Wishing You A Merry Christmas!

We are ready for a fantastic holiday at the Jesienouski house and we hope you are too! This year has flown by and we almost can't believe it is Christmas again! This year has been filled with fun adventures, most of which we've already blogged about, so I won't recap now. LOL We are excited for the upcoming New Year.... 2010 is going to be a great one, I'm sure. We'll keep you posted as usual!

Merry Christmas! We wish you and yours the very best as you celebrate with family and friends! May the Lord bless and keep you as we celebrate His birth! Love to all!

New Modules for T-Trak

Well, I have finally gotten back to work on modules for the T-Trak Modular Layout. These two modules allow us to change directions on the layout so now we can do things with the layout instead of just making an oval. The first one is a mountain with tunnels. The mountain lifts off to deal with possible derailments.  I made the trees a new way this time, I used Caspia for the trees, with green foam glued on.  I believe it looks really good and it wasn't that hard to make a whole bunch of trees, and it was quite cheap, made over a hundred trees for $17.00.  Lots cheaper than the normal trees I buy and a lot more realistic looking.

The next module is my lake module.  I like the sea serpent on my old layout so much that I had Tonya make me a new for the T-Trak layout.  Tonya made it so that it was looking back, so I put a little girl standing on the shoreline and it looks like the dragon is looking at her.  I have named the Dragon Susan after the character in Monsters vs. Aliens.   Again I used the new trees and used a quite a bit of Woodland Scenics Realistic Water in the lake.  Tonya painted the base of the lake to have a shoreline and look like it gets really deep.

Here is a closeup of the little girl and the serpent. You can't see it in the picture, but I have three adults running away from where the girl is standing. Also, I put some dead trees around the lake to show that when there are not kids to eat, Susan goes around and eats the leaves off of trees. Also to the side you can see part of the dam. On the other side, it has two culverts where water is coming out, looks pretty neat, but the picture of it was blurry, so you will have to trust me.
Lastly, here is a picture of them together. With these two modules and their sister modules that James is building, we can have four trains running on their own tracks and the layout is shaped like a +. It was very popular at the last show we were at, and it is still very easy to move the layout and setup. Can't wait to put the big layout together again! Hopefully in January! BTW, if you didn't notice, you can click on the pictures to see a bigger version.

Handel's Messiah

Last night for our 25 days of Christmas we went to Handel's Messiah performed by the Southwest Symphony. It was really good and we knew a couple people that were performing. I loved the trumpets, the lead trumpet player was great! It was really nice to go and hopefully they will do a Halloween concert like they had this year, they played great music and I wish we would have gone.

Reindeer yard decorations

This morning, for some unknown reason I turned left going off my street (normally go right). As I turned to get out of our neighborhood, I saw a house that had 10 reindeer in their front yard. I thought that was a very nice decoration and wondered where they stored such big decorations throughout the year. As I got closer, however, I found out they were not a decoration, there were 10 deer in the people's front yard! 2 of them had antlers! I went to grab my cell phone to take a picture, but I guess stopping a car really fast in front of them spooked them and they ran off. I love where we live!

25 Days of Family Fun for Christmas-Days 1-6

Scott and I wanted to make this year a special one for our family and we have made it a point to have a fun family activity for each night of December as a kind of countdown to Christmas. The only requirement is that it has to cost little to no money (but we may splurge on a couple things) and it has to be something we do together.

On the first night, we attended a special program that celebrated the things Taylor has been working on this year in her Young Womens group. We listened to some great spiritual motivational speakers, and had a chocolate fountain, which Shaylie loved.

Day two: we visited an amazing train layout built by a friend of Scott's. It is a huge room full of Christmas villages, ice skaters, sledders, trams, and much more. It really was a treat. I also got to see Shaylie's choir perform this day, though unfortunately the others had to work/school.

Day three: We went to Taylor's winter band concert as a family and enjoyed their talents. Taylor really is a great flutist. They were very enjoyable.

Day Four: Again, a musical outing--don't you just love music at Christmastime--Taylor's piano recital. She played O Holy Night and did very well. Shaylie's choir performed again at school and this time her dad and I and Grandma Dawn all got to go enjoy it.

Day five: We spent the day at the annual Dicken's Christmas Festival. Always a ton of fun! We got to see Shaylee Sabaitis dance and another of her friends in a short production of Oliver! My mom, Anissa and Anje joined us as well.

Tonight, day six: We watched the LDS Christmas Devotional and baked sugar cookies. Yum!

I will post another update after the next few activities. I am really enjoying the time we are spending as a family. It gets harder and harder to remember the real reason for the season and I hope this will bring us closer together as a family.

Taylor's Soccer Journey Continues...We Hope!

Taylor begins playing on Monday with the Strikers FC! This is a team comprised mostly of the Pine View High JV team. We are excited for her to have this chance to get to know the girls and coaches she will hopefully be playing with in high school. She is excited too! More than she should have been, probably...but that's a long story.

