The Larson Family

Cheer Competition in Cali!

2011-04-14T09:25:00.004-06:00

What is better than a cheer competition in Long Beach when it is snowing in Logan.... Not much! We had the chance to head to Cali for 5 days for Abby's cheer nationals. It was such a welcome short break to have a little sunshine and warm weather. We got to Long Beach on Friday and it was beautiful, sunny and very warm. Ahhhhh, finally. We walked down to the pier, and went to the aquarium, it was a fun afternoon ~ then we ended with dinner at PF Chang's.

High Point Allstar Cheer Squad

Saturday and Sunday they had to compete, but we were still able to get in some sunshine. It was such a great opportunity to get to know all of the other cheer moms a little better. Brad came with us....and he was the only dad that actually came with the team. One other dad was in Cali and met up with the team for competitions and another came with the whole family, but you heard it right only 3 dads total. What a great sport Brad is! He put up with a whole bunch of women/girls for 5 days and never even complained. We kept joking that he was our polygamist husband, haha. :) The girls/team did great at their performances. They hit the routine perfectly, all of their stunts and looked so clean! I was very proud of them.

Unfortunately, the competition was huge and they were up against many large cheer squads. They took 5th, but they would have gotten much higher at a regular competition here in Utah. Great Job Girls!!

Monday we spent the whole day at Disney/California Adventure. From dawn to midnight! We walked, and walked, and walked....but it was such a great day. We rode all of the rides that we wanted to in both parks and never really had to wait too long in lines ~ especially since we got fast passes to the most popular ones.

All in all it was just a great 5 days away from home, enjoying the sun, good friends and fun!

Disney!

Feeding the Lorkeets nectar

Abby, Addison, and Hallie at the aquarium

Ali and Abby's dinner!

Ra-Ra-Ra!

2011-03-22T18:28:00.000-06:00

Here she is! Our little (or actually not so little anymore) Cheerleader... This year Abby decided to compete in cheer rather than tumbling. Brad and I had already decided that once she decided she wanted to do something else that would be okay, we would let her. But it really isn't that easy - Abby is an amazing tumbler! But that has also helped her out with her cheer skills and her stunting. Although she has been busy, she has continued to go to tumbling practice for most of the year also, that puts her in the gym for 2.5 to 3 hrs 4-5 nights a week. And if you ask me, that is dedication. It has been very fun to watch her learn new skills and enjoy the cheerleading. She has a competition coming up in a few days here in Logan and she will be performing a solo/individual routine in that competition. Then on the 1st of April the whole High Point Cheer team will board a flight to Long Beach California for a National Competition out there. Abby is super dedicated and she puts herself out there 100% when she decides that she wants to do something. Great Job Abby and Good Luck in your upcoming competitions.

This that and the other...

2011-02-28T13:14:00.010-07:00

Guess it is time that I update the blog. My intentions are always good, but my time is what seems to get away from me! Life around the Larson Home has been pretty fast paced as of late. It seems that the days are going by very quickly, which in the sense of seasons is very good news. :) Brad was out of town for about a week to an Orthopaedic convention in San Diego. I decided to stay home and hold down the fort since it was Tim's first Ortho meeting and they could room together and hang out together... if I had gone, I would have just felt like a third wheel anyway (really, who wants to be a third wheel?). Well, Brad always has the BEST timing! It snowed 10 inches TWO times while he was gone! Thank goodness for great help. The first time was on a Wednesday night and I had just gone down to pick Abby up from cheer practice. It was seriously like an ice rink and I could not get up my driveway. We ended up leaving the car on the road for 1 1/2 hrs while we cleared just enough room for the car to make it up to the garage ~ in a BLIZZARD blowing SIDEWAYS! (Thanks Ab for your help, You rock!) Then I called my nephew, Taylor, and basically told him that he would be my hero if he would clear the rest of the driveway and steps while I was at work the next day! Voila! He did. Thanks Taylor. Then on Sunday ~ same thing.... 10 inches. This time my son-in-law, Doug, came over and was ever so kind to dig us out! Thanks Doug! We owe you big time. And...since Brad has been home it has snowed another 10 inches, I mean come on!! So, as far as the time flying by, let it fly, until we get to Spring and Summer.

I have been working a lot because we had a nurse move and we haven't quite gotten her replaced yet. It really takes up quite a bit of my time. It is taking Abby some getting used to it also, about the time she gets used to it I will be back around more ~ it is a never winning battle of change around here. ;) But she sure is good to roll with it.

Abby has been very busy with her cheer and tumbling practices. She had a cheer competition last month and was suppose to have one last Saturday, but it got cancelled because of the..... you guessed it SNOW! That was a bummer for her and the team, because they work so hard to practice and get ready. Abby was actually going to do a Solo competition Cheer/Tumbling routine, but now she will do it at the competition in March. It will be fun to watch her. I am going to do a separate post of her cheer pics.

Tanton has now been in Spain for about 6 weeks. He is absolutely loving it! He had his first official transfer (because he got there in the middle of a transfer) and now he is settled in with his companion a "native" that speaks minimal English on the coast ~ Vigo, Spain until their next transfer. He always sounds so happy and optimistic in his letters and e-mails home. That makes me very happy. I am extremely proud of him. You can always stay updated on how he is doing by checking into his blog where I post his weekly e-mail: elderjeppson.blogspot.com -- and yes, I do a much better job at keeping his blog up to date than I do at keeping my blog up to date ~ priorities, priorities.

I also had an amazing friend pass away unexpectedly about 10 days ago. She was an incredible lady. Our sons played hockey together, and she asked me early on, when Tanton was entering his freshman year, to be her co-trustee of the Sky View Hockey Team. I said "yes", and the rest is history. We became very good friends and worked extremely close over the next four years. I learned so much from her. I admired her. About 18 months ago she found out she had leukemia. She fought it. She had chemo treatments, she was tough. She won. Her cancer was in remission but her immune system was low and she got pneumonia. I had no idea she was ill until I heard that she passed away in her sleep, from pneumonia after beating cancer! I will miss her dearly, she will always hold a very special place in my heart and in my thoughts. She was a true woman of grace. I Love you Sheri!!

Relief....at last!

2011-01-22T10:14:00.002-07:00

SPAIN ~ FINALLY!! A week ago Wednesday I received a very unexpected phone call, it lasted exactly 5 minutes. It was Tanton! He was calling from the MTC to tell me that his visa had finally arrived and he would be traveling to Spain on Friday. First of all, it was so awesome to hear his voice! He sounded so good, so happy and so ready to get to Spain. After we hung up I could not stop smiling. My insides were ready to burst. I am so excited and so ready for Tanton to be in Spain and begin what he has been planning and preparing for. There was also this huge relief, almost like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I didn't realize how much I was worrying about his visa and all of the uncertainties that went along with it not arriving. If they were to re-assign him, where would he go? How long would he be there? Would his visa ever arrive? It was also a huge relief to have him get to Spain and be so far away that it wasn't constantly on my mind that he was only 2 hrs away!

On Friday he called from the airport and we were able to visit for a little while. Once again, he sounded so good. Just like my son, his funny little personality that I just love. :) He traveled with 5 other missionaries from the MTC to Madrid, Spain.

Elder Jeppson with Brother and Sister Earl. President of the Madrid MTC

Once they arrived in Spain they spent 4 days in the Madrid MTC. On Tuesday ~ the day before they were all sent out into the field ~ Eight of the new missionaries got on the Metro and went into Madrid city and were able to go sight seeing and checking it out. It sounds like it was a great experience for them.

Wednesday they were all assigned areas ~ the missionaries that were there to go to the Barcelona and Malaga missions left, and the others were put with companions to begin their journey. Tanton was assigned to be companions with an Elder Driggs, he is an AP (assistant to the President), so he is starting out with the "cream of the crop."

It is so good to have him in Spain, safe and sound. The relief and joy I feel at the same time has overwhelmed me. I am so excited for this part of Tanton's journey to begin. It will definitely be a very difficult mission (all those Catholics), but I feel confident that it will be the two best years of his life so far. I am so grateful for such a wonderful son, and a loving Heavenly Father! Life is good!

The Season...

2010-12-20T18:27:00.003-07:00

The season has been crazy. Busy, busy, busy. One day rushing into the next. One of these years I am going to get my shopping done early and be able to sit back and relax and watch everyone else run around with their heads cut off! That is what I have told myself for too many years.

Abby and her cousins, Cassie and Kylie

Last Friday we did spend the evening in Salt Lake with Brad's brothers and their families. We went to Temple Square to look at the millions and millions of beautiful lights, what an amazing job they do decorating.

Then on Saturday we spent the afternoon with my family having our family Christmas party. It is always an awesome time when I get to spend time with my sisters and their families. Quite honestly, there is nothing better than family.
On Sunday our ward did a sacrament meeting of musical numbers. I could feel the spirit pretty strong. I also could feel the absence of Tanton. I was sad that he wasn't there sitting with us, like he usually is. I was trying to think of the bright side and that is that he will only be away for two Christmases and one will already be down so quickly! But unfortunately, I am getting the sneaking suspicion that it is going to be very hard to not have him here this Christmas....

A good friend of mine gave me this poem, and I think it does an excellent job of summarizing my feelings.

A Missionary Christmas

I skipped the sales after Thanksgiving. The thrill just wasn’t there. No pictures taken with Santa Claus, My decorating has no flair. His presents are shoes, shirts, and ties, two suits and socks… no fun. I’ve bought him all white clothes because,

This year I’m giving Christ my son.

I’ve spent more time in the temple, my testimony stirred. I’ve reread November’s Ensign, felt strength come from His words. Our family prays more frequently. My tears are quick to run. Abraham seems closer because,

This year I’m giving Christ my son.

I wonder how those Lamanite mothers, gave their sons to war? Or how the pioneers chose Zion, their sacrifice was so much more. My loss will be his presence, I’ll miss his smile a ton. For two years we will pray for him,

I’m giving Christ my son.

I stare at his face when he’s not looking. I memorize his eyes, their shine. He’s always hungered for the part of Him that makes his soul divine. The stories and the lessons he always heard, his choice and mine are one. I’ll put my faith in God’s hands. This year,

I’m giving Him my son.

Past gifts have lost their glitter. I think I finally understand: Christ’s birth should be celebrated by giving Him a hand. It’s because I know Christ lives and reigns that all his packing’s done. My gift has taken years to make. This year,

I’m giving Christ my son.

I know there’s One who understands the sacrifice I’m making. Who knows the gift I willingly give, the toll it will be taking. For He has done it all before – greater love, there could be none. For years ago God gave to me,

His only begotten son.

