Thankful.........

We have so much to be thankful for! This next week will be a crazy week so I wanted to post a quick Thanksgiving post! This week we will, spend time with Family, eat lots and eat some more, spend time with the kids, do some Christmas shopping, go to a Soccer game, maybe a movie and I'm even betting we will have out tree up by the end of the week! I'm looking forward to a GREAT Week! I am truly so blessed and have alot to be grateful for! Here are a few pictures of what I am most thankful for:

My Family

These Cute, Amazing kids!

My Parents and Siblings that Support and love me! (I love this Picture)

All these CRAZY people!! LOL

And of course My favorite Dog-REX! We all just love this cute guy!
ALL in All I was thinking that  none of these things are..... Things! They are
all people-which I think matters most-the people in your life!! Happy thanksgiving!

Matthew is 14-YIKES

On September 9th Matthew turned 14-scary huh?? For Matthew's Birthday he invited his friend over for a sleepover and they played video games! Not my idea of fun-but that is his idea of a great time! I feel so lucky and blessed to be his mom-he is a great young man! Matthew is in the 8th grade this year and it has so far been a tough year! He started at a new school and has had to make new friends and I think he has felt kinda lost! I really admire him-he is courageous. I think it takes a lot of courage for kids his age (junior High) to go out and experience the world-that is not so great right now! He works VERY hard at everything he dose and for the most part keeps good grades. I just wish he could keep his attitude in check-I don't think that happens until they move out!! LOL Matthew enjoys baseball, basketball, X-Box, Hanging out with friends, Young Men's.  I have to say that his most favorite thing is the Outdoors. Matthew is always ready to go camping, fishing, hiking, 4-wheeling (especially if he is the driver) and hunting! He enjoys life and I am so proud of him! Happy Birthday Matthew!

Mckay is 11

Happy Birthday to my McKay! I sure love this boy! Mckay turned 11 on September 10-he had a good Birthday. He had a late night with a few of his friends-he invited 6-Yikes! He is not so social so I was actually really happy that he wanted to invite a few kids over. They all came over and we had pizza and Jake loaded them all up and took them to the park and they played football for a few hours. Then they came home and watched a Bigfoot show! If you know McKay he loves bigfoot and totally believes there is one! We are always teasing him  about that-his favorite show is  "Finding Bigfoot"! He is so funny and I think very special! Mckay loves almost any sport but his two favorites are Soccer and Basketball. He also really enjoys school and likes to learn and discover just about anything! He loves his brothers-especially Marcus most of the time they are best friends! I am thankful to him for being such a good brother! He has also come out of his shell a little and is not as shy as he used to be. He still likes Legos, X-Box, Making Origami's, Drawing, and he really enjoys the outdoors-especially a good hike! (this kid can hike and hike) We love you Mckay!

Soccer 2012

Mckay played a great season of soccer! He LOVES soccer-can't get enough of it! He has been playing/practicing with Nebo United Club Soccer team for the last year and has really had a fun time. He loves his teammates and it has been so fun to watch all of them learn and grow together. Mckay's team Brazil played a good season each game they got better and better. Overall they took 4th-putting them in a good spot for the Spring Tournment. They will be In B (they have A B C) and will be the top spot in B-pretty exciting! On there last game they played a team from Orem that was undeafeted all season-this team REALLY wanted a "perfect" season. Team Brazil played there best game ever and tied the number one team!! We were all so excited! Mckay mostly plays Defender and occasionally he is a forward- he has even scored a few goals.  I am so thankful for Mckay's opportunity to play with this team and the chance to learn more about soccer!

School 2012-2013

Its that time of year again......................the dreaded School Year.  Can you tell I'm so Happy about it? I know the kids need to go to school but I really enjoy our summers and am always sad to see them end! This year Matthew went to 8th grade1 I know can you believe it?? They built a new Junior High in Salem- called Salem Junior High that is were he is going. He was nervous because it is a new school and he will have to make new friends. He was also so excited because his BFF Matthew D. was going with him! His friend has been going to a charter school and his parents pulled him out and put him in the new junior high. Matthew was super excited about that-so am I! These two are buddies and I really appreciate there friendship-they are good for each other! Matthew said on his first day at lunch he couldn't find anyone to sit by then he seen a kid from our ward and sat with him and pretty sure there was a whole table of kids from the ward sitting by them! That makes me Happy! In our ward there is a large group of boys Matthew's age (about 14 of them) as his mom I find GREAT comfort in knowing they are all at school together watching out for each other! We are so lucky to have these good influences in Matthew's life! Mckay is in the 5th grade this year.  He actually really enjoys school and was excited for it to start!  Mckay loves to learn and is always sucking it all in! He has kinda come out of his shyness a little bit this year and has done some things that have really surprised me!  He was elected for class President and actually did a chant in front of his whole class. He made it to the final and got second and was kinda bummed he couldn't be the president! His teacher was trying to teach them about the presidential election so this was a big learning experience for him and he loved it! I really am impressed with his teacher this year! Marcus is in the 4th grade and he enjoys school also-he is SUPER social! Every time I go in the School with him EVERYONE knows him and I get alot of  "Are you Marcus Mom?" to funny! Madelynn started Kindergarten! I think that is sad actually! She loves it-and wants to know WHY we have to take Saturday and Sunday off-she wants to got everyday! She is super smart and is learning really fast! That sums up the start of (hopefully) an Amazing school year!

