End of the school year wrap up

Here is an end of the school year recap. Sometimes May seems as busy as December with recitals, programs and stuff to do. 

Aubrey finished up Kindergarten. It was hard to have kindergartner's two years in a row. I'm not a huge fan of kindergarten but we were lucky to have a great kindergarten teacher for Aubrey. She had Mrs. Yardley. Mrs. Yardley has some grant with the Utah Opera Company and each year her class puts on an Opera. The children do the WHOLE thing, from writing it, to costumes to back drop. Of course with kindergartners writing it, it really doesn't make any sense to anyone but them. Their class Opera was called "Caught in the Net" it was about butterflies that get caught in a net by mean cheetahs and then mermaids, a royal family, peacocks and zebras help to get them free. Then they all have a sleepover together. Aubrey loved it and was a wonderful mermaid.

 Aubrey also performed in her Kindergarten program.

 I have been SO PROUD of Hailey! She had a tough time when she got her casts off and she had to re-learn how to walk. It was a major challenge for her, but she really overcame. She kept playing spring soccer and it was amazing to watch her improve. Her first game she could barely walk and by the end of the season she was doing great! Her surgery was a fantastic success and her doctor said she had no chance of recurrence. She has done great!

 First grade was a growing experience for Hailey and she really shined. It was a tough year with her casts and challenges but she did fantastic and is pulling wonderful grades. She is a big reader and excels in academics. This is her on her last day of school with her teacher, Mrs. Wennergren.

 Aubrey took dance, cheer and tumbling from our neighbor Ashley Graves. She was not able to go to the real recital because we were in Lake Powell, but she did a wonderful job at the dress rehearsal.

 For Spring Break I took Jonas (Hilary's son) and the girls to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum. We had a great time!

Wheelin' Jazz Celebrity Game

Tonight we went to the Wheelin' Jazz Celebrity Game! Ben and I are Sunday-school teachers for the 15 year olds in our ward. Jason Hall is in our class and is a member of the Wheelin' Jazz Jr. basketball team. He invited us to the Wheelin' Jazz  Celebrity Basketball game. The celebrity team consisted of local celebrities such as: Shawn Bradley, Kyle Whittingham, Reno Mahe, Jazz Bear, Swoop, Grizzbee, Miss Utah, and a bunch of news anchors. It was pretty much just a party with a little basketball going on. It was a fundraiser and you could buy a point for your team with $1. There was raffle tickets and lots of goofing off among the two "opposing" teams (for instance one player took another players wheel off their chair in the middle of the game, etc.) It was pretty funny. At one point the Bear climbed on top of the basketball hoop and then went through the basket (his whole body!!) it was amazing! Hailey and Aubrey thought that was hilarious!!! Of course, never to miss a photo op, I passed Ashley off to every mascot in sight for a picture!

Below: Jason Hall our Wheelin' Jazz Jr. player

 Flash Fox picked up Aubrey and Hailey and held them for the picture.

 Swoop with Ashley ( the hawk was very natural and tender with Ashley, made me wonder if it's a "she" hawk)

 I have no idea who the Sasquatch guy is, but I mean really, who doesn't want their baby's photo with a Harley Davidson Sasquatch?

 Remember how I said Swoop was natural with a baby? Yeah, Bear, not so much.

Aubrey is SIX

I can't believe Aubrey went from this:

to this:

Aubrey turned six on March 13th. Six already, I can't believe it. Aubrey is such a joy to me. She has the most fantastic personality. She is silly, silly, SILLY! She loves to make people laugh. She is quick witted and always up for fun. She is very optimistic and fun to be around. The other day she came home from kindergarten with six phone numbers of classmates! She had it all organized and she had coordinated the whole thing! She wanted to call them all! (and let me tell you, it was a little hard to decipher when kindergarteners are writing their own phone numbers) She loves to be friends with everyone. She is such a fun daughter to have!

She is also a little gymnast. She is always tumbling around the house. She loves to watch tv on her head and I am constantly telling her to stop jumping across the furniture. The other day I asked her to come to the kitchen and she came . . . doing cartwheels the entire way. I thought it would only be appropriate to have the Tumblebus come for her party. We saw the Tumblebus at the Safe Kids Fair a few weeks ago and Aubrey was in love!

