DANCING THE WEEKEND AWAY

The girls performed at Kingsbury Hall this weekend and both did a tremendous job! It was a crazy weekend with dress rehearsals on Thursday and Friday, Reagan's performance on Friday night and Madi's performances on Saturday. Not to mention that Youth Conference was the same weekend. (needless to say I was worn out) I took Reagan to dress rehearsal, left to go to youth conference for 20 hours, took Madi back down to the city for her dress rehearsal, came home got Reagan ready for her performance, attended her performance. Got up the next morning and got Madi ready and took her to her performance. Not my favorite part of dance, but seeing them perform, made it all worth it!

Madi has really loved taking ballroom this year and has made some wonderful friends. She wants to continue dancing and it makes me so happy so she her interested in dance again.

Reagan has loved having Miss Laura as her teacher for 2 years and has come a long way, since last years recital. She loves being able to perform on the stage. She thinks she is so big!

EASTER EASTER

We had another fabulous Easter this year. My sister Becky came into town, so we got all the cousins together to dye and decorate Easter eggs. Surprisingly it went quite well, with all the little kids running around. We also had our annual Easter Egg Hunt at Grammie and Papa's house on Saturday morning, which is always a big hit for the kids. The guys get so bored having to put out all the stuff that they just start throwing it all over the grass. This year we tried to make it a little more difficult for the kids, giving the kids a list of exactly what they needed to find. I think we might have gone too far (looking for a way to simplify next year, maybe each kid gets a color.) Every Easter Dan and I sit back and laugh at the older kids while they search ans search for their baskets. Its a good thing the Easter Bunny leaves clues, just in case they have problems finding it. They looked stunning in their new clothes this year, I love taking pictures of these cute kids. I especially love celebrating Easter and the resurrection of our beloved Savior.

UNDER THE SEA BIRTHDAY

Reagan celebrated her 5th birthday this week! So I enlisted my mom to help me with her party. Reagan wanted an Under the Sea party, so we made merpaid tail beach towels for all the little girls coming to the party. We served up a fabulous dinner with octopus hot dogs and star fish peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Along with blue jello, gold fish, swedish fish and clam cupcakes. We had a fishing pond, made seashell bracelets, looked for the pearls and dove under the sea. It was a fantastic party with colorful decorations all around. Reagan sure had a great time at her party, we topped off the night by having the family over for an under the sea ice cream cake. Some of her favorite gifts this year included; mini pillow pet and her moxie mermaid.

JAXSON'S "ROCK"- ING BIRTHDAY

I had a fabulous time preparing for Jaxson's 10th birthday! He decided he wanted a rock climbing birthday,which I was very supportive of, I had been so busy recently with work and other responsibilities that the idea of not having to plan the birthday party was awesome (which is very unlike me.)

I checked out several places and we decided on Life Time Fitness because we could schedule the party during a time the rock climbing wall was closed to the public and we would have the entire place to ourselves. So my job included getting the invitations out, making cupcakes and putting together the goodie bags!

We had everyone come directly to the gym for the party and I was able to decorate the party room with green and charcoal decorations and balloons. The kids all enjoyed the 1st hour or so of the party rock climbing. It wore them all out so it was perfect to serve them pizza right after.   All of the boys did an incredible job climbing the wall and were so polite and well behaved throughout the party. Even the party hosts commented on what a great group of kids it was. Reagan had a blast too and had no problem getting up the wall. She has already decided that her 6th birthday will be a rock climbing party.

After pizza and soda Jaxson opened his presents and tried guessing who each present was from as his eyes were closed and back turned to the wall.  It was pretty funny to have the boys come up with different accents to say happy birthday.  

The party hosts were also so accommodating and when I got up to help serve the pizza, they said "No, No, you sit down, we'll do this." I have never had a party where I couldn't do anything - IT WAS AMAZING!

We ended the party by serving"Rocky Road" cupcakes. I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, then added toasted marshmallows and chocolate rock candy on the top. DELICIOUS!

