Ropelato Family

Bagged, Tagged and Ready to Go!!

2012-02-01T22:19:00.003-07:00

It's that time of YEAR!!

Yesterday and today, I got everything ready for our 14 Days of Valentine's! Everything is put together with a treat and valentine! Mallory, Hayley and Brittney are so excited to see what has been left for them each morning!

Happy 14 Days Before Valentine's to ALL!!

Super Reader Party

2012-01-14T20:56:00.003-07:00

In November, Mallory, Hayley and Brittney participated in a Reading Marathon where they read at least 20 minutes per night for 4 weeks. Each of them met their goal of reading at least 480 and were invited to a fun to a fun celebration at the Utah State Fairpark. We were able to watch a star show, make slime, plant flower seeds, make crowns, watch a magic show, make masks, eat snow cones, make capes, see animals from Madagascar (a cockroach, turtle, millipede and a hedgehog) and make harmonicas. We also watched an anteater run circles in an empty plastic pool!! The girls also received a brand new book!!

One of the highlights was to meet several characters from PBS Kids! We met Curious George, the Cat in the Hat, and Dog from Word World! (My girls LOVE PBS Kids!!!)

Hayley: a chemist in action measuring chemicals to create Glitter Slime

Hayley, Brittney and Mallory listening to the zoologist from Hogle Zoo talk about anteaters

Brittney and Mallory blowing a pompom through a maze

Hayley shooting a dart gun (I was amazed at how well all 3 of our girls did hitting the target!)

Brittney and the Cat in the Hat

Hayley and The Cat

Mallory and the Cat in the Hat

Hayley and Dog from Word World

Brittney and Curious George

Mallory making her "I Feel Super" cape

We had a great time together as a family!!

Scott's Ice Fishing Trip to Rockport

2012-01-12T21:47:00.001-07:00

Scott enjoyed his day off today by going ice fishing by himself at Rockport. He came home with 4 yummy trout for dinner!! (The longest two were both 17 inches long, one was 14 inches and one 13 inches).

Grateful Santa Doesn't Fulfill EVERY Childhood Wish

2012-01-10T12:14:00.006-07:00

For Christmas, Mallory asked Santa for Squinkies (Squinkies are little characters/animals that come in a little bubble). A few days before Christmas, Mallory started asking for additional accessories for Squinkies that she really wanted. I explained to Mallory that Santa probably had all her presents ready for her and it was too late to ask for something new.

Santa ended up bringing Mallory a package of 16 Squinkies and the Squinkie Mall didn't make it in Santa's Sack this year!!

On Christmas, Mallory created "Beds" for all of her Squinkies out of Legos. Over the past few weeks she has created her own Squinkie Amusement Park and her own Assesories to play with. It has been so fun to listen to Mallory explain everything she has created and how things work. I love seeeing her imagination at work!!

Here is a look at her creations:

The Squinkies beds (the special green bed with flowers on it is for the Squinkie of the Day--each night the Squinkies move one bed to the right so they all have the opportunity to be Squinkie of the Day)

A closer look at the Squinkie Beds

The Squinkie Amusement Park (made from our Geotrax train tracks). In the center of the Amusement Park is the blue duck pond (water=blue lid to a bin; ducks=Legos and lilypads=Legos)

The Squinkies Airplane

The Squinkies Restaraunt inside the Amusement Park (notice the yellow flower on the table inbetween the two high back chairs)

The ducks and lilypads on the pond in the center of the Roller Coaster

A closer look at the ducks

I LOVE IT!!!

My Thirty Something Birthday

2012-01-04T22:21:00.001-07:00

This morning, I woke up and made lunches and got Scott off to work. As soon as Mallory, Hayley and Brittney woke up, they made me go get back in bed. They have secretly been planning to make me breakfast in bed all week for my birthday (I kindof heard their plans on more than one occasion--they don't always use a whisper voice;)). I jumped back in bed so they could serve me my breakfast in bed!! They were so funny to listen to as they prepared my special breakfast! After about 5-7 minutes, they brought me a small cookie sheet with a bowl of Oreo Ice Cream and a glass of red Kool-Aid that they had made. After delivering my tray, they all scurried downstairs to dish themselves up a bowl of ice cream too! (I'm sure there teachers at school had second thoughts about my mothering skills when my girls went to school and announced they had ice cream for breakfast!!) Mallory, Hayley and Brittney all joined me on my bed to eat our bowls of ice cream for breakfast! They also brought me a box of 20-30 pictures and cards they had made for me throughout the week! I am so lucky to have such three wonderful little girls who made my birthday so memorable!

I really didn't do anything on my birthday that I normally do (like laundry, dishes and cleaning--I saved it for the next day). I watched "The Biggest Loser" episode from the night before while Brittney was at preschool and read a book for awhile too. I received many "Happy Birthday's" from friends and family on Facebook. I have wonderful friends that dropped by little gifts that made turning Thirty Something not quite so bad!!

I also received the beautiful family pictures we had taken in November for my birthday!! I love them and am so glad they are part of my birthday gift!!

Scott brought home an ice cream cake on Friday night for an additional day of my birthday celebration!!

Me, in bed, eating my wonderful breakfast of Oreo Ice Cream and red Kool-Aid (You have to love the "I just woke up 20 minutes ago" look)

My tray!! (I really ought to scrub that cookie sheet!)

Hayley and I eating our ice cream

Hayley loves the idea of eating ice cream for breakfast

Brittney and Mallory taking a picture of my Birthday Cake with their own cameras

Brittney, Mallory and Hayley taking pictures with their own cameras!!

So silly!!

Brittney Helping Herself

2012-01-01T22:45:00.001-07:00

My BABY is growing up!!! Brittney wanted some strawberries after church today so she got herself a stool, knife and the strawberries and washed them and cut off their tops (plus a little bit more)!! Brittney is growing up WAY TOO FAST!!!

New Year's Eve

2012-01-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

Scott made homemade shakes for everyone on New Year's Eve!! We all got to choose which kind of shake we wanted and Scott went to work!! They were delicious!! This just may be a new New Year's Eve tradition!!

Brittney waiting for her Strawberrry Shake

The Shake Master at work!! (in the background behind Hayley ;))

Hayley's Oreo Shake

Mallory's Butterfinger Shake

Ice Fishing at Smith and Moorehouse Reservoir

2011-12-29T22:52:00.001-07:00

Today we went to test out Scott's new Ice Fishing equipment he received for Christmas! First we drove to Rockport Reservoir and drove around. Because it has been so warm, the ice had about an inch of water on top of it. We decided this may not be the best scenario for ice fishing with three little girls so we drove up to Smith and Moorehouse Reservoir in the Uinta's. Scott had his sled packed to the hilt with our canopy (with tarps around all four sides to keep the heat in), clamps, chairs, a heater, auger, ice fishing poles, tackle box, a fish finder, a single burner camp stove, mess kit, cooler and even a port-a-potty (he realized he might not get four girls to go fishing with him until he had all the amenities of home-- or at least the amenities of our trailer--which we so very much appreciated). Scott used his muscles to pull the packed sled across the ice! He kept going and going and going until we were in the middle of the reservoir! We set up our fishing hut and Scott dug several holes in the ice (which was 12 inches thick) before we realized I forgot the bait back in the truck. I walked the 1/2 mile or so back to the truck and retrieved the bait while Scott got his fish finder all set up. The girls had fun playing on the ice and getting their gloves all wet! After an hour of watching our poles and waiting for them to move, we decided to fix lunch since the fish weren't biting. Scott fired up our single burner camp stove and heated our chicken we brought for chicken sandwiches. We watched our poles some more and they never moved. After four hours, we began to pack up. Scott kept warning the girls to stay away from the holes in the ice so they didn't fall in. Just as we were finishing up, Hayley's foot fell into one of the holes. I wish we would have taken a picture at the instant of her face, she knew she was in trouble because she was goofing around!! Luckily, only one foot got wet, so Hayley and I took off for the truck so we could get her warm. We arrived at the truck and got everything loaded just as it was getting dark. We had a fun time testing out our ice fishing equipment without any luck catching our dinner! Maybe next time! Mallory

Brittney and Hayley kickin' back

The view of our hut from the truck

Mallory scooping out the ice chips--the little Buddy Heater to keep us warm is right by Hayley

Hayley scooping ice before the scoop got broken

Britt B

Scott checking the fish finder--every once in awhile a fish would swim by

Cooking lunch

Scott and Hayley

Brittney and Erin

Erin and Mallory

Meet Rosie- our little Elf

2011-12-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

Rosie has been visiting our house the last few days!! After heading to the North Pole last night, she came back and hid in Scott's stocking!! We have found her on our Christmas tree, on the refrigerator and among the Little People Nativity. Where will we find her next??

