Thursday, April 23, 2015

XGames - Aspen

Amanda is in love with pro snowboarder, Mark McMorris.  So, she decided to talk us into going to XGames in Aspen so that she could meet him and get a picture.  We were like...no way.  Then she kept asking and we said there is no way you will meet him and then it will be an expensive trip that we go on for nothing.  She kept at us and finally Mike started looking into going. We had hotel points so our hotels would be free if we stayed outside Aspen.  The venues were free.  We basically had to pay for food.  So, we thought ok!  We let the girls invite a friend each and left on a Thursday in January and drove to Grand Junction to stay overnight. Mike got up early and went to bfast with a Bailey's employee, then we hit the road and drove to Aspen!  Here is me doing Sydney's hair!


Sydney and Morgan doing mirror selfies! The 4 girls had their own hotel room. Par-tay!
Morgy in her hotel bed....
Here come some selfies from Sydney and Morgan on the shuttle bus to Buttermilk Mountain resort in Aspen!







We made it!  Here is our group shot in front of the XGames sign....




The girls took off pretty fast so it was me, B and Mike for awhile.  The day was beautiful and sunny!
Oh, here is a picture of Morgan and Sydney!
Then, Amanda started stalking the pro snowboarders! Here is Sage Kotsenberg. He won gold in Sochi and is a Park City resident. He's pretty chill....and super friendly!
Look at those pretty mountains!
Amanda messing around with the GoPro....
The kiddos....


We went into the lodge to get some lunch and soon I turned around to see Amanda yelling Mom!! and jumping the turnstile to get in line with me....she showed me this picture on her phone!  I was like, 'NO WAY!'  This is why we came and she met him the first day!!!  Good job Amanda!  This picture is now hanging on her bedroom wall ;)
Soon, Morgan and Sydney were taking pictures with the pro snowboarders!

and skiers...Gus Kenworthy....he's the one that brought all the orphan puppies back from Sochi
They were having a blast!  It was pretty family friendly. There was some weed being smoked, but it wasn't too bad.  It was worse at night when more young peeps descended on the mountain.....
Chez and Amanda wanted to watch the finals of some race, so the rest of us went into Glenwood Springs to have dinner at Qdoba.  Morgan's burrito was the size of a small baby...and she ate it all!! Good job Morgan!
The girls taking pictures of Morgan while she was sleeping in the car...



This whole trip Brandon was sick.  We spent a good amount of time in the car and Walmart buying new clothes....ha ha.....Poor kid was a trooper though!  The last day, Brandon and I just sat in the lodge waiting for the last few races to be over.



As we were waiting for Amanda and Chez to see Torah Bright, we saw Mark McMorris being escorted to 'press' Sydney told me she was going to get a picture with him and ran over to ask him. The body guard guys said no he has to get to press and he told us he was so sorry that he had to get to press. Then, he walked about 10 more steps, stopped his crew and said to us, 'well are you guys ready?' asking us if we could take the picture quickly and of course we said, 'YES!' so, the girls ran over to Mark and I quickly snapped this picture.  Morgan is fan girling big time!! ha ha!  I think Mark is the sweetest kid to stop and make these two girl's day.  Means a lot when he had pressure to hurry and get to the 'Press' tent from at least 8 bodyguard types for him to say stop...we're doing this.  Awesome!!


This was our last day there!  So, we took the kids into Aspen and walked around the streets. We ate at the same burger place like 3 times during our stay...I can't remember the name right now....and so we grabbed lunch before we headed home!  Good times!
We stopped a few times on the way home, but for the most part made that long trip in good time.  Priceless memories and we will for sure be going next year!!

Friday, April 17, 2015

All About Sydney

Here is a bunch of pictures from Sydney's phone :)
 Spencer Vernon....her current crush.  He stole her phone and left 100 selfies. She was happy!
 Hayden Toone.  He's been her good friend.  She likes to tease him by telling him lies like she's moving, but even when he finds out, he still is friends with her.  He has a little crush on her for sure!
 Griffin or Griffy. Also, good friend.  His sister played soccer with Amanda.  We've known the Argyles for a long time and we love having Griffy in our home!
 Hayden and Spencer....
 Sam Parrish...another close friend. They are such good friends everyone thinks they are 'dating'  I've met his parents and just love them! They have the party house and the kids go there a lot!
 More Sam and Mason Masters.  Mason is the sweetest kid ever!  Super polite! And he is such a good friend to Sydney.  He's not LDS and going through Addy's death was really hard on him. He wants to believe he'll see her again, but he doesn't know for sure.  I told Sydney that she can be a great example to him when she bears her testimony of what she believes!
 I don't know who put the heart eyes emoji, but below is Griffin and Sam...
 Oh Sorry...here is one picture of Amanda. She danced with L2D in a charity show in January.Amanda, Cami Graham, Cami Mendoza, Hayley Tennant and Kayleigh Lewis


 We spent a lot of January in the doctor's office getting Sydney's arm checked.  After 2 weeks, he didn't see much improvement, so he wrapped it big and said 2 more weeks...at 4 weeks, he said 2 more weeks.  She had that cast on for 6 weeks!!  Every morning I would do her hair for her.  Luckily, she doesn't wash her hair everyday! But, I did style it....flatten it, crimp it, or curl it.  She got to the point where she could put her mascara on herself. She learned that quickly!  I have to admit although 6 weeks was a long time to do her hair, I miss it now! We talked and had some quiet time, just the two of us every morning!  I loved helping her!
 Mason and Zac Bingham photobombing!



 Sydney and Morgan spend lots of time together working through missing Addy.  They do make each other laugh!
 Look how pretty Sydney's hair is in this picture! ;)  A screen shot from Addy's instagram....

 Sydney and Liz continue to text each other.  I'm so glad that Liz is the amazing woman she is and that she is so willing to help and is so concerned about Sydney. Love her!

I call Sydney and Morgan salt n pepper. One day they had me braid their hair together...cute girls!


West Kaysville got another traffic signal! Yuck! This is in prep for the Smith's Marketplace that is going in on 200 North.  Our little town has changed so much in the 10 years we've been here!
 Amanda talked us into taking them to the XGames.  Amanda brought Chezney and Sydney brought Morgan. More on that later.  On the day we were leaving, Sydney and I took flowers to Addy's grave.  I broke down earlier realizing that if Addy were still with us, she would be the one going with us!  It was nice to go and be gone over the 23rd which is always a big reminder of Addy.   We like distractions lately!



Sydney is reaching for an angel ornament that someone had brought for the grave. It had fallen when we got there from a little Christmas tree covered with the same ornament.  Sydney said Addy would want us to have it.  She put it in my car for safety and it's still there!