Samuel's 10th party

Samuel's party wasn't going so well 30 minutes into the "party" No one of the kids he invited could come. That's the problem with inviting them at school, you never quite know if the invitation gets home or if they will answer the RSVP. And I don't have any phone #'s! He can sad and crying that no one came....I was crying too! Well, we convinced him that me and dad and all the cousins would be his party. Even the neighbor helped out. In the end, the tears ended, and my heart burst with gladness when he told me this party was great in the end!
Here we are at the classic egg toss--the lego egg toss...you had to draw a lego on the egg and toss it! Hyrum and Kellis won...they got it all the way across the yard!

Now, nothing says party like killer dodge ball! Shawn and Samuel and out to kill the other kids!

And I have to have it...I actually invented a new party game at our house...it's called CUP-YATA. I hid candy and prizes under the cups and the kids chose a number. Some had treats, some didn't. I started everyone off with candy and then they chose the rest. Big hit!

My 10 year old Samuel...The lego cake is awesome!

Happy Samuel!

Miss-Matched Summer pictures

We took a visit to the Hogle Zoo while the kids were on track break. I love this picture of Hyrum and his little Monkey friend My Dallin turned 16!!!!!!! He got an electrical acoustic guitar, and he is still trying to get his driver's licence road testing done!

Fourth of July at our neighbor's house...yes, we did have that many fireworks!

Dallin, a Herriman High School football player! Man, does that take up a lot of time! But he loves it! He has had a bit of a rough go with a broken arm the second day of summer football camp, then a concusion where he missed two weeks. He plays on the kick off team for JV. He's hoping to earn back a varsity spot. A kid from Bingham transfered to Herriman and got Dallin's varsity spot.

Spudman Triathlon July 31, 2010

The boys taking a plunge in the Snake River the night before the Triathlon. They are getting a taste of what mom is going to be swimming in...and they loved it!!

Well, like usual, I posted it in reverse order. This is the group from our ward who did this triathlon. Only three of us had ever done one before. Lots of newbies and they even said they would do it again! It was way fun to do a race with other people!

Coming into the finish line. I crossed the line at 2:28.?? This was my best time ever!

Me on the swim. The kids thought this was me, maybe it is :)

Me and my Triathlon buddies, Sierra and Dallin

THis was the most fun I've had racing. I know now why people want to do the Spudman in Burley. We even gave a fellow racer a ride home to Salt Lake because she had some car trouble. We just talked about racing the whole way home. Lots of fun!

The First Day of School

Yes, I know, It's OCTOBER!!! Well, Dallin is a happy 11th grader at our new Herriman High school!! It's great fun to see him excited about his school. He's playing on the football team and just loving it! He'll be getting his driver's licence after football is over in a few weeks.

Sierra, my Ft. Herriman middle school/ I'm in Highschool student. That's where you are in 9th grade. She has the wonderful opportunity of going to early morning seminary so she could play the flute and take spanish this year! And getting up at 5:30 is no easy feat for my sweet bean!

My Rummy, he's in 6th grade. He's in his last year at Herriman Elementary and he got a brand new teacher this year, Ms. Golesh. He has lots of friends in his class from last year and he likes switching teachers for math and science.

My Samuel, is in 5th grade. I have a beginning school picture like this one for every year the kids start school. My Samuel will be all alone in elementary school next year...sniff. He likes his teacher Ms. Kenner. or Ms. K. She's a no non-sense kinda teacher and he is doing well with her.

Well, here is my febal attempt of catching up. It will be short and sweet!

Idaho Canoeing trip down the Payette

Here we start the Canoe trip. We are canoeing down the Payette river in Idaho, which is about 2 hours north of Boise. We all named the canoes, our big silver canoe was called the Bahama Mamma. It was very low and grounded a lot in the shallows. The other canoe was the Wood, which was grandpa Beck's homemade canoe, and the happy Canoe which was light and fast.
Here Dallin and Hyrum and a paddling. We were are after a lunch stop. When ever we would see a great spot to jump out of the canoe, look at the birds, or swim,we would. Mom ususally got into steering trouble when I was looking at all the birds. Samuel and Hyrum actually found a log to jump off of and Samo even did a front flip!

We had a few tricky situations. We taught the kids you never on purpose of under trees/ debree on the river, well, the river was slow here and this was the only way.

Here was our awesome campspot and river playland. The kids would float down the river and jump back and do it again! We fished here as well.

Hyrum thought the hammock was the best!!!