The boys all played basketball until their parents came to get them. I sent them all home with a nylon, drawstring back pack, that said ROCK ON. It was filled with all sorts of rock climbing goodies, including; trail mix connected to a carabiner, bottle water, pop rocks, air heads and a rock bouncy ball.

This was by far the easiest party I have ever done!

VOCAL POINT

Dan and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary yesterday! Wow, that is a long time! We would have loved to have gone on a cruise to celebrate (I found one for $452 per person, that went to the southern Caribbean for seven days) however, we did not have the funds to go on a trip, so I started thinking about what we could do to celebrate. Obviously a date night was in order, but I wanted to do something than the usual dinner and a movie. I started looking around at all the productions shows going on and there was nothing. Then I remembered that the group Vocal Point was performing. Unfortunately because I had waited until the last minute, tickets were sold out. I came across some tickets on KSL for second row and thought for sure they must of been sold already. To my great surprise the guys still had the tickets and was willing to sell them for face value. His wife ended up going out of town and he couldn't use the tickets.

I was so EXCITED to watch them perform! I loved their performances on the Sing-Off and felt that they should of won the show. It was really entertaining to watch them in person, because I sort of felt a connection to them watching them on TV (even though I really didn't know them). Some of the performers had changed since the show; however my favorite performers including; Jake and McKay were still there! One of the most exciting parts of the evening was when Tanner the beatboxer did a solo on stage. I could not believe or explain the sounds that came out of his mouth. Needless to say he is AMAZING! Apparently he won first place in a international competition last year and I am not surprised. The group sang several of the songs they sang on the Sing-Off, including my favorite, The Way You Look Tonight! Another fun part of the evening was when the base Robert started talking just like Elmo and then said he wanted to sing with the guys, he asked what part does Elmo sing, and he replied with a very low voice "Base!"

After the show Dan and I went to the Olive Garden at 10:30 for some appetizers! I really had an enjoyable time - what was most enjoyable was spending the evening with my wonderful husband, who I love and adore!

BLACK EYE REAGAN

So we left my parents in charge of the children and went out on a date with Jared and Erin while they were in town. Madi usually babysits for us; however she had plans with her friends, so they agreed to watch Jaxson and Reagan while we went to dinner and a movie. We had my parents bring the kids back around 10:00 after Madi got home, so they could go to bed.

Saturday morning Reagan comes running into our room and tells us that she has a black eye. I didn't have my contacts in, so I couldn't quite see what she was talking about and thought she was making it up anyway. When I was able to focus, there it was, a big shiner in her left eye. When we asked her what happened and she told us that she ran into the piano bench. I guess she had been turning off the lights and then ran straight into it, in the dark. I am assuming when she made contact with the bench, she fell onto the corner, which is what blackened her eye. Her eye was black and blue from the inside corner, all the way around. Not to mention swollen as well. The rainbow of colors we saw throughout the coming weeks around her eyes were beautiful; Reagan and I would comment on them as we were doing her hair each morning.

The great thing about her eye was Reagan had tumbling pictures a few days later, I was able to cover it up pretty good with makeup and the pictures turned out better than I hoped.

I guess this is my dad giving us a clue that they don't want to babysit or be in charge of the children anymore. I guess this is what happens when you leave the grandparents in charge. I told people that my dad gave her the black eye a few times and Reagan got so upset with me.

Her black eye lasted over two weeks. (Her eye is still not quite back to normal to this day as is is still bumpy and and swollen where she made direct contact with the bench - and it has been nearly a month.)

BASKETBALL FEVER

Jaxson had another fantastic basketball season. His team went undefeated in his division and the games are so excited and intense to watch. I really saw Jaxson come to life on the court this year, he can shoot and whne given the opportunity he can really score. During one game of the season he had the highest points of the game, scoring double digits. The great thing about his team is when they are playing for each other, they really do well. Another game during the season, everyone of the players scored in the same game - Now that's teamwork! His coaches are incredible and we love being a part of their team (Scott, Kody and Jeremy). Jaxson played on the same team the previous year and I believe they are going to continue playing with this same team for years to come!

