We Built This City on Rock and Roll

Cassidy tried out again this year for the children's musical put on by the City. Written by local ladies, it was clear full of great songs from the 80's. Songs I knew and listened to in High School. She had so much fun singing and dancing and dressing up 80's style. Her group of girls danced and sang to "I Love the Rainy Nights", "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."


In the first video, Kenz was the cameraman. I hope it doesn't make you sick. Cass has the turquoise umbrella.




I hope you can finder her. She is in middle of the middle most of the time, then she moves up to the front row, middle.



she is in a navy blue shirt

Happy Halloween

The kids had a great time this year trick or treating, even though it was a little rainy! Cassidy was Dorthy this year. Thanks to friends that let her borrow the terrific costume. At the City Pumpkin Festival she won 2nd place for her age group! Kenzie decided to be a girl Pirate or wench this year. I was grateful for the fact that I didn't have to buy her a costume. Thank you for being so frugal and creative K! In fact, I didn't have to purchase anything this year except Cass's ruby slippers!! Cutter was Dracula...Count Cuttula to be exact. He had fun having his face painted by his dad. This was his first year with having a parade at school. Kindergarten is the best thing ever!!!!!

The First Day of School 2010

Last week was the First day of 3rd grade for Miss Cass! She was so excited! There are so many friends in her class this year from around the neighborhood. It should be great fun. I asked her after she got home how many of the kids she knew, and she said she knew everyone accept for one boy that was new to the school. So fun to reconnect with classmates from other years, and other tracks. She is very excited to learn cursive this year, as well as her multiplications.



Let the partying begin!!!!! First, Kenz took this pic, and for whatever reason he looks kind of glum, but let me tell you, this kid is BEYOND excited to be in school...FINALLY!!!!! He was ready to start Kindergarten the day after Preschool ended. I told him he had to wait until after Cassidy was baptized, that gave him something to shoot for, and bought me some time and peace of mind, time is still such a hard concept for him. The baptism came and went, and we scrambled to find other things to measure by. He was really sad when Cass went last week and he didn't. When we went to meet his teacher for testing, he even had to take his backpack. Well today finally came. We walked Cass to school this morning, and he wanted to know when he got to go. I told him after lunch. At 10:30 he told me he was hungry. Sorry Charlie, we still have to wait a while. I took him and his little friend down the street that I tend to school, and they lined up, then out came his teacher, and off he went with the biggest grin in the world on his face!!!!! And as he entered the building... I started dancing!!!!!!!! Woot Woo!!!!!

The "Goon"

We spent most of Friday afternoon and evening at "The Goon" as Cutter calls it. We had a great time with all the cousins, dad's and Grandma and Grandpa J. We picnicked there, and rode tons of rides. The best for me was Rattlesnake Rapids. The adults got on one raft, the kids on the other. We all got completely drenched, and laughed the whole time. Great memories were made!

GDO = Girl's Day Out

We had such a action packed weekend. 1st the "Goon", then cleaning the church and last but not at all the least, Cassidy's long awaited B-day party. Yes, this girl turned 8 back in June. But we had a month full of things going on, like a Baptism, and camp's, and holiday's etc. So the day finally came. And I think that all the girls had a great time. Kenzie and her friend H did all the work. I just supplied the supplies. It was a Girl's Day Out theme and they made shopping bags, and played Freeze dance. They went through a shopping spree obstacle course, made a handbag craft, and played spin the nail polish bottle, and ended up with a rainbow of colored nails. What a great bunch of very cute girls! Happy Birthday Cass!!!!

"The Family"

Last week, Kenz had plans with the girl Cousins. So H came down to pick up Kenzie, and her mom tagged along. (H just got her license and her mom was just a little worried about her coming out our way all alone). Cutter and his little friend from down the street were just so excited they jumped in the car. Cutter and E decided that Cutter was the dad, E was the mom and Aunt J was the daughter. I went out to check on them and this is what I saw!! TOOOO CUTE!!!!

The sprinkler

Cutter doing the "sprinkler" in the sprinklers!

The Graduate

***Just a side note- Thank you so much to my good friend K for helping me figure how to download videos once again on my blog! This is actually out of order, but just so excited to be able to blog it!!!! ***






My baby is growing up! He graduated from Preschool and he is now on his way to being a Kindergartner. It was a very cute program. It made us all smile, and giggle. It made me cry. I love Teacher Tricia, Cutter loves Teacher Tricia. He made good friends there, and the majority of them will attend a different Elementary. But he is so excited to go to Kindergarten! And I am excited for him to go too!

