6th Grade Dance and 3rd grade 5K

Amanda's dance was on Friday. The kids dressed up in their dressy clothes and entered 'Fablehaven' The group of moms that put this together did an awesome job! The gym was decorated so beautifully and they had great refreshments for the kids. The teachers have been teaching the kids dances all year long...some line dances, some group dances and then 3 dances where they have a partner. So smart! Then, there was actually dancing happening at the dance! Our 6th grade teachers are the best! Above, Amanda is 'drinking the milk' If you haven't read the books, you have to drink the milk to see the fairy creatures, etc....it was actually pina colada sobe, I think....the fog machine made taking pictures difficult...

Hailey, Julia, Susie, Manda and Liz
Susie and Liz....drinking the milk....

Susie, Julia, Manda, Maddy and Liz

More pictures of the kids....below, Nate Norton and Jake Bisk wanted me to snap a photo....

When I ran out to help with the 3rd grade 5K, Abby and Sydney came running by! They had done 3 or 4 laps already! Go girls!

Here is the new jr high going up just east of Snow Horse! It will be open in time for school to start in the fall! I'm so glad that Amanda gets to start 7th grade here...

Cute Sydney!

Sydney's almost done! This time her running partner is Addie! I then went back into the dance just in time to see this cute dance! She is dancing with Ethan Nelson. Her friend, Erynn, is glaring at Manda because she loves Ethan. Anyway, this dance was so darling! They taught the boy to spin the girl and it was so cute I almost cried! I love that they gave her one of the tall boys! It happened on one other dance, but the third dance....they gave her a partner that was about as tall as her elbows! WHY? There are plenty of tall boys! Anyway, it was so fun to see her dancing and I'm so glad I decided to sneak in to spy on her!

A conga line!

Hanalee and Suzie-some of my former Beehives and Amanda's friends

Amanda has also been playing in the Wasatch Tournament this week. It started on Thursday with a win! Then, Friday night they won again! She also babysat after this game for Kirstan and didn't get home until midnight. Saturday, she had to be to her game at 7:15AM! It was an early morning for a weekend for both of us. But, we had more fun that Mike, Brandon and Sydney because they had to clean the church at 8am! Amanda's team won again! Yea! Now we were in the championship bracket. One more game to go this afternoon at 11:45a, and they won again! We are playing the championship game on Monday and having a bbq with the team right after! After this game, Matt-former head coach, now the assistant, stopped us and told us that he has a plan for Amanda. He said she is the best at controlling the ball and is especially valuable because she can do it right or left footed! He said if we can get her speed up that she will basically become the rockstar on this team! Amanda and I had been talking this week because some girls are leaving them team (and soccer), some are leaving for other teams...I told her that this is a great opportunity for her if she wants to play offense to move to forward. All she needs to do is get a little faster! Well, Matt told us that he used to be a sprinter and that he is going to teach her the tricks she needs to know and really work hard this summer with her and a couple of girls to increase their speed. This is such an awkward time for these girls that are getting used to growing bodies....but I think this extra practice will really help and Amanda is determined to accomplish this goal! We are proud of her and glad that her coach has recognized her potential! Should be a fun year in soccer!

Game face on!

As the end of the school year is just around the corner of next week, there are so many fun things going on with the kids and I don't want to miss a thing! It is so much fun to have these darling kids in our lives. We are blessed to be able to be their parents. I have written many times how I dread the day that they move on .... out of our house .... and start a new chapter in their lives .... but for now, I'm going to focus on being there for them and sharing as many important moments as possible. More to come!

Random silly kids!

Friday was the 6th grade dance for Amanda. She was all dressed up so pretty and I wanted to take her picture. Well, she didn't want her picture taken, so I told her I would show up at the dance to take some pictures later. Then, B and Sydney, who enjoy getting their pictures taken, were begging me to 'take one of me, Mom!' So, here are some random pictures from a Friday in May.....

Sydney's 3rd Grade Program

Sydney had her 3rd grade end of year program this past week. Mike was able to run home to see it and then had to head back to work. It was a cute program and you could tell the kids were very prepared! They all had a little speaking part and they did some dances in which they partnered up with another class member. Very cute and entertaining!

