Shannon Family

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T22:04:00.002-07:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! So...I had good intentions? Ha ha...To my credit it was the end of the semester and I have been busy with finals and all of that. But now...Im on an almost 3 week break from school. Then it's off to my FINAL semester of school...so happy :)

Christmas always seems to come and go so quickly each year. All the preparations, the madness, the shopping, the mailing and then in 3.5 seconds....it's over. This year was a tiny bit anticlimactic for me. First of all, the tree was a disaster. Not only did it physically die the 2nd week it was up...and I am talking touch it and it crumbles dead, but half the lights stopped working AFTER I was finished decorating. To top it off, every store I went to was sold out of clear tree lights! So, we spent most of December with a dead, half lit tree. Its so droopy that ornaments are falling off the poor thing! I just finally threw my hands up in the air and said "OH WELL". Here is a picture with the lovely dark spot. Haha! Oh boy.

Second of all we scaled back a bit on gifts. Just seemed like the right thing to do in this economy but it made the big reveal fall a little flat. Last year we heard "Look at all the presents!!!" and this year it was..."Hey you guys, Santa left some presents under the tree..." in a less than super excited voice... BUT, the worst part about it is that I live in this little apartment with nowhere to hide the gifts and I am almost 100% sure that my middle child saw everything that he was getting this year. The little snoop. I never did anything like that when I was a kid (LOL!!! Yeah...right) Unfortunately for him, he is a horrible liar and a horrible actor. The fake surprise he tried to pull was almost kind of funny... and then it was irritating. So, as far as all that went....I have had better years playing Santa.

Addison was a joy though because at 5 she has really grabbed onto the fun of Christmas! She lit up at all of her gifts and was just so excited. She was even the first person up this morning! Gotta love her.

She is growing up and has lost her first couple of teeth this past month...one over Thanksgiving weekend and another this weekend. I am sad that she is my last one to really enjoy the magic of Christmas so I will try and savor it every year.

The kids were pretty excited about their Dad being in town though. Denver flew in on Christmas Eve day and you can see from the picture just how happy they were.

The day before Christmas Eve we went over to Nathan's house for our little Ries get together. Unlike a lot of people, we really have zero familial obligations during the holidays...not that it would be a bad thing but other than my brothers, we enjoy a fairly intimate Christmas holiday and that makes going to Nate's house all the more special. Here is Addison with her cousin Jude....he has been so sick and had just gotten up toward the end of our visit. He is so sweet...Addie just loves him :)

This Christmas was also bittersweet for tragic reasons. Denver's cousin was in a horrific car accident in Indiana the week before Christmas. He, his wife, his 15 year old daughter and their 8 year old nephew were hit head on by a 17 year old girl. Everyone died but Kristena, the 15 year old. It has just had me heartbroken and sick that she has to go through this at such a special time of year. Literally orphaned with no siblings even to lean on. I cried for 3 days over it and I just cannot imagine how she will get through it. She broke her back and as soon as she is healed from that she will have to go live with relatives...probably in Michigan with one of Denver's other cousins. It seems so unfair sometimes the way life plays out for some people and I count my blessings that I have been spared from such tragedy. It has definitely made me pause and reflect on those blessings a little extra this year!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas and wish you all the best for the coming year!

Thanksgiving 2011...

2011-12-04T12:58:00.001-07:00

Look how horrible I have become at posting! I look forward to the day when I am finished with school and can turn more attention to projects that I enjoy, such as this. In the meantime...I'll try to be better about posting.

November came and went with the wind!! I can't believe it is already December and Christmas is staring at me in the face! We went to Reno for Thanksgiving this year to spend it with my parents and took my youngest brother Jeff with us. It was wonderfully relaxing. I think we watched 10 movies over the 4 days we were there. There is something to be said about waking up with zero plans and zero obligations. I could have used another weeks worth of it!

Dinner was yummy as usual...although we almost didn't get turkey since the oven got turned off midway through the baking time! Never fear...we managed to get it cooked and eaten at a reasonable hour.

The kids enjoyed themselves thoroughly...especially with the dogs. I don't think my parents dogs have ever been played with so much. Another plus was that my boys forgot to bring their chargers for their Nintendo gaming systems so after the battery ran down on the way to Reno, they were stuck the rest of the trip without games to play. It forced them to be more creative about how to spend their time. Nothing wrong with a dose of that once in a while!

We are back to reality now...and gearing up for Christmas. We just put the Christmas tree up last night.

Makes the house feel so cozy. And now it is snowing outside. I think December is the only month where I actually enjoy seeing it snow. Too bad it has to last longer than a month!

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season.

Arrow of Light....

2011-11-02T21:40:00.000-06:00

Look at my sweet, fresh faced little Cub Scout....just starting out. I swear I took this picture just yesterday.

But no...sadly, it was 4 years ago and tonight Ian graduated from Cub Scouts. He received his Arrow of Light award. Look at what a difference 4 years makes!! I am so proud of him.

Here is the whole den. I love that he spent his entire Cub Scouts with just about all of these boys. It's so nice for kids to have something constant like this to remember.

Proud Mom and son :)

Ian and his AMAZING den leaders...and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Without them, Ian would definitely not have been here today. They have been so helpful to me since I have been an epic failure at being the good scouting mom.

He worked hard to get here....now its on to the Big Boy Scouts!!!

Ian invited his best friend Gabe to come to the ceremony.

And here is pretty little Addison....with the rose Ian gave me tonight :)

Misc Stuff....

2011-11-02T21:16:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe how behind I got on my blog. School is really taking up a lot of time now that I am almost done. Here are some pictures to catch up the past month....I'll try to be better about updating in the future!

We went to the Gateway for some shopping and ice cream!

We went to Barnes & Noble with my best friend Shannon and her daughter Hannah and after that had lunch at the Olive Garden

Denver was in town this past week and after a yummy birthday lunch at Chuck-o-Rama we went to see the strange sculptures at Gilgal Gardens.

I went to the Opera "Fidelio" all by myself and loved every minute of it!!

Halloween!....

2011-11-02T20:59:00.000-06:00

Halloween was lots of fun this year for the kids. Mainly because Daddy was in town. This year we had a 20's style gangster, a Hollywood starlet, and an Army guy.

We joined the cousins Soren, a.k.a Metro Man and the cutest little teddy bear you've ever seen.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Ian is 11....

2011-11-02T20:44:00.000-06:00

Every time one of my children has a birthday I go on and on about how I can't believe they are already however old now. How time passes so quickly and where does it all go? But I'm not going to do that this time. Ian has hit an age now where more than ever I am trying to enjoy every bit of little boy he has left. He truly is turning into a young man right before my eyes! I love him so much and his mommy's boy personality. I love that he isn't your typically aggressive, competitive boy. He is quieter and attentive to others feelings. The best part though is that in spite of the fact that he is 11 and trying so hard to be a teenager, he still holds my hand in public. Isn't that great!? I sure do love him.

For his birthday this year we kept it low key. We went to Nathan's house and ate soup and rolls and had a caramel apple making station completely with yummy toppings. Denver was in town also which made it extra special for Ian.

We gave Ian an acoustic guitar this year. I was so happy when I told him he had to choose between yet another handheld gaming system and the guitar. Ian says to me after about 10 minutes of "thinking about it" that it didn't make sense to get another Nintendo DSI when he already had one that worked just fine....so he chose the guitar. Much better gift! He is very musically inclined and has dabbled in a fews instruments so far. First was the piano which he still tinkers on. Then he took a year of violin through his school. Right now he is taking Cello lessons at school and probably next Spring we will look into some guitar lessons. He also is taking some theater classes and of course there is always singing.

We brought his best friend Gabe along to the party as well. Gabe plays the electric bass and this year for the talent show at school Gabe and Ian are going to perform a song together with Ian singing and Gabe accompanying him. I can't wait to hear it.

One more thing that Ian is into this year is Poetry. He is quite the accomplished little poet and his teacher gushes about it every chance she gets. Ian told me the other day that when he grows up he wants to be a Poet. Well, I can't say I am disappointed about that!! Although I may have to continue feeding him into his 30's if he really chooses to do that, haha.

It was a fun day and I am just happy to say that I still have 2 years before I officially have a teenager!

10 Years.....

2011-09-09T21:31:00.000-06:00

It is hard for me to believe that ten years have passed so quickly. So many events have happened since that day which have altered my life in some way but none have been quite as monumental as the attacks on September 11, 2001. Ian was just 10 months old and I had discovered only 4 days earlier that I was pregnant with Evan. It was a very significant time in our lives in all the good ways....with this horrible day sandwiched in between.

Today I had the opportunity to go to Ian's school to watch an assembly about that day. It was very moving and sadly took an individual teacher setting it up because the administration didn't think it was necessary. And even worse, only the classes in Ian's ELP (gifted & talented) program were allowed to attend. The rest of the children in the school were kept in class. Evan's school didn't even mention it! After school I discussed the circumstances of that day with my 2 oldest children. They have seen the images. They have heard some of the stories. They wanted to know what I was doing and how I felt about it all, so I shared that with them. The fear, the uncertainty, the desire to do something about it. All of those feelings that caused me to feel helpless at the same time.

I remember the very first thing I wanted to do was go home to my family. But within seconds of that another desire; the desire to drive as fast as I could to the Air National Guard base so that I could join my old unit and do something. I had only been out of the military for 10 months and I felt so left out in that moment. Left out of being able to do something to help. Anything. It shook me a little because I had been so ready to leave the military - and here I was wishing I was still in. We also discussed the Winter Olympics which were held in Salt Lake City that following January or February. I remember distinctly asking Denver if we couldn't just go on vacation...leave the state completely as there was talk of another attack during these Olympic games. The fear was still very fresh.

The entire experience was surreal and to this day still rattles me at my core. Such a tremendous loss. I hope that schools will continue to teach about the attacks. As depressing as the subject may be, it is absolutely an important part of United States history and has changed the course of many aspects of our lives in this country... forever.

I want to share this poem that Ian wrote on a card for the Utah division of Urban Search & Rescue who assisted in the recovery process at Ground Zero. One of their members came and talked to the kids today. It was tough...he had a hard time talking without getting choked up. His life was forever altered too and I pretty much just wanted to give the guy a gigantic hug after he was through. The kids all made thank you cards and posters for them....

2011-09-03T20:44:00.001-06:00

I completely forgot to post Addison's first day of school picture! I cant believe she is in kindergarten already. I officially have no kids at home :( So far she loves school. I hope that feeling lasts a while!

2011 School Pictures....

2011-09-03T17:51:00.001-06:00

This year I made the decision to take my kids to a studio for school pictures. Now that Addison is in Kindergarten that means 3 packages of pictures from the school photographer and just one pose to choose from. The price for the "standard" school package is $30 which includes 40 of the same picture in different sizes. Its a complete waste of money really. So, instead of spending $90 on pictures I dont really like or use, I spent $80 on some great pictures from FotoFly in Draper. We just love the studio. The kids always have a good time and they seem to be able to bring the best out in all 3 of my children. These are just 4 pictures out of 50 that they took and the best part....we get a CD with all the images and the copyright to them so I can print, post, and share them as much as I want!! Best deal in town.

Other Stuff....

2011-08-28T21:21:00.004-06:00

So in other big news....we got a new-ish car. The van has been dying a slow death this year that was rapidly speeding up this summer. I was just praying that it would get me through the summer and it did. But, I had to get something more reliable. After a very painful 5 1/2 hours in the dealership, we ended up with this little SUV.

Not exactly what I wanted (and not the greatest picture) but beggars cant be choosers as they say. It's clean and in good shape though and I am excited to pick it up on Tuesday. The kids were with me for the entire time and I have to say they were so well behaved. I was beaming with pride the numerous times someone mentioned to me how well behaved they were. People were very shocked by it. To celebrate the new car and to let them know how much I appreciated them for sticking with me, we went to dinner at Tres Hombres. Can't lose with Mexican Food.

The next day (yesterday) we spent 4 1/2 hours at the laundromat catching up on laundry that I had let slide during my surgery recovery. Once again I had people comment about how good they were. So, today....to thank them...we went and saw Spy Kids at the movie theater. I sure do love my kiddo's.

And just for fun, Im adding this little picture I created....if there was any question that Ian was my son (as if....) here is proof.

School Days....

2011-08-28T21:08:00.003-06:00

Last week school started for the boys. Finally. I hate to be one of those mom's who seems so anxious to get her kids out of the house but....the truth hurts. It was one long summer and because I was in school, there wasn't much time to do anything fun. We did a few things of course...it wasn't a total bust... but I do feel badly for not being able to do a lot more. One more year though and I will finally be done so I can go back to being a normal mom. In my defense it also didn't help that Denver wasn't here...probably wouldn't have been quite as stressful. AND there was that little thing called a hysterectomy I am still recovering from. Add it all together and maybe you can understand why I was a tiny bit giddy the day they went back to school. I sure do love them though. Addison starts Wednesday and can hardly wait. She was devastated to find out she didn't start the same day as her brothers. Denver will be in town this week too which makes it extra special for her.