"Growing Up Is A Big Job"


"Teddy Bear"


"Diploma"

Spring Flowers

 

Spring flowers are my favorite!

"Leading Learner"

 

Yes, preschool is over now, but I wanted to blog about this picture, and being the "Leading Learner." In Preschool they rotate through all the kids the "Leading Learner" role. The Leading Learner gets to bring the snack for the day, a toy to share, and a book for Teacher Tricia to read to the class. They also get to be the helper all day. They get to pick the game to play, they lead the class in the pleadge, etc. etc. Cutter LOVED being the Leading Learner. He loved being able to pick the snack he got to take, it usually included baby carrots and fruit snack. But, on his last turn he really really really wanted to be able to take drinks too - Capri Sun. So the basket was filled to the brim with snacks, drinks, book and toy. We are going to miss Teacher Tricia, his classmates, and the being the Leading Learner.

Piano Recital

For the fact that she did NOT want to do recital, there was a double booking at the facility and we had to be squished in a small practice room, the pianists had to sit out in the main area until their turn, and that it felt like the first row of the audience was looking right over your shoulder...she didn't do to bad. :)

My kids and art

I love that my kids enjoy creating things. I love that they are enjoying the Arts like I do. Their talents take them in a little different direction than my love of the Arts and my talents, which of course is great. Kenzie early on liked to draw and doodle, and she wanted to be able to draw as well as her dad. We found out about a gal in our area that teaches art classes, and we signed her up. It accomplished two things, gave her something to do off track and helped to develop her talent. She has been going to these classes for several years now, and this year Cassidy has started as well. Cassidy also has a knack for drawing, and has done some wonderful things. Cutter is following right along, and has fun with the girls, and a friend that I watch that has great artistic skills as well. He also had the opportunity with preschool to go and paint ceramics. His frog is very cute and very unique.

The picture above with the kids was taken earlier this year at the Reflections award assembly at the Junior High.

Cutter's



Cassidy's




Kenzie's

PIERCED

 
It is now official. My Cassidy has pierced ears. She has wanted it done for quit sometime. In fact, her aunt gave her a gift certificate for her birthday last year to get it done. But, I am a stickler. There is this little rule at our house that we came up with with McKenzie that you had to be eight to get your ears pierced. Many reasons for it, mostly, I wanted them to be able to take care of them properly themselves, so eight was good. For Kenz eight came and left, and it didn't happen. Not with Cassidy. She is a different girl than her sister (aren't we glad that Heavenly Father made us all different! :) ) and she has wanted it for a long time. But this rule...I know that Kenzie would not have cared at all if her sister would have had it done long ago when she wanted it done at first. But, would it come to bite me in the future? I can just hear it now... "Oh yeah, well you didn't make Cassidy wait for her ears to be peirced so why can't I ___________ ?" So we waited. She is so excited, and so cute, and she cried and is such a girl. Don't tell though, I did give in by a month and a half! SHHHHHHHHHH!

My new thing

 

For many years now I have wanted to start making bread. I wanted to use the food storage that we are encouraged to have. What good is wheat, if it just sits there as wheat? I wanted to offer more nutritious options to my family, without having to buy the real expensive bread from the store (that is just not as good as homemade!), I wanted to feel a little more domesticated. But,in my mind there were always big obstacles. The biggest was we don't own a wheat grinder, and they are not cheap. Next, not sure if my Sunbeam Mixer had enough oomph to make bread, and in my mind it would be a great time consumer. I remember mom making bread, and it was such a long process, with a lot of kneading, and waiting, as a small child it seemed like an all day affair. I was still thinking of things as they were some 30-35 years ago. And frankly, with the number of children that revolve through our door on a daily basis, in my mind it just wasn't feasible. But a friend one time was telling me about her bread...that she makes in her bread maker...humm...Well, I thought, I have a bread maker. So it sat and festered there in my mind. But, still that didn't solve the problem of the wheat grinder. I went to a couple of bread making classes, and the interest was peaked even more. But again, I had it in my mind that I had to do all or nothing. NO WHEAT GRINDER,etc, etc. Then after another conversation with my friend, I found out that she had been doing this for over 8 years, and when she started out, it was with flour purchased at the store, and she worked her way up to what it is now. Step by step, precept upon precept... Sometimes things have to hit me over the head! I was encouraged. I could buy the flour from the store and not have guilt. I could gradually work whole wheat into my family's diet. I could save my sheckles and eventually buy the grinder. So I invited her over, and she taught me how to do it. I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW UNBELIEVABLY EASY IT IS!!!!! Dump the ingredients in the bread maker, let it do the kneading. Put it in a bread pan, let it raise once, and bake it. Easy! So, here is a picture of my small step into the homemade bread world. It is so delicious, and so healthy, and I did it! (I'm still working on having it nice and rounded on the top).

