I'm the Mommy, Thats Why!

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Bump, Set, Spike!

McKenna wanted to try something new this year, Volleyball! We signed her up for a rec team and things didn't start off too great. The rec center wasn't very organized (as usual...grrr) and the person they had as the coach didn't know she was the coach. However, she stepped up to the plate and took on the challenge. We didn't even meet the coach or the team until a few minutes before our first game! But these kids came together and killed it! They were a rag tag bunch of kids that didn't have much experience. I think only a couple of them had ever played before. As the season continued, they just kept winning games and ended up winning the whole tournament at the end of the season!! McKenna learned a lot and really enjoyed it! She is looking forward to playing again in the Fall. The first half of the season she couldn't serve the ball over the net and by the end she was pretty consistent. We are proud of the effort she made and how much she improved!

McKenna serving...but I have to figure out why my video is so crummy.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

He's All Grown Up Now

I can't believe our first born is a Senior and about to graduate! I put together a little collage of pictures from Pre-School to Senior year.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from his Senior Session in April 2016:

A little about Tyler and his High School years: Tyler LOVED sports! He played Football, Wrestled and did several of the field events in Track & Field for Orem High School. On the side he loved Church Ball and played a little Intramural Basketball. Football was his real passion and he did very well all through high school. We loved watching his football games and he was blessed to remain relatively injury free throughout the years. He played both Defense & Offense over the years and has played Outside & Middle Linebacker, Offensive Tackle, Defensive End, Tight End & Special Teams. He loves to hit hard! He wrestled for 3 years while taking his Sophomore year off for an injury. His Junior year he took 6th in State and his Senior year he took 4th. Wrestling was something he did mainly to keep in shape for Football. He had some really great coaches and did really good. We all learned a lot from Wrestling and it was for sure the toughest sport he did all around. Track & Field was something he did for fun. He loved that it wasn't high stress and enjoyed the friends and road trips probably most of all. Through the years he did Shot Put, Javelin, Discus and occasionally Long Jump. He made it to State in both his Junior & Senior Year for Discus taking 9th and 8th place respectively. Sports was a huge part of his life and it taught him many life lessons. We loved every minute of every game, tournament and meet.

Friday, April 1, 2016

We've Expanded Again...

We have been talking about getting another dog for a while now because Roxy is getting up there and needs a friend. We decided we wanted to rescue a dog and had been searching and meeting dogs for the past month or so. Finally, we found one we thought would be a good fit for our family. We were looking for a German Shepherd or Husky/Malamute mix possibly and were told this dog was a German/Dutch Sherpherd mix. He was still young enough (4mo) to train, and seemed pretty smart, so we decided to adopt him. We named him Harley and brought him home. He came home sick with Kennel Cough and had a rough first two weeks but he got over it and has been bouncy ever since. We should have named him Roo or something! As he has grown we have decided that the rescue place was completely wrong about him. He definitely has Shepherd in him but we think the rest is Pit Bull. He is too small to be full Shepherd and has traits of Pit Bull in his face shape and eyes. Even though he is smaller than we had wanted, he is pretty cute and everyone adores him. He's a good dog and hasn't been too terrible with the chewing...he just likes sprinklers and we've been through 3 already. Welcome to the family Harley!

This was the day we went to meet him and decided he was the one.

Brining him home and taking a nap!

Meeting Roxy!

Pooped again

Watching Brooklynn play tennis - about 6 months old

He's grown a little - Almost 7 months here

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Spring Break 2014!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

First Day of School 2013-2014

And just like that, BAM!, summer is over and school has begun! School started on August 20th and because I had already started working, all the first day rituals and photography responsibilities fell to Chris.

Tyler started the 10th grade and is officially at the High School now. Unfortunately, this is also the year they decided to eliminate bus service. We tried to fight it but lost. Bummer.

Lauren is now an 8th grader and is so happy not to be a "Sevy" anymore. Luckily she still gets to ride a bus...which she really hates because everyone is sooo immature now! :0)

McKenna is a 5th grader and has Mr. Crandall. We are super excited because he is one of the best teachers EVER! Side Note - He has been teaching for 34 years and used to teach some of these kids parents!

Brooklynn is in the 2nd grade this year with Mrs. Almberg who is an amazing teacher and all of our kids have had her. After this year she can quit if she wants to. I'm out of kids!

And, it wasn't my first day at work but I guess I had to have a picture taken too...thanks a lot KT! This year I am working at the front desk at McKenna and Brooklynn's school. It's perfect and I love working there. I love our school and everyone I get to work with.