The hands I washed, the hands I held, the hands I taught to pray; now knock the doors to find the ones who will listen to what he’ll say. Because I know Christ needs him, until all the gathering’s done. My gift has taken years to make.

This year…I’m giving Christ my son.

Time for an update, eh?

2010-12-03T21:40:00.002-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted anything! Life has been busy, it seems it just comes one thing after another...which can be good at times. It has now been just over three weeks since Tanton went into the MTC. He is still in Provo at the MTC, although he was suppose to fly to Spain on November 30. He said he is "an official visa waiter" now. He is just waiting for his visa to arrive then like six days later he will be off to Spain. I am praying that his visa will come after Christmas. I really think that it would be cool for Tanton to be in the MTC in Provo for Christmas. They have had so many cool devotional speakers and I really feel that the spirit would be strong. But....since I am not the one in charge of visa's, I am sure it will come when it is time, and that will be all good too. He is loving the MTC. He loves his companion, who is from Phoenix and thinks the snow is super cool. He really loves playing volleyball, and he even thinks the food is good! :) His Spanish is coming along very well also. But that is not a surprise to me. All is well. I have to admit, it was sad to know he was less than 2 hrs away and could not spend Thanksgiving with us, and I do miss him. But I love to get his weekly e-mails and he has even been a very good letter writer, which is impressive! He is happy, which makes for a happy mom ~ missing him ~ but happy for him!

Grandma Vinson

My Grandma Vinson turns 90 years old today! She is such an amazingly strong woman. Since I have not had my mother around since I was so young, my grandma has played an even bigger role in my life. She has really been there for me and my sisters through the years and we have really been here for her. That is what family is all about and it is great. We are so blessed to continue to have my grandmother in our lives, she is very bright and her mind is completely intact. Sometimes I feel like she can remember things better than I do! We had a surprise party for her last weekend, it turned out great. What a fantastic way to show her what she means to all of her family!

Now, I guess it is time to turn my thoughts to Christmas. I cannot believe that it is only 3 weeks away! I tell you, before I know it we will be half way through January.
Merry Christmas! May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas, and feel the spirit this holiday season.

I Need A Hug!

2010-11-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

My boy left yesterday and it will be two years before I’ll see him.

No, I wouldn’t choose winter for Tanton to leave. Think of all he’ll miss: Hockey games, building snow jumps and snowboarding down them, Christmas lights, late nights reading books under a cozy blanket, family dinners, doing doughnuts on a snowy night in the parking lot. No–I wouldn’t choose Winter.

No, I wouldn’t choose spring for Tanton to leave. Think of all he’ll miss: Easter Egg hunts, planting flowers, flying kites, watching our trees blossom, cleaning up the yard, birds hatching in the nest in our trees, Memorial Day, putting flowers on graves at the cemetery. No–I wouldn’t choose Spring.

No, I wouldn’t choose summer for Tanton to leave. Think of all he’ll miss: Our annual Lake Powell trip, riding his motorcycle, gazing at the stars, the 4th of July, No–I wouldn’t choose Summer.

No, I wouldn’t choose fall for Tanton to leave. Think of all he’ll miss: carving pumpkins, corn mazes, the beautiful colors of the trees, Thanksgiving, his birthday. No–I wouldn’t choose Fall.

Tanton did leave us on a cold, winter-like day–November 10, 2010.

I got to spend quite a bit of quality time with Tanton in the months before he left. We even had a mother-son day 10 days ago and spent the day in Salt Lake together. What a well prepared young man. I am not worried about him not being able to take care of himself...he can cook for himself, he can do his laundry, he has been very independent for the last few years. He has a great head on his shoulders, and most of all he is being watched over by his Heavenly Father.

I thought I’d be an absolute wreck and would spend the next few weeks crying. I’m surprised at the peace and joy I feel. Yes–he’s missing out on all the fun winter activities we will be having. But–he’s spreading his wings and flying and there’s nowhere I’d rather him be.

Be strong and brave and cheerful, my boy.

God be with you ’til we meet again–in the Fall/Winter of 2012.

Family Pictures.... a very rare occasion!

2010-11-02T21:10:00.003-06:00

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

The whole family

Tanton

AbbyJade

Tanton, Dylan, Tim holding Natalie, Melissa holding Sophie, Abby, Brad, Kelly, Trey, Krista, Doug holding Krew, Greg and Kristina

Tanton, Brad, Kelly and Abby

Melissa, Sophie, Dylan, Tim and Natalie

Krew, Doug, Trey and Krista

Greg and Kristina

Ready, Set....SMILE!

2010-10-10T14:11:00.000-06:00

Wow! I know.

Kellee Smith took Greg and Kristina's wedding pictures. Later, she called me and said that she couldn't get Abby off her mind and wanted to photograph her and use her in some of her concept shoots that she has planned coming up.

Great!

We have some photos upstairs of Abby and Tanton that have not been changed out in 8 years, and I have really been wanting to get that done before Tanton leaves on his mission. So, we took about 45 minutes for a quick session and took some picture in a field just around the corner from our house. They turned out marvelous!

I love, love, love them!!

These are the ones that she put on her blog:

momentsbykellee.com

you can go there to see it. You can also go there and look at the whole session. Click on photo proof and the password is larson. I just ordered the pictures so she will be giving me a disc with the session on it.

Such talent...and beautiful models!

LaKe PoWelL JuNkiE!!

2010-10-09T22:24:00.000-06:00

Oh Beautiful Lake Powell..... I am a total Lake Powell Junkie. Once the planning & packing are done and the food is bought it is Heaven for the rest of the week. This year we went quite late, The first week of September. Our summer was quite busy, one thing after another...and Tanton gave the ol' "you mean it will be 3 years that I will miss Lake Powell?" guilt trip (since he is leaving on his mission in November) -- so I got online and booked a houseboat for 5 days instead of our regular week. Then Tanton ended up only being able to come for 2 of the days!! Oh well, It all worked out in the end.

Brad, myself, Abby and her friend, Alexis, went down together. Tanton came down with his dad and Marnie for the first two days. It was great to have Sil and Marnie there. We are so blessed that we all get along as well as we do, Brad and I consider Sil and Marnie wonderful friends! Marnie brought her camera and took some ridiculously great pictures... which means that she is not in any of our pictures, bummer!

A couple of our other friends, Ken & Janae Lester came down with their boat and their 2 boys and 2 friends on Saturday and stayed until Monday evening. It was so much fun to have them there. It has been way too long since we have gotten together with Ken and Janae, they are wonderful friends, and we laughed a lot. We are so glad they came down.

Here is Abby, Alexis and the 4 boys that came with the Lesters. They are hiking up through Hole in the Rock.

Brad surfing, he did awesome! He dropped the rope and kept on surfing for quite a while!

Brad water skiing... of course, this is Marnie's photography!

Abby and her sunglasses, with Sil and Tanton in the reflection.

Abby water skiing, she just keeps getting better every year... little studette!

Abby even started catching some air when she crossed the wake while wake boarding. Looking good Bugs, soon you will be a professional. ;)

But tubing still remains the FAVORITE thing to do! At least these girls are young and flexible. I don't think my old body could take it for very long at all, but these kids can do it all day long!

Now here we go... I have become quite the woosy and I basically only like to water ski at Lake Powell now, where the water is super warm. Ohhhh, I used to ski anywhere on anything and those were the days!

Cousin "it" on Abby's head.

Tanton waterskiing, he only does this a couple times a year.

Tanton surfing, he could surf literally minutes at a time without holding on to the rope, it is super fun to watch. Too bad I can't figure out how to get myself up on the surf board!

And....Tanton wake boarding. Basically, he rocks at it. He landed a back flip a few times, then just played around a lot. He makes it look sooo easy it is sickening. But as I said, watch out Tanton, your little sis is gonna have 2 years on ya, eh.

All in all it was a great time. For a Lake Powell Junkie it really couldn't be bad... I just don't think we will go that late in the year again. The nights and mornings got a bit chilly (something we are not used to at Lake Powell for sure). We were bummed that more of our family could not be there, but the planning was not the best and it was thrown in last minute. But I tell you what ~ we will be there again next year for sure, once if not twice.

Better late than never?!? - Hilton Head

2010-09-27T18:58:00.000-06:00

Finally! A family vacation, with ALL of us.... since Tanton is leaving to go on his mission soon, we thought it would be the perfect time to get everyone together, spend some quality family time, and get the much needed family picture taken.

Brad and I searched the internet and found this fabulous 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom home to rent on Hilton Head Island ~ which is just off the coast of South Carolina. The house was so nice and so perfect. One of the biggest "hits" of the house was the swimming pool out back.

The island was so beautiful and amazing. It was lush green with biking paths everywhere, we rented some bikes and took several bike rides. I do think, however, that we were there during the hottest week of the the summer. The heat and humidity were nothing like I have ever felt. I do admit that I loved it...but after a few weeks it would get old. That is how hot and humid it was.

We drove close to an hour away back to Savannah, Georgia to check out the city. It is an old city with much history. We foolishly decided to take the "Trolley Tour", which was interesting and we learned and saw quite a bit. But the heat about killed off everyone, especially the young kids.
Savannah's pebble street, down by the the river and near some quaint little shops.

The STEEP stairs, now those could be dangerous and break a hip or two!
Fun on the beach..

Abby and Sophie doing some tumbling moves
Tanton, Abby, Greg and Kristina
Tim and Melissa's familyAunt Abby and her shadow ~ little Miss Sophie
Doug and Krista's family
Greg & Tanton throwing, twisting and twirling Abby into the pool Abby, Trey and Sophie
Krista, Krew, Melissa and Dylan

The pool, so much fun and such a great time for the kids. It was great to be able to get everyone together for a week of hanging out. Sadly, the time goes by so fast and we are always busy doing so many things that we didn't even spend much time just sitting around catching up with one another. We did get our family photographs taken out on the beach by the ocean. A local photographer took them. We are still waiting for them to arrive... I will post them when they arrive. They turned out fantastic!!

The time is flying by.... so fast!!

2010-08-29T18:21:00.000-06:00

Life continues to unravel before me and I don't quite feel like I have my feet on the ground or control of my own surroundings. When Tanton got his mission call on June 30, it says that he is to report the the MTC on November 10.... okay, a little over 4 months, I can handle that. Well, it seems like he just barely got his call and 2 months are already gone! AHHHH!!

I honestly cannot believe how quickly the time is going. But, since he got his call he was ordained an Elder (pictures below) and he received his endowments at the temple. That was such a great experience. I continue to be so proud of him and the choices that he has made this far in his life. But mostly I am happy because he is so happy, and genuinely happy. What more could a mother ask for?

