Preference Dance 2011

Naomi decided to ask someone to Preference this year since she is now 16 and ready to start dating. She bought a bunch of banannas and strung them on curling ribbons. She hung a bunch of them in his locker and had some hanging out. Inside on a big bananna leaf she wrote: "I'd go banannas if you would go to Preference with me". Then she signed her name on one of the banannas.

He answered her back with a big bottle of cheese balls! "Hope this isn't cheesy, but I would have a ball at Preference with you"

They went repelling for their day date. It was Naomi's first time to repell and her dates as well. They had a fun time and only came home with a few scraps and scratches. Then they had a really nice dinner at one of her friends house and went off to the dance. She really had a great time and was excited that it went well.

No more injuries...

I know it's back to school time, because all of my kids are back to sports too!!!

Naomi is sporting a beauty of a bruise on her hip from playing volleyball. (We've since determined that she is most likely diving wrong) She broke some blood vessels and it looked... colorful!

Presten started in with football pads and had to ice some swollen and sore shoulders.

Austen was going for the goal, slipped and landed on a previously injured elbow.

Isn't Larson sweet? Tying big brother's shoes?

I am hoping that we'll get all the injuries taken off right off the bat and we'll be good for a while!!

Post script.... Since this was written Austen has jammed his thumb a real good one and sprained his Achilles Tendon. Oh joy... it continues!

First Day of School!!

I am really not happy that school is already starting. The summer just went by way too fast. I didn't play enough. It might be because of the fact that my kids aren't little anymore. They were working, working, and working, plus scout camps, swimming lessons, volleyball camps, football and basketball clinics, etc.

It's a good thing that we didn't try to schedule a real family vacation, because I seriously don't know when it would've been "squeezed" in.

Nevertheless....

First day of school is always such a bummer for me, but the kids are mostly excited to get back!

Cutie pies... I miss them!

Things are settling down... a bit!!!

Since the last post... much has happened! I will try to catch you up!

Ashli got married to a great guy.. Josh! Isn't it crazy how life is so backwards and inside out sometimes. The last few years I have been struggling to deal with the fact that my kids are growing up and leaving our home. The home is different and the table is smaller. Now I turn around and my family is growing and the table needs the leaf put back in!!! Isn't family wonderful!

Presten had an amazing track year! He was the region champ in the 100 meter, long jump, medley relay race, and 2nd in the 200 meter. The team also won the region championship. We went to the state meet at BYU and he did well there also. State champ in the long jump, medley relay team, and..... the team took the STATE TITLE!!!! He was so happy to be a part of that!

Naomi won all kinds of awards for academics including top ten in the national testing in 7 areas. Plus she was inducted into the Junior National Honor Society. She finished up volleyball by placing second in the intermountain volleyball tourney with her team in May.

Austen is still going like gang busters. He is currently preparing to participate in the Utah Summer Games with his soccer team. He is also preparing for toe surgery in July. If he ever grows into his feet he will be towering above us all (he has already passed me and he's only 12).

Larson is non stop energy. He wants to swim EVERYDAY!! Right now he likes spending time on his new bike, playing baseball, and this week his dad taught him how to pan for gold. He was so excited to see those little gold flecks in his pan. What a thrill!

Rick is getting stronger and better every day and I am so grateful for the technology and knowledge we have in this day and age. He has such a great attitude and just keeps on moving on and smiling along the way. The garden has been great therapy too.

Tia is working part time in Springdale, and really likes working with the many different types of people who come to visit (except the grumpy, cranky ones :)) She spends nearly every free minute with the singles ward and friends. She is also taking more and more photos and getting really really good at it!

Naomi runs the Butch Cassidy 10K

Naomi has tenacity. She had to look that up, then decided that she liked the word. I used it the other morning at 5:45 when I was struggling to keep up as I rode the bike and she ran 3 miles.

It all started about a month ago when one of her soccer playing friends commented on how volleyball players weren't really in that great of shape, because volleyball doesn't require much running. Naomi argued with her about how hard they work and the amount of exertion that is put forth, both in practice and games. But to no avail.