The Tumblebus is a full-size school bus that has been gutted and turned into a tumble place. The bus pulls up to your house and ta-da the whole party is in the bus! They do all the entertaining and organized activity . . . (meaning I get to sit back, take pictures and enjoy!)

Here are the party girls inside the Tumblebus!

A great group of girls for Aubrey's sixth birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUBREY!!!!

Family Home Evening

I've never considered myself a big nature lover nor have I ever really been an activist for any particular cause and up till five days ago, I'd never been to a rally. HOWEVER, it was brought to my attention that UDOT is considering putting a Legacy highway on the wetlands very near my home. I'm the first to admit that wetlands never interested me and when Legacy was first considered I was all for it "down with the wetlands!"

Now, I eat my words. I have fallen in love; in love with Farmington and West Farmington in particular. I love the peace and quiet out here. I love hearing the geese in the sky, I love the flat land in the west and seeing the mountains in the distance. I love the beauty of the Ranch nearby and all the horses. MOST of all, I love, love, love the bald eagles that migrate through here. I consider it a blessing to be able to drive home from Target and take two minutes to sit and watch TWENTY eagles in the trees on my way home. I have insisted that my sisters and parents come out and see this magnificent place. Particularly this past winter, I've been stuck indoor with my baby Ashley and when I need a break from these four walls I am amazed at what driving through the wetlands and seeing the eagles does for my spirit. I love this land and my heart belongs here.

The new road would not only affect the wetlands, it would make a big impact on my neighborhood and my dear neighbors that would literally have it in their back yard. Therefore, when those who oppose the road gathered at Eagle Bay for a rally, I was all about going. I tried to explain to Hailey and Aubrey what the meeting was about. They love the eagles and the neighborhood too and were excited to participate. I told them this is what we were doing for FHE and that it was important to stand up for things you believe in. Hailey made a cute homemade sign and we were off to the rally. Channel 4 news was there and Hailey was in a little clip of the news. At the rally people started chanting "C-1" that is the option we'd prefer. The next morning when the girls woke up they were still chanting "C-1" it was pretty funny. I'm sure the whole thing is sort-of over their heads, but they are loving being involved. You know, they's never woke up from a FHE and chanting "pray with eyes shut" or anything like that. I guess I need to make my other FHE lessons more exciting and invite a couple hundred people and the news next time! Here are some pics of the evening, and the land we are trying to protect.

Aubrey is in a green shirt holding a sign that says "Save Farmington" Hailey is sitting down with blue pants on (she is still in her casts and needed to sit)

Hailey and Brad Pitt

Are you wondering what Hailey and Brad Pitt have in common?

In 2004 Brad played Achilles in the movie Troy.

According to Greek mythology Achilles was the son of Thetis and Peleus, the bravest hero in the Trojan war. When Achilles was born, his mother, Thetis, tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx. As she immersed him, she held him by one heel and forgot to dip him a second time so the heel she held could get wet too. Therefore, the place where she held him remained untouched by the magic water of the Styx and that part stayed mortal or vulnerable. The story is that he was killed in the siege of Troy by Paris, who shot an an arrow into his heel. Thus an "Achilles' heel" has come to be a term for a person's principal weakness.

Now on to Hailey:

Last summer I noticed that Hailey was running on her tiptoes during her soccer game. She looked silly. I told her to run "normal" and she said she couldn't. As the weeks passed I noticed that she ALWAYS walked on her toes, no matter how bad my nagging got. When we went in for her annual check-up I mentioned it to the doctor. He referred us to an Orthopedic Specialist at Primary's. Low and behold, Hailey's Achilles tendons are short and she physically can't put her heels down (or at least it hurts when she does).

So . . . last week Hailey had surgery and got BOTH Achilles tendons clipped. She is in casts for one month and then will be in walking boots for another month. Hopefully, with any luck, by April she will be healed and ready for summer. She has been brave and pretty good with all this so far (however, it has only been a week). She had a TON of support from neighbors and family. It is good to feel the love. I am counting down the weeks until the casts come off. Most of the time she is a trooper, but every now and then we have some melt down moments. Casts are no fun at all . . . for anyone!!