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

OUR GIRLIES

2011-11-27T18:05:00.004-07:00

2011-11-27T17:57:00.001-07:00

BRITTNEY

2011-11-27T17:50:00.003-07:00

HAYLEY

2011-11-27T17:43:00.004-07:00

MALLORY

2011-11-26T23:46:00.003-07:00

Family Pictures

2011-11-26T23:18:00.004-07:00

Scott surprised me with a photo session with our good friend and neighbor, Emily Bailey as an anniversary/Christmas gift! I was very excited to have Emily take our pictures because it has been a long time since we've had family pictures! We had a fun time together and sooo many pictures came back that we really liked. Here are a few of our favorites of all of us together!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T23:40:00.007-06:00

Happy Father's Day!!!

We are so blessed to have the best fathers in the world in lives!!!

The girls wanted me to buy Scott doughnuts for breakfast so they could serve him doughnuts in bed. Scott was up and out of bed before anyone else woke up but the girls still got him doughnuts for breakfast!

Scott was showered with a few gifts!

Here is the fun 6-pack of Scott's favorite treats: Swedish Fish, gummy bears, honey roasted peanuts, M&M's, and corn nuts. We would not let Scott in the house for awhile last night as we were filling and covering his bottles!!

The girls each colored and wrote in this booklet we found all about dad! They answered questions about their daddy and it was quite funny! Here is Scott reading the booklet Mallory, Hayley and Brittney made for him.

We also got Scott the book "Seven Tipping Points that Saved the World". (Scott read the first 50 pages tonight before he went to bed! We gave my dad the same book today too.)

Scott received a new pump for his basketball!! (The little girl who bent his old one shall remain nameless- but oh, she's sitting on his lap!! She kept trying to pump up her ball that has a hole in it without any luck and bent the needle!)

After church my parents stopped by and visited for awhile. We then went out to visit Scott's Dad and give him his gift. We gave him some chocolate and a coupon to go to dinner and a movie (he says he hasn't seen a movie in the theater for 10+ years).

Scott is the best dad in the whole world!! Our little girls have their daddy wrapped right around their little fingers! He loves to play with his little girls! They are always asking him to jump on the trampoline with them, swing with them, give them underdogs, play soccer or basketball with them, go on a bike ride with them and he does. They definitely know who to ask for ice cream or a popsicle, a treat at bedtime or to stay up late!

We so appreciate you calling us together for family prayers and scripture study!

We love you SCOTT!!!

Miller Motor Sports Park

2011-06-17T21:55:00.000-06:00

Today we went to Miller Motor Sports Park in Grantsville. Scott needed to go and look at a trailer there that needs fixed and he took all of us along for the ride to keep him company! This was our first visit! We were able to see bullet bikes racing around the track at top speeds (175+ mph) as they prepared for a big race tomorrow. We even saw a bike crash on its way around a curve and luckily the rider was able to walk away from it! We watched young kids (4 years old and older) racing go-carts too! The trailer Scott needed to do an estimate on, was for a company that fixes Porsche race cars! We went on a tour of their garages and saw several of the race cars they prepare for races. Mallory, Hayley and Brittney were quite fascinated by it all! People who race cars, motorcycles, and go carts have some serious moola!!!!

Racing is a very expensive sport (right Tera?)!!!

Watching the bullet bikes--Scott thinks he needs another bullet bike now!!

Mallory enjoying her ice cream as she watched the bullet bikes zoom by!

Hayley "How much longer until we go home?"

Brittney enjoying some gummy frogs!

Erin--this is the only picture we have that captured and actual bullet bike in it!

Mallory, Erin and Brittney by one of the Porsche race cars--Brittney was terrified of a huge dog that was walking around that looked just like a bear cub!

Mallory and Hayley by another Porsche

Park City Mini Vacation

2011-06-16T23:27:00.001-06:00

At the last minute, my parents were able to secure two of their timeshares in Park City this week. Mallory, Hayley, Brittney and I went up Wednesday morning and stayed until Thursday afternoon. It was such a short trip, but it was soooo nice to get away. I really wish we could have stayed longer but we had other commitments on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The girls were so excited to go and stay in a condo overnight! We stayed at the Marriot Summit Watch Resort which is sooo nice. My parents had two separate units (they were across the plaza from each other--we literally could look inside each other's living room windows across the way) with three king sized beds between the two and three pull out couches! When we arrived on Wednesday morning, we unloaded all our stuff. Mallory, Hayley and Brittney each had their bag of clothes, a backpack of toys, a blanket and their Pillow Pet. We looked like we were staying for a whole week instead of just overnight! I guess I didn't pack very lightly either because I brought a few projects and books to read, just in case I had time (I didn't)! After we dropped all of our things off in the room, we went with my Mom to check out the facilities (the pool, the kids club room, the kids activities, etc.) before we ate lunch. My SIL Tera and her two kiddos, Ella and Ezra, arrived (my youngest sister Becca and her kids, Chloe and Wesley, were already there--they were lucky and able to stay the entire week with my parents). While Ella and Ezra tried to take a nap, Mallory, Hayley and Wesley fingerpainted! They had so much fun!

Later, we took the kids swimming and they had a blast! I made Mallory, Hayley and Brittney all wear the life jackets the entire time unless they were in the hot tub or when I worked with them on their swimming one-on-one! The pool was a lot warmer than I thought it would be! We stayed at the pool for about 2 hours before it was time to shower and get ready for dinner. At dinnertime, Aleece and John and their kids: Kaitlin, A.J., and Arika arrived as well as my sister Leslie and her kids Conner and Griffin. We had quite the house full for dinner but we had a great time just being together!

We didn't end up going to bed until almost 11 p.m.! Mallory and Hayley had staked out the window seats as their beds when we first arrived. Brittney and I slept in the fold out couch with Conner, A.J. and Kaitlin on the floor in the living room! It took the cousins awhile to settle themselves down so they could go to sleep!

On Thursday, we ate breakfast, got ready and headed to a park down the road. We all played there until my girls and I dashed back to the condo to grab and stuff, eat a sandwich and get on the road home!

It was such a nice mini-vacation! I so wish we could have stayed longer--I never got the chance to head to the outlets shopping!! Maybe next time!!

Hayley and Brittney fingerpainting

Mallory and Wesley--Wesley LOVES red!

Britt Bee

Hayley hanging out in the hot tub!

Mallory lounging in the hot tub!

Ella

Dad, Aleece and lots of the kids going for a walk on the plaza between our rooms!

Conner, Mallory, Aleece, Kaitlin, Brittney, Wesley, A.J., Dad and Hayley (on Grandpa's shoulders)

Mallory's Window Seat bed--with a very HEAVY blanket

Connor and A.J. on the floor in front of the fireplace

Hayley and Kaitlin--the best little cousin friends!

Brittney gets to sleep with MOM!! Lucky girl!!

Brittney, Mallory, A.J. Kaitlin, Conner, Chloe, Wesley (hiding in the back of the stroller), Arika and Hayley under THE SHOE TREE in Park City on the trail to the park

Mallory at the Musical Park (they were lots of wood and metal things with sticks to bang on--very creative!)