That's our Sydney! We are proud of you Syd Syd!

During a popcorn song. Sydney wouldn't look at us because we were making faces at her.....
Sydney and her class with the teacher, Mrs. Rodda. Sydney has loved this year and Mrs. Rodda has been a fun and enthusiastic teacher!

Bounce Birthday!

It rained all morning! The sky was dark and dreary. We prayed and hope and lo and behold-it cleared up just in time for Brandon's party! We got a deal on a bounce house.

Mike came home to help and stayed the rest of the day! It made me so happy! I just feel more peaceful and calm when he's around. I needed that with the 8 little boys that were here for the party. It was our turn to have playgroup, so we decided to throw Brandon's party during our playgroup. By the way, this is the last playgroup I ever have to host....ever....

The bounce house was a HIT! Those boys played and played and played! I had to stop them to do presents and cake and ice cream. I made rockets out of ding dongs, etc. and we had ice cream cones. Brandon has such nice friends and he loved every gift!

The boys would climb up the slide together and then all slide down together and laugh and laugh and laugh. When the party was over, no one wanted to go home!

This was the easiest party we've ever had! We then invited the neighbor kids over to bounce and they had a ball! It's all they could talk about today.

Then, another big day for Brandon....the kindergarten trip to the zoo! I was lucky enough to go along! This is the first time I've ridden a school bus to one of our kids field trips. Not so fun. Brandon didn't want to sit by me on the way there. On the way home, he wanted me to sit by him and we snuggled the whole way home! Nice to know he still loves his Mom!
Ryan and Brandon

Brandon, Ryan and Kaden by the girafees.

By the end of the trip, I had two more boys to watch as one of the Moms had to make a high school graduation. I was sure glad it was for a short time as three of these kids were wanderers....I was so happy that we had perfect weather!

And speaking of snuggling....I just had to throw this in. While I was starting this post, Brandon had climbed up on our bed and was snuggling up to his Dad.

Mike will love this next picture, but he was laying across the bed resting and Brandon climbed up on him and watched some tv......

Another side note: We did get some new bedroom furniture. We knew we needed a new bed, but once my Mom commented how terrible our bed was after staying here with the kids when we went to San Diego, we made it a higher priority. So far, there are two really great benefits of having purchased the new stuff:

Mike is sleeping! He was waking up every night and not being able to go back to sleep. Sometimes he would get back to sleep and then wake right back up. So not good for you and soooo draining! Now, he sleeps better than a baby!

And, our kids love to hang out in here with us. We'll all climb up on the bed and talk or watch some tv and unwind. It's something both Mike & I have commented to each other that we are really enjoying!

I'll say again, I wish we could freeze time right now and get to enjoy our children like this forever!

Brace Face!

Amanda is in the club! She got her braces on Monday morning. By lunchtime, she found out there is a whole group of girls that go into the bathrooms after lunch to brush. When she joined them, they said, 'Welcome to the club!' Amanda before!
Amanda will probably only be in the club for 10-12 months. Lucky girl! Her teeth are pretty straight....just a little time to make them perfect! She chose lime green and orange bands.
The orthodontist told me this would be the best picture! For the past couple of days, she has been really hurting! She had Yogotogo for lunch and soup for dinner yesterday (after playing soccer in a downpour! It was the worse rain Mike said he's seen and they just had the girls keep on playing) and today I took her some tater tots and Jamba Juice for lunch. Mike came home to help me with Brandon's birthday party and so he left a note on Amanda's lunch saying, 'Napolean, give me some of your tots' It did get a smile from her!

She is still gorgeous!!!

