Orem Summerfest 2008!

Okay Please forgive me I've been sooo busy this week so the blogging is a little behind! But we did so much fun stuff I can't leave anything out so here it comes all at you in a couple days!!

Last Saturday was Summerfest!! I love Summerfest it's a parade at night so you don't melt watching the same floats you could watch on the 4th of July!! The fireworks are awesome & we've gone so many years in a row I actually remember going when I was Sam's age! The kids love it and we hit the carnival, dinner, parade, & fireworks all in about 7 hours!!

Here's my proof about the fireworks! This is the finale!

You Are Mulan!

Strong and spirited. You're no one's girly girl; actually you are very determined person with a strong sense of self. Never let go of that! The only thing that equals your sense of self is your family, but the traditions of society can always be bent to protect something or someone you love.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Old Friends, new again!

This is Rafael Neilson, she was my best friend in Junior High. We went our separate ways in high school, I was really busy swimming & being boy crazy! But we ran into each other on Facebook, so we went out to dinner to get to know each other again. It was fun we went to Red Robin and the Bath & Body Works for the clearance sale. I had to run home quickly, I'd already hung out with friends the night before & was feeling guilty leaving my family. It was great to talk about how our lives are so different, she's living the single life & I'm married with 4 kids.

Happy Father's Day!

Ryan * My Dad* Ryan's Dad*

I'm so lucky to have a wonderful husband who is a great father to our four beautiful children. And to have been born to a great father who loves me and my family, especially my kids. And I was lucky a 3rd time when I married into Ryan's family and gained another great father in my life who loves us all so much, even in the Dominican Republic.

Ryan, I love you so much and I'm so glad my roommate dragged me out of bed to go to Sacrament when I wanted to sleep until Sunday School. I would have never met you (for those who don't know the story, it was his last Sunday in our ward and he wasn't in my Sunday School class). I am so glad that you help our children find the humor in everything, and you are so funny yourself. I love to laugh with you, and you make me feel so safe and warm. Thanks for the love you give me and the happy life we have found together.

CooolemmmaN!!!!

This story began about 2 1/2 weeks ago. The neighbor boy Landon, came in and said "Sister Crockett, Coleman cut the tramp!" "What" was my response. I preceded to run outside and found this hole, plus 5 others. I yelled for Coleman, who was hiding knowing he was in trouble. He said it was an accident and they were just jumping with the pocketknife open and he landed on it and it just cut the tramp. For me that was not any better, one of the boys could have lost a eye or cut themselves really badly. I told him that the 5 inches cut was not done by accident and to fess-up or get in more trouble. So he explained it was an accident at first then he and his friend each took a turn. And he cut the big hole. I sent his friends home and told him I was too mad to talk to him so go to your room until dad gets home (3 hours later). He actually stayed there for about 2 hrs. without talking I think he knew I meant business, I was too mad to even yell. We later decided he would have to do a chore everyday for 1 hour to pay back the cost of the tramp. He has to clean our unfinished basement, there are toys everywhere. He's still working on it, which it could have been done in 3 hours if an adult had done it. We had to order a whole new jumping mat and we had just ordered a new tramp pad so $250 later (more than we bought the original tramp for) we have a new trampoline!! The kids plus friends watched Ryan install it for an hour last night and counted down when they could jump again!! It does look good and it is a better quality. I never knew before I had kids, that they can make you more mad then you could ever imagine!! As you can see it still took 2 1/2 weeks until I could even post it on the blog!

Dentist Appointments!

Last Thursday we ALL had dentist cleanings! A day when all parents cross their fingers when the dentist is checking for cavities. Well we survived and made it out with only 1 tiny cavity on Coleman's back teeth. I must give all the credit to the weekly fluoride treatments given at school. I pay $5.00 per child per years for fluoride swish every Wednesday. Anyhow the photo's are of little Jaxsyn getting her teeth looked and a varnish treatment put on, thanks to Grandma being the hygienist she did a great job. I didn't take picture of the other kids, I didn't remember my camera was in my mom's purse until it was Jaxsyn's turn.

Monday, Manic Monday!

Well off to cooking class we went. So I could go shopping. I was sick with strep so I also had to pick up a prescription, which wasn't ready. Any how, the kids made cookie bouquets for father's day, which they ate on the way home, sorry daddy. Then we had to go a different store to buy spray paint. There was a teeter-ta-tor airplane which seats 7 kids. The kids loved it so I took their pictures. Jenni this is when the "wow you have 4 kids" comments came into play. The girls decided this is what they wanted for their birthday at $230 I'm guessing no, but they can hope. The other part is their dad would have to assemble it and it looks like that would take hours.

