Few random things

Here are a some things the boys have been doing, besides school and baseball practice.


Toby had to do a service project for school and of course we put it off till the last minute so he decided to help clean Grandpa's house.  He said he liked vacuuming the best cause he could hear the vacuum sucking things up.  I wish he was willing to clean at home like this!

Then the boys had a Blue and Gold Banquet for scouts.  Toby was invited because he will be a Wolf this year when he turns 8.  Before he turns 8, Ry will be done with Weblos and on to the 11yr old scouts. 

The theme for the Blue and Gold banquet was something about talents and accomplishments and confidence so they had each boy bring something to represent themselves and display it on a table.  Then each scout took a turn to tell what they brought.

Toby brought his All-Star uniform from last year and the ball that his team signed.

Ryan brought many of his trophies and his hat from last year.

















Lastly, since we're on scouts..... Ry had to do an art project using any art form and bring it to scouts on Friday.  Once again I dropped the ball and at the last minute we were doing a "mural" of Ry.  After school we traced around him (luckly I had a roll of the long paper) and he colored himself in his baseball uniform.  Here is the final thing before he ran over to the neighbors for scouts.

No more last minute things for me.  It stresses me out!!



Just to remember...

I have a funny story and I think I'll post it just to remember it in years to come.  Last Friday my Dad and I took the kids and a couple of friends to the Olympic Oval.  They were hosting the World Cup Long Track Speed Skating.  We really went because it was free to get in and sounded fun.  (We did go a couple of years ago to the short track race when Apollo Anton Ono was skating and it was really fun but not free admit.)

So we took R, T, A and L and R's friend and T's friend.  Of course I hadn't charged my camera battery lately and it was totally dead, so no camera.  But we did witness a little piece of history.  Some lady, just before we got there had broken a world record in the 5000m.  We saw her put her name on the wall. Don't remember her name but she was from another country and you can see her name if you go to the Olympic Oval :).

So, on to the funny story.  Here is Ryan and his friend. This was taken when we got home and the camera battery had charged a while. But this is what they looked like at the speed skating.

When we were at the Oval the kids would walk around in between the races and sometimes stand at the "fence" during the races.  When they would come back to the stands to sit, twice we had people come up and talk to us about their sweatshirts (notice above picture).  These nice people told about the rivalries in their own families and how they thought it was great that these boys could be friends while cheering for different teams.  It just so happened that the two people that came up to talk to us (at different times) were both wearing the USA hats that the Olympic team (and many others) wore here in Salt Lake in 2002.  You can picture that blue beret kind of hat that says USA around the rim, right? 

Here's the funny part.....  Right as we were getting ready to leave another man came and sat down behind us.  He was from another country (we saw Japan, China, Germany, Sweden and others there) I could tell by his accent and broken English.  He asked if I was from the US. I said yes. He asked if I was from Utah.  I told him I lived here.  He asked I was a former skater!! and if that's why I was bringing my kids to see all the skating!!  I laughed hard and said, "No, we just came for fun."  He said, "Oh I thought maybe you were a skater a long time ago and I wanted your autograph."  Now I was really laughing and asked where he was from.  He said he was from Holland and we did some more small talk, said good bye and left.

My dad and I had a good laugh as we walked to the parking lot!!!  On the way home R was sitting in the front seat and it totally hit me..... That guy from Holland saw a couple of other people come to chat with us (about the boys sweatshirts).  But he didn't know we were talking about BYU vs Utah.  He probably has never even heard of BYU vs Utah.  All he saw were people, obviously from the USA cause of their Olympic hats, come and talk to us, thinking they were recognizing ME from.... I don't know what.... some former team?  Now Ry and I had a good laugh.

My dad said I should have just signed the program he was holding. 

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day!!!  We have so many friends and family that we are greatful for and love SO much.  What a fun day to remember everyone we LOVE and to make sure we let them know how much we love them.

Jr. Jazz

Ryan's Jr. Jazz season is half over and I didn't have any pictures of his games.  So at his game on Saturday I was snapping away!  The only problem is that the lighting in those schools is so crappy.  In the last 4 years he's been playing basketball I have yet to get a great picture in those gyms. 