This is a competitive league and they will likely play in the Summer Games in 2010, as well as some regional qualifying tournaments. It will be a bit pricey, but the team is looking at doing some fundraisers, so that will help. I think of it as a good investment. :-)

There is only one catch--I probably should have mentioned that earlier--and that is: She is only 13 years old and she may be playing against 18 year olds which the league has to approve with a signed waiver from us. So all of this pending that approval. The good news is that the coach already told us that even if she can't "officially" play with the team, she can still come to practices and work out with them. So it's all good, but better if she can actually play!

I'm excited for her! And for us too! What would we do without soccer to keep us busy? Or maybe I should say distracted? Anyway...we love it!

All I Want For Christmas

Every year, my wonderful family calls and asks me for ideas for gifts for the girls and for ourselves. This year, I've decided to post some things that I've heard the girls mention or that they've asked for or that I think they would like. The downside of this is that I am giving away all my ideas, but the upside is that it will hopefully make shopping a bit easier for you!

Shaylie: DSi (or money towards one), Crayola Color Wonder Magic Light Set, Littlest Pet Shop LPSO Pet--these are the giant LPS toys that have a computer code, DS Games: MySims Agents or Harry Potter, Books.

Taylor: The only thing I'm really recommending for Taylor this year is Cash or Gift Cards. She has mentioned wanting a new clip-on ponytail and rollerblades...or money to fix up her motor scooter, as well. She is very hard to shop for so if anyone else has good ideas...maybe you should let me know. :) She would also like anything to do with decorating her room...but don't ask me what she wants. ??

Scott's super easy to buy for usually. My trouble is knowing where to stop. If you need ideas...look at any hobby shop, ThinkGeek, or the Tech section of any store. He could also use tools for his train room...he's mentioned a jigsaw or scroll saw, but I don't even know what those are exactly.

As for me, Dear Santa Claus...I need new earphones (not earbuds), anything to replace my old kitchen stuff most of which I've had since I got married, and world peace. Unfortunately, the nook that I really want is not available until January

And of course we always love games (Pictionary Man and The Things Game look fun! or Wii games are faves too! And I'm in love with Bananagrams since Erin got me addicted!)

Hope this helps! And I hope you know the best gifts are just knowing that you love us and having you in our lives!

Do me a favor please....comment with your wish lists too so we can have fun shopping for your ideas too!

Why I love living in the Fields

This morning as I was driving off of my street, I turned the corner and had to come to a halt as a deer was standing there! She looked at me for a minute, I looked at her, she got on the sidewalk and I drove by and I watched her go back on the road. I have never had a house before where I could walk outside and see a herd of deer, I love this place

Another Sickie!

Scott has been down with the flu for the past couple days. So far, the only one who has escaped is me. Unfortunately, I have already had 4 days off taking care of the girls, but better I miss work than Scott. He is on the mend, but he has had a temp as high as 101 and spent a whole night in the bathroom trying to get rid off all the food he'd eaten in the past week. He's now getting a kind of cough...which I hope is not turning into pneumonia as has happened with some of my friends. It's been a nasty year for bugs. Maybe it's good that we are getting it over with so we can enjoy the holidays (knock on wood). I think it will be remarkable if I don't get sick next, but then I already think it's remarkable that I haven't been yet. Hopefully my luck will hold! If only I could resist the Halloween candy as well as I've been resisting the flu! :)

Sick Day

Everybody's home today...except Scott who is at work but at least still in town. He was supposed to go up north to a meeting but the snow changed those plans. Shaylie came down with a fever last night and seems a bit better today. She had a 101.2 last night 100.1 at last check. She's sleeping a lot and feels generally miserable. Taylor has a mystery illness. She doesn't have a fever but she keeps throwing up. She went to school yesterday to make up a test, but was feeling too poorly to go today. I sure hope they both get better soon. It's no fun being sick.
I am also starting to feel kind of yucky, but I don't know if it's sympathy pains or if I'm really feeling it. I'll know if I get a fever or start losing my lunch, I suppose. I don't know if all this has anything to do with the dreaded Hiny Virus but we're just treating like another sick day around here.

Shaylie's New Braces

Shaylie with her crazy contraptions...she had cheek spreaders, bite block, expander and hands inside her teensy tiny mouth.

Dr. Simister did a great job! We sure love their office.

Shaylie and Trishchelle, the super nice assistant that was so great with my nervous little girl!

Beautiful Brace Face!!!

Fall Break

Here are our tentative plans for Fall Break...please let us know if these work for those involved or those who would like to be. :D We are heading up on Thursday and will check into the condo in Park City. Friday we are thinking of going to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. We'd love to have grandparents join us! It seems fun though I've never been. On Saturday at 8:30 pm, we are planning to take a ride on the Heber Valley Railroad "Haunted Canyon." I'm purchasing tickets this week. I'm interested in stopping by either Gardner Village or Wheeler Farm as well to check out their Fall/Halloween festivities too, but these plans are up in the air. We definitely want to see Grandma Rose and Papa & Grandma Strong while we are up, so please let us know when we can come see you!!
I am very excited to have a fun vacation! It's been a while since our family got away to do something fun! Yay FALL!!!