He was ordained by his dad, Sil, and we were lucky to have Greg and Kristina in town. It was on the 25th of July and Brad's brother, Blake, had just arrived in town for a week ~ so he as well as Brad's other brother Todd came over for the ordination. The following Friday, on July 30, (one month after receiving his call) we were all able to attend the temple together for Tanton's first time.

I am kinda freaking out because the time is going by so quickly. But, for Tanton I am sure the time is crawling. He is ready to go and he is ready to get to Spain...and he is so excited and proud that he wears his Spain belt buckle whether it matches what he is wearing or not! I love it!

AbbyJade is finally 12!!

2010-08-22T18:07:00.000-06:00

The time is moving so fast, my head is spinning and I cannot believe that Abby is going to be starting school this Thursday. What?!? Where did the summer go?? Honestly. Well, here is my baby girl, holding her youngest niece (Natalie). She is finally 12. NO MORE PRIMARY. Hooray!

Abby has grown into such a super fun, spunky and beautiful young lady. She is very thoughtful to those around her and although we are just reaching those "fun" teenage years, I am loving every minute of having her as my daughter and sharing her life with her. The ups and the downs. I am sure there will be plenty. Being a young teenage girl is not what I would choose to be again, especially these days. But Abby is doing such a great job. I love her just so much!!

So, it was the day after Tanton got his Mission Call that we hopped on an airplane. It was July 1, and it was Abby's birthday. We flew out to North Carolina to see Tim/Melissa and Dylan, Sophie and Natalie. Natalie's blessing was on Sunday, July 4 and we wanted to be there for that. She looked so beautiful in her blessing dress. Natalie is a little angel and she is just an extra special little girl. We spent some time with the family, went to an interactive museum, went to Natalie's blessing on Sunday -- which went very well and we were glad that we could be there.

After the blessing some of Tim and Melissa's friends had a 4th of July BBQ. It was a perfect day in Charlotte, NC. The temp was great, not very humid, what a beautiful day. Aunt Abby is always a favorite amongst the nephews and nieces. I don't know what it is but they sure do love her!! And I must say ~ she sure is a great Aunt. I would choose her for my aunt also if I were 2 or 4 years old.

After the BBQ we went to a local golf course for fireworks. The kids sure enjoyed that. But of course, after about 5 minutes they are all the same ~ and the kids just want to run around.
On Monday we headed for home. It sure was fun to see everyone. Dylan and Sophie warmed up to us really quickly considering they don't get to see us very often. We do try to Skype with them so they can remember who we are! ;) What a fun time, what great weather, and what a cute little family. ♥

Madrid Spain

2010-07-22T09:24:00.000-06:00

Tanton got his Mission Call!! He will be serving in the Madrid, Spain mission.

Wow! This is so exciting. The anticipation wondering where my son would be living and serving for the next two years. I am really happy about his call. I was super nervous that he would be called somewhere very unsafe (not that Spain can't be unsafe), I feel calm and happy inside.

Tanton was such a super sport when he received his call. I have always dreamed of him opening it with everyone gathered around ~ like you hear about. And that is how it happened! Brad, myself, and Abby were here. Sil and Marnie came over. Krista drove down from girl's camp -- just to be here when he opened it -- so Krista and Doug were here. My sis Stac came, my niece Kortni and her son Haiden. Tanton's girlfriend, Kylie, was right by his side, and one of Tanton's very good friends, Austin, got somebody to stay to work late so he could be here while Tanton opened it. ~~ and that is just in person- we had Tim and Melissa, who live in North Carolina on Skype, Greg on speaker phone from Salt Lake City and Colby (Tanton's brother) and Taylor (Tanton's cousin) on speaker phone. What great support! THANK YOU, THANK YOU! To everyone that came or phoned to support Tanton in this exciting huge new phase of his life. I know it meant a lot to him, as it did to me. :)

Tanton, Kylie & Austin

Tanton and AbbyDoug and Krista
Kortni, Haiden, Stacy

Everyone keeps asking me how I feel about Tanton going to Spain, leaving for 2 years!! You know, I am going to miss him like crazy, but I can honestly say that I have not ever seen a young man so excited, and prepared to go out and serve. That is where Tanton's heart is and that is what he is ready for and wanting to do. How can I not be just so happy and beamingly proud of him. He is going for all of the right reasons, for himself and for the people of Spain. Right now he is adding strength and spirit in our home, it feels great. The people in Spain will be blessed to have him for 2 years.... Now, check with me again after he leaves and I am sure I will be a mess!! :)

**on another note ~ the day after Tanton got his mission call Abby had a birthday - Big #12 and we went out to North Carolina for 5 days.... so I do have a few more posts to catch up. Slowly but surely.

About time for an Update....

2010-06-27T22:02:00.000-06:00

Time just seems to be flying by so quickly, it seems that I have a hard time getting my blog updated lately... and the sad thing is that some of the most exciting things are happening. I hope I can stay on top of my updates a little bit better.

STATE CHAMP!!

Yes, our Abby has done it again. State Champion on Trampoline for her 4th year in a row. Now that is quite an accomplishment. I am so proud of her and all the time she puts in at the gym practicing and preparing herself to do such a great job. She must love it too, because she never complains. Gotta love that!!

Tanton graduated!! I honestly can't believe that he has gotten this old so quickly. I can still vividly remember when he was only a couple days old and I was taking him for a walk around the block in my arms. Now he could probably carry me in his arms (mind you, it wouldn't be too far). Ü He is such a handsome young man and I could not be more proud of him and the decisions that he has and is making in his life. I am very honored and grateful to have been chosen to be his mom.Doug, Brad, Krista, Abby, T, me and GregAunts Kathy, Stacy and KimMarnie's mom, Gavin, Marnie, T, Sil, Grandma Jeppson and Caden.

A kiss from both moms

We also had a new precious addition to our family. Little Natalie was born in March. She is so darling and sweet. She was born without the sense of hearing. Through the wonderful miracles of modern technology and medicine Tim and Melissa are hoping that she will be able to have her first cochlear implant by the time she turns one. We are flying out to North Carolina on Thursday to meet Natalie for our first time and be there for her blessing. We are so excited to see the whole family. It seems that so much time passes between each visit. I will keep you updated on Natalie's progression.

AND...coming up we are going to be having a BIG BIRTHDAY. Abby is going to be turning 12. Hooooray. Today was her last day of Primary. She was thrilled about that. We are also expecting Tanton's MISSION CALL this Wednesday. Oh, the suspense. I will post about these exciting and important events coming up in our family.

Surprise!!

2010-04-21T10:20:00.000-06:00

Brad totally surprised me with a surprise birthday party for my 40th birthday! I thought I was going to dinner with a girlfriend, but lo and behold, I was going to dinner with about 60 friends and family from various areas of my life. It was such a surprise and so much fun.

Birthday girl ~ with "over the hill" hat on. I think over the hill is at 50? Because I'm not quite feeling it yet!Surprised!

Thank you so much to my hubby. It was truly an awesome night.

Family, childhood friends, work friends, neighborhood friends & just friends...

from all different areas of my life. Now this took some work to get them all together!
With 3 of my childhood/highschool/adult friends. We have been friends for 35 yrs!

Brad had a band (a very, very good band), and we danced after the dinner. Good times.
We even did the Hokey Pokey!
Later that weekend, Brad made me another cake.

40 was a great birthday! Thanks for everyone that came and a huge Thanks to you babe for planning it. Love you.

Tumble Princess

2010-04-21T09:21:00.000-06:00

The tumbling season is going well. Abby has added a variety of harder skills to her routines, so she continues to advance in her difficulty. She is preparing herself for the National meet in Virginia Beach at the end of June. But next up is the state meet in Heber in a few weeks. She should be very proud, she pushes herself pretty hard and she really is amazing!

Time Sure Does Fly!!

2010-04-01T18:08:00.000-06:00

Okay, so can you believe this tiny, handsome little 7 wk old boy is already a handsome young adult?!? I just really don't know where those 18 1/2 years have gone. And it is really starting to scare me just a little bit.
We had our final Hockey Banquet. It was very bitter sweet for me. I am a little excited that I will not be so busy with hockey anymore since I have been the co-trustee for the team for the past 3 years. But I am also sick to my tummy that Tanton is really done playing high school hockey. Wow! I am becoming so much more sentimental about all of this "growing up", graduating, and moving on than I thought I would be. I am the mom who usually can't wait for the kids to be 5 and start into kindergarten. It is really making me realize how precious time is and how quickly it passes. Tanton has really grown into a very responsible, kind, loving, handsome young man.....

But, look at these two sets of parents that love him so much, and are so proud of him! He knows that we all love and support him in whatever he does. I sure wish I had had so many parents around to love and guide me!
He does all of the work to be such a great young man, but we are there with full support.

I am so PROUD to call Tanton my son!

Hockey!

2010-03-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

JEPPSON #57

Tanton, 11 yrs old front row left.... 7 yrs ago when hockey all started.

It is totally crazy to think that Tanton is done playing high school hockey! The season is so long, I thought that I would wait until the end of the season to write up a post all about HOCKEY. The year was a fairly good year for the Sky View hockey team, considering they lost 13 seniors last year....

Tanton was chosen to play on the all-star team at the end of the year comprised of players from all of the different teams through out the state ~ the ALL STAR players, of course. He played for team North and last night team North beat team South 8-2. Hooray! Tanton was one of 3 goalies (from the North), so each of them played 1 period. Tanton was the only goalie in the whole game that had a shut out! He did not allow any goals scored during his period. I am so proud of him, and what a great way to end his high school hockey career.

Tanton on all-star team ~ front and center goalie

Tanton and Tanner Gray

It has been so much fun watching him play for the last few years, I am definitely going to miss this.

Belize--a little Heaven on Earth!

2010-02-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Finally! I am blogging about mine and Brad's amazing vacation to Belize.
We flew into Belize city and took a very small "puddle jumper" over to the island Ambergris Caye (pronounced "key"). There is one main city on Ambergris Caye, San Pedro. This city has basically 3 streets. To go to most of the resorts or accommodations on the island you take a water taxi and head up North. What a beautiful island.

This first collage is some pictures around the island. We walked up and down the beach from our resort about 1/2 hour each direction, a couple of the pics are right in front of our resort so it is actually OUR BEACH which was Gorgeous. Remember: if you want to see any of the pictures more closely you can click on the picture to bring it into full view. :)

Here are a few of Brad and I when we were getting ready to go diving. We had our own personal dive master, Carlos. He was fabulous. He was born and raised on the island. He told us a ton about he island and the dive spots and all sorts of interesting stories. One of the most interesting stories he told us was that the name "Ambergris" means "vomit of the whale" because mother whales used to hang out up by the island when they were pregnant with their young and they would vomit. Well, the vomit was a black greasy substance that would accumulate on the beach -- and that is how the island got its name. The whales have since been scared off from all of the tourism. But I thought that was an interesting story. The other pictures were of us snorkeling in the park in Shark and Ray alley. You can see a few manta ray in our pictures.

