'Bout Us Blog

Collin's 3 on 3 Team Basketball 2011

2012-01-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

Steve coached Collin and some friends in a 3-on-3 basketball league during the summer of 2011.
The boys had a blast, and played really well, they only lost 1 game.
Tanner Farnsworth, Collin, Matthew Stone and Parker.

Collin playing defense against a "big guy."

Collin taking a jump shot, good form!

Spring Break 2011 at Tahiti Village

2012-01-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

We've made it a tradition to go to a resort called Tahiti Village in Las Vegas for Spring Break with 2 other families, the Greens and the Russells. This particular year the Weenigs and the Solumns joined us.
We love it here!

Summer and Ava Russell

Burying Jackson alive!

Summer and Maddie Weenig

Ava and Summer on the lazy river

The girls hanging out in the playroom of the resort: Summer, Ava, Maddie, and Hayley Green.

Jackson and Collin crusing the lazy river

Steve and Bryan Green took the kids on an adventure to see Hoover Dam

Collin Meets Celebrity Miranda Cosgrove

2012-01-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

In 4th grade Collin got to meet Miranda Cosgrove star of the Nickelodeon show "iCarly." A local radio station had an online contest of elementary age school children of who could get the most people in their grade at their school to sign the "anti-bullying" pledge. Only one grade at one school in all of Utah could win a chance to meet Miranda Cosgrove...Well, we lucked out! They were very serious too, Summer (2nd grade) really wanted to meet her, but they only allowed a 4th grader and a guardian to come in. She came right to their school gym and after school one day we went with our tickets and met her. It was so fun! Collin was sweet, he asked her to sign the picture of herself "To Collin AND Summer..."

Seven Peaks Summer Pass 2011

2012-01-16T20:54:00.001-07:00

This year the kids all got season passes to Seven Peaks and Trafalga, we had some fun times!

Flip flop mini bowling, gotta love it!

Seven Peaks was SO overcrowded all the time! I took this pic to show how crazy, crowded the lazy river is in the background. The people that you see in the picture were at a complete stop!

The boys miniature golfing

NBA Draft Party 2011

2012-01-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

This is the first year we have season tickets to the Jazz, the boys and Steve got VIP tix to the draft party at the Enegry Solutions Arena. We were REALLY hoping, along with most of the state of Utah that the Jazz would choose Jimmer Fredette from BYU...no such luck. But, the boys still had a great time at the draft party!

The boys got to go shoot on the Jazz court

Spain 2011 Trip

2011-12-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

We went on the trip of a lifetime to Spain at the end of March 2011 with our friends Bill and Cori Blodgett. They have some other friends from other states that joined us and became quick friends of ours.

Barcelona: This is the Sagrada Familia, a Roman Catholic church designed by Guadi.
It's always being worked on.

Gaudi's Balconies

Sagrada Familia at night, the stained glass was so beautiful at night.

Scott Bell, Bill Blodgett, Todd Hamblin and Steve in front of Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia, there are so many angles to get pics from, every side looks different from different artists working on it.

Barcelona: Parcel Guelle, another Gaudi creation.

Entrance to Parcel Guelle (notice Bill in the background, funny!)

Looking over Barcelona from Parcel Guelle, so beautiful.

Parcel Guelle: Cori and me in a tunnel carved out of the rock.

Me, Lisa Bell, Alisa Hamblin and Cori Blodgett in front of the tunnels.

Barcelona: In front of a bull fighting arena.

Pretty orange tree in Barcelona

Columbus Monument

My favorite place in Barcelona, the Farmer's Market

I'm in HEAVEN! This is all really fresh CANDY that I've never been able to find anywhere else.

We took a train down to Valencia for the 2nd half of the trip to attend the "Festival de Fallas."
Bob and Brooke Neal joined us in Valencia.
We all sat down for some appetizers after a long day of walking.

These are some of the neighbohood parades that we would run into all over the town. All the kids and parents would dress in the traditional clothing of the festival and take roses to the Mother Mary "statue" that they build all week.

The "royalty" of Valencia make various appearances.

Heading into downtown Valencia to see all the "Fallas"

Every neighborhood hires a fallah artist to create a fallah for the festival. They work for many months on them. They are judged and given 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.

Bill in front of one of the fallas.

I loved this fallas, It's Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka.

Valencia, in front of a beautiful building. The architecture is amazing! There is a museum inside.

Crammed in waiting for the fire cracker show in the center of town.

This is the giant statue of Mary that the people of Valencia work all week on filling with flowers until it's done.

Crammed in the crowd a second day for the fire cracker show. See the people behind us as far as you can see. You can't be clausterphobic and see this show!

One of the top prized fallas

Lisa, Cori and I shopped in Valencia while the rest of the group went to a bull fight. One girl left early from the bull fight, she couldn't stand watching it anymore. So glad I didn't go!

Palau de Arts
Steve and Bob Neal
This was the beginning of the last day in Valencia, it was so pretty and sunny but there was a very cold breeze. There were many museums here, most known for the scientific museum.

Me, Brooke, Lisa and Alisa in front of the science museum.

Took this picture for my kids, I knew they would like it. The dinosaurs head moved back and forth.

Scott, Todd, Steve and

More and more and more fallas.

The "fire" parade on the last night that kicks off the burning of the fallas. Yes, they burn all the fallas on the last night, it's like the whole city is on fire. And the way that they start the fires is with fire crackers!

The Mary statue totally done. They don't burn this! It smells wonderful, all the flowers...

This is a church near the Mary statue where the people worship at the end of the festival. It's so beautiful inside.

The trip of a lifetime!

Bear Lake Hall Reunion 2010

2011-12-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Zach, Summer and Jackson on the balcony over looking Bear Lake

Adults enjoying some "down time."

Gift exchange

Claire, Cameron, Jackson and Collin playing Clue

Playroom fun!

Playing the wii

Nativity Play

Bear Lake community pool: Collin, Adam, Claire, and Summer

Bowling in Montpelier, ID

This particular year, the rest of the Hall family left on New Year's Eve, and we stayed one last night. So we invited our long time friends Brett and Heather McEvoy (McKenna, Ethan and Maycee) up to stay over the night and celebrate New Year's with us. What a blast!

We went to Bear Lake Pizza with the McEvoys on New Year's Eve for dinner.

Ringing in the new year on the patio--brrr!

Summer's Hip Hop Competition

2011-05-21T15:48:00.001-06:00

Grandma Towsey came to the Thanksgiving Point competition

Grandma also came to the Christmas recital

Lagoon competition, the most fun! It was in May and the weather was beautiful to go on the rides!

Collin's friend Tanner F. came along to Summer's final recital in May, dad took the picture.

This year Summer has been competing in hip hop dance. The last few photos are from her very first competition ever at Weber State University. One is at home, one is back stage waiting to go on, and the other I snapped of her while she was watching some other dances, just to show the craziness of the make up she has to wear! Check out those fake eyelashes!

Christmas Day 2010

2011-04-27T22:30:00.000-06:00

Santa was in the building...

Summer got a really special crystal heart necklace that was her Great Grandma St. Jeor's from Grandma T

Collin made this paper "Baby Jesus" swaddled in a "blanket" and wrapped it up for the family, so sweet.

The big present this year? The Kinect for Xbox!

Christmas Eve with the Towseys 2010

2011-04-17T19:36:00.000-06:00

Towseys have a tradition of getting together on Christmas Eve and having dinner (didn't get any pics of dinner) and then having a talent show. Then a gift exchange.

Summer and Brooklyn Falkner did a lip sync, Jackson played "Linus and Lucy" on his keyboard, Collin played a Christmas song on his trombone, and Taylor Falkner played her violin. Jackson also did his annual stand up comedy routine with new material...always a hit. I got it on video, but not a still picture.

Grandma and Grandpa did a funny routine where one person takes a drink of water from a cup, then the other person spits it out. Ha ha! Then grandpa did a magic show...The next picture shows the reaction of the crowd, bewilderment and giggling.

Jackson and his favorite cousin Chandler.

Gift exchange, fun times!

This year my Aunt Marianne, (my mom's sister) and cousins Meghan and Heather came. It's so fun to see them. Growing up we would often have a Christmas Eve dinner with them, the tradition continues.

Timberlakes Cabin Fun

2011-04-12T22:42:00.000-06:00

Big kids building a sledding hill behind the cabin.

On the roof of the cabin there was a big overhang of heavy snow and Ryan asked me to move my car (that was right behind Katy's) because he thought it was going to come down in a big sheet and bury (not to mention total) my car. No more than 2 minutes after I moved it did we hear a huge "thunder-like" sound and the snow was indeed crashing down! Look how high the snow is compared to Katy's car! Good call Ryan.

Clayton Productions Christmas 2010

2011-04-12T22:25:00.000-06:00

Summer performs with a "glee club" type of group called Clayton Productions. She's in the group called To the Top with kids her age. They performed all over the Salt Lake Valley during November and December 2010. She loves it and does really well. I don't have any pics of them performing "in action," they move too fast! At the end of each concert they sit and sing a song with an older group. They do sign language too.

Boys Jr. Jazz Basketball 2010-2011

2011-04-12T22:10:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things to do is watch my boys play basketball, both had a great season and they play so fairly, they make me proud.

Collin and his friend Tanner Farnsworth

The Nutcracker Ballet-Girl's Night Out for Summer and Me!

2011-04-12T19:10:00.000-06:00

Summer and I both went for the first time to The Nutcracker Ballet together. It was at the Covey Center in Provo on a snowy, December night. We had a great time! We ate Mexican food before the show and during intermission enjoyed the art display in the lobby. Summer got a little bored by the end of the show and started asking, "Another dance?" I must admit, I felt the same way, but it was wonderful anyway!

Collin's Christmas Band Concert 2010

2011-04-12T19:03:00.000-06:00

Collin is in Crescent Elementary's 4th grade beginning band, he plays the trombone. For their Christmas concert they combined with 3 other school's who have been practicing the same songs. They put on a big concert at a local middle school. He did a great job!

Snow Bunny by Collin and Summer 2010

2011-04-12T18:54:00.000-06:00

Collin and Summer created this cute snow bunny after the first big snow fall in 2010.