He's having a fun season even though he hasn't won them all.  His baseball team, the Utah Havoc decided to play basketball together.  I think for the first time the winning/losing isn't as big of a deal to him.  He just LOVES to be with and play with his baseball buddies!!

Here's the best I got from the game.  He's the blue #40.

He made his free throw shots.  They were both "nothin' but net" - Perfect!!!

So, they lost by only 2 baskets but I think Ry was happy that he did really good and of course had fun playing with his friends.  Go Blue!!! 

Please Don't Feed the Animals

When I put Lacie in her seat to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack, the dog appears out of nowhere.  Here's how it goes......  (Some may think this is gross, but it's just part of life around here).

I don't have to sweep that much under her chair either.  Just Kidding! (but it's kinda true)

Friends

FRIENDS.  Good FRIENDS.  This is what I want most for my children.  My personal opinion is that if you have good friends, friends that do good, friends that "choose the right", friends that are a good example and make you want to "choose the right" also, then everything else will fall into place. 

So, a couple weeks ago we found out a boy in our neighborhood and LDS ward has cancer.  Now lets back up almost 2 months ago.  Ryan has a really close friend who lost his dad to cancer on Dec. 3.  The day of the funeral the weather was snowy/rainy, basically yucky. But when we got home Ry got out his basketball and went outside for a long time.  He shot hoops for close to an hour, apparently working some stuff out in his mind.  I thought we had talked it all out.......

Now Ry has lots of questions! Poor guy has gotten a dose of real life in the last few months.  Then we find out this boys family is planning a head shaving party cause they are starting treatments this week.  We told the R and T about it and asked if they would support this family (and their friend) and shave their heads. It was more than just a question, it became a conversation for several days.  So to make a long story short last Friday Jan. 21 there was a head shaving party.  There were so many people they had to change it from their house to the church to fit everyone.  We didn't know everyone cause this boy's football team came also!  Anyway here are some pictures from that night.  But first, back to FRIENDS..... I'm so glad I'm surrounded by people like this.  Even more grateful my kids are surrounded by people that are willing to support each other and be good friends!

(Ryan and Toby went first.  Larry got his head shaved also but it wasn't quite as drastic as the boys!)

**I don't know how to put all the photos in a cute collage thing all together so this will take some scrolling**

RYAN



TOBY

LARRY

THE BOYS

WITH SOME FRIENDS

GOOD Friends - SO Important!

Lacie

We can't believe our baby Lacie will be 1year old in a month and a half!!  A couple of weeks ago she figured out the whole crawling thing!  She was so close, for so long and all it took was for the kids to open up the doors on the entertainment center.  She saw all the videos and DVD's spill out and she had to get to them, so off she went!

Here she is the other night.

Poor girl, poor me, Lac hasn't been sleeping very well for the last couple of months.  First, she got a couple of new teeth then a terrible cold.  So, yes, she has been sleeping in our bed.  Last night was the first time she was in her crib in months!  But now that she is crawling, naptime (in our bed) is a little more exciting.  As soon as she wakes up or if she doesn't fall asleep right away, she rolls over and sits up.  The other day when my Dad was over staying with the kids he was having a hard time getting her to sleep.  He said she would crawl right to the edge of the bed and he was afraid she would go off.  She probably would, he's right.  So I came home and this is what he had built on the floor of my room.  He said she had a hard time gettitng over the pillows, so he felt she was more safe.  Of course he's right, again.

And here she is getting into everything.  This time she found Alexa's sucker she had left on the floor (in a bag).  I thought she had been quiet over by the toys for a while.  She of course had been busy with the giant sucker!  And LOVED it!!!

Look at her nasty shirt and her face.  Her dirty mouth is kinda hard to see but it's all sticky and fuzzy (from the carpet?) and brown from all the different colors on the sucker.  And that piece of sucker on her leg..... it's totally stuck to her pants.  I picked her up and it didn't fall off.  Gross.

She's a CRAZY girl and we love her.  I have a feeling this summer will be so much fun now that she can get around!