Blue jeans and pink pretties

A most amazing lady

2012-01-22T13:16:00.000-08:00

On December 22, on her 95 birthday at 11:42 pm my sweet grandma Evelyn Frances Simpson Bennett passed away after a major stroke that left her in a coma for 9 days. She was definitely one of the most influential people in my life. She was a pioneer, joining the church when she was 30 and converting her husband, sons, sisters and many neighbors and friends. She had a testimony that was unshakeable, she was feisty, she was funny, she was compassionate and she was smart. I will miss her dearly, with all of my heart.

She had a very soft spot in her heart for Jon and he was honored to be one of the pallbearers, with my brothers and cousins.

My other sweet grandma Dyer came, she is not well either. She can't walk so Josh and Jared and Uncle Bob carried her into the graveside service.

This breaks my heart. Grandma was planning on coming in April to meet Eisley. She obviously never did and never will meet her here on this earth. She talked to her a few weeks before she died and gave her a sweet bear that I will always treasure. but I wish, oh how I wish, she could met her. She was so excited about the whole adoption and loved to talk to me about it. I know she will look down on us though, and because of her Eisley will be raised in a home where she will be taught about the gospel.

The whole Bennett posterity.

It was a beautiful, sunshiny day in January. There were even bees around the flowers and it was 55 degrees. Amazing for the middle of winter!

I took a rose from her casket and keep it in my journal with my other grandpa's roses from their caskets.

My siblings and I

Mom and Dad. Dad was and is an amazing son. He took such good care of Grandma and loved her, adored her. He will miss her so much.

Kristin, Me and Carol. When we were little, we were the very best of friends and cousins. Love these girls.

The Bennett's!

I thought her flowers were beautiful. She loved peach and purple and yellow. I love the Canadian flag, her heritage was very important to her and will continue to be for all of us.

My kids!

A beautiful person, inside and out.

My grandma and my dad.

When Jon had his camaro we took her for a drive, like I said, she was super, super feisty and fun, she wanted to go really fast and when she got in the car, she said "I feel like a rich bitch!!!!!" That always cracked me up, she wasn't ever afraid to speak her mind or say how she felt. She held her family together and was stubborn, funny, and so strongwilled and strong minded. I loved listening to her tell stories about her family, about the gospel, about my grandpa and her boys. I loved going to her house when I was a little girl, going to her cottage, and learning to cook candy cane cookies with her. I loved going to visit them on the train when I was a teenager, just me, and going shopping, to movies, swimming and watching baseball and hockey with them. I have so many many wonderful happy memories of her.

A few years ago I went up to visit grandma for a week all by myself. I took her to do all her errands, we bought a new couch and loveseat, we got her some shoes and we went to eat and shopped a lot. We went on rides around Winnipeg and I cleaned out her bathroom, some cupboards, her fridge and some of her old papers. We talked for hours and hours and hours. I wrote down a lot of the stories she told me and I'm so glad I did. I will treasure them forever. I was honored to be able to help dress her for burial in her temple clothes. I loved that her shoes were a little frayed, a little dirty and a lot worn. I loved that she kept them pristinely white and pressed. I loved the last service I was able to render for her. I am eternally grateful for her. I love you grandma. I will miss you and I can't wait to see you again. Love, "BOO"!

Oh what fun it is to......

2012-01-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

Go to Disneyland at Christmastime!

Listen to Jenica sing at temple square and see the beautiful lights!!1

Dress up in pretty, fancy clothes!!!

Make an ASTOUNDING gingerbread house ha!ha!

Sit on Santa's lap for the first time.....well, she didn't think it was all that fun, but I have seven pictures of seven different cute baby Chisholm kids doing the EXACT same thing, couldn't leave her out!!!!

Eat a yummy Snowman pancake on Christmas Eve morning!! (But not so fun to have the tummy yuck flu that day!)

To go see the Festival of lights!!!

To have a little bundle of joy on her first Christmas with us!!!

To act out the most important story there is!

To get cute Grinch Christmas jammies and pillowcases!!!!!!

To go to church on Christmas Sunday, I can't think of a better place to be that day!

To get a first present!!!!!!

To open our special books that mom puts together of our year!!!

To get WOOD for Christmas!!! To build the coolest fort EVER!!!

To be loved enough to get great gifts!!!!

Hug a wonderful grandma!!!!

To get one of her two front teeth for Christmas!!!!

To get an angel ornament to remind you always of an angel great grandma who will always be watching over you!

To get ribbons put in your hair for the last time for two years before you serve a mission, these next two years will be some of the most memorable of your life!

Have a family ugly sweater party and laugh hysterically at white elephant gifts.... (felines and hot men anyone?)

To have a visit from another "special" visitor!

Oh what fun this year has been........we have so much to be thankful for. Seven beautiful, healthy children. A good marriage. A good career. A beautiful home. Parents who are healthy and supportive. Wonderful siblings. Our testimonies. Safety and peace in our community. Good friends. We have so much to look forward to. We celebrated Chinese New Year on New Years Eve this year, it seemed fitting since so much of our lives have encompassed China this year. We are so grateful for all that we have, we hope to be able to give back to so many more and to share all of our blessings. Happy 2012. What a fun, productive year this last one has been!

Birthday twins....or not!

2011-12-21T22:35:00.000-08:00

I have often been asked if these two are twins, but they are not! They have two very distinct birth stories and two whole years and a few hours between them! It is hard to believe they are 13 and 11! Here are some of my favorite things about each one of them.

Brennan: He is a huge, HUGE tease! Sometimes to his own detriment! He gets what he deserves at times! He is funny, smart and very quick witted. He is kind and grateful and sensitive. He is such fantastic kid, a great friend and brother, so glad he is a teenager now, he will be a great one!!!! Love you buddy!

Tyler: He is just always happy. He whistles all the time, sings all the time and just enjoys life. He works hard and feels things passionately. He is a great brother, good friend and tries really hard in school and in everything he does. He is and always has been a little fighter, and we love him so much !!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my two twins, who aren't twins.... boys....I love you so much!!!!!!!

Eisely's firsts!!!

2011-11-27T22:43:00.000-08:00

First candy cane.....oh what a mess she made!!!

First Christmas tree ornament!

First Thanksgiving dinner!

First Nativity scene, first learning about Christmas!

First of quite a few naps in the high chair, since she's a little stinker and won't take naps in her bed!!!

First movie at the theater, we went to see Jack and Jill for Gracie's birthday, she was mesmorized for about.......15 seconds

First of MANY basketball games!

First grandma and grandpa moments!

First time loving a dolly!

First time re-organizing all of the drawers and cupboards in the house! (Mom's hairspray and soap cupboard is a favorite!)

First church dress!

First SNOW!!!!!

First family picture!

First hug from a very excited, happy daddy!

First time on American soil!!!

These are just a few of many, many firsts for Eisley Jayne! She is adjusting so well, we are exhausted, happy, getting used to each other and loving her SO much! What a blessing to have her!

Birthday Gracie!

2011-11-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our sweet Gracie is SIX!! She is such a sweetie and we love her! We love her cute little toothless smile, her happy little face and her fun loving personality! We are so happy she came to us and are so thankful she is part of our family! Happy Birthday Gracie Ruth!!!!!!!

Goodbye China!!!

2011-11-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

We spent our last day in China getting Eisley's visa to come into the United States, finalizing paperwork and doing a little shopping, playing and packing. It was a beautiful day and I can't believe our time here is done. I am dreading the 29 hours that will start tomorrow morning at 5:00 am, but I am excited to go home and see Jon and the kids, I have missed them so much and am looking forward to some normalcy, even though it will be a new normal! I am feeling a little inadequate because 2 weeks isn't long enough to learn enough to teach my daughter about her homeland. I feel as though I have barely scratched the surface. But I do know this, parents love their children here. They take good care of them, they love babies and they are good to their families. The Chinese people are soft spoken, they are quiet and they are happy for the most part, that I can tell. They honor traditions, they are fiercely loyal to their country and each other. The amount of people here is really baffling, these cities are huge, the high rise apartments and skyscrapers never seem to end, the pollution is bad and everyone smokes, but even right in downtown there are little gardens and trees and parks. There are street sweepers whose only job is to keep the streets and sidewalks clean. The shopping centers are intimidating and huge. The restaurants are so different than back at home. The waiters and waitresses hover over you the entire meal, they don't bring the check till you ask for it, you eat off of very small plates and have to ask for utensils and napkins. The meat is in very very small pieces with tiny bones in it., and there are lots and lots of very very unique menu items. Whole duck, goose legs and feet, jellyfish and abelone, pork ankles and feet, squid, snails, hairy crab, every fish, sea cucumbers, star fruit, dragon fruit and lots and lots and lots of others. People do their best to speak English, which is pretty amazing because we sure can't speak Chinese, some of their translations of things are pretty funny, but they try their best! They are very meticulous about money and count each bill and make sure it is in good condition and read all the tracking numbers on each bill. They are crazy drivers, literally crazy. They are not a wealthy people, even though the country is very very wealthy, the actual citizens as a whole seem pretty poor. The apartments are small, everything is small. The garbage is taken away by a small cart driven by a man on a bike. People put all sorts of things on carts behind bikes, huge boxes, crates, food, children, it's quite interesting to see. The country side is beautiful and also very clean, with huge mountains and lots of trees and in this area (Guangzhou) it is almost like a rainforest in some areas. There is lots of culture, zoo's, aquariums, parks, theaters, places to eat. We didn't see any schools, and I wish we had, we did see lots of kids playing a little hacky sack game and some basketball. We can't drink the water or eat the food that has been washed in it, so we have been boiling water for Eisley's bottle and drinking lots of bottled water, and using it to brush our teeth. They sprayed for fleas on the flight coming from America, which we thought was very interesting. I think they think we are dirty, but they are very nice to us and I think have misconceptions of what we are doing. Today while we were shopping we had lots of store owners give Eisley little gifts, and they kept saying thank you (xien xien) to me, I feel like it should be me saying thank you, it is a privilege to be able to raise her in a place that she will be free and happy. I did so much research and reading before I came, I tried to think of the history of China and why it is the way it is, I tried to understand why people do the things they do here, live the way they live, believe the way they do. I think it's interesting how much they believe in traditions like rubbing a Buddha's belly or a snakes head or wearing jade or giving jade away or eating certain foods or being born in a certain year or wearing a certain color, all these things they believe will give good luck. They are a people who need faith, who need hope, who need a knowledge of something more. I can't help them all, I will help one. And she will help her children, and their children and their children. In some small way, I hope to make a difference. What an amazing and overwhelming opportunity!
There are so many things I want to teach her, so many things I hope I never forget, so many things I have yet to learn. Now she is coming home. Hopefully someday she'll be able to come back. Maybe her spirit will remember and feel welcome here. I have felt welcome here, I feel like these people are in a small way part of my family and ancestory now too. I will honor that heritage, I will teach Eisley to be proud of her Chinese background, I will always remember her little flower bed where my sweet little Yin Lan was found in Zhengzhou, I will never forget. I will make sure she never forgets. Goodbye China, thank you for your priceless gift. I can never repay you, but I will honor you forever.

Trick or Treating in China !!!

