Boytrapped - The Story of the Statens

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

I love Christmas Eve. It's probably my favorite part of Christmas! It was so great that this year it was on Saturday. We spend the morning making and delivering neighbor gifts. I was going to skip it this year but I had a neighbor stop by and ask if she could put in an order:) ANYWAY once we were done with that we started getting ready for our fondue dinner and program! I found enough stuff that I was able to make Matt a totally vegan cheese fondue! It looked a little different, but he said it was yummy and he was so happy that he didn't need to miss out on one more thing. It made me so happy! So, dinner was wonderful and everyone was so happy!

After dinner we all opened out jammies! Some how this year I found pj's for the boys that ALL MATCHED! That's hard to do when they ranged from a 4t to a 16! They all looked so cute!

Then we started into our program! The kids all sang/played Christmas songs and then I read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and "Llama Llama Holiday Drama" and Mike read us the Christmas Story out of the Bible. It was another great program!

After the program we watched Muppets Take Manhattan and then the boys all camped out in the family room down stairs......well, they tried to sleep. Tyler ended up in Lucas' bed and Matt ended up in his:) Eventually they went to sleep so that Santa could come!!!

Am I Muppet? Or Am I A Man??

2011-12-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

LOL. Tonight we had the Wittke/Horrocks family party, and we started out by going to see The Mupet Movie. I LOVED IT! It was so good! It was able to keep the same old feel from the Muppet movies and the Muppet Show. I laughed SO hard! Great idea Mom and Don! After the movie we went back to their house for dinner, a Nativity reenactment and presents for the kids. It was great. The kids were so cute as they acted it all out! Then we all shared our favorite scripture about the Savior. Then the kids all got to open a present. Mom had made fleece blankets for each kid and had a pillow for each one too:) They were SO excited to get BYU blankets! Thanks to Mom and Don for such a great time!

Fiesta!

2011-12-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

We were invited back up to Logan for the Christmas party for the center that Tyler's Eagle project went to. We were excited and a little nervous :) I don't speak Spanish. I SO wish that I did. Mike can stutter through a bit (but of course when he mixes it with Czech it's not so helpful) BUT we did just fine! The food was yummy, the people were SO nice, and the atmosphere was awesome. We got to watch as EACH family visited with Santa and received Christmas for their whole family! They the tables were cleared and the DANCING STARTED!!! It was a GREAT party! The whole night was an almost overwhelming experience actually. So many people who work SO HARD to provide a better life for their children. People who would give everything for their children. AND Angels who spend their lives running a program that will help and support these people. I was inspired and felt such a strong desire to help. Next year I hope to be able to help again. Felice Natividad!

Preschool Nativity Fun!

2011-12-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

I LOVE the preschool Christmas Nativity program. It's one of my favorite things we do all year. This year was no exception! Nick was a shepherd this year. He was darling and he was excited.....and we only had one melt down:) We have a smaller group this year so I had recruited Lucas to help out. THEN we had a little boy not come so I recruited Isaac :) It was awesome! I sure love my kids!!

Staten Family Christmas Party

2011-12-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

This year for the Staten family Christmas Party we met at Tom and Mary Lou's hotel and ate pizza, opened presents and went swimming! The kids were so excited to swim! It's been a while and they are all little water rats! It's just to bad that mike was in charge of pictures :)

WHO?

2011-12-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

This year the Christmas play at the Elementary was The Grinch. Matt LOVES to act. He's good at it. He was a darling little Who in Whoville! Mike and I went to the play at the school this morning because of a work party tonight, and it was GREAT! Thankfully we have great friends that helped to get him to the play tonight (thanks Kami!) and thanks Oveson's for coming to watch him!

Science Fair!

2011-12-12T21:54:00.001-07:00

One of the "fun" things of 7th grade is the science fair projects. Tyler decided that he wanted to do something about soccer. As he thought about it he decided that he wanted to figure out what the best amount of air pressure was for a soccer ball. We went up to the park and started out with totally flat balls. Tyler decided to check for distance and accuracy. He kicked 14 balls and measured distance and then kicked them again toward the net and tracked accuracy. He repeated the process with 14 full but no pressure balls, 14 balls at recommended pressure and then 14 balls at double the recommended pressure. Then we came home and Mike taught him how to put it all into a spread sheet and how to get the info he needed. It was of course quite the process but in the end Tyler found that the recommended pressure was the best for distance and accuracy. THEN we all had fun putting it together! Tyler was nervous, but he ended up getting an A+!! Way to go Tyler!! Now he gets to go on to district!

Gingerbread!

2011-12-12T16:18:00.000-07:00

I love watching my kids and Mike make gingerbread houses. I'm not a builder. I'm a decorator. :)
This year Nick had to build his little graham cracker house for preschool at home and then take it there to decorate. Nick had fun building it with his daddy and Mike had fun the next day hearing about the reaction his chimney got:) Nick had fun decorating it at preschool and was devastated when Missy ate it! Grrrrr. Dumb dog.

SO, the next day I ran to the store and bought a gingerbread house kit. Today the rest of the boys had fun helping Mike build and decorate it, and I had fun taking pictures. I love my family:)

P.S. Ty and Matt were at a Christmas Concert with friends.....we didn't just ban them from the fun:)

Santa :)

2011-12-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight at the ward Christmas party the kids all got to sit on Santa's lap! They were all so excited and all so cute. They all gave him BIG hugs and told him what they wanted. It didn't all end so perfectly for Nick though. As he was getting down his tummy was scratched (badly) by Santa's belt. He was SO UPSET! He went on and on about how Santa's belt had hurt him. I hope we get over all of this before Christmas:)

Deckin The Halls

2011-12-09T21:36:00.003-07:00

Decorating for Christmas can be a HUGE feat, but it's something that once it's done I LOVE! It always starts with a trip to the Christmas Tree Lot. We're hold outs. We all LOVE a real tree! I don't think that the boys would let us get a fake tree :)It was perfect as usual!
This year we didn't put out ALL of our decorations (I've been a little busy) BUT we put up our favorites. Decorating a tree with 5 boy can be a little nutty, but I'm trying to teach them how to keep the decorations balanced and to make the tree look nice. This year I didn't even move any decorations after they went to bed....EXCEPT for Nick decoration creation :)

YAY my house feels like Christmas time!!!

Special Delivery

2011-12-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

Today was a wonderful day. I got to go with Tyler to deliver his Eagle project. It was such an amazing day! We left home at about 9:30 and tried to "find" my friend Kristin on the freeway. Now I know that this sounds nuts, BUT she was driving a big moving truck and I figured if we timed it right we'd find her :). That and I drove to 400 north and got off the Freeway to watch for her. It's the perfect spot to watch the freeway for a big moving truck. It worked perfectly! I saw her and caught right up! With only a little snag we made it to the Center on time!My wonderful friend Kristin is the one that helped us set this whole thing up. She has been working like a mad woman trying to put together a Christmas for the families that use the center. She FILLED the moving truck she was driving with Christmas. It was FULL! It was so humbling. Our contribution seemed so small:)Everyone at the center was amazing. They were so nice and so appreciative of all of the work that Tyler had done. After we unloaded everything they gave us a tour of the center. The center exceeded any expectations that I had. They take care of children from babies up through preschoolers all day. They run a Montessori preschool and a traditional preschool. They work with and play with the toddlers (or the waddlers as they call them) all day, hold and love the babies.......and LOVE each and every one of the kids. After our tour Tyler and Nick got to play with the kids. They were so cute and just basked in Tyler's attention. And Tyler loved their attention.
After we finished at the center we got to go with some of the people from the center and Kristin and her hubby to deliver Christmas to one of the families. It was once again a very humbling experience.

As we were driving away I asked Tyler what he was feeling. He was choked up and all he could say was "It was VERY very um.....humbling. Those kids.....they were just so happy. We all know that they don't have much of anything, but they are just so incredibly happy and loving. I'm also amazed at how much people give!"

Yep I'd say that this was a success! I'm proud of Tyler and so thankful to everyone who gave!

Christmas Village!

2011-12-06T22:16:00.002-07:00

We had a great field trip today at the Ogden Christmas Village. It wasn't freezing cold this year! The weather this year is nuts. Maybe at some point we'll have winter. ANYWAY, Nick was really stressed because of how his tummy was scratched by Santa belt:) I had to point out that Mrs. Clause didn't have a belt:) and then he was alright. We had fun looking at the houses and the kids all loved sitting on Mrs. Clauses lap. Best of all? The treat bag that they brought home!

Playoff's

2011-12-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well today we had a 3 way tie breaker for NAL. It was so exciting and fun and Bell did such a good job.....BUT we lost by 1 point :( I'm so proud of how Tyler did this year. He's worked hard and surprised me more than once with his knowledge! WAY TO GO BELL!

N.A.L. Excitement!

