Well we had our first real day at Lagoon!! It was a blast! It was me, the kids, Gamma Kathy, Annie and Dakota. There would have been more but some people actually have to WORK during the summer! Yuck!
This is the kids before we even got started. They were very exited! I think the kids have quite a bit of my DNA when it comes to rides and such. They are pretty daring! Even little Brianne was pretty brave and went on some big coasters! I was very proud of her!
This is Will and Carter right after we got off the newest coaster at Lagoon called Wicked and let me just say that it is named perfectly!! It was pretty scary- nothing like anything I have ever done before! I should have got a picture, but it basically goes straight up and then straight down right at the beginning! So me and the boys braved it- we were the only ones!!
Here is Brianne on the only little kid ride she went on! She still loves the "puff" roller coaster! And she looks pretty cute sitting in that little car! But like I said before she has gone on all kinds of rides even ones that go upside down!! She went on her first "big coaster" and had her eyes shut for a bit but when it was all done said she wanted to go again! I LOVE to go on rides and could do it all day so I am looking forward to our next Lagoon adventure!!

The best parts of summer have always been in the pool! At least as far as I am concerned! I grew up in a pool in Arizona so I was glad when I had my first year (last summer in 07) with all the kids knowing how to swim pretty well! And for them it's not just the pool they love they have grown up at the lake too! Brianne is a little fish! She loves to swim and play in any kind of water!! Now we just have to get her to jump off the diving board!
Carter is defiantely a fish too! He spends hours in the water at the lake! He will come out long enough to eat and then he's right back in!! But he loves the pool too- he loves to dunk whoever is closest- even me and his Dad! And now that he is getting bigger and stronger it is becoming harder to keep our heads above the water! But he is also very talented at the "can opener" he got me VERY wet the other day doing that one!!
Here is Will at the pool showing me his best jump! He is getting better now at NOT holding his nose! For a while there he had to do that or he would not jump, but now he's great at it!

Will is my snorkle/goggle dude! He is always in need of some cool goggles or snorkle stuff. If I forget it at the pool he is disappointed! I swear he must have his Dad's scuba jeans! He will probably be diving in the ocean someday! But for now he loves the water too and plays hard! But he DOES NOT love it when his brother dunks him! But once he calms himself down he's right back at it swimming harder than ever!

Every Mom knows that trying to get their kids to do homework can be a chore, but after trying several ways to get my kids into practicing their spelling words I think this was the favorite! Shaving cream on the counter that they could write their words in!! And hey sugar in a pan works too and also dry erase markers on the sliding glass door! Hey- you do what you gotta do!!! But this was just too funny to NOT get a photo- especially since carter, my 6th grader at the time, was doing it too! A bit messy but very fun!! Too bad I didn't start this idea sooner- this was taken the last few weeks of school. I'll try this one again next year!! :>)


This was a funny moment! After dinner one night Chan was up in the kitchen putting the food away and all of a sudden there was a lot of laughing going on and a lot of "me too" comments floating around and the next thing I know all the kids are running around in their foil hats that Dad made them! There is nothing greater than Dad being silly with the kids! Too bad Will's sorta fell off in the photo- it was a truly hilarious moment! Way to go Dad!! Getting them to bed after was even funner- NOT!!

YAY!!! Finally summer is in full swing! The kids and their cousin Dakota have been playing hard and having fun! So far the only things going on are Carter is doing a football explosion camp- which basically means they run them hard and work them out! Will is doing his last day of scout camp today and is having a blast! Brianne has been playing with friends and doing lots of errands with Mom- which she is not a big fan of! But we have also been working hard on Dakota's house! His mom (Annie) and him are moving onto a home just blocks away from us and we have been working hard to get it ready. Hopefully they will be in by the weekend! WOO HOO!! There's only 4 weeks to go till we leave for South Carolina to spend a week playing on the beach with all the cousins and Grandma and Grandpa! We can't wait!! But until then the kids have diving lessons that start in about a week, so we'll still be playing around here!! Hope your enjoying your summer too!! :)

I think some of the families fondest memories can be remembered in the kitchen! Just a few that we share at our house: snacks are there waiting for my kids after school, Chan makes family recipes like Mema's parker house rolls, that's where our birthday surprises can be found, Saturday morning breakfasts, doing homework, playing with play dough, drawing pictures, having holiday parties, painting projects, helping Dad cook dinner, helping Mom put away dishes and many more! It seems the whole house revolves around what takes place there and my favorite memory is waiting for my kids to come home from school and having our little after school "chats" about what happened in their day. There is nothing better!! So thank heavens for a plenty big kitchen and a wonderful husband who can cook beautiful meals for us to share in there! Here's to many more memories to come!!