Hayley playing some pieces of wood!

Ella--what a cutie!!

Brittney went in search of her own sticks!!

Hayley swinging at the park

Brittney hanging on for dear life!

Wes flying through the air with Becca ready to catch him!

Brittney digging in the sand

Mallory's 7th Birthday

2011-03-19T22:20:00.001-06:00

Mallory woke up this morning and said "What if I woke up tomorrow morning and there were balloons all over my floor for my birthday?". Well, we hope all of Mallory's birthday wishes come true!!! We love you Mallory!!!

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Park City Weekend

2011-02-26T23:10:00.006-07:00

This weekend we had the opportunity to go watch Taylor - Scott's niece and the girl's cousin- who came from Pennsylvania, compete in a gymnastics meet in Park City. We found out about the meet back in September and have had the dates reserved since then. The girls have been asking constantly since then how much longer until we could see Taylor and Cameron. You would have thought it was Christmas around here the past week--the girls have been soooo excited!!! We decided to make a mini-vacation out of it! Scott's mom and her two friends flew up from Arizona, Scott's dad and all of his brother's and their families came up too! We had quite the cheering section for the girls from Prestige Gymnastics, Taylor's club in Pennsylvania!! Taylor did awesome!! She won 1st place in the all-around for her age division for Level 8 (she also won 1st two weeks ago in Chicago!!)!! There were clubs in Park City from Utah, Nevada, California, Florida, Arizona and of course, Pennsylvania! Hayley, Taylor, Brittney and Mallory after the meet--Taylor is sporting 2 Gold Metals, a Silver, a Bronze and a 6th Place ribbon!! Taylor's club gave each of the girls these cute T-shirts to wear!! Overall, Taylor's club did very well at this meet!

Taylor standing on the podium (center) after receiving her Gold Medal for the All-Around!!

Taylor (front in the black and blue leo) with her teammate during the Opening Introductions!

Hayley, in the hotel room, playing a game on Mom's phone.
Obviously, us parents, aren't as funny as we think we are! LOL I'm sure we will see this look many more times when Hayley is a teenager!

Also at the hotel, Mallory was practicing writing in cursive!

Brittney enjoying all the amenities of a hotel room!
Thirty seconds after arriving in the hotel room, Brittney declared, "This is the BEST hotel EVER!! That might be due to the fact that this is Brittney's first hotel experience EVER!

The day before Taylor's Gymnastics Meet, we spent the entire day with Duane & Shari, Taylor and Cameron. We had a great time!!!

After seeing her cousin Cameron riding a miniature snowmobile, Mallory thought "anything a boy can do, a girl can do too"! She had a blast--taking after her dad at a very young age!

Mallory getting ready to make a huge train at Gargoza's tubing hill! It's a great tubing hill because you have a conveyor belt and tow rope to take you to the top of the hill!

Hayley waiting at the bottom of the hill so we could all make another run!

Brittney dragging her tube! She had so much fun doing a BIG KID activity! She was Aunt Shari's little buddy the entire weekend--she wanted nothing to do with her parents!! Brittney giggled the whole way down the hill! The guy at the top of the hill gave up on telling Brittney how to sit correctly in the tube. Girls will do what girls want to do!! You would have thought, that by how old he was, he would have figured that out by now!

On Friday, we also drove up to Midway to see the Ice Castles! They were pretty amazing sculptures we were able to walk through!

Ice Castle's in Midway

GIRLS ONLY CLUB

Hayley's zipper broke on her coat ten minutes after we arrived in Park City. We went to try and find her a new one without success. We ended up buying her a large jacket to wear over her coat so we could zip her up! Silly you can't find a kids winter coat in Park City in the middle of the winter!

Shari, Duane, Cameron and Taylor at the Ice Castles

Our little family in the doorway of one of the Ice Castles!

Taylor, Cameron, Mallory, Hayley and Brittney

Our girls think Taylor is their hero! She is so good and cute with them! Taylor and Shari were ready to pack our little girls home with them because Taylor wants three little sisters. Cameron probably vetoed this idea!! Since we have been home, the girls have been doing cartwheels and somersaults all over the house!

What a great weekend!!

Thank you so much

Duane and Shari!!

We love you!!

The Tale of the Missing Snow Boot

2010-11-29T13:03:00.006-07:00

This morning Mallory and Hayley wanted to wear their snow pants and snow boots to school because there was about 3 inches of snow outside. I told them that was fine and they got all dressed and Mallory could not find one of her snow boots. She had worn them over the weekend and she had left them by the front door. On Saturday, when we were cleaning up, I told Mallory to get her boots and go put them in her closet. Well, one boot made it to the closet but the other was no where to be found. We searched everywhere (as much as you can search when you only have 30 minutes before the carpool to school leaves)!!! We pulled everything out of the bottom of her closet to see if the boot had fallen out of her shoe basket, we dumped out the shoe basket numerous times, we search under the bed, behind the bed and in all her drawers. We searched in all the bedrooms and under the beds. We searched the hall closet, the kitchen and the family room. I even went so far to search in the Christmas decoration bins that we had emptied on Saturday and taken back downstairs. The boot was no where to be found!! I told Mallory that in her morning prayers before school that she could maybe ask Heavenly Father to help her find her boot. I sent a very sad little Mallory to school with her "dress up" boots on because we couldn't find the snow boot. I told Mallory, as she walked out the door, that I would bring her boot to school if I found it (I volunteer in her first grade class every Monday)

After I got Mallory and Hayley off to school, Brittney and I sat down for some breakfast (Mallory and Hayley get breakfast at school--sometimes they eat at home and at school but today they just wanted to eat at school). Brittney was just about ready to say the blessing on the food and I told her that maybe she could ask Heavenly Father to help us find Mallory's boot. Amazingly, Brittney remembered to ask for help in her prayer (along with saying "Help us to be safe" about 3-4 times!!). After the prayer was over, Brittney and I began to eat. I looked down into the family room and I saw the pile of blankets we leave down by the couch to keep us warm and which the girls use to build forts. I told Brittney, "I think I need to go check under the blankets downstairs" and I went down and moved each one--still no boot. As I was stacking the blankets again Brittney said, "Look behind the Love Sac, Mom". I walked over to the Love Sac (our big bean bag chair) and I looked behind it and guess what I saw??? Yep, there was the boot just sitting there!!! Brittney and I were both so excited!! I had Brittney kneel down with me to say another prayer to thank Heavenly Father for helping us find the boot. After the prayer was done, I asked Brittney, "Do you know who helped us find the boot?". Brittney said, "Yes, Heavenly Father did!" I took a little moment to talk to Brittney about how Heavenly Father sent the Holy Ghost to help her know where the boot was. The Holy Ghost told her to tell me to look behind the Love Sac!! Brittney was so excited!!!

This was our little miracle that happened today!! I know little miracles happen all around us each and every day!! I really need to take more time daily to recognize these little miracles--both for myself and for my little girls!! I need to remember to sit down and record these little miracles too!! These little miracles will help build my little girls' faith and also their testimonies!! They are going to need to be sooo strong in the coming years!!

I really need to take time daily to help my girls to feel the Holy Ghost and then help them to RECOGNIZE the Holy Ghost and what it feels like!! I am so glad for this little experience this morning!!! One thing I noticed was that the house was more calm and quiet after Mallory and Hayley left for school (mornings are always crazy as we are all trying to get dressed, hair done, teeth brushed, etc.) --it was an easier time to feel and recognize the Holy Ghost!!

A few months ago I was reading the Church News. I was reading an article and a quote a mother said really made an impression on me. She said, "We as parents need to make opportunities for our kids to feel the spirit every day." I have thought a lot about that and I know it is important. want to add to it to say, "We as parents need to make opportunities for our kids to feel AND RECOGNIZE the spirit every day."

