Gotta Love the Kids

I have had a hard time deciding on if or how to post this... I have found I do not like hearing people "share" their good news in church... But I am very proud of the accomplishments of my kids and want them and others to know as well... so... Here goes...

Amanda mentioned on Monday night that they were going to have tryouts for Drill Team... last year Amanda could only say mean things about the Cheerleaders and Drill Team how mean and snobby they all were, and now she mentions she's thinking about trying out... hum.. So I told her to go for it,,, what could it hurt, you don't know until you try right? So Wednesday she stayed after school for the mini class and then tried out... Guess What?? Yep.. She made it.. Now i am thinking what did I get myself into again???? Early morning class starting at 6:00 every morning... More dancing clothes and uniforms, performances, traveling again... But hey,,, you couldn't wipe the smile off her face last night for anything.. So again.. I am proud of Amanda that she has found the things she enjoys and has gone ahead, took the chance and again succeeded...


And then there's Shad.. Most of you know that Shad has been two merit badges away from getting his Eagle for four years... Well the day before we left for Yellowstone he finally finished all the paperwork for his Eagle... YIPEE.. I can't tell you how relieved I was and then how happy he was to have finally gotten it done... He even told Zac that night to not put it off as long as he did... So tonight is his Board of Review... Keep your fingers crossed... this is the last step for him to take... I worried that he would be so close to finishing and let it pass by and like so many others who were close and didn't finish, be sad he didn't finish.... Last summer our neighborhood came together and helped put in a new fence for our neighborhood park and held a fund raiser yardsale to earn the matching funds needed to pay for the supplies.. This was his Eagle project.. Thanks so much to Brandi Daniels for helping make it happen... And now one final step... Again.. he has worked hard... and he can say, I earned my Eagle,,, not my mom... YIPEE...

Gotta love the changes and learning process for all of us...

Yellowstone 2008 Amazing!!!

Here are the three oldest at the Grand Canyon... looks kindof photo shopped huh. Hailey and I were at the van... she fell and decided it wasn't safe to be out of the van...
Zac and his super hero pose...

This was dinner the first night... never eat at Bakaroo bob's .... ugh... we had fun though
Shad thought the Buffalo was thirsty...

Arent' they sooo cute... this is one of the few pictures you will see of Zac... he's amazing huh.

Here are all the kids trying out the bouldering thing... Amanda flew up so fast... amazing !!

Amanda Moo again... she took sooo many pictures,,, it was amazing.
this one is a little dark,,, but hailey was so cute... she was emberassed and didn't want to smile..

Wow... 20 years... it was that long ago that Jeff, his sister Kris, her boyfriend Dave and I went to Yellowstone... The year of the big fires... Jeff and I went back this past weekend with the kids.. 12 years after we took the three oldest for their first time. I guess we celebrated a few things this past weekend... Shad Finished his Eagle Project on Thursday night before we left, turned 18 on Sunday and our family finally returning to Yellowstone.. We stayed in a Hotel in West Yellowstone and Rented a van... the best thing we could have ever done. It was so nice to let the kids spread out and have their own space...

Hailey, how you have grown...

This was Hailey on her second day of school.. Being the amazing mom that I am, I forgot on the First day... And the older Kids refuse to stand still for a picture.. still trying though.

Back In School !!!

Amazingly enough... i keep thinking I need to have pictures before I can write anything... DUH.
Sooo... Today was the first day back to school for Hailey... Tomorrow is the big day for the rest of them... Don't know if they will be able to pull their bodies out of bed, it should be interesting.

We finally refinanced our mortgage last week and can now finish our driveway... it's been a dirt driveway since the end of May... another Yippee....

We have also added to our family.. the end of July,,, first of August... if I really think I can remember when we got him... Or check my emails... August 1st.. we fianlly got Zac his dog... So we now have a Chihuahua... named Bear... and a yellow lab named Kramer. Kramer is about 1 yr old and has decided he doesn't like Bear... It will be interesting to see how these two finally end up,, either one will die, end up stuck in the house forever more, or become best of friends.. we'll see.

Soo.. just a small update...

Junior Prom.

Here is Shad before leaving for Prom... Isn't he handsome??

New Additions

I have been trying to decide which blog to use... this one or Stinky's Page... this one sounds nicer.. but i have a few other comments on the other one... does anyone know how to combine blogs????

Summer Survival???

Well, School is out, and summer has started... but not really, When three out of four kids are in summer school... has summer really started? We have survived the DC trip, Grandma and Grandpa Horan leaving for their mission to Nauvoo Illinois, Natalie and her family moving to Texas??? for how long, does anyone know yet? We enjoyed Youth Conference with Shad and Amanda and I am slowly recovering from my horrendous cold... No I do not get to run in the Wasatch Back Relay... What horrible timing for me to get sick.. Some think i did it on purpose.. Not really, I keep thinking of how our ancestors survived getting so sick, and then realized that many did not. I wish I had my patch cord,,, i have so many fun pictures to share... maybe next time...