Christmas Fun

Christmas Eve is just as fun as Christmas day for us. The kids get to open a gift from their Grand parents. My Mom gives them PJ's and Joel's Mom makes them something to go along with it. This year Elaine gave all of the boys slippers and all of the girls knitted beanies with a flower clip. They were so cute. The kids love to get these and look forward to every Christmas Eve to see what they got.
Both Grandma's are amazing to make something for all of their grand kids since My Mom has 21 and Elaine has 25! Wow, such amazing women. Thanks you both so much!!!

Cookie Party 09!

Every year Jan has a family sugar cookie party. She bakes about 500 cookies, makes 15 bags of colorful homemade frosting and brings 20 different candies to decorate with. It costs her a fortune but is one of the things that my family looks forward to every year. In fact, Shayne was asked out on a date that night and she told him that he'd have to come to the cookie party because she wasn't going to miss it. So, the guy in the picture is Austin Ipson, Shayne's date. JoEllen is always super fancy with the frosting and I always just load it on and eat it. I don't like to put candy on them. The frosting is so good it stands alone. My blood sugar by the end of the night was terrible but the cookies where well worth it. We brought home about 5 dozen and they where all gone in 2 days! Thanks Jan!!!

Thanksgiving

Well, Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays because we spend it up north where it's cold. We watch the Macy's P-raid, play football at the High School, Eat and then later we go to Jack & Jill's Bowling alley where we have a fun game of who's the best. We have done this every year that I can remember. But this year we stayed here in Sunny St. George. I don't get channel 5 on TV so we went to Jan's to watch the P-raid then went to JoEllen's where the kids did crafts and we ate. Kyle made a TURDUCKIN. (That doesn't look very good written out but it was tasty!) There was no playing football in the snow, instead we had a home-run contest at the elementary school just down from their house. It was so much fun and the kids who didn't want to play ball played on the play ground with aunt Jan who's hand was cut so she couldn't swing a bat. Then we ate dessert and went bowling. Dixie Bowl is the oldest bowling alley in the state but it was fun. Sophie won. She bowled a 140! (She takes after me) Then we went home and looked at the newspaper ads to see where we were going to hit the next morning at 4am. When I got on the scale this morning it said that I had a great Thanksgiving. Now time to go workout!

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. Sophie was a Vampire. Josh was a Rubix Cube. Ben was a Mummy. David was a Tiger and Shayne was on her first date! It was the scariest Halloween ever! She was gone to Sadie's with a group of 10 people and they had a great time. But, am I really that old?









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The kids got a ton of candy and a lot of the dentists here have a candy buy back where they will give you $1 for ever pound of candy you bring in. So we decided to do that and we found a dentist that ships all of the candy to those serving over seas in the military. Well, Josh LOVES the military. Truly LOVES it. Ever since he was 7 years old and I couldn't be happier. He is just like his Father and always wants to help everyone and I think he sees it as a way to help everyone everywhere all at the same time. So, when he heard that the candy is being sent to them he took every piece except one and put it in bag and said, "here is my bag that I want to go to the military because they never get anything and I don't need it." I wanted to cry. What an incredible kid! He's right of course. He doesn't need it. None of us do. Especially us adults who no longer have the metabolism of a 10 year old.

What a great way to start of the Thanksgiving holiday. Being grateful for all we have and looking out for those less fortunate.

Ben's school picture

The week before school started I gave Josh and Joel haircuts and trimmed up Shayne and Sophie's hair. I did not cut Ben or David's because they both have this gorgeous wave in there hair and it looks so cute a little longer. Well, I guess Ben wasn't too happy that he didn't get a haircut so he took the scissors to his own hair and cut 6 big holes in the front of his hair. They were so close to his head that I had no other choice but to BUZZ his head. So, I did and he has the biggest, roundest head of any kid I know. With his hair so light he looked completely bald. He went to school looking like a kid that has had Chemo! Luckily school pictures were 3 weeks later and his hair actually looked like hair. But the morning of school pictures I guess he decided that he liked to get yelled at for cutting his own hair and did it again. Well, I wasn't about to wait until retakes so this is what he gets.
Here it is. Ben's Kindergarten Picture.

