Allstars Round 2- Black Ice

 
 
 

Another summer has come and gone. We pretty much spent the majority of this year at the softball diamonds again. Ashley has definitely taken a liking to the sport we call Softball. She is quite a little athlete and it really has been a lot of fun to watch her continue to grow and develop and she just continuously gets better. She has yet to get sick of it and is playing again this fall. She has had some fantastic coaches and had the chance to have Jeff help out this summer as the assistant coach. We didn't enjoy the winning season we did last year, but were pleasantly surprised at the progress the team made from the beginning of Allstars to the end.

Hats off to Lady Montague

Ashley and I had the opportunity to go down to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City and spend the day there yesterday. Ashley actually got to perform with some kids from her school at the Adams Outdoor Theater, it was very cool!

We drove down late Monday night after a softball srimmage Ashley had so we didn't make it there until about 1:30am. A wonderful friend, (thank you Maryann) let me and Ashley crash with them for the few hours we got to sleep. Ashley had to be up and ready by 7am for her performance at 8:30. Maryann also was kind enough to let me stay at the hotel and sleep and she took the girls over for rehearsal. Ashley played the part of Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet and did such a great job.


 

 

She also got to be in the Witches Chorus for McBeth. The kids all did such a great job! They really spent a lot of time at practices and I was actually kind of annoyed about it, I'm not going to lie. I was even a little frustrated with the fact the the kids were required to go to Cedar City. It was truly a great experience, not only for Ashley, but for me too. So, I'm sorry to anyone that had to listen to me gripe and complain. It won't happen again! ;D

 

We went on a backstage tour of the two big theaters there and that was pretty cool. It is quite amazing the work it takes for those productions to go on. They said that it takes 7 people for every actor to make the show successful, whether it is for costumes, makeup, props, lighting, etc. After the tour, Ashley had a bit of fun and we realized that she isn't just two faced, but more than that!






She also informed me, "Mom, don't you know that it's all about the BLING??"


We decided to finish off the day, by heading to the play, "Pride and Prejudice". We were actually pretty lucky that they had any seats left, it was a full house. It was a fantastic show, very entertaining and the cast did an amazing job.



It was such a quick trip, but it was definitely worth it. I had such a great time with getting to spend some one on one time with Ashley. I'm pretty lucky to have her as my daughter. Oh, and Ashley? By the way...I won (the license plate game). :D

Nothing Happening

Well, ok. There obviously has had to have been some stuff happening around here in seven months. I just need to be honest and let you know that I have been just way too lazy to post anything new. I really need to step it up a notch and with summer vacation coming in a few short days, I will try to do better.

The last couple months have been non stop with softball for both Megan and Ashley. Meg's final game was last night and Ashley's is on thursday, but then Ashley is trying out for Allstar's again this year and will be pretty surprised if she doesn't end up on the roster. She has been doing so awesome this season. It has been really fun to watch her games. Megan has done great as well. I was pretty bummed because at one of her first games, she got nailed in the face with the ball and ended up with a huge, fat, bleeding lip for a few days and also caused her to become very timid around the ball, understandably so. I actually begged her to let me take a picture of it, but she wouldn't let me. :D She is a trooper though and ended up playing really well and hitting like a pro!

Parks decided that he wasn't interested in playing baseball this year and secretly I was thrilled. I don't know how we would have managed with him playing ball and Ashley and Meg's schedule too. The girls both had two games a week, so we weren't home much anyway. He is still loving racing his bmx bike and is thrilled that the outdoors are starting up, so he'll be racing shortly.

CJ of course is the life of the party around these parts. He loves his siblings and likes to follow them wherever they go and wants to do whatever they do to. CJ is LOVING baseball. He is out hitting the ball anytime he has a chance. He can actually hit the ball when it's tossed to him. Hopefully, he'll make us millions! haha!



Summer is coming! The kid's last day of school is on friday and I'm looking forward to them being around for a bit.

Happy Birthday Parker!

 
Parker is seven today. I can hardly believe it. It's seems like he's grown up quite a bit in the last year, more this year than others. He was busy playing baseball in the spring and a few months ago he started racing his bmx bike and he is in heaven. He loves it. I have had quite a few proud mom moments this year watching him progress in the things he loves. How did I get to be so lucky to be his mom???
 

A Rebirth and the Day of the Dead

I'm two weeks late about posting pictures for Halloween and also we had a very special day for our family on Halloween. Megan was baptised on that very day. When I first was told that the stake baptism day was on Halloween, I think I was a little bit bothered by it at first. Why would they do that? A baptism on a holiday like that? It really was just a moment though, it was as if I got the answer just as quickly. Why not today? What's really more important? A silly holiday of dress up and candy or an opportunity to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost? Megan will never have to try and remember the date of her baptism.