What a girl!

This girl is amazing. Now that she is in Young Women's she has been working hard on her Personal Progress. Setting goals, reading scriptures, writing in her journal and learning. For her Choice and Accountability value project (a project that they decide to work on that requires at least 10 hours of work) she decided to earn all the money for her Oakcrest camp this year. She is quite the babysitter, and there are several families in the ward that love to have her sit for them. Back in November she decided to save her babysitting money. She had many babysitting jobs, and just kept saving and saving. When it came time in March to go and register for Oakcrest camp. She had the $95 all saved. She is now saving for other things, including spending money at Oakcrest.

Another amazing thing about this girl: Last Sunday we got to church just a few minutes late, and snuck in the back. As the Bishop got up and announced the program, he reminded us that Kenzie was supposed to give a talk that day. We all had forgotten. I looked over at her and whispered, just go bear your testimony. She took the long walk up to the stand, sat for a minute next to the couple that was also speaking until the Bishop finished. She then got up, and not only shared her testimony of Faith (the topic she was to speak on) but also related some experiences that she had had. She shared the story her Grandmother has shared with her about her own testimony growing about Joseph Smith. She talked about Joseph Smith and the faith that he had to go to the grove and pray after reading the scripture in the Bible about if any of ye lack wisdom, let them as of God. She shared a time that we had lost my glasses, and were running late, and we prayed and found them instantly, thanks to Heavenly Father and our faith. She spoke from the heart, she spoke loud and with confidence, and then she bore her testimony. C and I were just in ah. It was the most beautiful, last minute, talk from the heart ever. Afterward so so so many ward members came up and said what an amazing job she did. Our Primary President just went on and on about it, and how she loved it because you could hear her, you could feel the spirit, and it was right from her heart. Her Sunday School teacher ranted and raved to me over her, how well she did, how much she loves Kenzie, and that she is the sweetest girl. The 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric was beyond impressed. He used the word "suburb." Another friend also gushed over Kenzie to her, and told her what a great job she did. And there were so many others as well.

She is truely an AMAZING girl, and we love her dearly!

Coloring Eggs

Kenzie put this cute collage together for her blog I think, but I am going to use it too!

The Tuesday before Easter, C was going to be home for the evening, so we decided to color eggs that night as a family. Kenz had been asked to babysit, so we just invited those kids to come over and join us. All the kids had so much fun! We enjoyed Dad being home, and having friends over to enjoy the adventure as well. Kenz was able to join us, and earn money too! It was a good thing :)

Halloween (yeah I know it's April)

So I never got these pictures on the blog, so I thought I would post the kids Halloween pictures now. They are still cute pics to look at in April!

C was a pirate along with Cutter


Cassidy the year prior had told me so wanted to be a Dead Ballerina. I had hoped that she would forget as the year transpired. Alas, she did not. She loved it!

McKenzie decided on The Mad Hatter. Very cute, especially for the Halloween Dance at school!

Vegas Baby!

We had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas in February to see the NASCAR races. We jumped all over it. It has been 4 years since we have been, and we needed sometime just to ourselves. So after a few phone calls to make sure the kids had a place to stay with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Jannie, it was a done deal. We were able to stay at the condo in St.George the first night, and then headed down to Vegas after dropping off the kids, and having a nice visit with my family. We got in town just in time to meet friends at the race track and walk over to see the Nationwide race. It was raining, and the race was delayed, but we were just so excited to be there! My brother made us arrangements to actually stay in Vegas that night. After the race, we headed to our hotel, and enjoyed a great Mexican dinner. It has been 14 years since we have actually been "in" Vegas. We have been to the track of course, and driven through, but not inside Vegas for that long. It was quite the experience, things have definitely changed and we just wandered around, and enjoyed just being alone. After a good nights sleep, we headed to the race track. It was a nice sunny clear day. We made good time to the track, and parking has improved over the years. We spent a good amount of time out seeing all the tents,driver trailers getting souvenirs for the kids etc. We had scored some great seats, and had a great view of the entire track. It still is just amazing to be there at the track, and to hear those engines, and see the cars up close. We enjoyed every minute of it, even if our driver didn't win.