These pictures are of our darling bungalow that we stayed in. We stayed at a resort called The Matachica which means small palms... it consists of everyone having their own little bungalow. Inside the bungalow you have your bed, a closet and a bathroom. None of the rooms had a TV or telephone. It was so nice. If you click and enlarge the pictures you will see that they are darling little places. We started out in the Kiwi (they are all named for their color) and they upgraded us to ocean front for our last few days of our trip -- which were spent in the Tangerine. The bottom right picture was taken from our Tangerine rooms front door, that is how close to the ocean we were. It was such a quiet and relaxing time, we could honestly sit on our beach and only see 20 people all day long.

When the sad day came that we had to come back home we went back to the town of San Pedro. I got a kick out of their airport. Check out these pictures of their baggage claim and their runway and the bottom right picture is where you wait until it is your turn to get on the plane! Such a simple place, and oh so wonderful. The other 3 pictures were taken during the 15 minute flight between Ambergris Caye and Belize City. Along Belize there is the worlds 2nd largest reef so the water is pretty shallow and there are several islands. It was a very pretty flight. You can tell how shallow the water is from the pictures. It was such a great vacation. I had such a super time with my husband, I really love the person that he is when we are away from all of the stress of work! :)
Are we going to go back again? You better BELIZE it!!

First Tumbling Meet: First Place!

2010-02-09T13:55:00.001-07:00

So far so good! On January 31 Abby had her first tumbling meet of the season and she did awesome! She ended up taking FIRST PLACE in both events that she competed ~ tumbling (floor) & trampoline. What a great way to start the season.

Top of the podium for Tumbling routine

Abby, Alexis & Coach Dana

Top of the podium for Trampoline routine

Proud Mom!

AbbyJade in action.....Great Job ~ We are so proud of you! ♥

All Decorated Up!

2009-11-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving is spent decorating our house with all of our Christmas decorations. It generally takes a full day to get it all up, so I like to get it up right after Thanksgiving so that we can enjoy it for the full month of December, because come January 1- I am usually ready for it all to be down and put away and ready for the New Year! This year I went to Ogden with my sister to grab a few things on Friday. Brad spent the whole day putting lights outside on the trees, etc. It looks so awesome. I was so thankful that he did that for me while I was gone.... because I know he did do it for me. (He really doesn't care as much.) Saturday I spent the whole day getting the inside of the house done, except Brad and Abby helped with the tree. It is always a wonderful feeling when it is finally done. Hoooooray!

Our Christmas tree is prelit, but we always put a few extra strands of decorative lights on it. It is super pretty all lit up at night. Love, love, love it!

Last year I made this cute Jingle Bells, and I also love snowmen.

Santa

Our Nativity Set.

I just bought these stinkin' cute stockings this year. I actually have 2 more , but I haven't hung them up yet. This will be the first year that Brad and I actually stuff a stocking for each other since we have been married. It should be fun!

Fun candy cane candles.

Little Village, it looks super cute all lit up at night.

And that is really about it! A few more things here and there, but I figured I had posted enough! Now, my goal is to get my Christmas shopping done in the next two weeks! Lets see how that goes!

Happy Holidays!

Halloween

2009-11-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

Tis' that wonderful time of season again -- Halloween. Brad and I debated if it is even a holiday. But whatever it is, it is kind of crazy. Abby was just sure she wanted to be a leprechaun, so that she is (in case you were wondering).. I asked her. "Why a leprechaun?" and she said, "Because I like the color green." Hmmmm, interesting. She is here with her friend Hadlee, aka: Minnie Mouse and Marissa, aka: A Dead Bride. Yes, they sure have fun costumes as they get older. But, I guess it's all about the candy, as they all 3 headed out the door with a pillowcase in hand.
Now, this is when trick-or treating is cute! Here are the grand kids: Trey as Batman and Krew as Robin. Krew didn't really care, he just wanted to give you a lick of his lollipop. But Trey was wound up pretty tight. Fun, Fun.
We didn't get to see these grand kids trick-or-treating all the way out in N. Carolina. So I stole the picture of Facebook. Here is Dylan as Peter Pan and Sophie as Tinkerbell.... Oh how I love Tinkerbell! I just love it when little siblings stay with the same theme and match.

STINKIN' CUTE!!

Volleyball Girl

2009-10-31T11:05:00.000-06:00

Abby just finished up with a rec volleyball league. She had a blast. She is actually quite the little volleyball player! She started out fairly good, but with the assistance of a good pair of knee pads she really improved and was diving and saving all sorts of hits. It was really fun to watch her play, improve and just love to go each week and really have a ton of fun. Now, how are we going to fit this new love in with all of her new activities?? (ha, ha ~ I am sure we can!) Her team did a great job as well. During the tournament they took the only undefeated team to game 3 and the score had to go up to 18 -16 before they finally beat us. (They usually go to 15) Our girls did awesome, and I must mention -- this other team ate their Wheaties! They were 3 times the size of our girls.

Great Job Team Force!

You Gals Rock!

My baby boy is 18!

2009-10-27T11:00:00.000-06:00

The craziest thing happened. Tanton turned 18! Wow! On September 30, eighteen years ago I became a mother. At that time it would have seemed like forever before he would turn 18, and here it is. I could not be prouder of this boy, he is such a well rounded, fun young man. Happy Birthday Tanton!
Tanton's step-mom, Marnie, always spoils him with a cake of his choice ~ she does a fabulous job, but I really think she out did herself this time. Here he is with his IRON MAN cake. Real working lights and all!

Girls Weekend...cont.

2009-10-24T20:20:00.000-06:00

After such a great day in Yellowstone Park, and getting home so late -- I think it was like 2 am by the time we went out the West Yellowstone entrance and drove back to Driggs. We slept in a little and spent the next day, Saturday, in Jackson Hole. We shopped, and shopped, and shopped...and shopped. This place called "The Round Up" is closing, so they were having clearance on all of their items, well you got it - Ol' Josh sold a pair of cowboy boot to each of us!! What suckers we are! Jackson is fun and we had a great time. Later, we ate at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. Marcy and I shared a dish that had buffalo in it..we joked that it was probably the poor sucker we saw as road kill the night before (and how true it probably was!). Our dinner was very good, so was the country band playing. I am a HUGE country music fan ~ Marcy on the other hand thought every song sounded the same, oh she has much to learn. :)

The next morning we got up and after getting ready we stopped by some gorgeous waterfalls that I have never even seen on our way home. They were about an hour North between Driggs and Rexburg ~ called Mesa Falls. Very much worth our detour.

Marcy ended up staying for about a week. We had such a wonderful time. She is just one of the sisters now. It was a much needed fun, relaxed time we all had. She fit in perfectly and we were all so comfortable around each other it was almost scary! Needless to say, we now have a very good, new friend/sister that lives up in Chicago. Now, we just need to plan where our next vacation will be. Hmmmm.

Way too much fun!!

2009-10-24T15:28:00.000-06:00

Back in April when my sisters and I took our boys to Hawaii we met a friend from Chicago, her name is Marcy. We kept in touch on FaceBook and kept saying that we needed to get together again sometime. Well, Marcy decided to come on out West to visit us -- and we had a "GIRLS TRIP" up to Yellowstone, Jackson, etc. We had an absolute blast!

Most people might find it a little odd to meet a total stranger on a cruise, know them for a few short days and then spend a week with them a few months later on your own vacation. But that is what happened with us. When she first told us she was going to come out to visit we were like where should we take her in "Utah"?? So, we decided to take her on up to Idaho, Wyoming and Montana! We took the scenic route up to our condo in Driggs, Idaho where we spent all of our nights. This is where our game playing and "Slumber Parties" took place...

On Friday we got up kind of early because we knew we had to conquer the whole Yellowstone Park in ONE DAY, and we wanted to find very animal there was to see!! We started out seeing a Mama moose with a baby. Next we got to Old Faithful withing 10 minutes of her going off... our timing was perfect! Good start so far. The weather was perfect: sunny, beautiful, 4 girls, laughing our guts out, having an absolute blast!! Next we saw a huge buffalo just meandering down the road, holding up traffic, just like he owned the place. Now, remember Marcy is from the city - CHICAGO - she has not seen anything like this. Her hands were shaking. She could hardly take a picture. Then we say elk, deer, more buffalo, the regular Yellowstone stuff - which Marcy loved every second of. The country was so beautiful -- but our true goal was to find a BEAR! We headed all the way up to the top Yellowstone Park (because that is where the bear were suppose to be). That is where we got out to go and see a cool waterfall and lo and behold -- there was a huge buffalo just walking right down the road toward us from the campground. It was so Crazy! Marcy about died, she was sure it was going to charge her since she had a red jacket on! LOL!! On our way back down we saw another car pulled over, we looked up and could see something black, we thought it was a black bear - Marcy FREAKED OUT!! She started yelling "What do we do! What do we do?" It was sooooo funny. Well, it ended up being a black Wolf and a silver Wolf -- which is pretty darn cool, too. But we were still on the hunt for our BEAR. We even said "this day has been so great the only thing that would top it off would be to have a bear sighting".

It was getting later and it would be getting dark soon. Our hopes were fading. Everyone had told us that there hadn't been a bear sighting in like 2 or 3 weeks, they had gone higher in the mountains. So we decided to go back to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone before we left the park. As we got close to the Grand Canyon we saw a car that was HAULING BUTT in reverse as we were coming toward it -- we knew it had seen something. So we looked to our right so see and right there out in this golden meadow was this HUGE GRIZZLY BEAR running through the meadow from one grove of trees to another. I cannot even tell you how beautiful it was!! I was so incredible. All of our adrenalin was going, we turned and stopped with the other car. Then of course, several other cars stopped -- but they didn't see the bear! We were so LUCKY. We stayed and he went from one grove of trees to another. Then stayed there. We waited in our car....... until it was pitch black. We were just sure that bear was going to come out and we would see him. Yes, we were the only car sitting there until 8:30 pm. What a day....
You would think that would be the end, huh?? Well, on the way out of the park we saw some flashing lights - ahead we passed an ENORMOUS BUFFALO dead in the road. A truck had barely hit and killed it. It was so sad and such an incredible sight to see such a big animal lying there dead in the road. Marcy wanted to pull out her camera, I told her we couldn't because the Park Rangers... but I must confess the next morning I would have given anything to have a picture of that incredible sight. I felt sad still, but it is something I will never see again, and I couldn't get it out of my head!
Well, there is one day.... what a great time!