Gizmo

2011-01-23T18:56:00.002-07:00

I don't know which of my kids took this close up picture of our dog Gizmo, but I think it's great! He's about 3 1/2 years old here.

Halloween 2010

2011-01-23T17:58:00.005-07:00

A dead rocker, a gangster, and a vampiress this year. One of our best yet!

We paid $8 for Gizmo's costume, he only let us put it on him once, he doesn't look too happy. The other pics are from the school Halloween parade, somehow I didn't get a picture of Summer!

Steve is always so good to help with the jack-o-lantern carving! Not my favorite, but look how great they turned out!

This is at the ward trunk-or-treat, a bunch of of the neighbor kids all together.

Trunk-or treat fun! They had a "fishing for donuts" set up!

Bunco Girls Trip Oct. 2010

2011-01-23T17:00:00.003-07:00

Almost all the bunco girls were able to go down to St. George, Utah for a weekend getaway. We stayed at Julie's big condo that fit us nicely. We had such a great time.

The whole group at dinner: Trista, Charity, Julie, Cori, and me. Other side, Aimee, Sunny, Heather, and Suzanne.

We drove to Mesquite, NV one night to play Bingo. A few girls tried their hand at the slots. No one won at Bingo, but we still had fun!

Late one night we played games at Julie's condo, including Just Dance 2 on the wii.

We saw the musical "Thriller" at Tuacaan outdoor theater. Trista, me and Cori.

Charity, Heather, Aimee, Julie, Suzanne, Cori and me before the show.

Before and after the show "ghouls" roam the audience, climbing over people and getting right into their faces to scare them. They don't say a word. I took both these pics, yep, that's how close they get.

Sept. 2010 NYC Trip

2011-01-09T19:08:00.014-07:00

Okay, prepare for a long post...

Steve and I went to NYC for 4 days in September, it was my first time ever...and a dream come true.

This picture epitomizes how I felt everyday in NYC, I loved it! Smiling the whole time!

This is in Central Park on our 3rd day.

This was our first day, we took an overnight flight, got in at 6:00 a.m. but couldn't check in to our hotel until 1:00! So we look haggard, but we walked the streets...

Beautiful Cathedral right in the middle of a bunch of tall, boring sky scrapers.

Came across the Late Show, but we didn't go see it. Next trip!

One of my goals was to stand outside one of the morning shows, and what'ya know? We stumbled across The Early Show right when they were doing a segment outside the studios in Rockefeller Center! Donald Trump was there plugging a show.

Steve was brazen and took this picture of Donald Trump's "famous hair" from the back!

Donald Trump, Merideth Vierra, Hoda Kotb, some guy from SNL and Kathy Lee Gifford.

I always wonder what celebrities are like in real life...Merideth was very nice, my favorite. All the other stars there barely acknowledged the crowds of people, but Merideth was so awesome! Whenever she didn't have to be on-screen she would run around to the crowd and meet people and take pics. They would have to call her back frantically every time she was supposed to be in the next shot/segment. Then she would go right back to where she left off in the crowd. I even saw her say, "I'll be right back, I promise I'll come right back to YOU." And she did! This pic is not zoomed in, she was that close to me. She made it through about 3/4 of the crowd before they all had to go back in, and she apologized, as she was going in, to the people she didn't get to.

Very nice lady, kudos to her!

Inside a beautiful, old cathedral.

The set of the play "Wicked" at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway.

Before they play started.

We took a bicycle taxi back to our hotel after the play.

Riding in the bicycle taxi.

Right before "Wicked" started.

See the ball that dropped on New Year's 2010 in Times Square. Our hotel was one street away from Times Square, perfect!

Times Square...always busy. This was about 10:30 p.m. We had just stopped at a really crowded "famous" bakery called Magnolia Bakery. I'm holding the yummiest cupcake ever in that box behind me.

This pic is to show how crowded the streets are all the time. Granted it's Times Square, but really, the hustle and bustle of NYC was energizing! I never felt tired when we were out and about. We slept hard though!

I always see this building on TV Reality shows, so I had to take a pic. It's actually really pretty, it catches your eye amongst all the gray buildings.

This pic is to show how we got around town, the red double-decker buses (hop on, hop off) with tour guides. We got to see about every cool area in all of New York on these buses. And we could get on and off and explore! The only way to go!

I really liked Greenwich Village and the Central Park area.

This is looking down from the top of the Empire State Bldg.

Rockafeller Center lit up at night.

We were so excited when we stumbled upon Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen restaurant in Chelsea. We went right in and ordered dinner. This is a chicken quesedilla. Actually, I didn't like it much! Had some funky spicy flavors I am not used to.

All the other places we ate were awesome! We went to all the places that our seasoned NYC traveller friends suggested. And of course, we went to Carnegie Deli.

The Flat Iron Bldg.

Empire State Bldg. lit up at night.

Observation deck of the Empire State Bldg. It was windy!

Me on the double-decker bus.

This is Battery Park. The ball sculpture you see used to sit between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. It survived with just a few dents when the towers fell, so they brought it here to display.

This is our whole hotel room from the bed. The mirror that you can see the reflection of the bed in is actually a pocket door to the small bathroom.

Here's looking at our room from the TV corner.

This is the tiny entrance to our tiny boutique hotel we stayed at called City Club Hotel, just off of Times Square. We loved it though. Very clean and modern. Only 46 rooms and the staff was very nice.

Times Square...The big screen behind me is above the M&M's Factory Store that we were just in. It had the coolest ads running across it that we kept trying to catch with the camera. Didn't work, so I finally just held up my bag that had Summer's cute umbrella that I bought her there in it.

Times Square has a fun toy store and this was a cool creation inside.

Manhattan Bridge at night.

This is a funny memory. We were on the "night tour" on the double-decker bus in Brooklyn. There was some sort of unexpected road closure because of some demonstrating for the mosque that is proposed near WTC site. So the bus driver had to take us down these tiny residential, tree-lined streets. The tour guide was a girl in her 20's. She was trying to be professional, but cracking up everytime she had to tell us to "DUCK!" because of the low tree branches we were driving though! People were getting whacked! It was pretty funny, all the passengers were laughing too. She even had to whisper it on the microphone because it was about 9:00 p.m. and tour busses never go down residential streets. The buildings were beautiful though, I was so glad we had to take that detour.

This is at a restaurant in the theater district called Thalia. It has american fare. We went on advice of a former New Yorker/foodie friend. It was the best! The atmosphere was super chic (that's what I was trying to catch with not using the flash) and the staff was (gasp!) NICE! The food was so good too. We went there our last night. I will go again someday...

Entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Pretty!

This is Little Italy as we flew by on our bus. Next time I go to NYC, I will go there. We did hit Chinatown though and I picked up some Gucci sunglasses for $13. I'm sure they're knock-off's but I love them still! Favorite pair! We got the boys Ferrari watches too. Again, about $15.

Little Italy in near Chinatown, kinda funny.

We also saw "The Addams Family" on broadway. It was starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Newerth in the lead roles. I can't believe I still have this pic of the stage. I snuck one of the opening act w/out a flash and immediately an usher came up to me and demanded she watch me erase the pic from my camera or they would confiscate it! Geesh! Serious business!

Steve got this tiny, cool, metallic bottle of Diet Coke in FAO Schwarz, it was like $3.00! I told him I had to take a pic of him drinking from the mini bottle! I think he finished it off in 3 or 4 gulps. He just thought the bottle was so cool. It was.

This is right at a corner entrance to Central Park. I told Steve to take a pic of me with this guy dressed up, well, when I walked up, he didn't say a word, he just started draping the flag around me, putting the hat on and shoved the flame thing in my hand. I felt so dumb! Lots of people stopped to watch. But hey, it made for a good pic. He knew what he was doing.

This guy is made out of Jelly Bellies. The candy section of FAO Schwarz was my favorite.

Remember the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks? Here's the piano he danced on in FAO Schwarz!

FAO Schwarz, another "must see" on my list. It is kiddie corner to part of Central Park.

This is the Apple Store right in front of FAO Schwarz. The cool thing is, The people you see behind Steve are going down some stairs into the store. The stairs are inside this glass box thing that serves as the entrance.

Central Park.

This is Sarabeth's near Central Park. They are famous for their brunches...I should say, the food was very good, it had a pretty atmosphere...crowded, but worth the wait.

Trump International Hotel. So, I thought there was just one "Trump Bldg" but then I saw about 3 or 4! They all looked like this, gold in the front, so they were easy to spot.

We learned on our bus tour that this particular fire station's crew was one of the first responder's to the WTC attack on 9/11. No one returned, they all died. Quite sad.

On the Staten Island Ferry. Bad hair day, pouring rain!

We finally rode the Subway on our last day. Our bus tour tickets had run out. It was cold and rainy outside, but super hot and stuffy waiting for the subway and then on the train. Now I can say, "Been there, done that." I don't know how much I want to do it again!

Closest I got to the Statue of Liberty, taken from the ferry. It was really a sight to see though. There's almost a reverence as you go by it. You realize the preciousness of our freedom, it was a pretty cool feeling I got.

Didn't love Staten Island, ate at a great steakhouse right near the ferry port and then got right back on to go back to Manhattan. Granted, we didn't explore much because it was pouring rain!But, you gotta' ride the free ferry past the Statue of Liberty, right?

Collin is 10!

2010-12-26T21:06:00.004-07:00

Collin hit the double digits this year, he's 10!

His party was at Jump On It in Lindon, perfect place for busy 10 year old boys.

Collin has a lot of friends, we had to widdle down the list!

The boys were sweaty after all that jumping!

Summer held her own with all the boys.

Happy Birthday my sweet Collin!

Jackson's 12th Birthday

2010-12-25T21:44:00.002-07:00

This was a fun, original birthday party. We went to The Pizza Factory in Provo with 2 of Jackson's friends and some cousins and both grandmas.

We had a little time to kill, so Jackson and his friends (Caleb and Jared) went to Grandma Hall's house and rode around on the little scooters.

Then the best part, the whole group (minus mom) rafted down the Provo River, even Summer!

