You are still a good person

This summer, I got a chance to meet up with my former roommate Cindy. I still remember that day back in July 1996 when we met like it was yesterday. She's one of the sweetest people around and it was so much fun to reconnect with her. Back in the day whenever something would go wrong or we would make a mistake she would say,

"It's okay! You are still a good person!"

We would laugh and then that phrase became our apartment motto. It's such a simple statement but there's some profound truth there. I had some not so good days this week and I had to tell myself that everything is going to be okay and you're still a good person.

So thank you Cindy!

When I saw this on her car, I think it quite possibly made my summer :)

1st grade field trip

A scrapbook page of pictures from the 1st grade field trip to the PHX Zoo :)

best friends

These sweet little girls...they have so much fun together :)

my week

This week has been spent taking care of sick kids and a child with a sprained ankle on crutches. Everyone is better and life is good. We spent last weekend hanging out with Matt, Alisha and their kids. We went to the Easter pageant, the kids swam, the boys golfed and us girls hit the ribbon store :) It was so fun to see them and our kids just loved spending time with their cousins. It's awesome having people come and visit us!
Working at the school makes me happy. Evelyn, Gaia, Brenda and I all get along so well and we have a blast. We were joking around about being "cool aides" and then it was "Kool-Aids". Brenda made the shirts for us, awesome! 

 

On Monday, I was talking to a 2nd grader named Olivia at lunch. I was asking her about her weekend and she said, "Hey! I'll ask my mom and see if you can come over and watch me fly my kite. I can make you some lemonade, too!"

How precious!!!! :)

Summer Vacation 2011 part 3

Some more pictures from our summer vacation...

One of the grocery stores in Vernal has little carts for kids. Paige loved these and wanted a picture :)

There was a burger place in Vernal called Polar King that had been there for years. They had THE best greasy food EVER! The lady that owned it retired and didn't want to sell her family business. Going to Polar King was a family tradition. When our cousins came to town, that's where we went. Since it closed, we now go to the next best place...Country Grub. Yes, that's really the name.

Nothing says small town like a restaurant named Country Grub. 

The boys have a thing for fake moustaches. Braden bought one and then Heston decided he wanted to wear it...upside down. He wore that thing for hours while we went shopping. :) 

After our time in Vernal, we headed back to the Wasatch front for a few days. We went to a family reunion on my Dad's side just for the day. We had a great time!

The kids and I met up with Karin, Matthew and Isabelle for a few hours. I'm glad we got a chance to meet up! We miss them living in AZ and seeing them :)

We stayed with Paul, Rebecca and the kids for a couple of days. We took the kids bowling and then my sis-in-law took me to Tai Pan Trading (what a cool place!)

I spent a day with my sweet cousin Chassie. She was on bed rest and I was so happy to be able to help her get ready for the arrival of her sweet baby boy. She gave birth the following week to Oliver Henry :) I'm so happy I got to see her!

We also got to spend a day and a half with the Gunderson's. It's always so awesome to see them...I just wish we could see each other more often :( They are such a fun family and I just adore these kids!
Thank you so much to all of you who made the time and effort to see us and let us stay with you!! Family and friends...that's what life is all about :)
We picked Aaron up from the airport and drove down to Zion National Park. We came here as a family when I was 14 but I forgot how beautiful this place is! (Maybe I just didn't appreciate it at the time)

It was an AWESOME summer!!

Halloween 2010

I posted most of these pictures on Facebook but my Mom comes here to my blog so these are for her! :o)

We attended Ray and EmmaLee's Halloween party this year. It's always a lot of fun, thanks for inviting us!

The Hammond Family. Ray and Em are Ed and H.I. from the movie "Raising Arizona". Em is the queen of awesome costumes :) Little Brynlee was the perfect Cindy Lou Who

The Stephens family. I love the eggs and bacon! We are happy for them and their new adventure but sad that they are leaving us. They are moving to Portland this week and we wish them all the best! :)

Parkinson family. We're glad they came to the party this year! All of our kids go to the same school and have so much fun together.

our family

Aaron and the kids before the party. A was a good sport and dressed up this year. It's not his thing ;)
The housewife and her Mr. Clean


the kids
Braden wanted to be an "American Ninja". In Utah, it's easy to find black sweats and sweatshirts this time of year. In AZ, it's kind of hard but we found some.
"All the world is waiting for you, and the power you possess"...

The Wonder Woman theme song comes to mind when I look at this. As most of you know, I am a huge WW nerd and I've been collecting stuff for years. (I got in trouble I don't know how many times for going outside in just my WW Underoos.) I promise I didn't force this upon my daughter. I showed her some old WW episodes and she fell in love with them like her mom.

Thank you Mom for putting together that awesome WW costume for me in KG :)

I wish I had a picture...

And H as IronMan :)

Now onto my favorite holiday...THANKSGIVING!!!

Iceblocking

The kids were out of school on Friday so we got together with Tara, Austin and Mason for some lunch and a little Iceblocking. Tara and I are always trying to come up with things to do with the kids and they had fun.

I just learned this weekend that they will be moving this summer :(

Braden and Austin became best friends in 1st grade. Tara and I hit it off right away and she is one of my closest friends. I'm going to miss her!!! I'm so sad to see them go but I'm excited for them and their new journey.

(I'm trying to be positive but it bums me out!)

MarShel

MarShel-

Thank you

for your friendship

your laugh

the fun times...we had lots of those

your positive energy

for your courage

You will be greatly missed!

love ya!

k

early birthday party for Paige

We are usually in Utah every year for Paige's birthday. This year, she wanted to have an early party with her AZ friends. We went swimming, had cupcakes and pizza and did some fun crafts. (altered frames and notebooks) Paige loved it and I hope the girls did too!

birthday wishes to my bff

Happy Birthday wishes to my bff Amanda!

It seems like yesterday when we became friends in junior high but it’s really been 21 years ago. She is one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I know. I’m so grateful for her and our friendship. I hope she has an awesome day and I can't wait to see her in a couple of weeks.
Love ya A !

have a rad summer! stay cool!

B&P with their teachers- they both had really great teachers this year.

Braden received the Presidential

Physical Fitness Award this year. Good job B!

B finished up the spring basketball season. He loved it and had an awesome season. He's improved so much over the last year...I got all teary-eyed watching him play on Saturday, he tore it up!

Braden's 4th grade class on the last day of school. These kids were so wired and bouncing off the walls. When the bell rang, they started screaming and jumping around. I don't blame them, we were all like that on the last day, right? Heston isn't too sure about all this...

Hes doesn't know what to do with all this attention from the ladies...he likes to play hard to get.

We left on Thursday after school for a camping trip. We headed north just past Payson. The weather was nice and cool but it rained the whole time. We did manage to get in a little hike but we decided to come home early.
Paige lost one of her front teeth yesterday!

Summer is officially here!

Facebook

My "Week in the Life" project is going great. Just taking pictures and documenting things each day, it's been fun.

I started a Facebook account months ago because my friend Jolynn invited me to join. I didn't do anything with it for months and about a week ago, I updated my profile and added some pictures. Oh my gosh, I have been having so much fun! Reconnecting with friends I haven't seen in years, seeing pictures of their growing families and hearing about their careers, where they live, what they're up to...I have missed these people.
Have a great Thursday!

Happy Birthday Braden!

Braden is 9 years old today!

These are a few pics from his party on Saturday. The boys had pizza and then Aaron took them all to see Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

L-R: Kadin, Austin K.

Braden, Rowan, Austin C.

Austin K- He is Mr. Personality, let me tell ya! He has an appreciation for Run DMC so I like the kid.