and Jenise(Brians's sister in Georgia)...so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him too! If only he could have waited just 1 more day!

Mid Summer Nights Dream

Kylie was in a play last night with her 6th grade class. It was Mid Summer Nights Dream by Shakespeare. Kylie was GREAT! She played Helena, who is in love with Demetrius. The kids did a fabulous job, and had a ton of fun. I was glad it was only 45 min long, because honestly I was completely lost the entire time! Plus the chairs were not padded and there were no treats afterward. I never really did understand Shakespeare!
Sorry Kylie's eyes look freaky...I don't have any program to edit and fix them. Or I can't figure it out....

Here is Kylie dreaming of, and chasing after her "love" Demetrius




Something about a spell that put them to sleep?


Kylie was a beautiful Helena!

Catch up time (again!)

Anyone remember last year's wax museum with Kylie being Ruby Bridges? I don't know how to post a link to past blogs, or I would do that. Anyway, it is where all the 5th graders pick a person from the past to research, write a report on themr on, and then dress up like them for their annual wax museum. Then all the parents come and walk through as the kids hold perfectly still, as if they were a wax figure. It must be the teachers favorite day of the year! The kids are amazing at how still they can be, and how creative some were with their costumes. Sydney decided to be Shirley Temple. How could she not, with that curly blond hair and all. She was a pretty great Shirley if I do say so myself. Here are some cute pictures of her and a few other favorites.


Isn't she CUTE?


Gotta love the $4 DI dress!


George Bush




Elvis


Emma Smith (this is Utah people)



and of course Joseph right next to her!



Thomas Jefferson


Sydney's best friend Brooke as Sacagawea

Enough of wax museum, I am sure you are all bored to death. Just in case you are not...let me bore you with Hope of America Pictures. This really is the coolest program ever. The 5th graders do it every year and it is NOT to be missed! Remember last years pictures? Well, this years look EXACTLY the same! Except...this year I got to do it with Sydney's class because they needed someone to keep these kids in line for the actual performance. It was such a different experience this year participating instead of watching. Brian didn't get to come last year so this was his first time with Hope of America. He LOVED it! The kids sang their hearts out and it was so patriotic that you couldn't help but get goose bumps! Sydney and I are the 6th row up starting from the blue row...on the far right. I am in a blue shirt and Sydney is in white with her blonde bun very visible. Can you find us?
Best part of the day? Easy. BYU Mint Brownies!!


Pictures DO NOT do this justice!



Can you find us?

Confidence

Today Tyson and I were out playing basketball when he turns and says to me "Mom, how come I am so good at Basketball?" Good question son, you sure didn't get your skills from me! Just a few days ago he told me he was without a doubt the smartest kid in his whole class. Seriously...where does this kid get his confidence from? Yet..another trait he DID NOT get from me. I LOVE it though!


Tyson putting one through the hoop!

Spring Break!!

Ok... I am so far behind on blogging that you better sit down and relax...this is going to be a LONG one!

First on the agenda: SPRING BREAK!!
There is soo many great things to post about Spring Break...that I don't even know where to begin. Oh...yes I do. I am starting with my VERY favorite part of Spring Break. I mean my VERY favorite part!








Is she not the SWEETEST baby you have seen? Maybe it's because it's been a few years since a baby has been around...but I could not get enough of little Aftyn! I spent the whole week fighting with my girls, and Heather for snuggling time with Aftyn. I really hope we didn't ruin her for Courtney...because this little angel did not get put down in the 6 days we were there. Thanks to Mom, Becky and Courtney who let us hog her the whole time! They do get to see her every day though! She is such a sweetheart and it she truly was the highlight of the trip!

We did a lot of other fun stuff besides baby snuggling. We took the kids to an apple packing company, which they thought was really cool. sorry no pictures of this :( I was probably holding the baby so I forgot to grab the camera!

We had 2 great Easter egg hunts. At Grandmas, there were 2 golden eggs (with $5 inside) and 2 silver eggs (with $3 in) for the kids to find, among the 255 eggs the Easter bunny hid. Sydney found the first golden egg and Aftyn (really Courtney!) found the second golden egg. The kids had so much fun, and were completely LOADED up on candy! We also went to a nearby resort that had a Easter egg hunt, and even got to visit with the Easter Bunny. It was great weather, and boy were we glad to be out of the Utah snow for Easter egg hunting! That really didn't sound fun.


Tyson and the Easter Bunny


The "big kids"


Our little kids rocked!


Tyson bumming hard with NO golden egg!


Kylie and her golden find!

Monday night we went to a stake play that I had 2 cousins performing in. It was Beauty and the Beast. My cousin Mel's husband, Milo, played the bookeeper, and my cousin David played Lapoo. They were so great and the kids LOVED the entertainment. I never knew acting was in our blood! Thanks for inviting us Mel!

