Preston's Playin'

It is time for soccer and we want to talk about how good Preston is doing but first a bit of a flash back...
When Preston first started to play I don't think he understood that you actually get touched and sometimes even pushed. All he had done prior to playing on his first team was kick the ball back and forth in the back yard with his siblings or mom and dad. Non contact fun for all. So soccer would be a blast right? Here is the picture before we hit the field.

Although it is a bit blurry you can see he was excited and ready to go play a game.


Here is the on the field picture just a few minutes later.

What the heck are these other kids doing?!
I think someone touched me!!




Well we are happy to say that those days are behind him and he loves playing. I think the past few years seeing Christopher and Jaycee bump, fall, get bruised and bloodied during their games has helped him understand you might get "touched" during a game.


Even though we are not supposed keep track at this age level...his team is undefeated. They are starting to learn how to stay in a position and pass the ball to another player rather than just kicking it.


This last picture captures him kicking his first goal. I was lucky enough to catch the shot. Way to go Preston!

Soooooooo CLOSE!

Breast stroke leg of the 200IM

Ness is in her 2nd year swimming for the High School and is doing amazing! She has already beaten ALL of her best times from last year. She had a great meet today! She had personal bests in three out of four events. Her and three other teammates timed a 3:51.81 in the 400 Freestyle relay. They needed a 3:51.00 to qualify for State. SO CLOSE!!!! It is the third best time in school history. They timed a 2:00.00 in the 200 medley relay and needed 01:57.4 to qualify for State. SO CLOSE! This is the fourth best time in school history. She also had a personal best in 100 Yard Backstroke of 1:09.20. That qualifies her for Districts. She has also qualified for 5 other events for League. Way to go NESS!

The relay team: Alena, Jenessa, Michelle, Rachel

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Suggestions Anyone??

We are having family come visit December 27 thru January 2nd. As mentioned in the previous post, I'm an organizational freak. I would love to have some sort of idea of what activities we could do. This particular family was here last year in September and we did the usual Snoqualmie Falls, Pikes Place, Space Needle and even the Underground Tour (wouldn't recommend). I was wondering what people do here in the winter. Do any of you have any fun family traditions or places you visit at this time of year? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I've been Tagged, dang it!

Not only have I been tagged, but I've been tagged twice. I ignored it the first time (sorry Lynne), but I don't think I can ignore it now. Debi lives too close to me. So here it goes...6 random things about me.

1. I LOVE my husband. We very rarely double date or go on vacation with other couples. It's not that I don't enjoy spending time with other people, I would just rather spend time with him. The last few years we have been able to go to fun places like Germany and Amsterdam and a few places in the states. But, some of our funnest dates are ones like grocery shopping or picking up the kids from their various activities. Now that the kids are older, schedules are tight and we squeeze our dates in when we can. I kinda like the guy.

2. I LOVE my pillow. One of the best inventions. Ever since I was a kid and teachers would have you make a list of what you would grab in case of a fire, my pillow was ALWAYS at the top of the list (after family of course). How can one go through a crises, such as a fire, without a good pillow to get some sleep? I normally travel with my pillow. I've learned it CAN fit in a suitcase. You wouldn't believe the looks I get when they check my luggage in security because my pillow is big. I just explain I can't enjoy my vacation unless I have a good nights sleep. Aaron is glad I don't pack all 3 of my pillows.

3. I went through a Backstreet Boy phase about 8 years ago. Yes, I just said the Backstreet Boys. Met other ladies online and we traveled to Vegas, Seattle, and Texas to meet and go to their concerts. I even managed to sneak up front and shake Howies hand at one concert before a security guard pushed me back. Ah..good times. I owned all their videos and knew their voices by heart. Still can tell their voices apart if any of you are curious. The phase ended several years ago, but I still keep in contact with the ladies I met.

4. I am a organizational freak. I love to be organized. I clean things on certain days, my food is categorized, my closet is aligned in like colors and styles, my kids' toys have certain spots. I could go on and on...! I remember weird things as well. My siblings will bring up a story from the past and I could tell you exactly what I was wearing. Someone should have told me that yellow stretch pants with an overgrown green sweater with bright yellow stars was not a good outfit to wear for my drivers test!

5. I am a huge Green Bay Packer fan. When I say huge, I mean huge. I read the Packer websites everyday to find out the latest. My husband gets me the NFL Sunday ticket every year for my Birthday so I can watch my beloved Packers. My home teachers even know not to come during game time. (Yes, I watch on Sundays) I even know what's going on with other teams and what the standings are.

