Lake Powell, Vegas getaway and more!

Since Chan and I are both working this summer our time off was very limited (as was our budget) so a big summer vacation was out of the question. But thankfully Chan's parents offered to take our kiddos to Lake Powell for 5 days right before the boys began mandatory conditioning for football. Boating at Lake Powell is one of their absolute FAVORITE things and I can't say I blame them! It's beautiful there, peaceful, and super fun! They swam, watched some crazy summer rainstorms, did night swimming with glow sticks, had a dance party on the swim deck and ate some yummy food. They came home with sun kissed skin and big smiles on their faces! They left on a Wed (Pioneer Day actually) and I had that day off work. So right after they left I went to town cleaning my house! I went through the basement like a housekeeping tornado and even cleaned the carpets! Then I went upstairs and continued on until the house was smelling and looking good!  I even did every stitch of laundry and had it put away! It was an awesome feeling and the best part was that I KNEW it would stay clean for at least 4 days because the kids were away! SWEET! I went back to work with Chan the following day and then Friday we decided to have our own getaway before the kids came home. So we jumped in the car and went to Vegas for the weekend. We stayed at the Aria, which was amazing, and we didn't really do a whole lot other than hang out in our room! We just wanted some down time together and that's EXACTLY what we got! We did venture out and walked the strip, saw the fountains at Bellagio (again), walked the stores in Ceaser's Palace, ate at Planet Hollywood, walked part of Crystals mall at the cosmopolitan, and my favorite was sipping Chai tea and eating the best cinnamon roll EVER at the Aria pool. It was heaven. It was just the perfect little getaway and it's funny how the minute we get in the car to go on our little "trips" we turn into the silly kids we were when we met! We have so much fun together and I am SO grateful for a husband who sees the importance of spending time alone. He's the BEST! Now back to reality (darn it) and working again!

 I also managed to find the time to do a garage sale! I've been looking at some of my "stuff" lately and saying to myself, "How long have I had that?" I am discovering that I am sick of a lot of those things and decided to try and sell them to anyone who will fork over money for it! HAHAHA! So I spent 2 days going through closets (ONE whole day was practically spent in Brianne's room) and making piles of things to sell. I was SHOCKED at the amount of "Stuff" I had accumulated! Most of which had not seen light of day in YEARS! So off I went to the dollar store for stickers and poster board and away we went! This past Saturday I got up early and went out to face the people! Our home is in the PERFECT spot for a garage sale! I put up 6 signs (which really was a lot- I probably could have done 4) and I was BUSY!!! I was done by 1:30 and had sold practically everything! The best part you ask? I earned enough to buy school clothes for my kids! YAY!!! Can't beat that! And there was still a bit left over for me that I'm hoping to use to purchase a new bookshelf! Happy Day!

School time is almost here! So over the next three days I will be taking the kiddos to purchase a few items for school. I refuse to buy too much of anything, clothes or otherwise, because I only want to buy what they NEED. And inevitabley the teacher will send home lists of things THEY want them to have! So we'll get a few things and I enjoy that one on one time with them while we do it. I registered all of them last week and I am still in a bit of denial that I have TWO in high school and a middle schooler. YIKES! But it's going to be a SUPER fun year!

I wish I could have a vacation on a beach somewhere before it all starts, but after this week begins "Hell Week" for the boys (their 2 a day full pad practices before their official season begins) and then it's orientation for Will and Brianne and it all starts! Oh well, maybe we'll be able to get in ONE more day at the pool! **sigh**

Young Women update...

Well they finally called a new Young Women Presidency and I am thrilled to say that I am staying on as Secretary! YAY!! I was REALLY hoping that's what would happen! Brianne is THRILLED that I will still be in there when she goes into Young Women this fall and so am I! Woo hoo!