More Dog Play

Dog Play

Progress

Well, progress today with Blackberry & Cricket. He was definitely more friendly toward her but still super cautious.

Despite one big growly barking incident (Cricket and BB were both in the bathroom as we were getting ready to leave for church and I guess C was whining too much and BB snapped at her!) Several times during the day, he would come up to sniff her and there was a definite wag of the tail.

Then, later this evening, he was so cute. He started picking up his ball and dropping it about a foot away from Cricket and wait for her to come get it. If she didn't, he would pick it up and drop it again. So funny! It was too dark outside to take a video but if he does it again I'll post it.

Lastly, I had Cricket on my bed while I was sorting some laundry and Bub came in and hopped up onto the bed, laid down as far away from her as possible-with his back to her-and laid down. A far cry from last night when he wouldn't even be in the same room with her without pacing and whining, and definitely would not relax around her.

I have great hope that they will be good friends soon.

Suckers!

I can't believe we got suckered into it again! Our friends the Terry's had two litters they were selling today and Taylor turned on the Persuasion Skills, promising everything in the book. I made a deal with Julie and we've got her on a trial run until Monday.

But she sure is cute! The girls are calling her Cricket or Kiki for short. She's an 8 week old purebred Shihtzu puppy and we love her already!

Blackberry is tolerating her and making sure we don't forget him by whining, barking and doing tricks. Hopefully, he'll get used to her soon.

She doesn't shed, so it looks like Scott will do okay with her too. In fact, she sneezed while he was holding her so maybe she's allergic to him! :)

Wish us luck! We're going to need it! Puppies and babies. The Lord sure makes our memories short otherwise why would we ever do any of it twice? :)

Updates

Did some work on the bend track layout. I hooked up the DCC controller to it and tested it out. I love being able to use a computer to control the train, makes me actually enjoy using computers for a change.

Was sitting in church today and a guy walked up to me and said do you know me. I recognized him but could not place him. It turned out he was the dentist at the office I was updating computers at on Thursday. I updated just about all my offices in the past two weeks with new antivirus software and all the laptops got pgp, a hard drive encrypting program.

Took Taylor and Shaylie to the SUU soccer game on Thursday, SUU lost, but it was pretty fun to go to. Tonya is looking great! Her diet is awesome, I am so proud that she has been able to stick with it, sometimes it seems very hard, but she is doing great!

Still haven't fixed my bike (no money), but I have been on the treadmill a lot so hopefully I can keep my weight down. I am hoping that when I do the last HCG round with my wife, I want to get into the 180's. As Tonya has been losing around 40 pounds a time, I need to get down a little to do this.

Our train club is going to do a layout tour in the middle of November, so I need to get working on making the garage and train room look nice. Hopefully things will work out on that. More later.

Fun = Fundraising

Taylor has the FUN opportunity to take a trip at the end of this school year to New York and Boston.  It will be an amazing chance to visit sites like Boston Common, Beacon Hill, Paul Revere House, USS Constitution, Lexington Battle Green and in New York--the Museum of Science, Empire State Building, Times Square, Ground Zero, the Met, Statue of Liberty, Smithsonian and two Broadway shows!!!  It sounds like so much fun, I wish I could go too! It will be a 6 day educational extravaganza!

Unfortunately, it is quite expensive and Taylor will have to earn most of the money herself if she wants to go.  We can subsidize some of her trip, but she is looking at earning $1700 by the end of the school year.  I think she can do it! She's always been great at earning money and even though this seems like an overwhelming amount--I think it will be good for her to learn she can succeed at it!  We are thinking about selling door-to-door, having a yard sale, car washes, bake sales...etc.  It will be a challenge, for sure!

I know we'll be able to count on our extended family to support Taylor in this, and donations would definitely be welcome, but even more..if you could give us ideas, motivation and encouragement. That would be AWESOME!!

Wish us luck!!! We'll need it to make this a success!!!

Pine View Soccer

Last night I took Shaylie to Pine View High School's Girl's Soccer Game vs. Hurricane. As I was watching the game, I got this freaked out feeling that Taylor could be on that team NEXT YEAR! Where has the time gone? Shaylie wanted to go play on the letters at the side of the stadium so I let her go, plus Pine View was dominating Hurricane almost as badly as Taylor's Killer Sharks would dominate the Hurricane AYSO team. I told Shaylie that a couple of her teammates could make Hurricane's team right now except that they were too young.
To get Shaylie home for bed, we left early. The score was 3-0 when we left and as we go in the car, we heard Pine View score again, I read in the paper that PV won 5-0. It was fun to watch, can't wait to see Taylor in a Pine View uniform, hope her knee heals up soon.

We're in Business!

For those of you who don't know our daughter Shaylie, suffice it to say she is a born businesswoman!  And now she has her own website!

www.shayliebay.com

Check out her site and let us know how you like it!

Shaylie is hard at work everyday, making cute new necklaces, bracelets, and keychains to fit every style.

She's also got some fun toys to sell!

Check back often since we never know what she'll be selling next!

Happy Anniversary

Click on collage to see bigger version!