Backpacking 2012

Jake took the boys on there Backpacking trip in August! Matthew and Mckay really like to go backpacking. They went to the Unitas's. This was a hard hike but they made it and had a good time! It also rained/hailed on them for a  few hours one day-Jake said that was an adventure! Craig and Jessica went all in all they had a good time! I am so thankful Jake can take the time to do these fun activites with our kids!

OOWWEEE

In August Jake cut his hand really bad! He was at home doing yard work with the kids, he was cutting a board with a Skill Saw and he cut his hand.  I was at the store and so he drove himself to the ER-I know nice huh?? Good thing the ER is like a minute away-not that I would recommend Payson ER to anyone!! Anyway we got to the ER they took a look at it and paged a surgeon-who called back 2 hours later and did not want to come in on a Saturday afternoon. He told the DR. to stitch it up and send us on our way- so they did.  But he needed surgery! Nice?? So we went to a specialist and a week later they cut the stitches back open and did surgery.  He cut the main sensory nerve to his thumb and index finger. If we didn't fix it his thumb and index finger would be numb the rest of his life. He had also cut an artery and would have lack of blood to his hand. It was a quick surgery took about 2 hours but it was also very painful! Jake has NEVER had surgery before so it was kinda funny the way he was acting. He took 2 weeks off and then went back to work.  I tried to get him to take more but if you know Jake-he goes CRAZY sitting at home!

I am so glad that it wasn't to bad-really could have been worse! But I think next time we will drive to Provo hospital because we would have gotten better service and would have had surgery that day! This also really scared the kids-they were really concerned about Jake. I'm glad this is behind us and Jake is feeling better!

Summer Camping 2012

As usual we went camping ALOT this summer! The kids just can't get enough! Camping is Matthew's thing- he would rather go camping then do anything else-if we could he would stay at my parents property all summer long! We have so much fun up there! The biggest reason why Matthew likes it so much is because he can drive the 4-wheelers and the Can-Am. Matthew even had his friend up for a weekend-good times! We have been teaching Mckay and Marcus to drive also which they love. Its kinda nice to have them drive me around for a change!  This year a big fire called "Seeley Fire" nearly burned my parents property. It is so sad to see all the burnt areas and the beautiful mountains destroyed. I know this is all part of nature but it is still so sad. We didn't get up there until after the 4th because of the fire we weren't allowed.  I think it made us appreciate it more! We spent several weekends up there with cousins and had a GREAT time! I am so thankful for our beautiful mountain and that we can have little getaways up there whenever we want!!

Summer Crazy 2012

Well its been a crazy, fun and busy summer! We have had alot going on and its not over yet! We have been playing baseball, soccer, swimming, backpacking, going on weekend getaways, doing scout camp-outs and I love it! I am not looking forward to August when it all ends and we have to head back to school! I love Summer and love having the kids home! On a sad note we have not been able to get to my Family's property-we are missing that! We have been out camping just not to our favorite spot! The Seeley fire here in Utah burned for nearly 3 weeks and I think by the power of prayer-and much gratitude my dad's property did not burn! But from what he says its a miracle-it burned all around the border of it and they actually built a fire line threw the property next to my dad's to stop the fire-but we got lucky and it rained!! We still havent' been aloud up there but are able to go this weekend and hopefully we can see the damage! So Sad about that I wonder were all the animals go? And  look at the beautiful land that was destroyed! I know we appreciate it more and are anxious to get up there! So thankful for my parents they are GREAT and we love them so much! I will have to post pictures when we actually get up there!  Sorry for all the posts but I want to remember this summer and all those things we did!! Love My Family!