2011-10-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

Today was my favorite holiday, Halloween. I miss my kids and all our traditions at home today and I'm hoping they all have a very happy day and take lots of pictures!!! Halloween Apples!!!!!!!!!!! The biggest treat for the day was when we went to the US Consulate and got to take the oath on behalf of all the adopted kids to become US citizens! The oath just basically says that all the paper work we've done is all correct to the best of our ability and that we are ready to be American citizens. It was pretty anti-climactic and I expected a little bigger of a deal, especially with all the paperwork I've done to get to this final point, the folder they went through and checked is just huge, but even though it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought, it was still exciting. I am excited that she will be an American citizen with so many freedoms and a good life with so many opportunities. I hope to be able to teach her about her Chinese heritage and to be proud of it, but also to be able to teach her to be very thankful for her American and Canadian heritage. Hopefully she won't be too confused!!!!! What a lucky girl!!!!!!! We also took group pictures in the babies Chinese outfits, poor Eisley has gotten to the point of not wanting her picture taken at all, and turns her head immediately when she sees a camera, I guess she'll have to get used to it, because she's so cute, I'll want to document all her little milestones for years to come!!! Of course no Halloween would be complete without TRICK OR TREATING!!! We went around to all the people in our group's doors and everyone passed out treats! I tried to fashion some sort of jack-o-lantern out of a newspaper and put a black garbage bag on my head for a witches hat Some of the kids dressed up and some didn't, a little family of Chinese kids came and joined us and they seemed to think it was a great idea! Our guide, Kathy, had a great time with it too and went trick or treating with us and was like a little kid! It was so cute! We went down to the lobby and lots of people were laughing and enjoying the kids. At the buffet for dinner there were cool, very unique jack-o-lanterns and cute eye ball cookies and ghost covered carrot cakes, I had creamy pumpkin soup for dinner too, so I guess there was some Halloween celebration!!!!!! Little does Eisley realize the craziness that is Halloween at home, I'm glad we spent her first one in China with a lot of fun people and in a fun place! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Tender Mercies

2011-10-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

We were able to go to church today here in Communist China. I was so happy to get the information for where church was from my cousin Stephen (yet another tender mercy that just fell into place!) and it was actually really easy to get there! When we asked our guide to help us she asked what church it was, we told her it was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and she said; the Mormon's?????? And then she shook my shoulders and kind of shook me and said over and over "no Mormon's here, no Mormon's" it was kind of funny, because I just kept saying, "it's ok, it's ok, just call this number and they'll explain it to you!" Finally, she called the Branch President and he talked to her and explained everything, then he asked to talk to me and the first thing he said was "you can't bring her with you if she's a Chinese National" and he said it could be really bad for the church if we attempted that. I told him we wouldn't and that we'd come by ourselves and then he was happy to give directions and tell her where to send us. I knew the government had very strict rules concerning religion, but I don't think I realized how secret it actually is until we went to the building where the branch meets. It is on the seventh floor of an apartment building in two suites. The hall was very very dark and until we could hear music coming from a door that was closed, we had no idea where it was. When we heard the hymn "Guide Us Oh Thou Great Jehovah" we all felt so happy and at peace. We walked in and sat down on some lawn chairs that were set up with a makeshift podium at the front and two deacons and two priests sitting at a small table for the sacrament. I know the talks were important, I heard what they were about, being disciples of Christ, Faith and Staking your life on the principles of the Gospel, but honestly, I was just so happy to know that the church is the same wherever you go. The Spirit was strong in that little high rise meeting house, a sweet family of 7 sang a beautiful primary song that made me cry. It made me feel at home, it made me feel at peace and most of all it helped me to realize once again that Heavenly Father has guided me through every single process of this journey. In one of the blessings Jon gave me before coming on this trip, he said I needed to find the song that would speak peace to me, that I could listen to and it would bring me comfort and would help me when things were overwhelming and hard. I have been very stressed about so many things these last few months, I have prayed harder than I have in a very long time about more than just this adoption, I have struggled to let go of things, to make sense of some things and to go on even when things were really tough and unknown for me. I thought I knew what song it was, but about a month before this trip I found another one that has been a great comfort to me and i will never ever hear it again without it reminding me that the Lord is always with us, even when we're afraid, unsure, sad or overwhelmed. The closing hymn just "happened" to be this song today at church. It was another "tender mercy" from Heavenly Father to me. I know His guiding hand is over us, I know He has a plan for me and for all of His children wherever they may be, whether it's in small town Utah, or Communist China, He knows it all and He is aware of our every need. I felt Him with me today, even for things as little as a special song being sung, or us being able to get three taxis without speaking a word of Chinese, without any problems at all, or clean laundry being washed and folded and smelling good in neat little bags waiting for us when we got back to the hotel, or us eating lots of strange food and not getting sick at all, or my children and husband happy and healthy at home, or a group of travel companions who are good people who help me to want to be a better person, amazing family members with me here in China and supporting me at home, and a sweet baby girl who already recognizes me as her mom, who was well taken care of in her previous home, who is tiny but healthy and happy. My life is full of tender mercies and I am so grateful.

2011-10-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Medical Exam and Shopping!

2011-10-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today Eisley had her medical exam that will allow her to come into the United States. When we arrived, it brought back very unhappy, unpleasant memories of my childhood of cold, antiseptic offices with lots of people in masks and white coats. Lots of crying children, alcohol scented rooms and yucky little exam cubicles, I really couldn't get out of there fast enough! The Dr or practitioner or whatever he was looked her over and checked her ears, throat, nose, heart etc. It was a quick but relatively painless exam but she hated it! I am sure she has been through numerous medical check ups and wasn't at all happy about having more of them! He said she seemed a little undernourished and was definitely small, only about 16 lbs. But other than that and her obvious cleft lip and palate, she seems very healthy! YAY!
We did a little shopping on Shamian Island at a place called Jordan's. The guy who runs it was so so cute, and obviously deals with lots of Americans and adopting families, he was very helpful in getting us a taxi, and wrapping all our stuff in the huge big suitcase we bought for all the things we want to bring back. We ate at a little American diner called Lucy's, which even had American Apple Pie, it tasted really good!
Right there on this Island is a beautiful garden called the Friendship Garden. it has lots of bronze statues and beautiful trees and flowers everywhere. It even has a little exercise park with a track and parallel bars and lots of outside exercise equipment. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking around. There also was a big Catholic church in the gardens, which was odd because we haven't seen any churches at al. The area was actually kind of settled by the British, so the buildings and the church all look like a street in England, it was really nice.
Tonight they are having a Halloween party in our hotel and they have it all decorated downstairs in the lobby. When you first walk in the doors, there is a big huge table where there is usually a nice flower centerpiece, well tonight they had a large jar filled with live eels, another jar filled with big black beetles (hundreds of them) and two big bowls full of big black frogs. I thought it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! It made me miss my Halloween stuff and my party I would normally be having tonight! We will do a little trick or treating in the hotel with our group though, and she will be dressed up, after all, she is my daughter, and I will teach her the importance of having a blast on Halloween!!!!
It's been a great day for Eisley. She is really coming out of her shell, and acting like a teeny tiny perfectly normal 18 month old, she has a little attitude, she is stubborn, she knows what she wants and will fuss until she gets it! She likes to walk, not be in a stroller, and she likes to be held the second she wants it, and throws a fit if everything is not on her terms. She likes to sing, but doesn't talk, and mostly hums little tunes, it is so cute! She sticks her tongue out and points to you if she's happy or recognizes you. It's amazing how in such a short time she has me and her aunties literally wrapped around her little finger, she's a little monkey, and a very very sweet one!!!!!

Leaving Zhengzhou

2011-10-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

We left Eisley's birth city today. I hope I will be able to remember some of the sights, sounds and smells of her city. It really is a huge place, very very busy, with lots and lots of high rise apartment buildings, stores, industrial type buildings and literally millions of people. It was very very clean for the most part, with nice trees and gardens planted along the roads. The people in general in China are not really polite or happy, they seem hurried and it seems like the attitude is "survival of the fittest", they have no concept of "waiting their turn" or "washing hands " or "using toilet paper" or "staring very very boldly". Even though I find that to be very disturbing, all the people at the hotel, all our guides, all the people I observe with children are very very nice. My favorite part of her city was going to the place she was abandoned, Gaoxin village. it was real, it was very raw, it was so NOT touristy and so "every day life". I hope I never forget the smell of the water, the smell of the haze and smoke, the taste of the dumplings and noodles and pumpkin soup and especially the yummy homemade vegetable and pork purses the orphanage director gave us after we visited her orphanage. I hope I never forget the crazy busy streets with the motorcycles driving in every direction, and the bicycles with their huge boxes and bags and stacks of things piled up on the back of them. I know I will forget some of these things, but I will never forget the most important thing, my daughter was born here, she has heritage and history here, she has a story that began here, and I will be able to tell her about it someday, and let her know she comes from a beautiful place!
We arrived in Guangzhou tonight to begin all the American paperwork to come home. We will be here for 5 days. We are in a gorgeous Marriott hotel with a McDonalds right across the street. I am not normally a McDonald's fan, but I'll tell you what, the Big Mac I had for dinner was delicious! The whole flying things was a little bit of a circus with all the bags, all the babies, all the carts and carriers and paperwork. We are exhausted and ready for bed, I am not really looking forward to the medical exam tomorrow, I have a feeling Eisley won't be too thrilled either, but hopefully we can find some really fun things here, I've heard there's a great squeeky shoe store, that may be dangerous, considering my tendency to over do it when it comes to shoes….oh well, we only get to come to China once right???

Sweet dreams from Guangzhou!!!!!!

Another Beautiful Chinese Day!!!

2011-10-27T09:37:00.001-07:00

We got up early today and headed out on a bus to go see the Shaolin Temple which is where the martial art of Kung Fu was founded. I wanted to see as much of Eisley's home province and country as possible, so I'm glad we went. We travelled for about 2 hours to get there and a lot of it was in the city. I can't believe how huge this city is, it just keeps going and going and going. Finally we got out of it and started getting into the mountain regions. They are beautiful. The mountains are huge and there are lots of trees and when the haze from the city cleared a little it was a beautiful day! We stopped for a little squatty potty break, which is one the best things about China, truly !!! HAHAHAHA! Then we arrived at the temple where 8000 boys practice Kung Fu daily. It was really hard to understand our guide because he had a lisp and a very very thick accent but from what I learned the boys leave home and come live at this huge school. They run for two hours every single day and then practice. They are formed in groups where they can move up and then one person is chosen to be the best out of the group. He then can get a really great job as a bodyguard or some other high ranking security type job. It costs their parents lots of money to send them here and they also learn basic schooling and I assume some sort of Buddist religion since there are monks all over the place. We walked a lot and up lots of stairs. We saw lots of big Buddhas and learned that Chinese Buddhas are chubbier and smiling with their arms folded, the other Buddha that is normally seen is an Indian Buddha which is skinnier and has it's eyes closed and hands together in meditation. We also learned that Buddhism is all about balance, peace and serenity and this really was a peaceful place. There were lots of people, pushing and shoving, which we have come to realize is very very normal. I had quite a few Chinese ladies come up and try to cover Eisley's legs and kind of shake their heads at me like I was doing something wrong and I just kept saying "it's ok, it's ok" they are very particular about bundling their babies and usually the poor things are sweating so bad, they must be so hot!!! I even had a monk come up and try to get me to put her down because he thought she obviously shouldn't be with me but then our guard explained why all the American's were here with Chinese babies and then he said "oh, very very good!" I really liked the temples and little pagoda's and statues all over, and the gardens were beautiful. There are big statues all over and incense burning at every entrance to the next phase of the temple. It is surrounded by such gorgeous scenery and it was a nice little oasis from the very busy city life we've been around the last few days. We got to see a Kung Fu Show which was fun to watch. They really are very talented and very very strong, it is obvious this is not an art that is taken lightly here.

Eisley was very good for most of it, her little personality is showing up more and more. She does not like to sit, she wants to stand and be held, when she doesn't get her way, she throws her head back and kicks her little legs as hard as she can so it's pretty hard to hold her. For being as tiny as she is, she is very strong and stubborn! She should fit right in! She is a great little eater and is very friendly and happy and waves to everyone! She uses some sign language which I'm sure she learned at the Healing Home, she says more, hungry and a few other signs that we can't figure out. She doesn't vocally say anything at all, except maybe mama and lala, she tries to sing when someone is singing and dances a little, it is so cute when she does that! I am anxious to see what the Dr says about her cleft palate and lip, I think her lip looks great. She has about 10 teeth, it's hard to tell for sure, and the roof of her mouth is completely wide open. She can't suck a bottle very well, but if I sit her up a bit, she seems to do ok. She is so sweet and so beautiful, I am just so grateful for this opportunity. On the way home from the temple today everyone in our group was singing and talking. We had such a great time, I am with some really amazing people. All of us are so different, but I am blown away by the goodness, kindness and Christlike qualities these people have. I have loved getting to know them and learning their stories and meeting their children. I feel like there is a reason we were all put in this group together and I am so happy to have gotten to know them! I am also so very very grateful for Loreen and Becky. They are troupers, carrying around bags, taking a billion pictures, supporting me in all my craziness and helping me a ton. You would think three grown, very experienced mothers would be able to get it all together and take care of one very small toddler, but we work as a team to give her her bottles, dress her, bathe her, feed her and help each other. I wish I could have them at my house when I get home to help me because they have been lifesavers to me on this trip. We gave Eisley a bath last night (which she really really hates) and we were trying to help her to calm down so we decided to give her a "spa" treatment and I held her with her head over the bath in her towel all wrapped up while they washed her hair and massaged her head. it was hilarious because Eisley was just in heaven. I won't be able to do the spa treatment at home alone ha ha ha! And they help me when I lose my phone and every other new mom scatterbrained thing I'm doing. I will have to get it together when I get home, but for now, I'm very grateful to have them be my brains and my packhorses! They are wonderful and I love them and their sweet families for letting them come with me and sacrificing their busy lives to help me on this incredible journey! I miss my family and home, but I'm so happy to experience all that I'm experiencing-what a wonderful opportunity this is!!!!