2011-12-03T09:21:00.002-07:00

Tyler made the N.A.L. or National Academic League , team this year at TH Bell. He has had so much fun and learned SO much. It's been AWESOME! Yesterday was the last regular season game and it was a deal breaker for the Bell team. If we lost we were done. If we won we went on to the playoff's. TH Bell came to play! They lead from the beginning, and despite some big mistakes by the judges were still leading towards the end of the game when all of a sudden things started to fall apart. A boy on our team answered his question right but the judge said it was wrong. Then the next boy on our team buzzed in on his question and got it right but then the kid on the other team yelled that he had buzzed in first and the even though it wasn't even his question (it goes by seat) the JUDGE GAVE IT TO HIM!! The library was in an uproar. Parents were upset. The coaches were upset and the judges were confused and obviously stressed. The kid on the other team was arguing with and yelling at the judges.....and out kids sat quietly and respectfully at their table. They would whisper to each other but they were respectful. Finally things were decided and, thankfully, in our favor! We won! We were all excited and relieved that it had ended the way it did, but for me the most important and impressive part of the whole meet was how our kids acted. They were obviously upset, and had just as much to lose as the other team, and yet they stayed respectful and did what they had been taught to do. THAT to me was worth even more than the great win! Next week is playoffs AND basketball clinic leading up to tryouts, so we'll see how that all goes.....but for right now I am so happy with how NAL has gone and how Tyler has done!!! GO BELL!

Anesthesia....

2011-11-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

When Tyler had his surgery earlier this month the Dr. warned him that he might be ornery and mean when he came out of anesthesia. After the Dr. left the room Ty asked if he would really react that way. He was really worried because he can't imagine being mean :) I told him not to worry because there wasn't a mean bone in his body. Well, that was proven right when he woke up and could only worry about who was taking care of his brothers:)Well this week when Mike had surgery I was curious to see how HE would react. See, Mike doesn't have a mean bone in his body either, so I figured he would either be worried or silly. When they wheeled him back into the room he was still out cold, but before long his eyes opened and.....he puckered up his lips and said in a very slurry voice "I need kisses". I burst out laughing. Then I kissed him, he said "You are so pretty" and he went back to sleep. About that time his Dr. came in to tell how things went and to talk about his recovery. While we were talking Mike woke up and said "MORE kisses!" and made big ole fish face kissy lips. I had to bite my cheeks. I held up my finger and he went back to sleep. After the Dr. left the nurse came in to bring him some water. He asked me if I wanted a drink and Mike piped up and said "What do you have that is caffeine free and diet?" the nurse laughed and said "um, water?" so Mike said "Great! A great excuse to drink Dr. Pepper! You do have Dr. Pepper right?" and fell back asleep. The nurse and I just laughed at him. When he brought the drinks back he said "so, uh you might want to help him drink this" :) Mike says that the first thing he remembers is waking up while drinking Dr. Pepper. I was trying so hard not to laugh. He kept falling asleep and waking up.....each time asking for kisses. He's so funny. He is always so sweet and nice to me that it shouldn't be shocking that even when he's drugged he's sweet. This is the third big medical thing we've had this November.....they say these things come in 3's.....Let's hope this is it!

Gobble Gobble

2011-11-24T20:49:00.001-07:00

This year Mom decided that she wasn't going to cook thanksgiving, so we decided to cook here at home! Mike and I love to cook together and cooking Thanksgiving Dinner is the best! Things also worked out so that Stephen could come and eat with us! He had to work in Logan at 3 and Melissa's family wasn't eating until a little later, SO we planned our dinner around Tee's schedule. It made our already GREAT dinner into a PERFECT dinner!

We spent the morning cooking and making cute little turkeys and setting up! Dinner was yummy, conversation was great, and relaxing afterwards was wonderful! Lots of funny online video's, Frisbee and the boys competing for Tee's attention:) Followed up by some VERY yummy pie!After Tee left Mike and I got a GREAT nap and then we had a great family movie night. I love my little family, and while I did miss seeing more or our extended family I honestly LOVED this calm and quiet turkey day!

Warm Fuzzies

2011-11-23T21:25:00.001-07:00

Tyler has been working on his Eagle project for the last month and a half. He has been collecting fleece (to make blankets) and socks and underwear for a Head Start preschool in Providence Utah. This particular preschool and after school center caters to helping children of migrant workers. The level of need is amazing, and hopefully what Ty is able to collect and make will help out a little bit.

Here's the flier for the project:Anyway, tonight we met at the church with the rest of the Young Men and Young Women to make all of the blankets. The goal had been to make 50 blankets. We have 74! Wahoo! We're still collecting socks and undies, so I'll have to give a final count later:) Thanks EVERYONE for donating and helping to make blankets! There is NO WAY our little family of 7 :) could have made 74 blankets!

Before

After

As a little side note.....Missy is LOVING the pile of blankest in the living room:(

Preschool Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T15:41:00.001-07:00

I love your yearly preschool Thanksgiving dinner! This year it was at Lyn and Howie's house, and it was WONDERFUL! We had fun making little turkeys, and eating lots of yummy food. It was a lot of fun for me to be there just with Nick. I love all of our preschool friends!

Staples Are Meant For Paper Not Heads

2011-11-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight Tyler played amazing 10 minutes of his soccer game! NOT the game we were hoping for. He went up for a header and a kids from the other team came up late for the same ball....heads hit. BOTH boys collapsed. All of the adults on the field ran to the other kid because he was screaming like crazy and hit head had split above his eye. Tyler was just laying there not moving. I was a little concerned because of the lack of movement, but stayed where I was. Our keeper went to see if Ty was ok, and then called to the coaches because of the blood....I still stayed sitting. Ty's tough and he has good coaches and I try to not over react. HOWEVER when the picked him up and his legs gave out and his coach looked up at me in concern, I figured it was time to be concerned. Tyler could remember his phone number but wouldn't track in at all. Mike reached in through the net and pulled Ty's hair out of the way and said "we're going". It was quite the gash. Dave (the coach) helped Mike get Ty to the car and we headed to Wee Care. Matt held the paper towel to his head while we drove through a crazy snow storm. We were going to take the other kids all home but they were too upset and didn't want to leave Tyler, so we all went! We had to wait a minute at Wee Care, but nothing like it would have been at the hospital! When the nurse started to scrub out his head he almost passed out. He went white and slumped over. All he could get out is "I'm going to throw up!" before he slumped over. Poor kid. I climbed up in the chair to hold him up since she couldn't really stop....I mean that turf is NASTY and we really didn't want an infection:) The staples hurt but in comparison he could tough it out. It took 5 Staples to close the gash. 5! It's such a big ole mess! He also had a mild concussion, so he get's to sit out for a while.....and THAT is the worst part for my sweet soccer player!

Fun at Kangaroo Zoo

2011-11-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Mom and Don gave each family 2 months out of the year for fun family activities, and November was our month. It's been a great Christmas present that lasted all year! Anyway, this weekend they cam up for Tyler's soccer game and then we went to Kangaroo Zoo. It's great to have on in Ogden now! Our outing there started with Nick's diaper leaking all over. He was COVERED. YUCK! Mike cleaned him up and I ran to Walmart. Thankfully we were close to one! With some new Cars jammies we were finally set to play! The boys all had a blast! It was HOURS of non stop bouncing! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

Heroes

2011-11-11T19:27:00.002-07:00

I love Veterans Day. I love all of the men and women that have and do sacrifice their all for me. This year I was VERY excited that the 5th grade patriotic program was ON Veterans day! The 5th grade collects pictures and stories of people they know that have served in the military and they make a "Wall of Honor". A lot of those pictures are ours :) I love it! Mom and Don and Mary and Kyle came to the program too, and I have to say it's so great to see Don stand up when they sing the Army's song. The kids all did a GREAT job. I found myself fighting back tears the whole time. Thanks to all of our great 5th grade teachers!! I also have to say that this Veterans Day had the coolest date ever! 11-11-11!

A VERY Owie Mouth

2011-11-10T12:46:00.002-07:00

Last week I got home and had a message from out Orthodontist saying that he had seen something during Ty's last appointment that he wanted to get a second opinion on. We tried to call him back, but we never connected and so we kinda just let it go. Then I had a message from the Oral Surgeon that the Orthodontist wanted us to see. I tried them back and didn't get anywhere. Finally on Monday the 24th we all connected and we were told that Tyler had a tumor or something growing on his jaw and that we needed to go in soon and let the Oral Surgeon look at it. So on October 26th Ty and I went to see what we could figure out. The Oral Surgeon said that given how it looked on the CT scan instead of doing a biopsy and then probably doing surgery we needed to go straight to surgery. It was growing so fast that even if it wasn't cancerous it was causing damage. So we scheduled Surgery for November 2nd.

We were all a little nervous, but the surgery went VERY well. The surgeon said that the tumor had grown a LOT and so they had to scrape a LOT out including a lot of bone, and then graft some more bone in. He said that Ty was going to be swollen and hurting but should be fine with in a few days. Ty was the cutest thing ever as he came out of anesthesia. He was so sweet and loving. He kept asking the same questions over and over and, the part that amazed me was when he started telling me all about the patters that were in his dreams while he was out. I NEVER dream when I'm under anesthesia! It's just black. We left the surgeon in time to pick Matt up from school and get Ty's medicine. While we were driving to get Matt Ty saw the school zone lights flashing and started to panic. He kept asking "Who's going to get my brothers?" he was SO worried about them! He's the best big brother.

