Presidents Cup/Ice Breakers Tournaments!

It's Presidents day weekend so that means soccer tourney time!!  This year Ty played in the Presidents Cup with his team and in the Ice Breakers Tournament with the U14 Outlaws.  Presidents cup was in Mesquite and Ice Breakers was in St. George.  So we stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Staten's house again.

 Friday and Saturday Ty played with his team.  They had fun, got killed, and were done on Saturday afternoon!    BUT between games on Friday we took the kids to see Star Wars Episode 1 3D!  So win or lose everyone was happy!

On Saturday afternoon and again on Monday Ty played with the Outlaws.  He had so much fun!  And I had so much fun watching him play with them!  They work so well together as a team and Ty fit right in.....he's hoping to go there come spring:)

We did several bike rides....of course:) We did a little ride with the boys along a paved trail, Mike and I went on a Mtn. Bike ride at the Bear paw poppy trail.  That was AWESOME!  I loved it!!!  Then we rode again with the boys to a park where we did yoga on a balance beam and had fun jumping out of the swings:)  And then on Monday we took the boys and Grandpa and rode the Anasazi Trail.  It was a great ride!  It's funny to see the different riding styles that my kids have.  Isaac will burn up a hill but is VERY cautious going down.  Lucas struggles going up (Ok to his credit everyone else has gears and he doesn't....) but is a speed demon going down!  Love it!

Grandma also had a little birthday party for Lucas:)

It was a great weekend and by the time we were heading home we were all VERY tired!

Winter Biking At It's Best!

We've had such a mild winter here in Utah it's a little nuts.  I worry a bit about the snow pack and all of that jazz, BUT it's made my biker hubby happy as can be.  We went on several rides this weekend and they were.....adventures!

Friday we decided to go for a ride out on Antelope Island.  It was perfect because the bugs haven't hatched yet:)  Anyhow, we parked at the East end of the causeway and biked across to the Island.  Then we rode up to Buffalo Point (Up a VERY steep hill) over to the beach and then back across the causeway and home.  It was beautiful...there is only one problem.....for some reason I stated crashing and couldn't stop.  I've ridden clipped in for a long time but all of a sudden I couldn't get my feet out.  I crashed twice going up the hill to the point.  I crashed twice after that.  I was MAD.  It was just so frustrating! ARGH.  But other than that it was a beautiful ride and I really enjoyed the time with Mike.

On Saturday we decided to go and ride around Pineview.  Again it was beautiful but not without trouble:) We were about 3 miles in and my stomach cramped up.  I was so sick.  But again, I'm a little stubborn and I wouldn't turn back.  The traffic was horrible on the West side of the lake but after that it wasn't to bad.  The funny thing was that after Fridays ride Mike and switched out our pedals.  Suddenly HE couldn't get his feet unclipped...defective pedals!  Yea! It wasn't just me:)  Of course he's to cool to crash but I still felt better:)  I finished the ride and went home and died BUT I felt good about finishing! 

I'm so thankful that I have a patient husband!

Blue and Gold and an Arrow of Light

 This year our theme for  Blue and Gold was "Native Americans"....it made for a great dinner and great decorations.  The best part of the night was when Matt got his Arrow of Light!! He worked so hard and had everything finished a long time ago but he wanted to earn all 20 Webelos pins so we waited until now to give him his arrow!  He's such a great kid and I can't believe how determined he is.  When he decides he's going to do something he just does it!  He was super excited to get his arrow but I think that he was even more excited about the BB gun!!  Way to go MATT!!

Planetarium FUN

 I love taking the Preschoolers to the Ott Planetarium.  They love being there.... I love being there.....it's a win win!  I also love the little museum down stairs....it is perfect for the little ones!  I love my time with Nick!

Representative Matt Staten:)

Last week Matt came home with a letter from his teacher.  Matt had been chosen as the 1 5th grader from Riverdale Elementary School to spend a day with our local State Representative Brad Dee!! He has been so excited, and today was the day!  Mike was able to take the morning off and go with us....and I have to say that we were ALL excited!

 It started with a meeting in Representative Dee's office where Matt met Mr. Dee, his wife and his intern Sasha.  Mr. Dee explained how he had wanted to find a way to help kids gain a better understanding of how State Government worked.  He and his wife decided to contact all of the Elementary schools in his district and give them the opportunity to send one student to the Capitol for a day!  They are such great people!  I have always liked the Dee's and was so surprised when Mrs. Dee said to me "I remember you...you ran the Riverdale parade for a while right?" so crazy!  Anyway, after talking with the Dee's for a while Sasha took us on a tour of the Capitol.  In addition to the normal tour we got to go behind the scenes and see all of the offices and go on the floor of the Senate and the House.  We got to take some pictures with Mr. Dee on the House floor and then Mike and I went to the observation gallery while Matt got some treats and then went to sit on the House Floor with Mr. Dee.....who also happens to be the majority leader in the house:)
It was so fun to watch them!  Matt got to see how the voting process worked.  He had conversations with other Representatives and got to be a part of the voting.  It was so fun to watch Matt on the House Floor!  He's such an amazing kid!

After Matt was done we all went back to Mr. Dee's office and talked for a while with him about how the local government worked.  Mr. Dee then told Matt that he could write an essay about his experience and what he'd learned about how the government worked and submit it to him.....and that the winner would win $500 for his class!

We'll see how all of that goes but today was an AWESOME DAY!