Soccer and Shakespeare

September was a busy month with kids and their activities. Connor, Ashlyn and Taylor all had soccer games each week, plus practices, which had Karl and I dividing and conquoring much of our Saturday. I have to admit however, that I adore soccer and can't get enough of watching my kids play!

Alyssa is in drama this year, and the kids performed acts from Shakespeare for the parents at a Renaissance dinner. It was a fun evening where we couldn't use utensils and enjoyed the talents of our kids. I was immediately taken back to 1987 when I was doing the same thing...in the same building...weird!!

Proud of my kids!

AAA Arsenal Soccer Team  Fall 2011

Alyssa had to kiss this guy in the play...ask me if I'm ok with that???? 

You'd think...

You'd think that since all my kiddos are in school full time now and since I'm a "stay at home mommy" that...
1.  My house would be clean..
2.  Oh..not just clean, but deep-cleaned, top to bottom!!
3.  I had time to exercise everyday!
4.  I had finished at least one book this month.
5.  Yummy nutritious dinners were ready to go each night.
6.  My goal of weekly temple attendance was realized..aagh!
7.  and I had updated this blog way more often...

Au Contraire! I am more behind than ever!  WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?

 I need serious help!! 

Oh, and it's my birthday...:)

guess I'll start fresh again next week!

20 Years and 2 months...and counting!

I remember when I was newly married and someone in my ward asked me how long I had been married, I think I said something like,

"oh we've been married for a while, I think it's been about a year and a half..." 

The person smiled, and laughed,

"yeah, that's a pretty long time!" 

 I didn't understand why it wasn't considered a long time, we had friends that had only been married for 3 months or so, and we felt like experts compared to them...

HOWEVER,

 now that 20 years have passed, I do feel like I've learned a thing or two!!  It's been a wonderful journey and I look forward to the next 20..!    :)

We were married on June 28th, 1991, in the Salt Lake Temple.  Two young kids, stepping out into the world together, so happy!  Such a great time!

Not so young, but still making it in the world, together!  20 years is a big deal, and we wanted to celebrate in style, so we started to plan a trip.  Should we go to Europe?  How about a cruise?  We'd been to Hawaii...love to go again...but then we started thinking, well, Alyssa needs a car, and we have a few things left on the basement to finish...our practical personalities took over so we decided to go to Midway, UT and enjoy a few days in this quaint Swiss town.  We had so much fun bee-bopping around on Karl's Vespa scooter and just eating in fun little restaurants, and basically just relaxing. 

It was perfect for us!!  

So blessed to be married to Karl!!

Camps and Camping

This summer has been full of

camps and camping. 

 

Parker had his week long Deacon's camp in July, and happened to be at Scofield when another scout (not in our ward) was hit and killed by lightening. Needless to say, I was exceptionally anxious to get my boy home.

Alyssa headed off to Girls Camp at Heber Valley Young Women camp. 

Best camp yet, according to her!! 

Connor and Parker have 1 1/2 months together as Deacons before Parker moves on to the Teacher's quorum, so they were excited to go on a campout together.

Our Cousin Avery spent a week with us.  We took her to Payson Lakes, and played, played, played!

The boys had a blast jumping off the dock...

At first I was a little nervous sending two 8yr. olds out in the keyak on their own, but they proved to be great rowing machines out there!

Connor turned 12yrs. old on Aug. 10th, so we invited two friends to come up and spend the day with us at Payson Lakes.  We love Kobe and Chase!

After a day in the water, the kids started to get a little cold and tired, so Alyssa decided to play a game with them.  They thought it was great that a cool teenager would sit down and play with them.  :)

Of course a campout wouldn't be complete without...S'MORES!

The sweetest picture!  My dad and Parker share a love of fishing.  They got up early and headed down to the lake...were they successful?  Wait and see...

My parents brought up a yummy chocolate cake for Connor. Yummy!

What's that you ask???  

Yup, they were successful! 

We all enjoyed a couple bites of trout!  Soooo good!

Time together always breeds creativity..sometimes this is a good thing, other times...not so much.  This time however it was hilarious!  The kids tied all their boats together and then made my mom pull them along in the keyak...

Payson Lakes...Such a fun tradition!

Never-ending Projects!

I married a man that HAS to always have a project going, or he gets antsy. 

Pros:  stuff gets done around my house, he never leaves things undone, and I know that all I have to do is post something on my "honey-do" list and it's as good as done. 

 Con's:  He gets a little (lot) obsessed until the project is completed, and looses sleep, thinking of ways to do it better. 

Take a look at this summer's project.  It started as a little covering for our sandpile, and turned into a beautiful, way too nice for a sandpile, pavillion.

Crazy guy!  It's a wonder he made it without injury!

Karl always pulls in our kids to help.  They have learned everything from how to measure accurately with a measuring tape, to using power tools.

Karl's 82 yr. old dad frequently helps us with projects.  He and Karl are 2 of a kind!!

Beautiful isn't it?? 

Karl created this in his head, and somehow made it a reality, without any construction plans or professional help. Now I get to find some nice patio furniture and make it a perfect reading nook for me!!

Running the HALF!

Wow.  Have you ever done anything really hard??  I mean, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HARD?  This summer my friends and I decided to take on a Half Marathon.  Several times we asked ourselves..."What are we thinking? Have we truly lost it this time?"  But then we'd push on, and continue to train, secretely hoping the day of the race would never come, but of course it did. 

July 30, 2011,

a day I'll never forget. Three of my friends ran this same half marathon on June 25th, and we cheered them on to victory.  We thought, "well, they didn't die, maybe we can do it too..."

Peer pressure is a terrible thing!! 

 No I didn't die, but I think I may have come close...that "light" we're told we walk towards when we die, seemed awfully close on mile 12...:)   Truly I had to dig deep for this, glad I did it, but am grateful it's over. 

The best part was turning the corner to the High School and seeing my family and friends all cheering us on.  My kids made this cute sign. Karl was an unbelievable support to me.  He'd text me after every long run while training, and ask how it went, always telling me how proud he is of me.  Definitely my biggest fan!!

This is a pic of my friends completing the Half in June.  We've all been running together for several years, but just a few miles a few days a week, nothing big until this summer.  I love these women, they are truly my sisters!

Our turn.  We may be wearing smiles, but really we just want to find the softest space of grass, and die. Would you believe we have 32 children between all of us?  Amazing moms!

The 4th Celebrations

Our summer is going super fast, how about for you?  We always look forward to lots of family fun at the 4th of July.  Here are some of our highlights:

We had our annual family sleepover at our house, and enjoyed a yummy breakfast.

We set up some games in our back yard, and we adults just watched and relaxed as the kids played.

We rented some huge slip n slides from a home near this park with big hills.  It was a total blast, until...Taylor's toe was ripped and we ended up at the Insta Care...never a dull moment!

Ashlyn saved up her money, literally all year, to pay for her ticket to the Stadium of Fire again this year.  It's kind of our Mom-daughter annual date night.  We liked Carrie Underwood better last year, but Brad Paisley and David Archuleta were awesome too.

Monday morning, my boys, Aaron and I ran in the Freedom run 10K.  It was super fun to run with my boys, I couldn't be prouder! 

The Provo parade is always tons of fun with cousins.  Aaron and his family are moving to Oregon this month, so this will be the last summer we're all together.

After the parade we enjoyed a KFC picnic at the park.  All my favorite people in one spot...so fun!!

I love, love, love these little girls! My home has replaced little ones with teenagers, and sometimes I just miss the sweet personalites of little babies and toddlers, so I get my fill in when I can!!