Ryan's work party!

Ryan's work had a Hawaiian luau for there summer party. It was pretty fun actually and the food was great. The kids had a great time playing with the parachute. And I finally remembered to have someone take a picture of all of together. Here's a few pictures of the day!

1- Coleman & Jaxsyn Kate eating the yummy food 2-Watching the dancers

3- Ashlynn practicing the dance 4-Sam & Ryan just being cute!

Bailey got baptized! Way to go!

On Saturday, Bailey Hirst was baptized. I was so busy helping Tammy & Shaun out with the dinner and I spoke at the baptism that I forgot to take a picture of her. I might get one from my mom later. The baptism went well both set of her parents were there. She was baptized by Nate Hirst, her uncle my brother. Speaking at her baptism was like speaking at my own child's baptism so that was hard. She had tons of family there supporting her, and it was my old ward when I was growing up so that made it fun to see parents of my friends when I was growing up.

The Beloved Nursery Bucket!

Jaxsyn was so excited last Sunday to get the treat bucket. She walked it out of the classroom and carried it all the way to the car. Then that afternoon when we were leaving for Sunday dinner she had to bring it with us. Well now she's in love with her nursery teachers guess who they are... Ryan & I. We are actually excited we started today & wow those kids can wear you out. When everyone shows up there would be 17 kids!!! And we have 2 other nursery classes, that's a lot of kids. On top of that we were not released from our other callings Ward Activities Director & Perfecting the Saints (service coordinator for the Elders Quroum).

Free Swim workouts!

This is for all my old swim pals who might think they want to swim again! Here your new coach www.swimplan.com is a website that you can get free swim workouts. It's awesome you can choose beginner - competitive, length of pool, and time frame. They are awesome and kick your butt, but they fit into the time frame!!

Sorry no camera! One Boring Post!

Here's a old photo of our cul-de-sac, we actually live in a double cul-de-sac. Where one road leads to a dead end with two cul-de-sac's it makes for very little traffic.

I left my camera at my mom's house, so this post might be a little boring.

Nothing makes you feel like the mother of 4 children , more than summer vacation. When they are all home, all day, always demanding your time an attention it gets a little crazy. Thankfully the grocery store in SF has a cooking class in the mornings on Monday. They let your kids go for free and they stay there for 30-40 minutes making cute cooking projects. And I get to shop with only 1 little 1 year old girl. The rest of our summer days have been filled with sunscreen, quarters for the mini sno-cone stands that pop up in the cul-de-sac, and me with with the neighborhood moms chatty-chat-chatting (at least that's what my girls call it!).

Tips for strengthening your marriage

Today in Church we were having a wonderful lesson on strengthening your marriage. Sis. Davis was doing great and people were sharing wonderful comments on how to communicate better. One sister shared this one "If you jump their bones more often, they do more things for you" Women were crying in laughter, I hope she wasn't offended. She's probably right, but it was still hilarious. This is not her first comment like this, but it was about "not giving it to them". Funny huh!

Amy was tagged (her 1st one!) & she tagged me...so here goes!

3 joys: Family (Ryan & the kids), Friends, my freetime.
3 fears: Losing someone I love, mini animals (hamsters, gerbils,etc.), being an awful mom.
3 goals: To really excercise daily, be a good wife & mother, find out what I want to be when I grow-up!!
3 current obsessions/collections: Dr. Pepper, blogging, & Facebook.
3 random surprising facts about yourself: My 3rd toe is longer than my 2nd. I believe in love at 1st sight. I've never been downhill skiing.
Tag 3 people: Jenni, Kathryn, & Dani

Summer BBQ time!!

I love BBQ's, and last night we had one with Ryan's friends from high school (they are also my friends, but just not from high school). The Ivie's (without Colton he was at scout camp), Bird's (without Heather she was at a trade show), Kellem's (without 3 of the 4 kids they were with their mom), the Adams (without Dani, Tanner was too sick to come), & the Henry's who all came!! We had lots of food & fun. I'm sure this is the first of many BBQ's with them. The Poduskas better come soon because the Adams are having one at their house in a few weeks!

Orange Popsicles Days & Chlorine Mornings!

Summer has begun at it's already in full force! I haven't even had time to blog. The kids are so excited and I am too. All I know it that at 8:36am we had just all woken up except the baby who slowly woke-up after that. I love summer and sleeping in!! We've already gone through 3/4 a box of Otter pops and 3 1/2 bags of popsicles (there's only orange left of course) all since last week. But who cares, it's summer it even smells different at night I LOVE IT!!! On a different subject I need to share my love of http://www.facebook.com/ thanks to my friend Sarah for telling me about it. I have reconnected with some friends from my earlier days, and it over joys me in how fun it is to see where we all of ended up in our lives. And my favorite moment is that Emily (from OHS Swim Team) invited me to do swim workouts here in SF. I'm have been longing for those early morning swim workouts, the sweet smell of chlorine, the quite when you first dive into the pool and then continued moments of just thinking while you pound out lap after lap. I'm so excited!!

