Senior Pics

Tayler was called recently by a photography studio in our area to model for them. She is a senior in high school this year and of course she is beautiful. They wanted to use her to advertise. Showing that you could have pictures done by them and not have to settle for school pictures. All of her pictures turned out gorgeous. I am so proud of her. She has grown to be a wonderful woman with great qualities. She is very caring and thoughtful. She isn't afraid to stand up for what is right even if she is the only one. She doesn't let anyone push her around. She is incredibly smart. She can achieve anything that she sets her mind to. And she is loved by everyone she meets. How could I be so blessed?!

Can you die from laughter?!

Night before last Sandy and I were laying on our bed watching  T.V. (as we do pretty much every night). Slade more often than not joins us on our bed. He loves to get in the middle. These opportunities with Slade are priceless as we always tend to hear stories from him that we normally couldn't drag out of him by asking  questions. Well we were watching something on the National Geographic Channel and Sandy didn't have a shirt on, neither did Slade for that matter. I, being silly said, "Slade watch what happens to Dad's nipple when I pinch it hard for a long time, it pokes out but its flat." If you have ever heard of too much information well you are mistaken on the meaning. You would think that what I had said and done was too much information, WRONG!!! What Slade said next fits the too much information thing far more than anything I have ever heard. He said, "Hey yeah! I like to do that to mine too! I pinch them to make them hard too!" I just about fell off the bed laughing. But that wasn't all he said. He then looked at me and said, "Sometimes when they are hard I rub them until they get flattened again!" Not a smile on his face, not a look of i am trying to get a rise out you, just complete and total sincerity. I literally laughed so hard I cried and just about peed my pants. It is amazing to me how unbelievably cute and smart this hysterical and innocent boy can be.

Heritage Festival 2010

 Tayler and Garrett go to a music competition in Los Angeles every other year with the Fredonia High School Band & Chorus.This was the 2nd time for each of them. This year I was able to go with them as a chaperone. I secured my spot almost a year before hand because a lot of parents want to go,(not really to chaperone but to go as a vacation with their spouse). I paid for both Sandy and I to go. We had every intention to actually chaperone. We knew it would be our last opportunity to go with Tate. She will be out of high school for the next competition. Two months before the trip Sandy got a new job so he wan't able to go. It was really diappointing because he would have only missed 4 hours of work to go, but being the hoistman he can't be replaced and only having the job for 2 months it wasn't really appropiate to even consider. I decidedto ask my mom. I thought that it would be a fun get away for her so she took Sandy's place. We spent 8 hours on Big Blue (the high school grey hound) getting there the 1st day. The 2nd day we spent playing in Disneyland. I chaperoned Tate, Sandy, & Devan. Brad just hung out with us because we are so much fun. My mom was a chaperone for Garrett, Clayton, Mitchell, and Afton(not pictured). They of course didn't hang out with us because Garrett's favorite girl was with another chaperone. So the four boys were basically out of sight. They were good about calling every couple hours to tell me where they were. I think the only time I had Garrett with me was a couple hours that night at Disneyland and when he wanted to buy souvenirs & dinner. The 3rd day we got up early and headed to a college up the road to competition. Garrett plays the base drum in the band and in my opinion is the absolute best base drum player in the world. Tayler sings in the chorus and she of course has the most beautiful voice, the voice of an angel. Both groups did  incredibly well, each taking a bronze in their competitions. That evening we returned to Disneyland for the awards ceremony. It was rainy so they had to move the ceremony to a smaller venue and the kids weren't able to attend, only the teacher (Lanell Allen) and the chaperones were able to attend. I hope I didn't upset anyone but I chose to stay with my group of kids and have fun with them. The 4th day of the trip was once again spent traveling for hours to get home. Most of which I slept (YIPPEE). It was a fun trip. I hope to be able to do it again with Parker and Slade and maybe even with Garrett again in 2 years.

On the way home we stopped at a rest stop in the middle of no where and couldn't believe that they had two separate rest rooms for the women.......Funny!!!!!

Easter 2010

We are a pretty traditional family when it comes to Easter. We love to color easter eggs!! Each year I usually buy an egg dying kit that we haven't tried before. This year it was a chalk kit. You first dye the egg and then after it's dry you draw on it with chalk. It was alot of fun to dye the eggs, the chalk part was a little disappointing. But no matter they turned out beautiful!!

Easter morning Slade was out of bed before Sandy or I. I think that he was probably awake around 5:30 am but he kept pretty quiet.No one knew he was even up. I had woke up around that time and had basically been told without words to not worry. Then I woke again at 6 and Sandy then asked if I was stressing and of course I said yes. Turns out it wasn't unwarranted. Slade and Dad went and got Grandma and then went off to get coffee and some breakfast from Mickey D's. I believe it was to give me a chance for some rest. They came home an hour later and spread the easter excitement through the house. We all went out to find the baskets and eggs that the Easter Bunny had hid, the eggs a little to well. Later that afternoon we went to my mom's house to have a meal with my sisters and their families. It was a good day and a good easter.

