STIKA FAMILY

Malorie's 6th Birthday

2011-01-21T15:25:00.001-08:00

The girls loved the flying Tinkerbell. Usually toys like this don't really work but she is really fun and really flys pretty well.

She was having them wake up their bears they were all loving this part and this girl was so good with them. She was lots of fun.

This was my attempt at the mermaid barbie cake. The frosting was a little runny for the tail so the frosting slid a little but overall it turned out not to bad. Next time it would definately be easier to do.

I can't believe Malorie is already 6. Six just seems so much older than 5 I think. First she went to Build-A-Bear with a bunch of neighborhood friends and they had the funnest girl helping with the party. Then on the 20th her real birthday we had a party with my side of the family. Then on Sunday we get to party, yet again, with Jason's side of the family. The hot items for Malorie to get for her birthday this year were Leapster games, a bed for her American Girl doll (its really the target brand but she calls it her American Girl doll), any craft activity, Fashion Fairytale Barbie and carriage, and she got a roll up piano that is really pretty cool.

2011-01-06T14:28:00.000-08:00

Chelsey with her cute blanket my sister made for the girls for Christmas

Notice in the background Jake got a drum kit from Santa and it actually hasn't been to bad and has worked really well when I tell the kids to go play Chelsey a wake up song. She loves it!

We went to Wyoming for our family party and got to stay in a hotel and this was so exciting for the kids. We are lame and never go anywhere so a hotel stay with a pool is the coolest thing for the kids.

As you can see Morgan wanted nothing to do with Santa this year.

Morgan cried on her Dora couch for a while Christmas morning before she realized she could open the presents now and she loves her new mailbox toy that you put the letters in the top and open the door, very cute toy.

Jason and I went to Vegas for our Christmas presents. We went to the UofU and Boise bowl game. It was a lot of fun and so nice to get away from everyday life here. Look at my pant legs though. It rained nonstop the entire 3 days we were there and our legs got soaked everytime we went anywhere.

Malorie in her costume for the Christmas dance recital.

So I was noticing that its been since August since I posted anything so I figured I would put up a few new pics cuz I am sick of looking at the ones that have been on for the last 5 months. A few new things have happened since August, Malorie is in Kindergarten, Jake goes to preschool, Morgan is 17 months and is very sweet and fun, but she is definately a little tornado in our house just walks around getting things out and throwing them on the floor. I am not sure how people keep their houses clean with little kids! I have been doing medical transcription at home and I really like it because I don't have to leave the house. Jason is interviewing for an engineer job at his work this month and hopefully will get this one. Oh and our other big news is that Chelsey is having a baby boy in March. I would have to say that is BIG news. If I make it through her teen years it will be a miracle. We are excited for him to get here though and this is just another bump in lifes road that we will make it through. However, I am really not digging the thought of being called grandma for any reason. I mean really, GRANDMA!! Hopefully gray hairs do not come along with the name and I am working on something else he can call me.

Morgan's 1st Birthday

2010-08-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

Morgan turned 1 on August 6. We had a fun little party with cake, ice cream and of course presents and balloons. She is getting so big and it makes me a little sad since she is my last. She has been such a sweet little girl and the best baby I have had so I wouldn't mind keeping her this age forever because we all know what happens when they get older! She has no interest in her bottle anymore and she got a little stroller that has been helping her walk, so I am sure that will be the next milestone. She is so much fun and I look forward to all the fun things ahead.

Sewing Projects

2010-03-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

I've decided I love sewing, if only there were more hours in the day for doing it! These are my latest projects. A hat and Easter dress for Malorie.

Chelsey's 16th Birthday

2010-02-05T21:02:00.000-08:00

Chelsey turned 16 on the 1st which still seems so crazy to me that she can drive. We bought her a 97 two door Accord. We kept it a secret so she had no idea she was getting a car we kept telling her she could drive Jason's until we found a good deal on one for her. So on her birthday she chose to eat at Winger's then after we had family over for cake. After presents we blind folded her and took her outside where we had her car parked, she really was surprised and said she had no idea, so it was lots of fun to watch. So far she hasn't hit anything and I definately don't miss getting up to drive her to cheer every morning. I also love that for a while she will be more than happy to run errands for me (we'll see how long that lasts).