6. I also love my beloved UTES! I have been watching Ute basketball since I was a kid. My dad used to take me to work and I would go through the escape tunnel at the Huntsman Center and watch them practice. His office was always up front, so I would stand at the door and get the basketball players autograph when they passed. I can remember starting lineups from back in the 80's. It's been hard since we moved here because we don't get Ute games televised. Well, I changed that on Saturday. I called the cable company and told them my sad tale and convinced the gal to give me the MTN channel. She felt for my cause and even gave me a discount. I only pay $2 a month to watch my Utes play football and basketball. Kudos to that nice lady!

Church....the new lost and found

We have learned in the last year that our church is a great lost and found. Let me tell you two very cool stories about my son Christopher.

First: Last year my son played soccer and was given a soccer ball to bring to each practice. We, of course, put his name on it so it could be easily identified. He accidentally left his ball at Ravensdale Park one practice and we could not locate it. He was extremely upset about this. A few months later we went to a primary activity at the church and his soccer ball, with his name on it, was sitting in the church foyer. How did it get there from being lost at the park? We have no idea. It pays to go to church.

Second: Christopher has a favorite zip up jacket that he loves to wear, but continually leaves places. He left this one at the school last year before summer break. He realized what he had done while we were school shopping this year. He was so upset and was hoping the school still had his jacket. First day of school he learned that they give all the lost and found items to charity and therefore his jacket was gone. He was so devastated. Not only because he lost his favorite jacket, but because I refused to buy him a new one. Need to teach him responsibility. Well strange enough, Christopher found that jacket hanging up at the church today. Wow! I didn't even believe it until he showed me the tag with his name written on it in my handwriting. So how did this jacket that was left at school months ago end up at the church today? I have no idea. Again....it pays to go to church.

Have any of you lost any items lately? My advice....go to church!

First Day of School

Jenessa started High School this morning. Yikes, I can't believe I have a child that old. As you can see, she starts the day quite early. She leaves for Seminary at 5:40 a.m. and then after school heads to swim team practice and doesn't get home until 6:00 p.m. She will have this schedule until December. Then we start Drivers Ed. She is a busy girl.

Jaycee is a 7th grader at the Middle School. She is still playing competitive soccer and has a busy schedule after school as well.

Christopher is a 5th grader. His big excitement this year was that he gets to ride at the back of the bus.

Preston is in 2nd grade and is lucky enough to have the same teacher as last year. This lady is amazing and is exactly what Preston needs.

Utah Trip

August 15th thru the 24th, we took our trip to Utah to visit family and friends. Aaron drives us down there, stays two days, and then catches a flight back to Washington for the week to work. At the end of the week, he takes a flight back to Utah, stays a couple of days, and then drives us home. Those two weekends we just pack in the activities. The first weekend, we met Adams daughter Tessa for the first time. We spent the day in Bountiful swimming. My sister Christy took the kids for two nights in a row, then my brother Scott took them on Monday night. The kids enjoyed movies and food while spending time with their Aunt and Uncle. Plus, Aunt Nicole loaded the girls up with clothes. Yeah! Monday thru Thursday we have no pictures because I don't dare touch Aarons camera. It's not that he won't let me, I just don't want to screw anything up. During those days, we spent time with friends and family. I went to lunch with my friends, Kim Olsen, Stacy Abbott, and Brooke Bone. Good to catch up. The kids spent time in Syracuse with old friends. Hard to say goodbye again. We did lots of school shopping and also went to Layton Surf n Swim with the Hatch cousins. It's always fun until someone poops in the pool and they have to close it down. The next weekend, we spent an afternoon at Layton Park with the Hatch Family feeding the ducks and visiting with each other. Then, Renee was kind enough to take us all back to her house for ice cream. Then we headed off to my parents cabin near Park City. It is one of my most favorite places to go! There is nothing like sitting on the back deck, curled up in a blanket, and watch the Provo river. I was so exhausted by the time we got to the cabin that I did this for about 6 hours on Saturday. Very relaxing. We were also able to get in some four wheeling. The kids were thrilled because we actually let the older three ride by themselves this year. Thanks to my parents who let us stay for the 10 days and fed and entertained us. Call us crazy, but we do the 13 hour marathon when we travel to and from Utah in one day. We just don't like the extra hotel costs to split it into two days. The kids did much better this year, but were thrilled when we finally pulled into the driveway. Thank goodness for modern technology with the DVD player, ipods, Nintendo DS and gameboys. How did my parents ever survive when we were younger???