Tyler had an NAL game on Thursday and he was convinced that he wasn't going to stay home. He woke up at 6 when his alarm went off. He came up stairs and collapsed in the chair. I came out at about 6:20 and told him that I thought he should go back to bed. He said he needed to go and got up and took off his pj's.....and laid on the floor. After a minute he got up and put on his pants.....and laid back down on the floor. Finally he decided that he needed to go back to bed. He slept all day. And most of the next. And the next.:) By Sunday he was still hurting but went and did fast packs anyway and then stayed at church until after the sacrament and then went home. He went to school on Monday and texted me all day saying he hurt but didn't want to come home:) He's such a great kid. As his mouth healed it kinda started to pull apart.....with braces it was really hard for them to sew it up tight. It looked like it was infected. He was miserable, but the lab results came back negative! The tumor was a fast growing aggressive tumor that if left untreated will eat the roots of your teeth and keep spreading until it ruins your mouth :( I am SO thankful for a great Orthodontist and a great Oral Surgeon and most of all a great son!It's a bad picture but you can kinda see how swollen he was!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:59:00.000-06:00

Halloween this year was GREAT! The boys all had a blast carving their pumpkins AND going through the costume bucket trying to decide what to be. They all ended up looking fabulous! Ty dressed up as a hippie again and then at school got dressed up as a Zombie for the Halloween assembly.Matt and Isaac decided to be Indians Lucas was Darth Maul and Nick was a Ninja Turtle!The parades and parties at the school were a blast. I love helping with parties and since Kindergarten was in the morning and the rest of the school was in the afternoon.....I could help with two grades!!After dinner we went out trick-or-treating. This was the first year in 13 that we weren't carrying a little one around...it was crazy! They all had a blast and I love watching them had fun! Ty went to a party after grabbing some candy.....he texted me to say they were watching "The 6th Sense" and it was a little freaky :) It's started a new found love of scary movies :)

Smarty Pants:)

2011-10-29T19:19:00.001-06:00

It's about all I can say when I look at Nick is "Cute!" We ran to the eye glass store to get Matt's glasses fixed and Nick had to try on some glasses. He's just so stinkin' cute!

Preschool Halloween Fun!

2011-10-27T21:45:00.002-06:00

One of the things that I look forward to each year with preschool is the Halloween party. The kids LOVE Halloween and I love watching that excitement in their eyes! Ariana did a great job with the party this year, and Nick is a happy little Ninja Turtle!

Bobcat Isaac!

2011-10-26T11:05:00.000-06:00

Isaac had everything for his Bobcat done by the time he turned 8 :) so tonight at Pack meeting he "finally" got it! He's been so excited! He's been hoping for "Bobcat milk" as part of his awards ceremony, and Jaunett didn't disappoint! She's the greatest Cub Master! So Isaac and Mike got to chug colored Bobcat milk! I did learn tonight that I'm not going to give Matt my camera next time :) Anyway, WAY TO GO ISAAC!!

Early Thankgiving!

2011-10-24T10:32:00.000-06:00

It's been a year since my whole family has been together, and since we weren't all going to be together at Thanksgiving I decided that we should do an early Thanksgiving Dinner! We decided Saturday night to do it on Monday.....here. So I spent Monday cooking and cleaning and that night we had a great dinner! It honestly was so much fun. Everyone was here except for Mike O since he was at school :( but it was fun to be together again. I am very thankful for all of my family. I love them all! We got a great picture of 4 of us.....it's too bad David and Sinda left early :(

The Outlaws and ReAL Salt Lake!

2011-10-22T21:36:00.000-06:00

Our wonderful UEA weekend ended perfectly with a trip to Rio Tinto Stadium! Matt's team sold tickets for a fundraiser and then they got to go out on the field at the beginning of the game. He had the time of his life! Mom and Don and Jon came with us, and we all had a great time! It was the last game of the regular season and thank goodness ReAL didn't disappoint!

UEA Fun In Yellowstone!

2011-10-21T19:39:00.015-06:00

This year we decided to go to Yellowstone for UEA. I LOVE Yellowstone but we haven't been there since Lucas was a baby. I was so excited because I knew that the boys would all LOVE it! Matt had a soccer game Wednesday night at 5 so we decided to try to be all ready to go from the game! We ran home and grabbed everyone else and headed to Oveson's to drop off Missy. That should have been an easy stop.....BUT Isaac opened the sliding door on the passenger side and it flew back and popped off. That's not supposed to happen. I wasn't happy. Mike wasn't happy. Isaac wasn't happy. Thankfully though Mike can fix just about anything. At least enough to not cancel our trip :). He got the door back on, BUT it is now stuck shut. ARGH. Not a great thing, but also not the end of the world.......so we finally took off and actually left Ogden! We had rented a little cabin in Driggs Idaho for the first night.....so we were heading to Driggs! The ride was pretty uneventful (thank heavens)....it was also kind a LONG for that time of night. We pulled into Driggs around 11 and thankfully the little cabin was cute and warm! The boys all hustled through the COLD and went right back to sleep. The bed was hard, but I was so tired that I still slept well :) Thursday morning stated early.....my kids don't like to sleep in. SO, we got up and got ready and ate and decided to head out! Driggs was beautiful! I loved it! We decided to drive through Jackson and through Teton to Yellowstone. It was BEAUTIFUL! It is always gorgeous in Jackson. The boys LOVED the Elk antler arches:)The Grand Teton's are also GORGEOUS! Every time I see them I am honestly awed.We FINALLY got to Yellowstone! HURRAY!! We hadn't been there long when we saw BUFFALO! The boys were all thrilled and Lucas couldn't wait to tell Eli all about it!Then we headed to Old Faithful. The new visitors center is gorgeous! I love it! The boys and I were running to the visitors center to check the time for the next eruption and Ty decided to smack my bottom. I turned to get him back and he turned to run and slipped and fell. Hard. Blood all over. Darn it! Mike had to scrub it out while I made lunch :(......by the time we had eaten all was well and we went to watch the geyser erupt!After Old Faithful we worked our way toward West Yellowstone. We stopped at every "pot" and geyser we saw! It was so much fun! The boys loved it! I love the way they want to know the "how's" and "why's" of everything.We got to West Yellowstone at about 6pm. Nick was SOAKED. His diaper had leaked. He was TIRED. And he was HUNGRY. He kept crying "I want PANTS and I want FOOD! Yikes. We had booked a cabin with a kitchen so we just had to get there and we'd be all good.......in theory. We found the cabins, but no one was in the office. It was dark. TOTALLY dark. Mike called and called but no answer. All of us were starting to stress. West Yellowstone was CLOSED with the exception of a few gas stations and Arby's (which Matt can't eat at). Mike went into the gas station by the cabins and asked if they knew anything about the people who ran it. They said "Hmmm, they are usually there" Great. Then we went to a hotel......they said the same thing. I mean, they would rent us 2 rooms, but they suggested we wait and try the cabin people again. We did. No answer. About this time Lucas said "um I think that we need to pray" Isaac said "I already did". So when Mike got back in the car we did. We decided to try another hotel. When Mike explained our situation the lady at the desk said "Well, we have some condo's in town that we rent out too. We have one empty tonight if you guys want it." She gave it to us for what we were going to be paying at the other place! YAY! All we knew was that there was a kitchen and a washer and dryer! Prayers answered! Now I could make dinner and wash Nick's clothes. He could get pants AND dinner! :) The condo was awesome! It was a 3 story duplex. Beds for everyone, 3 bathrooms, full kitchen.....who needs to go home? It was so nice to eat dinner, get clean and chill with my family!Friday morning brought our last day in Yellowstone. We decided to start at Mammoth Hot Springs. It was a bit of a drive but it's part of the park that I'd never seen, and Mike said it was worth it. So we packed up and headed out! It was TOTALLY worth the drive! The old fort is at Mammoth and it's like this little OLD town. I loved it. There was a big Elk herd parked right on the lawn of the museum. The boys loved that! We went to the museum, the store and hiked the hot springs. The springs were GORGEOUS! I am still in awe when I look at the pictures!

After Mammoth we decided to go to the painted mud pots and of course everything else on the way! One of the things that I love about Yellowstone is that everything is different and amazing even though it's all caused by the same things. LOVE it!We hadn't ever seen the Artist Paint Pots either so we decided to stop there. One of my favorite parts of this hike was Matt quizzing Tyler on State Capitols. hehehehehehe.Noris Geyser Basin was our last stop of the day. We had already done a loop and were halfway through another one when the weather started to turn. We thought we had enough time for the "long version" and started along that path......until it suddenly got dark and cold. We started to RUN back to the car! By the time we got there snow was flying! We had had perfect weather until we were leaving! It was perfect!It was time to head home.....sadly. I LOVE time with my little family. This type of vacation is perfect. Plenty to do without being overwhelming and exhausting. We could head home feeling ready....almost....for life. Thankfully we still have Saturday and Sunday!