Malorie's 5th Birthday

2010-01-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

All the girls after applying the last layer of make-up

10 of the princesses

Malorie's family party birthday cake

She got the stylin hair salon and her and Jake just love it. I will admit the rest of us love it to. We are all more than willing to sit on the floor and have them fix our hair. I love that!

It's just crazy to think that Malorie is 5 now. I remember when we all just moved in and all these little girls could barely walk, now they will all be going to kindergarten. Once they are school age it seems like time just flies and they grow even faster. We had two days of birthday celebration in a row. Tuesday she had her first ever friend party. She had 10 friends dressed like princesses and surprisingly they were all really good and I think everyone had fun. They were all so cute, they couldn't wait for her to open their present and then they wanted to talk about it and let everyone know how neat it was. The funniest was at the end when we broke open two make-up kits. They were all at the table with no mirror just silently applying several layers of make-up like it was the greatest thing ever. Then they would wash a little off and re-apply. We really enjoyed Elizabeths funny comments also. Then Wednesday Malorie chose her birthday dinner to be at McDonalds. So some of the family went their and then to our house for cake and ice cream. It was overall a good birthday but I'm definately glad to get it over.

Fall & Halloween Activities

2009-11-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

I love all the fall and Halloween activities there are to do around here, I look forward to them every year. This year we went to Cornbelly's, the Scarecrow Festival which I recommend more than Cornbelly's if you have younger kids, it was a lot of fun and the kids could have stayed there all day plus you can go in to farm country with your admission to it. We also went to Hee Haw Farms for the first time and It was only $5 and they just loved their different activities. We are trying to establish Halloween traditions for our family and a new one we discovered this year was getting a large real pumpkin, hollow it out and freeze it over night. Take it out and make homemade rootbeer in it with dry ice. Then keep adding the dry ice so the whole time there is smoke coming out of your pumpkin, the kids loved it along with our Pappa Murphy Jack o lantern shaped pizza. So far those are our traditions along with getting our pumpkins in Santaquin on the tractor ride. Now I will say I'm really not looking forward to the long winter with 3 little kids and one teenager who whines as much as the little ones. I definately need some creative ideas to keep them all entertained because you can only go to McDonald's so many times!

UPDATES!

2009-09-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

A lot has been going on in the last month, Everyone is finally getting adjusted to having a new baby in the family and I'm starting to get used to the fact that I just don't have enough hands to meet everyone's needs at the same time, I'm just going to accept the fact that my house will never be perfectly clean and with this many kids I am still getting used to having absolutely no spare time, ever! But the baby has been a lot of fun and she is the sweetest, best baby I have had, I'm so glad that I can really enjoy her since this is our last one. We just blessed her last Sunday and I'm so thankful that I've had my dad to bless all my babies. Malorie has started preschool and loves going. She has also started dance and has been playing soccer. Jake has had a hard time accepting the new baby but he's getting better. He is very in to his t-ball set we bought him and is pretty darn good at baseball for a 2 year old. For the most part he just wanders around all day playing with his tools and banging on stuff, he is such a boy! Chelsey has loved being a cheerleader and this week is homecoming so we have this giant sign on our house announcing she lives here, so if anyone wants an autograph feel free to stop on by! We have enjoyed going to all the football games and watching her its been a lot of fun for her.

Morgan Elizabeth Stika

2009-08-10T21:35:00.000-07:00

Morgan finally arrived on August 6 at 8:21 am. She weighed 8lb 15oz and was 20.5 in. long. She is definately one of ours just look at her cheeks! The only thing we were surprised about is she has really long black hair and her skin is on the darker side. Knock on wood she has been an amazing baby and sleeps a ton and only gets up once during the night. She seems like a really layed back content baby so we hope that continues. The kids love her but I think Jake already misses not being my only baby anymore. Thanks to everyone who has helped us and brought us dinner and thanks to Krissa for coming over so early so everyone could be at the hospital.