One thing I really do miss though now that I am working is my morning walks. I don't get to walk the girls to school and get my daily exercise in. I miss the socializing time with friends too. Roxy doesn't get walked either and she really misses it.

Our traditional shot with McKenna and her friends.

(L-R: Morgan, Katelin & McKenna)

McKenna and Brooklynn.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Tyler's Birthday

Tyler turned 15 in August. We didn't do much because it is a crazy time of year and it was the Saturday before school started. We had so much going on and he was super busy so we couldn't plan anything. We did go out for dinner the night before and it was my turn to take him to dinner on his birthday. We had cake at some point and all he wanted was money so that was easy. He's a pretty easy going kid. He has matured a lot over the past year and is excited to get his permit soon. We've been teaching him to drive for about six months and he does a pretty good job. He is a Sophomore now and is playing football, just turned in all the paperwork for his Eagle and is the Teacher's Quorum president at church. Tyler is a great kid and we are so proud of him and thankful that he is in our family. Chris took some pictures just before his birthday after church one day. They haven't been edited so they could be a lot better but I am just too tired to edit them right now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!!

Blessed, Honored Pioneers

Trek - where do I begin??!! What an AMAZING experience. It is just too hard to sum it up in words, but I'll do my best. Chris and I didn't have the Pioneer Trek experience growing up so when we had the opportunity to be a Ma & Pa on our Stake Youth Trek, we jumped at it. We were able to go along with both Tyler and Lauren. The trek was for youth 14 and older but if your parents were coming, you could come if you were 12 or 13, so Lauren was able to come too.

We all had to dress in pioneer clothing, pack everything we'd need for 3 days (except bedding) into a 5 gallon bucket that weighed no more than 17 pounds, and walk around the wilderness pushing a handcart for nearly 20 miles. Sounds like fun, right? It was.

Our Stake decided that they wanted the youth to have a more spiritual experience rather than focusing on the harsh physical conditions. Not to say that it was easy by any means, but it was easier than a lot of groups that go.

I heard of one group who actually had to catch their own wildlife for dinner! We were spoiled and the Stake cooked most of our meals for us or provided us meals to cook that were mostly done. We ate fantastic! They also had trucks that hauled all of our tents, bedding and cooking stuff from site to site so we didn't have to lug that around in our handcarts.

The weather was brutal, over 100 degrees most of the time or right around there. There was no shade or trees to be found anywhere and everything was covered in dust. The only shade to be had was under the handcart. There was so much dirt! I had visions of sleeping on nice, soft grassy park-like areas each night, but nope, literally dust bowls! We had so many great devotionals, talks, music and a fantastic fireside given by Brad Wilcox.

Each day we trekked anywhere from 4 to 8 miles, set up camp, tore down camp, had our meals, had devotionals and vignettes along the way, a hoe down, camp games, lots of visiting, shared pioneer stories and more.

Two of the highlights were the women's pull where all the men "left with the Mormon battalion" and the women were left to pull the handcarts on their own.

We had to pull them a 1/2 a mile in ankle deep dirt which was like flour. It was so hard. The conditions were so dusty that you couldn't see the group in front of you. We ate a ton of dust being kicked up by the carts. As we neared the end we could hear the men singing softly and it was so beautiful. We couldn't see them through the dust until we were right there but it was very touching to hear them singing.

It was so hard on them to see us struggle so much. We were so relieved when it was over and our strong boys could take over pulling the handcarts again. The other highlight was the river crossing. We had to cross the river in thigh-high water. The boys could carry the girls across but ours didn't because all of our girls wanted to get wet since it was so hot. I think they were kind of disappointed. Again, it was a very spiritual experience.

I feel very blessed to have been able to participate and hope the kids enjoyed it as much as we did. Tyler and Lauren both had a great time and did fantastic. Tyler was assigned a different family as they mixed up all the kids so that each family group had a variety of ages, wards and about 1/2 girls and 1/2 boys. Lauren was in our family because she was too young. I suspect they did that so that if they struggled or whined that their parents could deal with them. However, she did amazing and would have been fine anywhere. Oh, and on the 2nd day of the trek each family "lost" loved ones, just like during the real Treks. Our family lost Lauren. They got to ride ahead up to our next campsite and hang out, play games and have treats while we all trekked some more. Later that day they got to come back. It was just such a great experience and we totally want to go again next time.

Our Trek Family