Here is Ian, my big 5th grader! Hard to believe I have one that is almost done with Elementary school. This year he gets to do the whole 'maturation program'.... wont that be a good time? I think I need to schedule Denver's trip that week so he can go with him instead of me, haha!

And, here is the 4th grader...right on Ian's tail. He is just as tall as Ian now....but unlike his older brother, Evan was actually excited to go back to school.

Random Stuff....

2011-08-20T21:43:00.002-06:00

We finally received Denver's official diploma in the mail. Needless to say we were very excited about this and proud of Denver for his accomplishment. 3 more grueling semesters and I will have my own to brag about :)

Addison is so excited to start Kindergarten. We bought this funky new curling iron and she loves the way it makes her hair look. She has decided that she wants to grow it out, much to my dismay, and therefore we have to find new ways to do her hair while she is letting it grow.

We took Addison to meet her teacher for the first time the other night. She was soooo happy to be in her classroom and see her name every where she looked.

We got to watch little Jude the other night. Poor thing had to escape Addison trying to play mommy at every turn. She was so upset that he wouldnt let her hold him but he is at that age where running and exploring is more fun than being held.

We went school shopping for everyone at once. Due to my surgery, it ended up being put off until this weekend. I knocked everything out in one day: clothes, shoes, haircuts, backpacks, and school supplies. Needless to say we were beat! The picture above is Addison modeling one of her new outfits. She made me take a picture of her in every single thing we bought her.... silly girl :)

School starts Monday for me, Wednesday for the kids....even though I am sad to see the summer go, we are ALL ready for school to start!

Happenings....

2011-08-09T22:27:00.003-06:00

Sorry for the lack of pictures on this post. This is more of an informational post :)

A few months ago, I was told by my doctor that I would have to have a partial hysterectomy due to the fact that my uterus was prolapsing....falling out. Also prolapsing was my bladder -- so that's why I couldn't laugh or cough without peeing -- At first, when he told me this, I was fine. No big deal right? No more birth control, no more monthly cycles....and I get to keep the ovaries so NO HORMONES! Win win. Oddly enough, a few weeks later, I went through this weird, albeit short, mourning moment. Like "wow...I really cant have anymore babies" (as if I actually wanted more...NOT). I felt like I was going to be less of a woman or something. It was weird and thankfully short lived and replaced by extreme anxiety over the surgery itself.

A few weeks before the surgery, I went to see my endocrinologist to get my annual thyroid tests done. I had been feeling extremely tired every day in the afternoon to the point where just the thought of getting off the couch made me want to cry. I was even nervous driving....falling asleep at stop lights is never a good sign. The results of the tests were inconclusive really but she decided to put me on thyroid medication anyway....a small dose...just to see if it would help. So far, I think it is helping. That afternoon fatigue seems to have gone away significantly.

Unfortunately one of the tests that measures blood protein and is a good indicator of future heart trouble came back super high. She was concerned enough that she put me on Lipitor to help bring the number down. What that test did for me though was send me into a tailspin of anxiety over the upcoming surgery. Considering my family heart history, this was not good news. Also one of the nodules that I have growing on my thyroid grew large enough over the past year that they want to do a biopsy on it. Talk about everything hitting me at once. Welcome to the 40's I guess....

To make this long health saga short(er), the week before my surgery was spent doing more tests and more tests to make sure my heart was OK. Turns out it is just fine. No signs of anything that would cause problems. I did reschedule the thyroid biopsy however, because I simply had no time to get it done and it was lower on the priority list at the time.

August 3rd came and I had the hysterectomy and bladder repair. (picture of my liquid meal after surgery...haha) Surgery went great and I spent a night and day in the hospital. I've been home for 4 days now and am doing well...still a little sore of course but on the mend! The kids have been great to wait on me and help me out around the house. (secretly I think they are really ready to have their old mom back though)

School starts in a few weeks and I think we are all ready for it! It has been a nice summer but due to me being in school we haven't been able to do much and the kids are kinda going stir crazy. It will be nice to be back on a schedule. I only have 3 semesters left until I graduate! Its feeling so close now....I can hardly wait!

Musings....

2011-07-24T18:38:00.006-06:00

I just got done browsing and boo-hooing over a bunch of blogs about kids with cancer. I know... seems like a strange thing to be doing but there is an acquaintance of mine here in the Village whose 7 month old baby was diagnosed with Leukemia last year. She has just come home and is finally in remission. She had a blog about the experience with links to other blogs of families that she met at the hospital during her daughters fight. It was sobering to say the least. Some of the kids didnt make it. Some did and are still fighting. It gives me such perspective to read things like this occasionally, even if it is difficult. I have 3 healthy, beautiful, children. Aside from some stitches and a couple of minor surgeries, my kids rarely see the inside of a hospital.

I am so grateful for that fact. Cancer is no joke. It has devastating affects both on the person who has it as well as on their families who fight along side them. I pray that I dont have to go through anything like that with my children. Also, yesterday and old high school acquaintance had quite a scare. She got a call informing her that her 15 year old son was lost in the high Uintah mountains. He was there for scout camp. That mountain has claimed the lives of many a scout who found himself lost. It is not a place you want to get lost in. I was so worried for her and thought it must be a mom's worst nightmare. Of course there are many events that could qualify as "moms worst nightmare". We cannot keep our kids sheltered and within our loving grasp at all times, unfortunately. All we can do is hope that they are watched over by a power stronger than a Mother's love and that we teach them what they need to survive in the big bad world. Thankfully, they did find my friends son, unharmed although probably a little shaken. He had hiked 20 miles out of the way after taking a wrong turn on the trail. Yikes....but what a relief that all is well.

So what else? I had lunch with my hermanos the other day. We went to Ruth's Diner up in Emigration Canyon. Great place to eat if you are in the area. I only got a picture of Nathan though...sorry Jeff!

Addie was excited to get "bigger" earrings. Apparently the teeny tiny (fake) diamond studs just werent cutting it anymore so with her birthday money from Mawmaw she bought an assorted variety of "bigger" earrings. Haha...here she is in her hoops ;)

Friday, Ian had to go to the dermatologist to get a massive wart removed from his knee. He wanted me to promise that it wouldnt hurt but I told him I had no clue what they were even going to do to remove it. The wart was very large and thick and therefore required freezing, a shot of anesthetic (or two), burning, and then finally cutting it off. Wow. I could have never predicted that he would have to have all of it done. Poor thing. If you know my son then you know the kind of noise he made over it. VERY melodramatic...the doctor was laughing and saying "we know who to call if we ever need a set of lungs to scare off bad customers".... haha.

Let's just say Ian does not tolerate needles and pain very well....I tried my best not to laugh. Really I did. But the whole thing was rather comical. In the end I apologized by taking him to see Harry Potter for the second time. He also has a wart on his elbow but the doctor opted to just freeze it and put a little acid on it rather than repeat the fiasco he had just experienced. Unfortunately, if the wart doesnt go away from that treatment, Ian will have to come back and repeat the bad way....let's hope it goes away!

Addison has decided she wants long hair. I was hoping to keep it shorter for a couple more years so it could get a little thicker and not have as many tangles. But, if she wants it long then thats fine too. She got some headbands today and I thought she looked cute. Wonder how long it will take for her hair to grow? If its like my hair...forever!

A Visit from Marcy.....!

2011-07-15T22:33:00.008-06:00

I was so excited to receive a call from my cousin Marcy a couple of weeks ago announcing that she was coming to Utah! She was taking her oldest son's to BYU for volleyball camp and going to spend the week here. The best part....she wanted to stay a few days/nights with me! It was just what I needed....having a girlfriend here to chat with and keep me company. She brought her youngest son, Camdon, with her and my boys were thrilled to have him as well.... Here is Camdon who is always ready and willing to take a great picture (wink, wink..)

We had a great time. We saw a couple of movies and of course we made the mandatory visit to Temple Square

*warning: a lot of pictures to follow....*

I was pretty much invisible for the entire time that Marcy was with us. Addison thought she had died and gone to heaven with Marcy here. She was spoiled and so infatuated with "aunt" Marcy....it was cute and I didnt mind a bit. She was pretty sad to see her go....

It is difficult to take a bad picture of this temple. Gorgeous.

The day after the temple, we went up the hill to Red Butte Gardens. This is another place where it is difficult to take a bad picture! So beautiful....

Thank you Marcy and Camdon for visiting us! We hope you can come again soon....it was so much fun!

Summer Randomness....

2011-07-15T22:14:00.006-06:00

I cant believe summer is halfway over! It feels like it is just getting started here in Utah thanks to our wet weather and lower temps. Truly the temperatures have been wonderful, I am not complaining, but time just wont stand still and I am really perturbed about how winter seems to draaaag on and on but summer flies on by. Oh well. One thing that has been great about the slow start to summer has been the really cool summer storms. I have been obsessed lately with the clouds. We have had amazing sunsets because of them.

The sky cant decide what it wants to "wear" so we get an eclectic mix of blue sky, white puffy clouds, thin wispy clouds, and dark menacing clouds....all at the same time. Love it.

Another fun thing that has been popping up lately is Addison's sudden desire for domesticity. She has been a wonderful helper lately, setting the table for meals (she even takes my candle and flower from the piano and puts it in the middle of the table....)

and also doing the dishes. She is obsessed with washing the dishes. I often find her standing on the chair with the dish towel tossed over her shoulder...which is an important detail you know....scrubbing away. So cute. Im pretty sure it wont last once I start asking her to do it for real ;)

I wish I could say we have a bunch of fun stuff planned for the rest of the summer but unfortunately I am scheduled to have surgery on August 3rd which will render me semi-useless for at least a few weeks and then school starts for everyone again. I am going to try to take the kids to the Sundance Musical Theater production of The Sound of Music though....it will depend on how I feel of course. In the meantime, we are just enjoying what time we have left. Hope you are too!

More 4th....

2011-07-06T20:31:00.005-06:00

Before I moved into student housing, we lived in my Grandma's neighborhood just down the street. We also went to her ward (church). I have missed that ward greatly since we moved and think I may go back. Every year this ward has a pancake breakfast on the 4th.

It's a pretty big deal and they encourage former members of the ward (like us) to come back and attend. We did just that. Bright and early we trudged over there for breakfast and a kiddie parade of bikes and scooters. It was a lot of fun seeing the familiar faces. It just felt like being home again... I miss going to that church.

Since we watched our fireworks early on Saturday night, I had no plans to go see any more fireworks on Monday the 4th. We decided on having a BBQ with some neighbors that we go to church with here in our apartment ward (church). Technically,fireworks are not allowed on any campus property, including family housing which I think is so lame (especially since the fire department is across the street). But I did buy some sparklers and thought we might go to the park and light them.

Our neighbor Seth had a different idea. He had bought some "baby" fireworks (smoke bombs, spinning flowers, etc) at Costco for his little kids and invited us to watch out on the basketball court.

Pretty brave considering the rules...of course someone did call campus police on him but they didn't show up until after he had finished. We walked out to the edge of the property and finished up our sparklers...

Sadly, the wind picked up and blew a chunk of sparkler onto Addison's foot.

I didn't realize just how badly she had been burned until we went inside. Kinda put a bummer on the night. But it was a nice relaxing 4th and I have to say one of my favorite holidays!

Stadium of Fire.....

2011-07-03T21:53:00.004-06:00

For the 4th of July this year I decided to break down and buy tickets to the Stadium of Fire in Provo, Utah. It is a large production held every year at the football stadium on BYU's campus. This year the entertainment included David Archuletta and Brad Paisley. The tickets didn't come cheap but it sounded like fun and something different than our usual holiday fare. I have to say it did not disappoint! The singers were great and the fireworks were fabulous but I was the most impressed with the attention to patriotism that was paid not only to our country but to the soldiers fighting for our freedom. I can hardly hear the national anthem without crying anymore and forget trying to say the Pledge of Allegiance! We even got to see 4 F-16 fighter jets fly over the stadium. It was so awesome! Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we got to experience...

We checked into a hotel even though Provo is a short 45 minute drive because the traffic is HORRENDOUS during any special event at the stadium. I knew I wouldn't want to fight the traffic at midnight so we just got a hotel across the street from the stadium. It was super convenient and money well spent...even if the hotel left a lot to be desired.... We got there early on Saturday and the kids hit the swimming pool for a couple hours.

Here are some pictures at the stadium... David Archuletta is such a cute kid. Seriously...what a great voice and so nice. I loved him~ Brad Paisley impressed as well.

Even the kids had their toes tapping to some of his songs. Very entertaining!

The firework show was amazing. It was big and fiery and really really cool. There is a reason they call it the Stadium of Fire...I sure wouldn't have wanted to be very close to the fire explosions. We could feel them from our seats and trust me...we weren't that close!

