Summer Half Way Done

I can hardly believe summer is halfway over. We are approaching the middle of July already. In June we had fun at Lagoon with Lagoon season passes. We had Kerry and Debbie with us while they waited to close on their new home in Kaysville. We are excited to have them living closer and have already benefited from them being here.

In June we went to the Homer Kotter family reunion in Howell, Utah. We took our trailer up and spent Friday and Saturday nights at the farm where my mother grew up. It was fun being with family and just relaxing.

This summer Jessica has continued voice lessons and started Ballet and Jazz dance classes at a new dance studio in Bountiful. Jessica is still taking Piano lessons but wishes that we would let her quit. We celebrated Jessica's 11th birthday on June 20th. We had my niece Abby Grover here and we also took Kylee and Cassie with us to the Layton Surf and Swim, we had Little Ceasers for Dinner and then went to see the movie Soul Surfer at the Kaysville theater. Abby was able to stay and visit for a week and we were also able to go shopping at the Gateway mall, spend a day at Lagoon and eat at Cafe Rio for Jessica's official birthday dinner.

Jeremy is also still taking piano lessons and fighting me about practicing. He has also been taking swimming lessons. He passed his level 2 class and is now in level 3.

Shawn spent a week at scout camp in June the boys all had a good time and came home with a bunch of pocket knives. Quinn was able to go to camp with Shawn since they hadn't settled into their new ward yet. Shawn was also able to take the safety merit badge class and complete 6 additional merit badges at scout camp. At the court of Honor he received 10 merit badges and advanced through scout, tenderfoot and 2nd class. He almost has his 1st class earned he just needs to complete an orienteering course and then he will be able to get that award. Shawn's big accomplishment before scout camp was being able to complete the BS Swim Test. He overcame his fear of water and we are extremely proud of him. Shawn has also been going to wrestling club twice a week and will start summer band this coming week.

Katie has also been taking swimming lessons this summer and has enjoyed that. She passed level 1 and is taking level 2, she is getting better and is really good at the dead mans float.

Last week we enjoyed celebrating the 4th of July with Kerry and Debbie. I took the kids up to watch the Kaysville parade, we had a great spot thanks to Kerry and Debbie's neighbors. We also spent the day playing and visiting and then had a BBQ and watched the fireworks.

For the rest of the summer we are looking forward to more family reunions. Next week we will be able to go to Ferron Utah for the Dean Winn Family reunion and then we will also have reunions at the end of July and beginning of August with Brett's Family and with Glade's family.

We also hope to squeeze in a few more lagoon days and some additonal camping. It is still snowed in at the top of the Uintahs and that is where Brett likes to go. Hopefully there will be some more warm weather so we can get up there before the end of the summer.

The Fast Pace of Life

It is amazing how fast life flies by. We are approaching the end of April and I don't even know where the last 4 months have gone. This year we have watched Shawn excel in Jr. High Wrestling. He wrestled for Centerville Jr. High. I think of all the season matches he only lost once. He was the JV wrestler for his team. At the South End competition. He made it to 6th place. For being a first year wrestler we were really proud of him. We concluded the season with a banquet last week. The coach talked about the Tech Wrestling Club that will be going on this summer to help the boys continue to excel in wrestling. Shawn is looking forward to participating in that.
Jessica and Katie continue taking dance classes, they have their costumes and are getting ready for the recital at the end of May.
Jeremy has continued with Piano lessons and enjoys his cub scouts. We are getting close to having his wolf badge earned.
I continue to stay busy helping at the school and being the chef, chauffer, maid, etc.

We enjoyed a fun spring break with the kids a couple of weeks ago. We went to several movies and then took the house trailer down to goblin valley for a night. We had fun hiking and playing on the rocks. We would have spent more time but the wind kicked up and the girls just did not like being out in the dust. We spent a night at a hotel and enjoyed playing in the pool.

House Guest

Congratulations to Kerry on the Job at L3. He has been our house guest for the last couple of weeks as he started his new job. He is currently in Colorado checking in on Debbie and the kids. We love having Kerry here but hope that he and Debbie will be able to find a house and sell theirs so that they can all be together again. My kids can't wait to have their cousins closer so that they can hang out more.