Charlotte, North Carolina

2009-10-23T21:31:00.000-06:00

For Labor Day weekend (Sept 4-6)Brad and I went out to Charlotte to see Tim, Melissa and the kids. We knew we would see them Oct. 10 for Greg's wedding, but it had just been so long since we had been out there due to our schedules, our kid's schedules, etc. It is always good to see them at their own home, see some home improvements they have done and so on. Those little grand kids grow so fast!! It is amazing how much more Dylan knows each time we see them, and poor Sophie had a splint on her right leg from her hip to her toe due to a small fracture in her shin. She sure learned to wobble around with that splint on quick though. The kids were darling, they warmed up to us super quick, even Tim and Melissa were surprised at how quickly they warmed up to us -- especially Brad. Probably because of his strong resemblance to Tim.
Tim had a 4 day weekend, which is RARE, it was nice that we could spend so much time with the whole family. We went to a minor league baseball game, that was actually played in South Carolina. Then on Saturday we went to the National Whitewater Center. It is a super cool place that is actually all man made, but has class II and class III, and IV rapids. You can raft or kayak at this place. Brad and Tim went on a whitewater rafting adventure. Melissa and I stayed and tried to entertain the children. They were very good, but this is probably not the best place for kids, and the temp was like 100 degrees. The guys absolutely loved it! Then Brad, Tim, and I went on the zip-line. It was a fun ride.
Melissa got to be a spectator because the day before they broke the good news that they are EXPECTING THEIR 3RD little amigo!

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time. Thanks again, Tim & Missy!

Slacker!

2009-10-14T11:32:00.000-06:00

Kathy, Kelly, Marcy, Stacy @ Mesa Falls

I have not updated my blog in forever! Wow! I have been so, so busy with one thing after another that I had not had the time to sit down and just get this done. Hopefully soon I wil be able to update, but these are the things that we have been up to around our home... and beyond.

1. Lake Powell - we went to Lake Powell for a week with the Gunnell family. Oh, we had such a great time and did so many crazy things. I can't wait to show.

2. North Carolina - Brad and I went out to N. Carolina to visti Tim, Melissa and the kiddos. We did some really fun things while we were out there also. It was great to see Dylan and Sophie and how much they had grown up.

3. Driggs, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole -when we were on our cruise to Hawaii with our boys we met a friend from Chicago. She flew out to visit, so me and my sisters took her up north to see some sights. We had such a blast! We laughed so much - it felt great. I have lots of pics and stories to tell to go with that adventure also.

4. Tanton's 18th Birthday! My little boy has become an adult. Tanton had his 18th birthday on Sept 30. So crazy to think. I am so proud of him, yet so sad to see him grow so old.

5. Phoenix - Abby and I went to Phoenix to see my friend Steph Honing. We picked a perfect weekend to go. It was her UEA break and the weather here really sucked. We enjoyed 85-90 degree weather there and flew in to 40 degree weather in Salt Lake.... that was sad.

6. Greg got married! On Oct 10 Greg and Kristina got married. What a wonderful day. Everything turned out beautifully. I believe the happy couple was very pleased. So, lots to say and post...

7. Company - We had Tim/Melissa and the kiddos staying at our house, so we were able to enjoy their company.

But now after what seemed like a whirlwind - I will hopefully be able to catch up on my blog one event at a time!

Hiking the Wellsvilles

2009-08-06T20:35:00.000-06:00

On Friday, July 31, 2009, Brad, Abby and I hiked to the very top of the Wellsville Mountains! This is something that Brad and I have been saying that we wanted to do for a few years, but have just never actually done it. We got up, and with camelbacks on our backs began our hike at 7:30 am. In the pictures below you can see that the trail starts out... as a trail, but the further we got the more overgrown the trail was and there were several random rocks and tree trunks/roots sticking out, so we really had to watch our footing as we hiked. For about the first 1 and 1/2 hours we were in the trees, then we broke out of the trees and the trail at this point was extremely overgrown and narrow, but there was a trail, nevertheless!

As we were hiking and hiking, we got to a point where the trail went down in a ravine and then looked like it kind of wrapped around toward the back of the mountain. At this point we had been hiking 2 1/2 hours or so, so Brad pointed to the top of the mountain and said "Well, that is where we want to go, I say we just head straight up this mountainside." Abby and I totally agreed. (LITTLE did we know what we were getting ourselves into!!) Note: the pic of Brad and Abby standing almost vertically with the mountainside. Yes! That is where we went. Oh, how I learned to appreciate that little "overgrown" trail. We were blazing our way through sagebrush and bushes that were brutal! ... And we were going straight up the mountain. Along the way we found some perfectly formed seashells, which was kind of cool. I guess left over from years ago when Lake Bonneville once covered the area. We made it to the top! Hurray!

It was beautiful. You could see the whole Cache Valley and down into Brigham City. We sat at the top and ate our lunch, rested our weary feet and enjoyed the view for about an hour. Then ounce again our journey began. As we tried to find the trail that we left to take back down.....

We couldn't find the trail, so we had to make our way down the mountainside, once again, blazing our own trail. :) About 1/2 way down, we could see the trail, but the trick was to find it. Which eventually we did. But first we had to go through our sagebrush, down rock slides, and through a jungle of plants as tall as we were, which we realized partway through was 3/4 stinging nettle. Ha, ha. Something to laugh about now! But what an adventure. We had a great family adventure. It ended up taking us 8 1/2 hours. If we ever do it again, we will definitely not leave the trail. I bet we could do it in less than 7 hours! Other than a few bruises and blisters on the feet, we came through like Champs! And just a little bit of trivia info: The Wellsville Mountains are the steepest mountains in the US from base to top - due to how narrow and tall they are. (Google it!)

And we climbed those mountains, baby!

Lake Powell.... Part 2

2009-08-04T00:10:00.000-06:00

So, the blog would not let me download all of my collages onto one post. Yeah! I will make two posts. The following are my incredibly talented kids doing their water sports. (In case you didn't read my disclaimer in my blog title: this is a place for me to "brag") Tanton is amazing at wakeboarding. He even landed one of his flips, and the surfing... we just barely started it and he seemed to get that down pretty quick, too. Our new boat has the ballast bags that you can fill to make bigger wakes. This makes it so that you can surf and even let go of the rope. There is a video of Tanton doing this at the end of this blog.

And here is another bunch of talent. Abby decided this year that she was going to slalom ski, and she did it! Hurray for her. I cannot imagine having started doing all of these sports at such a young age. The boat is such a great family toy. It brings everyone together on a 21 foot area for almost an entire day! That would never happen at home. We sure have a lot of fun.

(Remember you can click on the collages to see the pictures in larger form)

So this is pretty darn cool! Tanton surfing.

Lake Powell... Part 1

2009-08-04T00:09:00.000-06:00

It was kind of a late planned plan.. but we decided to head down to Lake Powell for a long weekend. It is a long drive, 7-8 hrs, we went to Page, AZ, because they have a lot more accommodations for hotels, eating, etc. than Bullfrog does and we were just staying in a hotel this time. I asked my sisters if they wanted to join us, Kathy and 2 of her kids (Taylor and Nicole), and Stacy's son, Chad came. Then there was Brad, Tanton, Abby and myself. It was Kathy, Taylor, Nicole and Chad's first time to Lake Powell, ever! We had some great weather - 100 degrees and sun. The water temp. was 84-86 degrees.

I had an awesome time. Lake Powell is one of my favorite places. Once you are out on the water there is nothing to do but relax, and I love that! I especially love Lake Powell because of the warm water. Everybody had fun - wakeboarding, waterskiing, tubing, surfing, and just swimming. What a fun time! I am so glad that we are able to go and do fun things and take our kids to enjoy the wonderful outdoors and the beauty of Lake Powell, and I am happy that we could spend it with some of my favorite people in the world! :)

TP'd

2009-07-16T11:00:00.000-06:00

I wondered how long it would actually take until it happened to us.... we got TOILET PAPERED! I cannot tell you how many times I did this fun little activity growing up, but it doesn't seem to be as popular these days. But we woke up the other morning and sure enough, some of Tanton's friends (or are they friends?) thought it would be fun to toilet paper us. And yes, they left evidence that they were girls.... pantie shields all over Tanton's windshield. "Nice, real mature." was Tanton's response.

It didn't take long. Our neighbors came right out and helped us clean it up. Well, I hope that was our turn...I guess until Abby gets that age!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy ABBY!!

2009-07-14T22:32:00.000-06:00

Taylor, Abby, Savannah, Rachel & Hadlee

Abby had her 11th Birthday on July 1. Since we had just gotten home from California we pretty much kept it on the down low and she invited a few friends to go to the movie "Ice Age 3 - 3D", that had just came out that day, then they came over to our house for some cake and ice cream.

Abby's gifts... she could NOT wait to open, oh how I wish I still had that excitement. She counted down to her birthday for days! She was so happy for it to finally arrive.

Opening a couple of her presents in the morning.

An I-pod and an I-tunes gift card! Hooray!

Her huge cupcake birthday cake.

Make a wish!

Wow! I cannot believe that my baby is 11 years old. She will be starting middle school next month. Pretty crazy how quickly they grow, there are times that I wish I could freeze them. But then again, I have really enjoyed each stage of their lives and the joy they bring!

California for Nationals and Fun!

2009-07-08T22:39:00.000-06:00

(You can click on the collages to see the pictures a little better!)

In June we had the opportunity to go to San Jose, California for Abby's National Tumbling Meet. We had a blast! Abby did an awesome job in her competition. It was her first time attending a National Meet and there were hundreds and hundreds of athletes there from all 50 states. They were incredible and it was amazing to watch. It was a great experience for Abby, we learned a lot about these National Meets and we are hoping to attend next year again. They are having it in Virginia Beach, Virginia next year. The girls had a blast spending time with each other and their coaches outside of the normal gym atmosphere. It was really a big treat for long year of hard work and as parents, we had a great time right along with them! .... not to mention that we were, of course, beaming with pride that our children were talented enough to even be in attendance and be one of these amazing athletes!

Here are some of the fun things that we did..

Only about 20 minutes from our hotel there was this great amusement park:

California's Great America

We spent one of the days at this park. The weather was perfect and hardly anyone was at this park. We walked onto nearly every ride. It was super fun and perfect. In most of these pictures it is Abby and JaeLynn Benson, that is who went to the park with us.