We checked out of the hotel the next morning and just drove around Provo for a bit. It is always weird for me to go back to that town. It has a lot of great memories of college and friends...before I had to be a grown up completely....Before the bills and worries of adulthood had set in. Seems like a lifetime ago. The kids laughed at how many apartments I had actually lived in. I think I moved every 6 months....haha. Around noon we went to my friend Linda's house and had lunch and visited with her and her family for a few hours. Here are some pictures I took at the park before we hit the Tanners.

It was a great little trip and we had a lot of fun. I think we will do it again next year!~

Red Butte Gardens....again.

2011-06-25T23:19:00.002-06:00

Well, I broke down and bought a yearly membership to Red Butte Gardens so you will probably see lots of pictures posted from visits there this summer. I took the kids up there a couple of days ago with lunch. It was a good time....now that I have a new camera, I'm going to have to go back and take some better pics. These were taken with my dear old iPhone... check out the view of the valley from up there. Breathtaking!

Two Random Pictures....

2011-06-25T23:13:00.003-06:00

I told you about my poor camera breaking the other day....well, I replaced it a little quicker than I had expected. Isn't it pretty? It takes amazing pictures even with a novice like myself. I am very happy with it!

And here is one of Miss Addison, happily striking a pose while I figure out my new camera!

A Visit from Dad...

2011-06-25T22:35:00.007-06:00

I've mentioned before that Denver is working in South Carolina with his company, Boeing. It was a good work opportunity that he couldn't really turn down but I was in the middle of school and didn't want to disrupt that, so me and the kids stayed behind. It turns out that it will not be a permanent move. Denver is currently working toward a move to Texas...but that is a different story for a different post. For now, he tries to come home every 5-6 weeks for a visit. The kids were really excited this time...more so than others...to see their dad. Here they are in the car waiting at the airport to pick him up...dont they look excited!

We have had a good time so far. Yesterday we headed up to Park City to ride on the Alpine slide.

I hadn't done this since high school and when I rode one in Steamboat Springs recently I knew I wanted to take the kids up to Park City to ride it. It was fun!

Addison rode with me and after the first few turns her nervousness disappeared and she was screaming right along with me.

Denver got a little crazy and went too fast, nearly coming out of his sled and scraped the skin off of his elbow and knee.

The boys were a little slow and cautious but I think next time they will go a lot faster!!

After we finished, we stopped at McDonalds for lunch...

...then took a drive up Lambs Canyon. It is so beautiful right now in the canyons...green and colorful!

Today we packed a picnic lunch and went to Liberty Park to eat it.

It was a beautiful warm day and after we ate we went over to Tracy Aviary to see the birds.

It was fun and everyone is pretty tired...I think tomorrow we will just hang out around the house or maybe head up to Red Butte Gardens for lunch....

Time For A New One....

2011-06-19T13:34:00.001-06:00

After 6 years of great picture taking, my camera has finally died. Until I can manage to replace it, my iPhone will be my only camera :(

The Zoo....and Tracy Aviary...

2011-06-19T13:07:00.006-06:00

Friday, my mom and I packed up the kids and hauled everyone to the Hogle Zoo. It was fun and the weather was incredible! They have made some improvements to the Zoo and it is much better than in the past... They have a bunch of life sized dinosaurs scattered about that moved and growled. They even squirted water at unsuspecting children (and mom's, haha)

The whole gang....minus me of course :)

Sadly, this is the only picture I took at the Aviary. Grandpa couldn't come to the zoo with us because he was watching the baby so it was fun having him with us at the Aviary. It was also a beautiful day weather wise and the remodeling they have done to Tracy Aviary was really awesome. We had a great time. I was happy that the membership I bought for Red Butte Gardens works at the Aviary too... I guess me and the kids will be making lots of trip there this summer!

Random Pics....

2011-06-19T12:59:00.002-06:00

Bad quality picture but so cute of my little nephew Jude. Love him

My other cute nephew Soren....he is getting so big!

My mommy...she was so kind to come and watch my kids so I could go on my trip to Colorado..then she continued after I got home watching my nephews while my brother and his wife went to Colorado!

Me and Addison playing with the camera....silly girl.

I buzzed Evan's hair off for the summer. He loves the feel of having very little hair.... He is so handsome :)

Steamboat Springs, Colorado...

2011-06-19T12:38:00.005-06:00

Every year I have my girlfriend reunion with Kris and Kellie, 2 girls that I met during my time in the Air Force. We go somewhere different each year and this trip was spent in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The Rocky Mountains are beautiful and the weather was amazing for the entire 4 day trip. I had a blast as usual....cant wait for the next trip!!

We hopped on the lift to ride up the mountain and then ride back down on the Alpine Slide. What a blast! I haven't ridden one of those since I was 18 years old :)

Downtown Steamboat...check out the beautiful background! We were going to fish while we were there but the water is so high and fast from all of the snow runoff this year that it wouldn't have been a great idea....

Lunch at a Mexican restaurant downtown...on the patio. Awesome food :)

This isn't the best picture but it is the only one taken with all 3 of us in it. We found a great steakhouse one night for dinner. It was a "grill your own meat" place...I was resistant at first to pay $30 for a steak only to have to cook it myself...but afterward (and thanks to Kris cooking mine) I was all over it. Excellent food!!

I Miss My Friend....

2011-06-19T12:32:00.003-06:00

This is me and Julee. I first met her when we moved to Chandler, Arizona 8 years ago and we have remained friends even though we only see each other once in a while. She has since moved to sunny Florida. She popped into town last week, the evening before I was leaving town, so we met at The Cheesecake Factory for a very quick get together. I wish it could have been a longer visit. She makes me laugh!

Here is Julee and her cute sister Dayna...I love her sister too. So much fun rolled up into sisters!

A Fashion Statement....

2011-06-19T12:31:00.000-06:00

Ian's Talent Show....

2011-06-07T16:30:00.002-06:00

Ian's school had a talent show today which a month ago Ian announced he wasn't going to participate in "so don't even ask, mom"! A week later a second grader who sang in his choir with him approached Ian and asked if he would sing a song with her in the talent show. To this, he readily agreed. They were going to sing "Consider Yourself" from Oliver Twist....a song that they sang in their choir concert. So... fast forward to yesterday and we receive news that MacKenzies Great Grandma died and the funeral was going to be today during the talent show so she would not be able to participate. Ian was upset of course...I told him to go ahead and sing it by himself but he kinda freaked out about that a little. I told him to think about it and to let me know what he decides. After school yesterday, he came home and told me that he was going to do it alone! I was so happy :) He did a great job! I am so proud of him for having the courage and the integrity not to just drop out of it and to get up there in front of his whole school and sing alone! It was awesome.... Great job Ian!

Evans ASL video...

2011-06-07T16:29:00.000-06:00

Was having major trouble posting this the other night for some reason so here it is now....a little late :)

Summer? Maybe....

2011-06-04T15:32:00.009-06:00

Well, the kids only have 3 more days of school left until they are out for the summer. It always comes with mixed feelings because I do enjoy the little bit of quiet time I have while they are at school but I am also excited to do some fun things with them. We decided not to put Addison in her summer pre-school even though I do have a couple of classes.This past week we had some fun things going on. First, Evan had a solo part in a song presented to a retiring teacher at his school. The song was performed in sign language as the music was sung...Evan had a solosigning part. It was so touching to see him do this and to know how excited he was to be doing it. He came home and practiced all the time. The song is beautiful and written by Masa Fukuda the composer I have spoken about before. He has been a wonderful part of Evan's third grade experience. I posted a video of him at the end of the post...

Here is a picture of Miss Priss at the performance...

I took this picture of her and as I was putting the camera away, she huffed "Only one picture?!".... I figure it must be the sunglasses or her inner diva making an appearance. So, I took a second one to make her happy :)

I love watching my kids when they are concentrating on something that they find very important and engaging. Ian is a book worm, just like his mom...I can often find him this way with his nose in a book.

Addison is my artist (so is Evan actually) she is constantly creating her own masterpieces. I cannot tell you how much paper we go through in this house because of her and her pictures...here she is drawing something in the car while we wait for Evan to finish scouts.

She is also starting to show an interest in cheerleading, or gymnastics...I think it must come from some of the girls in her pre-school class. They have competitions to see who can kick the highest.

Here are a few more instagram shots. This will be a regular appearance on the blog until I get sick of it...if I ever do. I love the way it makes my pictures look.

This morning was Addison's spring dance recital. This year it was done to all the music from the movie "Tangled"... they were little Rapunzel's. We have finally overcome the stage fright phase and Addie was excited to dance up there with her friend Abbie (brown haired girl that Addie partners with in video) She was quite proud of herself when she finished the first number, clapping vigorously on stage....I just love watching her twirl. I hope she stays in dance forever. Here are a few pictures of the morning and a video at the end of her ballet number.

Today was Evan's last soccer game of the season. They really did a number on the other team winning 15-1. Addie and I enjoyed sitting in the shade.

She was a bit tired from her big morning. Evan had previously decided that after 3 seasons of soccer he was ready to do something different and planned on signing up for basketball instead this fall. After the game was over today he ran up to me and said he changed his mind...he still wants to play soccer. He has such a great team...they are all friends and his coach is wonderful. I guess we will just have to stay tuned as to what Evan will be playing this fall.

The weather is gorgeous today! 83 degrees finally! I am getting ready to go on my girls trip next week to Colorado so the next post will probably be an update from my trip. Happy Summer!!

Instagram....

2011-06-01T18:11:00.005-06:00

I got an iPhone back at Christmas time and while I love some of the app's, some are just plain dumb. I have found my favorite app thus far. It's called Instagram. It's free. It's easy. And, it makes pictures look really cool!! I highly suggest downloading it....and then using it. Here are a few of my own creations (you can see who my most willing subject is) :

I See The Light.....

2011-05-31T12:44:00.001-06:00

I ADORE this song....from the movie Tangled. Beautiful and a must see movie!!

~ I See the Light ~

All those days watching in the windows
All those years outside looking in
All that time never even knowing
Just how blind I've been
Now I'm here blinking in the starlight
Now I'm here suddenly I see
Standing here it's all so clear
I'm where I'm meant to be

And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you

All those days chasing down a daydream
All those years living in the blur
All that time never truly seeing
Things, the way they were
Now she's here shining in the starlight
Now she's here suddenly I know
If she's here it's crystal clear
I'm where I'm meant to go

And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you

Memorial Day...part 2

2011-05-30T20:20:00.003-06:00

I was searching every where for the picture of Denver's dad's headstone to no avail. I only had the picture of the cemetary which I posted in the first Memorial Day post. But, the family (Stacy) took new pictures today of his headstone all decked out in UK blue....(University of Kentucky if you couldnt figure it out). He was definitely a fan! It looks great guys! Wish we could have been there to remember Don in person.....

Memorial Day....

2011-05-30T08:28:00.006-06:00

The other day, Ian announced that he had some homework in which I was expected to participate. He was supposed to write a short paragraph on Memorial Day and it's history, meaning, etc. My part was to then "discuss" the day with him interview style. Ian asks me a question, I answer, he writes its down. I'm not sure if it's because I am getting old and sappy or if it is because I served in the military but it seems that I cant speak about anything military related without getting a big lump in my throat. It means something...serving the country that you live in. Even if you are fortunate enough, as I was, to avoid actually going to war it still means something. It certainly left an impression on me. Even though the tradition of Memorial Day has grown to incorporate remembering all of our friends and family who have passed on, honoring those that passed during service to our country is the reason this holiday exists. My Grandpa served in WWII, in the Air Force (Army Air Corp) and just recently passed away. He is buried in Arizona so I can't take him any flowers but I am sure thinking about him today....

(thanks Aunt Chrissy for sending pictures)

I have been fortunate not to have lost very many loved ones in my life. I only recently lost 3 of my Grandparents, both of my mom's parents and my dad's father. Also, my father-in-law Don passed 2 years ago. All of them are buried in other states so I can't visit their grave sites but they are definitely in my thoughts today.

Randomness....

2011-05-26T19:21:00.007-06:00

This week we learned about a new virus called Fifths Disease. Or, Slapped Cheek Disease whichever you prefer. Anyone heard of this one before? Well I have 3 kids, one of which is 10 years old and I have never heard of it. I mentioned in an earlier post about Ian's tooth that was hurting him and I think I mentioned that his cheeks had gotten all red and puffy. We thought his tooth was infected or something, causing his face to react. Nope. Fifth's Disease. It starts with a fever usually...which is often so low grade it isn't even detected or noticed. Once the fever breaks a rash appears on the face giving the appearance of "slapped cheeks"....

Then the rash moves down to the torso and arms/legs.