2009-07-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

I finally took the kids to get some updated pictures taken. This was my mothers day present, one trip to Kiddie Kandids without Jason complaining about the price. What more could I ask for! I couldn't pick just one for the blog so I had to post them all because I think they turned out really good this time. Now I'll just have to work on Jason for the new baby pictures.

4TH OF JULY!

2009-07-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

The 4th started out with a trip to Grandma & Grandpa Casper's in Heber. We got to eat at McDonalds and try out their new playland. Followed by lawnmower rides with Grandpa, that's something Jake definately can't live without. When we got home the Anderson's were having another big swim party we couldn't resist attending. When Jason got home we had dinner with Grandma & Grandpa Stika and then had a fantastic fireworks display with the neighbors. It turned out to be lots of fun for the kids and I know the big boys seemed to enjoy lighting the fireworks. Sorry for all the pics but I couldn't narrow it down.

I stopped in Provo canyon and took some pics of the kids

Who wouldn't love a nice lawnmower ride with Grandpa

Were the fireworks for the kids or the Dad's?

This is what Jake thought of every loud firework!

ART CITY DAYS

2009-06-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

Malorie did the mini cheer clinic this year so she got to ride in the parade for the first time!

Chelsey's first time in the parade as a cheerleader

Malorie loved the children's art festival

Jake didn't want to leave the carnival

I thought this crown really cool that she got painted at the booths

Malorie's new cowgirl hat for the rodeo

Art City Days was actually pretty fun this year despite the constant rain. Jason's sister was in charge of the rodeo this year so Malorie had to have this cute pink hat to wear, she wanted the boots also but holy cow! cowboy gear is expensive, so maybe next year. Then we went to the cheer spectacular and then to the carnival and of course we had to get the famous scones. A treat for all of us was Jason's family got him to ride the mechanical bull and I'm sure we can all imagine how hilarious that was! Jake loved the carnival and could have gone everyday, I was surprised he was that excited about it. Then it was our first time at the Children's art festival which Malorie loved, but it got so crowded that the lines were crazy and Jake wasn't so fond of just sitting in the stroller. So next year we will know what to expect. Then the parade of course was fun because it was Chelsey's first time in the parade as a cheerleader and Malorie's first time in any parade and Jake loved everything about the parade so it was actually a fun time.

JAKE'S 2ND B-DAY!

2009-06-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Jake turned 2 today, we have actually survived two years with him. He started his day with his favorite breakfast of pancakes. Then church and after that his party. The weather turned out good so we got to have it outside after all. He has been obsessed with tractors so of course that was his party theme. He was so tired he had to eat his hot dog laying down, and as you can see he had lots of help opening presents. We bought him a new sandbox and he has graduated to a big boy bed, of course, with A tractor bed spread. Amazingly he has been in his bed 4 days and only gotten out the first day, so thank goodness for small favors. He loves his new bed. He got some tools, a Thomas the Train scooter so now he doesn't have to ride the pink daisy scooter, trucks, sand toys and some clothes. Jake's a lot of fun and definately adds a whole new set of adventures for our family, you just never know what he's going to do next or whats going to happen to him next. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE!

TODDLERS ARE TROUBLE

2009-04-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

So just when I think I'm getting our upstairs Jake proof, he proves me wrong! In a matter of seconds just long enough for me to wash Malorie's hair Jake comes in the bathroom saying OUGHT OH MOMMY! and I'm immediately scared of what I'm going to find. He had managed to somehow get the what I thought was a kid proof lid off my craft paints and had unscrewed the lids off of blue and pink and dumped the whole pink bottle on our carpet. It looks like he was trying it on as makeup, who knows. Then yesterday he just grosed me out I was fixing Malorie's hair downstairs and looked out the bathroom door for a second to see him with a chair up to the fish tank scooping water out with a little cup and drinking fish pooh and disgusting fish water, I keep waiting for him to poop out a fish! And I won't even go into the details about his recent obsession with the cat litter. This age is so cute but man they are into everything and just absolutely disgusting little things! Its a good thing we love the little guy.