Kicking Off The Halloween Season!

2011-10-17T19:23:00.000-06:00

This year Sinda decided that she wanted to have a Halloween party. Halloween is her "FAVORITE" holiday and MAN oh man she went all out! We all dressed up, played games, made crafts, and ate YUMMY food. It was SO much fun and I really appreciated the way that she went out of her way to make sure everything was Matt safe. She even made donuts that he could have! He was in HEAVEN! He hasn't had a donut since April! YAY for Sinda!

Ps... we all also had to take a turn with Ty's fro:)

SSssssssnake Sssssshow and Tell

2011-10-13T15:55:00.000-06:00

This year Matt's teacher wanted the snakes on a certain day.....the same day as my preschool field trip....so Mike got to fly solo this year. It's something that he loves to do and I love to watch him, so it made me sad to miss it all BUT I guess this gave us both some fun special time with our kids today!

Lucas' teacher while not in love with snakes was a great sport!Mr. Lee went BRIGHT red when it was his turn:)Isaac's teacher likes this show and tell and even asks Mike to feed one every year!Matt's teacher hates snakes but is the one that wanted them :) She's such a great sport!I love our teachers!!

Black Island Farms

2011-10-13T15:24:00.000-06:00

I love Black Island Farms. It's one of my favorite preschool field trips that we do, and this year I got to go with just ONE child! That was so weird! Before we could go Nick had to get dressed in his "farmer clothes" . He was HILARIOUS as he was posing and showing off his Wrangler butt :) This year we went with Mary's group again and Jamie came and brought Zander too which was nice. Nick loved the wagon ride, seeing the veggies and all of that stuff but he was DYING to pick out his pumpkin! He walked around FOREVER before he found the perfect one. It was HIS. After the wagon ride we played on the slides, the swings and he rode the train, all before watching the pig races. He thought that was the coolest thing he'd ever seen! I had SUCh a great day with my little Nick!

A TEENAGER?? Happy Birthday Tyler!

2011-10-10T14:50:00.000-06:00

I don't know how it happened but over night, somehow, I have a teenager! My sweet Tyler is not a typical teenager. He's so sweet and thoughtful and nice to his little brothers. They honestly couldn't have a better big brother. We took a bunch of kids to the haunted corn maze Friday night for his party (freezing cold rain BUT no mess in my house!). He had a blast and it's so funny to watch the other boys around girls! I love that Ty had a fun party! Today is his 13th BIRTHDAY!!!!! And since it's a Monday it's a pretty "Normal" day, but I did make his favorite dinner...angel hair with alfredo and meat balls! He's so easy to please. He got his guitar (at the beginning of the school year) and clothes. Happy Birthday TYLER!!!!

Farewell Corny

2011-10-09T22:56:00.000-06:00

This morning we woke up all excited for the baptism......until a dark shadow was cast on our day. We found Corny dead. Poor Isaac. He loved that snake. Mike and I promised that we'd find him a new one ASAP once the baptism was over. He then said a prayer that he would be able to enjoy this day even though the best snake ever died. I had to hide my giggle. He was so cute and so upset and so sweet. We were able to put it in the back of our minds and enjoy the baptism :) AND then we found that Saturday night was the last night of the reptile expo! PERFECT timing! Ty and Matt babysat and we took Isaac on a snake shopping date! After making the rounds at the expo Isaac found the perfect albino corn snake. And Mike found the perfect Nelson Milk snake. Yup that makes 6. Isaac was very concerned that I didn't have my own. I so selflessly declined. Told him our budget could only handle 2 snakes :) Isaac decided to name his snake Corn Flower. Mike's is named Mandela. hehehe.

After the expo we took Isaac to eat at Red Lobster. Isaac LOVED being the center of attention and I LOVED my time with my sweet Isaac!

On Sunday we had a great grave side service and burial . Isaac gave a great eulogy. He talked about what a nice snake Corny was and that he always ate when we fed him (which if you've ever had a snake you'll know that IS a feat) and just "the best snake ever!" Then we buried him. I had pic's but once again.....dang sd card:(

Baptism Day!!

2011-10-08T21:40:00.000-06:00

Today was Isaac's BAPTISM DAY!!! He's been so excited! The last few months it's been a daily count down to today! Our day started with soccer games:) and a frantic last minute food prep. Then it was set up (thanks Jamie and all of the Voigt's!) and making sure everything was ready! It was so fun to be ready enough to sit back and relax and watch Isaac enjoy this moment. I'm thankful that we got to share this day with so many people that we love. We were lucky enough to have a lot of family and friends there to share the day with us.

The program was wonderful and Mike did a great job on the baptism and confirmation. I'm so glad that my kids have such a great DAD. The blessing that he gave Isaac was wonderful. One of the things that I remember the MOST from his blessing was when Mike told him to always continue to share his testimony. That his strong testimony would help so may other people feel the love of their Savior. I sure am amazed by my Isaac.

The lunch was fun and it was nice to hang out with my family and friends. It's just so nice. I just wish that my sd card hadn't been corrupted! I LOST all of my pictures from baptism day! Thankfully Don emailed me all of his so we have some:)

Crazy Life

2011-10-01T21:20:00.001-06:00

Things have been a little NUTS this week. Don's been sick, and "sick" quickly turned into "critical" when his kidneys shut down. He ended up in ICU. We were all a LOT stressed. I wasn't sure what to do, since we were babysitting Mary and Mike's kids. I didn't want to leave Mike with all of them, BUT I felt like I needed to go and help mom and see Don. Mike didn't even hesitate. He sent me and took over caring for 8 little boys. He's the best! Anyway, I got to the hospital and I was a little shocked at how sick he really was. I got to see him and then (the upside to it all) I got to visit with my family. Around midnight everyone went home and I finally talked mom into going home to bed. THAT of course was easier said than done, but finally around 2 we fell asleep.

Friday morning we got an early start.....and headed back to the hospital. Don was looking so much better! THe ICU nurse kept saying that he was the healthiest patient she had! I kept thinking that I needed to head home to help Mike.....He had work to do and a scout camp to prepare for! Every time I thought about leaving though.......I had the thought "nah just wait until they move him to his regular room". I cycled through this like 3-4 times. I just figured that Mom needed company. I hung out and chatted. Looked at Brian's great pic's from his safari! It was all very nice.... Until they tried to move him to a regular room that is. They got him to his room and the nurse was helping him shower and he went down. It wasn't good. Mom wasn't good. In fact I've never seen her like that. EVER. My first thought was "have Mike call Glade. We need Glade." and then "I need Mike to text everyone else". He got a hold of Glade right before Glade took the 215 exit. He was able to jump off the freeway and get to the hospital SO FAST! Kami was right behind him. It was so nice to have their help and support. I'm also so glad that Don Jr. was there too. Suddenly everyone was VERY worried. No one could figure out what was going on. They decided to transfer him to LDS because it's a bigger hospital with more Doc's and more facilities. About this time Mike was picking up kids from school.....and finding someone to take his place on the camp out. What a great hubby I have. Once we got Don settled up at LDS we started the waiting game again. There were a lot of people there so Glade and Kami and I hung out in the waiting room. The upside to it all was that we got to Skype with Darwin, Bonnie, Blaine and DeAnn. Times like these aren't always fun but I sure do love my family and there is a strength that comes from just being together. Talking to each other. Loving each other. Anyway, after we grabbed some dinner with David and Sinda, and tests were being run I finally felt like it was ok to go home. I was running on fumes and needed to make it home in one piece! I made David promise to get mom a cot set up and made her promise to sleep. And then I took off. While I was on my way home David called to say that the scan had shown a pulmonary embolism. Finally an answer. I am so glad that he had an answer. Phew. They think it was due to the bladder sitting on the veins. Blood clots formed. BUT the good news is that it's should be an isolated event. I got home to a boy filled house and a wonderful husband. I have no idea what I would do without him. He is honestly amazing. How many men would stay home with 8 boys? He had to get 6 kids to 3 different schools! 2 toddlers.....yup amazing!

Saturday was nice. Nuts, but so nice to be home with my kids. I love them so much. I was so thankful that Don was ok. The Doctors said he was on the upswing again. His kidney function was coming back on its own, which again showed that it wasn't a chronic thing. We took the kids (all 8) to see grandpa on our way to a soccer game:) I think that they were all so relieved. I think it was good for Don to see them. Don was up and sitting in a chair! That was so huge! We then took the Oveson's to Gma and Gpa Oveson and went to soccer! After soccer Ty and i went back tot he hospital and Don had been moved to a "regular room" ! He made it this time! Tee and Melissa were there this time, and again it was such a relief to see my brother and sister in law that I love so much. I went home knowing that it was going to be a few days of hospital but that Don was going to alright. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for helping him through this. For helping all of us through this. I don't know what we'd all do without Don.

FIRST LOST TOOTH!!!