Temple Hopping

Every year for Shayne's birthday, since she was 12, we've gone to do baptisms for the dead for her birthday party. This year she wanted to take a group of kids to the Vegas Temple. I agreed and we called to see what time they had open and they didn't. So, she had a regular party and this weekend I took my kids up north so we could do some baptisms up there. We almost didn't go because Sophie and I had our last show of ANNIE. YAHOO!!! And Shayne had to come home early to get her Drivers License but I called anyway to see if we could get in anywhere and the Jordan River Temple said "come at 11:30".

Then the Oquirrh Mountain Temple said, "Oh yes, please come. We have a lady coming at 2:30pm to do 200 family names that needs help."

And then Timpanogos Temple said, "no problem we can get you in at 5:30."

So thinking that here it takes 1 hour to do baptisms I figured we'd have plenty of time between temples. We didn't. I drove as fast as I could without getting pulled over from Temple to Temple. It was amazing. The Jordan and Oquirrh let me do baptisms with the girls (Shayne, Ashley, Bradie and Katie) and Timp told me to go upstairs and do something else. So, I did. At 7pm we left the Timp Temple with a total of 180 baptisms, 150 confirmation and 5 initiatory done for the day. Not a bad day I'd say. I'm very proud of Shayne and my nieces for being so dedicated. We had a lot of fun. Next time we are going to hit the Provo, Draper and SLC Temples. We'd like to do all of the ones in Utah but the Lord is building them faster than we can get to them. AWESOME!!!

16! You're how old?

Shayne turned 16 on Sunday the 11th. 16! What the heck? Where have I been because I just remember having her. She wanted to have a big party so I told her to invite whom ever she wanted and they could come here to eat pizza and junk and play games and whatever. Well, she invited the entire High School Swim Team as well as 16 kids from school and 6 ward members. WOW! So I figured there would be around 30 kids. Mostly boys. I was close. 22 kids and 13 of them where indeed boys. She didn't tell a lot of them that it was a birthday party. Just a party. But I was surprised at how many boys brought her presents. She hangs out with a good group of kids of which only 1/2 is LDS.

We gave her a car for her birthday. Yes, I know. It's cliche' but it was a hand me down that we couldn't pass up. Jillyn had bought a new car and sold us her old one. I remember having a car when I was 16. It was a Vette! A chevette. In fact everyone in my high school remembers that old car. It was a classic! We thought about buying Brian's scooter for her but Joel wanted her to have something safer. This from a man who rides a ninja 1100. We had Kellie make a Vinyl window cling that says Pine View Swim Team with a paw print and we put it on her back windsheild to make it unique and all Shayne. She loves it. She has 1 more day with the Drivers Ed teacher because he got sick last week. (Side note - Everyone is sick. Everyone everywhere.) So, she will get her license this week. She is a great driver. Much better than I was at that age but the Vette was a stick shift and they are harder to drive.

Marathon 09

Joel, John, Charles and Kyle


Well, time really doesn't matter when your running a foot race does it? Joel hit an all time high. Over 5 hours. But, he says it was the best one so far. 2 weeks earlier he had a strange flu (H1N1?) It made him weak all over and his thighs felt like they were one big bruise. They hurt to even lightly touch them. He didn't feel 100% when he started the race but he finished it. Here's part of the story:
We have a little girl, 11 years old, in our School and Stake that had cancer last year in her leg and had to get in amputated. This year our Principal Burke Staheli - best person in the world, I wish he'd run for Mayor - ran his 11th marathon but this time is was for her. Darby Riley. She's on the student Council with Josh. Burke had the schools in Washington County try to raise $26.02 per class to raise enough money for her to buy a prosthetic leg. They had purchased it and the money was going to pay it off and when Burke got a block from the finish line Darby was going to run with him to the end. She was so excited. But a couple of days before the marathon Darby fell and broke her femur of the leg that was amputated. It was a spiral fracture which means it broke up through the middle of the bone. The hardest and most painful of all breaks. If you donated money for Darby then you received a purple ribbon to tie on you as you ran to show your support. Well, at mile #1 Joel's thigh started to hurt and as he started to get frustrated he rubbed his thigh and then looked down at it. As he did his eyes glanced at his purple ribbon for Darby and he said to himself, "I'm lucky I have a leg that hurts." And he decided that he would finish it no matter what. Here is a picture of Burke pushing Darby in a wheelchair to the finish line. It was so emotional.