We braved some traffic to drive to Santa Cruz to spend the Saturday at the "Santa Cruz Boardwalk". Luckily, we had been to the amusement park the day before so the girls were not wanting to ride the rides at the boardwalk, because this place was PACKED like sardines. So, we put on our swimming suits and spent a few hours on the beach. It was a little chilly by the water, but perfect as long as you were just lying on your towel on the sand! And what more could we ask for! This was a great place (minus the people!).

In these pictures are Abby, JaeLynn, Carson, Dana (coach), and some athletes from another gym in Provo. They played in the ocean waves, buried each other in the sand, and even did a little tumbling in the sand!

This is competition day, which was actually on Thursday. Abby, JaeLynn Benson and Kate Atkinson all competed on the floor in the same flight, so that was fun. Thomas and Dana are their coaches that were in Cali with us. They are awesome coaches and really fun, too!

It was while we were at Abby's competition that we were told that both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson had passed away. I will always remember where I was when I heard that!

And... Last but not least, our extremely talented little athlete in pictures. Of course, I cannot take credit for taking these pictures, a photographer at the competition took them. But, I am always amazed when I see Abby in action. She is so crisp and clean and her body is so straight and aligned. She has very good form and hence why we were able to spend a few very fun days in California at a National Tumbling Meet with athletes from 50 states!

Super Job Abby! We are so proud of you!

Just add H20

2009-06-19T22:04:00.000-06:00

Our newest addition...

Finally, after a monsoon of rain we had a beautiful sunny day and we took that opportunity to take our new boat out for a spin! Oh the relaxation of sun, the lake, the gentle rocking of boat... Except today we had to break in the engine! For the first hour we had to keep the rpms below 2000, the second hour below 3000 then for the next 5 hours we have to keep the rpms below 4000 (which is actually pretty high). But they recommend you run the engine almost to the 4000 for the 5 hrs to break the engine in. So the girls got in some great tubing! And that is the extent of our activities that we did today! Although, I must say - tubing is their favorite activity!

Brad bought some plastic totes to organize our storage space so we spent some of our time getting everything organized, this boat has quite the storage! We really like the seating arrangement and we love the color! It has everything we need, and we are so excited - it is going to be so much fun!

Just Brad, Abby, her friend, Rachel, and I went out today. Tanton was still on his adventure in California so he missed out on the first big DUNK! But we knew that he wouldn't be too disappointed since we were breaking in the engine and he wouldn't be wakeboarding anyway.

Abby and Rachel - waiting to go.

Hanging on...

Until our next adventure...

Jammin'

2009-06-19T06:43:00.001-06:00

Last night I made jam (with my sister, Kathy). Tanton is out of town this week and we ran out of jam just before he left. It was pretty funny to watch him ration the last little bit of jam before he left. I try to make jam every year, so usually we have an abundance and so there is no rationing going on... but as Tanton got down to that last little bit in the last tub of jam he was pretty sad to know that there were not any more tubs of home-made freezer jam to fall back on. So I told him that I would try to get some made while he was on his road trip with his friends this week. I think he will be pretty happy when he comes home and sees that he has a fresh supply to fall back on! Everyone in the family likes my jam, but Tanton is the only one that really seems to "love" my jam and eats it faithfully on his peanut butter sandwiches and especially his waffles. Here you go Tant. I kept my word. And thanks Kathy for coming over and helping me, we do pretty good work as a team! :)

On another note, I got a new pair of running/jogging shoes this last week:

They are Asics - gel cumulus, I have super duper high arches and I really needed to get a new pair of shoes that were made for someone with high arches. I have worn them a few times to work out on my elliptical and to go walking, but I have not actually gone jogging in them yet, so I look forward to seeing how they work out for me. Hurray! I hope they are a cure for an aching knee!

Randoms...

2009-06-13T22:23:00.000-06:00

Wow, it sure has been a long time since I have posted anything! So, the kids are out of school now and that sure is going to be fun! Abby already can't adequately express how bored she is on a daily basis. But she is still going to be in tumbling 2 or 3 times a week and we have found someone that is going to come up to our house and give her tennis lessons. So that should help take away some of that boredom! To think of all the crazy things I used to do during the summertime to keep from being bored, my how times have changed.

Abby's eye has healed up very well, in fact, you can hardly even tell that she has such a nasty scar, her eyebrow is starting to grow back and everything. We were wondering if her eyebrow would grow back over her scar.

Tanton and a few of his friends are taking off on a road trip tomorrow for San Diego. He sure is growing up... I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. He sure is a good kid though, I am a lucky mom. I hope they have a great time. It's hard when they start to get older and become independent, but it is also fun to see him enjoying life and having such a great time with his friends. Oh the bitter sweetness of motherhood.

We sold our boat. It was more of a family inboard /outboard boat. The kids have really been wanting a "wakeboarding" boat for the last few years. It was kind of sad to see our red/white family boat go, but the family that bought it will have a great time. It is a super boat and in excellent condition. So, last Saturday Brad and I spent the day in Salt Lake looking at "wakeboarding" boats for our family and we got one! We are excited. We got a new 2008, so the price was pretty good, since it was last years model. They had to add a few things and make covers for it, so we are picking it up next week. I will for sure post pics when we get it.... I will probably be posting pics of the kids (and parents :) ) tearing it up on the lake! It will be a great new addition to our family!

Well, I think that is about it for now!

Lacrosse...mania

2009-05-18T10:52:00.000-06:00

So the lacrosse season has come and gone...and it seems like it was a blink of my eye. What an awesome season Sky View lacrosse had! They went all the way to the State final game! It was so exciting and so much joy for me, as a mom, to watch Tanton play and suceed so much.
I totally don't want to sound too PROUD... but I am so proud I just can't help it! Tanton broke the Sky View Lacrosse school record for goals this year! He had 42 goals in 12 games, he missed 2 games with an injured shoulder. When I watch him in all that he does, I continue to be in awe of the talent that this boy possesses and how humble he remains...

This whole group of lacrosse players just seem to be such great kids. I love to see my kids be so involved in activities at school and really have fun and enjoy these years, what better way to make memories that will last a lifetime?

Tanton on the go at the Sky View vs. Orem State Championship game.

Getting totally slashed! Lucky his trachea is okay!

Tanton poking a shot in during the American Fork game,

......and everyone

cele-

brating

afterwards!

Tanton making

a couple of

shots during the

West Jordan game.

What a FUN, fun season this has been. Too bad Orem came with all of their guns loaded to the championship game on Saturday because our guys really had a shot of going all the way this year. But, all the way or not, I can only speak for myself and I am so proud, I am almost ready to burst. What a super season. Our Sky View team played with spirit, sportsmanship, skill, and pride. There was never a moment that we could have been embarrassed about any kind of action that any of our players did nor did they posess any kind of unsportmanship throughout the entire season... now that is a winning team in my opinion, regardless of the championship game.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Last but not least, I have to give credit for all of my pictures to Marnie, Tanton's other mom, she takes a million pictures at all of the lacrosse games and does an awesome job! Thanks Marnie! :)

No Bathroom Breaks Allowed...

2009-05-05T10:34:00.001-06:00

Last Friday Abby was at school playing softball, a girl asked her if she could cover first base so she could go to the bathroom. Abby said she would. Well... while she was covering first base for the girl that went in for her bathroom break she got a ball thrown to her and she did not even see the ball coming. She said that she was talking to another friend (now I cannot even imagine that! :) ) ....Unfortunately, those softballs don't seem to be too soft!
Brad and I were actually in Salt Lake and fortunately a very nice neighbor of ours was at the school at the time. She called us and totally took care Abby for us (Thanks Colleen!). She took Abby over to her sister, Krista's house... Thanks Krista! Where Abby stayed for about 2 hours until we could get home.

Once we got Abby home and could clean her up and look at everything, Brad could see that it definitely needed stitches. It was pretty deep as you can see from the picture above. She ended up getting 3 stitches inside and 7 stitches outside. Abby was so brave, she did not cry one time from the time that she got hit with the softball through getting the stitches!

Dad at work...

All put together beautifully. We are actually very lucky that the ball did not hit her in the eye, or hit her temple or do any worse damage. It could have broken her orbital bone that surrounds her eye... but nonetheless it is a pretty bad injury, we are just grateful that it wasn't any worse.

After she got all fixed up Abby got in the shower and went to a birthday party for a couple of hours.

That night Colleen called me to tell me how impressed she was with how well Abby handled herself after the injury at school. Facial injuries bleed A LOT and Abby fell to the ground after she was hit. With all of the blood etc. and not being able to really see what was going on, all of the kids at school were surrounding her wondering what was going on, it was pretty dramatic and Colleen said Abby was very brave and very mature about the whole thing.

Unfortunately, the next morning her eye had swollen shut and it took half way through the day for the swelling to go down. Throughout the weekend the swelling kept going down and her eye is starting to heal up. But what a brave little sport my girl has been through all of this. She even said that when she went to school on Monday some of the kids made fun of her. Kids can be so mean! Her eye is looking much better and should heal up to be just fine. Thank heavens!

Greg's Engaged!

2009-04-24T21:49:00.000-06:00

Greg is engaged! He asked Kristina Fancher to marry him on Easter... he put the ring in her Easter basket, what a fun surprise. Greg and Kristina have been either very good friends or dating for a few years now, so this did not come as a big surprise to our family.

The date they have set for their wedding is October 10, 2009 and they will be married in the Logan Temple.

Sounds like they will be busy the next few months making all of those fun "wedding plans".

Greg has been living here in Logan going to USU majoring in Computer Science and Kristina has been living in SLC this past year working on her Masters Degree. She got her Bachelor Degree from USU. Greg plans to move down in May and work this summer then start up at the University of Utah this fall. They will live in Salt Lake while both of them continue to work on their educations.

And so their lives and journey together will begin....

Congratulations Greg & Kristina! You make a cute couple!

STATE CHAMP

2009-04-21T19:47:00.000-06:00

Abby totally rocked her tumbling meet last weekend! She is state Champ in TWO events -- Trampoline and Tumbling (floor). She was simply amazing in these two events and she deserved 1st place for sure. Although, the older she gets, the stiffer the competition gets and we are just never sure if it will be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd... but we can usually tell if she would be lower than 3rd -- for some odd reason (ha, ha!).

Her meet was in Heber, UT and she actually had 2 events on Friday evening and one on Saturday morning. Her first event was double mini tramp. Abby had been working for the past two weeks to get her double back flip off the tramp for her 2nd pass on double mini... but when she went to do her first pass, she had a really weird bad bounce that kind of kicked her off the trampoline. She wasn't even able to do her skills for her first pass. Sitting in the stands Brad and I could tell that she was devastated and extremely upset. Her second pass went fairly well, but with only skills on one pass it just doesn't work and she ended up getting 8th place on double mini. She came up in the stands to talk to us and was verrrrry bummed. She understands that you make mistakes and sometimes you get bad bounces..... but she had worked so dang hard to get her double back flip!!