Our Pergola is done!

Plasma Car Jumping!

For all the parents out there, this was one of the best Christmas gifts we've ever bought. Plasma Cars!!! They are loved by all of our neighborhood. They are great exercise, and their pretty tough. Coleman and his friends love to jump them!!

Memorial Day Blahs!

I am usually a fan of holidays, this one left a lot to be desired. I blamed it on SAD ( Seasonal Affected Disorder) which I don't truly have! This is the longest winter I can remember , and it really still feels like winter, not even spring. Anyhow we had grand plans to finish a lot of our yard, weed, plant flowers, etc. We ended up only weeding a little and going to Carl's Jr. No BBQ's either because it was too cold. Here's the photo of me being the best mom ever!!

1- Jaxsyn fell down the stairs and bruised her head. 2 & 3 Coleman & Ashlynn eating a whole slice of watermelon. Coleman said "Your the best mom ever, for letting us eat a whole slice by ourselves! 4- Samantha watching Jon & Kate plus 8 marathon, she's not a TV kid but she watched that show all day long (okay really like 4 hours), she paused for dinner. Usually I would care, but I didn't because it's a good show, and it was freezing outside.

Family, Bleach, & T- Shirts!!

We had dinner and made our family reunion t-shirts today!! We bought regular shirts and bleached a pattern into them with rubberbands and tape. It worked well & was fun, except for the few who got bleach on their clothes!! (Sorry, Tiff & Jason) We always have fun when we get together. Now hopefully it warms up some so Cherryhill will be fun in a few weeks!!

Fishlake 2008!

We went to Fishlake this weekend, my family has had a cabin there since my dad was a little boy. They built a new cabin when he was 14 years old, so 34 years ago, remodled it when I was 16. So it's a lot old aand a little new. It's fun to go there, the kids love it. This year has been so cold that the spring leaves haven't even come out yet. So it looks different then usual. The kids took a hike and saw the beavers at the dam. We saw lots of deer and rabbits, and a bird flew right into our car windsheild as we were driving down. Thankfully it didn't break the windshield. My mom & dad, grandma, Tammy, & Bailey came down on Saturday. Some of our friends Wade & Megan and their kids were staying in a cabin by the lake so we met up with them for a few hours! We ate and watched a lot of movies, they kids & Ryan went fishing for about 20 minutes until the kids said it was too cold.

Hallelujah!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!!

Ryan & I are done with all of the graduation, performances, & recitals for the school year.

Only Hawaiian Day, 1st grade garage Sale, 2 Field Days, 1 Read-a-thon, 2 autograph books & finally school will be out!!!!

So that we can attend or host 2 dozen BBQ's, Strawberry Days, Summerfest, Spanish Fork Days, 6 Birthdays (Sam, Ashlynn, Chelsi (30!), Coleman, Jaxsyn & Ryan In Sept.), 2 Family Reunions, 2 Baptisms (Bailey & Kyle) Summer Dance, Summer Reading, Summer Cooking classes, Swim lessons, 1 Bow Hunt, 1 Ward Camp out, & 1 Stadium of Fire!!!!!

I Love Summer!!!!! This actually sounds like fun!!!

Wizard of Oz Dance Recital!!

The girls had their dance recital tonight!! It was really fun & they looked like they were having fun too!! Photo 1- Wizard of Oz program 2- Ashlynn during the rehersal 3- Ashlynn & Summer in Twister 4- Ashes being our perfect poser & 1- Samantha & Ashley's hari (I'm bragging I'm just proud of my hair skills!! hee hee) 2- Sam in If I oly had a Heart 3- Sam looking to old 4- Sam not loving the hug I had asked them to do, Ashlynn being the "perfect" picture taker!

Ashlynn's 1st Grade Talent Show!!

Ashlynn & Summer decided to be in the talent show. They did a part of their recital dance. They were cute! Sorry the photo's a little crazy the zoom isn't great on my camera!

Coleman's Gymnastic Program

Coleman's last day of gymnastics was today, so they did their routines for the parents to watch & record. He's a great gymnast but I just picked one to show & a few pics. He pitches a fit everyday that we have gymnastics, and today loved it because he got a trophy. He said if he just got to do the routines for people he would like gymnastics, we'll see if we let him try team gymnastics next year.