Orphanage and Eisley's Flower Bed

2011-10-26T04:57:00.000-07:00

We got to go to the orphanage where Eisley was brought to when she was first born today. It is called the Children's Welfare Institute ofZhengzhou. There are 700 or so children here. We didn't see very many at all, but we did get to see where her bedroom was, meet her nannies, see where she played and also saw some other children. We gave the teacher some little file folders that Jenica and her friends made at church. She seemed really appreciative of them and seemed genuinely happy to have been given something other than clothing or blankets. It seemed nice, it was clean, bright and the kids seemed happy. There were usually about 3-4 rows of cribs or beds per room, each one had matching blankets and pillows and the toys were neatly put away. The walls had been painted in children's scenes and bright colors and there are lots and lots of nannies. Part of the orphanage is for younger children and part is for older, almost all of them have special needs. We gave one boy a package of pop rocks and he didn't quite know what to do with them! There is an arts and crafts room, a cartoon room, a play room, a kitchen, an sandplay room and a learning center. There is a nice playground out front and they said the kids can only go out on sunny days! Honestly, I expected it to be really chaotic and busy, but it wasn't. It seemed peaceful and well organized. I asked lots of questions and learned that Eisley was really only there for about a month before they sent her to the Shanghai home and then came back only a few weeks ago. I asked if all her little toys and blankets that we sent went here or if they sent it to Shanghai and they said they sent it there. I was glad for that, and hope they can use that stuff there. We left some treats and some glow sticks and the file folders with them. Eisley didn't want to go to any of the nannies, even thought they were all nice to her. She seemed nervous that I might leave her there. I just held her the whole time and she was fine. I asked her one nanny where she slept and they showed me her room but she said Eisley wouldn't go to just one crib and that she was too smart and that she would pick and choose which crib she wanted to sleep in! That made me laugh, she does seem to be way, way smart!!!! I am glad we went, I am glad we experienced it, and I'm glad she wasn't there very much, I think she was a little bit traumatized by the whole thing.

Next we went to the tiny little courtyard village where she was abandoned. The driver of our van had a hard time finding it, and had to ask directions often to get there. We drove for quite awhile. Lan (part of Eisley's Chinese name) means orchid because she was found in a flower bed. When we arrived at this little place I was pretty hesitant to even get out. It is in a pretty poor part of town, with dilapidated buildings, broken windows, bricks and things laying around, clothes hanging out of windows and on fences, old bikes laying around. The first thing I saw was a huge vegetable garden right out front, there were shoes and clothes on the stick fence surrounding it, and off to the side were a happy kids playing in the street. As we started walking into the lane or street, I noticed along the road were lots of little gardens, surrounded by these little stick fences. Only one had flowers in it, bright red roses. Others had grass and trees and vegetables, but I only saw one with flowers. I don't know if this is where she was, I will never know which one of these little beds held my baby girl for a little while before someone found her, but I know it didn't take long because as we were walking along we were getting more and more surrounded by curious villagers wondering why we were there. There were young kids, older people, teenagers, and people about our age. They all were talking to our guide Rita about why we were there and what we were doing. We gave the kids glow sticks and they were scared to death of us, but when they saw we had treats, most of them came up to us. I couldn't help but wonder if one of them knew Eisley's birth mom, or if one of them was her grandma or brother. I will never know, she will never know, but at least she can say she was there. I can tell her how I felt there. I felt safe, I knew the people there loved their kids, they seemed happy, poor, but happy. I am so grateful I was able to visit there, it is a place that will always hold special meaning to me. I am happy to have seen another piece of history from her life!!!!

ZhengZhou China

2011-10-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying our stay here in Zhengzhou. Eisley's birthplace is the capital city of Henan province in the People's Republic of China. I'd be lying if I said it was very very very far from home and not at all what we are accustomed to! We are honestly trying to just eat one noodle at a time, one meal at a time, every single meal. I would like a nice cheeseburger that was actually made of certified BEEF!!!!!!!!!!! I am not truly sure what the meat is made of here, but I am pretty much 100% postitive it is not beef! We have had pizza twice and it's ok, but man, a Papa John's pizza sounds good too! We can't drink the water, so no ice and so no cold water. We also can't eat fresh vegetables or fruit. We bought some bananas today because they are peelable, oh they are yummy! We have seen lots of chicken feet, lots of fruit we don't know, lots of fish on skewers and in soups, lots of unidentifiable things and lots of tea. Everything is served on teeny tiny plates and you have to ask for utensils and your check when you are through. The money all has chairman Mao on it and pictures of other things on the other side. The 100 RMB (or Yuen) is red, the 50 is blue, the 20 is green, the 5 is whitish and the 1 is also whitish green. There are little dollars and they are for 50 cents or something, I still don't understand it completely but to get the exchange right we take our dollar and times it by 6.4 to equal theirs. So $5 American is 32 RMB or Yuen. This makes for a LOT of bills when we exchange it and is hard to keep track of but also kind of fun. No-one accepts American money and it seems not a lot of places except credit cards. The traffic is insane, bikes and motorcycles drive all over the sidewalks, they're not allowed on the street except to cross it, so they are everywhere and parked all over the side streets. There are lots of cars and they honk and get very impatient at pedestrians. We are quite a spectacle and people stare at us all the time. They take pictures of us openly and will even come up in our pictures and want to be in them. They are especially amazed at my sister in law, Becky, they've never ever seen anyone so tall, white and blonde and they just stare at her! She is being a good sport about it though and it's been kind of funny to watch! It is a very big, clean city, with lots of trees and high rise apartment buildings. We got to drive around quite a bit today and saw little streets and alley ways, a school, lots of shops and lots of big tall industrial type buildings. Tomorrow we get to go see the orphanage where Eisley was for at least some of her life, I am anxious to see that and hope to see more of the city and maybe the famous Yangtze River that runs through the city at one point. We are taking lots and lots of pictures so she will always know where she was born and that it is a really nice place, with lots of people, lots of children and sunshine!

We completed all the final paperwork for her adoption today. As far as China is concerned, Eisley Jane Lan Chisholm is legally and lawfully ours! YAHOO!!! Next we got to Guangzhou and do more paperwork, visa and consulate appointments and medical stuff for theUSA and then we can bring her home!

Gotcha Day!!!

2011-10-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm writing this with my sweet Eisley sleeping in a crib 2 feet away from me! SHE IS GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went to the registration office this morning at 9:30 am. I couldn't eat, I was an emotional basketcase all morning. No matter how much I prayed, sang songs or tried to calm myself down, I just couldn't do it, my stomach was so tied up in knots. When we arrived at the office, 2 of our group's children were already there. One of the family's daughters (Zoey) was pretty upset, she is so cute. We have gotten to be pretty good friends with her parents, older sister, and grandparents, they are all wonderful. Poor little thing was pretty hysterical for awhile. The other little guy, Vinny, was happy as could be playing with his mom and dad and older brother and sister. We all watched how the two were adjusting and how the parents were adjusting and I was still prepared for the worst case scenario, especially after seeing two very very different reactions to the whole process. We waited for quite awhile while Eisley and another little friend were brought from their orphanage. Finally a white van pulled up and two little brown heads appeared with their escorts. I knew my baby immediately, she looked exactly like her picture, except she had a whole lot more hair. She had three huge ponytails on her head and still has bangs in the front. She is very, very tiny, and looks more like a 9 month old than an 18 month old. I was so SO excited to hold her and tried to talk quietly to her because there was a lot of commotion going on with all the other babies and families in the room. I tried to tell her I was mama, and after just a few times she put her arms around me and hugged me. That was it……all the anxiety, worry, tension and downright doubt, left. I knew her little spirit knew mine and that everything was going to be ok. I, of course, along with her wonderful aunties, were a complete bawling, crying mess at this point and I think she thought we were all crazy. She didn't cry once. She was so happy. She smiled, she ate lots and lots of gerber puffs and wouldn't let me go. We signed papers, took pictures and gave some gifts to the orphanage people. We asked some questions and got a few answers but mostly we just laughed and cried and tried to take it all in. The orphanage gave us a bag with two special books, the cameras I sent and our photo album. In each book there are pictures of her with her nannies and caregivers. I was so excited and relieved to learn that she hasn't really been in an orphanage for very long at all, but instead at the Shanghai Healing Home of Love. This is a miracle, actually. I learned about this place through our friend Misty, who has told us that this place is where cleft palate and lip kids go before and after their surgeries and are cared for by some Chinese nannies, but mostly by American service Christian missionaries. These kids have been LOVED. They have a beautiful, new, clean building that really looks like a home, it is bright, it is happy, it is beautiful and it is safe. One of the books is a scrapbook from this home. From the looks of it, Eisley has been there almost her entire life. There are pictures of her when she was really little, up until now, playing with kids, playing with lots and LOTS of American teenagers, and adults, pictures of her outside and right after her surgeries and lots of her smiling, sweet little face. Her surgery was sponsored most likely by Smile Train, and the person who sponsored her gave her the name of Joy, so that is what they called her there. I am SO thrilled that I know some of her history and even more excited because I am going to be able to contact the American's who run this place, I can thank them personally, I can donate things there and I may even be able to talk to and thank the sweet people who paid for her surgery. What a tender mercy to know that not only has she been cared for and taken good care of and loved, but she isn't scared of me. She has seen people who look like me, she eats foods that I eat, she seems so well adjusted and so happy, I am SO grateful!

There are hardly words to describe how happy I feel. When I put her down for her nap and to bed tonight, I sang her two songs that I want her to remember and believe her whole life. I Am a Child of God and Walk Tall, you're a Daughter of God. These songs, to me, have everything in them I want my daughter and all my children to know. They are loved, they have parents who will guide them, teach them, help them, not just on earth but they have a Heavenly Father who has sent them here for a reason, they should stand tall, they need to be taught who they are, they are all of infinite worth. I wish I could tell every Chinese girl ever born from the beginning about this, that they are beautiful, worthwhile daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves them and they are not inferior, or worthless, but instead, queens and princesses who deserve and demand respect, love and tenderness. I can't teach that to every Chinese girl, I can't thank my daughters sweet birth mother for giving her life, for sacrificing her own well being and possibly her whole families, I wish I could, I pray for her, I wish with all my heart I could wrap my arms around her and thank her for this priceless beautiful gift. I pray that somehow she will know that her baby girl is ok, that she will be well taken care of, that she will play in wide open green places with sisters and brothers who love her and I pray for her peace in knowing that her second mommy promises to do her best to love her enough for both her mommy's. I love this day. What a gift.

Eisley's Birth City, Zhengzhou

2011-10-23T16:56:00.001-07:00

Today we arrived in Eisley's birth city, Zhengzhou in the province of Henan in the Eastern part of China. It is a prettier city than Beijing as far as I can tell. There are lots of motorcycles that drive really crazy in all directions on the street, big buildings and lots of trees. We exchanged our money, which was quite a process because they truly look at every single bill and check it twice before exchanging it. I am glad we brought new bills! Every room in the hotel has a very convenient gas mask, which I'm sure will come in handy for ??????????? I also was able to eat the world's longest noodle tonight!!!! It seemed much safer than the first menu items we had in front of us for dinner, which consisted of raw gelatinous jelly type meat, what looked like full raw duckling soup (beak, eyes and all) and some sort of fried worm looking things, and talons of some sort from some sort of animal, oh and big huge pigs feet on a plate. We looked at it for a minute and then politely left, none of us could quite stomach that!!!! I was doing great emotionally, until about 3 minutes into the flight when I realized I'd lost my phone. Now, the phone is not a really important object here in China. I've used it to text a few times and call once, but still, it is a serious comfort to me and a link to home! I really kind of freaked out and was worried someone in Beijing was wandering around with my family pictures and all my contact information and calendar items and notes, and I really didn't like that thought at all. Becky had Jon turn off my service and about 2 minutes later we found it under the seat in front of us. Then I was an emotional wreck pretty much the rest of the day, I cried because we found the phone, I cried when I got the first view of my babies city, I cried when people mentioned anything spiritual about adoption and I cried when I thought of my babies at home and how as of tomorrow their lives and mine and Jon's will change, for the better, forever. I am keeping a journal while I'm here for Eisley to read when she gets a little older. It is in the form of a letter and I am telling her my thoughts and feelings of the things we are experiencing here. I hope someday she can come back and see her birth country, and learn first hand where she came from. It is an amazing place, it's own little world really.
We didn't get to go to church today but one of the families in our group is a Baptist Pastor. He gave us a little sermon tonight about how we are all adopted into Christ's family and how that relates to our own personal adoptions we will be experiencing tomorrow. It was very good, and I know this whole journey I've been on has been led by my Heavenly Father. Tomorrow I will hold her in my arms for the first time on this earth. I feel like it will be a reunion of sorts, I think we promised each other before we both came to this world that we'd find each other. I am hoping and praying that our spirits will recognize each other and that it will be a wonderful reunion!!! As with all the days my babies came into my life, I am nervous, I am scared for the unknown, my heart is pounding, my head is spinning and I just want it over and done with so I can hold my child and look into her eyes and tell them who they are and where they came from. There is such sweet relief to have the hard part "over" and while I know this new journey is just beginning, I am relieved that this part of it, is almost over. For twelve years I've dreamt of, planned for, thought about, prayed for, tried to imagine and then tried to accept, and it is now coming true tomorrow. Tomorrow I get my sweet third girl. Tomorrow I will be a mommy of 7 beautiful children. Tomorrow is a new beginning.