Once the rash appears they are no longer contagious which makes it hard to control because most of the time the kids rarely feel sick. Once you catch it, you are immune to it. So, there you go. That is why Ian's cheeks were so red that weekend.This week Evan has had it along with 3 or 4 kids in his class. It's going around the school. It is pretty common to catch in the early Spring. Adults don't usually get it because they more than likely had it when they were kids...but if they do catch it I hear it causes intense pain in the joints. Yuck. Im hoping I already had it.

We went to Evan's school the other night for the Bonneville Bash. It is a yearly carnival that the school puts on to raise money for its art and music programs. It is usually a lot of fun. This year, because of the darn rain they had to move it inside which made it not as enjoyable. But I think the kids still had a great time! Ian took a turn in the dunk tank and was proud of himself for remembering to take his shoes off....

Unfortunately he forgot to take his socks off. Silly kid. Addie enjoyed the face painting and the nail painting stations.

Of course there were a lot of yummy things to eat too! I tried an Asian Taco. Interesting, but not something I would eat again.

I just got this picture from a friend of mine who's daughter sang in the choir with my boys. I thought it was so cute and a perfect moment to capture. When Evan finished his little acting part during their performance (he played Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid during the song, Kiss the Girl....where he had to actually kiss the girl playing Ariel) the choir director got on the microphone and said "everyone give a big hand to Evan for being such a great sport"..... This picture shows him just as she was saying that. You can see that he is embarrassed but I love that all the girls are grinning and looking at him and his friend Carson to the right of the picture looks like he is embarrassed for him. Too cute.

Im so sad I didnt get that part recorded. Stupid camera. I have to wait for the actual DVD of the concert to finally get his performance posted :(

Yesterday I took Evan to the dentist. Afterward we went grocery shopping to let the numbness wear off before we ate lunch. We decided to hit Costa Vida for some yummy pork tacos. After we ordered our food and were getting ready to sit down, look who walked in the door!

It made for a fun little impromptu family lunch....and we got to see cute little Jude which is always a treat.

Well, it's Memorial Day weekend....anyone doing anything fun? We are just going to stick around and eat good food. It is supposed to rain....again....all weekend so no big outings planned. Hope you all enjoy the holiday!!

Another Week Gone By....and the World Did Not End!

2011-05-21T19:25:00.008-06:00

This week has been pretty busy....as if that is anything new. Tuesday I started my Summer Semester classes. Im just taking 2 classes though so it should be a fairly calm one. I needed it after the last one! But, I was happy that my hard (stressful) work paid off as I finished last semester with a 3.9 gpa... Yay!!

Spring 2011
	ENGL 3310 Intro English Grammar 3.00 3.00 A
	ENGL 3510 Writing Fiction 3.00 3.00 A
	ENGL 3600 Intr Critical Theory 3.00 3.00 A
	Upper Division Comm/Wrtg
	ENGL 5880 Children's Lit 3.00 3.00 A-

Wednesday was the Pinewood Derby for the Cub Scouts. When Denver was in town last month he took their cars back to South Carolina with him to carve the shapes that the boys chose for their cars.

Then, he mailed them back to us and they got painted and put together.

I felt bad because I couldnt get the wheels attached on Evan's car and I think it went pretty slow because of it. He was a good sport though and didnt get upset over it. It was bittersweet too because it is Ian's last Pinewood Derby.

Next year he will be in the Boy Scouts :( He has been so lucky to have the same den leaders from the very beginning. They have been such fabulous leaders and have really helped Ian (a lot more than me...) obtain all his awards and badges.

Thursday Ian had his annual school piano recital. He did a great job as usual but I'm not allowed to post the video because he thinks he messed up too much....I am going to respect that request even though I thought he did just fine.

After the recital I took him to the dentist. He has had a tooth that has been hurting him for a week or so. Over last weekend his cheeks got really red and swollen and he couldnt even eat cereal! We knew he had a couple of small cavities and were scheduled to have those filled in a couple of weeks but I guess they got really bad, really fast and he ended up having both of them pulled. Ive never heard Ian cry out like he did during the shots. It was horrible and hurt him so badly....Poor thing.

Friday the boys had one more concert with their choir. They performed for the students at the McGillis School to thank them for allowing the choir to use their school for rehearsals.

And finally, today Ian played in his last soccer game at eight o'clock in the morning. I think whoever chose to have 8:00 am soccer games is just plain mean. Ugh. But on a good note, after 3-4 days of straight rain....it was a beautiful 70 degrees and sunny today. Here is Evan enjoying the weather at the game.

After the game, me and Ian and Addison went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Evan was at an all day birthday party, also seeing the same movie. We had a great time and now we are all decompressing from our busy week.

The end. (but thankfully not THE end...as in the Rapture...haha....)

Family BBQ...

2011-05-17T21:30:00.003-06:00

I guess this post is a little out of order...oops. Sandwiched between the boys' concert and the Red Butte Gardens visit we had a BBQ at Nate and Alisa's house. Good food, good company.... Love my family! Especially this sweet munchkin:

Red Butte Gardens....

2011-05-17T20:53:00.004-06:00

My mom stayed with us for a week and we had a lot of fun. While the kids were in school during the day we went to movies. We watched more movies at night after the kids went to bed and just spent lots of time chatting and eating. I loved every minute of it.

On the weekend we decided to go on a drive but didn't get very far. She wanted to see where Red Butte Gardens was since we hear so much about the concerts they have up there. It is literally a block from my apartments, right above campus. The saddest part is that I get free admission as a student but have never actually been. It is a flower lovers paradise.

Acres and acres of plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees. They also have a really fun Children's Garden that the kids enjoyed.

It was absolutely beautiful! Im so glad we decided to go inside and take a look. It was a beautiful day and we ended up getting a little sunburn! Not to worry though...it snowed the next day. Gotta love the weather here.

After our 2 hour walk around the grounds, we were starving and hit Smashburger for a fabulous lunch and then continued the day wandering through graveyards.

We went to Mt. Olivet cemetery which is really old and really cool...I wish I would have taken pictures. I did take a picture of a cute family of geese. It was a fun day....Thanks mom!

Concert Time....

2011-05-17T20:21:00.004-06:00

The boys' concert was so much fun. Granted, I am a biased mother speaking here...but I think they all did so well. I was getting nervous the last couple of rehearsals before the concert because it just didn't seem like they were ready. They proved me wrong. The choir was fabulous....cutest songs by the cutest kids. They had to show up that morning to get staged and rehearse. It was only supposed to last 2 hours but they ended up standing and rehearsing for 3 hours! They were starving by the time I picked them up for the break. We ate at Big Ed's.

Ian wasn't too thrilled about the place...it was a bit of a dive. But, it was the closest place on campus and I heard the food was good. It turned out to be a tasty treat and they were happy we stopped there.

The concert started at 2pm. My mom flew into town and stayed the week with me so she could see the concert and my aunt Debbie drove all the way from Eagle Mountain to watch. I love my family... I took a lot of video but I am only posting the one of Ian singing his solo. Sadly, Evan's solo part in the performance did not get recorded somehow. I pushed record but all that actually got recorded was him bowing at the end. I cried all night over it.... thankfully the performance was professionally recorded so I will be able to buy a DVD of the concert and then I will post Evan's part. In the meantime, enjoy "Heart" from the musical "Damn Yankees".... with Ian singing a solo :)

Quick Update with random iPhone pictures....

2011-05-07T20:24:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday, this is what we woke up to. Snow. It made for a really cold, and really muddy soccer game.

Then we had the Cub Scout cake auction. This is the gem that Evan won for a whole $9. It was pretty good too...even though it was store bought. The kids didn't care for it...German Chocolate...so guess who got to eat it?

Addison had her 5 year Kindergarten check-up at the doctor. This is the excited, almost Kindergartener before she found out she would be getting 3 shots. She did great though and did not shed one single tear! I was shocked....Maybe she was afraid if she cried she wouldn't get to go to Kindergarten?

Our court had a Cinco de Mayo celebration and the kids got to hit a pinata. I love the look of all the kids faces in these pictures. Oh the anticipation for that candy!! I didnt actually take these pictures. My sweet neighbors did because I was inside taking a final exam. Yay for me.

A week later and this is the weather we got today! Yippee! Now if would only stay. I have a feeling we will see at least one more snow storm though. Gotta love Utah spring.

And a final note....This horrible semester is finally OVER!!!!!! I have never been so relieved to finish a semester before. It was a very challenging 4 months. Summer semester should be much more relaxed... The University of Utah had their commencement exercises yesterday. I felt a little down looking out the window at all the people leaving in their caps and gowns...wishing it was me. One more year to go. Next Spring it will be ME in a cap and gown. I can hardy wait. Happy Spring Everybody!

Update on Concert....

2011-04-25T14:09:00.002-06:00

It has been officially announced that Ian will be singing a solo during one of the pieces in the concert and Evan has an "acting" part with lines in another song! Very exciting!!

Ian and Evan's Concert....

2011-04-23T12:22:00.003-06:00

Come out and support my kids and this great organization. It will be a lot of fun!! The boys might even have a special part in the show...you'll have to come and watch :)

Tickets can be bought through me personally or online at www.saltlakechoralartists.org/youngchoralartists. You can also purchase tickets the day of the show!! Hope to see you there.

Evan's 9th Birthday Party....

2011-04-17T16:55:00.010-06:00

I told the kids a few years ago that we weren't going to continue having a 'friend party' every year. It gets super expensive and out of hand trying to keep up with all the new party idea's that other people are pumping out. This year was Evan's turn to have a big friend party and he chose to have it at Classic Fun Center on Saturday afternoon. We used to roller skate at this place when I was in Junior High a looooong time ago! Now it still has the roller rink but it also has bouncy house/slides, a jungle gym playground, laser tag, and a bunch of other stuff. Their party package is amazing and even though Im not doing an official plug for them, if you live in the Salt Lake Valley, you should consider it for your child. They took care of everything down to the matches to light the candles. We had our own personal party host and all we had to do was show up with a cake and presents....Oh yeah, and with the kids! Here are some of the "kids" trying their feet at skating. I was happy that Jeff and Nicola took to the rink. Must have been a "couples skate" song....

For those that were too young to skate, this place allows scooters on the rink! Addie and Soren took advantage of this and other than having to make them turn around and stop scooting against the traffic, they were pro's....

Evan invited 4 friends and his cousin Soren.

We were there for 3 hours...but it felt like 6. The kids played so hard they were sweating and red faced every time they surfaced for a drink. We just sat there and chilled while the kids played their hearts out. In fact we had to practically drag them back to the table for pizza... check out how red Evan's face is!

At the end of the party the birthday child gets to spin the prize wheel. Its a big wheel with a lot of different prizes you can get from the counter.

He also got to stand in the cash tube and try to grab as many tickets (for prizes) as he could.

As I was looking for Evan so we could get things progressing out the door I saw him coming toward me crying really hard. As I got closer, I saw his head....OUCH!! Apparently he and another kid made contact with each others heads in the bouncy house.

I guess we should feel lucky that #1 it was the only injury that occurred in this injury prone environment and #2 that it happened at the end of the party instead of the beginning. For a while he didnt even want to spin the wheel... he just wanted to go home but after he calmed down he wanted to spin it and guess what?? His spin landed on the only money slot on the whole wheel. He won $10! I asked the attendant if that happens very often and he just shook his head and said "rarely...I cant even remember the last time". I guess Evan caught a break for taking such a blow to the head.

Here are a couple of boys we picked up...Uncle Nate and his sweet baby boy Jude. Look at those eyes. Such a cutie :) It was a super fun party...but I am partied out for a couple of years!! Two parties back to back was insanity...thankfully Denver was here to help out!

Addison's 5th Birthday Party....

2011-04-17T15:34:00.007-06:00

Two of our kids celebrate birthdays within 3 days of each other. Up until now this hasn't been an issue because Addison was too young to care much whether or not she had her own party so we usually just lumped her's in with Evan's. This year however, she was planning her "own" party months in advance. Friday night we had her first official 'friend party'. She invited 7 girls from her pre-school and her cousin Soren. We held the party at the community center here in our apartment complex.It was a Hello Kitty themed party and Addison was dead set on having cupcakes. My time is so limited these days that I opted to get cupcakes from Sam's Club rather than make my own....this was really hard for me to do but what a life saver it was!!

For activities at her party we had craft tables set up and on one table we decorated t-shirts

with paint and glitter...it was messy but they all turned out so cute.

At another table we had beads and colored elastic string to make necklaces or bracelets and Evan helped the boys, and eventually some of the girls, make magic wands. Addie was thrilled and played the part of birthday girl perfectly.

Soren was the only boy there but he had fun too. Im not sure he knew what to do with all those girls running around and screaming. But, he sure knew what to do with his cupcake which seemed to disappear in one bite :)

Here are some pictures of her and her cute friends.

Here are some pictures of the fun presents she received.

Here she is on the present Denver and I gave her. He flew into town Thursday night for the birthdays and thank heavens. I dont think I could have survived without his help!

I think the party turned out to be a great success...I know she was happy and that is really all that matters!!

