Gibby Easter

Ugh, I cannot get going today.  We just got back from St George and the weather is cold and I have no motivation....

 So, it's a good time to update the blog!  We spent Easter Sunday at my parent's house for dinner and an egg hunt.

I had sharing time for all of March. The sharing times focused on the life of the Savior.  We learned so much during this month and it was so appropriate to end on Easter Sunday.

 We played Mad Gab to help my parents prepare for the activity with their O & A kids.  It ended in a tie....good thing, too...

 Papparazi

We had a great day and the kids love spending time together at the grandparent's home!!

Keep Calm and Cheer On!

This is about the only good picture I have of Sydney's last cheer competition.  It was at Weber State. They took 3rd.  They were flagged for an illegal move again.  Their coach proved it wasn't illegal, but it didn't change the outcome.  Ugh!  Maybe we'll finally get it at the next comp.  The girls were awesome!  They are so cute and have worked great together, especially since most of them are new this year. They moved a bunch of the jr cheer girls up to sr cheer this year.  We are proud of you, Sydney!!

Ice Breaker Tournament - St George

 Here is Amanda's team at the Ice Breaker Cup.  We were so prepared this year, but played a level up and didn't win anything.  The girls had a great time though.

We had a team dinner where Mike & I sat by her coach Mel and his family. It was fascinating to hear about his life in El Salvador and why they chose to come to Utah as they are not Mormon.

We are having some soccer drama with a few parents on this team. I'm the team manager, so I'm in the thick of it.  I think if these parents would sit and talk to Mel, they would understand him better.  But, they choose to go about conflict resolution a different way.

The weather was nice!  We had some friends over on Sunday night for dinner and hanging out. There were so many people down this weekend!  We visited Kay & Bud and got to hear how Bud was hit by a car while riding his bike.  He is so blessed to be alive.  It's always a great time when we get to be in St. Gorgeous!

Jazzing it up

Baileys annual Jazz clinic!  It was pretty full as far as slots for kids this year.  Luckily, we were able to get one spot and we took our cousin, Zach.

The players were Jeremy Evans (my new favorite) and Derek Favors

 The boys were in the first rotation with Jeremy. He was so personal and he would get down and do the pushups with the kids.  He is a good person.

Below: This is Derek Favors rotation. He didn't interact with the kids very much and all he did was have them shoot free throws. Brandon nailed a bunch of them! Way to go B!

 The cousins!

Darin always wanted to work on some of the Jazz basketball equipment!

This picture is from one of the Jazz workout coaches rotation.  Brandon was so determined and did great at this one, too!

Here are the boys with the pro basketball players! What a great opportunity! Thanks Baileys!

Arvy Snapshot for Valentine's Day

On this beautiful, sunny Valentine's Day, I decided to make a few notes about the people I love the most in the whole world.  I forget to journal the small things sometimes and they are what make up our day to day crazy life.

We are heading to sunny St George this weekend to watch Amanda play in a soccer tourney. (I'm so excited for this vacation! I can feel the stress leave my shoulders each day we move closer to leaving)  Amanda has been working soooo hard to be ready for these games. Like muscles hurting so bad she can't move. Like about to pass out at practice-hard.  Her coach, Mel, has been working the team like crazy.  I have been working like crazy with various people to get the paperwork, money and rosters in order.   Have I ever told you not to volunteer to be team manager? Or at least thank your team manager!

Amanda had two boys ask to her to be their Valentine this year. She likes both of them.  One dropped by last night with a candy bouquet and a teddy bear.  He did it the old fashioned way of leave it on the doorstep and ring the bell. I love that!  No one in our neighborhood does that. The kids don't exchange valentines with the neighbors-only in their school classes.  I miss the old way, so that boy won some points with me right there!

She got straight A's again on her report card. She never wants to miss a minute of school.  She gets in trouble for talking in class.  She is still dancing and spends at least 10 hours a week in dance practices in addition to soccer.  She is funny and loves to talk late at night. Her goal is to get taller than me.  She's close, but not taller yet.  She LOVES snowboarding and has gotten super good at it.  She has been boarding with a couple of guy friends that like that she can keep up and they teach her tricks...like riding the rails.  Not sure I love that idea.  She beat Mike down the mountain when they went skiing/boarding last weekend in a race.  He will deny it.  She is anxious to start driving and asks all the time to practice.  She can get her learner's permit in October. I'm in denial.  She has been a super fun teen-ager and we love her to pieces!

Sydney is a firecracker.  Super smart and loved by her teacher at school. Mrs Duke is always telling me what a perfect student Sydney is.  She gets straight A's.  She also had 2 boys ask her to be their Valentine today, but told them no.  Then, she did have me buy a special candy for one of the boys, so maybe she changed her mind.

She LOVES her cheer class.  She has her back handspring, but is working on confidence while springing.  She has been working hard on this.  She loves to sing, but not so much in front of people except us.  She loves clothes and shopping, but likes to leave her clothes all over the floor even when she gets reminded daily to pick them up and put them away.

