Gratitude ...

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home,
a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow."
-Melody Beattie-
got this from tiff, who got it from jen ... love it too!
and it was easy to copy and post ...
cause i haven't blogged in months ... i am so bad at this ...

Riding at Courage Reins

This is McKenna's favorite thing ... she volunteers at this really neat place called Courage Reins. This is there mission statement:

Our mission at Courage Reins is to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. Through therapeutic horseback riding and other equine based activities, we provide a safe, fun, and challenging setting for physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth.

She loves working with the kids ... she also loves mentoring ... when they take the horses and just ride them and practice all that they practice ... i would have copied this down too if they had it on their website ... "what is Mentoring" :0)

it's better than eating it all ...

having a little too much fun (well, can you have too much fun?)
... eli, mckenna and mckay!

Cutest Kids Ever ....

Isn't it always nice when they are happy and getting along with each other ... lucky enough to catch this moment on film ...
(and it was a moment);o)

Back to School Fashion Show at Macy's

McKenna was in the Back to School Fashion Show at Macy's at University Mall in August. She was nervous but did a great job ... she looked soooo cute ... we had to buy the outfit :0) !!!

Grandpa Here for a Visit - Yippee!

Dad is here for a visit and we are SO excited!! We went to the BYU vs UCLA game ... well, if you want to call it a game ... it was awesome!!!! BYU 59 - UCLA 0!!!! Eli, Alec and Grandpa!

Sy watching the game ...

don't know who the unidentified woman is ...

Borrowed a cool lens ....

i should photoshop these and lighten them but -- that would take me too long ... but here is eli scoring his 2nd touchdown of the season ... he's like "mom ... it was a yard run" ... i don't care -- it's six points!!! he made another awesome run after a guy that had taken off down the field (top photo) i was at the other end of the field, of course, he tackled him right where i HAD been sitting ... but i actually got it on film ... it is very exciting this year!! so come to Utah for some football!!! ... pleeeeeese :0) ...

Go Cavemen!

Football season is here. Eli had his first football game Tuesday night and .... he scored his first TOUCHDOWN!!!
Sy and I just looked at each other and grinned .... we were sooo proud! See how proud Sy was ....

First Day of School 2008

The first day of school was actually on Sy's 6th Birthday ... so it was a Big day here!! He rode his bike to school with Sierra and had a great day ... getting to school the other days hasn't been as easy, but that's another blog. So, I was standing on the porch waving and maybe crying .... Eli comes out to wave and says, "do i have to cry too??" ha, ha --- not funny :o) Nice that we took the time to do Sy's hair on the first day of school!

It was McKenna's first big day too .... High School!!! Ugh ... Where does the time go?? Eli is in the 8th grade at the Jr. High and Noah is in the 5th grade. Not ready for the homework, but ready to get into a routine .... (that's almost as funny as Eli earlier) ... routine! But we are trying ...





Jen and Tiffani came for the weekend with all of the kids so we could have one last party before school (and to hold my hand while my babies left for school). They are such sweet friends who know what I need, when I need it, and for that I am grateful. Amanda and the boys came for fun too!

Spring Break 2008 by McKenna

Well during spring break we got to go to Sea World! I was so excited because I had been saving my money for forever to swim with dolphins! It was so fun and Eli did it with me. It was really a neat experience- ya body suits weren't my thing. Our dolphin was named Daphne:)

So Sy was so excited to go! He was even more excited about his face being painted. As you can see his face is painted half a baseball face. He was really good at
bungee jumping, him and his cool tricks:) Sy was a blast and he
got to see the seals and feed them- what a riot! Oh boy.


Noah had a blast too because last time he went he was itty bitty so he probably forgot a lot! But everyone could tell he enjoyed himself as you can see here on my other right, Noah is rock climbing and kicking trash at it:)
We all had a bunch of fun together and got along! Can't wait to go again!!