Abby on top the podium after placing 1st in Tumbling

Well, she had to perform trampoline in about an hour so she had to shake it off -- and she did that very well. Her trampoline routines were BEAUTIFUL!! Unless you are a parent, or hang around the gym watching these girls and guys practice you don't really notice the details, but at the end I have posted video; notice what good form Abby has, her legs and toes are together, her legs are straight, she kicks out beautifully... she just looks so good when she performs. Plus there is a rectangle on the tramp that they are suppose to stay within during their routine. Well, Abby got FIRST PLACE!! There were 12 girls competing in trampoline.

The next morning she competed for tumbling. There were 13 girls she was competing against in tumbling. Now all of these girls are in Abby's same age group, and they have all registered to compete at the same level... it starts at level 5 and goes up to level 10 then jr elite etc. So, they are all very competitive with each other, and their skills and abilities are similar. Once again she was right on. Her passes down the floor looked great! Abby has such great form on floor also. Now at the end of the blue floor there is a red line then a yellow mat.... the athletes score higher if the they start their last skill on the blue and land on the yellow mat. Kinda tricky to measure this all out when you are flipping down the floor, like they do!! Abby landed perfectly on both of her passes, which was really super for her score and her routine! Great Job Abby! (Once again, I have posted all of the videos at the end.) We were nervous waiting for the awards, there are a few really good girls competing against Abby... where would she place?? We figured she would be in the top 3, but would she? YES she would! Abby Larson got 1st Place in Tumbling! Hooray!

Abby on top the podium after taking 1st place for trampoline... she competed against 12 girls, but it was late at night and most of the girls had left for the night. Happy girl! :)

Lots and lots of trophies to be given out. Trophies are only given out at the state, regional, and national meets. The rest of the meets the girls receive medals.

Hanging out, waiting for the awards....

The two above videos are Abby doing her Tumbling passes. Watch her form, her legs are together, her back handsprings and whips are long... she just looks grand!

The above videos are Abby doing her Trampoline routines. She is so amazing, you might want to watch them 2 or 3 times to appreciate how great she really looks! :) In the top video she does her double back flip and lands perfectly, then her very last skill is a rudi (a front flip with 2 twists) she lands this like a true champ also!!

This video is a practice pass that Abby did on double mini.... it has her doing her double back flip off, so you can kind of see what she had been working on, but she would have been a little more on target if she were being judged.....

Once again, here I am brag, brag, brag... but I guess I have got something pretty good to brag about! Just a proud momma!

p.s. This is Abby's 3rd year in a row taking state (1st place) on trampoline.

HAWAII

2009-04-19T22:49:00.001-06:00

WARNING: long post with a ton of pictures.....

Two of my sisters (Kathy and Stacy) and I took our boys to Hawaii April 4-12. It is their "Senior Trip" although Tanton is just a junior, because the other two (Taylor and Chad) are seniors.... We flew into Honolulu and then we got on a cruise ship and cruised the islands. It was a blast and our boys had so much fun. They are all within one year of each other in age and have all basically grown up together. Although we didn't have the best weather, like we were hoping for, we sure enjoyed some nice fresh Hawaiian rain! :) We did sneak in a couple of sunny days for working on our tans.

We left port from Honolulu on Saturday and docked in Maui on Sunday. We stayed on Maui for 2 days Sunday and Monday. Here our boys took some wind surfing lessons and we spent the other day shopping downtown Lahaina.

Kathy and Stacy on the beach while the boys were wind surfing.

Taylor, Tanton and Chad

These are both pictures of us eating at a pizza place called BJ's pizza in Lahaina while we were shopping.

Stacy, Kelly and Kathy

After Maui we sailed to the "Big Island" of Hawaii and docked on one side in a city called Hilo. We spent Tuesday in Hilo, then we sailed to the other side of the big island and docked in a city called Kona. Both of these cities were quite large.

Stacy, Chad, Kathy, Tanton and Kelly having dinner with our sons... Taylor is missing in action from this photo. Each night we could choose if we wanted to go eat at one of the buffets or have a sit down meal and actually order our meal. We had super dates and got a lot of comments on how cute that the "moms" were out with their "sons". It actually was quite cute and quite a lot of fun. We took the boys while we had them, because they met up with some girls on the boat and most of their evenings were spent hanging out with their "new friends".

Have no fear though, we met some new friends of our own. In this picture is Lisa (back row) and Marcy (front row). They are some friends that we actually met while at Karaoke on the boat. Marcy was a killer at singing! They were really nice gals and we ended up attending a few shows and eating a few meals with our new friends from Chicago!

Some really cool trees in Hawaii.

After we left the "Big Island" we sailed Kauai and spent our last two days (Thursday and Friday) on this island. On Kauai we did an excursion called Kauai ATV -- it is Mud bugging! and man on man did we get muddy....It was raining this day and in Hawaii when it rains it POURS! (pics at the end)

Friday night we set sail again Saturday morning we docked back on Honolulu. Our cruise was over, but our flight did not leave until 9 pm that night so we wore our bathing suits and hit the Waikiki Beach! It was awesome because it was SUNNY and we were able to work on our tans, relax in the sun and come home with a bit of a sunburn.... which fooled everyone! :)

The boys getting windsurfing lessons from their instructor who was IRISH!

Chad rockin the boat..

Taylor Hangin Loose....

....and Tanton enjoying the fun!

Our boat "Pride of America"

The three Amigos - Tanton, Taylor and Chad.

Chad, Taylor and Tanton (in deep thought apparently).

Eating at a diner one of our last nights on the cruise.

The three Amiga's - Kelly, Kathy and Stacy.

Some beautiful Hawaiian mountains as we sailed in the ocean. In one of the pictures you can see a rainbow. The mountainsides were such a dark green and so lush, it was amazing!

This is where the DIRT begins...Kathy, Taylor, Stacy, Chad, Tanton and Kelly.

So, we go in our little mud buggies and we were very naive as to what lie ahead. I could tell it was going to be cold and I tipped our guide an extra $20 to wear that coat I have on (YES! I am a huge wimp). But it was dark clouds, rainy and cold - even for Hawaii. We drove these machines through the biggest mud puddles ever! Now remember..... our 17 and 18 year old sons are driving, we didn't miss a puddle the entire way! I think it was like 11 miles up to the waterfalls. Now, the plan is great. Once you get to the waterfalls normally you take off your clothes and jump in (swimsuits are on under clothes, of course!) You wash off then get out and dry off in the warm sun -- but remember that is on a normal sunny Hawaiian day. We got up there and man, we were FREEZING. Our boys braved the cold and jumped in, but the moms... we just hung out, ate lunch and waited for our 11 mile trek back down the mountain! :)

Half of the time it was raining, oops I mean POURING. Oh what the heck! It just made more mud puddles for us to slam through. Now honestly, I will admit, I was freezing cold, chilled to the bone --- but I would do it again in a heartbeat..........It was a BLAST!!!

Here is the part of the story about the boys braving the cold and jumping in the waterfalls, and the moms just freezing.... check out the MUD!

Tanton and I are in the orange buggy. Kathy and Taylor and Stacy and Chad both had red buggies.

Below is our whole group that went on our mud bugging adventure!

We had a great trip to Hawaii, we had been planning on doing this with our boys for a few years and now it has come and gone and I can hardly believe it! Now Abby says that I will be "too old" when it is her turn to go for her "senior trip" and that is only 7 years away.... Hello, how old does she think I am?!?

Aloha!

Tumble, Tumble, Tumble...

2009-04-02T11:37:00.000-06:00

All her Medals and Trophies!

Abby 1st place on Floor

Abby's tumbling meet in March went well. She had to take the week and a half before the meet off from running too much because when she was practicing a double back flip on the double mini tramp she landed on her

ankles weird -"crunching" both of them. So they were a bit sore and hard for her to run to practice either double mini or her floor routines. So, she did very well. She ended up taking 1st place on her floor routine - out of I believe 10 or 11 girls. Trampoline is usually one of her best events, but she ended up brushing the pad during her routine and they stop scoring at that point - she got 6th. We are pulling for a 1st place at the state meet which is next month. :) Like I have said before, she always amazes me... she is so small yet packs so much power and talent.. I am always proud of Abby, no matter what place she gets. But she is always much happier when she gets a little higher on the podium. I guess that is natural after all the time she spends at the gym practicing each week.

I know there are a lot of pics and video, but I have to blog every little thing about her meets, they only come along once a month for only a few months... and I am a bit proud.

The girls waiting for their scores.. oh, oh... hair malfunction!

Double mini tramp

Floor Routine

Trampoline Routine

Abby Jade... in the shade, sipping her lemonade, with her hair in a braide...

2009-03-22T14:54:00.000-06:00

Abby and her cousin Nicole

Abby and her friend Camden

Just Abby...

That's my girl - the master of contortion!

Abby and her cousin Briea

Alright already.... have we heard enough about hockey and Tanton? Well, I think that Abby has, so here is a post of randoms, dedicated just for my little sunshine. This bright little girl claims that her favorite color is "black".. Now is black a color? Her favorite food is rainbow sherbet, but then I had to explain that is a dessert (guess mom doesn't cook, and this is her favorite food!) So, then she picked Tortellini... yumm. She said her favorite vacation was Mexico -- we need to go again soon.. but in the meantime we recreate a Mexican type trip to Lake Powell annually.Ü Hot, swimming, eating, no responsibility.... sounds good to me. She is just a squirt for her 10 years of age; 4 feet 5 inches and 70 pounds soaking wet!! But you cannot believe the talent and power and muscle this little gal can pack! She has a tumbling meet coming up next weekend, so I will post videos of her events, tramp and floor, again... I am still amazed when I watch her.

She is a funny girl, when she was 3 yrs old we were driving in the car and she was acting very cranky, so Brad and I said to each other "someone is T-I-R-E-D." You know, cleverly spelling it out so she wouldn't catch on. Well, she yelled from the backseat... "I am not TRD!" now whenever there is someone who is tired around our house we refer to it as being TRD... I think that will stick forever!

She "loves" tumbling, is a pianist in training (and I don't even have to ask her to practice - she likes it that much), she enjoys babysitting, playing volleyball, skiing and snowboarding, and....SKATEBOARDING! Although she just got a new board for Christmas and hasn't been able to skateboard a ton yet.. and yes, I figured out that she is a girl after my own heart...SUMMER is her favorite season, now we are just waiting for it to arrive.