Happy birthday Jackson! He got a keyboard for his birthday, he's a budding pianist. He really enjoys it. He also received the Aaronic Priesthood (his dad and both grandpas were in the circle)and passes the sacrament every Sunday now. We're so proud of him.

Summer Turns 7

2010-11-18T09:40:00.003-07:00

This cake was a huge hit!

Summer had her birthday party at Incredible Pizza this year.

While Summer was opening her gifts she got backed into a corner. You can see her thinking, "Ah, help me!" in one pic!

Play time and singing happy birthday...

Little family birthday

Legoland Trip 2010

2010-07-19T17:08:00.008-06:00

We took the kids to Legoland in Carlsbad, CA in the middle of July. You think it would be hot, or at least warm...nope, FREEZING! But that didn't stop us, and it didn't even stop the kids from trying out the waterpark!

This is a fun ride that only Jackson is big enough for (besides Steve and me). It spins you around and dangles you over water. Jackson loves it!

We went into a show to warm up and Summer, who is not afraid of going onstage, got chosen to help out. It was a story about Egyptian times and a lost tomb or something.

Legoland Aquarium

Collin stayed up late at the hotel building his fire truck set he got in Legoland.
Speaking of the hotel, at 5:00 a.m. one morning the smoke detector alarms went off and jolted us all out of bed and we had to throw on slippers and evacuate! All the guests had to stand around in the parking lot or hang in our cars and watch as the fire department came to clear the building for us to return. It turns out it was a faulty wire in a storage room that started smoking and set off the alarm. We were let back in at 6:00. We all went back to bed!

4th of July 2010

2010-07-06T17:56:00.001-06:00

Collin and I went to the Stadium of Fire and saw Carrie Underwood. She gave a concert and performed the National Anthem too, so awesome! Powerful voice. We had a great time!

Neighborhood fireworks with Jake and Ava, Hayden and Chloe. The big kids were like pyros.

Summer and Ava boogy'ed out with their sparklers. The Smith's provided the grand finale.

Summer's 1st Grade Program

2010-07-06T17:43:00.001-06:00

There are 4 classes of 1st graders, so they all had a season to sing about, Summer had winter.

This is right at the beginning before it started...Summer is always "on cue."

Nerd Day

2010-07-06T17:33:00.000-06:00

Collin's 3rd grade class had a few fun dress-up days at the end of the school year, one of them was "Nerd Day." He came up with this whole outfit all on his own. He said that everyone told him that his was the best costume. Ü

Break Dancing Recital

2010-07-03T16:35:00.001-06:00

Collin had his end of year recital at the end of June. He takes break dancing with his best friend from Draper Isaak. They both really love it.
Grandma and Grandpa Hall came, but had to leave before I could get a picture. And Grandma Towsey was there too!
They did a great job, too bad I didn't get a great picture of one of his "moves." The one I got was his setting up a move.

Hope of America 2010 Award

2010-07-03T16:18:00.001-06:00

Every year the Kiwanis Club in each state offers the "Hope of America" award to about 10% of each 6th grade class. Jackson won it! It was voted on by the 6th grade teachers.
The award reads, "Presented with honor to Jackson Hall who has demonstrated during this school year the capacity for leadership, the ethical and moral character and the outstanding academic accomplishment which represent the Hope of America."
His teacher Mrs. Spencer described this award as "given to someone who looks for ways to help in the classroom, help the teacher, help other students. The one who helps pick up a fellow student's dropped papers etc." There was much more said, but I can't remember it all. She did say, that if you receive this award, keep it handy and put it with your paperwork when you are applying for scholarships and things because it carries a lot of weight.
None of the kids (or parents) at the awards ceremony knew who would be receiving it. As his teacher was describing the award my heart started to pound and I thought, "This sounds a lot like Jackson!" So halfway through her 5 minute speech I turned on my camcorder. So glad I did, I caught the announcement of his name.
One of the proudest moments of my life! Jackson's too I suppose!

Kid's Extracurricular Activities 2010

2010-06-13T13:10:00.003-06:00

Jackson and his piano teacher at his recital.

Jackson played "German Dance" for his recital piece.

Collin at his first break dancing competition. He's great at handstands.

Here's his whole B-boyz group.

Again at the competition, they did awesome and got a trophy (it's clear, hard to see).

Summer performing to Michael Jackson's "Bad" at her spring hip hop recital.

Summer's whole hip hop team.

Summer performing with her show choir all over the SL Valley. They did a medley of Disney songs.

Summer's whole show choir group, they are the "To the Top" Purple group.

Easter in Vegas 2010

2010-04-09T13:33:00.005-06:00

Our little family had a real low-key Easter egg hunt Easter morning at Tahiti Village on the grounds, this is Summer heading out to hunt!
Collin and Summer hunting, Jackson was there, but these two pics are the extent of what we have...told you it was low-key!

While in Vegas for spring break we went to a small chocolate factory in Henderson, the Easter Bunny was there! The boys wouldn't sit with her, go figure! This one even talked!

Here are all the Hawkins kids and our kids climbing the walls outside the factory after eating their chocolate!

This year for spring break/Easter weekend, we went to a great family-friendly resort called Tahiti Village in Las Vegas with friends. The first night we ate at the restuarant on-site called Tahit Joe's. Great atmosphere, the kids especially liked the huge tiki head with a nose ring! We enjoyed the company of the Hunter family and the Hawkins family.

They had a great pool and lazy river. There was even a sand entry and volleyball.

Mexico Cruise part 6

2010-03-21T16:49:00.002-06:00

Summer fell asleep one night while I was saying prayers...So cute! All tuckered out after a fun day of cruisin'!

(This pic posted first rather than last, but I don't know how to fix it, oh well!)

Mexico Cruise part 1

2010-03-13T11:14:00.002-07:00

We sailed on the Norwegian Star. It was great! We especially loved the "freestyle cruising" they offer: eat when you want, no assigned seats, play when you want...

This was the first day at sea, great, sunny weather, couldn't have asked for a better day at sea in late January! The kids hit the pools.

These pics are mostly in Cabo San Lucas just off the dock. That's a metal donkey sculpture behind Collin at the Me' resort, it was cool. On the main dock area where all the tourists get on and off the ships there were 3 people dressed up/painted up and standing like statues. Every once in awhile they would come to life. The "army guy" especially liked Summer! The pic of Summer with the Senor Frog statue is actually in Mazatlan in one of their big stores.

Mexico Cruise part 2

2010-03-13T11:12:00.002-07:00

Our first stop was Cabo San Lucas. We had the best weather there! This was one of the very first times my kids had ever been to the beach-at least a time that they can remember. These pics were at the end of the day, so the sun was setting. It was hard to get them back to the ship!

Creative Collin made a turtle in the sand. I caught Summer "meditating" while the waves rolled in. Jackson loves the ocean. You can see our cruise ship in the background.

Water taxi ride to the beach.

Mexico Cruise part 3

2010-03-13T11:11:00.002-07:00

This is one of the Me' resorts in Cabo. We just walked right onto the grounds from the beach, ordered some chips and guacamole and Coke and the kids swam. (Recommended by a friend, we wouldn't have thought of this ourselves, but it worked out great!)

This is the Carousel Lounge on the ship, they had Wii Play times, I think we were the only family that ever took advantage of it! Collin is playing on the kids deck at the back of the ship.

In Mazatlan, we took an open-air taxi to the hotel district (the Golden Zone they call it) and shopped around a little. We ate at an open-air restaurant where a Mariachi band played for us and our server carried our drinks to us on his head! So talented!

The kids really got to see what living in a third-world country would be like by riding through the streets of Mazatlan and shopping the streets. Good life experience.

The kids enjoyed the towel animals that were left in our room every night. They also enjoyed the arcade with dad. Summer is lounging in the Teen Lounge on a bright orange couch. They had video games in there and air hockey and stuff, but as far as we could tell, no one was ever in there. The games systems were never on. Boring.

Mexico Cruise part 4

2010-03-13T11:10:00.003-07:00

In Puerto Vallarta we went on a real life pirate ship for a day-long excursion. We were fed breakfast in the hull and then entertained while we cruised over to a private island for some fun. Bummer is...it was pouring rain! We weren't dressed very warmly and we froze. At least they put big tarps over the ship while we were sailing. On the beach they had big umbrellas for us to sit under, and Steve and the kids actually got in the water bc it was warmer than sitting in the rain. Kids are resiliant though, they didn't mind the rain.

The kids got a chance to "steer" the ship. Here too is a picture of the big show the pirates put on for us.

Everyone is assigned a "personal pirate" and ours was great! He kept having me snap pics of all these fun things he did with the kids, like the arm wrestling at breakfast, and him holding the kids up.

On the way back from the island we were served lunch in the hull again and we were soaked and freezing and didn't want to go back up on deck to watch the returning show. Our personal pirate (Ernesto) round up jackets from his co-workers and let the kids wear them so they would be warm and watch the show. He was great!

There was a cute dog (or two) on the island that loved when the pirate ship would show up bc one of the pirates always brought him treats. Beautiful rain forest type of island.

Mexico Cruise part 5

2010-03-13T11:09:00.002-07:00

Banana boat rides off the private island that the "pirates" took us to.

Summer went to "Pirate School" on the island and on a treasure hunt.

Jackson sang the theme song from the movie "Shrek" at family kareoke night. Then later they had a comedy troup from Second City on board and they had a family comedy night. Jackson volunteered to be a part of a sketch where they had the kids (about 10) freeze in a pose all at once and then the comedians acted as if they were tourists showing off their pictures to friends. The did about 5 different pictures. Jackson had a blast! Not a stage shy guy!

Hall Reunion 2009

2009-12-31T22:42:00.006-07:00

Every year around New Years the whole Hall family gets together for a 3 day reunion. This was our 2nd year at this fun house at Bear Lake that we rent that holds all 27 of us, comfortably! Big thanks to dad Hall for footing the bill! This year all the adults went snowmobiling for an afternoon (except Karen and me) who stayed back to babysit. (Yes, I'm that snow adverse.) Another day whoever wanted to go skiing went for the afternoon. Steve took the boys this year, it was Jackson's first time and Collin's second time. Collin snowboarded. I took Summer sledding with Brimhall's while they skied.