EASTER

2009-04-15T20:40:00.001-07:00

Easter was a lot of fun this year it started with what we call Christmas breakfast, but we always have it on Christmas and Easter and Grandma and Grandpa Casper came down for the day. Next we went to the ward Easter egg hunt which is always fun for the kids and Malorie gets to hunt with her neighborhood friends. Jake really had no interest in putting the eggs in his basket he mostly just whined at my leg when Chelsey or someone would try and get him to pick them up. Then we went home and died eggs. Malorie loved it and could have dyed 100 eggs. Jake got really into it once he realized he was allowed to actually touch the eggs and the dye. Plus this is one activity Chelsey still likes to do with us. My parents even brought their own eggs to dye. We had a lot of fun and I love that Malorie really believes in the Easter bunny its so much fun to see how excited they get and its just not the same when they stop believing. However, I know she'll believe for a while still but she sure had a lot of questions about how the bunny gets in your house and how he gets to so many places and would someone please tell me where in the world the bunny lives? I mean with Santa its all just common knowledge but I have no idea what to say about Easter bunny. I almost started laughing at how ridiculous it sounded when I told her he has magical hopping powers and she thinks he just walks magically right through the front door without opening it. Oh well, I'm kind of curious what everyone else tells their kids cuz it took me a minute to think of something to say about all those questions.

CHELSEY MADE J.V. CHEERLEADER

2009-04-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Chelsey being kidnapped and forced to wear a blind fold and a giant I'm a new Springville Cheerleader sign

Finding out she made it!

I am so excited and proud of Chelsey for making it on the Cheer team or squad, whatever. Its just so crazy because she has never had any desire at all to be a cheerleader. But thanks to her new and much improved friends this year who have helped her realize not being in trouble and doing normal teen things is definately the way to go she has ended up trying out and making it. She of course is a great dancer and she was the only one her age trying out that did a standing backhandspring on her own. I have never seen her so excited about anything and she can't wait until they start. They just came and blind folded and kidnapped her so I'm sure she's in for lots of fun!

It's probably a GIRL!

2009-03-24T19:10:00.001-07:00

Today I had my 20 week ultrasound and I was a little disappointed. The U/S tech I think was in a huge hurry to be done because she rushed through so fast I could barely see what was going on. So I wish I had some good pics of the baby but she printed out some crazy ones that weren't very good. She told us the baby was curled up and very quickly looked for parts and said she was 85% sure it was a girl. It does kind of look like those white lines baby girls have and I've thought it was a girl so we will go with that for now. I just think its to bad that our family was so excited and she couldn't take the time to do a good job for us. So since I am an impatient person I will be going to gender u/s to get some better pics and find out for sure, so I'll give a new update soon.

2009-01-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

Malorie had her 4th birthday on the 20th. We had her family party at Chuck E Cheese and it was great for me because they clean up the mess and it held both sides of the family and all kids and adults were entertained. We have gotten away with one more year of no friend party, but I'm afraid next year will be the start of that. I think 4 year olds are a lot of fun so I'm looking forward to this next year with her.

Jake learned to love all the driving games and he was worn out by the time we left

Malorie's cousins and McKailey her friend she couldn't live without inviting

Malorie and her Barbie Pegasus horse cake

They gave her a birthday star medal and she has slept with it every night since.