She is 10 going on 16 ---- but we wouldn't trade her for the world!

Love you Abby Jade!

MVP = Most Valuable Player

2009-03-17T17:38:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I said that hockey was almost over and all we had left was the banquet. Hurray! The banquet was last night and we are officially done with hockey season. I love hockey, but man it is long.... it starts right after the kids start school and ended just a few weeks ago. Can you say looong? From the title of my post you might have guessed something is up, well, Tanton got voted MVP of the varsity team by his teammates! That is so cool. Now, I am co-trustee and treasurer of the team and I didn't even see this one coming. In my naivety, I figured that they would probably vote an offense man to MVP or whatever -- but now that I think about it... Yeah, he totally deserves it. Tanton really rocks at playing goalie, he is so quick and he stops most goals from going into the net. Proud mama, huh?

Great job, Tanton -- and hurray for a wonderful season that has finally come to an end! :)

All-Star

2009-03-11T13:12:00.001-06:00

Kenzie, Coach, Kyle, Tanton, Chris, and Brandon

Well, the hockey season is "almost" over. We have the banquet next Monday. It has been a great season, but the hockey season is so long, I will admit, it will be nice to have a change and Tanton is already going strong into lacrosse! Tanton and 4 of his teammates were nominated onto the All Star team for hockey, this is a great honor. The first all star game was Monday, March 2. It was a Northern division vs. Northern division game. Our Northern division team won! :) From that game they choose one team to play the the Southern division, so essentially half the players and Tanton and all of his teammates were picked to go on to the North vs. South All Star game. That game was played on Wednesday March 4. The Northern division won that game, also! I have posted a few of the pics from the all star games. They were really fun games to watch, the best of the the best. It was really amazing to watch how well these players played together considering they never practiced together or anything. It was a great experience. This is Tanton's second year being picked to go to the all star games... pretty darn good. (glad I have this blog so i can brag, huh? ;) )

Tanton, Kenzie and Chris.

The whole all star team being introduced.

Sweetheart Dance

2009-03-07T16:32:00.001-07:00

I don't know if it's harder believe that between all of the hockey that Tanton has been playing that he had time to go to the Sweetheart Dance or simply that he actually "went" to the dance considering it is really only his 2nd or 3rd official date!

He said that he had a great time. The funny thing is, it was girls choice and he couldn't give her a solid yes or no until just a few days before because if they had made it to the final game in hockey it would have been played the same night as the dance. So, Kylee sure was a trooper hanging on and waiting until last minute to see if they would be attending the dance or I guess their other plan was that she would have come to the hockey game and they would have done something fun after the game.

Valentine Social

2009-03-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

In 5th grade they do what they call a "Valentine Social", when Tanton was in 5th grade at Providence they called it the Valentines Tea. But, the concept is the same. The children are to wear nice clothes that day, room moms go to their class before the social and talk to them about manners and what is appropriate, what is not etc. Then the boys are to escort the girls to the social, seat them, ask them what kinds of toppings they would like on their ice cream. Then the boys go and get the ice cream for the girls and serve them, before going back to get their own ice cream. It is pretty cute. When Tanton did it I think they had them dance or something, but I think that caused them all too much anxiety. So they took that part out of the event. Before all of the kids arrive for their social - all of the other room moms are busy decorating the tables with balloons, conversation hearts, and this year we scattered several pieces of paper along the table of conversation ideas, questions that they could ask each other etc., so that they did not just sit there awkwardly looking at each other, like "what should we do next?". It went very well. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and part way through their event a magician came and performed for them. I think it was really fun, and although they all claimed they were going to die, no one did!

Abby was "lucky" enough to have two escorts....

Results

2009-02-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

Tanton relaxing on the goal

Our hockey travels are over until next week -- because Tanton is on the State All-Star Team! Sky View ended up taking second place in the Northern Division... they really had a super year. After our "Heart Attack" game on Wednesday night, we lost 2-0 to Fremont on Thursday night. We just didn't have the best game of the year (and Fremont ended up taking state). It was a somber night after the game and sad, because the stars would have had to have been perfectly aligned for Sky View to make it to the final game Saturday night; we had to win Friday, Fremont had to lose Thursday and Friday.... blah, blah. Didn't happen. Friday nights game was a different story. We went into the game without near the nerves that we had Thursday night. Our team seemed to play better, and we had fun! East scored first, so it started out 1-0; but we came back and with a minute in the 3rd period we were ahead 2-1. They pulled their goalie to try to get another guy out there to score and tie it up, but we got the puck and scored on their EMPTY NET! It was awesome and it was fun and it was a great last game of the season for our team. I am super sad that it is over (won't miss ALL the trips to SLC), I will miss a bunch of the seniors that we are losing this year....

Great Job Sky View!

The all-star game is next Monday and then another all-star game on Wednesday. Tanton will be playing in at least the first game -- I will have to post after that.

Tanton making a save during the shoot-out!

Celebrating after winning the shoot-out

Tanton guarding his goal during the East game

Before the Friday night game against East. Our team was lined up ready to get on the ice, here is a video of them, they chanted and hyped themselves up, then came my favorite part -- they all put their hockey sticks up in the air for Tanton to lead the way on the ice.

HEART ATTACK!

2009-02-19T09:05:00.001-07:00

Tant and Kenzie chillin' before the game

Okay, so last night was one of those -- hate/love to be the mom of THE goalie! The hockey game was the most intense of the season. Viewmont scored 2 goals, it was 2-0. I was so nervous. Then in the second period Kenzie put one in for Sky View it was great. Kenzie is actually a defender, but he took it behind the net and put it in the "back door" unsuspectingly... of course. It was an awesome play. With only like 3 minutes left in the 3rd period we were still down 2-1 and Tanner Gray put one in for Sky View to tie the game. WOW. Whew! BUT... this means if the game ends in a tie they go to a sudden death shoot out - that is when it ALL seems to fall on Tanton's shoulders and I honestly was getting super sick at the thought of it. Well, it happened... SHOOT OUT. Our team had the first chance to score. Tanner Vinson took the puck down to their goalie and had a great shot, but he blocked it. Then Viewmont's best scorer took the puck toward Tanton and.... he Shut him down! Yeah. (deep breath) Then Tanner Gray from our team went for a score and HE SCORED! Hurray. Last shot coming at Tant. If he can block it we win. Okay, no nerves here, right? I was shaking, I was sick.... But HE DID IT ! And I honestly almost cried, I was so happy and proud. The game got over at 11:30 pm. Now tonight we have to go back to Bountiful to play Fremont @ 8:15. GOOD LUCK SKY VIEW! Play hard!
Just a side note: four games were played last night between the North and South divisions and we heard that all four games ended in shoot outs! WOW. Thanks Greg for coming over and staying with Abby....

GO TANTON, YOU ROCK!

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey.....

2009-02-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

We are into play-offs for hockey. Tanton has been the varsity goalie for the past two years for Sky View Hockey (Sophomore & Junior years). In regular season play the team went 11 wins, 1 loss and 4 ties! Pretty darn good! So far in the play-offs they are 4 wins and 1 loss. It's pretty tough having YOUR kid be the goalie -- if they win it's all good and hurray! - but if they lose you kind of feel a lot of pressure for the poor guy. The good news is that Tanton absolutely rocks at goalie, so for the most part the feelings are great! Although, I have to admit there have been a few times that I think I have almost had a heart attack my heart was so fluttery. Last Friday night we had a game in Salt Lake -- I really thought that we would win, but we lost (3-4), which meant we had to play the same team again Saturday morning (in Salt Lake) at 7 am! Great News! We won 7-1. Now Sky View is in the final four teams of the Northern Division. This week we play a Round Robin Tournament starting tonight. Tonight we play Viewmont @ Bountiful at 9:45 pm (yes PM), Thursday we play Fremont @ Bountiful at 8:15 pm, then Friday we play East In West Valley @ 6:00 pm. So, it sounds like we are going to be very busy traveling, and very tired.... but worth it I am sure. :) Good Luck Tanton, Good Luck Sky View --- Go BOBCATS!!

State Champ

2009-02-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

I just want to give a shout out to my nephew TAYLOR PEACOCK. He took state in wrestling over the weekend. This is a much deserved state championship and he is one tough guy. Brad reconstructed his ACL ligament in his knee just over a year ago and he wrestled with a rib that had been torn off his cartilage... getting injections before each match! Way to go Taylor you are a Champ!

Tumbling Meet

2009-02-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend Abby had another tumbling meet this one was in Roy and of course she did awesome again! Coming away with 1st place on the tramp -- Great Job, Abby! Unfortunately, while they were giving the awards for trampoline Abby was competing for her floor.... poor planning. :( So I did not get a picture of her at the top receiving her medal because she didn't get a chance to do that. But I am going to post a few videos, in her tramp video notice that she does a double back flip, yes, is said a DOUBLE back flip! And all of the girls literally hated this tramp - they said it had a really weird bounce, so they all did a super job.

For Gina..

2009-01-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have this best friend and we have been friends for a looooong time. We have been friends since kindergarten! That is almost 35 yrs. We were discussing blogs the other day and I know her opinion of them, so I thought I would post one just for her. :) I love her to death and she is almost like a sister. But honestly, I know blogs are mostly for young people with young kids.... but we will see. Sometimes this old lady might have something fun to post about. Besides, my kids rock at their sports they do and I ought to give them some credit somewhere since I haven't scrapbooked in years! Here's to you Gina, I love ya!

Tumbling Ace

2009-01-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I think this is the reason for the blog ;) -- Yesterday Abby had a tumbling meet in Ogden. It was her first meet of the season and she was really nervous. I was a little nervous too, because I didn't know for sure how she was doing in each event. She does three events: Trampoline, double mini-tramp, and floor. Well..... She did AWESOME! She got 2nd place on double mini, 2nd place on trampoline and 1st place on floor! WOW! I was so happy, but not as happy as she must have been. She works really hard, she goes to tumbling 2 or 3 nights a week for 2 1/2 hours each night. There were 6 to 8 girls competing in each event. Anyway, it was a great day for her and I was super proud.

Our family

2009-01-25T17:01:00.000-07:00

Our family lives in Logan. We currently have two children living at home: Tanton-17, he loves hockey and working at the movie theatre, and Abby-10, she is our tumbler. She also loves to play the piano and babysit. Then there is Greg, he has been home from his mission for just over a year, he is attending USU. Krista is married to Doug, they live in Hyde Park and have two little boys; Trey and Krew. Tim is married to Melissa, they live in N. Carolina. They also have two little ones; Dylan and Sophie. And so as blogging goes, this is our story....