On another note: Amanda played her last rec soccer game last Saturday. She has played on this team for about 5 years, but is getting so busy that she made the choice to not play rec next year. Her Dad and I know she made a good choice. She told me after the game that she was kind of sad. I was telling her that she should be because she had good friends on that team and it's been a part of her life for so many years, but that she still made the right choice. But, by the time we got in the car, she was saying she couldn't wait to get out of her rec soccer jersey because it was embarrassing! :)

I haven't gotten great shots of any soccer games this year. But, here's one from the only game her comp team has won this spring season! They are playing in the Wasatch Tourney this weekend, so let's pray for some wins! Her coach, Matt Tyler, is stepping down because he travels out of the country so much for work, but Abby Bernard's (our goalie), Dad, Brian is taking over. A lot of girls are out 'shopping' for other teams and two of Amanda's good friends are just done with soccer. So may changes and it's sad, but Amanda still loves it and wants to continue playing with Wasatch Shock!

Brandon's First Day Being 6!

I'm sitting here remembering almost every detail six years ago when Brandon came into our lives. He was early and big and had to be delivered by emergency C-section. He would only stop crying in those first few minutes if he could wrap his fingers around his Daddy's. If Mike took his finger out of Brandon's little palm, he would start crying again. He melted my heart then

and melts it every day since.

He still loves to be close to us. Everyday, he asks me at least once if we can snuggle on the couch.

He was the first one up this morning. Unusual for him to beat Sydney awake. He was excited. All he wanted was an Angry Birds stuffed animal. Ok, easy enough! Mike and Sydney found him 4 when they had a Daddy/Syd date a couple of weeks ago. He loves them!

He didn't have to go to school this week because of Kindergarten testing....so no school on his birthday! Sadly, I have a killer cold and didn't sleep all night. So, I went back to bed when the girls left for school. He is such a cute boy and let me sleep an hour. Then, we got ready and headed to Walmart for ice cream and so he could spend the $ Grandma & Papa Gib gave him. He ended up buying a Lego set that took he and Mike 2 hours to put together tonight.

Good Father/Son bonding time.

We then met Mike for lunch at In-and-Out. B and I then went home, talked, snuggled on the couch and waited for the girls to come home.

(I forgot a '6' candle at the store again. Amanda decided to step up our math. Just add the numbers together)

Tonight we had eggs and sausage and quickly started our Backers cake celebration as Amanda was waiting to go to the Stake Center to play dodgeball. We made her feel guilty enough about leaving the family on Brandon's birthday that she stayed long enough for cake. :)

During our lovely singing of Happy Birthday Brandon tried to plug his ears.....

Mike, Sydney and Brandon played with his angry birds. Mike would throw them at the kids and they would dodge them. This could have gone on for hours. When Mike called the game on account of bedtime, there was major protesting.

I wanted a picture of Mike, me and Brandon on his birthday, but he was being silly and didn't give us that cute grin. I guess we just take what we can get.

Love you Brandon!!!

The Big B is 6!

Our Brandon is 6 years old today! Here are some things he likes right now: (Some of the questions came from my friend, Jamie's blog when she did this for her girls).

Favorite color: all colors

Favorite toy or things you like to play: Legos, Angry Birds, bike, Nintendo DS

Kindergarten teacher: Mrs. Hoddenbach

Friends: Spencer, Matthew, Nick, Taylor, Ben, Emmett

Favorite song: Saturday Night (from Mall Cop or the 70's)

Favorite food: Sushi

Nicest thing you've done for someone in your family lately: Made everyone's beds

What makes you mad? When Sydney and Amanda play with my stuff - Nintendo - it's ok if they ask

Where would you like to go on vacation: California

Who's the smartest person in your family: Mom and Dad

What's one thing that Dad always says to you? Get your crap out of my car...

What's one game Dad always plays with you? Tickle Bug

What's your favorite movie? Indiana Jones

If you had a million dollars, what's the first thing you'd buy? iTouch or an iPad

What's your favorite cereal? Cap'n Crunch

What's your favorite vegi? Broccoli

If you could change your name what would you want your name to be? Apricot

What's the scariest thing you've ever done? Ride on the Terror Ride at Lagoon

What's favorite candy? Skittles

What's your favorite holiday? Christmas

Who is your favorite pet? Max

Do you like sharing a room with Sydney? Yes

Do you like to go boating? Yes

Do you like to go swimming? NO!