Gift exchange the first night.

Grandma reads a story to all the grand kids before bed every night. Mark looks so much like his dad, Leah giggled and pointed him out to me when the two of them were sitting exactly alike without knowing it and I was able to snap a pic.

The house has an awesome playroom!

We do the Nativity every year.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T22:28:00.002-07:00

Fun Christmas this year! I told the kids the night before that we can't start until 7:30. Well, the boys were up at 6:00, asking to start at 6:30. Finally at 7:00 I told them to wake up Summer and we started. It was still dark. The big hits this year were: A "wing scooter" for Summer, a refurbished Wii for Jackson and the new Super Mario Game, and Lego Rock Band with all the instruments for Collin. The big, big present is going to be a 7-night cruise to Mexico in February for the whole family! Yea for warmth!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-26T21:26:00.001-07:00

We went to Steve's parents house for Thanksgiving. This is a picture of the "big kid cousins" playing the game Life after dinner in the dining room. L-R: Collin, Jeffrey, Cameron, Claire, Jackson, and Summer.

Summer's Christmas Dance Recital

2009-12-23T18:09:00.001-07:00

Summer is taking Hip Hop dance and for their dance recital they did a number to "Santa Baby."
It was the big hit of the recital! There was more cheering for their dance than any other. It was soooo cute! I tend to think that Hip Hop numbers are always crowd pleasers though, and theirs was the only one of the night. Still, it was awesome! I watched them practice, and they definitely did it the best for their performance. Way to go!

Waiting for their turn to go onstage.

The big performance!

A proud mom with her awesome dancer after the recital.

Steve had to run back to work, but my mom and Logan were at the recital and came to dinner with us at Jason's Deli afterwards.

Collin Snowboards

2009-12-23T17:59:00.000-07:00

Collin has a best friend from our Draper neighborhood named Isaak Lawrence. His dad and Steve took the boys snowboarding at Brighton in Dec. 2009. This was Collin's first time, Isaak had been and wanted to teach Collin. Steve said Collin picked it up pretty quick. They went on a day that was about 12 degrees so it was really cold! I included a pic of the two of them at our home that Steve took one night bc he couldn't believe how much Isaak and Collin reminded him of he and his best friend growing up, Brandon Bell. He just thinks Isaak looks a lot like Brandon at that age, so he felt like he was looking back in time!

School Christmas Program

2009-12-23T17:45:00.001-07:00

I must say, I am super impressed with the Crescent Elementary Christmas Program! All the kids had to wear white shirts and black pants. Then each grade "spruced up" the outfits and made them unique. Also, the organization was wonderful. They had one grade do their song (s) then, file off the stage and the next grade came in. The teachers had a walkie-talkie in their room and someone called them to the stage when it was their turn (basically). The waiting grade (I'm thinking) was just lined up in the hall a few minutes before they were to go on. Jackson's grade (6th) started the program with 3 songs I had never heard, but they were pretty. They did a couple of rounds too. Summer's grade (1st) did the song, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," thus the reindeer hats that none of them could see through! Then Collin's grade (3rd) sang, "I'm Gettin' Nothin' for Christmas," complete with "black-eyes" and all. The pic I have is when they made a face in the song at the part that says, "Cuz' I ain't been nothin' but bad." It was the only one where Collin wasn't blocked by the girl in front of him. All the grades did actions to their songs too. Then at the end, the last group stayed on the risers and somehow magically, all the other grades filed in to the sides of the gym and they all sang "Silent Night" together, complete with a few kids signing the words at the front. Toward the end they projected a picture of a star and the kids all shined flashlights on the star. It was so cool! Loved it! I am glad that all 3 of my kids were able to do this together one year, Jackson will be in Middle School next year. I am looking forward to this program again!

N.O.V.A. Graduation

2009-12-23T17:08:00.002-07:00

Nurturing Opportunities Values and Accountability. This is the program that Jackson's school used to teach the 6th graders not to do drugs. They had an officer come once a week for 3 months and teach them about drugs and alcohol and the negative effects they have on your life. He did all sorts of activities with them like using "drunk goggles" and having them try to throw a beanbag into a bucket, none of them could bc it distorted their depth perception, blurred their vision etc.
The kids had to write a "constitution" at the end of the program telling what they learned and committing to stay off drugs. Officer Johnson chose the best constitution from every class and had them read it at the graduation. Guess what? Jackson's was the best in his class! They then did a calling of names and a walk through graduation with a certificate. Jackson was sitting at the front since he was part of the program and was giving people "knuckles" and "high-fives" as they went through, it was so cute!
Way to go Jackson! Way to make me a proud momma again!

Jackson's On Student Council 6th Grade

2009-11-07T20:55:00.003-07:00

Jackson ran for student council at his brand new school Crescent Elementary. In fact, every single 6th grader (about 90) ran for it, because it gave them extra credit. Only 5 were chosen from each class, and Jackson made it! The voting was weighted in thirds, 1/3 student votes, 1/3 teacher votes, 1/3 on last year's grades. Since he was new to the school, the teachers considered his performance in the first few weeks.

He had to give a 2 minute speech. His was so cute, he told about how responsible he was and how all his teachers always tell his mom that "Everyone loves Jackson." He also said that being on Student Council would help him to make friends more easily and more people would get to know "a great guy like me."
His duties include morning announcements on TV and over the speaker, recycling, and he went to a big conference at BYU with kids from all over Utah that are on Student Council. They learned leadership qualities, one of their speakers was John Bytheway, Jackson liked him.
Jackson is also on Safety Patrol again this year, they are assigned weeks in the year where they help "patrol" the drive-thru pickup lanes before and after school, the cross-walks and bus lines etc.
At parent-teacher conferences this past week his teacher told me studies have shown that kids that are involved with Student Council and just generally are a part of school activities in that respect tend to do better academically and all around in school.
I have not pushed him ever to do these things, he really enjoys it, I'm proud of him!

The kids had a fund-raiser in the school with the reward going to the highest earning grade. The reward was that they got to throw whipped creme pies at the student council during an assembly. Here are the student council members waiting in the hall to go into be "asaulted!"

Firing range, Jackson is the 3rd one in...

Jackson got away pretty scott-free, one of his advisors, Mrs. Brown...not so lucky.

Student Council
Jackson is on the far right in the blue t-shirt.

Girls Night Out-"This Is It"

2009-11-07T20:23:00.005-07:00

I put together a GNO to see the Michael Jackson's documentary movie, "This Is It" on opening night. We went to the 10:00 p.m. showing but met at Red Robin first for shakes and fries. Cori suggested we all wear a Michael Jackson t-shirt and then Trista last minute suggested we dress 80's style. As you can see, only 2 girls had the guts to do that, Trista and Mindy, but boy did they look cute and have fun. Cori Blodgett and her sister

Brooke are on the left in the group shot, they

were also at Red Robin, but we don't have a close-up of them. The movie was so great, I want to see it again. I've already bought the music CD that goes along with it, and I plan to buy the DVD. Although Michael Jackson was eccentric, and maybe made some wrong choices, he was so talented. Quite a loss to the entertainment world with his death.

Picture 1: Group shot before the movie
Picture 2: Me, Trista, and Suzanne
Picture 3: Charity and Teresa
Picture 4: Shelly and Mindy

Halloween 2009

2009-10-25T21:10:00.005-06:00

Now I won't have to take pics ON Halloween! Our ward Primary had a trunk or treat party tonight, so we got the kids all dressed up and off we went.

Steve took some great pics of the kids on the front porch. Jackson is a Ghoul who's eyes light up off and on (a big hit at the ward party), Collin is a Vampire (again), and Summer is Bat Girl.

The primary held their annual Trunk or Treat party at the church. They had games and a parade first, then truck or treating.

These are some fun pumpkins we got this year at Farnsworth farms. A pic of the trunk or treating, and a well-decorated "trunk" by our next-door neighbors, the Gentil family.

Fall Soccer for Summer

2009-10-19T10:40:00.002-06:00

Summer was on a soccer team this fall with some girls from our new Sandy neighborhood. Her friend Janelle's mom coached and Shauna's dad (who is also Collin's scout leader) was the assistant coach. This team had practices every week, and the league was serious with refs and playing in your postition etc. Interestingly enough, Summer didn't make any goals this time (like spring soccer that happened to be more relaxed). She didn't seem to mind, but she also didn't like soccer as much and was pretty burned out halfway through the season. But, on the bright side, she learned the "in's and out's" of proper soccer playing. Mia from our old neighborhood was also on the team, although, she wasn't there for the team pics and she isn't in any of the pics that I took bc they were all taken on that same day.
Summer told me after the last game that she wants to do a different sport now, maybe basketball. Ü

Tracy Aviary October 2009

2009-10-19T10:38:00.001-06:00

While were were on the cruise, my mom took Jackson and Summer to Tracy Aviary on a "sick day" from school. Collin went to school, so he wanted me to take them all again when I got home. Saturday was a beautiful day, it was fun. I only had my cell ph. for pics, so they aren't great. I can't believe how much the kids like it there. I thought it was a little boring, but they loved it and didn't really want to leave. Jackson told me, "This is making me want to go to the zoo again." Poor kid, hasn't been to the local zoo for several years. We did go to the San Diego Zoo a couple of years ago. Well, watch for zoo pics in the spring!

Summer was so cute, she brought a pen necklace and a notepad and would stop at every different bird she saw and sketch a picture of it. She's really into drawing lately.

Murder Mystery Party

2009-10-18T21:16:00.005-06:00

Argh, loading in wrong order again...These pics were taken after the "murder" when everyone got their 2nd card with questions on it to ask people. I caught the joker accusing the chambermaid of having done some shady things, I love the look on her face! Btw, Heather (the chambermaid) really did a lot of work to put this together, she typed all the invites and cards up, told us how to dress, helped decorate and helped with dinner. She was our go to girl of the night for questions.

A couple of my bunco girlfriends put together an awesome Murder Mystery costume Party. It was set in Medieval times and everyone was given an assigned character. Steve and I were the Lord and Lady of the Manor, Lord Taylor and Lady Gwendolyn.