She is dying to have her own room (in the works as we speak!) and has a million plans for it.  She likes to go to sleep with the ceiling fan on.  She is never without her iPod and holds it close to her heart when she walks around.  Cute little habit.  She babysits a lot and is good with her money.  Sydney is still doing ballet and is a graceful dancer.

She won't leave the house unless her hair is done, so Mom spends almost every morning either curling or straightening Sydney's hair.  She has great fingernails.  They remind me of my Grandma Gib's nails and Sydney always has them painted. She is a good cook and is always the one child to help me with baking or making dinner.  She got braces a few weeks ago. She hasn't had much of a growth spurt yet and likes being a little shorter.  She is a 50's dancer in her school program....a coveted spot.  Sydney is responsible and we love her to pieces, too!

Brandon is our sweet boy. He loves Legos and never needs help building them.  He helped me last weekend clear the trampoline of ice and snow. He worked so hard and I couldn't have done it without him.  We cleared ice 2-3 inches thick off  the mat and at least a foot of snow.  Then, he jumped and slid around on the tramp in his snow pants.  Good payment for a job well done.  After we were done, he and Sydney (with her friend) went to Get Air-the trampoline park and jumped and played for another hour.

Sometimes his leg reminds him that it was broken last September. On days where he works hard at soccer practice he can still feel soreness right by the break. He loves indoor soccer, but isn't excited about outdoor starting again because the ball is out of bounds too much.

He got straight A's again, is always on the 2nd spelling list since he gets all words on the 1st spelling list correct the first time and is enjoying reading again because of the books Grandma Gib and her friend, Holly hooked him up with recently.

He LOVES basketball and loves going to the gym with Dad to practice basketball.  He likes his sisters most of the time although they like to tease him.  He LOVES our dog, Max.  He lets Max in the house all the time because he doesn't want him to be cold.  Believe me, with the amount of hair that dog has (and sheds in my house), he is not cold.  But, Brandon likes having Max around.

He is a little scared of going anywhere in the house by himself and checks around corners when walking by them.  Probably because his sisters scared him one day.....He has to have someone near him at all times.  He gives the BEST hugs and still loves to snuggle with Dad and watch sports.  He knows everything about football and basketball and sounds like a sports announcer when he's watching a game.  Mike can't keep up with all the stats Brandon knows.  B is constantly teaching his Dad new info about various teams and players.  He's a great kid and we love him to pieces, three!

Mike is an amazing hubby and father.  He loves that his kids ski.  He loves to see them do well in their dancing and sports and beams with fatherly pride.  He teaches the kids to work hard at whatever they are doing.  He is sensitive to their tender hearts and silly enough to tease and play with them to get them out of bad moods.  He works so hard at his job and is well loved and respected there. I know because his bosses tell me every time I see them.  Ask Dad Jim about the time he was at the Jazz clinic with me and how each owner gushed about his son.

He loves to ski, but doesn't get to do it enough.  He loves to play basketball with Brandon.  He loves to keep the cars clean.  He is good at Just Dance 4.  He just got released from his favorite church calling (financial clerk) and was called into the 11 year old Scouts.  He's not much of a scouter, so this will be a new learning experience for him (and me).  He still loves sushi and would eat it daily.

He is an amazing support to me when I need it and is an amazing husband and my best friend.  We are coming up on our 21 year anniversary and I'm lucky to have had him by my side.  We still learn new things about each other, (I just learned how he likes his pancakes cooked) and he's incredibly patient with me.  I couldn't be happier that he is my Valentine!

So on this day of gushy feelings and appreciation for those I love, I have to include my parents, in-laws, brothers, their wives and families and our close friends.  Love you all!

The Great Ice Storm of January

Mike was out of town....He was in Denver which was 68 degrees!  We had a great freezing rain run through Northern Utah.  I don't ever remember having freezing rain here. I have seen it when my parents lived in Missouri and from that I know it isn't something to mess with.

 I had a Primary presidency meeting. We were going to lunch, but decided to just meet at Ann's house to avoid driving. At first, Shanna and I tried to park on her driveway, but the cars were slipping down.  So, we carefully walked up the driveway, well, tried. We got STUCK WALKING!  We couldn't go anywhere.  We were laughing so hard! Mike called me right then and I talked to him while Shanna called Ann for help.  She ran out, through some ice melt down and threw us an extension cord to help us trek up the driveway. Classic.

 Here is my driveway. Couldn't get up this either until I threw out a bunch of ice melt.

 And as luck would have it, it was my carpool day . Here is Amanda (in green) leading the girls across the snow because it was safer than maneuvering the sidewalk.  That is it was until she jumped out of the snow onto the sidewalk and fell flat.  The three other girls did the same thing!

All kid related activities were canceled and the next day school was on late start.  Quite the adventure!

Sydney's first cheer comp of this season

On our way to Bingham High for the first cheer comp of the season!

We had a busy morning as we went to Zach Gibson's baptism.  We ran home in-between so we didn't have to drag all the hair and make - up stuff and uniform down to SLC to the baptism.

Before they go on, they cheer....of course!

Sydney is on the left hand side.

A few action shots....see how strong she is?

It was a rough performance for them, see how the girl fell on Sydney's head?

They saved her though

And they are done....