2011-09-30T16:11:00.002-06:00

Wahoo! I am so excited for Lucas! He finally lost his first tooth! I got home from something and Lucas was crying about his tooth hurting. He said "Dad says that there's food stuck in there or something" I laughed and asked Mike if he'd looked at the tooth.....since it was about to fall out! Lucas was scared to let us pull it so he went to bed hoping it wouldn't fall out in his sleep:) The next day I convinced him to let me try. If fell out right in my hand! He didn't even realize it was out! He's getting WAY TO BIG! PS .....he lost a second tooth and then the tooth fairy forget to come...thus the $5. Our tooth fairy has to pay extra for each night she misses. :)

The World'd Best Officers

2011-09-29T11:02:00.001-06:00

I have always thought that Riverdale had great police officers but this week's preschool field trip reaffirmed that. The officer I was working with had a schedule change and so we had to rearrange our dates AND he came to us at preschool. He was AMAZING with the kids. He learned (and remembered) all of their names. Which is harder than it sound because Mary's group was there too! He talked to them about safety and spent a lot of time trying to help them feel comfortable with him as an Officer. The kids all had a blast playing with the car. As a side note.....I received a letter from him a few days later. HE was thanking US for letting him come! AND he named each child in the letter! WOW. What an amazing man! Thanks Sgt. Fuller!

My Amazing Isaac

2011-09-25T21:28:00.000-06:00

I ADORE my sweet Isaac. He is so full of life and SO smart! That little brain of his never stops running. Isaac amazes me. His testimony and spiritual understanding Amazes me. I look at him and wonder HOW in the WORLD I am lucky enough to be his mother. ANYWAY, this amazing wonderful boy turned 8 today. I don't know where the last 8 years have gone. It's like sand slipping through my fingers.

This year Isaac decided that he wanted to go and see "Dolphin Tail" with some friends. Then he proceeded to invite A LOT OF FRIENDS! He's such a cute little boy! We filled a whole LONG row at the theater, but he was happy and we all LOVED the movie. I had all sorts of great pictures but something happened to the sd card and I lost them all. Along with a ton of other pic's......GRRRRR. I hope that Isaac will always remember this even without the pic's!

Isaac The Scout

2011-09-21T10:26:00.000-06:00

It feels like he's been waiting all of his live to be a Cub Scout, and FINALLY the time is here! My sweet Isaac is bouncing off the walls! Tonight was pack meeting and he was SO cute! Jaunett gave him a big welcome and even gave him a "new" snake. The wood kind.....some of the mom's thought it was real hehehehehe. I can't wait for Isaac to have as much fun at Cubs as his brothers have had!

Donuts

2011-09-19T10:20:00.000-06:00

I love my "Nick time". This morning he and I had to go get gas and when we pulled into the gas station and he said "I want a Donut PLEASE!" So since we didn't have anywhere else we HAD to be we stopped and got one! He's so fun to be with!

Soccer

2011-09-18T10:37:00.000-06:00

It's soccer time again! But the question is "did it ever end?" lol. This is however Lucas first time playing and MAN is he excited! His dad's his coach and "he's the best player out there" Just ask him :) Isaac is loving his new team and coach too, and Matt and Tyler of course LOVE their teams! Nick also LOVES being at soccer. He want's to play soccer too :) And I have to say that as insane as soccer life is I also LOVE it. I love watching my kids play and I love the joy that I see in them as they play. I wouldn't trade soccer season for anything.

Crazy Course For Cash

2011-09-16T22:28:00.002-06:00

This year I ended up in charge of the school walk a thon. I love the obstacle course version of a walk a thon. The kids had SO much fun, and I am SO glad that it's over! I was a little stressed since Mike was NOT here to help me, BUT my sweet boys were a HUGE help! I couldn't have done it if they hadn't been so incredibly helpful! We'll see how much we make, but I'm sure hoping that we'll be done with fundraising for the year! Go Roadrunners!

Fun With The Oveson's :)

2011-09-16T10:50:00.001-06:00

Tonight we went to Mike and Mary's ward camp out. They had it over at Fort Buenaventura and so it was EASY to run right over and have fun before coming back to sleep in our beds, WHICH since it started to RAIN LIKE CRAZY!! was a good thing!

3 Amazing Years Old Already?

2011-09-13T19:35:00.005-06:00

I can't believe that my sweet baby Nick isn't a baby any more! Sometimes I look at him and can't believe that he was my sick little newborn! I was so scared when he was born SO sick, but look at him now! He is an energetic, smart, hilarious 3 year old! WOW! This year Mike has to go work in Cedar City and won't be here for his or Nick's birthday so we decided to celebrate early. And CELEBRATE we did! We started with Nick's little friend party on Friday. He is obsessed with trains so I copied Kyle's (Mary's) train cake . Jamie helped me pull it all together (I'm a little overwhelmed I think) and Nick was happy as could be! He had fun with his friends (except for the traditional melt down) and LOVED his presents. 1 hour was PERFECT!

Then on Sunday we had our little family party and gave Nick his presents. He loved his Angry Bird, Hungary Hippo's and his WAY AWESOME Gervious Light Saber!

Today I took Nick, Lucas Kyle and Mary for a gourmet lunch at McDonalds! It's so nice to have children that are easy to please! Tonight we had a soccer game and then we came home for cupcakes!

I sure love and adore my sweet Nick. I am honestly the most blessed woman on earth! Happy Birthday Nick!!

Crazy Hair Day

2011-09-13T16:27:00.001-06:00

I love crazy hair day! My cute boys had a blast getting ready this morning!

Happy Birthday Mike!

2011-09-12T22:06:00.000-06:00

I have the world's best husband and I love celebrating his birthday. This year however HE was going to be working in Cedar City on his birthday so we celebrated a day early. We had a great time I just feel bad that he didn't his favorite food or even a cake on his birthday. He works so hard for our family. He makes it so I can stay home and take care of our kids. He gives his all to his scouts. He is serving our city. I really got the cream of the crop when I got him!

The Dreaded Story Problem

2011-09-11T20:21:00.004-06:00

The other day Liz called me at work - Isaac was crying. He was daunted by the dreaded story problem. I remember feeling that way, and then in college, somewhere along the way it occurred to me that, as an engineer, my whole education, and career, would be summed up as a series of story problems, and that they weren't that bad. I told Isaac that I did story problems for work, that they weren't that bad, yada yada - all the lecture stuff parents do, and of course, it made no difference. That's why I decided on this project. Well, that and the bikes all over the garage were a hazard to my kids' safety, and my sanity...

I handed each kid a piece of graph paper, and told them to draw their idea of what a bike rack would need to be like for our bikes. Surprisingly, they all had very similar ideas. Pipes running more or less vertically, with a triangle behind to support the rack. Then we sat down and I drew a picture that drew from all of their ideas to put it together into a whole. I then told the boys that, before we went to actual design, we needed to list which informatoin we needed. Here's what they came up with. Not bad, huh?

Then came the story problem: How big to make the pieces. With a little guidance, a

nd a calculator, we worked through it together to calculate lengths for all the pieces, and then to make a cutting list.

Then came the fun - we cut the pipes and began assembly together. Every boy got a repetetive task, assembling one step of the rack. The finished rack worked so AWESOMELY! Talk about a sweet DIY Bike Rack! And the best part - it was a blast with the boys. I'm sure Isaac will have more breakdowns about story problems, and math may not actually become fun for my boys, but this was. I love being a dad. Oh, and engineers rule! Muahahahaaaaa

September Birthday Fun!

2011-09-10T19:02:00.002-06:00

With so many September birthdays we always have a blast celebrating together and this year is no exception! We added Tyler to the mix this year since his b-day is the weekend of Isaac's baptism and Ty didn't want Isaac to have to share that day with him. ANYWAY, we celebrated Nick, Isaac, Tyler, Mike and Mom. We had a yummy dinner and a GREAT snake cake (per Isaac's request), but this year the gifts stole the show. Nick LOVED his planes, motorcycles and CHEESE PUFFS!. Isaac loved his Jet planes, his popcorn and most of all his cub scout shirt, book and patches! Tyler is still flying high over his gifts! Grandpa just got back from Spain, and in his usual thoughtful way he brought Tyler the birthday gift to end all birthday gifts.....A Messi jersey (Tyler's ALL TIME FAVORITE SOCCER PLAYER!!!) and a scarf pendant from when Barcelona FC won the World Cup! I don't think that any gift will ever top this one! Ty also liked his book and popcorn but compared to a gift FROM Spain from his FAVORITE team.......well you know :) He sat and hugged them for the rest of the night. Mike loved his cookies, popcorn and new shoes, and Mom got all sorts of fun stuff (also from Europe) from Don, an apron, a book and a bag. All in all it was a VERY successful party!

BEST Field trip Ever!!

2011-09-09T22:19:00.000-06:00

The fifth grade went on the BEST field trip this week! They went to the Solomon Center. I fly demonstration, IRock climbing, and Flowrider! I am so excited that I got to go with Matt! He did a great job rock climbing and amazed me at Flowrider! I'm so glad that we have such great teachers!