The Great Wall!!!

2011-10-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

Today we got to see the Great Wall of China. It was one of, if not the most, amazing thing I have ever seen in my entire life. It is a massively, huge wall, spanning over 5000 miles. It was built in 220 BC and took over 200 years to build. Over one third of the population of Beijing at the time died in the process of building it. Hundreds of soldiers died there as well. It really is a huge cemetary. These are just facts, but the reality is, there are no words to describe this amazing structure. I can't even comprehend the history and feeling that surrounds and really enshrouds this magnificent thing. It is absolutely incredible. I can't believe we actually stood on it, felt the mountain air, felt the steps that are literally eroded away into little scoops where thousands upon thousands of people have stepped, and mingled with hundreds of other people from all different nations and backgrounds. I just loved every single second of being there, even though it was misty and cloudy and hard to see, it kind of made it mysterious and even added to the history of it. I'm so happy that we got to go in the fall because the leaves and the mountainside surrounding the wall are all on fire with reds, oranges, yellows and greens. It was truly awe inspiring. At the end of our hike up (which lasted close to 2 hours) we went to a little outdoor shop where this cute little man was painting scrolls on rice paper and silk. He painted the great wall in different seasons and then wrote our name at the top. He loved Canada and had little Canadian flags around his little work station, when I pointed to the flag he said in very very broken English "C-A-N-A-D-A!!!!!!" and then started shaking my hand and bowing and smiling. I LOVED him!!!!!!! And I love the beautiful scroll that I will hang up in our house that will always remind me of this almost holy place!!!!
We also toured a jade factory and ate another traditional lunch, Honestly, the only way to describe the food is maybe a step lower than your average take out Chinese food. It's not as good as Panda Express, and absolutely NOTHING like PF Changs. It's ok, but I sure wouldn't want it on a regular basis!!!! I'm super glad we have some peanut M&M's because they are coming in very very handy!!
We tried to go see the Olympic Bird's nest and Water Cube from the 2008 Olympics, but really truly, the air quality is so incredibly bad here, we couldn't see it at all. The whole city is absolutely, completely saturated with polluted air. Nothing is clear, nothing is bright, everything is just grey. One of the men in our group summed it up really well, he said , " If I lived here, I think I'd just go ahead and smoke, the pollution is so bad" and it's really true. Everyone smokes, there's tones of cars and it's hard to get a deep breath.
The other interesting thing we experienced today was the infamous squatty potty. OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the things that go along with that are…..lovely puddles on the floor, no toilet paper, no soap and sometimes no warm water. Also. long lines of little women who care nothing about the order of the line and when they see a stall open up, they just go ahead and bolt for the door, not caring if you were in front of them. We got a little tired of that and finally kind of said "no,no,no, we were here first!" who knew Chinese women who have to pee could be so pushy!!! WOW!!!!!!
We got to see a Chinese acrobatic show tonight, which was amazing. Anyone who has seen Chinese acrobats knows what I'm talking about, it was really incredible the strength and agility of them.
China is a mysterious place to me. I feel like I've learned so much about it from all my preparations, and yet, I don't understand and can't fathom the history and customs that still are practiced today. There is a distinct smell, a lot of sounds that are so foreign and so difficult to listen to, different tastes, very different sights and incredibly different feelings here. I miss my family and wish they were here, I would love them to see all of this with me, but I'm so glad my sweet sister in laws are here, they are a lot of fun, good to travel with and very very supportive!!!!! I am loving the group we are with. They are all amazing people and I'm honored to meet them and get to know them and the stories of their new Chinese children. I can't believe the amazing gift this country is about to give me. I am humbled by it, I am awed by it. I hope I can give Eisely a very small taste of her culture and heritage and yet raise her to be a proud, happy, American girl. I feel like this could be a very daunting task because she is coming from somewhere so foreign to me, and yet, already very dear to my heart!

Hu Tong, Tiananman Square and Silk Factory

2011-10-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

At the Courtyard in Hu Tong

Today we went on a tour of Beijing. We started by going to see the old Hu Tong in the center of the city. A Hu Tong is an ancient way of living in China. The family lives in rooms facing into a small courtyard in the middle. The father always lives in the North room, the son lives on the East room, the servants on the south and the daughters on the west. All the Hu Tongs in the area share a common bathroom, there is no running water, no flushing toilets, and very primitive living arrangements. In order to get to this area we had to take a rickshaw, the streets are very very narrow, too narrow for a car. Because of this, the Hu Tong areas are very very peaceful and I felt very safe and focused there. The father of the house gave us a tour and he was so sweet and kind. I loved listening to him explain his way of life and how he has always lived. We then took our rickshaws over to another peaceful river that the Mongolian people found and thought it was an ocean because it was the only water they had seen in China. It was a beautiful river, at the edge of it is a restaurant that has been in China for over 300 years. There were also bars and shops surrounding it and a nice place to walk. It was so quiet except for a little Chinese lady singing into a little microphone on the side of the river. It was a really nice little accompaniment to our little walk along the river. We were then shuttled off to the silk making factory where we got to see how silk worms make silk. it is quite the process for them, and the quality of the silk is beautiful. We saw quilts made by pulling the threads kind of like a cobweb over and over again to make a thick, extremely soft quilt. It was really interesting to see how it is made.

We then went to lunch at a true Chinese restaurant where we got to eat chrysanthemum flower fish, spicy beans and other Chinese food which was pretty normal "American" chinese food like sweet and sour pork and sticky rice. The hardest thing about the food so far is that we can't drink the water or have ice in our drinks.
After lunch we went to Tiananmen Square, which was absolutely incredible. We saw where the communist dictator Chairman Mao is memorialized. He isn't buried,he is in a clear case and has been for over 30 years and every day thousands of people walk past his "tomb". It was really sobering to think of what he symbolizes to the Chinese people and how much of an effect he still has on many who live here in China now. Tiananmen square is the largest city square in the world with an area of 440,000 square meters. I can't imagine what took place here in the early 1980's when the students had their uprising and so many of them died. There is a very obvious presence of government officials and lots of "red guards" and cameras every where you look. It is constantly under very strict surveillance.
We then went to the Forbidden City. This ancient "temple" really consists of hundreds of buildings with over 8000 rooms inside all for the emperor, his wives and concubines. It took over 40 years to build and no-one was allowed in except the Emperor. He believed he was the true son of God and that God had 10,000 rooms in Heaven so he only built 9999 and a half, so he would be less than the Gods. I was really bothered by this because he lived in such obvious wealth and controlled everyone inside and outside of the palace, but he was untouchable within his walls. Most of the people outside were very poverty stricken and poor. It was considered a great honor to be a wife or concubine to the Emperor, I think I would rather have been a peasant! It was beautiful and overwhelming though, there were lots and lots of people. The funniest thing that happened here was when some Chinese women came running up to us and hopped into our picture, they really wanted a picture with Americans so for a few minutes we stood there while their husbands or boyfriends snapped a bunch of pictures of us!!!

We got to visit "Inside a Chinese Walmart" tonight. WOW! That was an experience! We saw a whole bunch of who knows what kind of meat!!! And a lots of packaged pig toes or something very odd and plenty of strange candy like "corn flavored gummy candy". It was quite the experience!
We had pizza tonight at a place called "Big Pizza" the pizza's were actually about 10 inches, I guess in China that's pretty big!!!!!

It's been a very fun day, an exhausting one! China is an amazing place! I am so in awe that I am really here, experiencing this place I've read and learned so much about over the past few years. It is fascinating to me. I am so honored and feel so grateful to be here, to be apart of my daughters heritage even for a few days. I can't wait to see her! Just a few more days!!!!!

On the rickshaw in Hu Tong

Our Group... great people!!!

A beautiful, peaceful river

The silk factory

Lunch!!

Tiananman Square

A monument to the people of China

Lantern symbolizing Peace

The entrance to the Forbidden City, Tiananman Square

Forbidden City

This tree is over 500 years old.

Walmart treats.

More Walmart yummies.

Ummmm.....not sure what these balls are

and I'm not really sure I want to know.

Arrived in China

2011-10-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Beijing! It was a very VERY long flight, but thankfully, uneventful! When we got to Beijing we met our guide, Cindy and she got us to our hotel. It is the Holiday Inn Express in downtown Beijing. It's very nice and actually very spacious compared to what I'd seen on other blogs and China sights. It is crazy smoggy. I can't believe how polluted the air is, almost like thick thick fog. No-one takes credit cards, and no-one takes American money or speaks English. We tried to go out to find some bottled water and tried to talk in some sort of sign language to show we wanted to buy water. We didn't get very far!!!! These are some pictures from right by our hotel and on the plane! Check out the McDonalds and seaweed coated peanuts! YUM!!! Talk to you tomorrow…..only 3 more days till I see my baby Eisley!!!!

Happy Birthday Jaemon!!

2011-10-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Our cute boy turned eight today! Can't believe it! Next week he'll be baptized! Eighth birthday's at our house always consist of scriptures, new suits or dresses and a very exciting week! He can't wait for it and is so looking forward to all of his family coming on his special day!

Jaemon is such a sweet little guy, some of the things we love about him are:

His very contagious laugh

His silly made-up songs and words (Insectivida, dead-end heart etc)

He is always grateful and helpful

Mom loves that he always makes his bed!

He is fun to watch in any sport or game because he gets MAJOR excited!

His huge blue eyes

His big heart and loving little spirit

We love this boy for everything he brings to our family! Happy happy birthday buddy!

Fun Summer!!!!!

2011-08-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

We've had a fun summer, it's gone by way to fast, here are some of the highlights!

The Santaquin days parade is always fun, the kids get to run for candy and the staff and Jon get to throw out toothbrushes! We go to the rodeo and the park, it's a fun tradition!!!

We played lots and lots of baseball! Brennan played catcher a lot this season, his team didn't do so hot, but he had fun!

Brennan also is sweating it out on the football field (he is number 4) I can't believe he's playing tackle football....scares his over protective mom to death!

Did I mention lots and LOTS of baseball! 3 boys playing on three different teams, and Tyler's team went to State! They lost but he still had a great season!
Fireworks for the 1st (Canada Day) the 4th, the 5th (Josh's bday) and the 24!
The kids had lemonade stands and made some actual spending money! YAY!!!
Visiting and helping Great Grandma Dyer was fun, we love her and we spent the day helping her move furniture and weeding!
CAMPING!!!!! And yes, in a TENT!!!!!!!
I made this quilt for Josh this summer, it was his graduation present, it is made of all his sport t-shirts and jerseys and some other fun shirts from over the years, the one in the top middle is from his very first t-ball team when he was 5!!!
And a little more baseball.........
Cherry Hill with the cousins was fun and shady and nice! There were also some days at Seven Peaks, but I hate Seven Peaks so therefore, no pictures! But the kids had fun!!!
Lagoon for the family reunion!!!
We set up the slide in our backyard and had lots of water fun with it and our pool!
SPLASH mountain at Disneyland is always a HUGE highlight!!!!!
We went to a dinner show in California called Midevil times, we watched real horses with knights and our red knight won the whole contest! It was really fun, but Jaemon, Brennan and Josh had allergies from the horses so bad, they had to leave part way through it! Horses and them do NOT get along. It was cool to watch the knights joust and "fight"like in olden times though!
For Jon's bday we went to Huntington Beach! It was so SO SO much fun! We buried him in the sand and he took a nice birthday nap while we played in the sun, sand and water!
We celebrated our 20 anniversary! WOW! We didn't do anything extravagant, but we had a great time together and I am so glad we are still in love after what seems like a long time! I still remember clearly that day and I've never regretted the decision I made to marry my best friend!
For Jen's 16 bday we went to Tuacahn to see the Little Mermaid! My good friend gave us a backstage tour and we got to meet a bunch of the actors and walk around on the stage! It was great. The only sad part was that the play got rained out after the first 15 minutes! Bummer! But still fun!!
We went boating and tubing with aunts and uncles who are cool enough to take us out on their boats!
And more baseball....Jaemon loved his first year and it was the best since Dad coached him!
One of our traditions is to go to the Discovery Park and Purple Turtle in Lindon. We go on one of our "Terrific Tuesdays" and we take a picture of the kids on the monkey bars. They are so big now and one was working, so he's not even in the picture, but I love it just the same! I love summer, it is hectic, harried and busy, but also fun, happy, sunshiny and easy going. I love having my kids home, I love having them with me. I miss them when they're gone and even though I'm ready for school to start, I will miss my babies when they are at school! It was a great summer guys!!!!!!