Because the season went so well, they signed up to play in a Junior Jazz tournament, they played four games, however lost in the second round of the tornament. The coaches told them not to hang their heads beucase in the past two seasons, they had only lost 3 games. They had an outstanding record!

One of the things Scott said during the season to the boys I will never forget and I think it is a great slogan for these boys "Hard work is talent when talent doesn't work hard enough!"

PINEWOOD DERBY WINNER

Last year Jaxson's car did not do so hot in the pinewood derby race, so he was really hoping for a good showing this year. Time got away from Dan and they started building his car the night before the derby. Last year they bought a kit and worked on it for weeks, this year Jaxson wanted to make his own, so Dan went to Hobby Lobby multiple times and purchased paint, decals, weights, tools, etc. We remembered that the winning cars last year had the majority of the weight in the back of the car, so they focused on installing the weights in the back.

When the car was complete, it looked like a winning car, we just didn't know how well it would do on the track. Lucky for Jaxson - it was a winning car! The look on his face as he raced past his competitors was priceless. He was so proud and so happy. The only person he couldn't beat was his good friend Kaden Pierce. Kaden took first place last year and repeated his victory this year. Jaxson came in second and took home a trophy to prove it.

I guess waiting until the last possible minute wasn't just a bad idea after all. (Madi had given her Dad a hard time the night before, but I guess he showed her.)

A BIRTHDAY SURPRISE

We decided to do a surprise party for my Mom's 60th and my Dad's 16th birthday this year. Jared and Erin came into town and we had the family over for dinner. Little did my parents know that the basement was decked out for the party and everyone had made food for the party. After dinner was over the doorbell rang and our first guests arrived. Ralph and Bettyann Baer from our neighborhood on Sharron Drive. It was a fun evening to celebrate with my parents. Lots of friends, family and neighbors stopped by to wish them a happy birthday. Friends that couldn't make it, sent notes for their memory book. I was glad to be a part of the evening and do something nice for my parents. Below is the invitation we sent out to everyone.

Marlene’s now sixty – Steve’s turning sixteen,

could you imagine a crazier scene?

It’s probably illegal in all fifty states,

so were running out of time to celebrate!

A surprise get-together from six to eight,

on Sunday the 19th, there’s no time to wait!

Soon Marlene will be in a holding cell,

while poor young Steve tries to post her bail.

Never been kissed, NO – this isn’t the case,

Marlene’s been a cougar on the chase!

Not so sweet after all, is this birthday pair,

so stop by, say hello, offer up your prayers.

SOLIDER HOLLOW TUBING

Jared and Erin came into town for Presidents Day weekend and we all went up to Midway to go tubing. We found a great deal on Groupon for half the cost, so Dan and I took the kids out of school to spend a family day together.

As always my kids were in heaven going up and down the mountain. This is my kind of sledding as well,when they pull you up the mountain and there is no work involved. The best thing about the day was that it was sunny and beautiful, we were shedding layers throughout the afternoon because it was so warm.

Kaitlyn wasn't quite as happy as the rest of us and was a little frightened going down the hill (quite the contract to Reagan, who had the biggest grin on her face), so Jared and Erin took turns staying back with her, while the rest of us would go up the hill and hook up our tubes to go down the mountain together. The more weight you have the faster you go down the hill. I had to get mad at Dan one time because he put he feet in the snow to slow us down at the bottom of the hill and all the snow kicked up and went down my shirt - it was so COLD!

At the end of the day, we stopped in a little bakery for some pastries when Dan realized he was missing his phone. We looked everywhere for it in the car and even tried his find your phone app, but nothing worked. We called the Solider Hollow and check with the front office and they didn't have it either, so we decided to drive back to the tubing hill, so see if we could find it on the mountain or in a tube. We spoke with a couple of workers and no one had it. Dan left his name and number at the front desk, but no luck. When we arrived home, there was a message from Solider Hollow stating that they had his phone. One of the workers had it and turned it in during a shift change. Tho following morning he had to drive all the way back to Midway to get his phone (So I made him get more pastries, while he was there!)