Break a leg!

Over the summer Brianne was a part of a theater camp in our neighborhood. A Mom and daughter in our Ward/neighborhood were running it and they chose this hour long play that did have a couple small musical numbers in it. So all summer she went to camp and learned her lines and lyrics all in preparation for the big performance!
The best part about it was that all of her really good friends were doing it too! Pictured here from left is Ashley, McKayla, Brianne, Hennessey and Madison.
She had a really good time learning her parts as a villager and carrot!
I personally think this is totally her gig! I can see her doing musicals and plays a lot in her future! She was really quite good! (not that I am biased at all!)
This is the name of the village in the play and is also the name of the play itself! I will admit it took some practice before I could say it! It was really funny and all the kids did a great job! Way to go Brianne I can't wait to see what you do next! :)

First day of school 2011!

Well it's a milestone year here in our house! Three kids at three different schools and it will be this way for 2 years! Yikes! But it's so fun to see the kids growing up and moving on to their new ventures! Brianne is in 4th grade this year and landed an awesome teacher- Mrs. Davis. She is really enjoying it already!

We HAD to get this school bag! Brianne is a MAJOR "Gleek"! And it is a VERY cute bag anyway! I mean seriously tapes like that aren't even really around anymore! Anyway, she also is wearing her favorite color- bright green! Chan and I got her this shirt on our little trip to Vegas along with the clip to match! She looked adorable! She's sure growing up! She is looking more and more like a little lady!

Will had a big day being it was his first day as a 7th grader at the middle school! He was nervous but I think he was more excited than anything else. When we picked him up we brought him a nice cold coke and listened to him talk about his day. He was thrilled to see lots of friendly faces in his classes and a lot of them are former football teammates!

We got this shirt for him a bit ago for school and it's kind of an inside joke. When we took our vacation to St George we were playing catch phrase and it was Brianne's turn and she saw the word she had to describe and said "Will has a lot of this" and Will's response was "Swagger!" We all laughed so hard and a day later we found this shirt and HAD to buy it! And the double bonus is that it's in his favorite colors!

Carter had an extra special first day because it was also his first day of early morning seminary! (That's why it's still a bit dark in the photo.) He didn't have to take early morning, but because he is a football player he has to take power lifting every semester. Because of that if we added another hour of released time it would make it more difficult for him to get in all the required courses he would need. So his counselor recommended early morning so that he could have a lighter load as a Senior- which we agreed with! And so far he's enjoying it! He is my early riser anyway, so I think it's a good fit!

I was the most anxious to talk to Carter after his first day. Being that it's high school, and also a HUGE building, I was worried about how his day would go. When he got in the car I was thrilled to see a SMILE and he was so excited to tell me about his classes and who was in them and to tell me he had FUN! I was so glad! We did have to change one class on his schedule, guitar- because it just required too much of him right now, but aside from that it's been awesome! His first football game is today too and we can't wait to see him play! Another quick thing- he kept requesting for me to go and purchase these Nike shirts that have "cool" sayings on them. I looked everywhere for quite a while and could never find any like the ones he was talking about! When we were in Vegas we went to a mall and there was a sports store that had them and so I got him a couple- this one was my favorite because it matched the new shoes he got! He was looking pretty cute on his first day!

I am so proud of ALL my kiddos! Chan and I are enjoying every minute and we can't wait to see how they do this year!