My Birthday kids!

2011-07-10T13:43:00.001-07:00

My two oldest babies have birthdays a week apart. Josh on the 5 and Jen on the 13 of July. Aren't they cute? I just love those cheeks!
I guess they're not really babies anymore, at least not in size! Josh is now 18! An adult! It blows my mind. I can't believe he's really that old. I am so happy he decided to come to our family. He's a great example to his younger siblings and us, he does the right thing consistently and tries so hard at all he does! I am not ready for him to grow up and leave home, however, I know that he will do just fine, I know he is well prepared to be a wonderful man and I hope he will forever know that he can ALWAYS come home!!!!! Happy 18th buddy, we love you!!!!
We had planned to do a big firework display with the newly legal "cool ariel" fireworks. But, it decided to thunder, lightning and rain so all his best buddies came over instead and we had strawberry shortcake (his favorite) and they played their zombie game and hung out all night! Good times. Love these guys, (and Hayley!) and love having them here so often, they're like brothers and they have a great time together. It's hard for me to believe they will all be going separate ways soon, I really hope they stay great friends forever.
We surprised Jen with a sweet sixteen party! It was SO fun! She was truly surprised and the look on her face was priceless! She is such a fun girl and also has great friends who helped me plan the party and made it a huge success! We watched a slideshow of her and gave her 16 presents of 16 things each that would help her in her life! I hope she'll always remember it!
We are so thankful for this "grown up" girl! She's happy, she has a very positive outlook on life and even when things get tough, which they have for her often this past year, she always looks on the bright side and is a better person for it. She is a sweet sister and is a beautiful girl inside and out. I believe the saying, that little baby girls can grown up to be their mother's best friend, because we have lots of great memories together and I love her with all my heart! Happy birthday to my very very sweet sixteen!

Senior Cruisin'

2011-06-23T06:58:00.000-07:00

We told the kids that we'd take them two at a time when the oldest one graduates on a fun trip! So this was the first of 3 fun trips with two of our kids at a time! We went on a Southern Caribbean cruise with them and some our really good friends, the Obrays, and their two cute big kids! We had a GREAT time!!!!
The party never stops on a cruise ship, and our kids got WAY into it doing the Electric slide, Wobble, the Macarana and numerous other dances. They had fun meeting new people, eating LOTS of yummy food (warm chocolate melting cake anyone?) and staying up late hanging with the funny cruise directors! (YEAH baby!)
One of my favorite things on the cruise are these cute little towel creatures left in our room each night with little mints......I think they're downright adorable!
One of two formal nights.....all dressed up in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!
On St Marteen we went on a "jeep" ride.....we were all excited thinking we'd be four wheelin' in the mountains. Well.....we pretty much stayed on a paved road and listened to a guy on a walkee talkee talk about casinos, the international airport and hotels. It was less than exciting...well until the 737 jet flew over us and about scared us all to death! It was a really beautiful island though, and we enjoyed seeing it!
The beach and water in all the islands was so beautiful and clear blue.
Hard to tell but all our initials in our family are etched in sand right under us here. We were thinking of all our kids and missed the four at home!

In St Kitts we took a Catamaran out to some fun snorkeling and a beautiful beach. Jenica also got attacked by tiny diaper wearing monkeys, whose owner wanted $10 for this picture....they want money for everything in these places, too bad we didn't have our wallets!!!!!!
In St Lucia we went zip lining in a rain forest! We had the most awesome guide named Kennedy. He talked non-stop for 4 hours about tv shows, singing songs, his family and eating habits, and told us lots about the rainforest and all its cool secrets. It was really really fun and the kids and us had so much fun zipping through the trees! (Don't know why I can't get this pic turned around, sorry you have to look at it side ways!)
On Barbados the kids had fun on "Great Big Mable" they were afraid the driver might kill them when they got going really fast, but it ended up way fun!
The boys lounging by the pool on the "Fun at sea day"
A really fun part of the cruise is the EATING, of course! And each night after dinner the wait staff does a dance around the dining room, the girls got up and danced and sang "My Girl" one of the nights, it was so cute! Our waiters Paul, and two we couldn't pronounce their names, were so cute and fun!
Our home away from home for a week!
In St Thomas we went Kayaking, hiking and snorkeling! We saw cool fish, sea urchins and pelicans. We also learned about poisonous flesh eating, blinding, killing plants that look really pretty and taste good. Not sure who documented that, since they should be blind and dead, but whatever! We also had a little hermit crab race on this island, it is full of them! It was lots of fun!
In San Juan we got poured on while we visited the forts (and saw where Pirates was filmed!) and went shopping but we had a great time!

What a great opportunity to see the beautiful Islands of the Caribbean! It was so fun, but the best part of all was to spend time with our cute oldest kids, who were so fun, so happy and really great company! We had a super great time with them and the Obrays, we love them and their kids! We will always have such fabulous memories of this trip! As our boys said many many times during this trip, (quoting Saturday night live....) "It's a beautiful thing though....yes, it's a beautiful thing!!!!!"

My graduates!!!!

2011-05-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

It's time to party!!!!!! WE'RE DONE!!!!

My oldest graduate.....my biggest boy! Graduated from Salem Hills with High Honors! Way to go Josh, we are so VERY VERY proud of you! We love you and know you will go far with the educational choices you are making. Before you know it, you'll be done with BYU and then Dental school! You have always had high hopes, goals and dreams. This is a huge step in accomplishing so many of them. Don't ever forget the amazing memories you have made these years. You will always and forever look back on them as some of the best years of your life. You lived them well, you made good choices, did good, hard and fun things and succeeded in so many ways!! We will miss going to see you play basketball and tennis at the school, we will miss your wonderful friends hanging out here, we will miss having to wake you up EVERY morning to get you out the door.....but please PLEASE don't leave too soon, we love you and are so proud and happy for you! Congratulations Josh!
Our cute cute middle boy Brennan, graduated from sixth grade and Elementary school this week! He too has wonderful grades, is a smarty pants and has wonderful memories of this great school! He has great friends and has so much fun with them, he will miss some of them as he goes on to middle school, but many of them will go with him! Good job Brennan, we are so proud of you too! You have so many exciting, wonderful, happy things to look forward too! Keep making good decisions, keep trying hard and keep smiling......we know you will go far!!!!
My preschool and high school graduates...both on the same day.......a little much for mama!!!!!
Good job baby Gracie! She had so much fun in preschool this year and learned to read, write and knows all her numbers! What a smart girl! She had fun with her best friend Chloe, and will miss her lots when they go to different schools next year for Kindergarten! I can't believe you're already going to Kindergarten! You will love it baby girl and will have so much fun meeting new friends, having a great teacher, and learning and growing all the time! We are proud of you too and know you will always try hard!!!! Good job Grace!!!!
My three cute graduates. This was a big week for them, for our family. We are so thrilled for all of them.....and of course the other three as well....we are very proud of them too, they just don't get the distinction of "graduating" yet!!! Happy Days! Dream Big, Soar High, Reach for the Stars......and always always remember WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of dancing!

2011-05-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

Jen and Gracie had their dance recital a week ago. It was a Disney theme, and it was SO cute! Jen danced to Lion King and Gracie was Tinkerbell. They did a GREAT job and we loved watching them!!!
Easter Sunday was a bit chilly and rainy, but we still had fun with our new baby chicks, having

a yummy dinner at Grandma's and finding our Easter baskets!
Josh had his Senior Prom........looking pretty dang sharp!
These guys are the best of friends (Trenton, Michael, Josh, Justin and Nick) they have really grown up together and are great kids. I am so thankful for their influence and example for Josh. They went to a fun restaurant and had a great night. Their dates looked absolutely gorgeous and they are all great girls too.
Josh and Haley have been going together all year. She looked so beautiful in her dress and him in his tux. I am proud of both of them, they have high standards and are good, good kids. I hope they continue to make good decisions and keep being the great kids they are now. They have a lot ahead of them. I am proud of my biggest boy for setting his sights on greatness and for pushing through even when things are hard. He's a good example for his siblings, they look up to and admire him, and I am grateful for him paving the path for them! He'll always remember this fun night, what a great time of his life!

Spring Break... Disney Style!!

2011-04-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland and SoCal for Spring Break! We love this place!!! Our tradition is to always go on Pirates first.....YoHo YoHo a Pirates life for me!!!!
We got Josh a "just graduated" button.....that freaked me out a bit, but I made him wear it ha!ha!
Even though I've been a million times, I still get really, really excited to see the Big Mouse himself!!!!!!!!!!!!
We went to the new World of Color twice, we absolutely love it! It's the coolest water, light show, makes me want to sit and watch all the Disney movies from when I was little, and all the newer ones too. It really is so fun!
We went to Laguna Beach for one of the days and had a blast playing in the waves, sand and just relaxing.

We love this trip, we do it often, and every time there are memories made. This time some of the favorites were:

The kids quoting Megamind and saying "Unfathomable...without Fathom" over and over and over.

Gracie telling me the Princesses were absolutely ADORABLE and that it was "worth the loooong wait to see them"

Jaemon saying that Indiana Jones (or just Inny, as he calls it) "just makes his day"

The new Electronic "Tron" show and watching the kids dance to the cool DJ's in California Adventures

Jaemon watching his ice cube melt at dinner and saying when it finally melted "the whole world will come apart" (it was hilarious)

Waiting in lines and laughing

People watching and laughing

Playing fun games in the car and laughing

We love family vacations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April Fools Day!!!

2011-04-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

For breakfast we had Spaghetti and meatballs, peas and carrots, corn on the cob and mashed potatoes. Oh, and delicious fruit punch.
Everyone read their chores for the day. They weren't hard, just cleaning the cows and chickens with windex, and bleaching the cow corral, eating 2 lbs of brussels sprouts and raw fish, organizing their closets according to moms favorite candy bar, cleaning each blade of grass (only the back yard) with a Q tip, ironing their socks, taking apart all the electronic devices and cleaning out their innards with lysol, cleaning out the sandbox with a spoon and writing "April Fools Day" 15,ooo times in their best handwriting.
Hmmmm, enjoying their "fruit punch" (it was actually jello)!
Loving those "corn on the cobs" for breakfast!!!!!!
The funniest face was Tyler, who read the chores and then said ,"Really? I have to do all that before school? But the bus comes in just a few minutes, can I do them later?" and Gracie who went to the drawer and got out her Cinderella spoon to head out to start cleaning out the sand box.

Happy April Fools Day............... FUNNY!!!!!

A pretty girl and a HOT date

2011-03-23T16:14:00.001-07:00

Jen gets to go to her first dance on Friday.......no not with a hot date, she has 4 months and a few hours till her birthday (ask her, she'll tell you the exact moment she turns 16!) but she is helping decorate with her dance company, so she needed a dress. It was so fun to go shopping for her first formal dress and shoes, and necklace and earrings. I love my teenagers, this is such a fun time in their lives and I hope they know how much I love these great, exciting events in their lives!!!!!!

THIS IS MY HOT DATE!!!!!! With my two favorite Jon's. My own personal Jon and Mr Bon Jovi. Jonny gave me tickets to my FAVORITE band ever, for Christmas. I had such an amazing time......I know I may be a bit of a groupie, but I was like a little 14 year old girl when I saw Mr Bon Jovi himself come out on that stage, I almost cried. Really.

Sad. Well, not sad, it was SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

I love both these Jon's.

OK, not really, I love one of their music, and I love the other one heart and soul.

Thanks for the hot date babe, it was great!

Salem Hills Basketball-life lessons.