I haven't had the heart to tell her where the term Achilles comes from . . . "some hot, tough guy that ultimately died by getting an arrow in his tendon." I contemplated telling her the story while we waited for her surgery, but ultimately decided against it.

Okay, so really, Hailey and Brad have nothing in common (thank heavens) I just wanted you to read my post. ;)

Above: Hailey coming out of surgery.

Below: Hailey on the couch, look at all those signatures on her casts.

Ashley Ann Powell

Ashley's here! Well, she came about two months ago, but I am just now getting around to posting it! (the whole sleep deprivation thing, etc.) Ashely was born on November 22, weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs. and 6 oz. (my biggest so far!). She was born via c-section, which I was scared to death to have, but due to my skyrocketing blood pressure, she couldn't be vaginal and needed to be delivered that day. Everything went amazingly well and she was born healthy and happy. She is by far my best baby as far as spit-up and crying go. She rarely ever cries and is just a joy to have in our home. Hailey and Aubrey adore her! They are little moms that want to hold her and kiss her. Having her in our home has really brought a feeling of peace and completion that we haven't had before. Ben oooh and ahhhs over her for hours.

Yesterday we blessed her. It was a wonderful day and a wonderful blessing. Grandma Place made her gown and it was beautiful!! She wore a bracelet and shoes that Grandma Powell gave her. All her aunts came with their families, Grandma and Grandpa Place and Powell, Great Grandma Jerry and my dear friend Jen Gonzalez. It was so wonderful to have everyone together at church and then over to our house afterward. I love blessing days, they are so special!!

Here are some pictures of our new addition!

Above: Our first picture of Ashley. (well, the first non-gooey, non-bloody one)

Below: This is me meeting my new baby.
Christmas with our three girls
Blessing Day with both Grandmas
My sweet new angel.

Oh, what did we do in the summertime?

Wow, I can't believe the summer is pretty much over! Hailey is now in first grade and Aubrey is a kindergartner. I have two months of "freedom" before the baby is born. Yeah! Here is a quick overview of what we did all summer long.

In July, my brother-in-law Loren insisted that we go find the waterfall in Centerville. What a surprise! I had no idea this was here and that it would be this much fun! We had a wonderful time climbing, swimming and exploring with the Mercers!

In June we went to Bear Lake with Grandma and Grandpa Place. We ended up only being there for 24 hours, but we packed more into that Bear Lake "trip" than ever. We fed seagulls, swam in the cold lake--Hailey and Ben even tried to snorkel in the lake. Hailey LOVES to snorkel even if it is 99% in Grandma Place's pool at 1% in Bear Lake. (I really hope to take her to the ocean someday and see how amazing it really can be.) We also took the girls horseback riding in the mountains. This was the highlight of the trip. This was the first time the girls have been on big, adult horses. They were also very excited about the "real" cowboy that guided the horse.

We went to Lake Powell twice this summer with the Powell family. Seven days in May, when it was freezing! Seven days in August when it was h-h-h-hot! Each trip was lots of fun and held exciting new adventures. In May it was pretty cold, but we had tons of fun exploring and catching (or trying to catch) a lizard. I finally captured one, but was too scared to grab it. Uncle Quin finally came to my rescue.

Our August Lake Powell trip was much warmer! We always love our Powell trips to Powell. The girls jet skied with Grandma and Grandpa Powell almost everyday. We spent all of the time in the water. BOTH girls surfed with Ben behind the boat. They were so cute and it was so much fun!

Aubrey surfed ready to wipe-out. She concentrated on the water and plugged her nose the entire time, just in case. Ben actually got so close to the boat he just picked her up and put her on the boat and she never even hit the water! Hailey was much more brave and could surf with "no hands."

On our August Lake Powell trip, we also had the opportunity to go to Rainbow Bridge. I remember going here when I was a child and it was just as much fun to see it as an adult. It really is an awesome sight.

That was pretty much our summer. I spent all of June on bed rest thankfully, the girls were able to have some fun with Aunt Stephanie who took them a few times a week to really neat places. (check out her blog for more on that). We were able to fit in one Lagoon Day and many summer days were spent at Grandma Place's pool. All in all, it was a fantastic summer!

We are so thankful to have so much family close by and ready for adventure!