Scott and I have been married 17 years today! I guess we are getting to be an old married couple:) To celebrate, we took a day trip to Cedar City and revisited Cascade Falls. This was the location of my would-be proposal but timing and weather thwarted all of Scott's plans...so we went back up a year later (after we were married) and he recreated his proposal for me. Today, we did the same thing. It was actually very fun and quite romantic.

It's such a beautiful place! It's an outlet for Navajo Lake just off Highway 14 in Cedar. Red rock, pine trees, and quakies everywhere. The trail was actually closed because parts had collapsed earlier, but all kinds of people were coming and going and they said it was safe enough, so we decided to chance it. And it was! We're glad we went.

We came down off the mountain and ate at Applebee's. I was pretty beat. (I do not recommend hiking on a 500 calorie a day diet!!!) I had my steak and broccoli and felt immensely better.

It was just fun to spend time one on one with my wonderful husband. Too often we get caught up in the craziness of life and forget to remember why we love each other in the first place. I always remember quickly after spending any amount of time with Scott. He has always been a natural fit for me--he is so fun and makes me laugh constantly. He has been a terrific husband and father over the past 17 years and I'm so glad to share my life with him.

Happy Anniversary, my love! I'm looking forward to the next 17 and more!

Birthday Bash

We are having a family birthday party for Shaylie on August 15th at noon. BBQ, Cake and Fun! All family members are invited! Please come if you can! We'll see you there!

Jesienouski Family Dominance continues...

For the third year in a row, a Jesienouski is standing at the top of the winner's stand in the annual Holden 24th of July Water Rocket Competition.  For much of the competition, Shaylie was leading with a launch of 282'.  The next closest was only 260' with everyone else under 200'.  Then Taylor came up and her rocket set a competition record of FOUR HUNDRED TWELVE FEET!  No one had ever gone over 390 ever!  It was great to see my daughter's do so well.

The 24th is probably my favorite holiday.  The entire town of Holden shows up for the Children's Parade and then the town puts on a free breakfast at the park.  They have omelets, pancakes, scones, biscuits and gravy, eggs and bacon and sausage, and other stuff.  It is so great!  Then they have children's races and then sack races that Tonya and I did (but not so well) and then the rocket competition.  All in all, a very fun day!

Even Shaylie was able to have a twinkle in her eye in defeat!

Layout at the Library

As part of the Summer Reading Program at the St. George Public Library, on Monday, July 20th at 6:30pm we will be displaying our T-Trak layout.  I will be taking all of my modules, and James will be taking his, plus we will be adding several new modules that are in the process of being built that will allow us to make the layout have 4 trains running at once on each of the their own tracks, so we don't have to worry about the trains running into each other.

We will have handouts for the kids to color and cutout.  We hope that you will come out and attend! This has been popular in the past when we have done this, and we hope that it will continue to grow.

Cartoonizing!

I have always wanted to be able to cartoonize a photograph, and now I found a website that will do it! befunky.com.  Here is our family picture with it:

Lagoon Trip

We went to Lagoon for our annual trip.  We took along Dawn, Chad, Anissa, Anje, Shaylee, and Kaitlyn.  It was very rainy, but we still had fun.  On the trip we stopped at JC Mickleson's, on a tip from a train club member that they had an awesome layout, and it was great to see, and the food was good as well!  Here are the pictures from the trip.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Family Trip-Day 2

I took the daughters to Murray Park and we went around the park playing with the ducks and then went to the playground.  Taylor made lots of friends with the little kids as she was giving rides on the spinning wheels.  Then some older kids layed down plastic on the side of the hill and got a hose and made a giant slip and slide.  Shaylie asked if she could go and she had a great time!



Later Taylor and I went to the Real Salt Lake soccer game.  It was a really big deal night.  They had people parachute in.



And the main reason we were at the game, David singing the National Anthem:



Here is a picture at the start of the game.



Picture of us at the game.



Then after the game, which ended in a boring 1-1 tie, They had a mini concert, the real reason for the sold out stadium.



While Taylor and I were at the Soccer Game, Tonya, Shaylie and Grandma went to see the movie UP.  So everyone had a pretty great night!

Family Trip Day 1

After traveling late into the night (We got into Salt Lake at midnight) we slept in.  We traveled up to Salt Lake to go to the Gateway Mall.  We went to the Planetairum and then ate and then went to the children's museum.  After that we watched the fountain for a while and then the girl's went shopping for shoes. 

After that, we traveled down to a Trax station and left the car and hopped on Trax and rode that to FrontRunner, which we then rode to Ogden and back, it was fun passing all the cars on the freeway. The girls were happy to see lagoon (we will be back up here to go to that in a couple of weeks) and it was a nice relaxing ride.  We sat way in the back, so that when we were coming home, we were in the front and were able to watch the track out the front window. 

Tonight we are going to the Real Salt Lake game with David Archuleta singing the National Anthem before the game and having a mini-concert afterwards.

Looks Who's Riding a Bike!