There is a lot more to this story and you'll have to ask Joel about it. But, I am very proud of him and the amazing example that he is to me.

Josh's Ferrari, Lamborghini and Birthday

Josh is obsessed with sports cars ever since his trip to Cali. The other day as we were leaving JoEllen's house we passed this one and turned around so he could slobber all over it.

So, for his birthday we gave him a yellow Lamborghini. This one:

He, Joel and Sophie had a lot of fun putting it together. The Wells' came over that night and we made carmeled apples. It was a lot of fun and a lot of calories.



YUM!!

17 years?! Where did the time go?

Joel and I celebrated our 17th Anniversary this weekend. It was so crazy. Joel had parent weekend at his school which means a lot of the parents come to visit and that he has to work all day and night. They have parent once a quarter and we go serve dinner to the parents and kids at the school. We do it every time and I don't mind doing it but this weekend I wanted to do something for our Anniversary. I also was substituting at Tuacahn High School for Jan and Andy because they were at a convention in Cali. I was busy and we hadn't seen much of each other the entire week so, Friday Joel brought me 2 dozen roses to the High School. Joel hardly ever gets me flowers so this was a big deal. I was excited that I got roses since dinner was going to be with 300 strangers. Usually his gift to me is dinner.

For my gift to Joel I had planned, with Joel's friends, to have them kidnap him in the middle of the night and take him to Phoenix to see the Cardinals /49er's football game for our anniversary. He NEVER gets to do anything for himself so I thought he'd like it. His friends where sooo excited it was funny. I was supposed to wake him up and tell him that I forgot to give him my present and give him a Cardinals t-shirt and have him put it on and go get in the car with the guys. But, Joel decided to plan a surprise of his own.

Saturday morning he got up at 6am and went to work. I went to Walmart at 10 and Shayne called me in a panic. "Dad just came home and said that I had to tend until tomorrow because he was taking you away for the night!" CRAP! She knew about my plan and knew that this was going to ruin it. So, I hurried and called his friend and asked what was up. Tallon said that without ruining either surprise I had to just trust him that everything would work out and to call him later on after I had my surprise. So, I went home and Joel said "get packed we're leaving." CRAP! So after we went and ran some errands and he drove up to Abby Inn. He had gotten us a room and we went and served dinner at his school and went to a movie. It was really nice to not have to go home and deal with kids and stuff. He had put a lot of thought into making this a good anniversary instead of the service project that I thought it was going to be.

Later, I called Tallon and he said that they'd just pick Joel up at the hotel. Which was fine but I had 5 presents at home that I was sending with them for our adopted son Eric, who is away at college in Phoenix, that I somehow needed to go home and get without Joel knowing. So, at 2am I got up, snuck out and drove home, got the presents, some different clothes for Joel and came back. At 3:30 I called the guys and the said they were 20 minutes away so I woke Joel up and gave him his shirt and he wasn't quite awake but when he finally realized what was going on he hurried and got ready. We went downstairs and out the front of the hotel right as they were pulling up. I put the presents in the back and he got in and they left.

It was PERFECT!!! But the Cardinals lost. But it was an amazing anniversary!!!

I am so lucky to have Joel forever. He is unbelievably kind and humble (opposites attract). Not to mention gorgeous! Thank you Joel for 17 wonderful years! It'll be fun to see what the next 17 bring.

Back 2 School

The kids all went back to school on August 13th. Shayne is now a Sophomore and is going to Pine View High School. Sophie is in 6th grade and goes to Fossil Ridge Intermediate School. Josh is in 4th and goes to Washington Elementary and Ben goes with Josh every morning to go to kindergarten. Ben is in ALL DAY Kindergarten!!! WOO HOO!!!! I couldn't be happier and neither could he. He had some speech problems during the summer. He wouldn't studder but he had Dysfluency which means he would stammer on the beginning of a sentence. Like he would say, I, I, I, I and then start or Um,Um,Um,Um. It was getting really frustrating but since school has started he has made progress in leaps and bounds and hardly ever does it now. The speech therapist said that they are just going to watch him now and let him go on as normal. I am so happy and he is happy and not bored all of the time. I lOVE SCHOOL!

