I just spent the morning at my kids elementary school. They had an end of year assembly. Sammy and the ballroom team had a performance at the beginning and end so we stayed for the whole thing. Sammy got a certificate and gift card for having perfect attendance. They changed up the "kiss a pig" concept and 2 teachers were drawn to "kiss the snake" (8 ft. boa). You should of seen how nervous a lot of teachers got. Some even got up and tried to walk out of the room!!!
My mix feelings come from several things all regarding school. After 12 continuous years of having 1 or more of my kids at this great school we will be leaving it to go to the new one. I really love this school. The teachers are great, their programs are fantastic and I can't believe I've spent so much of my time there helping in different classrooms and with various activities.
This was Sam's graduating year, she is growing up way too fast.
So much for bringing Keyan back to that school. Now all of Sam's girlfriends have crushes on him. They are making silly faces at him and having Sam take their yearbooks over to him to sign.
I'm somewhat apprehensive to going to the new school. I hope that they have a lot of the great programs I am use to. I know that in the first year or so there will be lots of bumps in the road I hope that we can clear them without to much difficulty!
I think one of the biggest things that has got me feeling some anxiety is - I am very happy to be done with homework, but now my kids will be home all day for the next 3 months. YIKES!!!
Happy Summer to You!!!
Friday, May 30, 2008
{miXeD feeLinGs}
{cLaSs of 2008}
Senior Party:
Sometime after graduation they all head back to Provo High for an all night party (they sold over 250 tickets, 80 that night). Somehow I got suckered (no surprise!) into helping to take pictures for a slide show that was to be presented around 4:30 A.M. Chris and I went around 11:p.m. When we got there the power in the school was out. Of course we assume that some student must of pulled some prank because everywhere else had their lights on, including the rec center which is on the school property. We had passed our friend on the way to the school and she said that she was going home to get lighting equipment. So they were lighting the commons with lights using generators that were stationed outside so that the kids could at least come in and eat. We weren't there too much longer before the lights actually came on for good.
The low down - there was some wire that had fritzed under the school. This is not surprising, super old wire, under a super old school!!! The power company sends someone out. Someone says that the problem has been identified, it will take hours to fix, but the good news is that you can move the party to Dixon Middle School (they couldn't do it at the rec center because they are not allowed to have food in the rooms over there). Luckily, there were moms that wouldn't stand for that. One saying, "I'd sooner move the party to the parking lot then over to Dixon." So the fire marshall came and stayed while the lights were out so that the students could come inside and eat.
Back to the wire gone bad ... someone ends up calling the mayor to see what could be done about this predicament. He talked with the power company told them to make a patch for tonight and come tomorrow to really fix the problem. What do you know ... the power was on in 15 minutes.
I was able to make a bunch of pictures and Chris and I left around 1:15 a.m. I have no idea if the slide show even panned out.
P.S. So far, the only prank I have heard is that someone let loose a box of crickets some time after we left :)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
{AHHHHH....}
... more like ARGGGGG!!! The last 2 weeks of school - This time of year is always incredibly crazy. We've had dance performances (which also means rehearsals), music performances, school performances, dance pictures (on Memorial Day - whatever!), Storytelling festival, pinewood derby, a funeral, a City meeting, birthday parties, Memorial Day, School parties, 6th grade graduation, club soccer tryouts, and today was Field Day (spent several hours outside mannning the race station). No wonder I have been exhausted and sunburned!
Landon had 15 friends over for his water birthday party. Luckily Annie came over to help! Thanks, Annie!!! :)
Landon had only a couple of hours to start and finish his pinewood derby car. Chris and Landon packed up their tools and headed over to grandpas. Grandpa (David) saved us because the next night he was able to take Landon to the races, since I had to be at Ally's dance concert. Landon did a great job!
Ally's Dance Concert and Ally with her dance teacher, Denna Robertson.
Fine Arts Performance at School. Landon is in the choir (front row).
Landon's night time performance. I had no idea where Landon was, then I notice that he is getting ready to start pounding away. What a stinker! He didn't even tell us he was going to be playing the xylophone.
Jason and Mel came over to bring Landon a present since they were out of town for his birthday. We are just happy to hold baby Ty.
Memorial Day - It was a cold and rainy day. 
Sam getting ready for dance pictures.
Sam is now moving on to Middle School - YIKES!!!
Monday, May 19, 2008
{OUCH!}
Richard Vance is one of our neighbors. He is the coach for the Provo High Track team. Here is an Associated Press story of something that happened at the Utah State Track Meet. Beware - Gross picture is included!