It was held at Trista's house in Highland. They had torches out front and banners lining the entrance when we arrived. Here is a pic of our invite, the laws of the land, all the characters with info. on them (since a "murder" will occur during the night, we need to know who we're working with). Also a pic of Steve's assignment and info. on his character.

The beginning of the night as we were arriving. Sunny and Joel, Jason and Charity, Allison and Tyler, Mindy (Kevin was coming from work), and Aimee and Randy.

The scene for the evening was that Steve and I were throwing a dinner party in honor of the arranged marriage of our only son and Lady Diana of Dunnsberry. The king and queen were there as were all the folks of Fernwood, even the serfs. In one of the pics above you can see Steve getting the evening going by reading a welcome paper with some instructions. We all needed to be "in character" all night. You can also see everyone looking at a card in one pic. We were all given some questions/comments to make to other characters to get to know each other better and maybe get some much needed info. for what will happen later on.

Me and Trista, the host for the night. Also, Julie and Suzanne, two good friends of mine. They were exchanging info. during the beginning of dinner.

The murder! As we were in the kitchen dishing up our main course, the lights went out, we all "screamed," and when the lights went back on, Sir Rufus (a Knight-Eric) was "dead!" You can see the Watchman (Bryce) reading to the group that a murder had occurred, and he will be gathering info. to determine the "killer among us." You can also see in these pics (kind of), the gigantic table that we all ate at. There were 22 of us! I couldn't ever get a pic of the whole table, it wouldn't fit in my camera lens!

I will be forever impressed with Trista and Heather for putting this all together for us. It really felt like we were back in Medieval times, the setting, the background music, the food, the goblets, the costumes...each couple was even given a whole rotisserie chicken to share! Look in the pics and maybe you can see them on the tables. What a great night, we had a blast!

Cruise to Cabo San Lucas

2009-10-15T13:55:00.004-06:00

This was our first night on the ship at dinner. We were about to meet some new friends...

Here they are! The couple on the left are from Riverton, Utah (I could tell when they walked up), their names are Reinhardt and Lisa. The couple on the right was from Canyon Country, CA. and their names are Sean and Liza. We ate with them every night, because we all came with just our spouses, they put you together at a table to fill all the seats. They were great!!! You will see later some of the fun stuff we did with them.

This is at our 2nd stop (my pics posted in the wrong order) in Ensenda, Mexico. We took an excursion to about the only sight to see there called La Bufadora. It's a blow hole of water building up in a cave and then with a wave crash, it blows water up into the air. It's beautiful, I'm glad we went. Good pic of Steve too!

Late one night we went to a game called "The Quest." This is where you get a team together and the cruise director gives your team captain a number. He then proceeds to ask for random things to be worn or done by team members and they have to run up to him and show him before time is out get a point. CRAZY fun! So our team captain was Sean, in fact, he made us form a team. At one point they asked for a man on the team to be dressed as a pretty girl, thus the bras etc. Reinhardt went up for the lipstick all over a man's face point. Steve barked like a dog on all fours, and I had to do the worm dance on the floor with another girl. Definitely a highlight of our cruise!

Just random pics. The globe I'm standing by lit up from the inside, so it glowed. You can't tell in the pic, but it was cool. Steve is by a huuuuge fruit table carved and shaped decoratively. We had lunch one chilly afternoon at a yummy cafe at the top of the ship.

Our first port was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The ship can't pull right up to the coast bc it is too big, so they tender us over on these little boats that they bring on the ship for this purpose. Cabo was beautiful, but it was pouring rain off and on the whole time. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe there, during the rain. Steve liked the yellow dune buggy we saw. The crew on our ship said that Cabo is never rainy like that. Just our luck.

More pics of beautiful Cabo San Lucas.

Royal Caribbean ship that holds 2,700 passengers and over 800 crew. Beautiful ship. We ate at Chops Grill one night, a fine dining restaurant on the ship. You can't see in this pic but it was sunset out the windows behind us and the water was so beautiful.

We went to every show every night which included comedians and singers and even the ship's version of The Newlywed Game. They picked from the audience a newlywed couple, a couple married for a few years and one married for over 50! It was really funny!

This is a group called Mosaic, they use only their voices to make all the music, it's totally incredible! They won "Best New Group" (or something) on an MTV reality show recently and are starting to get recognition. They were only on the ship for 2 weeks, so we lucked out. Their website is: notaboyband.com (really)!

I'm sorry that I had to post these pics, but you gotta' hear the story...This was formal night in the dining room and the lady dancing on the table was really drunk. She was with a group of about 20 people her age, all drinking a lot. Anyway, during dessert, so got up on the table and started dancing! They were only 2 tables away, so we had a good view. As soon as her dress came up, the dining manager came over and made her get down. She was immediately banished from the dining room for the rest of the cruise. Good grief.

The "Hoe-down, Throw-down" of the Miley Cyrus Concert

2009-09-30T10:34:00.002-06:00

Pictures: Summer and me getting in the car to leave.
Arriving at the arena.
Miley on a motorcycle circling the audience.
Jackson and me at the end of the concert.
Miley at our actual concert. (Got it from the SL Tribune)

After seeing the Hannah movie Summer asked me if she could ever see Hannah in real life. I asked her if she wanted to go to a concert if she came to Utah and her eyes lit up and she said, "Yeah!"
Fast forward 6 months and the concert finally arrived. We had tickets on the 8th row center. Summer had a Hannah outfit to wear that Jake and Ava Smith gave her for her birthday. She made a poster months in advance and was hoping Miley would see it. We were so excited!
Steve and the boys dropped us off at the arena and then went to dinner at the Gateway. Here's where "the fun" begins...
We sat down during the opening act, Metro Station (Miley's half-brother's rock band) and Summer was plugging her ears. I gave her earplugs and talked her into wearing them bc otherwise her ears might start to hurt (big mistake- that freaked her out and got her all nervous). All she could think about was what if her eardrums burst. Finally, Miley came out and Summer sang along to one song, all the while looking at me nervously and telling me that her ears were "shaking inside" and her tummy was "bubbly and shaking." She didn't like the floor shaking either. She asked me if at the end she could get an autograph from Miley. I pointed to the 20,000+ people there and told her it was impossible. (Actually, all this conversation between the 2 of us was yelled, not spoken, soooo loud in there). She was teary and tried to eat her pizza and sprite to feel better but to no avail. She wanted to leave. We went up to the bathroom bc she felt sick. She felt a little better after going, but didn't want to go back in. She heard a song she wanted to see, so we went just in the door, she looked down at the stage and then said, "Ok, let's go, I just want to go home." I tried for about 10 minutes in the corridor to talk her into staying, and she was so sweet, she just said, "No mom, it's okay, we can see her next time she comes." I told her it was $200 to see her, a lot of money. She said, "She probably won't come for a long time, we can save up, I just want to go." She later said, "I don't think I ever want to go to a concert again." She wasn't dramatic, just done.
Luckily, Steve was still across the street with the boys (we were going to catch a ride home with friends) and the security guards let me switch out Summer for Jackson. So, Jackson watched the last 30 minutes with me. (I missed about 4 songs in the middle while this was going on.) Jackson liked it, but was trying to act cool bc he was one of only a handful of boys in the whole arena!
So, it turned out okay. Summer was totally fine with leaving, it was me who felt so bummed out I couldn't watch her throughout the whole concert and have that experience, but, I'm over it!

--Side note, towards the end of Miley's 2nd song Miley doubled over and looked pale, then ran off the stage and the back-up singers continued through. Then a stage manager came out and said that Miley has had the flu, she just needs a little rest, but the show will go on in 5 minutes, and it DID! You could tell she was pale and clammy and not feeling well but she soldiered through. I will be forever impressed with her for that, she didn't let her fans down.--

Funny Collin Creation

2009-09-29T15:34:00.000-06:00

Recognize this from a commercial? It's a Golden Grahams guy. My creative Collin had to copy it.

Collin Turns 9!

2009-09-20T18:11:00.001-06:00

Nine years ago today at about 2:30 a.m. I sat straight up in bed thinking I had just wet the bed! I was 8 months pregnant and I waddled to the bathroom, still leaking, then I realized...my water just broke! We called the hospital and they said to come in to make sure, so at about 5:00 a.m. we packed our 2-yr-old Jackson up and and drove to Cottonwood Hospital. Sure enough, Collin was on his way! He was born at about 5:30 p.m. and weighed exactly 6 lbs. He was as healthy as can be, he just wanted to get here! I always tell him that he was tired of being in my tummy and kicked the bag of waters saying, "Get me outta' here!"
Today we celebrated 9 years of my middle child's life. He was an easy baby, maybe my easiest! He is a sweet kid, always very concerned about everyone's feelings, and he makes friends so easily. He's a lefty like his Grandma Towsey and he is very creative. He's cute as can be and has always had a contagious laugh, probably one of my favorite traits about him.
His favorite gift? A new skateboard that he picked out online a few weeks ago. Best part is, he forgot about it until he was halfway done opening it. He was so excited! He's been riding it like a pro all afternoon.
Happy birthday to my sweet Collin!

Collin's Party at Classic

2009-09-18T02:56:00.004-06:00

I know, this year all 3 of my kids had their birthday parties at Classic, we're doing our part to keep them in business!
For Collin's party we didn't have a theme room, we just had the hostess set up a table near the main skating rink since Collin has become a pro-skater as of late. He even got his own pair of skates this year.
Well...it happened to be that we were there on "dollar night" and also the night a big school group came. It was a madhouse...crazy crowded! Collin said to me, "We should have gotten a theme room, it is soooo loud out here!" The music and the DJ were blaring! Definitely a party atmosphere though!
The boys played on the bounce houses, had pizza and cake, played arcade games, and skated and scooted. Collin also got to spin the wheel for a special prize and stand for a minute in the booth that blows fake money around and you try to collect as much as you can to redeem for tickets (always a hit). It was extremely hot (because of the number of people crammed in there I think), you'll see in the pictures. Who came? Mom, dad, brother, sister, Aunt Katy, cousins Griffin, Cannon and Chandler, and his friends-Isaak, Easton, Jayden, Zach, Jackson, Spencer, and Matthew.
Fun times!