Mr. Evan Denver...

2011-04-16T22:48:00.008-06:00

Well, we didnt plan it but we have two birthdays in the same week between Evan and Addison. On the 15th, our tax baby turned 9! Im never shocked when Evan ages because he is so close in age to Ian that I have just gone through the shock with him...I dont know if that is a good or a bad thing but either way it seems like Evan has been 9 since last year. Here is a little about our 9.4 pound bundle of joy...

1. He is quiet and unassuming and very kind. His teachers always comment on this every year.
2. He makes friends with everyone. He loves everyone and wants to be their friends. He includes the underdogs...the kids that no one else will play with and this is what I love most about him.
3. I always mention that he is an animal lover... this has not changed. He wants to be a Marine Biologist when he grows up.
4. He is really into Sharks right now...he struggles between loving and hating them for eating seals.
5. He loves to be loved....such a sweet kid.
6. He is a soccer nut. Loves the game and still loves to play the Goalie.

For his birthday, his teacher asked us to come to his class and share in his birthday celebration with them. The students arent allowed to bring in any type of food and so his teacher goes to great lengths to make them feel extra special on that day. We were asked to tell the class a little about what makes Evan special in our home.

I cried of course and embarrassed him and Denver embarrassed him by telling the class he was cool. You gotta love being parents and embarrassing your kids! Happy Birthday Evan!!

Miss Addison Jayne....

2011-04-16T22:18:00.004-06:00

Our little 6.4 pound preemie turned 5 on the 12th!! It is so hard for me to believe that I no longer have any "babies" at home anymore. I am stunned that she is starting Kindergarten this year since I could have sworn she was born just yesterday.Well there is so much to say about this funny, sweet girl of ours.

1. She loves anything 'girlie'. This has not changed since she was 2.
2. She love music, singing, and dancing...she is always moving either her body or her mouth...sometimes both.
3. She loves school and her friends...she just cant wait to have sleepovers.
4. She loves herself...seriously. Pull out a camera or a mirror and you'll see what I mean :)
5. Even though she was 5 weeks premature, she is taller than all of her friends at pre-school.
6. She adores her brothers...most of the time ;)
7. We think, of course, that she is the most beautiful girl in the world and we tell her any chance we get.

Addison is such a light in our family. You cant help but smile when you watch her play. She is a smarty pants too: counts to 29; writes both names very neatly; is beginning to read words; draws beautiful, detailed rainbows and flowers. She takes dance with Miss Julie and loves it. We cant wait for her recital in June. She cannot wait to start Kindergarten and go to school with Evan. She acts like it is her lifelong dream come true. What would we do without her.... Happy Birthday Addie!

New Music...

2011-04-11T21:51:00.002-06:00

Music is a big part of my life. Not necessarily something that I participate in everyday, but definitely something I listen to multiple times a day in one form or another. I couldn't imagine life without music. My tastes vary from one end of the musical spectrum to the other...in fact there are very few genres that I would say I didn't like at least a little bit. Lately I've been drawn to women singers...strong ones that sing timeless music. Songs that reach in and touch the soul. I don't know if it's because this type of music is the latest and greatest or if I am feeling inspired in some way by them, but I cant get enough. Adele and Joss Stone are at the top of that list. If you get a chance, check out this link to Adele's newest song "Someone Like You"....it's gorgeous. Everything about it. Maybe you wont feel inspired by it, you might even hate it but it speaks to me as do many of the new songs on my playlist. Here is a link to my favorite Joss Stone song "Jet Lag"... love it. So, yeah. I changed the playlist up. Its been the same for over a year now and I thought I should revamp. Sadly, the site I use for my playlist didn't have any Joss Stone or Norah Jones or Lady Antebellum...all wonderful. But, I like the list I made too....Hope you enjoy it too!

Saturday Madness....and other random things.

2011-04-09T22:33:00.005-06:00

I can't believe it is the end of the week already...I swear it just began. Life is moving so quickly that it is just becoming a big blur. I look forward to the time when it slows down just a bit so I can feel like I am enjoying it the way I should be. So, to recap the week...another group of random iPhone pics. First out of the phone is a picture of my new glasses. Never mind the weird look on my face (it's hard taking pictures of yourself) but I love my new glasses.

Especially since they were free. Well, almost. Facebook had a company offering to give away 5000 free glasses a while back and so I got my code and was all prepared to logon the next day and purchase them. Problem was, I forgot I was going to be at a friends house during that timeframe and consequently forgot to order them. I was a little disappointed because who couldnt use free glasses? Well last week, they made the offer again! I jumped on it and chose my frames (normally $170) and then chose to pay $25 for thinner lenses because my prescription is so strong that they would look like coke bottle glasses if I were to get the cheap plastic lenses. So, with shipping and my thinner lenses I only paid $32 for $200 glasses!! That price makes them look even better on me!

Next up is a picture of my Evan sporting his new haircut. Doesn't he look so handsome?

I know I am biased but really....he is just a good looking kid! His class was performing their opera today at the Rose Wagner Theater downtown so I wanted him to look spiffier than usual. Addie got her hair cut too but you really couldn't tell in the picture so I didn't post it.

Here is a picture of the 3 kids after Evans performance was finished. We had fun even though it has snowed for 2 days straight. Thankfully it isn't sticking to the ground...it is just a big nuisance to be out in. It felt like December today!

After Evan's show, I dropped him off at a birthday party and then headed over to Old Navy with Addison so she could pick out a birthday dress. She is turning 5 next week, although she acts like she is turning 16. She is a nut. Trying on clothes with her is the most entertaining experience ever. DIVA is the only word that comes to mind. Check her out in her new dress...and don't forget to notice the fedora that she absolutely had to have! She hasn't taken that darn hat off since we got home tonight....and I promise that I do not teach her to behave this way in front of the camera. I am clueless as to where she is learning it. One thing is for certain, Addie is infatuated with herself. I doubt there are any cracks in her self esteem and that makes me so happy no matter how nutty it makes her sometimes :)

We got up at 8am today and were out of the house by 9am. I had errands to run for the kids' birthday's next week as well as grocery shopping. I got all of that done by 2:30 and then dropped Evan off at the theater for his dress rehearsal. Ran home for one hour and then turned around and went back to the theater for the performance. Dropped Evan off at the party and went to Old Navy which took 2 hours and then I went and picked Evan up from the party. We finally got home at 9:30pm!! I was only home for one little hour today! We are all exhausted...so much for a restful weekend. Here is proof of our tiresome day...this is about 15 minutes after we got home. I realized I hadn't heard from her since she modeled her clothes for her brothers and this is where I found her. On the floor...almost under my desk. Poor thing.

School on a Budget...

2011-04-03T23:03:00.004-06:00

Going to school these days can be quite expensive. Sure, there are student loans to help you through, but then you are left with a pretty big debt to pay when you finish. One of the aspects of college that has always boggled my mind is the cost of books. Most textbooks average around $100 per book which can really add up when you are taking 3 or 4 classes! I've found a great option for students who don't want to drop all that money on a book that they may never use again. It's a company called CampusBookRentals.com.

They offer the option to rent the textbook you need for the duration of the semester and then return it when you are through for typically less than half of what you might pay for the book outright. They even have a textbook buy back service which I might try and utilize since I missed the buy back period last semester at my school. I was a bit worried about shipping for all those books but found on their site that they offer FREE shipping both ways! It's hard to see how you would lose by using them rather than buying your books. I know this coming semester I will definitely be using their site to rent my books.

When I visited the site to see what they offered, I was also really impressed to see that they support the Operation Smile program which provides cleft lip surgeries for children whose families cannot afford the expensive procedures.

For every book rented, a portion of the proceeds goes to this program. CampusBookRentals.com has set a goal to provide 1000 life changing surgeries for these kids. Awesome. So if you are a student and want to save some money as well as contribute to something as cool as Operation Smile, I would suggest checking out CampusBookRentals.com.

Random iPhone Pictures...

2011-04-03T23:01:00.000-06:00

One of the things I love the most about my new iPhone is the camera. It really does take awesome pictures for a phone. Since I always carry my phone with me it proves to be very convenient at capturing life as I go along and it's much less cumbersome than my full size camera. Anyway...here are the most recent random shots I found on my phone when I plugged it in to charge tonight....

1. The past 3 days have been 65-70 degrees here in Salt Lake City but alas...this is what we woke up to this morning. Gotta love Spring in Utah....

2. This is pretty random but I have discovered the most amazing chips. I think whoever thought of this flavor is nothing short of a genius. I sure hope Lay's keeps making these puppies... YUM! (it's Tomato & Basil if you weren't sure what the bag says...go get some!)

3. I am told this is one of my children but I just don't see how it's possible that he grew up and I missed it... Last time I checked, he was only 4 years old.

4. Here is another one of my offspring. She dressed herself on this morning and was pretty proud of her ensemble...if you couldn't tell. She is a nut and I love her.

That's all for today's random shots....Im sure there will be more because I am addicted to my phone :)

Soccer Season Returns....

2011-04-03T22:29:00.005-06:00

The crazy soccer season has begun again. I have to say that Spring session should be better than Fall because most of Evan's games are at noon and most of Ian's are between 8am and 10am. So that means that with the exception of one or two games that cross into each other, I should be able to see ALL of both boys' games this season rather than half of one and half of the other. Still have to go back and forth between two different fields but it makes it a lot nicer that we arent rushing just to see 10 minutes of each game.

Since Fall season ended, Ian has seen a podiatrist for his heel pain and it turned out he had some cracked growth plates which made even walking painful for him. He has since received a pair of special orthotics to wear in his shoes and they have really made a big difference for him. He actually ran during his soccer game and this is a pretty big deal. Normally he would sort of gallop slowly...which now we know was because the one foot was really hurting him. I am so happy that he might actually enjoy this soccer season so much more than last.

Sadly, his team lost their first game...time for practice!

Evans team remains intact each year and so he plays with the same kids and same coach every season. They even play soccer at school during recess together.

Because of this their team is quite cohesive and they rarely lose. I think this is the biggest problem with Ian's team. The boys dont go to the same school so only a couple of them actually know each other. Not to mention the coaches son plays on the team and can be pretty mean. There just doesnt seem to be any unity especially when your own teammates are critical of your playing skills. I hope that it is better for them this time around otherwise I dont think Ian will want to play again next year. Evan plays Goalie, which kills me.

It makes me sooo nervous because every time the ball gets near the goal I am praying that Evan doesnt let it through. Such a high pressure position, it blows my mind that Evan actually wants to play it. I would sure love to see him actually play soccer on the field but he is content being the Goalie and no one else on the team wants the position. It makes for some great action shots though!! Go Evan!

Addie asked me Saturday if when she turns 5 can she play soccer? I dont think I can handle 3 games and practices without Denver here to help me juggle so she is just going to have to stick to Dance for now :)

MIA...

2011-03-19T12:15:00.007-06:00

I feel like I have really neglected my blogging recently, probably because I have! I always have good intentions but life just has a way of taking over sometimes. Truthfully, there haven't been too many big events to post about so for now I will just give a little update and be done with it.

ME:

Spring break officially started for me after my last class on Thursday. I have really been looking forward to it because this has been a difficult semester. When this semester is over in May, I will have 11 classes left until graduation. Sounds like a lot still but I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I cant imagine what it will be like to go to bed at night (at a decent hour) and not lay there fretting over what homework I may have forgotten to do. I have had some really great leads for work come about in the past few weeks too. This is super exciting because I decided that I just really don't want to teach. I want to work in publishing/editing/writing somehow. This is looking like more of a possibility now that I have been talking to a few people. I am feeling very encouraged at the prospects awaiting me after I graduate! But, this is it for updates on me....school is my life right now. I just registered for Summer classes. I wish I could take a break but I need to get this over with! I am singing in my choir still although I think I may have to drop out this time. I missed a rehearsal already and will be missing another one next Sunday as we will be in Reno visiting my parents.

IAN:

Well Ian is growing up so fast! He is 10 going on 16 and it drives me a little nuts sometimes. He reminds me so much of myself when I was that age. He takes Spanish lessons twice a week after school. He also takes piano lessons and violin lessons through his school music program. I love that he is so exposed to music. Of course he is singing in the children's choir as well and is very enthusiastic about it. Every week he announces a new solo that he wants to try out for. I have had to rein him in a little here and advise him to at least practice the solo part before he auditions! But I am excited that he is really jumping in to this experience. Soccer starts in April...which I am dreading...but now that he has orthotics in his shoes, he likes running more since his feet dont hurt. I am hoping this makes for a more positive soccer experience than

usual.