Megan with Jeff


She looked beautiful in her dress!

It was a very intimate family gathering and it meant so much to have Jeff's parents, Amy, Ray and their family, Becky, Todd and their family, and Debbie, Brian, and Crue there. I was also so grateful to have Sassy (my mom) be able to be here, my sister Elysse, and my brothers Jim and Jason also take the time out of their busy schedules to be there to support Megan.


I'm so lucky that I get to be Megan's mom. She is such a great kid. She is truly a tenderheart and is so kind. She is a great sister (she has her moments, as we all do). She fits just perfectly in our family. I'm so proud of her!


It wasn't but a few hours after the baptism that we started gearing up for the night ahead. This year, the three older kids decided they wanted to dress up as vampires/zombie type creepy things. CJ, on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the costume thing. We tried a dragon costume, he screamed until we took it off. We also tried some motocross gear. I thought for sure, he would be excited about that, but no, not at all. Oh well! Good thing he is kid number four, I just decided it wasn't worth the fight, so he stayed home with Jeff and watched the World Series. (Sorry, for those of you who came by. I had a huge bowl of candy with lots of back up, which of course was still here when I got home. Jeff was in the basement, too concerned with the outcome of the game. Come on back by, you don't even have to dress up and I will give you the candy I owe you! :D ) I got some great shots of the kids in their costumes. I might even use one of them for our Christmas photo this year! haha.








CJ looks so festive, doesn't he?? (eye roll)



Don't you think this would work on a Christmas Card??

Family pictures...FINALLY

It has been close to five years since we have had professional family pictures taken. I have gotten some pictures of just the kids, but felt like it was time to get a decent one with all of us.

I of course, was a total basket case on Wednesday before the appointment because I was trying to make sure all the clothes I was having everyone wear was going to work. I think I pulled it together pretty good, thank goodness.

A sweet friend of mine, Joanna, has a very talented husband who is a photographer. They actually live in Ohio and he was in town doing a wedding and had made some time to do a sitting for us. We went to the Gateway and I am thrilled at how the pictures turned out. He had taken so many great shots, I just hope I can narrow them down!!

Check out the pictures and let me know what you think!

Pie...umm, ummm, GOOD!

Ok, so I have a confession to make. I haven't really eaten pie, ever. Maybe, not ever. Well, except just recently. (story to come)I have been afraid of pie. Now, I really like ice cream pie, but does that count? I don't know if it's the crust thing...have I been afraid of the crust? could be. I like oreo and graham cracker crusts, I've had those with the ice cream pie... Is the the fruit thing? maybe that too. It just doesn't seem right to eat warm fruit, in my mind fruit needs to be chilled. I have also stayed away from cobblers too, same reason, I think.

The pie introduction: A few weeks ago, a very good friend of mine called and left a message that she had made a pie for me for my birthday and for me to give her a call when I got home because she wanted to bring it by. Well, some of you know how pathetic I am at checking my messages on my home phone, so I didn't pick my messages up until the following day. I gave Brandice a call back, we had a great conversation and chatted for awhile. She had told me that her husband had dug into the pie later that same day because I hadn't got back to them. He didn't want the pie to go "bad", but we know deep down he was pretty bummed in the first place because no pie was being made for their families, just as gifts for me and another friend. She told me that she was going to make me another one and bring it over. It really meant so much to me that she would think of me and do something like that for me, I have never made a pie, but I do know they they take ALOT of work. I couldn't break her the news and tell her that I wasn't a pie person. I kept my mouth shut, and now gratefully so.

A couple days later she and Mike came by and dropped off by the pie and it just looked so pretty, but I felt so bad because I just didn't "do" pie. I should have let her know, but I just couldn't. She said that she had planned on doing a strawberry pie, but had to add some rasberries because some strawberries had been confiscated by an unnamed child. :D
 
(I didn't think to take picture before we dug in)

As soon as the two of them left, Jeff couldn't wait but to dive in. He grabbed a slice and started eating. He went crazy over it, he couldn't stop talking about how wonderful it was. I just had to try it, just give it a chance. So, I asked for a bite. I just didn't know if I was ready for a whole slice. I took a bite, and it was WONDERFUL! I grabbed my own plate and got my own slice and enjoyed the savory, goodness of it all.
 
What had I done to myself? Here I am, 33 years old and I have negleted pie for all of these years. I have to admit, it's almost criminal. I will change my bad habits and move forward. I'm actually looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. Dessert time at Thanksgiving has never been real exciting for me because it always pie, but this year will be different!

Brandice, please don't hate me for not telling you. Thank you for opening my eyes (and stomach) to the awesomeness of pie. You are so thoughtful to take the time and do something like that for me. It truly meant alot!