Wow! It's the middle of 2013 already..

June 6, 2013

I think the mic's still on.  We just need to "talk" into it.               

In a nutshell:

We had our annual girl's night last week and had a blast despite various ailing family members' bouts with the stomach crud.  Nathan was even kind enough to text us a picture of little Finn's projectile explosion that plastered him literally from head to toe.  Thank you Nathan. Anyway, we went to dinner at Porcupine Grill where we were surprised with a guest server named Rosalind.  That was so fun!  I'm so glad she could join us.  We gabbed and ate chocolate donuts and other goodies and gabbed some more.  Everybody's toes look a lot better, too, except for Brittany's and Katie's and we'll have to keep you posted on theirs. 

Brittany and Frank are moving tomorrow to avoid being crushed by their imploding house.

The clan is looking forward to our trip to the Davis cabin next week.  We'll miss Nathan and Emily who will be in Las Vegas cooking, and Brandon and Roz who will be in Texas sweating copious amounts of bodily fluids.

Nick is walking the walk for his graduation on July 13th.  Congratulations, Nick!!  I am a proud mama.

Later that evening, we're having an extended family picnic.  Please see your email for details.  I think it will be fun and relatively painless, so PLEASE try to attend.  I know some of you have other commitments, but if possible try to stop by for a short time if you can.

Ben and Zac play some good baseball.  Dad and I watched them play one of their games a couple weeks ago and it was so fun to be there.  I understand they have been selected for the All Stars, too.  Awesome news!

Sean cracked me up with his description of some well-meaning people in his ward.  Enough said.

Kaleb had his tonsils out not long ago and did really well.  He is a very brave little boy.

Dad got his bike out again and got it all tuned up and ready to ride for the summer.  He's been riding on the Jordan River Parkway trail and usually rides about 18 miles each ride.  He has also been swimming at our pool 5 or 6 times already since it opened on Memorial Day weekend.  When he gets bored with those activities, he goes running for an hour and a half. 

That was a pretty big nutshell!  Let's try to keep this going.  I tend to forget about it, so if we take turns writing on it, it will help me remember to add my 2 cents worth.

Love you all,

The Mom

As the world turns.....

So Christmas is rapidly approaching!! I feel so un-prepared this year. I wish that I had kept my promise from last year and bought presents all year long...Oh well...I will have to do that again this year.
It is amazing how fast the year goes by. It seems like it was just the other day when we had Cameron's first Christmas...
The kids are so excited this year. We put up the tree and it only took three days!
They have grown so much. I hardly recognize Cameron...He is as tall as my Grandma Diane and most of my aunts. Cameron has had a great time playing team sports this year. He played flag football and had a great time. He is currently playing basketball and loving it! He is doing well in school and loves his teachers. His favorite subjects are history and science.
Nathan is also loving school and has done very well this year. He had a good time playing soccer this spring. His favorite was being the goal keeper. He skipped flag football, but said the entire time..I wished I had played! So next year he is planing on it. He is playing basketball on a new team this year and loves all of his new friends.
Madison is still our little princess. She started preschool at Mrs. Shelly's two doors down. She goes twice a week and has met lots of fun friends. She also is dancing and just had her Christmas performance. She danced and sang to "All I want for Christmas". Starting in January she is going to go back to Terri's Dance. She has missed it so much and asked to go back! Madison just had her 4th birthday party...It was so much fun. She had a P.J. Party. We played musical pillows and decorated Z shaped cookies. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun!! I had the most fun decorating the bed shaped cakes for each kid.
We went on some exciting vacations this year. I went with Gosia and her sister Marta to Disneyland in May for a week. Gosia, our exchange student, went home at the beginning of June. The kids missed her. She came back in October to get her GED so she could continue her education. She now lives in Florida.
I think the best vacation we went on this year together was to Colorado for my family reunion. We all climbed into the Durango..including my parents...and drove to Pagosa Springs, CO for a week. It was nice to see all of my Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and especially my Grandparents.
The boys just went to Montana in November for two weeks. They loved spending time with their Papa. They played in the snow, built stuff out of wood in the workshop, including really cool swords. I think it was one of the highlights of their year!! While they went to Montana, Madison and I went to Maryland. We went to visit Julie, Ian and their little boy Kylan. We had fun spending time with them. We went to Fort McHenry and the National Zoo. We saw some animals I had never seen before in my life...We saw a panda bear, a fishing cat and a maned wolf that smelled like a skunk.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving...I am so thankful for a wonderfull family who loves us no matter what.
My promise to myself from this day forward is to update this blog to the best of my ablility. I think it is lots of fun to read what everyone is doing...We get so busy and it is hard to find time for the little things, but we can try.

Not as classic...

But equally scary:

Another classic...

Another classic....

Love the face, Brandon! Nice blog, too. Now most of us have one. Keep up the good work.

Brandon needs to trademark this look: "The Face"

Standard "The Face." Notice the slightly crossed eyes. What great technique.

An early "softer" adaptation of "The Face."

A very classic, intense version of "The Face."