Birthday Buddies

2011-09-09T22:13:00.000-06:00

We have always had fun celebrating Mike and Travis' birthdays, and that celebration has only gotten better since we added Nick! We love the Malan's!

Nick The Preschool Boy!

2011-09-06T18:47:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it but Nick is starting preschool! He's so excited to have "his school" and his own backpack! I'm excited for him to learn and grow. I'm so excited to teach him! I am also just a little sad that he's growing up so fast.

Rafting the Weber River

2011-09-05T22:14:00.000-06:00

We are so lucky to live where we do. There is SO much to do right here in our own back yard! Today we decided to go rafting and tubing on the Weber River! We went with the Malan's and the Neff's and we had A BLAST! I don't know why we waited so long this year to do it! Oh, wait, yes I do.....massive flooding and the fact that I value life :) Anyway.....back to the amazing Labor Day adventure!

We started with the rafts up above the Kayak park. There were 3 rafts and several tubes. Mike and Travis and Angelo and Tyler all took turns giving the others rides. The older girls and Matt tubed the river. Jamie, Kami and myself drove to the bottom to get ready to pull them out. The smiles were as bright as 1,000 watt bulbs!

Round two was just as much fun! This time Ty got to take Eli down on his own. I don't know who liked it more. Ty or Eli :) 2 of the rafts didn't survive so then we just started tubing through the kayak park. Now I got my turn! It was so much fun! Such a cute dog. The first time down I hit a rock and got flipped off of my tube....and of course I didn't have a life jacket on. It's deep there in the middle of the river! AHHHH! But I did grab the tube and manage to get to the side! I LOVED it! One of the funniest things of the day was the Malan's dog Summer. She kept jumping in and trying to save everyone!

After tubing Mike, Kami and a bunch of the big kids went to try the rope swing! Again, it was awesome!! I was so impressed with by Matt and Isaac! They were so brave! Ty had a really bad headache and had no desire to do it this time. BUT next time he's going to OWN the rope swing!

It was so hard to leave! It started to get cold and Mike and I had a viewing to go to, but NO ONE wanted to leave!! This was one of the BEST Labor Day's ever!!

The First Day of Kindergarten!

2011-08-30T21:30:00.000-06:00

Lucas Starts school today! AHHH I can't believe that he is already this old! He's so ready for school and his teacher, Mrs. Jones, is amazing. HOWEVER, I am sure going to miss having him here all day! He's such a loving little kid. I can't wait to see how much he grows this year!

Pillow Horses and Bubbles

2011-08-29T22:08:00.000-06:00

We miss our big brothers, but it's not stopping Nick and Lucas from having fun! Today Nick turned the couch cushions into horses and we made big bubbles with cups full of soapy water and straws! AND I have to point out the way that Nick braced the cushion with the other cushions.....an engineer's son!

Welcome Baby Tanner!

2011-08-28T14:14:00.000-06:00

Today Danny and Melanie welcomed their little guy! Tanner Daniel Staten is here! He's a cute little guy and my boys had so much fun holding him! Nick wanted to take him home with us :) Here's to another Staten boy!

Cache Valley Century 2011

2011-08-27T22:00:00.002-06:00

Liz and I did the Cache Valley Century (metric distance) with our friends from our college days - Brian and Erin Christensen. It was awesome! Here's our day, in slideshow/video montage with sweet music:

Cache Valley Century

2011-08-27T13:46:00.001-06:00

I know that Mike blogged the ride and posted his little video (which I loved) but since the pic's won't be in my blog book I decided to post a few pic's too:)

I also have to say that I loved this ride. I loved being with Mike and doing something like this. I loved riding with Brian and Erin. I loved that I did it and never bonked :) Cache Valley is gorgeous and it was so much fun to see so much of it from my bike!

The Ridd's

2011-08-26T21:41:00.000-06:00

I love that I'm linked in with "the Ridd's" . I love them all and am so thankful for their examples and their love. Every year I look forward to the Ridd Reunion. It's always as close to August 30th as they can get it because that was my Great Grandma's birthday, and it's always fun! This year we didn't stay too long because Mike and I were headed to Logan for our ride.....YIKES!

The First Day Of School!

2011-08-23T14:50:00.000-06:00

I have a love hate relationship with the first day of school. I LOVE our schools, our teachers, all that the kids learn, all that I get to help with. I HATE having my kids gone all day! I know it's not what most parents say, but I honestly miss my boys so much during the day! This year has been harder too I think because Tyler is starting Jr. High and next week Lucas starts Kindergarten. They're all growing up SO FAST!

This morning Tyler was so excited and really not very nervous. I was nervous enough for him I think! hahahaha. He's so chill about everything! Anyway, he took off for the bus at 7 and came home at 3 happy as a clam!Matt and Isaac were so excited to leave this morning! They both have the teacher that they wanted (Mrs. Cox for Isaac and Mrs. Watson for Matt) and they just couldn't wait to get there! They also came home happy as could be and just a tad tired!

One more week until Lucas starts and then one more and Nick starts preschool! phew at least it's spread out!

Last Day of Summer

2011-08-22T21:57:00.000-06:00

Today we decided to go to Toads to play on our last day of summer! The kids had fun and I had fun watching them. I sure love my boys and will miss having them home every day :(

Last Day Of Summer Fun!

2011-08-22T21:24:00.002-06:00

Today is my last day with my sweet wonderful boys! We decided to spend the morning at Toads with Jamie, her kids and Logan. It's been so great having Toads passes! I'm excited for school but man I'm going to miss my boys being here every day!

The Strikers Cup

2011-08-20T22:16:00.001-06:00

This week both Tyler and Matt played in the Strikers cup. They both played SO well! It's just so much fun to watch them play that it makes all of the nuttiness worth it! Ty's team did well, their best tournament yet, and Matt's team took second place! It was so fun! Grandpa Staten stopped by for a game, and we were lucky to have Grandma Wittke come and watch games and stay over at our house! After our last games on Saturday we all went to lunch with Grandma and the Ovesons. It was a PARTY weekend!

The 5 Messi's

2011-08-19T22:10:00.000-06:00

My boys are all obsessed (thanks to Ty's obsession) with Lionel Messi. He plays for FC Barcelona and is honestly amazing to watch. While we were at the Strikers cup this weekend my kids we ran into a jersey booth that had jerseys in all of my boys sizes. It was like Christmas. They are all in heaven! Nick refuses to take his off:) When I took these pic's Ty was playing so he's not in them, but his is the black away jersey:)

50 Mile Ride!

2011-08-19T13:30:00.004-06:00

Mike and I are doing the Cache Valley ride in a week so today we did a 50 mile ride. we started here at home and rode out to Western Zirconium, then over through Plain City, up to Farr West, and then back home. We rode through a CRAZY lightning storm, and I was terrified. I told Mike if I died it was all his fault and he could live with that for the rest of his life :) !! The rest of the ride was great until about mile 45. My legs cramped up and I thought I was going to die. Mike said I "bonked". That's what riders call "hitting the wall". I didn't think I was going to make it up Hinckley Dr. I was in tears (yes I was that much of a wimp). BUT I made it! All was well and we finished it 3.5 hours of riding time. PHEW! As nutty as it was I LOVE riding with Mike!

Cousin Adventure #12 More Swimming Fun!

2011-08-18T22:15:00.004-06:00

I swear we spent most of the summer in the water, BUT the kids are happy and loving summer so....whatever! Since Lorrin Farr messed up our make up day, Mary and I both ended up with free passes! The kids had been dying to swim there (non lesson swimming that is). SO, we stole Logan and made him a cousin for the day, and went swimming!

The new slides at the pool are awesome, and the kids had a blast. Nuff said! LOL

Jr. High!

2011-08-17T21:32:00.001-06:00

We are getting so EXCITED for 7th grade to start! Tyler got his Officer Sweater and he LOVES it (which he should since it cost us an arm and a leg!) and he looks so cute in it!This week was registration and so Tyler had to go and, after he was finished, help other "sevies" find their classes and lockers. He LOVED it! I'm so glad he got that time since it can only help him come the first day of school! I personally love the pic's in the locker :)

Matt The WeBeLoS!

2011-08-17T10:06:00.000-06:00

Matt, of course, has his WeBeLoS already! He was finished before his waiting time was up:) That child is more motivated than almost anyone I know! Tonight he "finally" received his award and he was floating on cloud 9 all night! WAY to go Matt!!!

Camping Adventures!