What's one thing Mom always says to you? Do your dish job

How do you know that we love you? Because you give me tons of hugs

What do you want to be when you grow up? I don't know

What are you doing for your birthday party? Bounce house and a space party

Which car do you like better, Mom's Tahoe or Dad's truck? Mom's Tahoe. Why? Because it has 3 tvs....tons of cup holders and it has a backseat

What's for dinner tonight (after we told him no sushi): Eggs and Sausage and Backer's Cake with chocolate chip mint ice cream!

We love you Brandon!!!

Party with the Grandparents!

It's B's birthday week! Let the partying begin!

We had the Grandparents up on Sunday. Jim & Renae came up for dinner. Brandon requested honey walnut shrimp. Our family loves this, but it's a labor-intensive meal. Mike was the cook and I ran around getting everything else in place. My parents didn't make it to dinner because Bishop Gibson had a baptism. They made it up not long after 6:30 and we watched Brandon show us his skills at Just Dance 2. We love to watch him play this game. The kid has some moves! I wish I could get a video loaded here...I'll have to see if Mike can help me.

After the show, we let Brando open his gifts!

A cute Max look-alike card from G&P Gib and a cool remote control car!

And from G&P Arvy the DS game he wanted "super scribble nauts" and a Star Wars Lego set!

Look how red his cheeks are after doing all those dances for us! He doesn't look happy in this picture, but believe me, he was so excited about this game! Then, the fighting over Brandon's new gifts began as Sydney wanted to try them all! He is a good brother and let her test some things, but soon had to tell her hands off!

We had Mrs. Backer's chocolate cake! Nicole and I made a detour on Saturday to pick up this cake before the store closed. We made it with 5 minutes to spare!

We had to get a chocolate cake since we didn't order ahead, but it was good! I also wasn't ready with the '6' candle, so we had a math lesson with our 5+1 candles :0)

See the remote in his hand? Brandon was driving the car which was in the family room, while sitting by his cake and it freaked Papa Gib out a little as he couldn't figure out what the noise was!

A little more fun and chatting and then the grandparents were on their way. We love that these great people are in our lives and will drive an hour round-trip to make Brandon feel loved!

May is crazy....

Between soccer, getting the yard in order, work, ballet, piano lessons, end of school approaching and Brandon's birthday, May is CRAZY! I don't remember details of what has happened the past 2 weeks other than all these things crammed together!

Mother's Day was lovely. My family made me my annual breakfast in bed. They all came in and gave me their presents and then Brandon took my order from a menu prepared by Sydney. Mikey then cooked me my favorite omlet he makes me and all was right with the world!

I had to accompany some moms in the ward as they were singing in Sacrament meeting on Mother's Day. It was quite beautiful. It was also the first day in the nursery. It wasn't too bad, but we have a couple of kids to win over.

Earlier in the week, Brandon and I weeded my Mom's gardens and planted some flowers. We had stopped by a store on the way down and bought Brandon some Spongebob weeding gloves and he picked out flowers for my Mom. I loved that she had him help plant the flowers around the trees in her front yard. We then headed to Paradise Bakery for lunch!

Also Sunday, we went to SL to visit our Moms. We were able to see the cousins, too, which is always a hit with our kids. Here are the Moms in my family....my Mom, my cute sisters-in-law; Stacie, Cozette and Kat. We missed Jamie, of course. Mike & Sydney got Darin hooked on playing 'Words' on his iPhone (it's a game like Scrabble). Good times!

For Renae, we had a canvas wrapped picture made up in a portrait size. This is at Grandma-Great's funeral, but I get a little teary-eyed when I see this picture for some reason. I think it's because Jim & Renae surrounded by their boys on this day was very special. Renae says she loves it....(ok, it wasn't this exact pose....I had one of everyone smiling and somewhat looking at me)
I had to add these two pictures. They were taken at the YW Grandmothers Night we had in April. We were so lucky to have both Grandmas there. They did a great job on their presentations and the food was good. It was fun to have a picture of all of us!