All Wrapped Up

2010-11-27T21:26:00.001-07:00

We have one of our favorite family Christmas Traditions all ready to go!!! I wrapped 32 of our favorite Christmas books to place under the tree. Each night, we choose a book to read before we go to bed (I know there are less than 32 days until Christmas but I had to wrap all 32 of these books--I have about 25 others I didn't wrap--maybe I have too many Christmas books:)). Mallory, Hayley and Brittney love it!! They can't wait until it is their turn to choose a book!!

Here is a list of our favorite books we have wrapped under the Christmas tree:

I Believe in Santa by Diane Adamson
Christmas Oranges by Linda Bethers
Franklin's Christmas Gift by Paulette Bourgeois
Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett
The Night Before Christmas by Jan Brett
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jan Brett
The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett
Who's that Knocking on Christmas Eve? by Jan Brett
Who Was Born this Special Night? by Eve Bunting
Dream Snow by Eric Carle
King of the Stable by Melody Carlson
This is the Season Beloved of the Year by Simon Dewey
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans
Wombat Divine by Mem Fox
The Stable Where Jesus Was Born by Rhonda Gowler Greene
The Legend of the Christmas Rose by William Hooks
The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt
Froggy's Best Christmas by Jonathan Londen
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
A Child Was Born by Grace Maccarone
Come and See: A Christmas Story by Monica Mayper
Santa's Book of Names by David McPhail
The Christmas Star by Marcus Pfister
Sarah's Christmas Star by Kit Poole
Cookie Count by Robert Sabuda
The 12 Days of Christmas by Robert Sabuda
The Remarkable Christmas of the Cobbler's Sons by Ruth Sawyer
The Christmas Pea Coat by Richard Schneider
The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
The Polar Express by Chris VanAllsburg
Small One by Alex Walsh
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

Christmas Decorating

2010-11-27T17:17:00.000-07:00

According to Mallory, Hayley and Brittney--WE FINALLY GOT OUR CHRISTMAS TREE UP!!! We finally took the plunge and bought an artificial tree--a prelit one even (Christmas lights and I do not get along very well so I was very excited for the pre-lit tree)!! Scott and I sat and watched the girls decorate the tree. They had a blast!! It took Brittney about 2-3 minutes just to hang one ornament but she was so excited when it didn't fall off the tree. The girls started getting really silly as they laid down under the tree to hang the ornaments down low. After all the ornaments were hung, the girls began making their own snowflakes to hang on the tree too! We definitely have a "Kid Tree"--it is very ornament heavy near the bottom!

The girls have been sooo excited for Christmas this year!! I had to remind myself that I was once a little girl too and I was always very excited for Christmas. The girls set up our Little People Nativity Set (we have the whole set now, which we absolutely love--the girls can arrange and rearrange it to their hearts content and I don't have to worry about it) in the windowsill and they each got to choose a few decorations to put in their bedrooms!!

Princess Hayley (Mallory and Hayley went to a Princess Birthday Party earlier today)

Princess Mallory

Hayley trying to decorate the underside of the tree!!!

Brittney (Brittney dressed herself this morning--she thinks it's summertime outside --it's a cold 20 degrees outside--FREEZING!)

Brittney trying to hang an ornament

Mallory hanging a few under the tree

The Ropelato household is ready for Christmas!!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-25T22:37:00.003-07:00

Scott's brother Jerry and his wife, Darinda, hosted Thanksgiving this year at their home in Huntsville. Everything was delicious!! Mallory, Hayley and Brittney got to sit at the little kid tables along with their cousins in Princess chairs. They were in Heaven!! Scott and I sat at the bar--right in front of the turkey and mashed potatoes!! We didn't even have to stand up to get seconds! They were the best seats in the house (well, maybe Larry and Dawn had the best seats because they were at the bar right in front of all the yummy pies)!! We had wonderful food and great company!! It was so nice to sit around and visit with Scott's family!! We don't see each other near enough, in my opinion!

Mallory, Hayley and Brittney love playing at Aunt Darinda's house! She has the biggest and best collection of dress up clothes!! All the girls would go upstairs and get all dressed up, then they would come downstairs and parade through the dining room and kitchen and head back upstairs to change into a new outfit. They came through at least 4 times and we never saw an outfit twice!!

There is so much to be grateful for at this time of year! I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of a loving Heavenly Father and for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for a husband who loves me despite my weaknesses and shortcoming. I am so grateful for Scott's perfectionisms and for the hard worker he is. He is the best father to our three little girls and a wonderful husband!! I am so grateful for my little girls--they are so loving and good. They are so thoughtful and forgiving. They remind me daily of our Heavenly Father's great love for all of His children!!

What a wonderful day!!

Scott teasing his niece, Shannon--isn't that what uncles do best!!

Jocelyn, Mallory and McKell (with her back to us)

Kaitlin, Lexi, Hayley and Brittney

Grandma Donna and Mallory

Scott and Mallory

Scott and I (this is the only picture me--Thanks for taking it Dawn--I have food in my mouth but it's proof I am here;))

Hayley

Lexi, Hayley and Brittney

Lexi (the little one in black), Jasmin, Jocelyn (hiding in the back), McKell, Mallory, Hayley and Brittney pausing for a photo shoot during one of their Costume Parades!!

The First Big Snow of the Year!!

2010-11-24T23:02:00.000-07:00

Mallory, Hayley and Brittney were so excited to go play in the first big snow of the season! We had to drag out the snow pants, boots, gloves and hats and get them all bundled up to go outside! They marched outside in a single file line and went out where they could make snow angels. They jumped and slid all over the trampoline! Brittney was outside a total of about 4 minutes before she came in crying because she had fallen in the snow and her mitten had fallen off--she was done for the day and didn't want to go out again. Mallory and Hayley went and found some friends to play with and they ended up staying outside for about an hour!! They never did get the hot chocolate they asked for--ooops!!

Hayley's Thanksgiving Feast in Kindergarten

2010-11-18T23:11:00.001-07:00

Hayley's Kindergarten Class had their Thanksgiving Feast at school today. I was so lucky to go and eat turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls and a pumpkin cookie with my little Native American!! Hayley was so excited to eat lunch at school and I am so glad she was excited to have her mom join her!! I had a wonderful time just with Hayley!

I love you Hayley!!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T23:39:00.001-06:00

Halloween was pretty laid back this year since we celebrated it on Saturday. The girls only had to dress up once (Mallory and Hayley's school doesn't celebrate Halloween at school) which was sooo nice!!

First, we had a Ward Halloween dinner at 4:00 p.m. with Soups, Chili's and Rolls. There were a lot of people there which was great. After we ate, they had a Children's Parade and we were done (no Trunk or Treat this year!!!).

Then we came home and had the girls WAIT until the first Trick or Treaters came to our door!! They were impatient little souls because they were asking every two seconds if they could leave. Finally, after our doorbell rang for the first time, Scott took the girls out!! Mallory and Hayley could have been trick or treating forever but Brittney got tired really quick. Scott took them around the two main blocks in our neighborhood and they all came in with plenty of candy.

After they got home, they all dumped out their stashes and sat there and sorted and traded with one another (just like I used to do when I was a little girl).

Mallory (a Ballerina), Brittney (a Good Little Witch) and Hayley (a leopard)

You can't see me!!!

An Orange Pumpkin Head Leopard

I drew Hayley's nose upside down--oops!!

Brittney and her friend Alyssa at the Ward Halloween Dinner

Ella, Alyssa and Brittney

Hayley, Mallory and Brittney

Mallory and her balloon bracelet made by Becky Bateman in our ward--she made a balloon creation for all the kids as they came to her house--she is talented!!

A Big Surprise!!