Another friend who didn't make the volleyball team, decided to get into better shape for the next tryouts and decided to run a 10K. She invited Naomi to do it with her. Naomi began training and thought that this would be a great way to show her soccer friend that she was indeed in as good if not better shape than the soccer players! She even invited the soccer friend to participate with her in the 10K. The friend suddenly had something else scheduled for that same day. Hmmmm????

Naomi was diligent in her running and really came to like it.

The day of the race came. It was a chilly morning. Over six hundred participants started in Springdale and ran to the small town of Grafton. (This is well known as one of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids hideouts) Most of the course is on a dirt road, up and down hills.

I waited anxiously at the finish line. Naomi hadn't ever ran the whole 10K at one time. I was nervous, was she okay? could she really make it? could she do it without me riding a bike with her? (okay that was a silly thought, because I was always lagging behind)

Pretty soon, here she came down the dusty dirt road. She was still running and had the biggest smile on her face. She was so excited! She had done it! And then she found out..... she was first in her division! That was the icing on the cake!

Needless to say, she took that medal to school the next week and bragged it up to her friend. The friend didn't have much to say, but Naomi knew that she had proven something to herself... she really is in shape. She didn't need a 10K to prove it, you can see it when she plays volleyball!

Way to go Naomi!!

Ballgames Galore!

(I love how Austen is resting his arm on the helmet of his teammate!)



If you can believe it... our family attended six different games in six days! Normally we don't do any extracurricular activities on Monday, but it was Austen's playoff game, so we held our family home evening activity at the stadium!! Austen caught the first TD of the night and had an awesome defensive tackle later. He's really getting the hang of blocking for the running backs too!

The next two nights were spent watching Larson play some awesome defense in the flag football league. Boy is he speedy! Next was a couple nights of football for Presten. He plays JV and Varsity, so that means two seperate nights of games! He does a great job. On the Friday night game we even got to be on the Fox News TV show. The helicopter flew in and there was all kinds of hoopla for the sports guy! It just made the game all the more fun to watch. The JV team ended their season undefeated. (more on the Varsity later).

Then on Saturday we caught part of Naomi's games as she battled for the border-league championship. Volleyball is pretty fun to watch, and she did fabulous! Whew! Six days of games! Guess what? I loved every minute of it!

Naomi the Homemaker

Naomi decided that we were not going to buy any store bread for the entire summer. She made 4 loaves of homemade bread thinking that it would last the entire week. She didn't remember the fact that 1. We LOVE homemade bread, 2. Presten's new favorite snack is two peanut butter and honey sandwiches before football and two sandwiches after football!!! There is no way that 4 loaves was going to make it through the week. She was pretty posessive of that bread, but also really happy that it was so well loved. And NO it didn't make through one week.

The next week she thought... okay I'm making bread, might as well make a bunch of it to last at least the week. She made 12 loaves of bread. It took all day! She was very happy with herself, and magically the homemade bread novelty has worn off and the kids aren't consuming it quite as quickly!

In keeping with her new found homemaking skills Naomi also attempted pickled beets. She did not have to fight off family members from this one. In fact Tia left the house in protest of the stinky smell (plus she hates pickled beets). Naomi is becoming quite the little baker, but still enjoys making a batch of "cow pies" that we all love! She now wants to try a few new recipes every week. Yeah! I can leave the kitchen!

Naomi serves it up!

Naomi's club volleyball team played for the championship. They did so awesome! Naomi was playing a new position along with her defensive spot. She was a little nervous, but once she settled down, she was amazing. She had some awesome digs and hits. Several times she was up to serve when the game was on the line and she did so well. All of you who supported her with the serve-a-thon early this year would've been proud. Naomi served up a storm and had no problem hitting serve after serve over the net for her team. She has an amazing attitude and really tries hard to learn new techniques and skills. This little group of girls are going to do really great in the coming years.