They didn't place very well, but a highlight of the day was running into Sydney's long lost friend, Kennady!

Brace Face!

The kids have been out of school for 2 days for end of term and MLK day.  So, what did we do?  We took Sydney to get braces on!!  She was supposed to get them on January 9th, but that's the day she came down with stomach flu.  This day worked out better anyway.

 Here's her before picture! We are going to Garrison Couser, who just happens to be in our ward.  He's a great guy and gave us a great discount, even though I didn't ask for one. Those are the best kind of deals!  Fortunately, she only has to have the braces on her bottom teeth and is projected to have them off in 6 months.  Yea!

She took a poll of her school friends to see what colors her bands should be...pink and green were the winners!  She has been a bit sore and has been nursing that with a few milkshakes, but she was able to eat some rotisserie chicken tonight for dinner, so I'm thinking she'll be back to normal very soon.  She looks cute!  But, it does make her seem older.....her bff, Abigail just got braces on (for the 2nd time/phase), so it's nice they can be brace faces together!  We love you Sydney!

Amanda on the left in white, Maddy and Ben Reagan with a camera strapped to his helmet!  Amanda and Maddy wear helmets, too-just fyi.  Top of Strawberry run at Snowbasin.

Amanda spent the day snowboarding with the jr high.  The PTA sponsors a trip to Snowbasin for $35. If you need it, the $35 includes rental and a lesson.  Amanda doesn't need rental or lesson, but $35 is a steal for a pass and a ride to and from the resort! She told me all about the day and how she boarded and kept up with all the really good boys!  She went down multiple black diamond runs and was the only girl to be able to hang with the guys for a couple of hours! I told her that her Dad is going to love hearing that seeing that he's an expert skier.  He will love that his daughter rocks at the sport he loves!

It's a new year!

It's has been a busy January...like every day, we are busy with kid activities, work, piano and soccer, soccer, soccer.  Both Brandon and Amanda are playing indoor soccer, so this is our view twice a week....sometimes 3 times!

 Both kids have scored goals and both kids have had a blast! Brandon is finally running on the leg he broke without limping.  Soccer has helped with that, for sure.  It has been COLD!  Coldest January on record since 1990.  We have seen a lot of ice!  Our back patio was an ice rink. Poor Max would slip and slide even on those 4 feet!  Mike rigged a hair dryer to thaw our rain gutter....quite the contraption!

 Then, the stomach flu and influenza hit our house.....Brandon and Sydney were sick the same day.  Then, I got it. Max even threw up once. Mike came down with influenza and Amanda did, too.  Mike & Amanda would rest on the weekends and then right back to work, school, dance and soccer as soon as the week started again.  They are hard workers and very responsible, but I wish they would have rested more.  And then the snow came! And it didn't stop snowing!  Soccer and dance were canceled on Thursday night. Mike even headed home from work earlier than usual.  He left about 5:00p, but it took him 2 hours to get home.  He stopped in Centerville and got some dinner because the traffic was so slow due to the storm.  We are so glad he made it home safe.  It snowed so much, Davis School District canceled school on Friday.  Happy kids all throughout the neighborhood!

 In our neighborhood, that means playtime!  The plows don't come through here for at least a day or two after a huge snowstorm (what do we pay taxes for?), and so the sleds come out and kids are pulled around behind cars, 4-wheelers and even bikes!

I wasn't feeling 100%, but I couldn't let a snow day out of school go without a little fun.  Amanda had Ally and Erynn over, so I told them to bundle up, find a rope and we'd go sledding!  We rescued the boys trying to pull sleds behind bikes (also Amanda's age) and pulled them all through the snow-packed streets!  The fun part was we were only one group of 5 doing this same thing throughout the neighborhood. The kids would pass each other and wave and scream hi to everyone around.  It was quite fun.

We, as a Primary presidency, also put on our first 8 is Great program.  This is the first program I have attended ever!  We never made it when the girls were invited.  Mike was sick, but Brandon hung out with me.  We had it in the Relief Society room and while I was setting up chairs, Brandon wrote, 'It's Great to be 8!" on the chalkboard.  So cute! And give my fellow presidency members credit, they left it up the whole meeting.  After hearing about the Scouting program, Brandon asked when he could start going to Scouts. He's so excited!  It's so hard to believe our baby is being baptized this year.  Where has the time gone!  Mike and I were texting today saying we hate how they are growing up, but we love the people they are becoming.  We are truly blessed to have such great kiddos!

I have been working at the school way too much lately.  I'm subbing, but it's almost a full-time job!  They are always needing subs.  It's fun to see the kids during the day, but it does take a lot from my day.  So far, I have been able to keep up with things at the house and still get dinner done. It wouldn't be a big deal the amount of hours I'm working during the day, if I didn't come home from the school and work 3 or 4 more hours teaching piano.  I am grateful for the opportunities however and grateful that I don't have to be the breadwinner.  So grateful for a husband who takes care of us!

Speaking of him, he's in Denver this week.  Our high temp today was 10 degrees. Denver is at 68 degrees! What?  The warmth and the sun will be good for Mike, if he gets to get outside. He is in planning meetings with the owners and they can be pretty intense....