2011-02-24T18:34:00.000-08:00

This has been quite the ride for the Salem Hills varsity boys basketball team this year. There have been many life lessons learned. They started out very hopeful, and with lots and lots of potential. They had a few major set backs, like finding out one of their teammates has cancer, and losing some very important games. They found out what it means to be a team, to rally around each other, to depend on each other, to win and lose, with dignity and sportsmanship. They supported and loved their cute manager, Zeke, who has autism, and helped him get his first and last winning basket. They sweat, and swore a lot! They wrote the number 5 on their arms, shoes, and wore "strong" shirts in recognition of Eric. They travelled together, ate together, spent every single day together and played their worst and best together. They got frustrated, they lost, they pulled it together and they won! These boys are like brothers, family, teammates on and off the court.

As a mom, I felt like part of my heart was out there on that court, in that locker room, on the bus, being yelled at, being praised, being frustrated and heartbroken, and being so happy. I am so proud of my biggest boy for learning so many life lessons this year. His character has grown, his compassion has increased, his passion and love of this game has dwindled, faded, burned brighter and gotten stronger and will always and forever partly define him. I'm sad that it's over, I'm so glad he had the opportunity to play all three years of high school, I am thrilled he got to play with such amazing kids and know these memories will shape his outlook on life for many years to come. Way to go #23!!!! We love you!!!!!!

Aloha!!!

2011-01-31T20:50:00.000-08:00

If I just went to this beautiful state for nothing other than the sunsets, that would be enough! Hawaii has the most beautiful, amazing sunsets in the world! I love them!!!
We went with the Trapnell's, some good friends. We had a blast!!! (Cousins !!!)At the Polynesian Cultural Center, I became a MASTER at the Ukelele (ha!ha!NOT!)
Waikiki Beach was the sight of Jon's first surfing experience, he did pretty dang good!!!In Maui, we went to the top of Mount Haleakala, which is a dormant volcano that if measured from the bottom of the ocean to the tip of it's highest peak, is higher than Mount Everest. We were way above the clouds for this sunset, it was an absoloutely incredible sight. 50 degrees felt very very cold compared to the 85 we were getting used to down below!
Don't look at me, look behind me to the right, yes that's a whale fin. We went whale watching and had about 10 whales all around us. We saw them come right out of the water a few times, their fins, their huge faces, their tales. These massive whales weigh up to 90,000 lbs! We got so close we could smell their breath (which was disgusting!) and could reach out and touch their dorsel fins. It was a bit freaky, but OH SO COOL!!!!
We went on a helicopter ride around the huge sea cliffs of the island of Molokai. We also saw 1000's of feet high waterfalls and lush green valleys. It was incredibly beautiful and so fun!
Did I mention how much I lOVE Hawaiian sunsets?
Oh.....it was SO nice to be warm!!!!!!!!!
We went sea kayaking! Jon was so hoping we'd be overturned by whales or at least a massive tortoise. We did see lots of whales in the distance, but thankfully, none of them wanted to go swimming with us!!!!
We had a great time snorkeling and saw beautiful fish, turtles and coral.

It was such a great vacation! I love Hawaii, I love traveling with my hubby, and I love seeing the wonderful places our Earth has to offer us! It is definitely one of my passions. I love it!!!

Christmas!

2011-01-06T10:21:00.001-08:00

I love Christmas.
Going carolling and visiting with Great Grandma Dyer. She is about the sweetest thing on earth and we love her dearly!
Grandma and Grandpa Chisholm always give gold dollars, which the kids look forward to with great anticipation! This year they were in cool glass ornaments, all the boys got balls and all the girls got purses, shoes or nutcrackers! So fun!
Brotherly love in front of the Christmas Story lamp........
Me and my sissies with the stockings from when we were kids! We love them!!!
The whole family gave my parents a "Count Your Blessings" quilt, a lot of love, time and energy was put into it, it was really neat!
Visiting with special people is always fun.....even if this "special" person was "DEFINITLY NOT THE REAL DEAL", Jaemon figured out real quick that it was Uncle Richard and thought it was HILARIOUS!
Don't ask......well ok. We go fishing for ornaments on Christmas Eve, the ornaments are wrapped in paper bags tied with festive ribbon. Somehow, someone got the fantastic idea of tying the ribbons in Josh's hair, it's quite the masterpiece, really. And it has stuck, so every year, Josh has about 28 ribbons in that big massive curly head of his!!!!
On Christmas Eve we always make candy cane cookies to leave out for the fat man, everyone fights over the red dough, and no-one really knows how to make the balls into the canes, no matter how many times I've shown them. We usually end up with red and white swirled balls....not sure what old Kris Kringle thinks of em.....but we like them!
Special gifts for special people!!!!!
A little arts and crafts moment, amid the all out, drag out, craziness of the season.
We LOVE Christmas jammies and special books on Christmas Eve!
Our first EVER snow day! We spent OUTSIDE!!!!! We built 3 beautiful snowpeople!
A 13 year tradition, going on the Polar Express, except this year it was the "North Pole Express". Still lots of fun, but not quite the same!
My kids think the treat giving is out of control, I love it, I love making things and delivering things for friends and neighbors. The other thing they whine about is the Christmas cards we make and that I enlist all their help in. I think it's a great thing, they need to learn that making things is part of giving of ourself!
Sleeping under the Christmas tree with Christmas books on December 23 is a well loved tradition!
And this, this is my favorite. (well, this and watching SCROOGE, the original black and white version at 11:30 on Christmas Eve night, I LOVE IT! I love these funny, cute costumes. I love singing carols around the piano. I love reading the Christmas Story and just being together as a family. Cozy and Warm, just having fun and re-enacting the true reason we celebrate this season. I am feeling melencholy that my babies are growing up, but they will always have these memories, and so will I. Yes traditions take time to carry out, but the memories are worth every single second.

This is what it's all about, Family. Time. Memories. Traditions. Most importantly, a Christ Child that made it all possible.

I love Christmas.

12 and 10

2010-12-17T08:19:00.001-08:00

Brennan and Tyler are constantly asked if they're twins! They're not, but their birthday dates are only 14 hours apart! Brennan's is Dec 15 at 8:20 pm and Tyler's is December 16 at 10:13 am! I love that they are such great friends and share a room, friends, and most especially great brotherly advice. They are so good for each other and I love them both so much!
Happy 10th Birthday Ty-Bug! You have always been pretty tough! You started out with some rough times, but pulled through and now you still fight through things and excel! Some things we love about you....your kindness and tenderness to your brothers and sisters, your intensity in everything you do, your thoughtfulness, and that you love life and work hard!!! We love you!!!
Happy 12th birthday Brennan! I can't believe you're going to be a Deacon at church and almost be a teenager!!!! Time goes so fast! Some things we love about you are, your personality: you love to tease and joke and sometimes be sarcastic, but always loving and kind. You think of other people and are always the first one to ask to help. You are responsible and do well in school, sports and everything you put your mind to! We love you!!
We had a WAY COOL party! A big Semi came full of video games for the boys and 16 of their friends to play. Inside were 4 big screen TV's, and every video game and console out there. They had such a blast! It was fun to see them have so much fun! Happy Birthday to my two middle boys, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!

Let me explain

2010-12-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

This is what all the girls decided to do on Thanksgiving dinner AFTER it had all been cooked, cleaned, washed, swept, put away, bathed, folded, de-germatized, you get the general idea. We were tired so we went in my room, put this sign on the door, and watched sitcoms for an hour on my bed. It was wonderful!!!!!!!!
This is how the daddy's behaved.................while we were doing the afforementioned various "Thanksgiving duties"hence.............the sign on the door and the mommy "time-out"
32 people is a heck of a lot of people to feed turkey to. My arms are about falling off here, while Jon tried to take a "not blurry" picture. It actually was pretty gosh dang yummy if I do say so myself.........just call me Martha. HA HA HA!Here is the crazy lot of us. It really is insane when we all get together. We have a lot to be grateful for. I'm grateful they all came, that we had a blast, and that they all have homes to go to after the festivities are done!

Gracie's 5th bday!

2010-11-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun celebrating our big 5 year old's birthday! (pink cupcakes, build a bear, and Color Me Mine....so much fun!)

I am having a very hard time believing she is really five. We are so grateful for our sweet Gracie and love so many things about her!

Here are some of the things we love about Gracie Ruth.

-she still can't say her F's or V's so she says "S" and "Z" for them, and I am adamant that no-one corrects her because I love it! She also calls Family Home Evening, "Has, hasning" and I will also kill anyone who dares try to change it!

-she loves to sing and dance and does so regularly all over the house!

-she is through and through ALL girl. Loves pink, loves purple, loves dresses, loves bows and frills, loves her dollies and is sugar and spice and everything nice!

-she loves salad more than cookies and chocolate, which is wierd, (being that she's my daughter) but so so cute.

-she gives big hugs regularly and tells us all she loves us soooooo much all the time.

- We LOVE that she is such blessing in our home, we are so grateful she chose to come to our family.

Happy birthday sweet girl!!!

Trick or Treat!

2010-11-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

Start the day off right, ghostly pumpkin pancakes, orange hot chocolate with ghostly marshmallows floating in it!!!
Josh was Shaggy, (well actually, we took these pics the day before Halloween because he left for Washington DC the next morning early) so he wasn't really anything, but being a nice kid, he dressed up for pics anyway!!! Jen was a gypsie, Brennan, a jester skeleton, Ty, a jailbird, Jaemon the mad hatter (which was my favorite costume EVER!!!!) and Gracie, Alice in Wonderland. Next year they're all going to be Cheshire Cats cuz I think he's way cool.
Quite the jack-o-lantern artistry, I do believe!
It was a torrential downpour about 1/2 hr before trick or treating was supposed to begin, and then it suddenly stopped and a beautiful double rainbow came out! It ended up being a perfect night for tricks and treats!!!! Happy Halloween!!!

Queen of Halloween

2010-10-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

I have been told on numerous occasions that I am the "queen" of the haunting holiday in October. Whether or not that's true, I dunno, however, I do love it.......a bit excessively, here are some of the annual festivities!Our annual Halloween party this year was an 80's party. It was SOOOOO fun! We played fun games, ate pac man and rubiks cube cookies, and laughed and laughed! All our friends are such good sports as you can see, and rose to the occasion for this shindig!
I had to literally bribe Josh to drive all the way home from Salem in between activities and practices to participate in our annual big leaf playing afternoon, he had all of about 20 minutes, but he came and indulged his crazy mom. I LOVE this tradition though, the smell and crunch and color of the leaves...........so fun!
Gardiner Village and the witches is something I look forward to every year, they are women after my own heart!
My wonderful sister in laws come and have a witches lunch, some of them refuse to dress up, but they come for the food and the FUN that we always have together!
Food is an ENORMOUS part of our traditions on Halloween, I made this monster cake for my witches lunch.......................oh my, 5 layers of chocolate pistachio heaven, Frankenstein would be so proud.
Witches lunch bunch, love these girls. We have so much fun together!
Witches brew, and other yummy treats!
One of 5 pumpkin patches we visited this year, this one was down in Central with the Chisholm gang! It was fun to go with grandpa (check out his happy, goofy little face!!!!!)
We always go to Cornbelly's and the corn maze. I want the big kids to love it as much as the littles, sadly for me, they go now just for the kettle corn, throwing corn, and again......to indulge their crazy mom. I hope someday they'll take their kids and thank me for "forcing "them into these silly things. I love it though, and I think secretly they do too!!!!
Love this, THRILLER by the Odyssey dance co. Jen was totally freaked out! It was so SUPER fun!! One of my favorite things!
Oh my, more treats, candy corn cupcakes, sugar cookies, caramel apples, pumpkin cheese ball....all favorites!
Another very very fun party. Jon is amazing......how many husbands you know would dress up as a puppy at their staff party where he's the BOSS?? So much fun!
Another punkin patch, at the Red Barn, we love the hay ride, donuts, ice cream and the biggest pumpkins we can carry!!!!!
Halloween nail painting, this year we got cool decals and the girls spent the afternoon painting each nail a different color (orange, black, white, green and yellow!) so cute!
Our haunted halloween house. Which, admittedly gives me a headache. They always fall apart, the little nerds fly all over the room and we slip on them, the frosting is black and stains.......but the kids really do love this tradition and it always ends up being so cute.

So, maybe I am the queen, maybe I'm looney, I don't know. I do know that there is just something about the fall that I am in love with, leaves, crisp air, the first snow fall, sweaters, the hint of things a little creepy out in the shadows. OOOOOH, I love it! Bring on the trick or treaters and last BIG party!!!!!! Happy haunting y'all!!!!

Disneyland!!!!

2010-10-12T19:50:00.001-07:00

It's not a big secret that our family loves, loves, LOVES Disneyland, and this year we went at the start of Halloween time.............oh, it couldn't have been better!!!!!
This about sums it all up!
Face painting was a huge hit!