PROVO, Utah (AP) -- A newspaper photographer got a little too close to the action at the state high school track championships -- and was speared through the leg by a javelin.
Ryan McGeeney of the Standard-Examiner was spared serious injury Saturday, and even managed to snap a photo of his speared leg while others tended to him.
"If I didn't, it would probably be my editor's first question when I got back," McGeeney said.
The 33-year-old McGeeney, an ex-Marine who spent six months in Afghanistan, was taking pictures of the discus event and apparently wandered into off-limits area set aside for the javelin.
Striking just below the knee, the javelin tip went through the skin and emerged on the other side of his leg.
"It wasn't real painful. ... I was very lucky in that it didn't hit any blood vessels, nerves, ligaments or tendons," McGeeney said.
Much of the javelin was cut off at the scene. The piece in McGeeney's leg was removed at a hospital, and he received 13 stitches.
The javelin was thrown by Anthony Miles, a Provo High School student who said his "heart just stopped" when he saw what happened.
"One of the first things that came to my mind was, 'Good thing we brought a second javelin,"' Miles' coach, Richard Vance, said Monday. He said Miles was "in a little bit of shock," but he assured the athlete it was not his fault.
With a subsequent throw, Miles went on to win the state title in javelin for teams in Provo High's size classification, 4-A.
He works for the Standard-Examiner. They have their own articles on the story that are pretty good (just too long to include all of them)! You can view it at: http://www.standard.net/live/news/133306
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
{dinOsaurs}
Yikes! Watch out for flying foam dinosaurs hanging from the living room light!
I'm not sure why, but all 1st graders at our school received these foam dinosaurs to assemble at home (can't imagine why they wouldn't want to do it at school). Ally's Titanic Pteri has a 6'5" wingspan so the middle of the room seems to be the best place for it!
{bOys R gOne}
My boys are all out camping - Fathers & Sons. Landon has been looking forward to this for ... well since he found out about it. I'm sure they have had a great time and are sleeping now, unlike me!
Here is another throw it all in there post.
The Jazz are out of the playoffs. They lost to the Lakers tonight (108-105). Boo!
Our softball team is on a two game losing streak. We lost our game tonight (13-15). Boo! Boo! This was another sad game. I don't know what it is. It sure didn't help that I played terrible tonight. I still didn't strike out, but I couldn't make any plays at 3rd. I know I must sound like a poor sport, but from the very beginning this team was extremely rude. Their pitcher was ok, he was standing by me coaching his team at 3rd base and he was nice enough. The ump was horrible. He would make calls and then reverse them. He would call outs when they weren't, this was for both teams. At the end the ump ejected Jason from the next game we play. The last play of the game was a horrible call.
The good news is my sister is in town and she played for us tonight. Her friend came and played for Chris, since he was camping with the boys. He had an awesome slide that cut him up pretty bad.
We girls went to Arctic Circle after the game (10:30 p.m.) Annie's friends showed up also. They turned the lights out on us at 11:00 sharp. We were in the parking lot chatting for a bit and then Annie's friends were leaving and got into their vehicle. One friend just happened to get into the vehicle parked right next to the one his buddies got in. I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time. The timing couldn't of been better. Two girls left after we did. The driver unlocked the car as she was coming out of Arctic Circle. In the dark the two vehicles looked very similar. So the driver gets in and the next thing you know so does Annie's friend. The other girl is just standing there at the end of the vehicle just looking at the guy. We laughed for a very long time.
Some other things that I thought I'd mention. We got to babysit Ty this week and Big-Boy-sit Cooper! Babies are so much fun. It's amazing how you can sit there and stare at them for hours. Thanks Jason and Mel for letting us watch them.
Ally had her R.A.D. Kid graduation. I love the R.A.D. Kid program. If your kids schools ever question doing it I would definitely say yes. It's a program that teaches kids how to be safe. At the graduation they get to put some of their stranger skills into action. Things they can do to avoid being kidnapped. It was great! They teach many other safety things also. Ally now has to comment on what the speed limit is everywhere and has to try and see that I am not going over it. No wonder she was ok with the new law that says she has to be in a booster seat until she is 8 years old. She's extremely safety conscious.
Lastly, I love the internet. What a great blessing and tool it is. I was thinking about how amazing it is this week. Word can spread quite quickly over the internet. Last week I received 3 different stories from family and friends. The funny thing is I received all three of these stories twice each time from different people. These people live all over the United States. I love that we can have such instant communication and have the ability to pass it on. Thanks for your stories and words of inspiration.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
{7 WonDers of AmeriCa}
I previously mentioned that there was going to be a piece on the 7 wonders of America.