Coleman Graduated from Preschool!

Coleman was so excited to graduate from preschool, and finally move on to Kindergarten. I know we made the right choice in not putting him in Kindergarten last year, but it has been a long year. Coleman started the year telling me I already know my letters & shapes. But we made it through the year. I think it will give him a head start with school next year!!!

Cole's Favorite song from Preschool Graduation!

I thought this is so funny, you can her me snickering in the background. He asked me to record this song, it was his favorite, so you can see him looking at the camera! It's exactly 1min, 30 Sec. long. Sorry it's turned the wrong way.

Summer Day's are here again, Finally!!

This afternoon the kids & I went to my mom's and let the kids have a little fun. Tammy & Bailey came after they bought her baptism dress. We let them slide for a few hours & then Tammy & I went to get Cafe Rio for all of us for dinner!!! Jaxsyn had her own pool because the slide is a little big for her. The kids each took a turn taking her down the slide. The video is her telling me she's swimming!!

A Few Busy Days!!

Wow, I haven't posted since Wednesday evening! We've been busy: Ryan has worked, watched 2 Jazz games, been turkey hunting, planted a 1/2 a dozen bushes, mowed the lawns,stayed home with kids one day. Chelsi has been to PTA convention, planted a few dozen flowers, Bunko, had lunch with friends, driven to 3 birthday parties, 3 nurseries (flowers), went shopping 3 times, 4 hour- PTA planning meeting, and hung out with my mom & Tammy. It has been busy. The kids have been busy also!!

While we were busy our Pergola has move forward a little bit and it is 2/3's of the way done.

Anita Stansfield Enrichment Meeting!

Tonight in our ward Anita Stansfield spoke and Patti Jenkins sang. Anita was asked to write Emma's story. The way she spoke of Emma, as if she was her best friend was inspiring. She asked us all to look past the prejudices we might have of Emma, and look to what a great, and strong woman she was. I personally have never had a prejudice to Emma, I've always felt such compassion for her and a longing to be more strong, and faithful when she was tried with so much. The book sounds amazing and I feel I will enjoy the book even more after hearing her speak. One of the many spiritual moments was, when she said that she knew that before she came down to earth she felt she was pre-ordained to write this history of Emma, and everything that has happened in her life was the pathway to this novel. Patti sang a song she wrote to go with the book and the movie, it to was amazing, you could feel she too considers Emma a true friend. Thanks mom for coming and going with me it's always great to get together.

Summer Chore Charts

Okay, I told some of my friends I would post this, chore charts. These are the cutest chart charts I have ever found. http://www.chorecharts.com/Free_Chore_Charts.html I really like the Messy style one. I think I'm going to go with the family auction route. http://www.trishberg.com/Adobe/SurvivingMotherhood/FamilyChoreAuction.pdf

It's pretty much that for each chore your child does they get a ticket or fake dollar to use in an auction at the end of the month. "Stay up 30 minutes. past bedtime" "Extra 30 minutes playing" "Ice Cream Trip" etc. I'm always willing to try find a better way to get my kids chores. I'll let you know how it works.

Ambush is #1!

Samantha & her friend Ashley! Their shirts say "SF Soccer Champs"

Sam is not our best smiler, but we love her anyways!
Here in SF Utah after 3rd grade sports are not for fun they are for competition! Starting in 3rd grade you are drafted onto a team, some sports you have to tryout for also. Everyone makes it, but they kids do learn that everyone does not always win! Which is true in the world too! Anyhow, Sam's team Ambush won 1st place in the girls 3-4 grade level (against 7 other teams). Sam was a great goalie, surprising for her tiny size her first practice her coach called her the little-big goalie. She didn't love that until I explained to her that is was a compliment. Ashlynn's in 1st grade so she still played for fun!! She is a great defender, and a quick forward she almost got a goal a few times. Both girls played their hearts out, we missed a few games with our trips and family things but with 2-3 games a week per girl it's hard to make them all. Way to go girls!!

Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day is not really my favorite holiday!! I love celebrating my mom, but when you go to church and hear all the talks from teenagers and husbands on how amazing all their moms are, and I start to feel a little inadequate. I truly hope that my kids will say the same about me when they are teenagers. But for some reason yesterday's Mother's Day was different. It started great with breakfast in bed. Eggo waffles (which I LOVE) & Dr. Pepper (which I love & adore) it made me feel like my family truly knew me & loved me The kids each had made me a present at school & Ryan & I had a deal NO GIFTS! I think the no gifts made the day even better. Ryan changed diapers, did dishes, cleaned up the kitchen, rubbed my feet & back and made me feel very appreciated. Here's a photo of breakfast, as you can tell the kids had just woken up too!

