MAYLIN2007

This Christmas season, our time has been engulfed in the school basketball season. With Kenzie playing, that means 2 games a week. With Alex, playing on JV and Varsity, that means 4 games a week for a total of 6 games a week. The week before Christmas, Alex played in American Fork and Kenzie played in Ogden. Good thing we have a two parent household. Alex also had a game in Pleasant Grove and then had to be at a Varsity game in Herriman. That was a quick drive. We got up our tree late......our outside lights out late, like the week before Christmas, and I was still shopping on Christmas Eve. Even though it did hamper the traditionalness of Christmas, we had a blast! It is fun watching the kids play and having so much fun. Maylin and I are terrific cheerleaders. Jay, is embarrassed to sit by me most of the time. Maylin said to a lady next to us, "My mom is normal at home, but she gets out of control at games." Truth spoken here. We did have an awesome Thanksgiving and Christ...

 

Yep! Austin will be home in 36 days. Enough said.

I am just proving how stellar I am. First, posting my son's b-day over a month after it happened....second, losing his b-day pictures, but on my behalf, I did find them. Here is the cake and his gifts. The awesome poster of the greatest hero ever, at least in our opinion, CAPTAIN MORMONI, is the only surprise he had. Everything else he picked out. Okay, so it doesn't look that pretty, but man it was good!!! Acting manly when the sisters get the kisses flying.  His new snowboarding jacket. The one that I bought last year (it was a size bigger so he could grow) came up about 3 inches above his wrists. So much for being big. The greatest hero! This kid loves socks. I mean loves them. He says he collects them.

Alex turned 15 on Oct. 29 and my dad turned 85 on the very same day. It has just taken me that long to post about it. Sigh..... My dad and Alex try to be together every year. So far, it has worked out great. My parents usually go to St. George, Utah for a little break in October so they are able so stop in on their way there or on there way home, which every one works and is closer to their special day. We have gone to Idaho a few times for the big celebration too. I like this tradition. Alex is named after my dad, which is an honor for Alex. My dad is amazing. I know a lot of people say that about people they know, but my dad really is. He came from humble beginnings and has done incredible things with lots of elbow grease and a huge amount of faith. Plus, a good wife helped a lot. I always remind Alex to be like his grandfather. If he is, even in a small way Alex will be great. Since my dad has everything and really doesn't need anything, I always buy him cereal for his b-d...

Guess what I just bought the kids for Christmas? I couldn't resist. It will arrive a week before Christmas. Yep! It is Bailey's 1/2 brother! His name is Buzz. He is currently, 2 pounds, but will be bigger than his older brother. Bailey is 4 pounds 12 ounces full grown and Buzz will be 5 to 6 pounds full grown. I am sure the kids will be excited. I know I am.  

One of Jay and I's favorite ice cream parlors is called Leatherby's. When we first moved here, we would go there a lot with neighbors and new friends. Jay's brother and wife liked it too. We haven't been there for years.I think part of why we hadn't been there is the realization that our favorite treats there.....mine the peanut butter cup and Jay's the Angie Almond Joy, had caused us to get a bit round and we moved farther away from the store. The last time we were there was about 8 years ago. Jay's brother and wife were visiting so we decided to take them there for old times sake. While there, we told them we had decided to adopt from China. I can still see there faces. It wasn't that they weren't happy about it, they just had never thought about it. All those years later, we decided we needed to take our children there. Mainly, take the child to the place her destiny was spoken out loud and to someone other than each other or our children. We wa...

Sometimes life gets going so fast I forget to post things that are just a part of every day life. However, when I looked back on these pictures I realized they are important events even if they aren't a big deal. They are events that shape who we are as individuals and as a family unit. I want my kids to remember these simple events of life. I can't remember if I posted pictures of Alex's Eagle Project. Now, this is a bigger deal than a lot of the other pictures. He worked hard and it was stressful. Alex made a stage for the Zumba Association to use at their fundraisers each quarter. This first fundraiser was for breast cancer. He made it nice and strong and solid. The teachers were thrilled. Their old stage was a bit rickety and when they danced on it they were nervous. Now, he just has a few more merit badges to get and he will have his Eagle.  Here are Alex and Harrison his friend setting it up. It was heavy, so they put wheels on the bottom to help them easil...

This year for Halloween I wanted to be a little creative. I feel that I have gotten a little lame lately. I am so tired, I just don't do the fun things I used to do. We didn't do one single pumpkin patch or festival. First time in years. I kept talking about it, but it didn't happen. I did do a spider pinata. The kids had fun breaking that. That was a last minute thing though. I really need to get my act together.  Anyway, I decided to make the kids fun lunches the week before Halloween. I made them mummy celery sticks, pumpkins made out of oranges, monsters out of donuts etc. For how boring I am, this was a pretty big deal.  Maylin was the only one that had a costume this year. It was kinda nice to have every one else be to old to do the costume thing. Maylin wanted to be the star of the Disney Channel Show, "Teen Beach Movie," but I just didn't get around to pulling it together. I was at a fundraiser for the kids' school one night and they had t...