Summer Family Reunions

This summer we had both the Beckstrand and Shelton reunions. The Beckstrand reunion was held in Pine Valley (one of my favorite places). We went camping (one of my favorite things to do). Because Sophie and I had Annie on Monday and Wednesday we weren't able to sleep over the first day, so Joel had the kids by himself. He did such a great job and no one got hurt. We went to the reservoir, went fishing, played volleyball and horseshoes, dutch ovened and played with cousins. Ben ended up catching 5 fish. It was so much fun.

Then we had the Shelton reunion in California. Sophie and I couldn't go because of the play so Joel took Shayne and the three boys by himself. I was a little worried but knew that Shayne would fill in for whatever Joel didn't know how to do. They spent the first 3 days camping and surfing and having a ball! They got reacquainted with the Lucero cousins that they hadn't seen for a couple years and had so much fun. Then they went to Legoland the next day and SeaWorld the next. Joel took about 200 pictures. Josh said the funnest part was seeing the red Ferrari that pulled up next to them at a stop light. Joel did an AMAZING job this summer with the kids. They made memories that will last forever!

HSM2 & ANNIE Update

HSM2 is over. What a summer! I don't think it could have gotten any busier. High School Musical 2 was so much fun. We had the best kids that we've ever had as far as no getting into trouble. This is the first year no one went to the ER. And I didn't have to go to court with anyone. So, I'd say it was very successful! Annie is still going. But now it is only every Friday and every other Wednesday. So, it's not as busy. Sophie is loving it. We have 6 performances left. It will be sad for the girls when we are done because some of them live in Vegas and who knows when they'll see each other again. The parents have all been great and so have the girls which makes my job easy. Here are some pictures:

Sophie's 11th

Sophie had her 11th birthday on the 23rd and she celebrated it at where else, Tuacahn. I took her to see Footloose. It was fun and afterward the cast sang happy birthday to her. She is loving being in Annie and playing with all of the cast. They are having a big cast party at Lazer Mania doing laser tag on Monday and she is trying to find a way to work out going to that before we go up to Pine Valley to our Beckstrand reunion. We are camping in PV on Mon-Wed. I'll update you on how it goes. It'll be a lot of fun. Debra and her fam will be down from Oregon. Sophie and I will have to come and go because of Tuacahn but Joel is staying with the kids. I think he's in training for the 5 days he's going to have them in California by himself at my family reunion. That'll be a whole other blog.

Hell Week

My "Hell Week" starts in 9 hours. I start checking teenagers in to there apartments for the summer at 8am tomorrow and the last one will get here at midnight. Then it's off to Tuacahn Monday morning at 8am until midnight. oh wait.....Sophie just threw up. Great, that's just what I need. And my parents and sis-in-law and 3 nieces will be here tomorrow. Nice. I'll try to keep you updated but now I need to go clean up throw-up.

Falling Apart

I turned 37 and fell apart. I went to my Dr. on my regular yearly check-up. Nothing wrong, just needed to be done and I needed my diabetes medication renewed. So, while I was there I did mention to my Dr. that I work out 5 times a week and have gained 20 pounds over the last couple of months. And that after I work out I am so tired that I usually crash on the couch for an hour. I thought I just was working out super hard to try to get rid of that 20 pounds but no. He tested my thyroid and sure enough it had pretty much stopped working. I also have hypothyriodism. Yeah! Not much more can stop working before I stop working. My body isn't liking the medication he put me on. I hope it gets used to it soon. My stomach is in knots and I get winded going up and down my 6 stairs. I feel really bad for Joel because his family lives to be 100. I hope I make it to see all my kids graduate from High School.

Potty Training

Some kids just catch on and some don't. My nephew Evan who is younger than David has been potty trained for awhile now and doesn't seem to have any problems. Well, David gets the pee part. It's the other part that he doesn't seem to understand. So, we are now trying the "You get a new Hot Wheel car if you go poo poo in the potty" trick. It seems to be working, a little. He has gone once but, not on his own. He hasn't ever said that he needs to go potty unless Ben says that he needs to. Which usually happens right in the middle of Sacrament meeting. I am trying to get him trained before the family reunion campouts this summer. It would make life easier. He is my last and it would be nice not to buy diapers but it will mean a new stage of life for me and I don't know if I am ready for that yet. I want to stay as young as I think I am. Not how I really am.