Dancing at the Jazz Game

2009-01-17T20:45:00.000-08:00

So I'm a little slow but a couple weeks ago Chelsey got the chance to dance at the jazz game against the Hornets. Last year her Senior class won a high point award at a competition at the Delta Center and they invited them to perform at half time during this season. She was really excited, it was a great opportunity for them. Plus Chelsey got a lot of Jumbotron time so that was pretty cool. We were up in the nosebleeds and I forgot my long lens so look closely.

Chelsey is the one on the left

She is the one at the top dancing beside the boy in the red shirt

chelsey's back on the jumbotron!

December

2009-01-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

I really should post more often because then I don't have to put so much in to one blog. December has been fun and Christmas was great, Malorie was really excited about Santa this year and Chelsey thought it was fun to help me set up for Santa. Jake wasn't really interested in the tree, presents or opening the presents and I think his favorite gift was the spatula Malorie gave me. (Yes, I got a spatula, thats what happens when we get old) My wonderful husband made Jake a train table and Malorie a huge Barbie house, they turned out great thanks to him. Chelsey got a lot of snowboarding equipment and is learning how this winter. We have all been sick the last couple weeks and havn't really gone anywhere but I wanted to post some pics of the fun things we did get to do this December!

Malorie on our friends giant tube when we went snowmobiling

Chelsey & Malorie riding the snowmobile

Malorie & McKailey trying to ice skate. That was a lot of work!

The girls at their Christmas dance program

Jake with his train table the Jason made, he mainly just stands on it and throws the trains off.

The awesome and huge Barbie house that Jason made but I would have loved this when I was young.

Besides the spatula, this is Jake's other favorite toy. He looks so cute packing it around and feeding it.

Chelsey and my nephew Cody, he took her snowboarding for the first time and tried to teach her a little bit.

Sausha's annual Christmas photo. She loves all the paper!

Christmas pajamas from Grandma Stika for all the cousins.

They were both smiling, I love this picture

Malorie and her best friend McKailey(with her nice new haircut done by herself) making Christmas cookies.

We started to string popcorn for our tree this year but it didn't make it very far around so this will have to continue on next year. The kids had fun though.

THE INVISIBLE MOTHER

2008-12-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously, not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.' I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone! One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England.. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.' In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything . A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.' I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.' As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women. Great Job, MOM!Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know...I just did.Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does. We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.

All Jake Wants For Christmas!

2008-11-24T20:08:00.000-08:00

All Jake needs for Christmas are two front teeth! He has done it again, he knocked out his final front tooth today, the poor boy! His first one was knocked out about 6 months ago falling on the kiddie table and that one we had to go get removed the rest of the way by a dentist. This time I was sitting right in front of him and he was kneeling on the first step and the other foot was on the floor and he reached to grab the banister and missed and then falling somehow to the floor and catching his tooth on the bottom of the banister, it poppled the whole thing root and all out, I saw it in his mouth but didn't catch it in time and he swallowed it. With Jake's luck the tooth he swallowed will probably get stuck somewhere between his throat and the diaper and will have to be surgically removed, but we can hope not. The other bright side is we didn't have to visit the dentist again, he will probably start wondering if I beat my kids. We used to wish Malorie was more daring and not so uptight about doing things and I think we got our wish but in the wrong child. Poor Jake I am just worried what the next thing will be with him.

I'm Glad Somebody Liked the Snow

2008-11-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

All I can say is I'm glad the snow melted fast. I am already missing the days of sitting outside and swimming. Malorie wouldn't stop talking about going outside to play in the snow so we bundled them up, which is at least a 20 minute process and most of that time is trying to get all the fingers in the glove holes. Jake loved it way more than I thought he would and Malorie & McKailey had a great time being pulled on the sled, poor Jason, I guess it was a good workout. I remember being so excited for the snow so I could go skiing but now that lift tickets are $70 a day where I like to go and its not that easy just to take off and go skiing every weekend with kids, I have a hard time getting very excited about winter these days. So its going to be a very long winter.