Chan and I have been pretty lucky to make some pretty amazing friends and several we have had for many years and Tam is one of them! Not only do WE love her and think of her as family our kids DO TOO!! She is such a blast to be around and we love to go and visit her! This is a recent visit in March hanging out and playing with the kids! We miss you Tam and can't wait to see you soon!!

Well there was a big event for Carter recently- he was ordained to the office of a Deacon! Hard to believe that we have a child that age, but he was very exited and we had a few people travel pretty far to be there in support! This is a photo of all the "guys" that were able to make it! All of them in the photo (except little Will - who is still up and coming) have the priesthood! From right they are James, my Dad, Chan, Will, Carter and Swen. My Mom and Dad came all the way from Illinois to be there and Swen and his family all the way from Nevada- so thanks again to you all for your support! Carter is doing a great job is his new duties, and yes don't worry he DOES have a white shirt!! :)

Will is going to have an exiting week this week! He has a couple of days at Cub Scout Day Camp this week! He is very exited! Unfortunately we were on vacation last year when our troop went so he had to miss, so he is very exited to go this year! He has earned his Bobcat and Wolf badges already and now is working on his Bear! He loves it and boy doesn't he look good in uniform!!

So we were able to see our little cheerleader perform recently at her recital and she did a fabulous job! She has such high energy that being a cheerleader suits her well! She LOVES it and we hope that she will continue and only get better! She's got some great moves!! GO STARS!!

Okay so here is why we as a family need a larger vehicle!! we can all fit in our subaru for our road trips, but it gets very interesting only a few minutes into the trip. All I can say is thank heaven's for i-pods, DVD players, PSP's, Nintendo DS and so on!! Thank you, thank you thank you!!!

Okay so this will be a long one! I have finally added some new pics to the site and wanted to fill you in on what they are all about!



The boys started to take a Breakin' dance class last November with a couple of their friends and they have had a blast but their dance team has also done really well! They competed with other teams recently at Lagoon and their team took the first place award! We're so proud!! Actually we are- they are pretty good!!



Chan also has picked up a new hobby of gas powered RC cars. If anyone has been to our house recently I KNOW you have seen them! It started with one in January and now he is up to five but swears that there are no more on the way! His new favorite is not in the photo but is called the Baja and could fit a full size barbie in it if it had a seat! ( I keep teasing him that I am going to strap one on! ) He has made some new friends down at "the shop" and is having a blast driving them around. I just hope the neighbors don't mind all the noise! :)



Brianne graduated Kindergarten recently and we are very proud of her! She is so smart and is very ready for 1st grade! She sang lots of songs in her schools program and still loves to learn!



We went to St George in march this year and had a blast staying with Tammy. we went to the arts festival, did some Easter egg hunting and decorating, but mostly just hung out with Tam and her dog "kids" that my kids LOVE! We love going there because it has such fun memories and plus it's just nice to escape to somewhere warm!! Hopefully we can go there again soon! Let's just hope that we have a larger car by then because road trips are getting interesting with all of us in our subaru!!

The pictures of the kids are pretty recent ones so you can see what they are lookin' like! They are all doing great and growing fast!

So I am still learning and trying to figure out all this blog stuff, but hope you are enjoying seeing the family and hearing all that we are doing! More to come soon!!

I'm working on it...

I know it does not look like I am doing anything on here, but a lot is going on behind the scenes! I am going through my photo files and getting them organized so I can use them on my blog! I am exited to share with you the things that me and my family are doing. There's some great things to come so hang in there and be patient with me!!

No way - not me!!

Okay there is NO way I am actually doing this! I am not a computer geek and have never wanted to do something like this, but after looking at several friends blogs I was suckered in! I do want to share our happenings with friends and family, so here goes! Whether or not I will be good at it remains to be seen, but I'll give it a go! I hope you all enjoy the few things I start with and hopefully it will get better with time!! Love to you all!!