2010-10-25T22:05:00.001-06:00

A big box arrived on our front porch the other day!! I looked at it and there was no return address. I knew I hadn't ordered anything in the last few days and I had no idea where this box had come from and I began to wonder if I should open it. I studied the box for another minute and then I saw the postal stamp of where it had been postmarked. It said, "Manheim, PA"--oh, it was from Scott's sister in Pennsylvania. She had called several months ago wondering if we wanted any of Taylor's clothes she had grown out of. We received a box of lot of clothes!! Mallory and Hayley were both so excited!! There were a lot of shirts and shorts (which I put away for next summer) that both Mallory and Hayley can were and lots of socks. Brittney was a little disappointed because nothing was her size. Mallory gave her a few pairs of ankle socks with bows on the back!! Brittney was in heaven!!! She wears the socks all the time with the heel of her socks up on her calves!! She loves them!!

Mallory and Hayley were so excited to wear some of Taylor's old clothes to school--they don't look old to me!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH SHARI AND TAYLOR!!!

Black Island Farms

2010-10-12T22:17:00.001-06:00

Brittney and I went with a few friends in our neighborhood to Black Island Farms today! Brittney loved being able to go somewhere just with Mom (she always runs errands and goes shopping with me by herself but this was a FUN thing to do alone with Mom)!!

My good friend Dallas organized the Little Preschool Group (so we could get a nice discount) we went with. First, we met up with Dallas, Deakin, Scotlyn, Brittany, Taigen, Amy, Arim and lots of Dallas' friends and their little kids. We went on the tractor ride first out to the Pumpkin Patch were Brittney was able to find her very own pumpkin--she had a hard time deciding but she finally ended up with a little pumpkin she could carry all by herself.

After the tractor ride, we went and looked at the calves, pigs, sheep, peacocks, turkeys, llamas, and goats. Brittney did not want to get close to the fences at all!! She is so funny around animals!!

Next, we went down the huge slides. Brittney was having a hard time climbing up the very first slide so I went behind her to help her up. Brittney sat on my lap and we rode down the slide together--I'm getting a little old to do this but it was fun. After going down the big slide once, Brittney ran to the shorter slides that she was able to do all by herself. Brittney rode on the Cow Train and jumped in the Huge Pumpkin. Brittney and I had a great time together!! Before we left, we bought a pumpkin for Mallory and Hayley and several other small gourds and pumpkins to add to our Fall Sensory Bin we made.

You can tell how much fun Brittney had just by the expressions on her face!! I am so glad I was able to capture this on film!!

Family Night at the Movies

2010-09-24T23:34:00.001-06:00

PJ's- Check

Popcorn- Check

A New Movie- Check

Fun time- Check!!!

Visiting with Darcie

2010-09-23T19:22:00.004-06:00

Today I took Brittney and Hayley with me to the Castle Park in Kaysville to visit my friend Darcie and her little daughter Mia (pronounced MEE-ah). Darcie and Mia are visiting from Texas and have been in town for a few weeks and are heading home tomorrow. My little girls love babies and Mia is no exception!! They love to look at her and watch everything she does!! They always have a million questions about babies!! My girls are definite baby lovers!! They will make great mothers someday!!

Last week, Darcie came to my house to visit and it was great talking to her and meeting her precious little baby girl! Today we took pictures! It was so good to visit with Darcie--she is an awesome friend of mine from my kindergarten teaching days--I was thinking about Darcie the other day and I went through four binders worth of Kindergarten Science ideas that she and I put together for a Science Workshop we taught in our district 10 years ago!! We had great times together!!

Brittney, Erin, Darcie and Mia (we are all kind of squinty because the sun was in our eyes--oh well--here we are!!)

Arika, Darcie and Mia

Another week of Soccer

2010-09-18T15:16:00.000-06:00

Mallory and Hayley both got after the ball in their soccer games today!

Mallory made two goals this week! The team they played didn't have enough girls to play so Mallory's team rotated their extra players to the other team--it was a bit confusing because the girls didn't know if they should make goals for the other team!! Mallory did great!!

Hayley kicked the ball down the field and had a great assist for her teammate to make a goal!!

WAY TO GO HAYLEY!!

Fremont Elementary School Carnival

2010-09-16T22:38:00.000-06:00

I found out I was assigned a booth at the school PTA Carnival by chance--I happened to go to a PTA Meeting and I saw my name on the paper twice --I was to be in charge of the Hair Coloring Booth and also sell T-shirts at another booth. I do not recall every signing up for these "opportunities"--I think they were just assigned to me (Scott warned me about this-if you go to PTA Meetings you are going to get sucked in and before you know it you are the PTA President or something--don't worry--I have told them NO--PTA is not bad--I just don't have time to do a lot for the PTA right now, I would rather make a difference in Mallory and Hayley's individual classes right now). I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing I went to the meeting when I did!! They wouldn't have had capes for the Hair Coloring Booth if I didn't know I was in charge!!

Anyway, since I had jobs to do at the school carnival, my girls got to tag along!! They were so excited to get their hair painted and to jump on all the blow up toys that were at the carnival!! We all survived and Mallory was only lost once--for about three minutes we could not find her anywhere--she knew where she was but we didn't know where she was!! That is a very SCARY feeling when you are in a place with a lot of people and a lot of people you do not know!! Luckily we found her watching people get dunked in the dunking booth!!

Campout in the Living Room

2010-09-16T22:12:00.001-06:00

I have a little 3-man tent I got from a Kindergarten Workshop a few years ago.

Every once in awhile, the tent makes it up into our living room for the girls to play. Well, today they got to play in it as well as have a little sleepover in our living room! Mallory, Hayley and Brittney were so excited!! I thought they would have a hard time going to sleep but they were pretty tired and they fell right to sleep!!

Sunday????

2010-09-12T21:22:00.003-06:00

Today was so different for us!! This was the first Sunday in 6 years that we were able to all ride to church together as a family in the same vehicle!! We were able to sit together and then all ride home together when church was over!! It is so nice to have Scott home with us (in the past Scott didn't get home until 5 p.m. at the very earliest--usually it was closer to 6 p.m.)! We came home and ate lunch and sat and lounged around most of the afternoon! All three girls ended up taking naps and we ate Popsicles together, played together and talked together! There were no extra meetings or anything. It was so nice!! I wonder if Sunday's will stay this way???

Scott snapped this picture of Mallory while she was napping. She had to come nap on our bed because Brittney had already fallen asleep on her bed. Mallory created her own little WALLS around herself for protection during her nap! It was so cute!!

Soccer Fall 2010

2010-09-11T21:08:00.000-06:00

Mallory and Hayley had their 3rd soccer game of the season this morning!

Mallory is on a team with her good friends Abigale and Morgan and also, Ashley and JayLynn from our neighborhood. Mallory's team is called THE RED DRAGONS!! Today Mallory played awesome! She was able to score 4 goals and her friends Morgan scored at least 5!! It was so fun to watch them play. It is so different this year because we are playing AYSO and it is very different than Clinton City (AYSO doesn't use goalies and only 5 girls play at a time--Scott and I are trying to get used to it)!!! Mallory giving us a "THUMBS UP" after scoring a goal--with Morgan and Abigale

Mallory running to give us a high 5 after scoring another goal!!!

Mallory being congratulated by her coach after scoring another goal!!

Mallory kicking the ball towards the goal!

Hayley's team this year is "THE PURPLE GRAPES"! Her division is very different in AYSO. She plays on this tiny little field with tiny little goalie nets and only 3 girls play at a time!! They have 4 five minute quarters so the game goes really fast!! Here are a few shots of Hayley playing today:

A Great New Song

2010-09-10T22:20:00.001-06:00

This amazing song was written by my cousin Jim Funk (along with the help of a few others) and is sung by Jim's wife Jessie Funk. The first man in the video is my cute Grandpa--Grandpa Wood who served in World War 2!!

Grandparent Breakfast

2010-09-10T20:25:00.000-06:00

Mallory and Hayley invited Grandpa Ropelato to go to their school's Grandparent Breakfast!! They were sooo excited for Grandpa to come. They had a "Grandparent Egg-stravaganza" and had eggs for breakfast!! Mallory and Hayley had a wonderful time with their Grandpa!!

MAJOR FAMILY ISSUES!!!!