SANTAQUIN

2008-10-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

Friday after school we took the kids down to the Big Red Barn in Santaquin. It was a lot of fun and is going to be our new Halloween tradition. For anyone who hasn't gone I definately recommend it. I think the tractor only runs on Mon, Fri and maybe Sat. but you get on the wagon pulled by a tractor and it takes you on a ride through the fruit fields to the very large pumpkin patch. It drops you off to go pick whatever pumpkin you want, the prices are pretty good it goes from .50 to $7.00 and most of them are around $3-4.00. Then you take the wagon back to the barn. The barn is pretty cool they have jams, all kinds of fresh fruit, ice cream which was awesome, and the best thing we found was the apple juice is made there and its not from concentrate its just pure apple juice, I highly recommend it. After that we ate at the Family Tree a little restaurant on Santaquin main street, it was really good, the food tasted homemade and they actually had real mashed potatoes. While we were eating this older cowboy came out and started singing Karaoke, he was a pretty good singer and Jake just stared at him so that was good entertainment. I guess it was so fun because I grew up in a small town and life just seems so much more laid back and not so chaotic and loud which is something I don't think I appreciated until recently I guess thats what happens when you get old!

STIKA UPDATES!

2008-09-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot this greatest picture. At our recent yard sale I brought home some retro games from moms that used to be mine, maybe you all remember some of them. We all decided to play Heartthrob and it was actually pretty hilarious and the guys had that awesome 80's hair and clothes. We were thinking of putting together a game night because I also have Mall Madness the old version and I think Girl Talk might be somewhere also. I know hearthrob provided lots of laughs and entertained us for a good 30 min.

Just a little sample of the hotties we were looking at.

While were were in Heber Saturday we rode to Strawberry fish place to see the fish that are spawning it's really cool because there are just thousands of red fish everywhere and its weird to watch them swimming upstream to get to where they need to be to lay their eggs.

pretty Autumn leaves by Sundance

This my niece Angie's baby, Jazelle Amanda is the newest member of our family she's so cute and has red hair.

We traveled to Omaha in August to my Niece Jennifer's wedding

We got to stop at every tourist attraction in South Dakota on our way home from my sisters in Omaha it was so good to see them all again but after 10 days of being gone I was ready to be home again and I think the kids were tired of the car since it was a 15 hour drive.

Malorie's first day of preschool

at the circus with the Allen's and of course the girls holding there
ridiculously overpriced wands. The clown was a little strange and the first half was not really holding the girls attention, but It was ok and something different to do!

I think the elephants were the girls favorites, and according to them the little one is Dumbo!

Friday we had to pick up Jake from Grandma's and drove through Sundance and over to Cascade Springs, the leaves were beautiful and very bright.

Cascade Springs

Well I know I havn't blogged forever and I need to be better about that since I know everyone is probably really tired of looking at that tattoo picture. So let me think about what has been happening with us, I guess first of all Malorie started preschool. She goes to this awesome preschool just down the street for 3 hours on Mon. & Wed. She loves it, and I must say I am enjoying the break myself because Jake naps for 2 of the 3 hours she is gone so I can actually get things done around the house or I am attempting to sew some curtains for my family room so thats usually what I do. Chelsey has been playing rec soccer and that has been fun to watch Wednesday is her last game. She started dance again and goes about 10 hours a week which I think is a lot but it keeps her occupied which is something she needs since the teenage years are turning out to be a trying time for all of us. Jake is starting to be a lot of fun and we're starting to see a lot of his personality coming out, and best of all he doesn't cry nearly as much as he used to so things are looking up there. As for me and Jason we have taken up golfing lessons at the state park in Midway. It's been lots of fun and its something we both enjoy doing together, If you ever decide to golf I highly recommend lessons because we are amazed at how much of a difference it makes to actually be able to hit the ball straight everytime instead of just getting up there and hoping it does. That's about all thats new with us and I've posted some pics of our latest activities.

Fun Summer Pics

2008-07-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

I couldn't leave you all in suspense so I put this one on first. Yep, its true, my mother-in-law got a tattoo for her 64th(I hope thats right)birthday! I bet nobody else can say that about their in-laws!