EVAN:

Evan is about to turn 9 in April. It is just so hard to believe. Time simply will not stand still. Evan takes Chinese lessons twice a week at school. I have no idea how this is going as the teacher does not communicate with the parents and Evan will not say anything about the class to me. I have tried to get him to speak some Chinese to me but he is tight lipped about it. I can only hope that he is learning something. Exposure to languages cannot hurt in any way, shape, or form so I am happy that at the very least he is being exposed. He is also singing in the choir and enjoys it although not quite as exuberantly as his brother. I mentioned in a previous post about the composer Masa Fukuda that Evan's class got to work with. Well, he kept our name and number for times when he needs kids for various projects. He actually called us last night and asked if he could come to our home and work with Evan. He wants to listen to Evan sing alone to determine if Evan has a pop voice or a classical voice. Evan is beyond excited about this. I guess Masa has a couple of projects coming up that he wants to consider Evan for but needs to determine which one would be best for him. Again, I couldn't be more thrilled with the sudden music explosion happening in our house. I love sports for the boys too, but a well rounded man is much better than a sports fanatic (sorry guys!)... Evan also starts soccer next month and he is very happy about it. He loves soccer and all the friends he has made on his team.

ADDISON:

Well, this little girl of mine is turning 5 next month. Again...where has the time gone. 5 is a hard age to swallow because it feels like the end of "baby/toddler" days. She is my last baby and so I have hard time accepting this. In fact, I completely blew off the fact that she starts kindergarten this coming school year and missed an important registration deadline because of it! Im just in denial that we are here already. She has big plans for her 5th birthday party although the plans change every single day. I think we will just have to have a "variety" birthday with Barbies, Princesses, Fairy's, Hello Kitty, and yes...Justin Bieber. She is so prissy and I cant get enough of her.

DENVER:

He is still working in South Carolina. When his year is up in July however, he will hopefully be coming back this way. He misses the kids and they miss him. He is in his LAST class at the University of Phoenix and will finally have a bachelors degree in Business Management in April. This is a big accomplishment for him and will hopefully help him secure a better job out here. In the meantime, he may be working in San Antonio Texas temporarily for Boeing...this will be nice because they will fly him home every 3 weeks. He was just here for a visit this past weekend for his 40th birthday. Everyone had a great time and were sad to see him leave, but he will be back in 3 weeks for the kids birthdays in April. I cant believe I didn't take a single picture of him with the kids. Im really getting bad with the picture taking. I need a new camera to motivate me! I did take this picture of the ring/bracelet that he brought for Addison. She was on cloud nine. She has been asking for a ring for months now....she is such a Daddy's girl.

Like I said, no major news or happenings. Just life moving along at mach 40... Ugh, there's that number again. I'm not looking forward to becoming a 40 year old in September. Oh well...nothing I can do about it I guess but make the best of it!!

An Update....

2011-02-26T22:49:00.005-07:00

Wednesday afternoon, Ian & Evan auditioned for a choir called Young Choral Artists. I mentioned this in my last post. The auditions went pretty well, although I couldnt tell how well they sang because they were so quiet and piano drowned them out, but the only one that mattered was the woman sitting at the piano who was making the selections for the choir and she could clearly hear them. I think the boys were pretty nervous once they got there because other kids that were auditioning were in the room with us and we werent expecting that. But, they made it through and we left not really knowing what to expect because they were first and we didn't hear any of the other kids to know what they were up against. I didnt care at that point because I was just so proud of them for actually doing it! What a great experience for them....here are a couple of pic's during the audition.

The auditions were held Wednesday and Thursday, and then Friday morning we got an email from the director letting us know that they were SELECTED!!!! I could hardly contain myself...I called Ian on his phone as soon as his school let out. He was screaming so hysterically (thats my drama king) that I had to hang up and wait for him to compose himself and call me back. Evan, the polar opposite of Ian, just whispered and intense little "Yessss" under his breath and then changed the subject. Ha ha... I love my boys. They are so different and so unique and just wonderful, handsome boys. Ok enough gushing. Rehearsals start on Tuesday...it's going to be fun.

In Addison news, there is nothing new. Still a diva, still beautiful, still my fun little girl. I bought her a new hair clip which she promptly asked me to take a picture of ....here she is in her best model pose complete with the no emotion smile. I honestly don't where she gets it from...its not like we watch Project Runway or anything. Silly girl...but dont let me fool you. I LOVE it :)

Fun Stuff....

2011-02-17T20:00:00.004-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a video of Evan singing a little solo in his class production. Since that time the singing "thing" has really just exploded. The first news was that the composer of the song Evan sang part of wanted to have his class come to the studio to record the program and more specifically that he was very impressed with Evan's voice. Fast forward to yesterday, and we traveled to Masa's (the composer) studio to record the songs.

It was fun for the kids to see what goes in to recording music but the whole process was quitetedious and we were all pretty tired by the time we got home. I was a little disappointed because the song that they ended up recording wasn't even the song that had Evan's solo in it and his teacher had mentioned that the composer would be listening to the children and choosing some of them to sing in future projects for him. I felt like Evan never really got a chance to sing for him because in this particular song, Evan was just a part of the chorus. Evan's friend has a great voice as well and nearly perfect pitch but unfortunately he was quite ill mannered and held up a lot of the recording timeby making noise and even going as far as singing into the mic when it wasn't his turn. I was proud that Evan kept quiet and did everything that the director asked. Well, tonight Evan's teacher called from school and said that the composer has asked to put Evan's name on his list of children to call for studio work!! He loved Evan's voice which apparently he was able to hear in the midst of the other 6 kids. Part of his decision was based off of Evan's "impeccable" manners. Hooray! What a compliment not only to Evan but to Denver and I as well. I was very proud of him in that moment. I guess he didn't even ask Evan's friend because despite the fact that he sings well, the composer simply cant work with kids that arent well behaved.

Also, in the middle of all of this, the teacher sent home a flyer for some auditions. It is for a pretty prominent Youth Choir here in Utah and they are having auditions for their show in May. The guest artists that will be performing with the choir is going to be the composer's (Masa Fukuda) children's choir so it is all very exciting. Evan is going to audition and Ian decided he wants to as well! Ian will be singing Edelweiss from The Sound of Music and Evan will be singing the entire song, Reach Out With Love, that he sang the small solo in for his school production. I have no earthly clue if they even have a shot at it but I am so proud of them for wanting to do it and for being brave enough to try!! The auditions are next Wednesday so we are anxiously awaiting it and practicing every day!! I just love that the boys are singing and making music....brings me so much JOY!

What a Week...

2011-02-13T23:22:00.007-07:00

This was one of those weeks that goes into the books as 'most stressful week ever'. But I survived and am actually glad tomorrow is Monday because it starts a new week. I wont even attempt to bore you with the details as I am sure you have all had similar weeks. But here is a little picture montage to give you the short version of our weekend....

First: Valentine Boxes for the boys to take to school. We had grandiose plans for elaborate boxes... but that didnt exaclty pan out so, we took the shortcut route and thankfully my boys were thrilled with their "Locker" themed boxes. I mean really, all that matters in the end is that they have a place for all the Valentine junk they will recieve tomorrow, right?

I also had the chance to babysit my nephew's last night and that is always fun. I get my baby fix this way (not that I really have one) and it's fun to play with them. The kids always have a great time. Here is some pictures of sweet little Jude. He really is just the sweetest baby!!

My wonderful neighbors offered to take my kids to church today so I could finish a presentation that I was doing for class tomorrow. It saved me really because by the time I finished, they were coming home and then we spent the afternoon doing Ian's science project and all 3 Valentine boxes. I would have never made it without those extra 3 hours this morning. The same neighbors invited us over for dinner and we had a really fun time eating and playing Scrabble Slam. I forget how much fun it is to socialize with other people, haha.

Saturday afternoon I helped my aunt and uncle clean out some of my Grandma Lloyds basement. She passed away back in August and they have sold her house. I have mixed emotions over it. It feels weird to think that I will never step foot into that house again after 39 years of it being 'my Grandparents home.' Lots of memories...I especially miss my Grandma and wish she were still here.

Finally, I will leave you with a picture of me in my new glasses...I was really looking for something a little more stylish than my normal frames. What do you think?

Success!!!

2011-02-07T10:23:00.002-07:00

Yes! Persistence pays off...I've figured out how to post my pictures straight from blogger again on my new computer. What a relief because the alternative was so much more time consuming. Change is hard sometimes...especially when we get comfortable with our processes but with change comes bigger and better things as I am slowly learning on this computer. Once I get the hang of it, I think I will never go back to a PC unless I have no choice to! Addison had just pinched her fingers in between the movie theater seats...that's why she looks so sad. We went and saw the movie "Tangled" this past weekend. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. Very cute movie and even though my boys were resistant (its a girl movie mom!) they seriously laughed the whole way through it and loved it just as much as the girls did!!

New Program Testing

2011-02-07T10:01:00.001-07:00

, originally uploaded by vanishani.

Im using this photo of Addison and her school project, Koda the Koala bear, to test my new way of posting photos... I got a new computer and the photo storing program doesnt let you just upload photos to the blog. You have to send it to Flickr first then "blog it" from Flickr. Not sure I like it this way because it only lets me do one photo at a time... Im sure there is a way around it but I havent figured it out yet. Until then, I will see how this works.

Flickr

2011-02-07T09:57:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Hard Work Pays Off....

2011-02-05T20:50:00.005-07:00

Im finally getting organized, I think. Ive begun the arduous process of turning this blog in a book...several actually. Ive decided to make one per year. That way I can do one each time I have a little extra money. I'm just about done with 2007 which is the first year in which I started blogging. Its going to be fun to see the finished product although the details are stressing me out...it's not like you can return it if you dont like the way it turns out! Also, I have been working on creating myself an "office space" for lack of a better term. Truly, it is a school space right now...a new desk big enough for the computer and space to do homework. Shelves for stacking books, etc. Then I hung a big white board for writing down important things as well as some cork squares...eventually I will hang a picture frame above the computer with the 3 kids pictures in it.

I love my new space. It makes doing homework so much easier and I feel organized... finally.

I also got a new computer through my school. It is an iMac...

Ive been resistant to the whole Apple revolution but after seeing it in action, I was convinced it was the computer for me. So far, I really like it....A lot. The best part? NO WIRES OR CORDS!!! Seriously...what you see in that picture above is the WHOLE computer. The actual computer is inside the screen itself so there is no extra box/tower on the floor. You literally plug it into the wall with one solitary power cord. The mouse is wireless, the keyboard is wireless and because I have a wireless router in my apartment, there isnt even a cord to hook up the internet. It is a beautiful thing to look under my desk and not see a big tangled mess of cords! Its all very exciting to me, if you can't tell.

I painted a couple of walls in the front room. Green. Its a new color for me but Im really liking it right now. It feels so much more comfy in this little apartment. I figure since I am going to be in this place at least another year, I may as well make it pretty :) I ordered some new pictures of the kids from when we had those studio pictures taken a few months ago. I got one on canvas and I am really excited to hang those.

I was also really excited to get an email yesterday informing me that I made the Dean's List at the University of Utah! I was pretty happy about it considering how hard I work to keep my grades up at school. Sure, I could work less and still get B's and C's but I would always know deep down that I was capable of getting A's and it would eat at me if I didnt at least do the most that I could to accomplish that. So, all my hard work is paying off and that is good to know!

Our American Idol...

2011-01-27T16:21:00.005-07:00

Over the Christmas break I received a visit from Evan's school teacher. She had brought some music by that she needed Evan to memorize by the end of their break. Then she informed me that they had a "secret" audition of sorts for their school musical program and Evan had been chosen to sing a small solo part in one of the songs. I was shocked and excited of course! If you know Evan then you know how painfully shy he has been in the past, although when faced with doing something in front of others he has always stepped up and done it. Today was the performance and let me tell you, I was pretty much sobbing through the whole thing. I am such an emotional mess when it comes to my kids. I suppose I come by that honestly since my mother is the same way. Anyway, here he is! Enjoy the video. (make sure to turn off the music player at the bottom of the blog first so you can hear the video)

Grandpa....

2011-01-19T22:17:00.004-07:00

My Grandpa Ries passed away last week at 89, I believe. He had lost a lot of his memories already and so the last time I saw him, about 2 years ago, I dont think he really knew who I was. One thing I can say about my Grandpa is that he was always quick to smile. Even when he was looking at me and not really sure who I was, he was grinning from ear to ear. This is what I will remember the most about him.

He was a strict man and had his expectations of people but what a loving soul he had. Children loved him and he them....he was a good man. I am going to miss him and wish I had been able to see him more often. He was buried today and I wish I could have been there.

According to my parents my first word was "Gunka" which is what I called my Grandpa. This is me at age 2 probably getting ready to wake my Gunka up. It is one of my favorite pictures.

We always loved to pat his bald head. I dont think I have ever seen my Grandpa with hair...not even as a young man. I hear he lost it very early in life. He was in the Air Force and was buried in the Veterans section of the cemetary. He took good care of my Grandma and was content to sit back and let all of us gab away...not saying much but throwing a grin and a story in when he could. I dislike the fact that I am growing old and losing loved ones, but I suppose that is the way it has to be. Sure do love you Grandpa.....