Our weekend away

This past weekend we were able to do a small getaway to Las Vegas. I somehow managed to land a free 2 nights stay at the Riviera Hotel and Casino! So I made sure to text our friends Swen and Kristi (pictured above) to let them know we were coming and to see if we could get together! And lucky for us we were able to meet them for dinner and then hit a fun 80's concert that they found!
The concert was at the Mandalay Bay beach and they had all these one hit wonder type 80's bands there from Flock of Seagulls, Berlin, When in Rome to Animotion! It was a blast! Here's Swen holding up his lighter! Hee hee! And don't feel bad if NONE of them sound familiar, because they weren't really to Chan and I either, but Swen had sent us titles of their one hit and when we heard one or two of their songs then we were like "OH THAT SONG!" You'll have to try it! It's funny!
We had so much fun visiting with them and listening to the music, but I have to say my favorite part was seeing the people who came to this concert! I am sad to admit that a lot of the guys there had some balding going on! Yikes! I guess that means we are getting old!
Then the next day and evening Chan and I went to see a movie and ate out and did a little shopping. This photo was in the M&M store on the strip. This character was DANCING! We were laughing pretty hard so I stopped to get a photo! He stopped just long enough for Chan to get it! He wasn't as nice to another lady... he just kept dancing away!
Then we walked out of that store and ran into MORE characters! There are ALL types of these people there to do a photo op with on the sidewalk. On this night we saw Spongebob and Patrick, Iron man, batman, Spiderman and Bumblebee! But we decided that Will would enjoy this photo with Master Chief from the Halo game! It was too funny!
Aren't self portraits grand! This one was taken after our yummy meal at Diablo's right on the strip. It's a great Mexican place if your ever there! It's right across from the Coke store!
I got this YUMMY strawberry daiquiri (virgin of course) because I was so HOT that night I knew I needed something to REALLY cool me down! This hit just the right spot!
We had such a great time in Vegas! We have so much fun together when we are able to get away that it's just like when we first met! I wish we could do it more often, but this trip was the perfect timing because we came right home to school starting up. Hard to believe our summer is over but I am excited about all that is coming up. Thanks for the FABULOUS time babe and I love you!

PS- I have to say a quick thank you to Tammy for watching Will and Brianne while we were having fun, and also to Dena Merrill and her family for watching Carter. We were truly able to relax knowing our kids were being cared for by the BEST people! Love you guys!!

Class of 2014

Last week I took Carter to register for HIGH SCHOOL! I have gone through all the other milestones..... kindergarten, 1st grade, middle school but this one was definitely the BIGGEST deal! Since it was a first time for us both we went through the process together and it was fun to see Carter saying hello to friends and "being in his own element". I am sure that was tough for him to do being with his Mom and all! But through each step on his punch card we talked about the things to come, the people, the new school, being scared and excited and getting a good picture! We had fun together and when we left that day we were both feeling better about high school! The hardest thing we encountered that day was opening his locker! That was REALLY difficult! But thanks to some friendly help from some other kids and their parents we finally got it! One of the surprising things is that the school gave all the kids T Shirts that had the school name on the front and class of 2014 on the back. I thought that was pretty cool! I am so proud of Carter and sooooo excited for him to start this experience. It's the start of a time in his life he'll never forget! So here's to the class of 2014! woo hoo!

It's Midget time!

Well this year Will is 12 and so in the football little league world here that means he is an Alta Midget! As it is every year there was a week long tryout..... this week is pure torture for me! I get anxious and can't sleep, I even find myself leaning or pulling faces watching Will do the drills etc (much like you do when playing a video game)! When Friday finally comes I am generally relieved that it's over! But then the draft begins...
Then early Saturday morning all the boys meet at the practice field and the teams are called out. We live in an area with a lot of kids so this process is tough and competitive! There were 8 teams filled (at least 18 kids on each) and a lot of talented boys. Will is still big enough that he has to play on the line, but there were definitely some bigger boys this year that I KNEW the coaches would want, so we were anxious to see where he would end up.
We were lucky enough to get a call from the big guy in this photo on the Friday night before the teams were announced. Does he look familiar from posts a long while ago? He should because he was Carter's coach from his midget year! He called us late Friday night very excited that he was able to get Will! YAY!!! RELIEF!! His name is Coach Curtis Hill and he is AMAZING! By far the best coach Carter had in little league (well except for his Dad of course- hee hee). I think this picture above proves it- he ran the boys through some agility drills and then told the boys they were going to have a doughnut eating contest! FUN! He is big on uniting the team and things like this can do that.
It was fun to watch them all get their faces into their doughnuts! And Will was THRILLED to be playing for Curtis- it is who he wanted soooo badly!
I love football season- and I know you all who read my blog know that already- but I think this is going to be the best season in the Crismon family yet! I can't wait to share all the football madness with you all! GO HAWKS!!