Schools out!

Well, school ended yesterday and I for one am excited. I don't have to try to get Shayne's schedule and mine coordinated to get me and Sophie out to Tuacahn. And I don't have to hurry and wake up to get everyone off to school. We can all sleep in! I am so excited!

Happy Birthday to ME!

I had a great birthday today. Joel and the kids fixed breakfast for the second Sunday in a row. I was sang to in Primary. JoEllen and her family and Brad & Ashley came over for cupcakes and ice cream cake (I didn't want to make my own birthday cake so I bought one). JoEllen brought a cute little fish craft that she had leftover from Emily's dance recital so we did that. It turned into a big birthday party. It was a lot of fun. I called my Mom to tell her Happy Birthday. She turned 70 today. Growing up she'd always let me take the day off of school and we'd go shopping and take my Grandma out to lunch. I remember the first birthday I had at college I sat and cried all day long. It was the worst birthday ever.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was great as usual. Big breakfast made by Joel and the kids, late to church, nap after church and a big wonderful dinner. Well, that was almost true. I had planned on making chicken enchiladas and the kids had eaten all of the tortillas the day before and I hadn't noticed that there were only 3 left. Not enough for enchiladas. So we dined on an oldy but goody....Mac & Cheese! Whoo Hoo! Oh well, it was easy.

The Start...

Well today was the start of a crazy Tuacahn summer. It started with dropping the boys off at JoEllen's so that Sophie and I could make it to our meeting at 11pm. Then from there we had an ANNIE read-through and then went straight to learning the music. After that we went right into blocking the first scene. Then another meeting with the parents. We got home at 8:15pm and hurried and ate something and went over to the school to see the Fireworks that start off Washington City's Cotton Days. It was very busy and I am very tired. I am going to bed! Thanks for JoEllen and Holly for watching the boys until Shayne got home for me.

Annie Update

O.K. so, originally Sophie did not make it into ANNIE. She was fine with it and life went on. But a couple of days ago Brad told me that in a meeting they had the director said that one of the orphans dropped out and that they needed a kid wrangler(someone who makes sure that the kids go on and off and are quiet and out of the way).
So, Brad said what about Sophie and Penny? They immediately pulled Sophie's resume and headshot out and put it on top of the pile. Well, the next day Brad called me to see if they had called because he heard that they were going to ask us. But we never heard anything. So, today I had a meeting with Jan and when we were done I went over to the office in hopes of "running into" someone. Just as planned I was called into the office and asked if Sophie and I would be interested in being in ANNIE! Whoo Hoo!

You should have seen Sophie's face when I told her. I know that she'll be great. She's a really hard worker. So, our Summer starts May 4th and gets over Oct 16th. Yikes! Please don't count on me for anything this summer. I can't do it. I wish I could but this summer belongs to Sophie and making it one she'll never forget. Please come watch her if you can. It runs every Mon, Wed and Fri.

Why do boys hate flowers?

I feel bad for whomever marries David. No matter how many times I yell at him he still stomps on or picks off my flowers. He doesn't pick them the cute way and bring them to me and say "here Mommy I picked this for you!" Oh, no, he tears the heads off of them and chucks them across the yard. My Daffodils where the first to show up and they seemed to go untouched because I showed him my pretty flowers and asked him not to touch them. But, as soon as they left the tulips were out and I think he thought that they were free to destroy because they weren't the same as the daffodils. Today my snapdragons had a footprint on them and where completely broken in two. Then an hour later Ben came running in yelling, "David's pickin' your flowers again Mom!" I ran out there and sure enough he had pulled the heads off of some of my Iris' that where just about to bloom. Dang Kid! Pick the Dandelions! I have a ton of those! We've been in this house exactly 1 year and I love it especially my flowers. I may have to sell the kid. One things for sure whomever he married will never get flowers.

NYC Pics.

NYC BABY!!!