Well it has finally happened! Shaylie can ride a bike! Taylor said that she was going to ride a bike this summer, and it took less than 5 minutes to get her going.
We then went for a ride and Shaylie was saying to me, "why, oh why, did I wait so long to do this, this is better than riding a scooter! Now I can ride to the park and my friend's houses."
I can't wait for more rides together.

Daddy-Daughter Date/Family Trip

We are making a trip to Salt Lake! We haven't been to Salt Lake as a family for quite a while and now is a great time of year for visits. Plus, mom's computer is not working very well, so I need to get up there anyway! She finally got high-speed internet, so I will get it setup so that she can Skype us and I can fix her computer remotely.

Taylor and I are going to our first ever Pro Soccer Game! We are going to see Real Salt Lake play, plus David Archuleta is going to be singing the National Anthem and performing after the game, so I am sure that will make her happy.

I will hopefully get to visit some real hobby shops and dream about buying things. It will also be good for me to get away from our DVR, I think I have watched "Glee" as many times as Tonya has seen "Twilight"

Pools back up and running!

[caption id="attachment_1351" align="aligncenter" width="454" caption="Taylor, Anje, and Shaylie in the pool for the first time this year"][/caption] The girls cleaned up the pool and everyone set it up, we have been filling it since last night and it finally was full enough at 5:00pm, the girls have been enjoying it! Hopefully it will hold up, the pool had a hard winter.

Soccer & Summer

It's been a while since I posted, but I realized that we never blogged about the results of the girls Soccer Seasons! Taylor played in the championship game and they played so well, but in the end they lost 1-0. Taylor stopped about 10 shots on goal and there team was really technically superior to the opponents but for some reason they were a bit intimidated. I really felt like they played to the best of their ability, which is something to be proud of.

Taylor was pretty upset by it, but she pulled herself together to coach her final game with Shaylie's team and her dad. Shaylie played a great game and they won with a goal at the last minute. The whole team was so thrilled and even more so when Scott pulled out the medals that every team got this year. Then when he announced the end-of-season pizza party, they were in heaven! I'm so proud of both Taylor and Scott for the great coaches they were this year. Taylor took this on as a project for her YW award and she really was awesome with the kids!

We're actually pretty sad to see the soccer season end! But I think the girls both learned a lot this year. Taylor is learning that you can't be SUPER AWESOME at EVERYTHING...ALL THE TIME! And Shaylie is learning that hard work and practice really can be rewarding...and playing just to play can be fun too!

Summer for us is going to be pretty low-key this year. We don't have all the camps and activities going on that we usually do. We are going to try to get some work done on our backyard and I have Girls Camp with Taylor in July, of course. But other than that, we are going to hang loose. I am SO looking forward to down time with the fam! We might hit Lagoon again this year, but for now...not much planned. And what could be better than that?

Birthday Pictures

Taylor's Birthday Weekend

It is hard for me to believe that my little girl is turning 13 on Sunday! An actual teenager...and she's already so good at it! We are throwing a big bash for her and some friends tonight. Well, a party anyway... We are taking her to the Mall for a scavenger hunt and then to the movie: 17 again. She's already seen it and loved it enough to take all her friends. Then, we plan to come back home for cake and presents. It should be a fun time.

Shaylie is staying over at Aunt Anissa's and tomorrow when she comes home we'll have a family bash. We might have some grandmas here too...we'll have to see.

Taylor is excited, I think. I'm sure they'll have a great time. I think she's growing up to be an amazing person. Here are some of my favorite things about my wonderful daughter:

• I love her determination-she is a go-getter. Anything she decides to do, gets done. She is very driven and result oriented. From the time she was very small, she would decide she wanted to learn something--tie her shoe, whistle, blow a bubble, ride a bike, do a backbend, play an instrument--and she would never give up until she had mastered that goal.  What an amazing talent to have!


• She is very responsible.  She has always been an incredibly independent girl.  I never have to remind her to get up, or get ready for school. She is very good at getting her homework and chores done and she almost always does whatever she is asked.  It's hard for us to remember sometimes that she is still just a kid..for a couple more days at least!


• She is very musical.  I love hearing Taylor sing, play the piano, play her flute, the guitar, the piccolo...even the trumpet, though she needs some practice on that..lol.  She brings such a wonderful spirit to her home with her ability. 


• She is a great friend.  Taylor has always gone out of her way to be a friend to everyone around her.  She won't believe that this is true-but I know she is admired by so many of her classmates and the people who know her. Whenever we see her around her friends, it always makes me smile to see how many people know her by name and smile and say HI or wave.  It gives me a warm feeling to know she is kind to everyone she meets. 


• Taylor is beautiful, inside and out!  She has such a smile!!!  When Taylor is happy the whole world lights up.  Her laugh is contagious and we hear it often.  I know Taylor feels the ugly duckling sometimes, but in my eyes there is no one more beautiful and amazing in this world...if I had one wish for her, it would be that she could see herself through the eyes of those that love her. 