2010-09-08T22:20:00.002-06:00

We will resume blogging more frequently as soon as we resolve Hayley's issue in regards to church attendance. Hayley announced Sunday that she will no longer be attending church due to the fact that she is unable to attend Linger Longer's at the Young Single Adult Ward. Scott was released from the bishopric after serving there for the past 6 years--Linger Longer's, Family Home Evenings with the YSA's and YSA Activities have been a highlight in the lives of our three little girls!

Brittney's 3rd Birthday!!!

2010-09-06T23:55:00.000-06:00

Brittney has been waiting for her birthday for months and months!! She tells everyone "My Birthday is September 6th!!". She is so funny!! On Friday, before we left for Cherry Hills, her little friend Preslie gave Brittney two little fairy dolls and a Tinkerbell Snap Bracelet!! Brittney thought that was the neatest thing!! Thanks Preslie!!

This morning when she woke up, she was so excited to be "THE BIRTHDAY GIRL"!!! She acted out the part sooo well. She kept telling us she didn't need to do things because "I'M THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!" Brittney opened one of her presents this morning while we were still at Cherry Hill (she got a Bead Lacing Set) and we had her wait to open the others until we had cake and ice cream tonight. When we got home, we unpacked the trailer, ate dinner and then we decided to go to Grandpa Ropelato's and take Brittney's cake and ice cream to share with him. Brittney opened her other presents at Grandpa's too (an elephant shirt, two pairs of pants and some ABC magnets)!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTNEY B!!!
We sure do love you!!

BRITTNEY IS 3!!!!

Opening her present (I forgot the gift bag I had at home so we wrapped her present in the funny papers--Brittney thought it was wonderful!! I'm so glad she isn't too hard to please!!)

Brittney and her lacing beads

Hayley, Brittney and Mallory sticking the candles in the cake

Brittney is all smiles for her special day!!!

Cherry Hills

2010-09-06T22:42:00.000-06:00

Labor Day weekend is becoming a new tradition to go camp at Cherry Hills!! Brittney thinks that we go to Cherry Hill just for her birthday (her birthday was over Labor Day last year too)!! We left as soon as Mallory got home from school on Friday and we stayed until Monday (we came home Sunday for church because we were so close). We had a wonderful time together as a family. On Saturday, we bought passes to Cherry Hills to go swimming and on their slides. It was such a nice day--90 degrees!! There were quite a bit of people but it wasn't too bad either!! We spent a lot of time in the Lazy River, A LOT of time in the swimming pool, we went down the Dragon Slides twice, and Hayley went on the Rapids twice--once with Scott and once with me!! It was so nice to go to the trailer in the middle of the day and eat lunch and relax for awhile before returning to the pools until closing!! The girls were in heaven!! Brittney jumping in!!

Erin and Hayley in the Rapids

Mallory

Scott and Hayley in the Rapids

Scott stuck under the waterfall

Scott giving high 5's to Hayley after going down the Rapids

Hayley sopping wet after the Rapids

Brittney

First Day of School

2010-08-23T20:37:00.000-06:00

Today was the first day of school!!! Mallory and Hayley have been counting down the days for weeks!! They were so excited to meet their new teachers and new friends in their classes!!

Hayley's first day of kindergarten--Hayley is in Mrs. Walker's morning kindergarten class. Brittney and I went and helped out today and Hayley was ALL SMILES, ALL MORNING!! Hayley listened to Mrs. Walker read "The Kissing Hand", she ate breakfast at school and she played outside for recess!! Hayley LOVES kindergarten!!

Mallory's First Day of First Grade--Mallory is in Mrs. Hagen's class and she is excited to make new friends (most of her friends from kindergarten are in other classes!). Today Mallory made an owl book about rules at school!!

YSA Super Summer Activity at Camp LOMIA

2010-08-21T23:03:00.001-06:00

The past few days we have been at Camp LOMIA in Logan Canyon with the Young Single Adults for their Super Summer Activity!! Our girls are in heaven every time we are with the Young Single Adults. Mallory, Hayley and Brittney were so excited to sleep upstairs in the lodge close to all their friends!!

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and helped the Wayment's get the lodge all set up, the fridge stocked and all the food put away. The Young Single Adults trickled in all afternoon and evening. We talked, played games and ate and ate and ate!!

On Friday, we ate breakfast and headed down to Bear Lake to spend the day wave runner, playing volleyball and playing in the sand. Mallory spent a great majority of the day out on our neighbor's boat with several of the YSA's. We had a great time!! When we returned to the lodge on Friday evening, Brother Naluai had come up and made a great Hawaiian chicken dinner for us!! It was delicious!! The girls had a great time with the Gardiner kids (Anna, Jackson, Alyssa, and baby Addi)!

Scott, after the kill, almost fell in the water!!

Brittney and Hayley

Hayley with the sand castle she helped the Young Single Adults build

Hayley Boo

Brittney--can you tell what I had for lunch?? Cookies mixed with a little sand!!

Brittney and her cute sunglasses

On Saturday morning, it took quite a while to get Mallory and Brittney out of bed so I could pack everything up--they were pretty tuckered out!! They stayed up way too late each night but they had a blast!! On the way home, we stopped in Logan and went bowling all together and then to a park for lunch!! WHAT A FUN ACTIVITY!!!!! Mallory the Sleepy Head

Brittney sleeping with her head up against the wall!!

Antelope Island

2010-08-13T23:18:00.002-06:00

Today we really went exploring around Antelope Island. First, we drove over to the Fielding Garr Ranch and walked around the barns, sheds and the home there on the island. We saw a lot of old tools, sleds, bicycles, horse tackle, etc. Scott showed off his lassoing skills and did really well (he tried to have me do it--I gave it a half-hearted try and then explained to Scott that I had other talents and lassoing is NOT one of them--I couldn't even get the lasso to spin correctly over my head and there was NO WAY it was going to get around the horns of an imaginary bull!!)! Here are a few pictures we took at the Ranch.... Mallory, Brittney and Hayley checking out some OLD STUFF (Brittney had to wear her sunglasses everywhere because "The sun is so shiny")

Scott showing off--a perfect picture of him lassoing the bull

Mallory, Hayley and Brittney realized that would be too cramped in a Sheep Camp--they like our trailer a whole lot more!!

Brittney, Hayley and Erin

Mallory riding her imaginary horse

Hayley's turn

and Brittney's turn (Hey! This horse must be made in New Jersey!!)

Hayley ridin' a bull

Scott lassoing again--SHOW OFF!!!

Hayley wanted to try with the lasso too!

Brittney

Brittney, Hayley and Mallory doing laundry

After we left the Ranch, we went to lunch at the only concession stand on the island and paid a pretty penny for lunch. Scott had a Buffalo Burger and the girls and I had hamburgers-- we could have saved a few bucks and just ordered the girls a meal to share because they hardly ate a thing!! Oh well, it was all for the experience at the Buffalo Point Restaurant!! (Sorry--we didn't take any pictures of our lunch!)

After lunch, we headed over to the Visitor's Center. We looked around and watched a movie all about Antelope Island. We snapped a few pictures outside of the Visitor's Center...

We headed back to the trailer and got ready to head down and swim in the Great Salt Lake. The girls were so excited! Brittney got a shoulder ride most of the way down to the lake because the sand was really hard to walk in. The shore of the lake was a sea of tiny black flying bugs-- millions and millions of them. As soon as we got in the water, Hayley was crying and whining and wanted to go back to the trailer! She wanted all of us to get out of the water with her but she couldn't convince any of us to get out with her. Hayley finally walked to shore and sat there by herself until we were ready to leave. The water wasn't very deep. I did get a few pictures of the Scott, Mallory and Brittney in the water.

Brittney hitching a ride to the lake

Mallory, Brittney, Scott and Hayley (she's actually in the water)

After dinner we went for a ride in the truck and spotted several deer, buffalo and antelope. We went for a short hike and had a great view at sunset!!