Sand Hollow Boating 2009

2009-09-15T10:19:00.001-06:00

Our last hoorah before school started was to take the kids to St. George and go boating at our favorite spot, Sand Hollow Resevoir. We went on a Wednesday in August and we basically had the whole lake to ourselves, it was so fun! The kids love to go on the tube and I even took a spin with Summer. The boys like to stand up and move around on the tube while it is going! Needless to say, the get thrown out every so often. The boys are also learning to knee board which is tons of fun too. Ü

Starting the New School Year at a New School

2009-09-12T17:37:00.004-06:00

Meeting her new "best friend forever" Hannah

School has begun! My kids are at a new school since we moved to Sandy over the summer. A little trepidation, but they made it through the first day and loved it! Summer's first day she just met her teacher and then the next day was the official first day for the first graders. I asked her about her teacher after school and she said, "I like her, hey mom, what does 'strict' mean?" I told her and she said, "Yeah, she's strict." Well, I have since volunteered in the class and she ain't kiddin'! There were some other personality traits I wasn't enjoying in the teacher for the hour I was there, and I must say, we MAY be switching teachers soon. I'll volunteer one more time and if it's not better, we're outta' there!

Jackson said he made some new friends the first day and that all the kids were "Super nice and introducing themselves to me." He campaigned for student council (against 90 other kids bc they got extra credit for trying out) and he made it! They chose 5 from each class. He's in 6th grade, this is the only time all of my kids will be in the same school for the same amount of time everyday. Next year, Jackson will be across the big field at the Middle School, it's right next to the elementary school.

Collin was so nervous starting 3rd grade in a new school, he even had some tummy issues in the morning, (unusual for my kids) but still wanted to go. He has since made lots of friends (as usual) and the kids in his class even voted him Student of the Week this week! He has a great, young teacher who is lots of fun.

So all in all, it's been great! Everyone is asking me what I am doing with all my "free time" now and I say, "All the same stuff I did before, I still do laundry, clean the dishes, kitchen, bathrooms, floors, go to the store...just without the kids!" It is less chaotic, and it's great, I love 'em even more when they show up at the end of the day! (I will admit, I'm doing my fair share of lunching out too!)

The pics are with my cell phone, I didn't want to be too obvious with my big elaborate camera and embarrass my kids at "the new school." I only have inside the classroom pics of Summer, the boys are too big to be embarrassed like that!

Waterpark Pics at Jackson's Party

2009-08-06T15:38:00.000-06:00

Big Classic Party for Jackson's 11th

2009-08-06T15:35:00.000-06:00

Jackson turning 11?!!!

2009-08-02T16:14:00.000-06:00

I'm a little sad...My oldest is turning 11!!!! He's so close to being a pre-teen I can barely take it! We had his little family party today, a big party at Classic with his friends will happen later this week. Not a big fan of cake, Jackson had a "cookie cake" instead. Jackson has been waiting since just after Christmas, soooo patiently (btw, he's always been my most patient kid) for a Nintendo DSi, he got it today! And hello...How big are his feet! He's just getting too big I tell you. He told me minutes after his party that this was the best birthday of his life! Wow.

Summer's Party at Classic

2009-08-02T16:07:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Summer's 6th birthday at Classic Skating and Waterslides this year. (Side note: We will be doing the exact same thing this week for Jackson, we've celebrated lots of birthdays at Classic, we're keeping them in business).
Since the recent move from Draper to Sandy, she had friends from all over the valley there. Mia from Draper, Emma from South Jordan, and the rest from Sandy: Jake and Ava, Halle, Janelle.
She chose the DJ Room and they had a blast singing along to the music videos on a microphone. I didn't get any pics of the bounce house or jungle gym, but they enjoyed that too! The party host lets the birthday kid spin a wheel for a prize and then stand in a cage full of floating "money" for a minute and grab as much as they can. Each dollar counts for 1 ticket toward a prize.
Then we headed to the waterslides which was lots of fun! At the end, a few friends stuck around for laser tag. Marathon party, I was beat by the end of the day! My baby girl is growing up.

Summer is 6!

2009-08-02T15:43:00.000-06:00

We always have just a little family party (the 5 of us) on the Sunday before our birthdays. Summer got all things Hannah Montana this year. She is even going to go to the Miley Cyrus concert with me in Sept. She also got a big girl bike, just short of a week after her bike crash! She wanted a rolling backpack for school, she's getting so grown up. Sniff.

Summer's Bike Crash

2009-07-18T14:50:00.000-06:00

Poor Summer! She just learned to ride her 2-wheeled bike and has gotten braver by the day. Well, on Thursday she went down our driveway and "forgot to brake" and hit the neighbors curb. She flew off and landed on her chin, teeth and chest. She came crying (a terrible cry) into the garage where Collin and I met her. The first thing I noticed was a mouth full of blood and jacked up bottom teeth! I started cleaning her mouth out over the sink and Collin said, "Ah! Her chin!" It was split wide open! I got the bleeding stopped on her chin and put her in the car to head to the Dr. She said her teeth hurt the worst and she wanted to go to the dentist first. The dentist took all sorts of x-rays, pulled her first baby tooth and half of a molar. He then pushed on her gums to realign her teeth, I watched. She was numb of course. She was soooo brave! She barely cried! All the staff kept coming in to see the damage. She has breaks down her molars, little lines. The mouth heals fast, but she goes in for a follow-up in 10 days to see if she needs crowns or fillings on them. He said the bottom teeth will go gray. Sniff. Then off to the Dr. who gave her 7 stitches in her chin. She was brave for that too, way brave, no crying. The Dr. said that girls are usually more brave. We love her.

4th of July 2009

2009-07-18T14:36:00.000-06:00

Sandy City has a parade for the 4th at 6 pm. We tried to sit in an area where the building would shade our eyes but it didn't work out that well. We still had a great time though. Then at dark we went to a park and watched the fireworks. Steve also lit fire crackers with the kids in the street by the house. We spent most of the day planting and putting bark chips in the yard though. Fun stuff!

New Trampoline

2009-07-18T14:28:00.000-06:00

Yea! We got our backyard landscaping done and Steve and the boys installed the new in-ground tramp. Woo hoo! The one pic is of Collin and Griffin playing on the dirt mound that came out of the ground for the tramp.

College Roomies

2009-07-18T14:24:00.000-06:00

My first year of college I went to Ricks in ID. 3 of my 5 roommates just got together for brunch after not seeing eachother for 17 years! It was a blast! Kim, Roxanne, and Karla.

Time For Braces!

2009-07-18T14:22:00.000-06:00

The time has come...Braces. Jackson had 4 braces put on his teeth at the end of June. They also cemented an appliance onto his back 4 molars called a Mara appliance, this is to correct his major overbite (thanks to mom AND dad). It is used in place of the old fashioned head gear. you can see in his picture on the bottom right how when he bites down it forces his jaw forward.
the rationale is that at a young age you can still manipulate the jaw and actually grow more jaw bone. He looks totally different! Well...The Mara appliance has been the biggest PAIN! Although it was cemented to his teeth, it popped off twice and we had to go in to have it recemented. The second time the Dr. decided that his overbite is just too severe to handle the Mara's shift right now so, he took it off, well the bottom part anyway. He said that sometimes they just need to let the child's jaw grow a little bit more and then the Mara will work again. If not, he'll either have to have the dreaded head gear, or jaw surgery. Jackson's shooting for a head gear if the Mara doesn't work--obviously. For now, they have left the braces on, they are pulling his front teeth back and together.

Summertime 2009 Activities

2009-07-18T13:51:00.001-06:00

We have a long summer this year because the kids are switching from a year-round school schedule to a traditional one. Here are some of the things that have kept us busy so far...

~We got season passes at Classic Skating and Waterslides, we go almost once a week!
~We've been to St. George, we even took cousin Griffin along.
~Jackson and Collin go to an orthodontist who throws a big party every summer at Raging Waters. The boys got in for free and Summer and I were a discounted rate. Then they fed us pizza, drinks, and the best cookies ever and had a raffle for prizes at the end of the day. Collin won a $5 gift card to Target. Maybe next year we'll win one of the big prizes like a PSP! Summer got more daring throughout the day and went on a big tube slide by herself! She also did the ropes over the 5 ft. water where you have to drop in and swim. She was a pro at the kiddie ropes, got across almost every time! The boys had a blast too. It was so crowed, but so much fun!
~We took a friend (Jared Ylst) and went to the Sandy Aquarium. I was surprised that my brave little Summer was quite spooked by the big tanks of fish and the darkness in there. She got really spooked by the sharks.

WE LOVE SUMMERTIME!

Guitar Lessons

2009-07-18T13:13:00.000-06:00

Collin started guitar lessons in June. He paid half for an electric guitar too. He has wanted to do this for a long time. He goes to one lesson a week with his friend Isaak. This picture was at a private lesson at the beginning. He's loving it!

Jackson's School Puppet Show

2009-07-18T13:07:00.000-06:00

Jackson's 5th grade class made paper mache puppets, then had to get in groups of 3 and create a puppet show with a twist on a modern fairy tale. Jackson's was called, "The Genie and the Tea Kettle." They were 3 minutes long and for 4 days in the afternoon different classes in the school could sign up to come see the plays. It was so cute! They recorded their plays and then just acted them out. The kids loved it. Jackson wrote the script for his group, his characters name was Salesman Bob.

Raingutter Ragatta

2009-06-02T11:19:00.002-06:00

Our Draper ward does all the Cub Scout competitions known to man! This is the raingutter ragatta where you all paint the same boat and then run it down a "stream" by blowing on it. Steve is the only one who took pics so I don't have any action shots, but Jackson won 2nd place! He is holding his boat in one hand and his medal by his side in the other. Collin earned his Wolf badge at this meeting a whole 5 months early! Needless to say, he has an awesome scout leader.

Summer Loves Soccer!