Doing sparklers with her best friend McKailey on the 24th and yes it was during the day and thanks to the Allens for hanging out with us at seven peaks, I love the rope swing

I can't forget to mention that Jake can walk now, I'm so excited and its so cute, he's still a little wobbly and apparently opening your mouth helps you balance.

Malorie, McKailey & Ellie needed A break after all that cheer camp

We can all thank Krissa for her great cheerleading skills and for teaching us the funky chicken!

One of the many, many swimming pics we have

All I can say is I hate putting on goggles

Aren't these the cutest little bums ever!

I think Chelsey got a little more help than she bargained for!

This is all Jake needs for fun is a little water out of the hose and a bucket

Don't these girls look just beautiful! I think dress up has been one of the favorite things to do the past year and all I can say is aren't we all glad they can finally dress themselves!!!!!

Miss Hollywood! Hailey picked a nice outfit, I love the skirt or dress or whatever she thought it should be it looked especially nice just below her chest.

I think Kennedy enjoyed sitting outside tonight, it doesn't look to bad to me!

So Cute!

We decided this was a perfect picture of Jake since this is how he has looked 75% of his sweet little life

We decided to take a few family pics in front of our huge flowers

I havn't posted forever so I figured it was about time. We havn't been doing very much except the usual weekly seven peaks visits and swimming in the yard. We are getting ready for our 15 hour drive with the kids to my sisters house in Omaha and I think it will be fun but I'm not sure any of the kids will make it back alive, I'm hoping Jake will be better than expected. Since we havn't done much I decided to just put up pictures of recent things we've done it has been a really fun summer thanks to all the neighbors and I am trying not to think about winter coming in only a few months, its gonna be a long one! Speaking of long this is the longest blog of pictures ever and I still have issues with getting the words and pictures where I want them to be so just pretend it looks really nice.

DUKE REUNION

2008-06-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

Thursday we went to the Duke reunion in Hanna. Yes, there is a town in Utah called Hanna and it is very very small. It's south of Kamas I believe. Anyway it is a great place to camp because it is in the mountains but there is electricity and showers on the property and if you want they have a bunch of these cute little cabins you can rent or just pitch your tent by the river or in our case we are getting to use my parents camper this year and so they also have trailer spots. The first day on the property they have a pond with paddle boats so we took Malorie out for a ride and she loved it. Then we drove to a dude ranch and the girls got to ride some horses, it was Malorie's first time on a horse and she was surprisingly not scared at all. Chelsey of course wouldn't get on one at all. Friday we floated down part of the river that runs along the camp and after the kids were done with that we left them with our parents and about 10 of us floated down the river a couple miles and lets just say hiking up to where my uncle picked us up was right through what was I think a swamp of maneur, moss, mud and I don't even want to know what else and lets just say it was a race to all the showers when we got back. It was tons of fun though and worth the few disgusting minutes. While we were rafting Malorie had a little bike accident and flipped over her handle bars and got a little road rash and a fat lip. Jake's activity the whole time was pushing either the stroller or his buggy across the grass or banging plastic forks in dirty dishes which entertained him for about 30 minutes. As you can see in the first picture everybody was really tired on the way home, which is partly Jake's fault because he wouldn't sleep in his play pen and cried most the night so finally he ended up sleeping in between me and Jason both nights on what I would say is about a full size bed and that does not make for very good sleep. Overall it was so much fun to hang out with cousins we only see a few times a year and we are excited for next year.