So here are the 7 that the folks from Good Morning America came up with:
1) National Mall and Memorial Parks (Washington D.C.)
2) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR - Alaska)
3) Grand Canyon
4) The Badlands (Dakota's)
5) Saturn V: The Moon Rocket (NASA's Saturn V rocket is the embodiment of America's spirit of ingenuity.)
6) Golden Gate Bridge
7) New York City
This is what I had previously guessed: the Grand Canyon, White House, Capital, the Mall or something in Washington D.C., Delicate Arch, northern lights or something in Alaska (Bering Sea!), some bridge (Golden Gate, Bay, Hudson, etc...), Empire State building, Redwoods, Mount Rushmore.
I don't think I did too bad!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
{eLecTed oFFicials}
So our home developer has decided that he is going to turn over the common space to us, the residence, in the form of an HOA (home owners association). We hadn't had any HOA involvement (meetings, fees, etc). We had apparently signed papers when we closed on our house that we would be part of the HOA. So as much as we don't want it, we knew it was probably coming some time soon. So the neighborhood quickly had a meeting to elect officers so there would be someone to turn the land over to.
It's dumb that the developer didn't have people start paying HOA fees when they moved in, some have been here for about 8 years. Beside that, we have other problems. There is a large green space area. The first couple of phases were promised a park, with playground equipment. We were in the last phase and they had abandoned that idea completely. So they seeded the area and it's just a bunch of grass with some trees, some that are dead, others that are dying. The grass space is mostly fine except for the fact that there are standing pools of water all over it. I'm sure it had to of been winter when the city came and inspected it, because there is no way it would of passed if they saw it in the state it's in now. So we have 2 days until the developer wants to hand it over to the HOA. Now I think this is ridiculous. Since there is no money for the HOA, I think he should have to fix this problem that technically is still his. Mostly I don't want to be walked all over and have this dump (OK, it's not a dump) handed to us so we can fix it.
So I went to the city (community development). Unfortunately they already released his bond at the beginning of the month, hence his quickly wanting to give us the land. But they referred me to some other people. They haven't gotten back with me. I asked some of my neighbors to give me a list and take pictures of the problem areas. I don't live next to it and never use it, so I didn't really know. The HOA president quickly put the pictures and a map of the park area, marking all the problem areas, online. So now I'm wondering what else we could do. Oh ... I forgot to mention that I talked with an attorney, just in passing, since we were at the same meeting. It's not that I want to sue him I just want to know what our rights are and what his responsibilities are.
Today I was cleaning up my stuff from the state convention that I went to and I thought when people have problems they always turn to their elected officials. I emailed my mayor and city council member. Within a short amount of time they both had passed the information on and are having people (that no one else had told me about) look into it. It's amazing what can be done with a little bit of work and lots of communication.
I don't know that anything will be done, but at least I can say that I tried. I'll let you know what the outcome is.
Monday, May 12, 2008
{craZy wEEkend}
(This is a picture of my brother holding his cell phone, that has my sister on the other end, up to the phone, that has the speaker on, that has my missionary brother on the other end) Friday night we had our first loss in softball. It was terrible!!! Our game was early so I was sad to be missing Keyan's last soccer game of the year. I stayed until the last second and showed up to our game with only a few minutes to spare. It was windy which I don't like, even with sunglasses on you get sand in your eyes! The score was 5-7. At least it wasn't a blowout. For some reason we just couldn't pull it off. Afterwards we went to the customary Artic Circle.
Saturday was interesting. I spent the whole day (7:a.m. - 5:30 p.m.) at the Republican Party State Convention. It was my first time. I thought it was crazy. You would not believe the drama that can go on at one of these things!!! I enjoyed it though.
Sunday - Mother's Day. My kids brought me breakfast in bed and showered me with lots of presents (books, movies, games, earrings, flowers, etc.) They made me lots of cards and even posted some sweet notes on our family blog. It was very nice. I love being a mom, even through all the heartaches, headaches, worry and frustrations! There is nothing like it. I think the hardest part is that time seems to be going by so fast (it's funny how that happens the older you get). My baby will be baptized this year. Sam will shortly be a 7th grader and Keyan will turn 17 years old. It's really unbelievable. I really enjoyed sacrament meeting. 3 women were asked to speak on different women in the scriptures (Queen Esther, Ruth and Naomi, and Martha and Mary - focusing on the lesson Martha learned). They really did a great job. In R.S. they feed us cinnamon rolls and juice and the bishop talked about spiritual gifts and oddly enough his message specific to the ladies in our ward was overcoming doubt, guilt and depression. Strange Mother's Day message don't you think?