 

Piano Recital

For the fact that she did NOT want to do recital, there was a double booking at the facility and we had to be squished in a small practice room, the pianists had to sit out in the main area until their turn, and that it felt like the first row of the audience was looking right over your shoulder...she didn't do to bad.

If...then...but...

I love that we have a built in babysitter. I love that 99% of the time she doesn't mind doing it. But, on occasion, she does moan and groan a little. Usually because where we are going, she wants to go too. One such occasion was our anniversary, and we were going to see Kurt Bestor in concert. (The blow was lightened because Grandma and Grandpa were in town). You see McKenzie enjoys that kind of music, and loves anyone with the talent to play the piano so well. She would love the opportunity to go see and hear that type of concert. So, when C and I had the chance to go to Kurt Bestor's Christmas concert for C's birthday I knew that I would hear the "oh man, I want to go!" So, I plotted, and planned, and decided.. IF she would babysit for us THEN I would take her to see Jon Schmidt play. She LOVES Jon Schmidt. She is studying his technique to learning to play the piano at her piano lessons. She has his CD's on her ipod. She is a fan! BUT,because I was plotting and planning to take her out of school to see him, she had to make sure she kept her grades up. So... C and I went and enjoyed Kurt Bestor, Kenz tended not only her brother and sister but her little cousin as well that night, and kept her grades where they needed to be, and not only got the see Jon Schmidt perform, but meet him, talk to him, have him sign her music book, and get her picture taken with him as well.

Sledding

Another reason I love where we live besides the great neighbors and friends is all the open spaces, and the great parks that we have around and their wonderful sledding hills. Without fail if there is snow, there is usually someone ready to go out sledding. My kids love it. They love getting dressed up in their snow clothes or "babes" (bibs) as Cutter says. This year we made sure we were ready for the season, with newly purchased sleds, and new boots that fit a growing boy. So the adventures have begun, and continue (although we really need some more snow!) with opportunities galore.

Off Track

Thanks to my good friend K and her great field trip adventures with her kids and preschoolers, when my kids and the cousins went off track in October, we decided to go and try out these places. My SIL and I took the kids to Gardener Village first. They have a great display of witches all over the property. We went on a witch hunt to find all the witches, and then headed to the bakery for a treat for our efforts, and lunch. The kids got into finding those crazy wild witches. Our next trip was to the Sweets candy factory. We were able to take a tour of the facility, and see how the candy was made. It was very interesting and fun. It reminded me of the movie, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I kept looking around for the Ompa Lompas, but none were to be found. The best part of course was the trip into the candy store at the end. Dark Chocolate Raspberry sticks...delic !

Disneyland!

This past October we had the most awesome experience. C's entire family, including us got to go to Disneyland. It has become a tradition that over UEA we all go to St George. But, this year the family decided it would be fun to go farther with a destination of Disneyland. It was our kids first time there and it was so much fun to watch them, and see the joy, surprise, anticipation etc. on their faces. We caravaned down and back, stayed in a hotel on the same block as Disneyland, and spent every minute we could enjoying the magic. Being October the place was all decked out for Halloween. All the characters were in Halloween Costumes, they had an outrageous fireworks show, and we got to attend a special Trick or Treat night at Disneyland California Adventure. At 6:30 they closed the park and only those of us with a special ticket were able to enter the park. The kids got to wear their Halloween Costumes, and they has special trick or treat stops all throughout the park, and all the rides were open, with hardly any lines. The little girls got to be a part of the Trick or Treat on the Street parade, and danced their little hearts out. It was such a great trip, we enjoyed every minute of it, and we stayed and played to the very end. Here are just a few highlights:

"Abort, abort! DO NOT exit the vehicles, repeat, DO NOT exit the vehicles" the phrase said over the walkie talkies between the cars as we were trying to find a park to eat lunch. We were right in the center of Drugville USA. Thanks to the GPS system.

"That totally freak-ed me out!" Said by Cutter after riding Big Thunder Mountain.

"The Nightmare before Christmas" themed Haunted Mansion

Getting into Pin trading

Getting Grandma to ride the Matterhorn

Space Mountain haunted!

Getting to meet all the characters and Princesses

Kenzie and Cass both riding Tower of Terror aka by Cass as the "Elevator of Enchantment"

The kids being part of two parades

Cutter getting to ride the train

spending time with family

A huge Thank you to all those that made this trip possible for us! We love you!!!!!