Jazz Game Friday Night!!!!

Yeah!!!! The Jazz beat the Lakers last night. My brother bought tickets for the game so we bought 2 of them from him. We drove up with him & his date Desa. David Archuleta (spelled wrong I'm sure) sang the National Anthem so for all who love American Idol I recorded it for you!!!

A little bit of everything!

These are of the kids arm wrestling Ryan! The bottom two are 1st Coleman who fell asleep in a bed he made in his closet & 2nd Coleman going to PJ day at preschool & it shows the new steps too!

Yeah a back step!!

As some of you will know we have been living without back steps for 2 summers. We wanted to do them last year but instead we poured a ton of cement for a patio, and extra long driveway down the side. So finally we are having our steps & pergola built. We found the steps being built last night when we got home from a visit from my Uncle Robert & Aunt Lorrie and their kids Whitney, Kaitlyn, & Greggory (Brady if flying out today!). We met at my parents house and had pizza and salad. We see them about once a year they live in Omaha, Nebraska, they are here for a wedding. It's always great to visit with them, even though it's only a short visit this time.

Anyway, aren't my steps cute, they also started the pergola and worked until 11:00pm until someone from the Retirement Home behind us yelled it's bedtime out their window!!!!

My Future Photographers!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Yesterday we had some crazy rain .31 inches in 1 hour. The kids took the camera and took some pictures. They said on the weather that we've had 5 months of below normal temperatures. I'm hoping it gets warm soon. Or it might be a very cold summer! This is a video of the rain and Jaxsyn saying rain! This whole post might be boring, but the kids will love it!!

Sam at the Hershey Track Meet!

The school district put on a track meet for all 3rd graders. Next week its the 4th, 5th & 6th grades, on separate days. Sam did the Long Jump, 50 m & 200 m. She did great! this is her right after the 200 m as you can see a forced smile!

Sam's friends! (Tamsyn, Drew, Elizabeth, Natalie, Sam, & Sarah)

Drew, Sam, Elizabeth, Tamsyn, & Natalie with Hefa Leone Tuita. He was on High School Musical 2 & 3 and Dance on Sunset. Sam really didn't know who he was but one of the girls did so they were star struck!!!

More Disneyland!

Here's few more picture of our trip lighten so you could see in the tunnels! And for all those wondering we are actually staying home for awhile!! I swear we have been gone since March & my house shows the pain of that!! This first picture is my mom right after the Grizzly Rapids ride in CA Adventure. My dad so kindly offered to stay with Jaxsyn and my mom went with us on the ride. Usually you don't get head to toe wet, but the gyser went off right as we were passing it so we were all drenched. My mom hate getting her hair ruined and she got the whole back of her hair wet. The nest two are us stuck on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Some kid stood up to get his sunglasses that had fallen, and the sensor shut's down the whole ride and has to be reset. We were going up the last big drop off! The video is after when we were walking through the ride on pathways and through special hidden doors! The final picture is us at the airport the kids were wiped out so they laid there watching a video.

We're back from our Disneyland Vacation!!!
I was very nervous about this trip for many reasons!

1- 5 kids 8 & under 2-Jaxsyn 20 months 3- Lines

4- Crying 5- Fighting 6- Plane ride with kids

7-FAMILY VACATION (need I say More!)

I was pleasantly surprised!! The kids did great we could stay at the park for 5 hours without them breaking down (they had a snack every few hours!). Jaxsyn was awesome rarely cried and she had a fever one of the days! The lines were non-existent, for real I will always go the first week in May!!! The longest line was 25 minutes (Nemo) which during Spring Break was 4 hours long!! My kids loved the roller coasters (Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, California Screamin', & The Matterhorn.)! We did most of their favorites a few times or more!! We had an awesome time and the kids got to swim 2 hours a day at the pool, we left the park every afternoon for a break!! I would never go without other family members or a babysitter it would have been so hard!! Here's a few pictures, my mom was the picture taker this weekend so I have to get pictures from her!!

1- On our way to the Airport!
2- Bugs Life 3-D Theater

3- Kids eating HUGE pickles!
4- Waiting for Fantasmic!

Sam's teacher got married!!!

Last Wednesday Samantha's teacher got maarried. Sam has been loved being a part of the planning of her wedding (she knows ever detail)! Ms. Tyson had all the girls in her class be the busers for the reception. She ordered all of them wrist corsages to wear. This picture is when the girls first walked in and she stopped the line to hug them it was cute moment! Here's a few more photos of the reception!