In the afternoon, we got to watch the Jazz play the Lakers in Game 4 of the Playoffs. Yahoo! The Jazz pulled off another win, now they are tied 2-2. Game 5 will be back to L.A. on Wednesday. Go Jazz!
The Jazz game ended up going into overtime, which made us a little late getting to my parents for Bryan's call. Missionaries get to call home on Mother's Day and Bryan wanted to make sure we were all there. My mom was talking to him when we got there. My dad talked to him next, then they put it on speaker phone. Big mistake! If you have a missionary that calls home just pass the phone around and let everyone talk to him/her themselves. It was nice to hear from him anyways.
Next we wondered over to Chris' parents house to say Happy Mother's Day to his mom. We stayed and chatted awhile.
After the kids went to bed Chris and I watched Juno, one of my mother's day presents. I was so glad we hadn't watched it with the kids. It's definitely not for them, but I did like it. I wished when I was that age that I had a better sense of who I was and what I wanted!!!
Overall it was a fun, crazy weekend and I didn't get any chore gifts for Mother's Day so that is always a plus (no, Chris will never live down the fact that I got a lawn mower one year for Mother's Day). Although he said that he thought about getting me new pans (which I do want), but decided against it because of the lawn mower stunt!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
{christy and the terrible, horrible, no good, very BAD day}
Yesterday was one of those days! I didn't feel very well. I took Sam to dance, then I took Ally and Landon to Keyan's soccer game. We got stopped by a train, then got caught in construction. We got on I15 and Ally threw up. We got off and stopped at the 7-11 off Orem's Center Street exit, to inspect the throw up mess. Luckily Ally found a bag! :) So I was getting gas in my car. Then a guy, at the pump across from me says, "Excuse me, did you know that your tire is flat?" WHAT - No, of course I didn't know. It wasn't flat when I pulled up. In the time it took me to get gas my tire went completely flat. I was glad I had sunglasses on, because I just started crying. The guy was so nice. He stayed and helped (well pretty much did it all) change the tire. He even plugged it up so all I would have to do is fill it up. He told me not to do it there because their air pump would take forever. What a blessing it was that he noticed my flat tire and then changed it for me. At this point there is not much time we are going to be at Keyan's game. I was going to have to leave to go back and get Sam. We go to Keyan's game anyway. The side that has the soccer field is under construction so we drive all the way around and tried to pull into the front side and it happens to be a one car road and there are other cars coming out so we drive back down to the main parking lot, which seemed like a mile away from where we needed to be. We actually got to watch about 20 minutes of Keyan's game. Then we left to get Sam, which I forgot that you can't drive very fast when you have the spare tire on your car. So it took us twice...three times as long to get Sam. Then I run the kids in the house and head off to one of my political meetings where I got sit among people who were very strongly opinionated about the craziest of things!!! At least I could come home and watch the Deadliest Catch!!!
I am so thankful that the Lord is mindful of me. I am blessed to have children that I need to run all over town for. I am blessed to have a vehicle of my own. I am blessed that my tire didn't get a flat on the highway. I am blessed to have healthy children who can play in sports. I am so blessed that Ally could find a barf bag! I am blessed to live in America where people are allowed to freely voice their opinions. So even though I had a down-right rotten day I can still be happy that the Lord is always there to watch over me, bless me, and love me!!!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
{undEfeAtaBle}
{7 wOndeRs}
On Good Morning America (fall 2006) they did a piece on the new 7 world wonders (Tibet's Potala Palace, Old City of Jerusalem, Polar Ice Caps, Hawaiian Natl. Marine Monument, The Internet, The Great Migration, and Mayan Ruins). Next week they are doing a piece on the 7 wonders of the United States. I'm not sure if they are doing natural wonders, man-made wonders, or a combination of the two. They are also having a public vote on what should be the 8th wonder.
What do you think should make the list?
Here are some of the things that Chris & I talked about that should make the list: the Grand Canyon, White House, Capital, the Mall or something in Washington D.C., Delicate Arch, northern lights or something in Alaska (Bering Sea!), some bridge (Golden Gate, Bay, Hudson, etc...), Empire State building, Redwoods, Mount Rushmore, I'm sure if it weren't so late at night I'd be able to come up with some more!!!
Friday, May 2, 2008
{tHe JAZZ rOck!!!}
113 - 91The Utah Jazz finally did it! It took 6 games, but that's OK. It's way more exciting for them to win the quarterfinals at home. Go Jazz!!!
(1st game of the semifinals for the Jazz is this Sunday against the LA Lakers)
{hOpe Of amEeRiCa}
Glimpses of Us!