2011-08-14T21:47:00.000-06:00

Well, summer was running out and we hadn't gone camping. SO, Mary and I decided that we were going to take the kids and go camping! We had tickets to the Martin Harris pageant for August 12th and so we decided to camp up Logan Canyon. I wasn't about to let the fact that Mike and Tyler were backpacking stop me! I decided to do it on my own. Well, on my own with Mary and sometimes Mike O's help :). My Mike wasn't happy about it until he found out that Mike would be there at night.....:)

I had Mike help me load up the van before they left and the rest of the boys and I loaded up and headed to Logan! Well, sorta. We made several stops along the way. I needed more ice. Then Mike O's car over heated so we stopped of coolant and oil. THEN we headed up to the camp ground. Ahhhhh there is something about being in the mountains that is just SO relaxing! I think that we found the best spot on the mountain! The whole thing was in the shade! The boys and I (with a little help from Mike) got camp set up and then we all set to roasting hot dogs and mallows! The boys had a blast helping with the fire and just chilling with their cousins. The funniest thing about roasting hot dogs with the kids is that they put them right into the flames, turn them black and then get grossed out that they're cold! hahahahahaha LOVE it! Bed time went so smoothly it almost had me scared.......and since my air mattress went flat and I ended up sleeping on a rock, I guess I should have been :) No actually other than that the night was perfect! Everyone slept well and no one even woke up to go to the bathroom!! That NEVER happens when we are camping!

Friday morning was beautiful. We had so much fun making pancakes and enjoying the smell of sausage! The kids had fun playing on the hill aka "their fort" while we cooked. While we were cooking Matt decided to help clean up all of the half filled pop cans. We told him that if he wanted to finish them he could.....which he was thrilled by until he took a drink. Preston had been making a :mud bomb". And Matt drank that "mud bomb" !! ICK! hehehehehehe. Poor Matt! After breakfast we cleaned up and headed into Logan. I needed a new air mattress:) We also snagged some shampoo and conditioner (we smelled too bad to go to the Martin Harris show) and a few more treats!

Then it was back to camp and......RELAXATION!!! It was so nice to just chill. The kids just got to play. Mary and I just got to relax. It was awesome! It was even better when Tee and Melissa came up to visit! Whenever they walk into the same space as the kids pandemonium breaks out. The kids just LOVE them (well we all do) and it's just so great to be around them!

They boys all just had a blast playing and exploring. Nick and Kyle are NUTS. They started toasting each other and then drinking their koolaid koolers:)

Mary and I washed our hair, cooked dinner and then washed up the boys and headed to the Martin Harris Pageant. I love the pageant. Always have and it was a lot of fun to take the kids again. We met the Voigt's, the Neff's, the Malan's and Melissa there. It was so much fun. The kids all enjoyed the show and kept talking about how hard it must have been for Martin Harris. The older ones really felt the spirit and asked when we could go again.

We got back to camp and Nick and Lucas were asleep. Matt helped me get everyone into bed and I was feeling pretty good about the night......when of course Matt started to feel sick. After several trips to the out house and puking in the weeds we finally went to bed. Thankfully we made it through the night without anymore problems AND my new air mattress held up!

Saturday started with yummy bagels (I made them from scratch so that Matt could have them), a quick camp clean up and we were off to Bear Lake and Minnetonka Cave! The drive was beautiful and I would have enjoyed it a lot if Nick hadn't screamed for the first 40 minutes :( . Oh well. We got to the Cave, got our tickets and went to find a nice spot for lunch while we waited for our tour time. It was beautiful, and relaxing. There were beautiful trees and a little stream and the kids were in heaven but not in danger:) and I was happy!

After lunch we went to the cave! I thought it was beautiful. It also would have been a little easier to deal with all of the stairs if Nick and Lucas hadn't been too scared to walk on them! UGH I carried Nick the whole time and half the time I had to drag Lucas along too. All in all it was a ton of fun and Lucas even admitted it was awesome!

After the cave we headed over to the north beach and played in the water! It was pretty and the water wasn't even that cold! The boys all swam and took turns with Uncle Mike in the raft. We couldn't get them out of the water! Dinner was a little sandy but we managed fairly well. The kids wanted to stay forever!

It was such an amazing weekend and I was so thankful that we did it even though not everyone could go. I was SO TIRED when it was all said and done but it was that good, you had an awesome time, kind of tired. Thanks boys and Mary and Mike for a WONDERFUL time!

Backpacking In The Uintah's

2011-08-13T07:25:00.000-06:00

There are times that I really feel like I'm missing out.......and this is one of those times! Mike and Tyler had a great adventure and Missy eve got to go along! They went to the Crystal Lake Trail head in the Uintah's. The first thing they found was the mosquitos. Mike said that they swarmed them the second they stepped out of the car! I think that Mike was pretty happy that I got the head nets even though he said they weren't necessary :). They hiked about 2 miles and then set up camp. It was dark by the time they set up camp so they cooked dinner and went to bed. The next day they made pancakes (yup they like it when I pack from them), cleaned up and then went fishing. Tyler was so excited to catch his first fish! He let it go and then wished he hadn't. He wanted to eat it.....so later on he caught another one and saved it for breakfast on Saturday! They had fun hiking and playing all day on Saturday. Tyler loved the fact that he could play in the snow in August! We've been so lucky to have such a great scout master. We're all sad because with the ward boundary changes the Christiansen's won't be in our ward anymore :( Our family is having a hard time with that fact. Anyway, after playing around they packed up and hiked out! My poor dog was BEAT! I don't think that she will move for a week! I'm so glad that Tyler has such great leaders and such a great Dad. He gets to have such great experiences! I love scouts!

Signs Signs Signs.....

2011-08-13T07:14:00.001-06:00

Well, I guess it's that time again.....ELECTION SIGNS! It's such a fun, exciting, and stressful time! This time around there are so many people running that there will be a primary election on September 13th so signs had to go up early.....AND WE'RE OFF!!!

My "Other Kids"

2011-08-11T21:57:00.001-06:00

This week I got a call from some of our "trek kids"! Brooke was in town and she and Quade wanted to come visit.....I love my kids! We chatted for a bit and before I knew what was going on my "kids" and my kids were having a pillow fight! After a fe things were broken we moved outside:) Oh man I am so glad Mike and I got to go on Trek!!!

Utah Lake Epic Century Ride (ULCER) 2011

2011-08-06T22:22:00.003-06:00

Well, two weeks after the Tierra Bella my riding intentions and healthy-eating intentions were proving to be inadequate - I had put back about five hard-lost pounds. As my brother said, I needed some "authentic accountability" like I had found in being registered for a century ride. My wife, lovingly, and understingly agreed and I registered for the Utah Lake Epic Century Ride, or the ULCER or U.L.C.E.R. or whatever you want to call it. Just don't try doing a google image search for ULCER - gross.

Anyway, I figured I didn't need to do so many long training rides for so long, I just needed to keep up commuting and such and then do a few longer rides close to ride day, so it wouldn't be as big an impact on my family this time. At least that was the goal. It turns out I was mostly right. I did a longer ride a couple of weeks before the ULCER and was fine, so my training plan wasn't so high-impact. What drove my wife nuts was how I couldn't get over coveting a road bike. I started saving, but figured it would be a year or more till I could buy the bike I wanted, but then a killer deal came by and I got a Specialized Roubaix Elite Compact, and love it! That just increased my obsessive excitement for the ride.

Then ride day came. Matt also had a soccer tournament so we slept at Grandma's house in Draper and then went our separate ways in the morning. It was a little brisk, but the excitement more than compensated for it. I got there, all dressed up in my Tierra Bella jersey and Italico bib (my Dad and Brother loved the view when I was pulling the paceline). Then, of course, I realized my drivers license and car key which I had put in a ziploc bag in my jersey pocket weren't there anymore - did they fall out in the Honey Bucket, at my car, at the registration table, or somewhere in-between? After 15 minutes of panic I found them at the registration table - PHEW!

Here let me give a little tribute to my Dad - at age 62 he did his first century in April. Then in may he crashed - broke his collar bone, three ribs, and punctured a lung. With a whole erector set in his shoulder, he was finally turned loose to train around July 24th, and still thought he'd try this ride. Amazing!

We met up, took some pictures, and got ready to start. The timing chip thing was cool. My favorite thing about the start was the sound of popcorn popping as 200 or so riders all clipped into their pedals all at the same time. Something about the start of a ride is just so tense - I knew I could do the ride this time, but still... We rode out under the inflatable timing gate and got on our way.

This event was really, really well organized. There were a lot of turns at a lot of intersections for the first 20 miles or so, but we were able to just tear through them, since probably every cop in Utah County was along the route stopping traffic for the ride. It was really cool - I loved cornering at speed, attacking the overpasses, which were the only hills around, and just cruising at about 20 mph. We let Dad choose the pace, and Paul and I took turns pulling. Our first rest stop came along so fast. Hydrating, I had to stop, and got to enjoy the fun of a 3/4 zipper jersey and bib in a Honey Bucket. I felt like Tommy Boy changing clothes in the airplane restroom. Also, my legs were shaking from the adrenaline, not exhaustion, cause we were so excited and having so much fun!

We continued to enjoy the ride south along the east side of the lake. I really appreciate the communities that plan for, stripe, and sign bike lanes. It makes a huge difference for cyclists - it's so much safer, and comfortable for the bikers and I think for the cars too. We rode along-side and talked with a lot of interesting people. I love the organized ride atmosphere - a party on bikes. Everyone's happy, everyone's doing what they love. It's just great! The morning was gorgeous, and the route was so flat. We were cruising and having a blast. I got brave, and took out my phone (ahh, the comfort of having a protection plan ;)) and took a few picutres while we rode.