I spent the entire week of Spring Break in New York City with JoEllen, Jan and Andy and 30 Tuacahn kids. It was a blast! I have never crammed so much stuff into 7 days in my life. There was so much to do and not enough time to do it. We saw 4 Broadway plays, numerous famous people, the statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State building, FAO Schartz, the biggest Toys R Us and Build-A-Bear in the world, I ice skated in Rockefeller Center and did everything else you can think of. It was fantastic! We walked what seemed like 500 miles and still managed to gain weight because of the CHEESECAKE! WOW! The best thing was going to the Manhattan Temple. My sister and I were the only ones in the building. It was beautiful. All of the wood had beehives carved in it. I am so thankful that I have and incredible 15 year old daughter that totally took over for the entire week so I could have a much needed break. Thanks Shayne!

I SURVIVED SOPHIE'S MATURATION PROGRAM!

Oh my word! I am so glad that I talked to her about all of this before we went. It was crazy. One lady ho hummed about it and didn't make any sense at all and the other lady was so technical that the girls needed a dictionary to figure out what she was saying. Sophie just rolled her eyes and said, "this is boring." I never went to Shayne's because I had emergency gall bladder surgery the day before and couldn't get out of bed. So, this was new for me. I'm glad that Sophie is my last girl. Joel gets to go with the boys!

I hate physics!

I hate physics! And I've decided to blame everything for it! For instance this morning while I was making waffles it wasn't Josh who spilled the syrup all over my rug and kitchen floor. It was the gravity that made it flow down to the ground. And the shaker with waffle mix in it that exploded while I was moping the floor wasn't because I forgot to open the lid after shaking the crap out of it. It was because of the laws of physics and the chemical reactions that were made. The fact that the waffle mix was all over my cupboards, ceiling and in my hair...physics. I am no longer blaming my kids or myself for anything we do. It's all because of physics!

Smart Kids

Sophie and Josh both got an award at school today for being ranked in the top 10% of the nation in the Iowa standard testing! I am so happy that my kids didn't get any of my genes. Not that my parents aren't smart, I just got the stupid leftovers. It's like the movie "Twins" with Arnold Swartenagger and Danny DeVito. I'm Danny. I guess I was smart enough to marry someone who is super smart. That counts for something doesn't it?

Joel

I just wanted to see if Joel ever reads this. So this is for him. Let's see if he comments any time soon.

RAGS

This week has been a busy one. Sophie and Josh along with there cousins George and Emily Wells are in the Tuacahn High School productions of "RAGS" that opened last Wed. It has been super fun and JoEllen and I have been taking turns hauling kids out there, supervising during and hauling them back. So, it hasn't been that bad except that Shayne had a huge end of season meet this weekend at the exact same time as the play. So on Friday I took Sophie to a birthday party at 4:30 and went from there to Santa Clara to drop Shayne off at her meet. Then ran to Little Ceasars to get some fast dinner for me and the boys. Well, I was trying to hurry and get them ready and eat at the same time and thought that the pizza tasted different. Not bad enough to spit it out though and since I was in a hurry I just swallowed it and moved on. I drove Josh over to JoEllens because it was her Tuachan turn and went to see Shayne's meet. I was there for her first event and then told her we'd be back for her next event and drove out to Tuacahn. I felt awful. I sat in Jan's office for a half an hour and then left to go back to the meet. Got there and found Shayne. She was just getting ready to swim and I told her that I didn't feel good and asked her to get a ride home. Well, as we were walking out I heard them call her up to swim next so I hesitated to watch her and then ran into the women's locker room and threw up for othe next 10 minutes. I will never eat Pizza again. Especially the ones that have been sitting there for who knows how long waiting for someone to buy them. I spent the rest of the night curled up on the floor of my bathroom. If you look back at my flu episode at Thanksgiving you can read exactly what happened. Except my leg cramps wheren't as bad this time. Joel came home and I asked him to give me a blessing and he and his father gave me a wonderful blessing knowing that I had a lot of things to do the next day. I woke up the next day and my stomach had finally settled. I was weak but better. It was my turn to take the kids to Tuacahn and Shayne still had her swim meet going on. I did the Tuacahn thing and didn't get a break to go see Shayne. I felt bad but cannot do it all, even though I wish I could. I love all of my kids so much and are so thankful for the priesthood and the wonderful men in my life who hold it in the highest regards. I couldn't imagine my life without them.

Roses?