Josh loves Disneyland, but he REALLY REALLY loves the beach!

Sea World was lots of fun, the kids especially love playing with the star fish!
Space Mtn or Ghost Galaxy......OH MY GOSH.........I absoloutely ADORE this ride, all the time, I could ride it all day. It's my favorite, and with Halloween fun added to it, wow, I just don't have the words to describe my addiction to this ride. (I know it's an illness)
Pumpkins, decorations, Halloween treats everywhere. Good times.
We went with my sister, Rachael, her hubby Jared and their kids. It was a lot of fun. Hot.....113 degrees one day..............(which is completely and utterly ridiculous!) but still, at the happiest place on earth, WHO CARES?????? It was a blast! We love it!

Jaemon's General Conference Birthday Weekend!

2010-10-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

Jaemon's birthday always falls on General Conference week. I remember bringing him home to the sounds of MOTAB on the tv, and dosing off through most of it! It's always a nice, relaxing, rejuvenating weekend! Here is the birthday boy with his very much anticipated present, a remote controlled Big Foot...it sleeps on it's head, rolls around the floor and grunts a lot. Wow....it doesn't get any better than that!
He wanted Halloween cupcakes with green, OOZY frosting. So there it is.
Blow it all out buddy!
A great big wish!!!!
This is the general mood while watching conference, balloons and vampire teeth.
Listening intently........
It's been tradition forever to make a fresh apple pie, (as in pick the apples this morning, fresh) and now pumpkin (well, cuz it's October, and Josh's favorite to make and eat) so we must have them for a delicious treat!
Jen with her notebook, taking detailed notes about every single talk. I tried something new this year and had them write down what they learned after each talk in a little notebook I made. They got to pick something out of a grab bag if they could tell me three things about each talk. (thanks to my friend Tara for the idea!) it worked great and they had a great time.......you can tell from the vampire teeth and balloons above!!!We all stayed in our jammies, ate cinnamon rolls and caramel popcorn and listened to our prophet and other leaders. What inspired people. We learned a lot and I hope we can do better day to day because of their counsel and advice.

And to my little Conference Weekend birthday boy...............I hope ALL your wishes come true! I love you little buddy!

She's SO big!

2010-09-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

Today Gracie started preschool! She thinks she's so big, and I guess she's right!
She blew me a little kiss and told me that she'd be fine and that she'd make lots and lots of "swends" (friends) and play with lots and lots of toys and do all her homework, and not talk to strangers, especially boys, and that she'd say please and thank you. So, I guess I shouldn't worry at all with that list taken care of! (of course all this made me cry, but also laugh!)
I know it's inevitable that even my baby girl will grow up, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! I'm glad she's ready to be big, and have lots of fun, but I will miss my little buddy. Thank goodness it's only a few days a week for a few hours, it's just the right amount of time! Have fun Gracie!!!

(just a side note, the little backpack she's holding, I made for her. She wouldn't take it to school though, she wanted to take her cool Target one, but we compromised and just took pictures with the one I made to appease me! The Target one was much much more suitable for school, and not so "silly!" She did say she'd MAYBE take it once next week!)

New shoes and a new year.

2010-08-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'm having a hard time with this one, he's a Senior this year. This was his last first day. He's all laid back and easy going about it, (or so he seems)I'm a wreck. He is afterall, just a newborn y'know.
And the Sophomores at SHHS better watch out, because here comes some serious SPUNK! She is on Dance Company and had a love hate relationship with her clothing on the first day. These shoes are absoloutely AWESOME that she got to wear as well as the sweats and she got to perform at the opening assembly amidst thunderous yelling and applause, but she had to wear her hair back, and that shows off her HUGE forehead and big head. So, she had to "suffer" through the day and all the compliments about their dance even with a big forehead. AAAAAH, high school!!!! FUN!
The traditional "back to school"breakfast with treats. (I always give them a little treat on the day they go back, this year it said "We know you're a smart cookie, and that you won't blow it, do your best this year, just chill and you'll do a great job!") attached was a pkg of cookies, kleenex and "chill" trident mints. They were thrilled because after today, it's cold cereal all year!!!! Ha Ha

The new shoes are a very, very, very important part of the experience. Gracie even put on her cool converse, even though her school doesn't start till next week. Josh also had extremely amazing gold Nike's that he thinks are personally touched by angels but he left to quick for me to take a picture of them.
One 6th grader, one fourth grader, one first grader. They are all excited. I have mixed emotions, I'm happy for them to have a schedule, I'm happy to have a semi clean house for a few hours. But, I miss them when they're gone. I love having them around and I love being their mom. I cried after they left for my biggest boy on his last first day, my biggest girl being in High School, my two middles who think they are so dang big and tough, my littlest boy who is in school all day and will soon call me by his teacher's name because he sees her more than me, and for my baby girl who will be lonely without them. And for me, because, WHEW, now I can go get some new shoes for myself...............without ANY help at all!!!!!!!!!!!!! (those were tears of happiness!)

GOOD LUCK GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The "rest" of the summer!

2010-08-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend with the Chisholm's. We did lots of fun things, but most of all we really enjoyed being together! We had a weenie roast and had a fantastic time roasting and throwing marshmellows!
Tubing the Provo River was fun, except it was freezing, raining and thundering and a few people (grandma included), fell out of the rafts!
We went to Yuba for boating, skiing and playing, it was a teensy bit windy!
We love to go tubing and boating!
Cousins camp with all the Bennett cousins! We went swimming, had treats, made a craft and played all day!

On the 24 of July we went to Monroe for the "BIG" parade, went swimming and got to go "plunking" with Grandpa!

We had a great time going on the Pioneer Trek with our stake. We got to be Ma and Pa to seven great kids, (not including our own!) it was an amazing experience and we learned a lot about the pioneers, their sacrifices and gained a better appreciation and testimony of them.
We went to the Stadium of Fire on the fourth of July and saw Carrie Underwood and loved the fireworks!!!
Canada Day was lots of fun, we got to have a BBQ, fireworks and a concert put on by all the cousins!

It's been a great summer, full of fun, family and friends. Even though we're sad to see it end, we have lots of great memories to remember and now it's time for new school adventures!!

41's the new 31!

2010-07-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my sweetie! This is my absoloute very favorite picture of him when he was about 6. For a long long time, this was the ONLY picture I had of him when he was little! I love those little mischevious eyes!
If you know anything about my family, you will see a VERY striking resemblance to our oldest son in this picture. A little bit eerie! What a cute, cute 17 year old he was!
This little "toy"of his is Jon's favorite thing over this past year, and I'm very proud of him, he hasn't even got a ticket......YET (and certainly NOT because he's very very good at following ALL the traffic rules, no no no, quite the opposite! He's just sneaky about it!) He babies it like a newborn, and is extremely particular about how and when it is driven.
I am so happy to have this birthday boy in my life. He is the greatest husband, father and best friend I could ask for and I love him so much! Happy Birthday babe!

19 years on the 19th!

2010-07-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

We took a little getaway to Park City to celebrate our 19th anniversary! Jon enjoyed the yummy wontons we had at a little Japanese grill, YUM!
I enjoyed the beautiful roses I got from my honey! Look how cute the little towels shaped like two swans with rose petals were on the bed! I thought they were too cute to ruin, so I slept on the floor.................ok, not really.
I'm glad we got to get away even if it was close to home and not too extravagant. It was just really nice to spend some time together. It's amazing to think 19 years ago wasn't just yesterday! We've been through a lot of things, good and bad, but I can honestly say I love this guy more now, much more now, then I ever thought possible. Happy Anniversary Jonny! Love you so much!

15 Candles!

2010-07-14T05:51:00.000-07:00

The traditional birthday pancake!!!! (on the birthday plate, of course)
That's ALOT of presents! All she asked for was texting and a facebook page, unfortunately we are extremely mean parents and got her all this instead! Notice her way cute outfit she got at the mall earlier in the day for part of her present!!!!
Sakura is her favorite place to go, she loves the show they put on to make the food!!! YUM! She even got some ice cream with a candle in it!!!! (which she graciously shared with her brothers and sister!)
15 candles! WOW! It's crazy to think she's this old! High school this year, driving, lots of fun things to look forward too! We love this sweet, cute girl! Happy Birthday Jen Boo!!!!!!

He's 17!

2010-07-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

What do you do on the big 17 bday?

Eat a yummy basketball cake, with a bunch of candles! (yes, he ate most of it himself, he is a GROWING HUNGRY boy!)

Play with airsoft guns, go to his very favorite restaraunt and have chicken parmesan (his favorite), then go to a movie!
Open presents, (this year he got a whole bunch of gift cards for dating, eating out and GAS!)
And of course, traditionally on his birthday, he always gets fireworks since he was born the day after the 4th and fireworks were going off right outside his room the night he was born! We love this big 17 year old boy. Glad he's ours, glad he's good, glad he's big, but now stop.....cuz I can't handle the next few birthdays......that will mean he's TOO big! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHIE!!!!!!!!!

Something fun, everyday. WEEDING.

2010-06-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

My kids ask me daily, so what are we doing for fun today? REALLY? Do we need to do something BIG EVERYDAY? Yes, it's called WEEDING And LOTS OF IT. We do lots of other things, like swim, play with cousins, friends, movies, sleepovers, BBQ's, camps, ball, dance, play the WII, go to parks, snowcones, Lagoon, you know the drill. BUT, we live on 5 acres. 5 ACRES, I tell you. And there is an overabundance of WEEDS. So, along with all the fun, guess what we do almost EVERY day for FUN? We WEED. Get used to it kids. That's your big fun thing everyday. Did I mention, 5 ACRES?
Partying it up with the Fam! (yep, a little weeding happened before they all came for swimming, BBQing and playing!)
Seven Peaks.................too big, too crowded, too many people, but lots of smiles! (they had to weed before we went!)
Happy Father's Day to my Jonaroni, Jaemon picked out the cool Alien shirt, to match his. It was a fun day with all the family here. (yes, we weeded before they all got here, lots of it. Remember, 5 stinkin' ACRES!) We took the day off of weeding in honor of Dad, at least for that day!

Fun dance recitals, Gracie and Jen did a FABULOUS job!!!! (yes, we weeded that day too)
Brennan got to go to Shadow Mtn camp for a few days and also to a BYU basketball camp with a few of his best friends. He had lots of fun, and got out of weeding for a bit!
Lots and lots and lots of swimming, swimming lessons, swimming pools, swimming in the backyard which waters the weeds to make them grow, which means more weeding for us :) Notice Josh is absent from this whole months worth of pictures. He is at basketball camp, basketball and more basketball. In his spare time he goes to play basketball. Oh, and by the way, BASKETBALL, is where he is 24/7. He will be weeding when he gets home! We have 5 acres remember, guess what his next big fun thing to do is?????????? Yep........ WEED! FUN!

The BIG family Vacation!!!!

2010-06-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

We started out on our BIG family vacation on Broadway, at Wicked!!! It was AMAZING!!!
We went on a subway to Ground Zero and saw where the twin towers used to be, it is incredible to imagine the height of them, and the terror that must have been felt on the streets. I loved this memorial to the brave firefighters and service people who helped so many people on that horrible day. We were all in awe of what happened on this spot and felt renewed patriotism for our country.
Lady Liberty was fun and FREEZING!!!

Time Square was intensely overwhelming, but oh so very fun! I want to come back on New Years Eve to see the ball drop! We especially loved the M&M store, the Hershey's store (see a pattern here?) and Toys R Us!!!
Hey DUMB DUMB give me some GUM GUM!!! Jaemon was ECSTATIC to see this famous "thing" from Night At the Museum in the museum of Natural History.
Yummy NYC ice cream in front of the Radio City Music Hall!!!
The view from the Empire State Building! Josh and Tyler were terrified, but in the end, they were glad they went up the 90 floors to the top!
Does it get any better than the American Doll store? HEAVEN!
We took the train from NYC to Buffalo, an 8 hour drive through beautiful country, full of lakes, trees and cute little towns!
We met my parents to tour many church history sights, they were all amazing. This is the Kirtland temple, first dedicated temple for our church. Even though it's not owned by us anymore, the Spirit is still strong inside. We loved touring it and the surrounding areas, like the Whitney Farm and the school of the Prophets, the Mill and where Joseph Smith lived for awhile.
Next we were off to Niagara Falls!!! YAY! Dad and I got to go into CANADA!!! Our home sweet home!!! The majestic beauty and sheer size of these falls are breathtaking!