My Skinny Jeans Review....

2011-01-11T21:45:00.007-07:00

For those that are close to me, you know how particular I have been throughout my life about my jeans. I have always suffered from the long leg syndrome...I know, there are worse things to have to suffer through...but trust me, it made buying jeans very difficult for me! As I have aged and put on extra weight, my plight has become even worse because now I struggle to find Cute jeans to fit me in all the right places and still be the right length. There are many 'plus size' clothing makers out there that apparently don't think bigger girls want to look stylish and cute. Or worse, they charge you your body weight for the cute ones. Well, I have found the solution! Fashion to Figure.

I recently had the opportunity to choose something from their line of Very cute, Very fashionable clothing. It was a difficult choice to make... but I decided to throw caution to the wind and try out the Dark Indigo Skinny Jeans. I have always wanted to try a pair of skinny jeans.

Not only did they appear to be cute jeans, but the price tag was incredibly reasonable. So I ordered and waited and wore them immediately the day they arrived.

The verdict? I don't think I will ever buy jeans anywhere else! Seriously, they are the most comfortable jeans I have ever worn.

I have been wearing them now for a few weeks. I wanted to wash them a few times before I actually wrote this review because the way jeans wash up make a big difference in my level of excitement. So far, after 4 washings, the color hasn't faded one bit. They are still nice and dark and fit just as well. I absolutely LOVE them!

If you happen to be what the fashion industry considers plus sized (which we all know means nothing) then you seriously must check out this store...the prices will amaze you as will the selection of fabulous, stylish clothing. They even have cute jewelry...heaven help me.

The Rest of the Holiday's....

2011-01-05T14:46:00.007-07:00

Im going to combine the rest of our Holiday into this one post...to save time and catch up quick. I was fortunate enough to watch my nephew Jude one day while Nate and Alisa went skiing. This baby is the sweetest natured child I have ever met. I had good babies...dont get me wrong...but this one is special. He seriously only cries when he is hungry and I wouldnt even call it a cry. His big blue eyes are constantly staring at me and then he breaks into this big grin and I seriously just want to eat his face.... LOVE him so much!!

While I babysat Jude, Denver took the kids sledding since we had received 6 inches of snow that previous night. They were anxious to use their new tubes. Here was Addison a few days before when we were supposed to get snow but didnt. She was highly disappointed as you can see. On a side note, here is Addison with her new Barbie Dream House all set up. She is so happy with this present....hours of playtime :)

For our family Christmas gift, Nathan and Alisa gave us a one night stay at the downtown Hilton. They wrapped the paperwork for it and the kids looked a little perplexed by the gift at the time of opening but boy did they enjoy the gift when we actually took advantage of it!

We checked in on Saturday and headed straight for the indoor pool.

Nothing like swimming in the Winter to make you really excited for Summer! After we swam we showered up and headed across the street for dinner at Macaroni Grill

and then went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.

It was beautiful as usual but I think it is always more effective to see these during the season....once Christmas is over it's a little anti-climatic...at least for me it is. Still, despite the balmy 10 degrees outside and the frozen thumbs, we enjoyed it.

Addison was on a mission to see Jesus. She didnt want to see the lights at all...she just kept screaming that she wanted to go see Jesus. So here she is.....with Jesus!

Afterward we stopped at Starbucks for some peppermint hot cocoa and then went back to the hotel and played board games. It was a lot of fun to just get away from the house for a night. I highly recommend it :)

So now, the kids are back in school and I have to say as much as I loved the Winter break this year it is nice to get back into routines. There is something to be said about having some "quiet" time! I start back to school next week and I am nervous but excited now that I am getting into my Major classes. I will be taking a Grammar class, a Theory class, a Writing class, and a Childrens Literature class. Should be fun and busy!

As for the New Year, Im not big on making resolutions because I nearly always fail at them however, there is something to be said about setting goals and trying to move forward through life rather than sitting still. With that being said, I think this year my goal is to stop limiting myself. There is no reason I cannot accomplish all of the things that I dream about and so that is what I am going to focus on. That, and Im going to try really hard to be nicer to myself....I tend to be very self critical and I see this manifesting itself in my son Ian. As far as the other New Years resolutions, like losing weight....well, I believe that will be a lifelong battle for me and so Im just going to do my best to keep a handle on it. That's about all I can do at this point.

I hope you all have a Fabulous 2011 and that all of your dreams come true ;)

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning....

2011-01-04T16:25:00.010-07:00

My intentions were to have all of these posts done before the new year but alas, my tendency to procrastinate has prevented me from reaching that goal. Better late than never though!

Christmas Eve was awesome for 2 reasons this year:

1. I had completed all my shopping by the 2nd week of December and if
you know me, then you know what a miracle that feat alone is! It allowed for a lot more relaxation :)
2. Anticipation! I love Christmas Eve better than Christmas Day
because everything is so magical still. After Christmas morning is over,
it feels like the holidays end....I think this is why Christmas Eve is my
favorite day of the year!
Christmas Eve afternoon we gathered at Nathan's house for what has become our traditional pizza lunch/gift exchange with my brothers. It is always a great time and we love spending time with everyone. The little ones of course make it even more enjoyable. Soren wouldnt pose for my camera but he didnt mind spinning in circles for me! He is in his own world and is so much fun to watch....

Here is Jude, the youngest of the bunch getting excited over the stuffed Frog we got him. He is so cute!

We were happy that Jeff and Nicola were able to come by for a bit even though Nicola was not feeling well. It wouldnt have been the same if they hadn't come! Jeff was pretty happy about his Snowbird ski pass that he recieved!

We all LOVED the gifts we received and I am grateful to have my brothers living close by. I love this picture of them cracking up. One thing our family knows how to do well is laugh.

Later that evening, Denver flew into town for his Christmas break. He is still here as I am typing this so he was able to enjoy a nice extended break from 70 hour work weeks! He will be returning to South Carolina tomorrow and I know the kids are sure going to miss him until his next visit. We made cookies for Santa that night also, although this year I let go of my usual necessity for perfect cookies and bought pre-made dough (gasp) and pre-made frosting (double gasp) and I had the kids use sprinkles that we already had in the cupboard. Im not sure what it was but I just decided that perfect Santa cookies werent necessary and very time consuming....time was something we didnt have a lot of this year. Sadly, the pre-made dough is not intended for rolling and cutting out shapes...as you can see these blobs of sugar cookies were originally christmas trees, haha...they turned into crispy disc's instead.

Oh well. I just love the colors that the kids chose to use....pretty much every color I had in the cupboard! Im sure Santa didnt mind ;)

Of course we can't forget to mention the Christmas Eve PJ's....thanks to Momaw (Denvers mom) for providing them along with the cute accessories seen in the picture.

Addison is also wearing her Hello Kitty slippers that Grandma and Grandpa Ries (my parents) gave her. She got to open them early because she was having a PJ party on her last day of school and had been begging me for slippers to wear. Knowing that my mom had gotten some for her, I had to let her open them. Evan is obssessed with the How to Train Your Dragon movie and has watched it everyday since Thanksgiving when my parents gave him the movie as an early Christmas present. Then of course Momaw sent him a stuffed dragon from the movie and he was over the top excited.

We watched a couple of movies before bed and then proceeded to finish up Christmas Eve. I always love the tree after the presents have been laid out...its one of my favorite pictures to take.

Everything turned out perfect and I was so excited for the kids to open their gifts the next day. The biggest gift under the tree was Addison's and as you can see she was more than thrilled to see that Santa brought her the Barbie Dream House that she has begged us for week after week for the past 6 months!! I remember when I got my Barbie Dream House although I was a little older :)

And here is Ian with one of his favorite gifts... LEGO Harry Potter. I think he may have been just a titch disappointed that he didnt get more Lego sets than this one but he was overjoyed to finally get his own Nintendo Dsi so hopefully he got over it!

And last but not least is Evan with one of his favorite gifts....One thing that I love about Evan is his simplicity and the fact that if I gave him a rock, he would cherish it for life. So sweet. This is his Discovery Channel Shark Week set of DVD's. Evan loves sharks and plans on becoming a Marine Biologist when he grows up....after watching some of the DVD's with him, this mom hopes he changes his mind and picks a nice desk job!! Yikes!!

What a Difference 10 years Makes!

2010-12-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

This recent picture was taken this evening and I couldn't help but notice right away how much it reminded me of the older picture. So I made this side by side to see the comparison. It is hard for me to believe that it has been 10 years.....and even though Ian would die to hear me say it, he is still my big baby! Even if he is a lot harder to carry.... Love him so much.

Merry Christmas!!!!

2010-12-21T23:57:00.004-07:00

What a year this has been! Wouldn't even begin to know where to start, but the word "Change" could certainly sum it up for our family. Or maybe "School" would be more appropriate. Both words dominated our familial landscape in 2010 for sure. Two moves would certainly fit in there as well with all of us leaving our comfy house to start an adventure in Family Housing at the University (read: major downsizing). I think this move affected the parents more than the children though! Then a few months later, Denver moved to South Carolina to work for a while with Boeing. This has been difficult of course for everyone, but probably the most for him. Thankfully lots of work has helped to pass the time for him...and of course the kids and I have kept PLENTY busy. Almost to the point of exhaustion and craziness! Now the year is coming to a close with Denver being 3 classes away from his degree at the University of Phoenix and me...well....lets just say I am closer and starting to see that shimmer of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. As for the kids, well they take everything in stride of course and have been kept busy as well with Taekwondo, Soccer, Dance, Spanish Lessons, Chinese Lessons, and Scouts....oh and let's not forget school... and that was all crammed into the months of August-December! Whew. I am definitely looking forward to less of that now Winter is in full swing.

We lost some loved ones this year too... My Grandma Lloyd and our friend Jeremy as well as 3 year old Anarae Lefau a cousin from Denver's side of the family. Very sad losses all around and they will be missed dearly. I am so grateful to have knowledge of life beyond this one. To know that we will see these people again. I am also grateful for the full life that I have been given and for the many friends and family that love and surround me. My Resolution this year (well, one of them anyway) is to pay attention to the things that matter and put aside the stuff that just isn't important; the clutter that takes away my focus. I've learned that you need to keep the people you love close to you even when it's seems difficult because you never know when they might leave this life and you are left wishing you could tell them how you feel.

I think 2011 will be a great year full of even more change and I say, bring it on! I hope all of you have a Fabulous Christmas and a very Happy New Year too!!!

Fun with Friends....

2010-12-19T00:18:00.008-07:00

I really detest creating posts without pictures but unfortunately I have had a really bad habit lately of bringing my camera and not taking any pictures with it! Case in point: the kids and I spent an evening last week at my friend Karolyn's house. She had her daughters for the weekend and her boyfriend had his kids as well. They surprised my kids with a real treat....2 hours at a place called "Jump on It" which is basically a warehouse of trampolines.

The floor and even some of the walls are trampolines. How fun! They were red faced and sweaty by the time we left and slept like angels once we got home...thats always a bonus!

Karolyn fed us dinner as well and I stepped outside of my food comfort zone and ate Elk and Venison. I about died inside when she told me what we were having but I have to say it was very tasty! Even Ian ate it knowing that he was eating the poor Elk that was hanging on the wall above the fireplace. Yes, they killed it! The whole way home Ian discussed the possibility of him taking up hunting....oh boy. We had such a fun time and I realized that I need to get out more. I really enjoy socializing with friends. But, like I said...didnt pull out the camera once! So, I have resorted to photo theft....this picture above is of Karolyn and one of her daughters, Bryn (sorry Karolyn) which I took off of her Facebook... I really wish I would have taken a picture of the Elk that we ate, haha. I did snap the first 2 pictures above on my phone though so they will have to suffice: Addison jumping on one of the trampolines, and Ian's red face as we were leaving.

Last night I was able to enjoy a nice dinner with my friend Linda. I haven't seen her in so long it seems, so it was nice of her to drive up to SLC and go to dinner with me. We ate at Red Rock and I had a nice Filet Mignon...I eat those so rarely that I couldn't resist it! We had a great time and again, I am reminded that I enjoy having a social life even if it is a small one! But no pictures of course! Here is an old one of Linda from last year; just so I can have one on here :)

End of the School Year and Other Happenings....

2010-12-18T23:19:00.006-07:00

I finished up the semester finally on Tuesday and believe me, it wasn't a moment too soon! Still waiting on the final grades but so relieved to be done for a month. The kids didn't get out of school for their break until yesterday so I had a few days completely to myself and will have another full week of bliss in January after they go back and before I start up again. I put my free time to good use finishing up Christmas shopping and running errands....not exactly the vision of bliss I had imagined (read: sleeping in, laying around and watching movies, etc) but it was nice being able to shop alone! In the middle of this the boys both had school performances for me to attend. First was Evan:

He and a partner worked on a report about the endangered Monk Seal and then their assignment was to use this fun program on the computer to create a documentary which they narrated, inserted pictures, and chose background music for. It was a fun project for them and I was excited to see it. Here is a picture of Evan with his teacher Mrs. Norton.

