Blast From the Past

A couple of friends of mine and I got together tonight for a quick dinner. It was great to catch up, especially since one of them is headed off to medical school. We have been trying to get together for quite some time, but with different work schedules and me having a baby, it just never clicked until tonight. Here are a few pictures of us all. Next time we'll have to try to get even more of our friends if we can. (P.S. Look at these skiiny girls! I've got some work to do losing this baby weight!)

Shane, Me, Anna, Nate, Wyatt, Nanette


Me, Anna, Nate, Wyatt, Nanette

Me, Anna, Nate, Wyatt, Nanette

Anna, Nate, Wyatt, Nanette, Me

First Swim for 2009

After the dance festival we headed off to the pool because it was HOT outside. London had never been swimming. She loved relaxing in the pool, unfortunately, she was also tired and hungry so that didn't last long. Next time we go we'll make sure she is well fed and rested so she will want to play longer. But all the boys still had fun. Here are some pics.


London wasn't sure about having the glasses over her eyes.

London posing happy with the glasses on her head.

My swimsuit pose with London!


Aidan on the far board & Andrew in front.

London chillin'

Throwback Thursday #2

In honor of the dance festival yesterday I thought I would share some of my dance festival pics.

I don't know what year this was, but this is me in my outfit.


As a special "treat" all the 6th graders got to do a bonus dance to the newest dance...the electric slide! Now that dates me. (I'm in the white top and blue shorts.

Tradition at my elementary was for the 6th grade class to do the maypole dance. You weave in and out to make a braide around the pole and then turn around and unwind it. I am in the pink jumper dress.

I think this was 1st grade, but I am not sure. We were aliens.

Dance Festival '09

Today was Dance Festival Day. It is one of my favorite things to go to because I have so many fond memories of the Dance Festivals I participated in. Both Aidan & Andrew participated. Aidan did a dance to "Twist & Shout" while Andrew did one to the ever popular "Napoleon Dynamite." Somehow Andrew always ends up in front so his video is a little better, but both are fun.

Andrew with a classic pose before his dance. Check out those moon boots!

Aidan showing his age..."Mom, why are you taking a picture of me? All the guys are watching!"

Max wanted a picture with his brothers after. Aidan was ok with posing now because there was no one watching!

Weekend Days 1 & 2

Well Friday was pretty uneventful. We had Aidan & Andrew with us for a little bit, which we always enjoy. The rest of the evening was just spent relaxing at home.

Saturday was a different story. We woke up and headed over to Lowe's. Years ago I signed the older two boys up for the "Build and Grow" workshops they do, but then we had a conflict and I have just never done it again. After seeing the great time had by my friend's family I decided to give it another go. Daddy and Max did the workshop while Mommy and London headed next door to Costco. Here are some super cute pictures.

After Lowe's we headed up the canyon to hang out with Shane's cousins. Now, I have only met some of these cousins before and it was like 5 years ago. Some I met for the first time. It was fun to meet some of his family. Here are some pictures from the day.

Cousins H & M with Max

The whole crew before Shane's Mom got there

The siblings: Bill, Jackie, Donna and Kevin

London with me and Aunt Heidy who is expecting a baby in November!

Cutie Pie London!

Angie in the background with Uncle Kevin in the foreground

Max just had to show everyone his gear from earlier.

The little snake whisperer!

Aunt Jackie with London

Max with a stick and the ever important ear wear

Josh climbing the wall

Lindsay climbing the wall

Max throwing the frisbee. He was quite good!

Josh and Chris

Angie

Max holding a snake that one of the cousins found. (She found and caught 2!)

After lunch up the canyon we headed up to Park City to see what deals we could find at the outlets. We found a few and then stopped in Midway on the way home to use a gift certificate at

Mountain House Grill. It was SUPER yummy! I would recommend it to anyone!

Throwback Thursday #1

OK, I realize it is Friday, but I have been a little behind on things this week. A few of my friends have done a similar thing on Fridays and Wednesdays, but I had to look at my least busy day! =) Anyway, I'll try to do this every Thursday because it is just good fun to look back to all the "old school" days.