Youth Conference

This year since I am in the Young Women's Presidency I was able to join in going to Youth Conference! Both of my boys were scheduled to come but Will was unable to come at the last minute due to a summer school class :( which I was very bummed about! However, the Young Men leaders found an amazing opportunity to go down south to Snow College who puts on programs specifically designed for youth. It's called "Snow Fun" and boy was it ever FUN! We left VERY early on a Tuesday morning so we could go down and do baptisms for the dead at the Manti Temple before going to check in at the college. It was a rare opportunity given that the pageant is going on! Anyway, we made it down for an early session and it was wonderful! I was able to go in and help and I was able to watch all of these youth come in one after another to participate. It was amazing! I have to admit I teared up and not just because my kid was one of them. I have truly grown to love each of our youth in our Ward! After that we had a good 2 hours before we were to check in at our dorms so we went for a bit of a guided tour by our own Sister Lara Ross! It was awesome! Her family is from Spring City which is right near there, so she gave us a tour of the cemetery where Orson Hyde is buried and then over to the actual "spring" that the city is named after. It was fun and the kids got a kick out of all of it. Then we were off to the campus to get checked in. We had some time to play games on campus before heading over to our rooms. The dorms we got to stay in here AMAZING! They were practically brand new and accommodated about 6 people per room. I got to stay in one dorm with my fellow YW Leaders.That first night we were able to go and see the Mormon Miracle Pageant. I had not seen it before but it was wonderful! It's very well done and the message is beautiful. Over the next few days we walked all over campus doing anything from water activities to devotionals and all of it was fun! One of the days we even went up the canyon to do a ropes course! I was so impressed with a lot of our girls and their strength! I have to say that my favorite parts were "where's Kelly" and the last night's testimony meeting. Where's Kelly became a bit of a motto for our group! It was a joke that Carter started down there- he would just randomly yell out "where's Kelly" when we were out and about! And in a very obnoxious voice to boot! Sometimes people even thought it was for real and would ask if we had lost someone! It was hilarious! And at our final testimony meeting it was amazing and the kids all bore sweet testimonies that will forever be in my heart. Our Bishop was the last to speak and in the middle of his words he slid over a white board and behind it it said "Don't tell Crismon but Kelli was here" he seriously brought the house down! We were all laughing and taking pictures of the white board. It was a time I will never forget! I'm so grateful I'm able to work with the people I do! I am sad to say though that our YW President is moving and will be released next week. That means I may no longer be in YW :( The thought makes me sad! I was hoping to be able to stay at least until Brianne came in this fall. Fingers crossed! I am teaching the combined lesson for the YW tomorrow and it's the last Sunday we'll be together as a Presidency. It was a difficult lesson to plan for. I said a lot of prayers asking for guidance and I feel I got it! I know whoever is called for the future we'll be great, but I will sorely miss my time here if I'm let go! What a blessing it's been to my life! I love the youth!! :)

Working....again!

I know it wasn't long ago that I wrote LONG post about how time is precious and that me working outside the home just wasn't going to happen. Well, unfortunately that has changed. Our circumstances required I get a part time job to help with family expenses, but this time I was going to at least try and find something different than the school route. I am SO glad I did! My good friend Kelly put in a good word for me and got me an interview with the place she was working. She had a job-sharing position and the person she was doing it with was leaving so they would need to hire someone new! I went in for the interview and was hired immediately! I don't know what Kelly said to them, but it must have been good! Anyway, I started the second week of May and am enjoying it. I'm not going to say it's easy because working has it's challenges, but I enjoy the job a lot! It's a company called "All-Search" and they do searches on people for title companies etc and are also registered agents for other companies. We stay busy accepting summons, garnishments etc from process servers all day as well as doing searches, answering phones/emails etc. It's something TOTALLY different from what I HAD been doing for a job! It's interesting to learn these new things and I feel I'm learning pretty fast. I am already doing things the previous person never learned to do and she was there for over a year! The best part is that it's a VERY small office and it's family run and they are VERY accommodating to family matters etc, which is awesome! And since Kelly and I are good friends we just work out our schedule amongst ourselves! It's great! I suppose if I HAVE to work, this was a perfect spot for me to land. Honestly I think it was heaven sent! 

Milestones...

The school year finally came to a close! Whew! It was a whirlwind year for me! It really went FAST! But as this year comes to a close it was an end of a big era...... We are now officially done with Elementary School. It is something Brianne and I have been talking about A LOT so we knew it was coming and we both seemed to be handling it beautifully! But this past Friday was her 5th grade Celebration and we got up early and I helped her get ready and put on a cute outfit and did her hair and off we went! We went to Starbucks first for some yummy frappes to celebrate and then we were off to school for the festivities! The Principal made a few comments (since it was his last year there too because he is also moving on), then the teachers began reading the names of the kids to come up and get their certificates :) It was fun and I yelled REALLY loud (of course) for her when she was called. I am truly so proud of her! She is a fabulous student! They also fed the kids a small breakfast and showed a slide show of some of the events throughout the year and then we were free to take photos and give hugs! So I grabbed my camera to get some shots of her and her friends and her teacher. When I walked up to her I could see tears were welling up in her eyes. As soon as I could I grabbed her and held her in my arms and she cried, which of course made ME cry too! It was hard to see her so emotional! Her teacher was crying too and as I took a look around we weren't the only ones! I just told her that today was about enjoying her last day and getting her friends to sign her autograph book and feeling proud of her accomplishments. It was a tough day! I was glad that she went home with a friend after school and had planned a sleepover with 2 friends to celebrate the start of summer! It helped her feel a bit better! She is still a bit sad, realizing that she's done with that school, but in a way I am happy too. The fact that she is so emotional leaving there tells me that her experience at that school has been nothing but stellar! She LOVES that school and I can only hope that her next experience will be the same! On to middle she goes!!!