• She has an unusually mature ability to snap herself out of a bad mood.  I think this is a gift.  If ever Taylor is having a bad day, it shows..just like it does with everyone...but Taylor can get over it so quickly.  It's like she just decides to be happy, and she does it.  (See first bullet.) She is a great example to me, since I'm a little slower to cool off.  :)


• Taylor is a girl with much faith and a strong testimony.  She is so much stronger than I was at her age.  She is a great example to our whole family of what it means to be a daughter of God.  I'm so proud of her for choosing to love her Savior and follow His plan for us.  She often shares her testimony with friends, and family and reminds all of us that faith is so important to our happiness. 

I could go on and on...but time is short and I still have lots of preparations to do.  We'll post some pics, and highlights soon!  Love you Tater Tot!  Have a terrific 13th birthday weekend!

Busy Day

We had a very busy day yesterday. At 8:00am we had Shaylie's Soccer Game, which was a 1-1 tie. So their record is now 0-2-3, I wish I could get that team a win, maybe next week. Taylor's game was at 9:00am, which they won 3-1. The championship tournament starts next week and they are the #1 seed, due to the weirdness of the playoff, they are playing the same team again and since it is Taylor's old team, it feels really good to beat them.
Then at 11:00am, Tonya and Shaylie went on a hike at Red Cliffs. When they came back, Taylor and I went to her friend's soccer game, which they lost in a shootout.
When we came home, Shaylie and I went to the annual kite festival. There was only one problem, little to no wind. We got her kite up a few times, but the wind would die after a few minutes and all the kites would come back to earth. But the good news is, she made the newspaper! Our family is getting famous, here is a link to her picture: Shaylie's Spectrum Photo!
All the while at home, we were watching the Star Wars Marathon on Spike (All six movies) and working on the train layout that is going to be displayed for the public at the scout festival this Saturday!

Scott's Article

I have scanned the article in...and here it is! We were hoping to just link directly to the Spectrum website...but alas, the one week they neglect to update the Neighborhood section is the one we were waiting for!!!

[gallery link="file" columns="2"]

Click here for the Article!

Heartbreaker Today!

We had two soccer games today and lost both! :( It was very hard on Taylor who hasn't lost a game in about 3 seasons. She blocked a penalty kick that got loose and kicked in on the bounce. She has very high expectations of herself and her team and it showed today! I actually think the loss will be good for her...she needs to learn how to handle losing as well as winning!

She bounced back pretty quickly and jumped into her coaching hat to help Scott and Shaylie with their game. I have to say I am really proud of the way she handles her little players. She is always so patient and understanding with them...plus she has a lot to teach them. Scott is doing very well with the team too...the kids are just so young they don't have a great handle on fundamentals yet. But they are definitely improving...Shaylie got her feet on several balls today and they had fun, which I think is the MOST IMPORTANT PART!!

We spent the afternoon shopping and having fun with the girls, since it was Priesthood session of conference. We found a cute outfit for Taylor for Easter. She is playing her flute in church, while I sing, that Sunday. Now she'll be gorgeous too!

All in all today turned out to be a good day!

Happy April!

April Fools' Day was almost uneventful...I was thinking I would get away without any pranks, until I got into bed last night and discovered that Shaylie had Short-sheeted my bed! Usually Scott is the first one in bed, but last night I beat him and so I was the lucky one!! Shaylie was pretty excited this morning when I told her she got me! I think she'd been planning it for a while. Little stinker!

April is also Taylor's Birthday Month....she will be 13 this year.....I can't believe it! An actual TEENAGER...I hope we all survive it. ;) Seriously though, I am not dreading it at all. She is such a great girl...we love everything about her...and these coming years are going to be so much fun. I'm more worried about me than her...just hope I don't make too many mistakes! I think both our girls will grow up to be Awesome despite their parents involvement.

Soccer is still in full swing...we have games pretty much every Saturday until the middle of May...so if you're interested in coming down and checking out some of the crazy soccer action, you won't be sorry! 70 and sunny by the weekend....it beats snow anyday of the week!

Let's see what other news...Scott's still excited about his T-trak modules...He's getting written up in another paper about his work...the lady who invented the T-trak has asked Scott to write up an article for her monthly newsletter. So more kudos to him!

The annual Kite Festival is coming up and I think they are setting up trains there too. Not to mention the girls always love this event.

I'm busy, busy, with work, camp, soccer, life! Can't wait for summer...only two short months away and I'm trying to keep a very positive attitude about the future. I'm looking at some options but no decisions made as of yet.

Hope everything is great wherever you are!

Blackberry's Going Blind

 

I just got back from the veteranarian's office.  We decided to take Bubs in because we noticed one of his eyes is clouded over and kind of reddish around the outside.  Dr. Jace King (also a friend from our ward) was great. He diagnosed him with Juvenille Cataracts.  The bad news is that he is developing one in his other eye too.  The only real solution to the problem is surgery, which Jace thought would run about $2000 per eye!!!  He recommended waiting to see if the other eye goes blind too...and then we can consider the surgery.  He said he's seen many dogs function with no sight, but poor Blackberry.  We're supposed to watch for signs of Glaucoma too, which can be painful, but nothing on that front yet.  He's still just a puppy...it's so sad.  I think he'll be all right, but we're going to watch him and decide as things get worse.

