Summer is here

Summer has been in full swing now for about 3 weeks. The kids hated to leave school, but everyone needs a break.
We went out to celebrate the last day of school. I had a few more days of meetings and classes then the kids. But,we have now settled into a routine I think. I had the kids list things they wanted to do this summer. Some we are doing, some we can do, and some we might do. So far we have gone to the park, to the library, gotten a snow cone, planted the garden(my list, not the kids), went to Grandma's, oh and walked at 7am every morning - WHAT? Actually Blakely is not so thrilled about this one. In order to get ready for our youth trek the YW have been meeting every morning at 7 to walk. The girls that come have been real troopers, because they don't get to sleep in. We will be doing this until July 8th. I hope we can keep up the pace. I have gotten Blakely to walk on most nights with me also. So she is putting in about 5-6 miles of walking a day. We are good. Now, hopefully we can get to the rest of the list which includes swimming, camping, movies, and the zoo. We will try to keep you up to date.

MacBeth

Katelyn was able to be in a few plays this year within her reading class, but her teacher Mrs. Osterhout decided to put on MacBeth. Katelyn was one of the witches in the play. She had her lines memorized quickly. They practiced during lunch and then started Saturday practices. She went to pretty much every practice except for one. They performed in front of the school and then performed in front of their families. They did a good job even though I didn't quite understand the Shakespearean language. The boys did pretty good of sitting still. I was a little worried about that. Katelyn practiced and practiced at home and spoke in Shakespearean for a few months. She really gets into her work I guess you would say.

Baseball Season has come and gone

Garret was the only one that did baseball this year. So that was pretty easy. One kid to ferry around. We did Declo Rec again this year, so we start games in April and end in May which is always cold. We missed a few games because of busy weekends. I think he enjoyed the season and I was glad it was done so quickly. I did enjoy watching Garret play with his friends.

Re-living the old days

Shawn has always loved to ride his motorcycle. He never could find the time to ride very much, but this changed when he bought a CR450 this past February. He also had a guy who worked with him that loves to ride and they started riding on our track together. Well, Brian convinced Shawn to ride in a motorcross race in Rupert the first of May. (Same day as Blakely's clogging competition in Lagoon.) He was so excited to race. All of Brian's family came and watched him while poor Shawn didn't have anyone. Actually, Grandma and Brady went to see him ride the afternoon moto. Brian was kind enough to share pictures with us that his sister had taken. Garret asked if Shawn won the race or had won any money, and Grandma answered, " He didn't crash, so he is a winner." So true! He continues to ride with Brian 2-3 times a week. He hopes to ride in Rupert on July 16th 2 classes. So that is a total of 4 motos. We hope to be there cheering him on.

Teen Dances

Another first; teen dances!
Blakely was able to go to her first teen dance a week after her birthday. She had this day planned out. I was to pick up all her friends and take them to dance and another mom would pick them up. It just happened that the same day was clogging competition in Lagoon and Shawn raced his motocycle in Rupert(another post). Our day started by driving to Lagoon at 5:30 am. We made it down and she performed. We watched a few dances and then Blakely and I bought enough tickets for one ride. She picked Rattlesnake Rapids(Yes, we did get wet.) We headed home with a few detours. After we had picked up the kids we headed home so Blakely could get ready for the dance. We ran on mormon standard time and even went to a wedding reception before we picked up her friends a little late. I think they had a good time and we all went to bed at midnight.
Fast forward a month to her next dance. This one really hit me as MY DAUGHTER IS GOING TO TEEN DANCES. I can never go back to Blakely being little. It is exciting ,but it makes me a little sad because time is continuing to move on. I loved teen dances growing up, but around here they really could take it or leave it. Each dance has the 7 stakes in the area invited. I went after her and a friend this time and didn't get into bed intil midnight. I don't know if I can stay up this late every night. These pictures are from a school dance, but they're the only ones I have.

14 years old

Blakely is 14 this year. She has been awaiting this birthday for months, even though she has tried to have a calm demeanor on the outside. She got to have a friend's birthday party this year and so even though it was two weeks early she had her friends come over. (Every weekend was booked before and after her birthday.) Her friends came over and got to experiment with make-up. They made their own pizzas,ate cake balls, played Wii, and just hung out. I wanted to play more games but Blakely wanted just to hang out. She has good friends and it was fun to have them at out house.
Fast forward two weeks, on her birthday she received a Bobbi Brown make-up book. She studied that book and experimented with make-up. She has been waiting for the day to be able to offically put on make-up. She would practice when she had to put make-up for clogging. She has learned pretty well, much better than me. Her reading teacher even noticed that she wore make-up on her birthday. For the first week I wondered if buying that book was such a great idea with her telling me what I was not doing right. I am glad she is enjoying this new stage in her life. I hope that she continues to make good choices and have a love for everyone around her.

Sister's Weekend

Mother's Day weekend was my sister's weekend. It all started when my sister Beth and I decided to run a 5K together. She lives in Arizona. So started the process of finding a race and then deciding that if we did it in Utah we could try and involve more sisters. We started training at the end of February. I ran in rain, snow, wind, and sleet. Beth ran in sun, hot sun, and even hotter sun. I ran three times a week and by the end of March I was pretty much running it the whole way. By the time the race came around I was running it in 35 minutes. I was happy when I finished every run, but I still don't love to run.
Anyway, back to the sister's weekend, Beth and I triple dog dared my other sister's Vicki and Kim to be in the race also. They did accept. So, I took Friday off of work and headed down to pick up Kim. Then we picked Vicki and Beth at the airport. What fun it was to see them. I shouted and waved as they approached the baggage area. We headed out for a nice lunch at Winger's. We laughed and had just a wonderful time. We headed to Provo to check in at our hotel and race. We then headed to the mall to shop a little. We headed to the movies for a girls night out. The next morning, we headed out to the race. We lined up and waited nervously for the race to start. As we headed out we all kept our eyes on someone ahead of us to beat. Mine was a lady in pink. Vicki and Kim's was a pregnant lady and her 4 year old daughter. We completed the race without any mishaps. I was so proud of everyone for enduring well.
We had some breakfast and headed to the hotel to get ready for the day. We had lunch and dinner dates planned with aunts and cousins from both sides of our family. We had lunch with Aunt LaNay, Michelle, Antinonne at P.F. Chang's. I think we totally annoyed the waitress with how long we stayed and talked. We left a good tip. More shopping and then off to dinner with my mom's sister Aunt Janelle, Ginger, Jenny, and Jackie at Olive Garden. It was so fun to take the time to visit with our extended family, because we don't get to see them very often.
It was so sad that the weekend was coming to a close, but we all needed to get back to our own families. What fun to be with these good ladies and share of our love for each other. I hope this can happen next year. Love you.