JAKE'S 1ST BIRTHDAY

2008-06-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Jake's 1st birthday. I can't believe at this time last year I was very pregnant and miserably hot. Its amazing how fast they grow and after they turn one it seems like they grow even faster. I think he had a good birthday and the weather ended up being nice so we could have it outside, the girls birthdays are in the winter so it was nice to finally have one in the summer. Jake was A little on the grumpy side because he's getting 3 molars, so I finally decided some of his birthday pictures were just going to be taken with his binky in the mouth which I hate in pictures. Overall I think he had a good time and he got lots of fun toys. He finally got his own hat from Grandpa Casper but I don't think it will ever be as fun as Grandpa's. This was the first time I have made the birthday cake and it was kind of a lot of work but I had fun, I think I'm going to start doing it for all the birthdays. The cake eating wasn't to exciting because he was extremely dainty with his frosting and kept himself pretty clean, actually he started gagging (I take it he doesn't like my baking).

FUN IN WYOMING

2008-06-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

While we were in Wyoming we had a party for Tyleigh at the water park. While Malorie was playing in the water Jake and Grandpa played Jake's favorite game called take grandpa's hat off 100 times and try to get it on his own head. Jake also gave us a little preview of how he was going to look on his first birthday in a week by eating cake off somebody's plate. It will be nice when Jake and Dominic can run and play, right now they just kind of stare at each other but will for sure be great friends and cousins in a few years.

The kids all had a great time at the fabulous Green River water park! Malorie was being pretty brave in the water which is very unusual for her.

Davion was blessed on Sunday and weighs about 9 lbs now and he is 3 months old. We are so glad he is doing good and finally got to leave Primary Children's. When he was born he only weighed a little over 3 lbs. Congrats Korri on your sweet little man!

Contrats to Britany on graduating from high school. I know she had to work very hard and we are so happy for her! They had a fun luau party for her at the county parks.

2008-05-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

Last night was the final dance recital for the year. It was Malorie's first year of dance and she looked so cute in her costume the dancing was pretty hilarious and involved a lot of waving. Chelsey did awesome this year she made the senior team and they won a couple of high point awards at competitions with their jazz dance and took first at every competition with their jazz and lyrical dances. At the recital Chelsey got a trophy for being at her dance company for three years and their cousins got perfect attendance trophies, so thank goodness for big sisters because Chelsey took her trophy over to Malorie and told her it was hers. Malorie thought she had won some grand event with that trophy and took it to every store we went to today. I think Malorie is taking a break for the summer and Chelsey is going to dance in Stadium of Fire which Miley Cyrus is performing at, and even though she would never admit around her friends that she liked Miley Cyrus, I think she's pretty excited to be dancing in it this year.

2008-05-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it finally happened. We bought Chelsey her first cell phone, and yes, it is Pink and according to her the cutest phone ever!! She has wanted one for the last three years but I just could not see the point of giving her one until now. We didnt' tell her she was getting one and I'm pretty sure she had given up on the subject so when she opened it I have never seen such excitement over a phone! She was jumping up and down, called her friends and the friends were just as excited as she was. I will say that she was honestly the last friend to get a phone and I am hoping that since she had to wait so long she will appreciate it a lot more. I'm still a little worried about what she's going to be texting and who she'll be texting, so I guess at this point you just hope she's making good decisions for herself!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

2008-05-11T22:01:00.000-07:00

Today was a great Mother's Day, I got to spend time with lots of family. We went to Canyon Glen with my two sisters and my dad, the only thing missing was my mom who is in Hurricane taking care of my grandma who just turned 94. The weather was perfect, the kids got to play in the sand, Jake kept looking at us like he was surprised we weren't removing him from it, he ended up with quite a bit in one ear and he only ate it once which was pretty good. The bottom picture was everyone trying to teach Malorie that down by the banks of the hanky panky frog song, I had forgotten about that one until today, I think we will have to do a lot of practicing on that one. Plus what more could you ask for than those beautiful cards made by the kids. Chelsey helped Malorie make me one with lots of flowers and art work and Malorie had Jason draw a picture of our family which honestly I'm not sure who is who but she seems to know exactly. Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

2008-05-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

CHELSEY WON QUEEN AT HER DANCE COMPETITION!!!

This was her first year doing a solo so we are very happy for her (even though I think she just wanted the crown)