A family self-portrait

Here is one of my talents I spoke of earlier--I can hold up the moon!!!

Antelope Island Buffalo

2010-08-12T23:19:00.001-06:00

Here is another of our "close to home" camping trips. We decided to take the girls to Antelope Island for the weekend. Today, we came and got all set up. We went out to relax a little and all of a sudden we heard the word "Buffalo". We got up and walked to the edge of our trailer, and two buffalo were walking down the middle of the campground--like within 20 yards of us--they just sauntered through and they were gone! The kids were kind of scared to see buffalo so close up!

The girls found a great place to play in the sand!! We went for a walk and saw millions and millions of spider webs! They were everywhere--there were webs connecting every piece of sagebrush with HUGE spiders on them!!

We had a very relaxing night!

This is only the second time in my life I have been to Antelope Island and Scott's third or forth--it is someplace soo close but we've really never been here. I am looking forward to going exploring more tomorrow!

THE BUFFALO walking through the campground

Mallory, Brittney and Hayley with their sand buckets and jump ropes

The view from our campsite!!

Swimming with Cousins at Aunt Darinda's

2010-08-05T21:00:00.001-06:00

Every Thursday all summer has been "Swimming" day at my SIL Darinda's house in Huntsville. Today was the first and only Thursday we were able to make it up there all summer (that means we have been WAY TOOOOOO BUSY this summer)! Mallory and Hayley had a blast! They were in the pool for about 3 hours straight (Brittney only stayed in the pool about 45 minutes before she was off playing with her cousins). Jerry and Darinda's pool is the best ever because it is so nice--they heat their pool through their hot tub so it is nice and warm! I was stayed in the pool talking to Darinda (my SIL), Stacie (Scott's niece) and Natalie (another niece--Stacie and Natalie have kids the same ages or close to my girls). We had a wonderful time! I am so glad we were finally able to go!! The perfect shot of Mallory jumping off the diving board into the floaty!! Mallory is quite the little fishy!! (Isn't it just gorgeous up here!! I love going to Huntsville!!)

Hayley swimming to the stairs after jumping off the diving board--she is becoming a lot more comfortable in the water!!

Mallory jumping in--goggles and all!

Hayley mid air!!

Leslie and Doug's Wedding

2010-07-30T23:59:00.001-06:00

My sister Leslie got married today to Doug!! Everything turned out so nice! She got married in her church by her bishop. Leslie has waited 33 years for this day!! I snapped just a few pictures with my camera of this special day (sorry Doug, I only took pictures while we were helping Leslie get ready). Leslie had all the sisters and sister-in-laws come in and help do the finishing touches. I had the job to cinch up the back of her dress

Me cinching her dress--Doesn't Leslie look gorgeous!!!

ALL THE GIRLS

(Back left to right) Christine (cousin), Shayna (cousin), Tera (SIL), Becca (sis), Rachael (sis), Aleece (sis), Liz (SIL)

(Front left to right) Erin (me), Sarah (sis), Leslie (sis), Katie (Leslie's step daughter), and Mom

Katie and Leslie

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ceremony!! We are excited to welcome Doug and his three cute children to the family - Brayden, Ryder and Katie!
CONGRATULATIONS LESLIE AND DOUG!!!

Whitney Reservoir in the Uintah's

2010-07-30T20:14:00.002-06:00

We left for the Uintah's early (like 6 a.m. early) on Monday morning to spend the week at Whitney Reservoir! It was so pretty up there and cool and relaxing! We found a perfect little spot on top of a hill to set up camp. We had a little patch of trees surrounding a fire pit where we hung the hammocks to relax!

On Monday, we got everything set up, ate lunch and everyone took a little nap (we thought the girls would sleep on the way up but they were all wide awake--they didn't get much sleep the night before). It stormed from about 3 p.m. until we went to bed--which made it really nice because it got rid of the dust and the HUGE horseflies!

Whitney Reservoir from our campsite

The wildflowers looking to the West of our campsite

Scott woke up early in the morning and captured a beautiful picture of the sunrise--the colors are much more vibrant outside the smog of the city!!

Hayley caught the very first fish--it was a keeper!!

Mallory setting up her pole with rocks waiting for a fish to bite

Erin, Mallory, Brittney and Hayley after we hiked a ways up a steep trail--the background is actually the beginning of the Weber River Drainage

A dad has to learn that fishing with little girls is all about picking wildflowers and PINK power bait--When it came time to go home, I went to throw the flowers away and all three girls had a serious meltdown--we ended up bring the wilted, dying flowers all the way home with us!!

Everyone else had to sit on HARD rocks fishing while Brittney got a nice COMFY seat!

Brittney's first fish (she did not want to hold it for the picture!)

Our second day fishing--we were able to catch several good sized Rainbow's and large Brook Trout (which is rare)

Three sisters that really enjoy being together (most of the time)

On Thursday, we went on a long 4-wheeler ride up to Moffit Peak where Scott use to do a lot of snowmobiling (he chipped the bone in his back up here). When we returned home, we saw in the newspaper that a wolf killed a sheep dog in this area right after we left!

We are still on Moffit Peak looking east with Whitney Reservoir and another little lake to the right.

We found a patch of snow to play in. It was a very steep mountainside that dropped off over the ledge just below the rocks.

Posing in the snow on July 29th after throwing snowballs!

The "R" Scott made in the snow! This snow is in the Bear River Drainage which eventually feeds into Bear Lake. I wonder if it will be at Bear Lake when we go in a few weeks??

Brittney and Hayley showing off their new batch of wildflowers!!

The Weber River Drainage

Erin and Mallory crossing a creek that is coming out of a nearby lake. Up in the mountains, you can see the patch of snow where we made our "R" (which is not visible this far away)

Brittney standing up driving--she is learning quick how everything works and she wants to take total control of the 4 wheelers!!

Looking East into the heart of the Uintah Mountains from a 4 wheeler loop we rode on

We had a wonderful time! It was so relaxing! This was our first time camping at Whitney Reservoir--I'm sure we will be coming back here again soon! It's too bad all good things have to end sometime!!

Pioneer Day Fun--Ropelato Style

2010-07-24T21:55:00.001-06:00

The girls were dying of heat today! Since we haven't started any special "Pioneer Day" traditions (watching parades, barbecues, fireworks, etc.), Scott opened up the hot tub for the girls to swim. He got out our Slip N Slide and put it at the bottom of the slide and sprayed the slide with the hose. The girls had thought they had died and gone to heaven!! They had a blast! Scott quickly realized our Slip N Slide just wasn't long enough so he grabbed a big sheet of plastic we had in the garage and made his own Slip N Slide. The girls flew down the slide and down the plastic and they almost hit the back fence (which is about 15 yards from the end of the slide)! They had a ball!! Here are a few shots of the girls having the time of their lives playing in the hot tub and sliding down their own personal water slide!! Hayley floatin' in the hot tub!!

Brittney is all smiles!!

Mallory getting ready to jump!

Mallory trying it head first!

Hayley shooting down the plastic!

Every time Brittney came down, she had this same facial expression--so cute!!

Mallory and Hayley coming down together in a train

Yuba Lake with My Family

2010-07-17T23:42:00.001-06:00

Our annual Peterson Family Vacation this year was at Yuba Lake (we didn't go to Bear Lake as we have in the past). We were gone from Tuesday after work until Saturday (July 13th-17th). All of my siblings and their families were at Yuba Lake for about 15 hours (Dave, Tera and Ella weren't able to come until Friday night)!!! It has been awhile since EVERYONE was together! We had an adventure filled trip! I made Scott's life a little more difficult on two occasions on Wednesday morning (within about an hour of each other--totally unintentional) and we almost let Brittney drift away all by herself on a little floatie but other than that the rest of the trip was great! We had 5 campsites reserved to accommodate all 42 of us (18 adults and 24 children).