Easter~ a competition?

This year was a little different than in years past. My 2 big kids weren't as involved with things as they usually are. Tayler had her wisdom teeth out just a couple days before easter and it seems that if she doesn't participate then Garrett isn't as interested. Tayler has always taken great joy in doing all the traditions of a holiday. Easter time she absolutely loves to color easter eggs. Easter morning she seems to love the search for her easter basket and the easter eggs. She just didn't feel well enough to color easter eggs because we colored them on Friday night, which was the day her widom teeth were removed. Easter morning she was still in a lot of pain and pretty sick to her stomach, so she wasn't able to enjoy the hunt either. Well I noticed that Garrett only wanted to color a few eggs this year and didn't take the time to really decorate them. On easter morning he didn't take much interest in the hunt for anything. After finding his basket he said, "Okay I found my basket, i'm done." I have done some contemplating on the mystery of Garrett enjoying himself in these family traditions. What conclusions have I come up with you ask? It seems to me that if there is no competition Garrett doesn't find it interesting and Tayler is his greatest competitor. She doesn't compete with him but I don't think he knows that. He has this big competition going on in his head. I wonder........ who wins?

Tate's Lucky Day

This past friday was Tayler's lucky day, she got to have her widom teeth out. I personally think that she thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Haha! She had to go to an oral surgeon in St. George because they were turned completely side ways in her jaw. She couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight and by her 10 o'clock appointment she was starting to complain. After the doctor put her to sleep it only took half an hour to remove all four. She was swollen. Sick to her stomach (throwing up) for 3 days after. Easter day wasn't so great and she had a hard time participating. She did try to find easter eggs but ended up just sitting on equipment out in the yard. Today is Monday and although she is still a little swollen and taking  a small amount of pain medication she is finally okay.

Easter Morning.

Slade & The Pine Wood Derby '10

It seems like with 3 boys we have made a lot of Pine Wood Derby cars. This year on March 26th was the Derby, Slade was the only one of my boys that was going to participate. Both of my other boys have reached Scout age. Slade is my last Cub Scout. :(  Makes me wanna cry. Anyway like I said we have always made a CAR. This year we asked Slade what kind of a car he wanted to make. His answer came with looks of confusion from his Dad and I both, " I want a Bullet Bill car!". A what??? "You know mom, Bullet Bill on the super mario game that we have for the Wii."  How could I be so ignorant? Of course I know the Bullet Bill, who doesn't. So I spent some time on the internet trying to get the perfect colored picture. Sure I could play the game and see exactly what he looked like, but man he sure moves fast.  I did find that perfect picture, and while I was gone one day he and Dad cut out the Bill. They did a wonderful job. Now it was up to me not to disappoint on the paint. I swear it took me most of one afternoon to get it right as I am not Van Gough. Upon completion all Slade could say was, "I hope it goes faster than Parker's did last year." That was also met with confusion because Parker took 1st place last year. His reply was, "I know, that's why I want it to go faster!" Whatever!   He enjoyed every minute of the races. His car kicked butt! Every win he had to high five everyone he passed as he ran to the other end to retrieve his car. He was also not disappointed when he got 2nd place. I guess we couldn't ask for more.

Jr. Basketball 2009-10

This has been Parker's first year playing basketball. He has always been so timid and unsure of himself when it comes to any kind of physical sport. He tends to think with his arthritis that it is better safe than sorry. So when he said he wanted to do basketball we jumped on it. He got alot more confident as the season progressed and really began to enjoy it. His Dad and I loved watching him.  The season was pretty short only having games from Dec. thru Jan. but well worth it. I can only hold my breath & hope he goes for it next year too.

Tubing

My kids, all 4, love to go tubing. It seems to be a family tradition to go for Tayler, Parker, and Slade's birthdays every year. This year we have had quite a bit of snow and we are all hoping to go more than once. We just went two weeks ago and had a blast. We did take a family friend with us, Charlie. She has been around for as long as I can remember. She comes to town and stops to visit and play games with my kids. Something she and the boys enjoy. Playing in the snow together allows all of us to be silly and act like kids. Even Tayler who wasn't feeling well and didn't want to go had a blast. Sandy just grabbed her as he was headed down the hill on the tube. Before she even knew what was going on, she was on the tube with him, laughing. Garrett and Tayler decided to build a snow fort and only got about a foot high on all sides and decided it was too hard. The then dug the middle out, sat in it and called it a hot tub.
 I remember playing in the snow with my family. It's days like this that we will never forget!