I got roses today!!!! It's been about 15 years since I got roses. WOW! They are beautiful and smell so good. I love Valentine's Day. Joel even asked me out on a date tonight. I must have done something good. WOO HOO!!

Sophie's Audition

On Thurdsay Feb 5th, Sophie auditioned for Taucahn's "Annie". She was excited and her Aunt Jan helped her with a song to sing. She sang "Give my Regards to Broadway". And the next day they called to say that she had a call back. We were sooo excited. Well, she was excited. I was a nervous wreck. Call backs where right after my brother Brad's wedding, during his luncheon. So, we missed the luncheon. Thank goodness he knows all about auditions and was happy for Sophie. Well, I thought that since I worked for Tuacahn that they'd let Sophie be in the ensemble but I got an email yesterday saying thanks, but no thanks. When Sophie got home from school I was reluctant to tell her but when I did she said, "I thought so, but at least it was fun." So, I was relieved. It was a good experience for both of us. Now she knows what it was like and now I know that she can handle it. Even if I can't.

SHAYNE, SOPHIE & BRASHLEY

WARNING!!! This will be a long blog!!!! WARNING!!!

This was an incredible weekend!

1st: Shayne went up to 4A State Swimming Championships on Friday. State was held up at BYU which usually is great for us because we just stay in Lehi but, my Brother Brad was getting married in St. George the next day and there was no one to cheer for Shayne because they were all down here. Thankfully her Grandpa Beckstrand drove up from St. George Friday just to watch her. We were all so grateful for his love and support for her. He even recorded her races for us. She swam the breaststroke part of their 200 Medley Relay. They were ranked 7th in the state and took 6th place. Then she swam her 200 Freestyle and was ranked 15th and took 8th. She was also named fastest female freshman in 4A. (say that 3 times fast!) We were excited for her. The next day she was swimming her 500 freestyle and her 400 Free Relay which she was hoping would take 1st. Unfortunately, the swim meet wasn't scheduled to start Saturday until 6pm and Grandpa wouldn't be able to stay to cheer her on. So, I was excited and sad for her all at once.

2nd: The next day, Saturday Feb 7th, my littlest brother Brad got married to an incredible girl from Ivins named Ashely Potter. They met at Tuacahn where I introduced them. So, Saturday my entire family, Parents, Jan & Andy, Steve & Juanelle, Paula & Charles, Me & Joel, JoEllen & Kyle, Andy & Sarah and Brad and Ashley where all in the St. George Temple together. It was AMAZING! The first time ever that all of my Dad's kids and there spouses were together in the temple. My Dad's dream come true. Although, there where MANY times through the years that he thought it wasn't going to happen. Thank goodness for the power of prayer. Right after the wedding everyone went to the reception hall to get ready for the luncheon except for Me and Sophie. Which brings me to #3

3rd: Sophie auditioned for Tuacahn's Summer Outdoor Production of "ANNIE" on Thursday and got a call back for 1pm Saturday. So, we ran out there and they taught all of the little girls a dance to "It's a hard knock life." Sophie was one of the first to perform. I was a terrible wreck! I was outside getting some support from friends that where there auditioning for the adult roles. I just don't understand why you'd put yourself through an audition. I don't want to be in a position where people critique me on purpose. I like to be the one in charge. I like to be the one that can fire someone, not the one who can be fired. I guess that's why I manage the actors instead of act. Actors are brave and I'm just not brave enough. Anyway, I was a real mess because I was worried about Sophie having enough confidence to not come out bawling her eyes out and worried about Shayne not having someone there to cheer her on for her last two events and worried because I didn't want to miss the program of fun of the reception or anyone to get mad because I wasn't helping out. I did shed a few tears while all this was going on in my head, how could you not? You'd have to be a robot to not be a mess right? Anyway, Sophie got done and said that it was really fun. YEAH!!! That's all I wanted to hear. Even if she doesn't get in (we'll find out on sat.) she will have had fun and that's all I care about. So, one down, two to go. We rushed back to the luncheon and everyone was gone. So went went to McDonalds, grabbed some lunch and went home to wait for a call from Shayne.

At 5:30 we ran back to the reception center, took some pictures and people started coming in. It was GORGEOUS! Jan did the incredible cake and Paula and our cousin Melissa did the flowers and centerpieces. Ashley's colors were dark red and cream. It was elegant. Two down, one to go.