The ride around West Mountain was nice - a little vertical to shake it up a little, and much prettier than I thought it would be, never having driven there before - orchards, farms, wetlands, and the lake - it was great! Oh, and of course, good cookies at the rest stop. My sister says she likes the boiled potatoes they had at the Tierra Bella. Crazy! When you can have chocolate chip cookies?!?! As we turned south, we had quite a headwind - enough even to negate the benefit of a 3-4% downgrade! Then we turned west and it was in our faces still. We stopped for water, and to call Matt and see how his game went. Sadly he lost, but it was a great tournament. AND that meant that I had hope of a fan club at the finish line. Oh I was hoping! My dad rode ahead, so Paul and I got to ride at our own pace to catch up. Into the wind, I pulled, and Paul kept up, but just barely - a nice road bike is OH so nice! And I know it's not "cool" but my tight cycling clothes are definitely justified!

After we turned north again, the wind was at our backs more often than not, which was nice. Only by now it was hot, and the rest stops along the west side of the lake were out of water. We had to budget our drinks carefully. The ups and downs along the west side were fun. My dad thought he'd attack on the downhills, which was fun. Paul fell behind - I used "taking care of dad" as my excuse so I didn't feel too guilty for ditching him. He did catch up once we were on the flats again. Then I got a phone call that made me happy - my fam had made it to the finish line. Paul and I decided we would sprint for the finish in a Tour-de-France style showing-off way. I was so excited! We found a spigot at the park where the last rest stop was and hydrated ourselves again.

It was kind of sad that we were so close to the end - the ride went so fast, and did not feel like 100 miles! Taking it slower, at my Dad's pace, helped, I'm sure, but still, it was fun to relish the last few miles rather than just survive them. We wound through the Lehi streets past Thanksgiving point, and turned around and came from the north. Then we saw the finish gate. I shifted up, stood up out of the saddle, and attacked - ZOOM! I love my bike! My boys were way impressed that I passed two cars who were driving down the road. I went through the start gate, and almost ran over the volunteer waiting on the other side handing out window stickers - she wasn't expecting a sprint-speed finish, I guess - SORRY! Then for the fun - my adoring children surrounded me with hugs and smiles, and then, of course, I had to get the kiss-from-a-beautiful-woman traditional podium finish!

The post-ride food was really good - lasagna, fettucini alfredo, breadsticks, bagels, and cookies - I love carb loading and recovery meals!!

In the end, our time was 6:10 moving time, 7:07 total time. I felt really good about this, considering that it was 2:50 faster than the Tierra Bella, and we weren't pushing it either. I want to try, maybe next year, to break the 5-hour barrier on this ride. I was very satisfied, and a little proud that I felt like I needed a longer harder ride to get tired. Such a great day! Thanks again, Liz, for supporting me for another one of these! Oh, and once again, I lost another 15 pounds in training. Three weeks till the Cache Valley Metric Century with my sexy sweetheart!

ReAL Salt Lake!!

2011-08-06T20:04:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Matt playing in the Park City Cup we got discounted tickets to the RSL game tonight! It was so fun and we all had a BLAST! There couldn't have been a better way to finish up our soccer filled weekend! OH and RSL won!!

Park City Cup!

2011-08-06T13:30:00.005-06:00

The nerves and excitement around our place this week have been a bit EXTREME! It's Matt's first soccer tournament, and his first time playing in games with his new team. I was so excited to watch him play I could hardly stand it! I love his coaches and the kids on his team all work so well together that it makes it fun just to be there! The tournament started on Thursday. Matt's team fought hard and tied that game! Matt played defense and he was "a wall"!! The coach and the other parents kept talking about how great he was (yeah it was a great mom moment!).That night we stayed at a hotel in SLC. We had fun swimming and just relaxing as a family.Friday morning Mike got up early and went to work while the boys and I slept in. We ate breakfast and then headed to Liberty Park to meet Mary and the boys. (see previous post) It was so much fun! Then we all (Mary and the boys included) headed to Park City for another game! This one was a win 2-0! It was toasty, but we had fun. There was also the greatest little playground there! Look at these cool toys:It's so great to have an Aunt like Mary :)That night we stayed at mom and Don's house. They were in Texas so we just crashed there!
Saturday morning Mike got up bright and early and headed out for the ULCER ride. A century ride around Utah lake. We weren't too far behind him though since we had to be in Park City by 8:15 :) This game was tough. The ref wasn't calling it well, and the other team was DIRTY! But to our boys credit they didn't get dirty back. In the words of his coach "I know they were dirty, but you guys never stooped to that level. You played YOUR game YOUR way and even though the score didn't reflect it you won that game in my opinion!" Yup, a great coach.After the game we hurried to Thanksgiving Point to watch Mike and his Dad and Brother finish the ride. They did a great job and it was fun to be there to watch them finish!

Cousin Adventure #10 Liberty Park!

2011-08-05T13:09:00.002-06:00

I love the "Canyons" at Liberty park. My kids LOVE the "canyons". I think we've gone every summer for cousin adventure, but every year the kids beg to go again! This year we were in the middle of Matt's soccer tournament (in Park City) so SLC was a great place to play! I think we spent 5 hours playing there!

Tennis

2011-08-04T20:29:00.001-06:00

Every year the high school tennis team (and our favorite player Chelsea) holds a 3 day tennis clinic. This year Isaac and Lucas both signed up. They were SO EXCITED! And then I forgot the first day.....yep I'm that kind of mom :) My brain was on over load and I forgot. BUT our wonderful Chelsea took my boys up to the park and gave them a private lesson. She's the best. The next 2 days when we made it to the school were wonderful and my boys finally forgave me :)

Cousin Adventure #8 Roy Pool and Smores!!

2011-07-29T11:19:00.000-06:00

This week for cousin adventure we went swimming at Roy pool and then cam back here to roast marshmallows and make smores! My camera was MIA so all I have is the one Mary took at the pool. We have spent SO MUCH TIME IN THE POOL this summer......but the kids have loved it and so I guess it's all worth it! The coolest thing about the night was when we found out that the Western Family chocolate covered graham crackers that Mary brought were Matt safe!

Legacy Parkway

2011-07-25T13:00:00.000-06:00

I love the Legacy Parkway Trail. I love that I can get on my bike in Farmington and ride to bountiful and no have ANY cars to deal with! Well, today before the Outlaws game we took the kids on a ride. They all did such a great job! We went 8 miles, in the heat, and everyone (especially Lucas) kept up and did a great job! Poor Lucas had sweat DRIPPING from his face:) I LOVE my family!

Ball Boy!

2011-07-25T12:05:00.000-06:00

One of the perks that comes with playing for the Ogden Outlaws is going to the PDL games for free and getting a turn to be a ball boy at those games! Today Matt got to be a ball boy. He was so excited and SO nervous, but he did great! The game was fun. We all love us some soccer around this place!

Little America, The Days of 47 Rodeo, And Breakfast With Grandma!!!

2011-07-25T11:23:00.000-06:00

Some wonderful friends of ours called the other day and asked us if we wanted their tickets (private box tickets) to the Days of 47 Rodeo. Of course we jumped on it.....we LOVE a good rodeo! We also decided to make a weekend of it and Stayed at the Little America hotel. It's probably my favorite place to stay. I LOVE the pool!! Mike rode his bike down and the boys and I met him there early enough to get in a swim before the rodeo! It was SO much fun!
Then we grabbed dinner at Rumbi's (Mmmmmmm) and headed to the Rodeo. The box was SO plush and my boys were in 7th Heaven! Thanks Randy and Carol!Then we headed back to our hotel and crashed!Saturday morning we met Grandma Wittke at Village Inn for breakfast. Ok, while it was fun to be there with her and all of that, I will never take Matt there again. They were the WORST! Every question we asked about food ingredients was answered with "um, I don't know...." when asked to check they said "um no....I don't think we can".....? Seriously? Anyway, he ended up eating a salad with chicken on it for breakfast. Oh well, lesson learned :( Ok back to the good parts. It WAS fun to just sit and chat and enjoy that time with Mom. Don is in Texas getting certified (or whatever you call it) for the new jet he'll be flying, and we missed him.After breakfast we still had enough time to go back and swim again! I think my kids would live in the water if they could! Isaac and Lucas and Nick of course, kept practicing their dives. I just love watching them. Sadly check out time came way to fast and we were forced to come back to reality! I love little get aways with my family. They're the best!!

Backpacking!

2011-07-23T21:32:00.003-06:00

This weekend I got to send Tyler off on his very first backpacking trip! He was so excited and I was so excited.......and stressed :) He of course did an amazing job and had a AWESOME TIME! We are so lucky to have such a great scout master. They hiked up to Malan's Basin. Tyler LOVED the view and can't wait to go back! Since his feet are the same size as mine he borrowed my hiking boots.....and brought them back in pieces! LOL I guess that's what happens when you go hiking in boots that are as old as you are!