I can't say as I know what year this was taken, but it has always been one of my absolute FAVORITE pictures of all time. It is outside my cousins' church in Provo. From left to right is Tim, me, Anna and Melissa. My sister is Anna and the other two are my cousins. We were all the best of friends. Most of the time when we played it was also Dan and Amanda. It just seemed like our ages were perfect. If you click on the image it will enlarge and you can see the pure joy on my face. I love it! I also have to say that the knee socks are quite fetching! And you know that most teen boys today would kill for Tim's coat! Good times!

I'm a Savvy Shopper

OK, so maybe I am not the most savvy of shoppers, but I am going to try. Shane's brother's sister-in-law is the Daily Herald's Savvy Shopper, but did I let that help me? No! I've been a slacker! Well, my sister, Carrie, has been doing it and has saved a lot of money. I decided it is probably time to jump on the bandwagon and save some money. Today was my first venture out. I made some mistakes, so I could have saved more, and there were some coupons for GREAT deals, but I didn't have the coupons because they came out before I started, but I still think we did pretty darn good. What is great is that these are all things that we use. We don't normally get the name brand cereals, but this time they were cheaper than the Malt-o-Meal brands. Here is what Shane and I picked up today.

We got the following:

2 - Generic Cereals

4 - Kelloggs Cereals

3 - General Mills Cereals

3 - Bags of Cheese

2 - Bottles of Shampoo

1 - Bottle of Conditioner

3 - Boxes of Jello Pudding

3 - Boxes of Betty Crocker Brownie Mix

2 - Tubs of Betty Crocker Frosting

2 - Boxes of Betty Crocker Cake Mix

1 - Box of Wheat Thins

1 - Box of Ritz Crackers

Guess what we spent...$29.

Yep, just barely over $1 per item! Sweet!

Congratulations Dan!

My brother Dan is the Orem High School Lacrosse coach. On Saturday they won the Division II STATE Championship! Way to go Dan! If you are interested in the article from the Daily Herald, check it out here. Don't you just love these pics! I got him all freshly sunburned from the game! He's such a great brother!

Good Day at Church

Today was so sweet. Max said the prayer in Sharing Time for the first time. To top it all off, we had this little moment:

When we were getting ready for church I commented to Max that he looked so handsome all the girls were going to chase him. He said, "Who?" I said the girl he knows the best, his little friend LW. Well, he acted like he was hot stuff, so I was kind of thinking that he does have a little crush on her. Well, we were at church and the primary president was giving the announcements. Max was at the front on the chair for the child giving the prayer. Little LW walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned to her she waved to him and promptly kissed him on the cheek! I couldn't help but chuckle and all the adults were right with me. Well, now all day Andrew has been telling Max how lucky he is because he has never had a girl do that to him! So funny!

On a really sweet note: Today there were some families mentioned and asked for them to be in the prayers of the ward members. Well, you know you always wonder just how much the kids actually listen in church. We got home and Andrew gave the dinner prayer and asked for blessings for the two families. Then, for our family prayers before bed Aidan did the same! How sweet!

Aquarium Take 3

OK, this will be the last of the Aquarium pictures...I think! While Aidan and Andrew visited with their new little sister, the rest of us stopped by the Aquarium for a bit. But they are so cute so I just had to take more pictures!

FHE - Canyon

For Family Home Evening on Monday we went up the canyon to play. This was London's first time up the canyon and she LOVED it! She especially loved when we got on her blanket on the grass and she was able to eat out in the fresh air. Let me tell you, those are 2 of her favorite things...eating and being outside!

A New Sister for Aidan & Andrew

Aidan & Andrew's Mom and Step-Dad welcomed a new little baby on Thursday. We stopped at the hospital today to let the boys spend some more time with her. We hurried and took a quick photo of the boys with all their younger half-siblings. Of course we don't think of any of them as only half, but they are pretty lucky to have so many siblings. They also have 2 Step-sisters and 1 step-brother! Lots of kids! Look at how much hair she has! Then there's our little baldy London...so cute! She even smiled for her picture!

Father & Sons '09

The Father and Sons camp out was last night. They were the 2nd group up so they started the fire and were able to choose their spot for the tent. They had so much fun!