More Fun at Zion!

Our Break continues with another fun trip to Zion Canyon. We had such fun hiking and finding letter boxes. The girls were so excited to actually find the hidden treasures...and so was I!! Unfortunately, we did have a little trauma at the hotel last night...Taylor broke her nose...at least I think she did. I don't have any pictures of her in my slide show, but she's taken a few with her camera so I'll have to have her post them. Her nose is red and scabbed and she has deep dark bruises under her eyes. She was swimming in the hotel pool and rammed her face into the bottom of the pool. She's handling it very well and you can see she was in good spirits or our morning hike. Hope you enjoy the slide show!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Spring Break Continues

See my other blog for pics of our fun Snow Canyon Camping trip! More adventures to come...

A Trip to Zion

I had a conference in Zion last week and I talked Scott into bringing the girls out to visit me and the park...it was so beautiful and fun to share with my family! Enjoy these pics....we're probably going back this week so we'll post more soon.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ogden Train Show

Shaylie and I drove up (ok I drove) to Ogden to the Hostler's train show.  We went to Salt Lake after Shaylie's soccer game and stayed with Grandma J. She took us to dinner at the Chinese Buffett. Then we drove up to the train show and the first thing we saw was HUGE trains.  Shaylie was very happy and said that she was worried that she would be bored looking at all the little trains, but with the huge trains it was great.  We had a good time at the show, I just wish I would have remembered the camera, here are some cell phone pictures:

Soccer Started Today!

Taylor and Shaylie both had their first soccer games today! Taylor won her game 3-2 and Shaylie tied hers 2-2.  Taylor only played goalie the last 5 minutes and she scored two of the goals for their team.  Shaylie played goalie the second half of her game and stopped several shots but two did get past her.  Scott and Taylor also had their coaching debut and did a GREAT job!  We are so proud of everyone!



 

 It was a cold clear morning which is great since last night we were anticipating snow!

Update on Scott

Scott had a doctor's appointment last week and went into the hospital for some tests. They are not sure exactly what's going on with him, but they think he has Acid Reflux and that is what is causing his gag-reflex to go haywire. We are waiting on a Postcard of Death from the Dr's office which we should receive in another 7-10 days...right on schedule. He really is fine, but we'll see what needs to happen next.

Week that was, week that will be

In needing to write down everything that is going on, here we go.  I found out I have another state building, in Snow Canyon State Park, it is really pretty there, but like all DNR sites, have little to no money so they get upset when I tell them they need to buy something to make what they have work.  Oh well.  Then DNR at Sand Hollow State Park got a new copier that, of course, will not connect to the state network, but I figured it out and got it working. Then on Thursday, the guy that did the other half of the state buildings in St. George retired, so now I am alone here in Washington county, the Cedar City guy says he will take over the work, hope so.

This week the stake wants me to go around to all the wards and figure out which machines need more memory (which is all of them), what type they need, and get it ordered. I love how my church calling is SOOOO different than my job.  I have a new found respect for mothers with new-borns getting called to the nursery. Then I need to fix some people's computers and a couple of family member computers (one of which is the ten year old dinosaur that I call my own, bet you didn't know a computer could work for ten years) Plus at work I need to install at least 25 computers and then get to work on surplusing 100+ machines.

Then there are soccer practices and Shaylie's first soccer game and a train show in Ogden.  Just address all mail to me at the local mental institution. :-)  Will write again if I make it through.

Electric Blue

You know how when your kids are small and you child-proof your house and you especially watch them around electrical outlets because they're really dangerous? Well, nobody tells you that you need to keep warning your kids well into their older years too.  

Yesterday at school, Taylor was in her TLC class doing a lights and lasers module. She went to plug in the machine she was using and the electrical outlet pretty much exploded. She got quite a shock! She said she saw "blue fire" all around the outlet and it hurt quite a bit. Her friends told her that her legs were shaking and her eyes were dilated. Mr. Mitchell told her to call me which she did.

I don't know if your kid has ever called you and said, "I was electrocuted at school today" but I wasn't really prepared to hear this. She sounded all right and there was only an hour of school left, so I told her to go find the school nurse and get checked out and call me back.   The nurse thought she was fine, her heart rate was a little high, but she was feeling shocky (no pun intended) so I decided to go pick her up  and bring her home just to be on the safe side.

When I got to the school, she was being wheeled down the hallway on a chair by her teacher and the school nurse.  She was acting as though she might pass out at any moment.  There may have been a little extra drama going on, but we got her out of the school and into the car and home, where she slept it off for a while.   Her principal called a while later to see if she was doing okay.  Taylor was happy about that.

She was fine after a few hours, in fact, she went to play Ward basketball later in the evening.  That wasn't the best idea however since she felt pretty crappy when she got back. 

Today, she was glad to see how many people had heard what happened and were worried about her.  She was a little freaked out by the fact that she "almost died."  I told her to ask for extra credit in her TLC class, after all, how many people get electrocuted in class, it should be worth a few "experience points!"  When she asked her teacher, he said he already posted the points to her grade!  LOL.  Besides repairing the outlet/cord, that was the least he could do!