She is super nice and Evan really likes her. Now if only I could get him to do his homework, 3rd grade would surely be a big success!

Next was Ian's piano recital. His school is the only one in the district that has piano lessons once a week and now that he is in the 4th grade, he also has a violin lesson once a week! I love love love this music program and the fact that he is learning and I don't have to force him to practice. Here he is waiting for his turn....sitting next to Josie, who I am not allowed to tell you about; wink wink. At the very end of this post is the video of Ian's performance.....

So, now they are out of school until January 3rd and there is a lot of excitement with Christmas coming up and Denver coming to town....in fact it's all they talk about!

Unfortunately we received some really sad news this week. My mechanic, who also happens to be a pretty good acquaintance of ours passed away. It's a long story but basically we met him and his family when they moved into the first house we rented in Sugarhouse when Addison was just a few months old. We only moved around the corner so we still saw them on occasion and would take our cars to him for cheaper repair. Eventually they were baptized into the LDS church and were attending our ward as well. Jeremy had his struggles but he was always so kind to us and very fair with our car repair. We trusted him and he charged us so little compared to what we would have to spend at a regular shop. Even when he was out of work and needed the money so badly he didn't charge us much. In recent months he has fixed my poor van at least 3 times or more and was scheduled to fix one last thing next week after Christmas. He was going through some really personal trials lately including being out of a job for nearly 9 months and it was clear that he was struggling emotionally. Sadly, it got the best of him and he took his own life on Sunday. I attended his funeral on Friday. It was heartbreaking to look at his 3 children and see what they are going through. I cannot even begin to comprehend that level of sadness both on his part where the hopelessness was so intense or on his children who now have to come to terms with how their dad left them, not to mention just the fact that he is gone. It was a horrible experience. I hope I never have to experience it again. My heart is full of love for his family and I pray that they will be able to reconcile this and move forward. It has hit me much harder than I thought it would....I'm still just struggling to understand why.

But, now it's on to Christmas and a brand new year full of possibilities. I am sure thankful for whatever comes my way, good and bad, because it is a reminder that I am alive and experiencing all that God intends for me....what could be better?

Dancing Queen....

2010-12-11T14:22:00.005-07:00

Ok, so the last 2 attempts at a dance recital that we have made with Addison have resulted in major meltdowns, screaming, crying.....and yes, disappointment. So, this year when Addison said she wanted to dance again with Miss Julie (we just love Miss Julie, pictured with Addie below)
I decided ahead of time that she would go to classes but not participate in the recitals. It was just too traumatic for her and for me! Fast forward to this month and it's all Addison has talked about: my dance recital, my dance recital! I asked her if she was going to be able to do it and she announced that she would be going up on stage with her friend Abby....pictured with her below

Ok...well, I guess we will try it again I said. I am happy to report that this time, Addie did it!!! I am so proud of her for overcoming her fear of being on stage. The first number was the tap dance and she started to get watery eyed and was just staring at me the whole time. She really didnt dance a step of the whole dance but she managed to stay on stage and not have a meltdown. I was ecstatic for that. Toward the end we even managed to get some smiles out of her and a little toe tapping. Next was the ballet number and by this time she was ready to go. She danced the entire number from start to finish!!! Yay!!! It was a big day in the Shannon house today. Her brothers were some of her biggest supporters and could be heard yelling for her when she finished....she was so excited to hug them when she got off stage.

It was a great morning. Ballet West here she comes! Here is the video of her ballet number..be sure to turn off music player at bottom of blog so you can hear the video:

New Pictures....

2010-12-07T22:22:00.008-07:00

You can always count on a post like this 2 or 3 times a year! I just love having the kids pictures taken. School pictures just don't cut it for me. Now that I have found a fabulous, affordable studio (click here for FotoFly) to take them to, it's just fun to keep going back! Here is the latest batch although this is just a snippet of all the great pics they took. I don't know how I am going to choose which ones to print this time around! Sorry there are a lot but I couldn't narrow them down so you have to see them all! (if you click on each collage the picture should come up larger)

December....

2010-12-07T22:13:00.005-07:00

December is a great month for many reasons. The obvious of course being that it is Christmas. You wanna know why I think it is GREAT right now?? Because in one week, this semester of school is OVER!!! This has been a tough one for me. I'm not sure why but I had a couple of classes that have been downright miserable. One with a teacher that is impossible to please no matter how good your paper is....and another who doesn't believe in giving A's. Thanks to these two teachers my 4.0 gpa is about to take a big dip and I have been very bummed out about it. But, it is what it is....I have to deal with it and move on and I am soooo ready to move on. After this semester, I only have 11 classes left until I graduate. Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel.

In the meantime, it is December and so we started off the month getting our Christmas tree. I love the look of my home when there are Christmas decorations up. It is so warm and comfy....

We don't have a lot planned for this month. I think for once it will feel nice to just stick around here and not have to be running from one place to another. Denver will be back in town on Christmas Eve day through the 5th of January and the kids are beyond excited to see him as I am sure he is just as excited to them.

Thanksgiving....

2010-12-04T01:14:00.006-07:00

I hit a breaking point in my stress level a couple of weeks ago when my car broke down. Normally I maintain my stress level pretty well and manage to wiggle through it unscathed but I think this time it got the best of me. If there is one thing I cannot do without, it is a car. We thought it was the transmission and were making plans to try and buy a new vehicle which was going to be very difficult at best. Thank heavens for miracles...it turned out to be a minor issue and it is now fixed.

Due to the car issues, I chose to rent a car to drive to Reno, Nevada for Thanksgiving. Me and the kids went to my parents' home to celebrate along with Jeff and Nicola. I am ashamed to admit it but I didn't take a solitary picture the whole weekend except this one:

I'm not sure why but I just didn't have the energy to take any. Oh well...we had a wonderful time and the dinner was awesome, as usual. My mom, Jeff, Nicola, and myself all went to see Harry Potter one night while Grandpa watched the kids. Another night just my mom and I went to see the late night showing of Inception, which I LOVED. Never mind that it took me about 20 minutes after the movie ended to be able to actually say that. Its a mind blowing kind of movie. It was just a nice escape from school and life and none of us really wanted to go home, but alas... reality was waiting for us and we had to leave. I'm so Thankful for my family....I never get enough of them when we visit and feel so fortunate that we have such a great relationship with each other.

We drove home on Sunday and arrived in Salt Lake City to a Foot of snow; I kid you not. It was crazy! I cannot believe that we didn't hit one drop of snow for the majority of the trip. As soon as we got to the Tooele exit (which is on the outskirts of SLC) it was like crossing over into another world. Weirdest thing ever. Dry roads and then suddenly snow packed roads...almost immediately. It was beautiful until we had to lug 4 rolling suitcases through the un-plowed parking lot to our apartment. Gotta love Winter!

My 4th Grader....

2010-11-12T16:05:00.003-07:00

I'm still in denial that I have a 10 year old. Even with his new school picture that makes him look 13, I refuse to believe that he is 10. I will probably remain in denial until he leaves for college....and even then I may shut my eyes to the whole business. Love you Ian!

Happy Veterans Day!

2010-11-10T22:53:00.004-07:00

It's weird but I never really thought at some point in my life I would ever reflect on Veterans Day with as much pride as I do now. I wasn't in the Air Force for any real length of time...6 years is all. But, they still call me a Veteran and I almost feel guilty claiming that title. I joined the Air Force for selfish reasons really. Not with the idea that I would be proudly serving my country, but as a means to end. I wanted to get my student loans paid off and then finish school while I was serving. Perhaps even get a job with the FBI when I got out. I never realized that I would ever get to the point where I could truly feel pride when I told someone I had been in the Air Force. I didn't understand that concept at all. Now here I am, some 15 years later and I'm lucky if I can get through the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem without bawling. I learned a lot while I was selfishly serving, but I think the most important lessons that I took from the experience were these:

I came to know exactly what Patriotism means and why it is so important to pass on to my children.
I became associated with true Patriots and Veterans who chose to selflessly serve our country for the right reasons and loved/love doing it. I think of these people often, especially during this time of war and wonder where they are; but I know exactly what they are doing and I feel much love and gratitude for these soldiers/airmen/seamen/marines.
I learned a lot of lessons in patience, strength; both emotional and physical, perseverance, and even more lessons in self awareness.
I learned that despite its flaws, we live in a pretty great country.... and I understand fully what it means to be "Proud to be an American".

So, on this Veterans Day I guess I not only want to send out a cyber 'Thank You' to those who have served and continue to serve but I wanted to also express thanks for my experience in those 6 short years and say that even though I didn't physically fight or even sacrifice much, I am very proud of what I did give and even more proud to tell those stories to my children. I love that they are proud to tell their friends that their Mom was in the Air Force (even though they are really just excited to tell them that I shot guns...Hoo-Rah!)

ESPN & Pizza...(and a flat tire)

2010-11-06T23:58:00.010-06:00

Seems like a strange combination for me, I know. But, here is the story... Today was the boys' last soccer games for the Fall season. Thank heavens. I dont know that I have ever been so glad to have one of their activities be over with. Not that I don't enjoy watching them but this was a crazy Fall and truthfully I never really got to watch much of any game completely due to running back and forth between fields!!

After Ian's first game at 8am, his coach cooked up pancakes/sausage/eggs...I brought fresh fruit and we all enjoyed a great breakfast before they played a second game at 10:30....after we ate, I had to run Evan over to his field for a 10am game. Sadly, when I got up to the van, the back tire was completely flat. It has a nail in it. I didn't have time to do anything so a nice mom took us over to the game and then another mom from Evan's team drove us back to the other field to deal with the tire. Ive never changed a flat tire before so I figured I may as well learn how! I got the van jacked up but was having major trouble getting the lug nuts off. They were on soooo tight. I was completely floored by the number of soccer Dad's who walked right past me as I sat on the ground struggling with the tire, and didn't so much as look at me let alone offer to help. It actually became quite comical and the boys even were in on the joke. I took the opportunity to point out to them how important it is to offer help when you see someone in need. Hopefully they will remember it. Ian did announce the situation once we returned to the apartment to one of the women in our court....obviously the whole thing made an impression on him. But, I did get the tire changed all by myself and I felt accomplished for doing so!

When we got home, we had planned on watching some of the Harry Potter movies but a friend of mine from the choir that I sing in called me and asked for some help.

She is friends with Trevor Matich who is an announcer for ESPN (he played football at BYU and then the Redskins in the NFL).... she wanted to stop by and say hello to him since they were set up at the University of Utah for the big game today (which the Utes lost miserably).

She lives in Provo though and wanted to know if I could drive her to where he was because she isn't familiar with the campus up here. It was fun for the boys to watch the live broadcast of ESPN and then get to take pictures with Trevor Matich.

Ian kept saying "I cant believe I am watching this live!" Afterward, we all went out for pizza. It was a good time...I'm so glad she called me. She has really become such a great friend! Here are a couple of more pics.....

Halloween....

2010-10-30T23:20:00.007-06:00

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I hate to admit that...It seems so stuffy and lame of me. Im not sure where my dislike came from...especially considering my own Mom was so obsessed with the holiday. She made it so much fun.... (this is her in costume circa 1981)

but... I just cant get into it. Cant figure out why. This year, however...I seemed to have found a small bit of enjoyment out of it at the last minute. I dont know if it was the fact that my children all chose relatively simple and inexpensive costumes...

(Addison in the costume she wore last year)

(Evan chose to be a skeleton, wearing the cloak he wore for his last years costume..and I had already bought the face paint last year when Halloween items were on clearance!)

(Ian chose to be Indiana Jones..in his own clothing with uncle Nates fly fishing hat and a leather jacket we found at the D.I. for $20...the whip was from scout camp...)

Maybe it was the fact that I was just too dang busy to stress over everything like I normally do, but whatever happened, I really had a good time tonight! It did start out kinda miserable though with the rain...

but thankfully, by the time we actually went out to trick or treat, it had mostly stopped. We went to Nate and Alisa's first to show costumes and ended up trick or treating with Soren. That was fun...I love that age (2-4) when holiday's really start to become THE MOST EXCITING THING IN THE WORLD to the kids. Soren was having a ball! We left there after hitting a few streets and went back to our old neighborhood to finish up. It was fun seeing all the people from our old ward/neighborhood. The kids made a haul of candy that ought to last them 6 months but will actually only last about 6 hours....ugh. I, of course felt obliged to eat all of Ian's "peanut" items. Darn that peanut allergy!
(Here is Ian "re-creating the cover of the Indiana Jones DVD cover...can you tell he was really into this costume? )

After being home for about 20 minutes, I noticed that I hadnt seen or heard from Addison...this is how I found her. Completely Sacked out!