We Love You Guys and hope Debbie and the Kids can move out here soon.

A New Year

Well folks we are into 2011. I can't believe I haven't posted anything since school started.

The kids are staying busy, and I feel like I drive the road between here and Centerville 20 x a day. Jessica and Jeremy are Who's in Seussical the Musical which they will be performing in a couple of weeks at their school. Shawn and Jessica just finished up 6 weeks of guitar lessons. (Thank You Jill for loaning us the guitar.) Shawn, Jessica and Jeremy all take piano although Shawn gets to take a break since he is starting wrestling and they condition every day after school. Shawn just moved into intermediate band and participates in Jazz band they play for some of the Jr. High basketball games. Jessica and Katie are still in dance classes and Katie has preschool and a singing class that she participates in.

Brett stays busy at work and I stay busy helping at the school tutoring and doing PTA stuff. It is good to be busy but I enjoy the days that I have nothing scheduled and spend more time than I should reading and ignoring my dirty house.

School Time

Well summer flew by and we are now a month into school. The quiet is a little eerie sometimes when all of the kids are gone, but I certainly enjoy it. I love having the kids at home except that they tend to fight a lot so having a reprieve from each other during the day is a very good thing. Shawn is in Jr. High this year and now takes the bus to school. Jessica and Jeremy are still at the Elementary and Katie has one more year of preschool.

I have been crazy enough to committ to be PTA President Elect. So far this year I am mainly still helping out the STAR tutoring program to get up and going for the year, but next year that will have to turned over to our new coordinators so I can concentrate on President stuff. Not sure how things will go but I'm sure we will muddle through it.

We had an enjoyable summer vacation. We took the new house trailer to the Uintah's, and up to Glade and JoAnn's several times, we also took it to a couple of family reuinions. Camping in a trailer is a lot more convenient than a tent although the kids still like to sleep out in the tent which is okay because it frees up some room in the trailer. We had a good time visiting with family at our family reunions,we went to the Manti pagaent, The Martin Handcart Pagaent, enjoyed hiking and fishing, playing and boating at Bear Lake, and canoeing at Tony's Grove.

Anyway I think the kids are settling into school and all seem to be doing well in their classes. I am enjoying some quiet but still seem to stay busy helping at the school and shuttling kids to dance, piano, scouts, activity days, etc. in the evenings.

Spring Chaos

What is it about the month of May that just makes life a little insane. There are so many school activities and field trips going on that either Brett or myself are at the school everyday it seems like. Plus extra dance rehearsals and soccer games in the evenings.

We had a fun time with Jill and her kids last weekend at Lagoon for a clogging competition. Kyleigh and Mom came up too. This past week I spent 2 days in Provo for the PTA convention, and Brett got the lucky job of taking the girls to have their dance pictures done and sit through the first group rehearsal. He did a great job being Mr. Mom for 2 days. Brett also got to spend one on one time with each of the 3 older kids at a Dads brown bag luncheon at the school. We are lucky that his schedule is flexible enough to do that on 3 different days of the week. He also took Katie out to eat Friday while he was home so that she didn't feel left out.

Throughout the rest of this month I will be helping with 4th grade Melodrama rehearsals and wrapping things up with the STAR tutoring program. We also have preschool graduation this week and 4th grade Rendezvous next week. All the kids have also been doing their end of level testing so that also keeps everyone on their toes, and I think that their are several field trips coming up. Jeremy's class goes to the zoo, and Shawn's grade gets a pool party. I think the first week of summer we will have to spend recovering from the last month of school.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas and hope all of our friends and family did to. I even attempted Ice skating with the kids on Christmas Eve. I didn't fall down but I stayed pretty close to the wall. Katie also clung to the wall but the other three seemed to do okay. The kids had a great Christmas morning and are enjoying their toys and have had fun seeing cousins the past few days. They had fun trying out their new sleds yesterday with cousins on Granny hill, and can't wait to see the rest of the family tomorrow at an early New Year's Eve party.

Merry Christmas....and a Happy New Year!!