We went on the Maid of the Mist, the boat that goes right up close to the falls. We were SOAKING wet and it was more than a little terrifying! Josh, Brennan and Tyler Jon and my dad absoloutely LOVED it! Me and the little ones stood back a bit. Words actually can't describe the amount of water that comes over these falls! It is so loud too! Incredible!!
The RCMP! (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)
Toronto Ontario Temple
A HUGE highlight for me was seeing my 2 best friends from high school, Shona and Cheryl. We got to go out to dinner and reminisce about old times. It's funny how even after many many years, it's like we've never been apart! I LOVE these girls!
In Belleville Ontario we went to visit graves of our Great Great Grandparents. Grandpa told us lots of stories about them and we planted flowers next to them and cleaned them off. What a great experience for my kids to get to know their ancestors!
We went to Old Fort McHenry in Kingston, a working Fort from the British Army. They did a whole re-enactment of enlisting privates! The kids got to where tunics and they put Jen and my dad in jail with muskets! It was so fun!
One of Jon's favorite places to eat from his mission days is New York Fries, and no they are not in New York! They are a Canadian Franchise. You have to eat the homemade fries with malt vinegar and they are everyone's favorite! (Well, not mine, for obvious reasons) but everyone else loves 'em!

This picture in the Sacred Grove is priceless. We told all the kids to go and find a quiet place to pray about Joseph Smith. This is what a found around the corner from me, it's Gracie and Jaemon kneeling by a bench. This was the neatest thing, the greatest place. The Spirit in this grove is tangible, it is so strong, you can almost touch it. Truly one of the best places on earth.
We had a family testimony meeting in the grove. I pray with all my heart that the things my kids felt here on this day will remain with them through their whole lives.
The Hill Cumorah.
We did baptisms for the dead in the Palmyra temple. It was a great experience. The temple is small, but beautiful and the window that looks into the Sacred Grove makes it so unique and special.
Outside the home where the church was organized. We learned so much.
There was a big storm as we left Chicago, but above it was the most beautiful sunset. I hope none of us will forget this trip. I had prayed and hoped for my kids to gain a stronger testimony, a greater appreciation for pioneers and Joseph Smith. A knowledge and gratitude for family. A closeness with each other, and insight into things they had never seen before. My expectations were far exceeded and I'm so so grateful we were able to go!

Tennis anyone?

2010-05-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Josh had a great tennis season this year. He had the best varsity record on his team, lettered in varsity for the 2nd time in a row, kicked some booty in singles and overall, he won third in the region, altogether, which is AWESOME! We think he seems to do much better with that tongue of his hanging out every time he serves or hits!

Watch out Wimbledon, here he comes!

(oh btw, one of his ambitions for playing tennis was to acquire a "killer" tan) but, unfortunately, the weather didn't co-operate, it was snowing and rainy and cold most of the season! Maybe during the summer he can work on it!!!

Good job bud!

These are the women I come from!

2010-05-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

Grandma Mildred Dyer
Grandma Evelyn Bennett
My mom, Patricia Dyer Bennett

I love these amazing, wonderful mothers. Thank you for the influence and example you are in my life. I love you with all my heart. Thank you for being you. I hope in some small way I can be the kind of mother you are, beautiful, kind, unselfish, giving, righteous and wonderful. I know I will never compare, but I am so grateful for you! I love you! Happy Happy Mother's Day!

Is he really old enough?

2010-04-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

For PROM that is? I can't believe this big boy in a tux, is MY son!!!! He looked so handsome!!!!!
These beautiful girls said yes to Josh and some of his best friends for Prom this year, I couldn't be more thrilled with their choices! Their dresses were elegant, modest and beautiful and they were kind and sweet too, what more could a mom ask?
Josh, Nic, Michael, Zach and Hunter. Such great kids. I am so thankful Josh has such great friends.
What cute kids.
Josh and Saysha. She is one of Josh's good friends and a real sweetie. I'm glad they got to go to this big dance together. I am so not ready, so, so, so not ready for him to grow up in so many ways. But, at the same time, I love seeing him have so much fun, with great kids who have the same values and standards as him. I loved my high school years, they were so different than the ones he's experiencing, and I'm so grateful he is living it up!!!!! He'll always be my baby, but he is growing up, whether I like it or not, and I'm glad he's turning out to be such a great kid!! What a fun night!!!!!!!

What a week!!!

2010-04-18T18:17:00.000-07:00

The week started out with Josh getting answered to Prom! He's going with a very cute girl named Saysha.

Jen had an incredibly busy week. She was Wendy Joe in Footloose at her school and did a GREAT job, and she also tried out for the high school cheer squad. In her spare time she decided to also run for student council, so we got to come up with a slogan, make posters and write essays.
Brennan had his 5th grade Wax Museum. He did his state report on Illinois so we decided to do his famous person on Pres Obama. It was fun to color his hair black and put a little "tanner" on his face. We think he makes a stunning Commander in Chief!

Gracie was a pixie in her very first dance performance. She did such a great job and was so sweet in her little blue tutu!

It was a very very busy week, in all honesty, most weeks are just like this, but this one was particularly fun!

I love watching my kids do things that make them better people, that stretch them a little, or a lot. I enjoy helping them and being there for them.

That's what being a mom is right?

Yep! And I love it!

Good job guys!!!

Fun in San Francisco!!

2010-04-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to San Francisco for Spring Break! It was a very long long long long drive, but we made the best of it, and NO my daughter is NOT flipping you off, it's the other finger :)

We had a great time at the Golden Gate Park

The Beach was too cold to swim in, but fun to look at!

The infamous trolley was a great ride!
The beautiful Painted Ladies (I LOVE the houses in this city!)
While on the sightseeing bus, everyone was STARVING so Jonny went and got a whole butload of hot dogs.....made the hot dog man really really happy!

The double decker bus was windy windy windy, but a fun ride.
And of course, no trip is complete without lots and lots of swimming.
We had a good time at Alcatraz, I think I'm going to post this sign in my house.

THE ROCK! (can we leave naughty children here?)
We had yummy crepes for breakfast one day, mmmmmmm mmmmmm good.
On the pier there were a whole bunch of Sea Lions, they were barking and fighting, it was pretty cool!
Cold and beautiful sunsets.
No trip to San Francisco would be complete without a trip and a big SUNDAE from Ghiradelli!
A ride down the crookedest street is so fun and different!
On Easter we went to a beautiful Catholic Cathedral, Jen and Marissa lit candles. It was a change from what we were used to and a neat church to see.
We went to the Palace, it was pouring rain and freezing cold, but made for pretty pictures!
Muir Woods and the Redwoods was gorgeous!

We had such a great time together, with great friends. What a fun trip we had. It is so fun to go to new places and see things we don't usually see. San Francisco is such a unique, and beautiful city! The kids were great, the company was great, the food was INCREDIBLE, and the memories will last a lifetime!

Easter Traditions

2010-03-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

I love getting my kids Easter clothes. It's a problem, I really scope out stuff and look for the "right" outfit! It's kind of ridiculous, but it's really fun for me. This year I went with grey and I don't know what color it is....greenish, yellowish, goldish....whatever. I made Gracie's dress, it's a little bubble dress and I love it! (I'm not an incredible seamstress, but it was fun)! I also made Jaemon's tie, I think it's so cute. The others I searched high and low for, and finally found them! I was thrilled, they really couldn't care less, but it's a tradition that I love!!!!
Since Easter is during Conference and we will be out of town, they wore them today and I always make them do a big photo shoot, they're used to it now and don't whine as much as they used too, they were great sports!!!!
My oldest two kids are becoming quite accomplished in the kitchen and they made dessert (cream cheese brownies, mmmmm!) and potstickers for dinner. Josh learned how to make them in Japanese class and they were AWESOME! It's becoming a Sunday tradition that they cook at least part of the meal. I LIKE IT.....
Then we did our annual Easter egg dying extravaganza. Do you think 48 eggs is a bit over the top? My whole kitchen smells like eggs, I HATE eggs, but the dying is so fun. The kids had a blast, and they were very very colorful. We tried glitter eggs this year and sports for the boys, of course. Quite the artistic masterpieces.
We love Easter, what a wonderful time of the year, rebirth, renewing, starting fresh and looking forward to a wonderful Spring!!!

Best

2010-03-20T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have 3 sets of kids; The Bigs, The Tweens and The Littles. I spend a lot of time taking The Bigs and The Tweens to all of their activities, and I mean A LOT of time. Sometimes The Littles don't want to be the taxi passengers and I forget that they really are really really LITTLE. I get upset with them whining and wanting to listen to "Eye of the Tiger" over and over (yes I know that's strange little kid music, but they really really love it) needing an ice cream any time we go near McD's, the smeary fingerprints all over my Iphone because that's what they play with whenever we're out n' about which is ALWAYS, but when we live in the car, I will do about anything to get them to stop fighting, complaining and carrying on!Many times the Bigs and Tweens complain about all the "stuff" too. Well, I got to thinking about when my BIGS weren't so big, and what we did all day. Things were a lot simpler than. A Lot. I started feeling melancholy and guilty. SO, we got out the bubbles. I'm telling ya, bubbles are the cure all for most things. We had a blast. My Littles got to be little, they were happy. My Tweens came home and they had a blast too, cuz after all, they're part little too. My Bigs saw the pictures and said "ahhhh, we want to play with bubbles". We all played with bubbles.
Sometimes I struggle between good things, better things, and best things. I try to juggle them all, I try to do what's right for all three sets of kids. But today, best was just bubbles. Nothing else mattered.
It was the best.

Piece of Cake??????

2010-03-11T13:59:00.001-08:00

I've always thought that cake decorating was so cool, but also a little ridiculous. Why would you ever spend so much time on something...when you're just going to eat it? Plus, I don't really like cake, the actual food, I'll take brownies ANY day. However, I got asked to make a cake for a RS dinner and thought I'd toy around with fondant, which I think is like grown up play doh! WOW! It was WAY fun!!!! I love how it turned out, (well I don't like the writing on the little fondant lollipop, but I didn't have a smaller writing tool, so oh well) Anyway, I'm certainly no expert, not even close, not even in a category. BUT, it was fun to be creative with something different for a few hours! So, now I'm off to ruin it and eat it. But, this time I don't think it's so ridiculous, it was really fun! (Oh and BTW, the cake is triple chocolate fudge, very similar to a brownie, so I'm gonna love it!!!)

It's in the blood!

2010-03-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

My big boy isn't the only one who loves basketball! My middle two love it too. They both played a great season, each of them had good coaches, fun playing, and even had other coaches ask about them to play on accelerated teams. The important thing though, at this age, I think, is to just have a great time, learn the fundamentals and learn to have good sportsmanship. I don't think we'll ever be NBA material at this house, but it's a lot of fun cheering them on, and I'm thankful for the good things they learn from playing sports!! Good job B and T!!!! You're AWESOME!!!!

Region baby!

2010-03-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

THEY WON!!!!!!!

2010-02-21T20:20:00.001-08:00

It has been quite the year for Josh in basketball this year. It seems like all of our whole lives have revolved around the JV team at the high school. We absoloutely love going to watch the games and some of us (mom) get so worked up about them that we get sick before each game!!!
They've definatly had their ups and downs, but the ups have been great! He has made a lot of progress in his shots and has started and played almost all of most of the games. A few of the highlights were, 4 point technical shots against a rival team, all of which he made, a last second shot at another very close game in which he got the winning point, and being part of a very fun varsity group called the "chaos". Well, actually it's called the MFC. (the Major Freakin' Chaos, or something close to that anyway!)This group of JV boys (Josh and a few of his best friends, which makes it even more fun) come in during the varsity game sometimes and mess everything up, so the other team doesn't know what's going on. They were even in a local newspaper, It's been a lot of fun!
Basketball is definatly a contact sport and a few times he's gotten hurt, bled on the floor, gotten wacked and even blacked out once or twice, but he always gets back up and keeps going. He had to come back from a trip to California so he wouldn't miss a game. He's sacrificed lots of other things to be part of this team and I've seen his character grow so much from playing. I think sports is such a great way to learn so many of life's lessons. I am so grateful he's been a part of such a great team with a whole bunch of great kids and good coaches. The things he's learned are exactly what he's needed this year He's grown a lot, his confidence is high and he feels accomplished. I never want him to feel entitled, or arrogant, but I love seeing him happy, sure of himself and busy doing something he is absoloutely passionate about!!!!
So, we have one more game, it's a biggie, it's against their biggest rival and it's at home. I am already sick to death about it, I hope they win. No, that doesn't do it justice, they HAVE GOT TO WIN!!!!!!! GO SKYHAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!