2009-06-02T11:03:00.003-06:00

This was Summer's first year enrolled in any sport, and she loved it! She scored 3 goals this season (my boys have yet to score one). She is such a go-getter. She was so bummed when the season ended, and she wondered why she didn't have practice everyday like an older boy she knows in the neighborhood, she thought that would be great!

I cannot believe the difference between her and my boys, the boys are not too aggressive in the sports I've put them in, they just kind of hang back and wait for the ball to come to them. Summer on the other hand is right in there with the best of them just playing her little heart out! She is quite coordinated too, we haven't practiced soccer with her at all and she already instinctively knew how to stop the ball and get it going in the right direction. Maybe our family will follow in the footsteps of what Steve's family did...the girls played sports and the boys worked at dad's shop after school. Who knows!

Sitting on the sidelines, anxiously waiting to go in.

Nice action shot (if I should say so myself)!

Throwing in, that is her cute coach Dana in the background.

Summer was always on the go, look at the boys on her team--ha ha!

The coach is saying, "Wait! Let me tie his shoe!"

Go Summer!

Grandparents Program

2009-06-02T10:56:00.004-06:00

Treats in the classroom afterwards

Collin and his grandma Towsey

All the 2nd graders at Collin's school practiced for about 2 months for a cuuuute Grandparents Program. They all had to write a story about their grandparent and then a select few were chosen to be memorized by the student and told at the program. Collin was one of those! He told a story about his Grandpa Towsey when he was a teen doing teenager "pranks" shall we say. All the kids had some sort of speaking part and they of course sang all the darling grandparent songs like, "Grandma's Featherbed" and "You Are My Sunshine." At the end they showed a slideshow of all the kids with their grandparents that we the mom's had sent in. It was darling, Collin's grandparents were there to enjoy the show too.

Low-flying jets!

2009-06-01T19:43:00.004-06:00

Pretty fun night tonight at our house! This giant gray colored 747 with 4 fighter jets trailing it flew right over our house really low 8 times-we counted! It was fun, and loud and all the neighbors were running outside with their cameras to take pics like me. It felt like the 4th of July or something. The one pic is of Collin running to see the jets on their way. I was trying to get a pic of our own house with the jets flying over and all I got was the top of the finnial in the shot, but I had to include it in this post! The rest of the pics are of all the homes around me as I frantically snapped the camera. THEN, they must have known a crazy storm was coming because they stopped flying over just in time for a huge down pour with thunder and lightning. I'm watching it now as I type. The kids are loving it too! Thanks goodness my pets can handle it all, they're not even freaking out.

Steve came home at the end of the jets and said that maybe it was for a Real SL soccer game or something. Maybe the news will tell us tonight.

New Digs

2009-05-17T16:39:00.003-06:00

Taken with my cell phone, so not great pics...

Here is our new home we just moved into in Sandy!

I took a pic of the living room in the afternoon, we get a ton of afternoon sun in there. There is also a pic from just inside the front door. The rest of the rooms aren't all "put together" quite yet. We are loving it here, the kids play outside non-stop, and it's not just because the weather has been beautiful, they can actually ride their scooters and bikes and not crash going straight downhill like at our old home. Plus, the neighbors are wonderful and the kids have already made lots of friends. Gizmo our dog has made sure that we met all the neighbors right away by running right up to their homes and barking like a maniac at them when they emerge...ugh. But, once he has barked at someone and "let them know who's boss" he has left them alone ever since...he is maturing after all!

Easter 2009

2009-05-17T16:20:00.003-06:00

I have delayed putting this post up because I have been waiting for some other pics from a friend that are better than these, but alas, I cannot wait anymore, so these cell phone pics will have to do...that will teach me to always carry my camera with me!
We were at the end of a week long vacation to Disneyland and Mesquite, NV when Easter rolled around. We spent Easter Sunday with our friends the Russells and their 3 daughters. The kids had an egg hunt on the beautiful grounds (no kidding) of The Casablanca Resort in Mesquite, NV. We had Easter brunch and then headed home. Someday I will post the cute pics of the rest of our time there.

Tulip Slide Show

2009-04-22T23:58:00.001-06:00

Tulip Festival

2009-04-22T17:28:00.004-06:00

I have reconnected through Facebook with some girls that I grew up playing with and for the past 6 months we have had a monthly girls lunch. It is so fun and makes my day brighter every time. It's as if spending an hour or two reminiscing about childhood takes me away from my "adult" worries and gives me a little boost mentally every month, I love it!
Today we ate at The Trellis Cafe at Thanksgiving Point and then took a stroll through the Tulip Festival on the grounds there. Only 2 of my friends could stick around for the festival, but it turns out to be the two I
played the most with growing up, Holly and Stephanie.
Here are just a few of the shots I took, with my new "fancy schmancy" camera that I now vow to take everywhere with me in order to start blogging more!
I just might have to post a slide show of the rest of my pics.
I do have to say, this was my first year to the festival, and for some reason I pictured it being fields and fields full of tulips like you would see in Holland...Not really. You walk a long windy, hilly trail and see lots of grass with many beds full of flowers along the way. Still, I had a wonderful
time walking and talking with my favorite girlfriends. And, there is something about warm sun, and beautiful flowers that just makes you happy after a long dreary Utah winter.

Girls Trip to Vegas

2009-04-18T13:53:00.000-06:00

Some of my girlfriends from South Jordan put together a girls weekend in Vegas. A couple of sisters and friends tagged along too. They were valuable because they got us a great deal on our hotel and car rental!
We went to Phantom at the Venetian and ate at the Cheesecake Factory beforehand.
We walked the strip a little and visited the Wynn hotel for some upscale window shopping and lunch. It is a beautiful hotel. We had Sushi the last night, of course, I ordered orange chicken!
These pics are borrowed from one of the only girl's (Mindy) who brought her camera! I wish I would have brought mine and taken some more...I have a new fancy schmancy one and I'm afraid to take it on trips and ruin it. I must get past that fear.
Good times! Thanks to my hubby and mom for watching the kids all weekend so I could have a fun break!

Jackson's BizTown

2009-03-10T16:19:00.000-06:00

Jackson's 5th grade class went to BizTown this year. They studied business for several weeks, then had a full day set aside to put their knowledge to work at a place in DT SLC called BizTown, set up just for school classes to come to. They apply ahead of time for whatever position they want. Jackson applied for the CFO of JT TV, but instead got the job of CFO at J Realty. Then they studied up on their particular position for a week or so before as well. He told me the night before that he wanted to wear his suit, bc they were supposed to dress nicely. My neighbor Lisbeth was a parent helper at Biztown and texted me during it telling me how cute and serious Jackson was. She said he was doing a great job. I asked her to take pictures for me. The picture of him on TV was when he was being interviewed about his realty company. They earned paychecks and were able to buy things with their money while on break. He had a great time! Such a cute idea of the school district's don't you think?

Baby Uncle Logan

2009-03-08T18:01:00.001-06:00

My sister-in-law Emily and her hubby Kelly trusted me to watch their littlest boy while they took the other two to the Draper Temple open house. What fun! He is so darling at 6 months old and was such a good baby. His name is Logan, and I also have a brother named Logan--known as "Uncle Logan" to us. We refer to my nephew as "Baby Logan." Summer was a good helper and kept calling him "Baby Uncle Logan." I tried to correct her every time, but then decided it was just too cute and I let it go!

Happy 13th Anniversary!

2009-02-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

I mostly use this blog as a journal. So, anyone looking at this will just have to excuse my indulgence!
Our anniversary is on Valentine's Day so every year I tell Steve, don't worry about getting me roses, they are like twice as much today...But, almost every year he still gets them for me. What a sweetheart. This year, he was also pretty original in getting me this cute, yummy gift basket from Kneaders. What a surprise! And to think, all I got him was a measly t-shirt from Costco. (He out-does me every time on gifts). Happy Anniversary Sweetie!

Jackson's 2009 Basketball Season

2009-01-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

I looooove watching my boys play basketball! It has always been one of the few sports that actually entertain me, and then to have a son playing...All the better. It's been fun watching Jackson over the years. He started in 1st grade and now he is in 5th. The boys start to get really "good" by about 10 or 11 years old, so this year has been great! Also, Jackson is on a team that is undefeated with only 2 games left this season...Woo hoo!

Derby Time Again!

2009-01-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

The scout Pinewood Derby "rolled" around quickly for us again! This time, Collin could officially race. Neither boy placed, (there is one kid who won for the second time in a row this year) but they had fun nonetheless! The building of the derby cars is always a big project, thank goodness their dad helps them with it. Our scout troop had a huge turnout of spectators this year, it was a big success! All the boys got a ribbon though...Collin got the "Back to the Future" award because his car looked space-like I think. Jackson got the "Wii Pick You" award because his was a Pikmin 3 car which is a game on the Wii system. Fun times!

2009-01-25T19:42:00.005-07:00

Jackson and Jared

Summer and Mia

Isaak and Collin

Isaak and Collin in action

Summer

We had a fun time on Wednesday at Jump On It in Lindon. Summer's very best friend Mia (who moved from across the street to Mapleton in August) met us there with her mom and little brother and baby sister. The boys brought along their favorite neighborhood friends who were also off-track and they jumped away. Ü

slideshow - Powered by Smilebox" src="http://www.smilebox.com/globalImages/blogInstructions/blogLogoSmileboxSmall.gif" width=386>

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Hall Reunion at Bear Lake

2009-01-03T17:28:00.009-07:00

Group shot

Every year a few days after Christmas the whole Hall clan joins in Northern Utah for a reunion for a few days. This year we all stayed in the same huge house at Bear Lake that Emily found for us. What a great house! The best part was in the basement it had this gigantic 2-story playroom for the kids, they spent a lot of time there. Also, there were 2 flights of stairs from the main floor going down, and built in next to it was a tube slide to go down instead of the stairs-also, a blast for the kids. There were plenty of bedrooms and beds, a huge kitchen, 2 family rooms and a theater room. Kudos to Emily for finding this place.

We exchanged Christmas gifts, sledded, the guys went snowmobiling at Beaver Creek Lodge, the kids had story-time with Grandma every night, Melanie led us in chiming Christmas tunes, Jackson did a comedy routine, the kids re-enacted the nativity (first time ever), we ate at the "famous" Bear Lake Pizza, and Melanie and I bettered our score from previous years late into the night on kareoke. Fun times!