CRT testing has been going on for Amanda all week. We have tried hard to get her to bed at a decent hour and have a good breakfast before school. One day she missed the bus. That same day Mike had my car keys. This car is 10 years old and we have one key for it. I had to call Nicole and she offered to let me take her car to take Amanda to school. She had been in the bath and jumped out to give me her keys. What a great friend! I felt so bad, but was so grateful that I was able to get Amanda to school on time.

This morning, Mike decided that 6am on a Saturday was a fantastic time to get up and head to the nursery. So, we did just that only to find out it doesn't open until 8am. We went back home, checked on the kids who were still sleeping, then left to go back to J&J. We only had time to get a couple of things for the yard today....soil and vermiculite for the garden and flagstone to finish up our paths in the backyard. As we were heading back to the nursery and driving along 200 North, a Tahoe pulled out just as we were passing it. I don't know how Mike managed to honk and not hit the car coming the opposite direction as he served out of that guy's way. The Tahoe looked to be turning around on the road. If we had been even 2 second later, we would have t-boned the car and possibly had a fatality. It was so scary.....I cried and was shaking. Mike stopped the truck and got out to yell at the guy, who turned out to be a Grandpa with a handicap tag. The Grandpa apologized profusely and Mike got back in the car and we continued on our way. I don't know why I'm telling this story other than to remind myself that life can change in a second....I'm so grateful that Mike was a great defensive driver and that we had angels watching over us this morning.

The day got better as Brandon scored a goal in his soccer game today and he looked a little surprised when it happened! I was so glad that both Mike & I were able to be at this game. We usually have to divide and conquer with Brandon and Amanda's games being at the same time.

Amanda's team almost won today. A penalty kick late in the game by the other team tied it up. The penalty was for 'hands' but it should have been a foul on the other team as their player pushed our player to the ground and while our girl was falling, she hit the ball with her hand. After the game there was a team meeting where our coach told us he is stepping down. He has to be out of the country on business most weeks and can't give the team the time he feels we need. We have enjoyed this coach and this team. I hope that the changes will be minimal, positive and that Amanda continues to love playing with this team. After the game, her coach Matt told us in an email what a great game Amanda played today. Also, the team manager, Jamie, stopped Mike in the parking lot to tell Amanda that she played so great today and how much she has improved. Great job, Amanda!

I did the Utah Historical Society home tour with Nicole again today. We had a house on 15th East an 13th South. While I was giving tours, Mike took the kids to SLC to pick up the boat. Then, he drove the kids and the boat to the U bookstore. I would have loved to see him park.....They had too much fun at the bookstore, then he took them to the library to look around. They all came to the house we were showing afterward and took the tour. It was fun to have them see what I was doing. Sydney came in sporting her new, bright Utah red wig with hair sticking straight up! She's good at making an entrance...

Nicole, Nicole's Mom Julie, and I toured a few homes. It started raining, so that 'dampened' the day. One house we visited had ferretts. The animals were out of the home, but the moment I walked in I noticed it was so stinky! By the time we walked into the second room, I was sneezing, coughing and couldn't wait to get out! Ugh!

Julie had to get home, but Nicole and I went to dinner at The Dodo! Ah, love the Dodo! Perfect ending to this fun day and we even indulged in the Tollhouse Pie! (excuse me while I wipe the drool from my chin....)

And, here is my latest attempt at being crafty! When we were first married, I was called into the YW. The President had made me a simple tablecloth to use when I taught lessons. I have held onto that tablecloth, using it every time I teach in YW. A couple of my YW leader friends had commented on my nifty tablecloth and at one time I thought, I should make them all one for Christmas. When I wasn't on the ball enough to do that, I had the same thought when I got released. Seeing as I don't sew, I borrowed my Mom's machine, hemmed up some cute fabric and delivered the gifts to my YW friends whom I will miss working with.....They say they love them and Heidi even commented that the girls loved the one I gave her. I may have moved on to another calling, but I will miss the YW and I will leave a little part of me with them on Sundays!

This post was unintentionally long and possibly boring, but as this is my journal there were some things I didn't want to leave out. But now it is time for sleep!