Baseball 2012

The reason I haven't been blogging has alot to do with baseball its been busy! Marcus was on the Angels and Matthew was on the Mariners! What a great season! Mckay decided not to play because he is playing Club Soccer and is practicing 2 nights a week and thought it would be to much. He could have done it and he actually said he missed it-maybe next year. The boys had alot of fun and loved playing! Marcus team went to the State Tournament they took 3rd in Payson. They played 3 games at state and only one 1 so they were out. He was bummed about that he really loves to be apart of a team! I wish I would have recorded him. He Cheers on all of his teammates and yells for them it is so cute! He is such a little guy but sure has a heart of gold! The picture is of Marcus and Nicholas who is our neighbor and a friend to Mckay and Marcus-Marcus played his team in Baseball and was even cheering Nicholas on during the game-Love my Marcus!  Matthew's team was amazing and full of talent! I think we will be seeing some of those boys play in High School and  give Spanish Fork a run for there money! Matthew's team was first in Payson, Santiquinn, Nephi.  They were literally undefeated all season until there last game and they lost by 1. They went on to state and played 4 games and one them all. Then on the last day at state they were playing for second and the game went into double overtime and they lost by 1. Then they played for 3rd and I think they were exhausted and lost by 4 to Spanish Fork. Overall they took 4th! I was so impressed-these boys started playing at 5:30pm and didn't stop until 10:50pm with a total of 17 innings that night! AMAZING! Spanish Fork is GREAT at Baseball it came down to 3 teams from Spanish Fork and US-From Payson! We gave them a good fight! It was SO fun and some intense Base-Ball but we loved it!

Arches

At the beginning of June we took a little trip to Moab. We have been to Moab before but never to Arches National Park. It was a blast and we even stayed in a hotel. The kids loved it! We would get up and go on a hike in the morning and then make it back in the afternoon to swim.  There is ALOT to do down there we have thought about going again to Canyon lands which is like 20 miles from Maob.  We love a good hike and these hikes had lots to see! One of our favorites was the Delicate Arch it is something I think everyone should see-its Beautiful and so worth the 3 mile hike! I think you could literally take all your vacations in Utah and see all the National Parks and you would be amazed!! We want to get the kids to all of them...... someday!

Timberline/Camp Tiefie

Matthew has had a jam packed summer! He likes to keep busy! In the middle of June he went to Timberline for a week then came home for 2 days and went to Scout Camp Tiefie for a week.  He was absolutely exhausted when he got home and hungry........... the first day back he said mom can we go get a Subway Foot long!! I said Absolutely I think you more then earned it! Subway is his favorite. Timberline is a a Leadership Training Camp for Boy Scouts and you have to be invited to go.  He learned alot and really enjoyed himself. He was telling me that next year he wants to go back and be "on staff" which means one of the youth leaders.  We will have to see he has to write a letter and then they interview the kids that are interested.  At Timberline most of the kids were complete strangers.  Matthew told me they put the boys in groups of 6-7 and nobody knows each other and you spend all week with those same boys he said they become your brothers! I loved that he said that! So proud of him and his willingness to do new and scary things! At Camp Tiefie he got to go with the boys from our ward.....His BFF Matthew came this year (I think he was looking forward to spending the week with him). He had a great time. He forgot to put on sunscreen and he got burned SO bad-he blistered! He had to speak in Sacrament and said "Sunscreen is a good thing!" I guess maybe he learned?? We missed him and I found myself thinking about him wondering what he was up to! Glad to have you back Matthew-Proud of you!

Speedy

Today May 8th Mckay competed in the 4th grade Hershey's Track Meet.  The Track meet is held at Payson High every year in the spring on different days they have different grades and 7 elementary schools all compete.  This is such a fun event my kids love it-it is one of the things we love about Nebo School district the opportunity to do things like this. Macrus competed last week and he did great he made it to the semi-finals and then got out. He was super excited to just compete. Today Mckay competed and he lived up to his nickname "Speedy".  He is Super fast and on his soccer teams nobody can beat him in a race.  Today he raced the 50 meter and made it to the semi finals-came in first and then made it to the final were he came in fourth!  He did GREAT he raced 7 different schools and got 4th! He is truly speedy! I was so impressed! Love my BOYS!  Congrats Marcus and Mckay!

Soon To be M.I.A.

Spring is the busiest time of year for us! I can't believe how busy life all of the sudden gets.  So I will probably not be posting and will be MIA for awhile.  This week kicks off with a BANG its Baseball season! We only have Matthew and Marcus playing but with games 2 nights a week for both and a practice that's alot of running around for me! Matthew is playing in a league that is playing in Nephi and Santaquin and Salem so we will literally be all over! This is the first year Marcus is playing in "Big Boy" league as the boys call it were they actually keep score and it counts-he is SUPER excited! We have all kinds of end of year school  shows, and projects etc..... Mckay is also playing Club Soccer and has been deciding between two teams which has been crazy-two different teams want him to play with them!! Decisions.....decisions...So life is hectic-but if you know me I like keeping busy! I just hope its not to BUSY!! I know I know wishful thinking! So that's were we will be camped somewhere between the baseball park, school and the soccer field!