P.S. This slide show took me 3 hours to post! Watch every picture! Just kidding--kind-of!

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Christmas Day 2008

2008-12-26T20:03:00.001-07:00

This year we had a first...the first time my kids woke up pre-dawn! Can you say, 4:30 a.m.?! I made them let us sleep until 5:30, which went by really fast, next thing I know, Collin is saying, "Okay mom, it's 5:30!" I think we are going to have to set some ground rules from now on. Summer got her one wish she asked Santa for...The S'more's Pony. He gave her some surprises too. The boys were super excited about their surprise Rubix Cube, remember those? Gizmo could barely stay awake, he rested his head on the presents to watch. Although, he did bark quite a bit when the S'mores Pony moved! Little Boo had fun playing in the paper and the boxes. We had a beautiful, very white Christmas this year, and it still hasn't stopped snowing. Notice the picture of Summer playing with her new Bendaroos on the front window...The snow is plastered to the outside of the window. Oh, and Steve got me a new, really nice camera! I can't wait to start taking better pics. Merry Christmas! Now I want to sleep.

Christmas Eve Party

2008-12-25T00:38:00.000-07:00

Things are always a little bit different with a Towsey family party...
Everyone on my side of the family get together every year for Christmas Eve, this year was at my house. Although we have no eating pictures, we did have a good meal. Chandler and Griffin (Katy's boys) had the idea to have a talent show this year...that was something new. It was a big success! Chandler and Griffin did a SNL skit about nerdy twins wanting a calculator for Christmas. They had it all typed up and Katy and Matson were narrators, along with Mason. The "nerds" stood on stage for the skit. Very, very funny! I had just told Jackson earlier in the day that we were having a talent show. He has been watching/listening to a little bit of Brian Regan's comedy for a couple of days, so he said that he was going to do stand-up comedy. I introduced him and he came out from behind a wall to cheering (just like in a comedy show). He did about 3 or 4 jokes and he was hysterical! He new all the right ways to start up a a joke with a life story and lead into the punchline. He had us in tears we were laughing so hard...mostly just to see him come out of his shell and do such a good job! He even finished with, "Thank you, and good night" and exited the stage. I didn't catch it on video, we tried, but the card was full and it was too late! ARRGH! None of us will ever forget it, I can tell you that! Summer showed off her hip hop moves to a song on the iPod, she really has rhythm! Jackson jumped in towards the end of the song to spice it up a little. Then, my parents "talent" was to teach us all to play kazoos. We went to the theater room and they gave a demonstration. Then they passed out kazoos to everyone and we all had to "try out" for the band one by one. Then, my mom put on "A Claymation Christmas" (DVD circa 1987) and we all had to kazoo along to the 5 or 6 Christmas songs they sing in the video. The little ones LOVED it! Different I know, but that is how things go with my funny mom! And, to cap it all off, the cousin's exchange gifts, as do my sister, my brother and me. It was another successful party, what a great tradition.

Childhood Friends

2008-12-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

l-r: Me, Jean Russell, Stephanie Horne, and Holly Boyer

I had the time of my life today at lunch! Thanks to Facebook I recently reconnected with a friend I grew up with, Jean Russell who now lives in CA. Then I reconnected with another friend I grew up with, Holly Boyer. I have kept in pretty good contact with Stephanie Horne since HS, but she too is a good childhood friend. So, when I heard that Jean would be in town for the holidays I said, "Let's get together for lunch with Steph and Holly," and *wah lah* here we are! Wow, what fun! It was as if we just stepped off the playground yesterday, no awkwardness and lack of things to say, just plain fun! Jean is still a hoot, you can't ever go wrong when she is in the room. We stayed for 2 hours and didn't want to leave, but alas, life goes on. We vowed to get together every time Jean is in town now, (and we begged her to move back to Utah)!

Gingerbread Man

2008-12-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Instead of a gingerbread house this year, we made gingerbread men. Summer has been begging to make them since they have been reading about "him" in kindergarten. We had a good time!

Babysitting

2008-12-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

I am the luckiest lady ever! My neighbor and friend Toni just adopted Emmett a little over 2 months ago. Then, she got a call that she had been chosen to adopt another boy! So she has two babies, Emmett is about 2 1/2 months and Eli is just now a month old. I get to hold them all the time in RS. Soooo...last minute today she had a neighbor cancel on her to babysit these sweet guys bc her daughter was home sick. She gave me a call and asked me to fill in while she went to her older son's Christmas party at school! Would I? You better believe it! They were so good and easy. I fed them both and changed one diaper and snuggled and snuggled! Aren't they adorable!

Christmas Bunco

2008-12-15T20:59:00.002-07:00

Christmas bunco with my friends every year is my favorite! We still play bunco, then do a gift exchange and have yummy food. This bunco group is about 3 years strong now and we love it!

Steve is 35

2008-12-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

We keep things pretty low-key for birthdays around here, just a little family party for Steve's birthday--35th! He said he is starting to feel old, I told him that I will feel old when I hit my 40's I think. Collin worked all during church on a card for his dad that said, "Super Steve" with an action figure pic inside. Summer gave him his old watch that still works that we couldn't find for awhile, and Jackson gave him a jumbo paper clip from Santa's Shop at his school, it says, "Dad's stuff." I gave him a new sweater vest and jeans. He hates that I took so many pics with him in them bc he knows they will end up on the blog. Hee hee! Happy Birthday sweetie! I think you look awesome at 35!

Smart League

2008-12-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Isn't this great?!! This year for Jr. Jazz all the referees have these shirts on. They read...

Coaches coach
Players play
Referees ref
Parents cheer

Love it!

The Santa Experience

2008-12-08T21:43:00.003-07:00

This year was a different experience with Santa...

I took just Summer to see Santa at the mall today before she headed off to afternoon kindergarten. Great time to go, short lines...Anyway, I was so impressed this year because they had all these fun interactive things about Santa and the North Pole set up along the line to keep children busy, so I snapped this shot. It's a good thing we got Santa in the picture because, that was all we were going to get! They had a new rule this year that if you hadn't paid for a picture to be taken with Santa, you could NOT take your own, with your own camera. (Btw, the minimum price for 2 small pics was $13). The grandma 2 people ahead of me, you can see her in the flashy sweater in the pic, had a fit! She told the poor girl, and I quote, "You mean to tell me, that you will not let me take a picture of my grandson sitting on Santa's lap with my camera?!" And the poor girl replied, "That is the mall's rules this year, not mine." To which the grandma replied, "You will open that gate and you will let me take a picture of my grandson with Santa!" The girl gave in and then I think had to go hide and cry bc a new person was running the gate after her. Thank goodness Summer is so easy-going, I told her the situation and she was like, "Ok! Whatever!" I think she just wanted to tell Santa what she wants...A Smores Pony. Bah Humbug Grandma!

Let the Jr. Jazz Begin

2008-12-08T20:58:00.005-07:00

Collin is wearing a black long sleeve shirt...His coach forgot the jerseys.

Jackson's team is blue, he's in the back.

Both boys are now on Jr. Jazz teams, Jackson has been playing for a few years, and now Collin has joined a team with a bunch of friends. It was fun to watch their first games on Saturday because Collin reminded me so much of Jackson his first season. He was very careful and polite. Jackson is still polite, but not so careful. By 10 years old they finally get the jist of it and start "playing for real", so Jackson's team was quite fun to watch! He is on a good team this year with really nice boys. They won, final score being 16-6. Last year his team only won the first and last game. We will see how the rest of the season goes. Jackson stole the ball once, took a couple of shots and of course, was really good at defense as usual. I only had my cell phone, so the pics aren't great. I love basketball, I hope the boys will love it for a long time too, it is great fun watching them. Jackson seems to really like it, not sure about Collin yet, but he is still young.

Decorated Tree

2008-12-01T17:59:00.001-07:00

This year's tree was a bit of an adventure...
We've had this artificial tree for about 6 years now, and most of the lights just don't want to work anymore. It is so frustrating every year trying to get all the plugs pushed into their right outlets etc. to make it work. Collin came up with the idea of filling in the gaps with some green lights we have (his favorite color). So, I'm usually a bit of an A-type personality with things and would like the lights to be perfectly intertwined and even (ie. 1 green to 1 white) but for some reason this year, I just don't have the desire or effort to be perfect. So, the lights are blotchy, but you know what...it gives me a big smile on my face every time I pass it and think of my creative Collin. He thinks it looks great! I think that a creative mind (which I DO NOT possess) doesn't have to have symetry in everything and I love that about him! I took one pic with the overhead lights on, and one with them off. Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving in Park City

2008-11-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving this year was a little un-traditional for us. We stayed at the Westgage Condos at The Canyons in Park City with our friends the Hunters for 2 nights. Suzanne and I brought turkey and the trimmings up from The Honey-Baked Ham Store and made a spread. Wed. night we went to Baja Cantina for dinner, yum! On Thanksgiving we stayed in and had our "family" meal. We took the kids to see the movie Bolt and after, took them swimming at the indoor pool at the resort. This was my first (and last) year that I went Black Friday shopping at (of all places) Walmart. We stood in line at 4:30 am in the SNOW! Steve tooke this picture of us freezing to death! Got some good deals, but boy have I needed to catch up on my sleep since! It was a fun and different Thanksgiving!

Twilight

2008-11-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

(l-r: Julie, Trista, Suzanne, me, Aimee, Heather, and Mindy).
Some girlfriends and I did the obligatory "Twilight GNO" last night. I have never read the books, the rest of my friends here have. I absolutely loved the movie! I just might have to give in and start reading the series now. Thanks Suz and Trista for putting this together! It was so good to see Heather, love ya tons.

He's at it again!

2008-11-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Came home from the Twilight movie to another of Collin's creations that I am sure he whipped up in less than 3 minutes. It's made of a sheet of computer paper and a kleenex tissue. (Side note: Collin was whistling a happy Christmas tune 2 nights ago as he helped me put the Christmas decor up--he loves that kind of stuff!)