We hadn't heard from Shayne until 11pm when we were back home. It was over and she was sad. She had added 1 second to her 500 Free but was ranked 17th going in and took 9th. She really wanted to do well for Brad since she had missed his wedding. But, she didn't feel like she had done as well as she could have. Her 400 Meter Free Relay team had broken the Pine View High School record 2 weeks earlier during Region by 5 seconds! That's a ton! So, they were ranked 4th and ended up taking 4th but they knocked another 4 seconds off of there time. (Side note: I still hold the Lehi High School record in track for the 4 x 100 relay team!) So, they were extremely happy about that but sad because the other 3 girls on Shayne's team are all Seniors and that was there last High School meet ever. I was happy that the day was over!!!!! I had never been so happy to go to church and just sit. I even looked forward to our CTR5 class.

4th: You thought I was done didn't you? I had one day off then back to work. I am headed up to Orem tomorrow for 2 days with Jan for Auditions for High School Musical 2 that we are doing this summer at Tuacahn. No rest for the wicked. At least all of my kids are happy and back to as normal as we get. I'll post some wedding pictures when I get back.

Denny's Free Breakfast!!

Sometimes I scare myself with how street smart/cunning/wicked (you choose) I am. Yesterday I researched the Free Grand Slam offer and found that Denny's had given every store 1000 coupon books to give to the first 1000 people who order a free Grand Slam. The coupons where buy one get one and 25% off different Denny's items. And each store was also given 500 rain checks to give to whomever couldn't wait around in the HUGE lines. So, Joel and I thought we'd give it a try. This morning we got the kids up and took off to Denny's. We have 2 Denny's here and they were both crammed with people. Mostly High School kids from Dixie, who I must say, get out of school early this week because of Parent/Teacher conference and could have come back at 11:00! I went in and put my name on the list and she said it was an hour and a half wait. So I waited all of 3 minutes and then went back up and asked for a rain check. She handed me 6 rain checks for free Gland Slam breakfasts and 6 coupon books. Then we went back home and made our own breakfast. So, we will be enjoying our FREE Grand Slam breakfast as a family sometime next week when the Denny's isn't crammed full and we can sit and enjoy each others company. Thanks Denny's!

My daughter Rocks and the Spectrum Newspaper didn't even write anything!!!!

I am upset, nay ticked, today by the lack of information on the Region 9 High School Swim Team coverage! Region 9 includes both 3A and 4A schools which is a mistake to begin with. But, when records where broken (by my daughter) then the world needs to know about them! The Spectrum Newspaper had the smallest article written yet this season and all but 1 paragraph of it was about how the the "great" Cedar High was finally knocked off their pedestal. Which I loved, but what about the kids from Desert Hills that did it?
They never mentioned one kid by name. The kids worked there butts off all season and not a word was said. Many kids qualified for state and not a word was said. Records where broken and not a word was said! The one paragraph that mentioned 4A only talked about the Buelter brothers from Snow Canyon who the reporter loves and trains and that we all know dominate the sport. But, what about the other kids!!!!!! This is the only meet that the kids get individual recognition. The rest of the season it is a team effort. No gold, silver or bronzes just points to see which team wins. At region and State the kids are actually given medals to show what they've been working on all season.
I know many kids that got all gold and not a word was mentioned. Shayne got 2 silver for her medley relay team and for her 200 freestyle. And two golds for her 500 freestyle, and her 400 Freestyle relay team which knocked 6 seconds off of the Pine View High School record! 6 seconds is an eternity! Their time was a 3:56.08. That means each girl swam down and back and down and back in less than one minute each. That is AMAZING! And not a word was said about it.
That totally bites! Of course I love my daughter and wish that she could always have an article written about her but to not mention at least some of the kids that did an exceptional job was a huge mistake. I feel bad for those kids that were left out. Every article written with a kids name on it gets sent to whichever colleges they are pursuing and every bit helps. To not have your name written in the Region article is sad and I feel that they did these kids a disservice. I would love to kick some butt about it but if I do then I can guarantee that I will never see Shayne's name in the paper again and I would never do that to her. I am glad that I have a blog to vent in.

Can you tell which kid is the naughtiest?