Will had a bit of a celebration as well! This year he will be leaving middle school! It was a short 2 years there for him, 7th and 8th grade, but with the changes he will now be onto high school as a freshman. They had a small program for them with a comedian and gave them an ice cream sandwich, but that was it! And for him there were NO tears! He came home on Thursday after school and proudly exclaimed, "Mom, I am a high schooler!!" He is SO excited! He has been preparing to play Sophomore football and all! I think the reality of how BIG his new school is won't hit him until I take him to do his final registration, then he will be nervous! Hahaha!

Carter has turned the corner as well and has finished his Junior year. He is VERY excited about his upcoming senior year! He and his friends have already been talking about their futures and the fall football season. They are ready to BRING IT and to enjoy this last bit of time they have together! I also kicked him out the door today to go and apply for jobs! He went to a couple places, and hopefully by the end of the week he'll have employment! We've let it slide thus far for multiple reasons, but at this point he NEEDS to get a job and not just to have a little money in his pocket! I want him to gain some more experience before he heads out into the world! Wish him luck!

On to all sorts of new things in our family! We can do it!!! (I just keep telling myself that!)

Brianne's balling!

I was so proud of Brianne for deciding to play softball again this year! It was a tough decision to make given the other girls were older, but she chose to do it and I am SO glad! I learned recently that most of the girls are in 8th grade!! The same as Will!! She is in 5th and is holding her own! Watching her play is so fun and she has really improved! Her throwing skills are WAY better and she is GREAT at catching now! She will go out in the front yard and play catch with one of us (she really likes to do it with Carter because he throws fast) or she will throw up fly balls to herself! The other thing that has improved is her knowledge of the game itself! I have actually caught her watching women's college softball on TV sometimes! I haven't convinced her to stick with it into high school yet but I hope I can because it would be a shame to lose the skill she's gained! This sport fits her personality! She enjoys the camaraderie with the other girls and getting dirty out on the field! I love listening to her play by play of the game in the truck on the way home and I love watching her out on the field- it truly makes me happy!

A big week for Carter

Carter's week last week started off with an election! He decided he wanted to run for the Senior Class Vice President! I was excited at the thought and was eager to help him in any way I could. We got the packet of paperwork and got to it! We filled out all the required forms, got the teacher recommendations out, wrote his platform etc etc etc! We even made posters with HUGE pictures of him and some of his friends. He did a great job and the Primary election was this past Tuesday and unfortunately he didn't make it through. He was VERY bummed, but I was proud of him for giving it a try! It's not something I would have thought he would go for, so the effort alone was awesome!

That same week on Thursday was the Weber Power lifting meet! He has been looking forward to this since last year! This year there were about 7 or 8 high schools that participated and the boys are placed in weight classes (carter is heavy weight) and they have to do three different lifts. In Carter's weight class they started with the Squat, then did the clean and ended with the bench. We all came to cheer him on as well as Chan's parents and his Grandparents. It was fun to have a little cheering section for Carter! It was tough to tell what was going on because there were boys everywhere! Thankfully there was enough of us that we got some close up pictures and video and a few of us stayed up in the stands. I knew that Carter would do well, in fact earlier that week I ran into his football coach and he was even thinking Carter could win it! But we weren't prepared for the MONSTER from Granger to show up! He was HUGE and was the guy who took first place in his weight class. Carter was second to him most of the night but slipped to third right at the end :( The kid who took second from him is a Kruger (who's boys have ALL played college ball at the University of Utah and have gone on to the NFL) and he only beat him by about 25 lbs. But he took third overall and we couldn't be prouder! His lifts were the following: Squat 505lbs, Clean 225lbs and Bench 345lbs! And he did all that while losing 30lbs over the last 2 months! I would say that the boys who beat him had easily 50 pounds on Carter and a head taller! He really had a fun time and loves to lift! He still has one more chance for a win next spring but I would say that taking first in his high school and 3rd in the state is nothing to be sad about! I am super proud of him! Way to go Carter!