PS--Taylor wanted everyone to know that this in NOT an actual photo, but was just her mom being dumb!!! LOL :)

Holiday Weekend Update

We had a fun holiday weekend! Kind of laid back and not a lot going on...but still fun family time.  

Taylor spent much of the weekend babysitting, which works out great for her since she has decided to start saving money to buy a car when she turns 16.  Scott and I decided to avoid the dinner crowds and he took me to lunch at my favorite-- Red Lobster!  I had my favorite Coconut Shrimp and Clam Chowder. 

 We all had our fill of chocolate and the girls each got a plush valentine buddy! (I kept meaning to take a picture but they never happened!)  Most of the weekend was spent watching some of our favorite movies: Dances with Wolves, Lord of the Rings, the Matrix Trilogy (shhh!) and Space Buddies.  That last was mainly a concession to Shaylie. 

Scott and Taylor hit a couple of soccer games.  They watched the team that Taylor is trying out for...the Dixie Dragons. They were playing in a tournament, which they won!  Good to know...hopefully Taylor will be able to add to their winning tradition.  Shaylie is going to play soccer this year again too!  She has decided that she is good at sports.  I hope she it right.  Scott wants to coach her team and I think they will have fun. 

We are waiting patiently for warmer weather.  Usually, President's Day marks the beginning of my favorite time of year.  I love the rain, but I'd like some sunshine and rainbows too.  We'll have hot summer days before we know it and I really love the spring down this way!  The trees do have blossom buds on them, so it won't be far off.

Spring Break is only three weeks away!  I am DETERMINED to do something fun.  We'll see.  My planning doesn't usually pay off, but I can't help trying.  Of course, part of my planning has to include the Twilight DVD release....and maybe some camping. It can be a dry run for my Camp Director duties.  Stay tuned to hear what we decide.  Love to all!

The Girls rocked SUPAF!

Or the Southern Utah Performing Arts Festival to be precise.  Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to upload the videos to this blog so you will need to check my blog to see the performances.  Click here!

02-14-09 UPDATE!!!!  We just found out tonight that the judges chose Taylor as one of the best overall in her category and she will be awarded a $50 Scholarship from SUPAF at an awards ceremony on March 6th.  She is only allowed to bring two guests (I know !!) but we will document all the pomp and circumstance on our blogs....so stay tuned...Congratulations Tater Tot! You are awesome!!!!

Cute Cousins Weekend

We had a fun weekend with our cute cousins: Bella and Anje!  Anje spent the night on Friday and Bella had a sleepover on Saturday! We love having them come visit!

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Scott's Birthday Bash

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Happy Birthday!

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The girls made birthday posters for Scott today and they made me laugh! Taylor did her best to make dad feel OLD....over the hills,  30+8=OLD, and more...but Shaylie was trying to make him feel better: "10 more years til over the hill", "you're not as old as Papa"...too funny!  I hope you can see all the fun details!  They love their dad!

Guess what!?!?

I am on a FrontRunner Train right now. This is SOOOOOOO cool! We are sitting in the upper deck of car 101. I am really liking this. I could learn to love this. Just wish there wasn't so much fog. It is 6:08 right now.

Here are the pictures from the trip: http://colorcountrytrains.org/gallery/v/misc/uta09/

We're not the only ones...

Taylor and I went to see Twilight last night with our friends the Sabaitis girls as a reward for finishing the book. We were really shocked to see that the 7:00 show was SOLD OUT! We must not be the only fanatics in St. George. We hung out at the mall until the 9:30 show. The girls bought matching "We (heart) boys that sparkle" t-shirts. The movie was great! As we were leaving, we saw some boys going into the theater with high-heel shoes, fake lashes, leggings, and boas...they thought it was hilarious and I had to explain that it was because of the midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show. The girls couldn't stop giggling. It was a fun night!

Oh Yeah!

I remembered. We are not leaving town this weekend. We thought we might head up north for a train show and maybe to see Walking with Dinosaurs...but the train show is next weekend and WwD is too expensive. So I guess we'll stay and soak up the wonderful St. George sun!

Typical

I was going to post something and then I forgot what I wanted to say. I'm getting old.

Date Night

Scott and I had a fun date night tonight--since the girls are both at sleepovers, we figured we better take full advantage. Taylor is having a fun sleepover birthday party at her friend's and Shaylie talked Aunt Anissa into a slumber/swim party.

Scott and I decided to have a Cheap Date, so we went to Taco Bell and then to the $2 movie to see Eagle Eye. (We bought popcorn, which wasn't in keeping with the theme, but it was yummy anyway.) Then, we stopped at Maverick on the way home for an ice cream cone.

It was fun and very reminiscent of our college days. We used to walk from the campus up to Taco Bell, KFC, or McDonald's. It also reminded Scott of Taco/Hot Dog night at his mom's growing up.

Good times.

We're Back

Well, the block posts are moved, still working at getting all the pictures back and I have to make a theme for the site.  The main thing was to save the posts as it has basically become our family history.  Soon it will look better I promise.