HEre's the little fish grandpa caught. He was so great with Hyrum and Samo teaching them how to fish. Shawn and I are not fishermen.

Here was a great spot to try spear fishing. There were some big fishy down there, we just needed something better than a sharp stick. Dallin and Samuel trying it out.

At our last camp site, we had plenty of fine sand, so what else do you do???? Bury each other!

Our Bahama Mamma canoe sure took a beating! That bottom used to be smooth! Well, it's tough! When we stopped at the resivoir, Hyrum, Samuel and I jumped off the bridge! Grandpa has those pictures. We had a great time and the kids have a new respect for canoeing.

SPUDMAN TRIATHLON!

The beginning of the Swim, 1 mile down rivcr in the Snake River.The current totally helps you and I swam me best 1 time ever! 17 min! There were 10 other people from our ward that did this triathlon and it was so great to be participating with them! IT made it so much more enjoyable. Shawn and the kids came, and we camped out right by the river so it was so easy to be there for all of the transition points, and take pictures for everyone. And then the kids totally played in the river! Wonderful triathlon, well organized and lots of fun energy there! The Spudman is a great race for anyone who wants to do an olympic distance triathlon!!!

This is me coming out of T1 or transition run where you go from swim to bike. This year, I did the whole race in my bike shorts and compression top. The weather was wonderful so no wet suit needed!

Here I am coming in off the run! We end on a golf course so the grass was wonderful!And I got my best time ever! 2:28! I cut off 10 minutes from my last one I did.

My family is very supportive. I think Dallin likes to brag about me. So funny!

Here's the group Back: Me, Cherice, Kenny, Paige, Cameon, Annette, Joe, Mishawn, Shawn

Front: Cherice's sister in law, Brandon & Callie

There were 7 first timers!!! Everyone did great!

Fun in the Summertime!

Dallin made this Kayack for his High Adventure scout trip. It's a wood frame, stretched out canvas, and paint. He made it look like the Best of Both Worlds album by Vanhalen. And every boat needs a name. You'll have to ask him about where is name came from.

Sierra 14th Birthday party!!!

Sierra's Family Party! Everyone came to the party, even her new pet bird Tuilo

Samuel in his dance festival at school. He's doing the Cotton Eye Joe!

Hyrum is doing a groovy 70's dance. He's in his Kun-FU fighting stance.

We went to the Hogle Zoo and Hyrum found a new buddie!

My Samuel became a Bear!! Yea for Scouts!

The Hyrum was the Bestes goalie ever! His team loved how far he could kick that ball!

On the 3 of July, Shawn and I went hiking up Bells Canyon. Great waterfalls.

This has been the condensed version of our summer so far!!!

Memorial Day

We actually did a very Memorial Day thing this year! My parents and April and her family and my family went to visit the ancestors up in Perterson and at the Ogden Cemetery. My dad is clearing out the spot to put the flowers. This is my mom's mother and father. My grammy Erma and Grandpy Jack. My kids didn't get to know them very well. Dallin was 4 and Sierra was 2 and we were in Wisconsin when they passed. I haven't been to their graves in years. It was good to visit and hear some verbal family history from my mom. My grandpy Jack's family is buried there. His brother and the Cranors. My dad is all excited about the New Family Search and my goal is to get on there and see what on there. I want to learn about my history.

My Grammy Annis just passed away in November. Now her and Grandpy are together.

This is us up at the Peterson cemetery in Peterson. That's near Morgan, Utah. There is so much to learn about my history. I need to make it happen while my mom and dad are still here.

Vegimite!!! Man, that stuff is GROSS!!!!

Ok, I asked a friend to bring me back from Vegemite from Australia. I've never tried it and everyone says that it's like Australian peanut butter. Ok! So, judging from my face, that stuff is by far the grossest thing I have ever tasted! It's made from brewer's yeast, beef bullion, vegetable extracts and something very salt and bitter! Yikes! It took about a half hour to get that taste out! Ummm. never again!

Sierra's Bird Tulio--The family bird

This bird is a family bird. Tulio attends scripture study with us,

He loves to perch on top of your head. Shawn takes the bird out all the time and just does everything with him. This is an animal I think he likes.

This is when Tulio crawling on Samuel's neck...it tickles a bit.

Tulio loves to peck at shiny things. He found that Hyrum's classes are good pecking material.

Sweet Sierra whistles to her Tulio and Tulio sings back to her. So cute.

Tuilo is a great bird. He loves hanging out with me when I get on the computer.

Tulio...the Super Bird!