The kids loved driving Grandpas golf cart around the yard... the bushes and trees in the yard did not enjoy the under experienced drivers, however. Hopefully everything will survive the "few" accidents.

It was such a great trip. Thanks to Mom, We are very glad we made the 12+ hour drive to visit my family. Getting back to real life is challenging, yet refreshing!

Next up: WOMENS CONFERENCE!
A few good friends and I decided to head to Womens Conference this year at BYU and stay in the dorms. If you have never done this before...let me just say. DO IT!!! It was sooo much fun. I truly needed this little get away full of spiritual enlightenment. The classes were fabulous, and my friends are the best. We really had the best time. The ONLY sad part was that we somehow left the weekend without a BYU mint brownie that we had been soo looking forward to. I guess BYU was not prepared for the amount of brownies 20thousand or something women could consume in a few days, and they ran out. Sad times...but don't worry we are going next year. First thing on the agenda will be grabbing a brownie while they are still around! I didn't take enough pictures...another reason to go back next year!
Here we are at one of the fabulous classes


Here we are at Los Hermanos...YUMMY!


Oh I have so much more to post...like a Lagoon day with Brian and Kylie, Dexter's first soccer game (I'll let Heather do that one...it is good!), Brian and Brett taking all the kids to jump on it with no serious injuries,a trip from Becky's gang, which included a sleepover with 11 kids (CRAZY!), and lots of other fun stuff...but I am feeling blogger overwhelmed...so this is it for now. Except one last story that I just HAD to share. My sweet hubby needs your prayers.
Last week Brian was doing a hardwood floor for a neighbor and friend in our old ward. He is a 74 year old man, but is young in personality, and spirit. He collapsed in front of Brian with a massive heart attack. Brian did CPR for about 10-15 min until the paramedics arrived. It was a VERY chaotic and awful scene, with the wife watching the whole thing, completely hysterical. (I don't blame her ONE bit!) Anyway, the paramedics took him away still unconscious and not breathing on his own. He did have a little pulse but a very irregular heart beat. He lived on life support for 3 days until the family knew it was his time to go, and there was going to be no coming back for him. The funeral was yesterday. Brian has really struggled with this whole event. He was able to meet the whole family yesterday at the funeral, and that helped a lot. All the children thanked him for his efforts in keeping him alive, even just for a few days for the family to gather and say goodbye. They are such a gracious and wonderful family. Several years ago this man was given 6 mos to live from a previous heart attack, so they were glad for any remaining time they had left with him. I am so proud of Brian, and how he was able to stay calm, and do absolutely everything he could for this man. All the paramedics and police said he couldn't have done ANYTHING better. Anyway...give a little prayer for Brian, he needs them right now. He is doing better every day though, and I know it will be just a matter of time and this will all be behind him.

Tomorrow I get to spend the day with the 5th graders at the BYU Marriot Center, getting ready for their Hope of America performance tomorrow night. Wish me luck on the bus ride...but don't worry there will be BYU mint brownies for sale once I get there. I am pretty sure it is going to be a good day!

I can still hear the screaming

The girls sporting their new "T's"


Sooo excited...The concert is about to start!

I think my ears are permanently damaged! LOUD, but awesome! Imagine 10,000 screaming teenage girls. It is truly deafening! It was soo worth losing the hearing! David has really come out of his shell and is so much more comfortable on stage than when he was on AI. He looks like he is having an absolute blast on stage! 0090He sounds awesome live! Just as good as his cd! The girls had a blast! They were so fun to watch. Kylie was convinced that David waved right at her one time :)!
The ONLY bad news was that Brian had my camera in his truck and so when we went to leave for the concert I couldn't find it anywhere. Kylie brought hers...but it is a $20 cheap WalMart camera. So cheap that as I am now looking at all the pictures on my computer...there is 2 that turned out. Both of the girls. Well..they are cute at least. We had good seats too...not like the stinking camera had to zoom very far! Just trust me when I say David looked ADORABLE!!

We were told that after the concert he would be signing autographs back by the exit gate where he would depart from. So right after "crush" (Kylie's favorite!)we headed outside to wait. We were about 20th in line so were feeling pretty confident we would get to see him up close and personal. Maybe even get an autograph! It was 30 degrees outside...sooo COLD! I somehow made it to the concert with no jacket. Kylie and I traded off warming up in her jacket. She was in short sleeves but her adrenaline was keeping her warm! 45 min later we were almost FROZEN! A nice man came out and said that David normally comes and signs autographs after wards...but that he had about 100 family members backstage that he hadn't seen in almost a year...and so he would not be coming out. Family shamily! URGGG!! We froze for 45 min for NOTHING! It was 11:30 by this time too, and we had a 45 min drive home still. Of course I had to get up for work at 5:30 this morning! It was totally worth it though...just to see the girls having a great time. I am sure it won't be the last Archie concert we attend! Next time with coats and cameras!