We arrived around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night and set up our campsite. On Wednesday morning, we went and put the wave runners in the water and to set up canopies on the burr infested beach which was close to our campsites (a five minute walk or so back to camp). I rode one of the wave runners over to the beach and left Scott at the truck so he could pump up the tubes, the raft, the floaties and the water trampoline. I was to come back and check to see if he was done a little while later so we could tow all the "stuff" he had loaded on top of the water trampoline over to the beach. I went over a little later than he had anticipated. Later, Scott walked back to the truck to bring the tubes over and he was walking along the shoreline dragging the tubes in the water. Mallory and I saw him from the wave runner and we went to pick him up and give him a ride. Well, I didn't gun it fast enough and we got a rock stuck in the wave runner--NOT GOOD! Scott had to walk and get some tools and when he got back, I had to hold the wave runner on its side (full of gas--it was soooo heavy) while he tried to get the rock out. After what seemed like an eternity, we decided to load the wave runner on the trailer again and take it back to camp to work on it. Thankfully, after a lot of silent prayers Scott was FINALLY able to jam a rod into the wave runner and break the rock up and get it unstuck from the propeller. What I thought was a good deed turned into being another HUGE headache for Scott!!! The rest of the day Wednesday turned out to be nice and hot!!

On Thursday, we went to the beach again for the majority of the day. We decided to leave our floaties, chairs and life jackets in a huge pile inside our raft under the canopies for the night so we didn't have to set up again tomorrow (or drag everything over to the beach again). We beached the wave runners and thankfully everything was undisturbed in the morning. The kids had a blast playing in the water, jumping on the trampoline, riding the tubes and going for rides on the wave runners. Hayley, Kaitlin and Brittney were playing on the floaties together today. Brittney was sitting in one of the chair-like floaties we have and she was holding onto the other one. Kaitlin and Hayley were on and off them too. Well, Hayley and Kaitlin both decided they didn't want to play on them anymore and they let go. All of a sudden, I heard Hayley screaming hysterically that Brittney was floating away. I was sitting under the canopy about 30 feet from the water and Brittney was about 10 feet from the shore. As I ran to the water, I scooped up my life jacket and jumped onto this round tube we had to go swim after Brittney (Scott was out on one of the wave runners and someone else was on the other). I tried laying on the tube and trying to paddle with my arms to Brittney (the tube I was on was just big enough that my feet couldn't go in the water to help me kick). It seemed the more ground I got, the more she got. Brittney was sitting in the floatie and hanging on to the other floatie--there was no way she was going to let go. Anyway, my brother-in-law Trent ran to his kayack when I took off from the beach and he paddled out and he reached Brittney first. She had made it all the way out to the buoys--which was about 50+ yards from the shore--a LONG way out!! While all this was going on, my nephew Colten was out with our raft. He was hanging onto the outside of the raft and was drifting to the buoys too. He couldn't pull himself back into the raft so he could row back to shore. So, Trent got Brittney first and put her onto the kayak with him and then he got the floaties inside the raft with Colten. He pulled the raft and Colten over to me and I helped Colten get back into the raft. I held onto the side of the raft and Trent grabbed my tow rope to pull me and my tube back to shore. Just as we all get situated and Trent starts to take us back to shore, Scott comes back from his ride on the wave runner and he ends up pulling Colten and I back in. It was quite the adventure!!! I wouldn't want to do it again! I am so grateful I made Brittney (and Mallory and Hayley) wear their life jackets whenever they were in the water. Brittney had on her life jacket and she was so calm sitting there on her floatie. Her biggest concern was making sure the other floatie she was holding onto didn't float away!! What a day!!

Friday was really uneventful until the last 2 hours on the beach. A small group of us adults were sitting under the canopies reading, resting and/or talking. All of a sudden, a small tornado thing hit the beach right in front of us and then it blew right through our canopies. We were all jumping up to grab something that was blowing away and then Jared and John's canopies just tumbled. I was running after a little boogie board that was blowing away and I pulled my sunglasses down onto the bridge of my nose to keep the sand out of my eyes and one of the legs of the canopy smacked me across my cheek and hit the side of my glasses. I am really glad I pulled my glasses down that split second before the canopy hit me!! It hurt and I luckily didn't get a big bruise across my face!! Just a little crazy!!

Friday night, it took several hours for Scott and I to get all the water toys loaded and put away! My poor little family didn't eat dinner until 9 p.m.! Oh well, we had a lot of fun.

It was kind of funny that 5 families from our ward and neighborhood (and our girls friends and even their babysitters) were at Yuba Lake too--they were in the campsites that bordered ours. It was fun to see them all over!!

While we were at Yuba, we had several activities for the kids to do. They made Froot Loop necklaces, made sock puppets, made sun catchers and painted wooden flowers. Mallory, Hayley and Brittney had tons of fun playing with their cousins and staying up late!! We are glad we brought our game "Charades for Kids" so we could all play that together too! The kids loved it!!

Mallory riding the tube

Hayley (sitting on the tube I tried to rescue Brittney on)

Kaitlin and Hayley

Brittney

Brittney playing in the sand and burrs (there were burrs everywhere!!!!)

Mallory heading out on the tube

Mallory waiting for a tow

Hayley going for a little ride on the tube (in the no wake zone--she didn't want to go all the way out on the lake)

Brittney on the raft and Scott on the floatie (the same floatie Brittney was sitting in for her little adventure--she was hanging onto another chair floatie just like it)

Our neighbors (and the girls babysitters) Rylee and Elizabeth with Mallory and Hayley on the trampoline

Brittney Bee

Brittney, Hayley and Kaitlin (this picture was taken right before Brittney set off on her little adventure)

Summer Fun

2010-07-17T17:07:00.001-06:00

Hayley dancing in the driveway

Mallory and Brittney thought it would be fun to run through the sprinklers! Here they are WET!!!

Pineview Reservoir

2010-07-08T21:42:00.001-06:00

We decided to do several "close to home camping trips" this summer. This week we went to Pineview Reservoir (it's only about 30 minutes from home and about 20 minutes from Scott's work) and had a blast (we were gone from Monday, July 5th until Thursday, July 8th). We invited our friends, the Gardiner's, to come with us (we also invited our friends the John's but they weren't able to come and stay--they did come up and eat dinner, swim and wave run with us one night - and we are so glad they were able to come). It was so nice and relaxing! We stayed in Anderson Cove Campground and our campsites were close to one of the sandy beaches. Melanie and I stayed with the kids camping while John and Scott went to work each day then we were able to waverun and hang out in the evenings all together.

John's came up on Tuesday night and ate dinner with us, played in the water and rode the waverunnners (we talked Alan into going on a ride--he didn't bring his swimsuit but he did go out and his shorts did get wet--SORRY--but we hope you had fun!!).

On Wednesday night, we had a surprise visit from two of the Young Single Adults--Tattianna and Trent. They came up and rode the waverunners, ate dinner with us and talked around the campfire until very late with us. It was a lot of fun!!

The kids all had a blast playing together! Melanie and I each brought several activities for the kids to do together during the day. The kids painted suncatchers, made "Firecracker" snacks, water color painted, played in the sand, played in the water, rode the waverunners, played games, painted rocks, rode bikes and scooters, and just had fun being together. Here are a few pictures from our CLOSE TO HOME VACATION--

Hayley relaxing with Dad

Alyssa, Hayley, Jackson, Mallory, Anna and Brittney making "Firecracker" treats

Mallory, Abigale, Jackson and Brittney

Preslie and Erin getting ready for a ride

Tattiana and Brittney

Brittney talking to Trent (they may be planning a "Play Date")

Hayley and Mallory painting Suncatchers

Brittney painting her Bumble Bee (how appropriate that she picked a bee to paint because we are always calling her "Bee")

Mallory enjoying the beach

Slip 'N Slide Fun

2010-07-02T23:11:00.001-06:00

Aleece and her kids came over today to swim and play on the Slip 'N Slide with us. The kids had a blast!!! They love to play in the water!!!

We love summertime FUN!!!

Camping at Fort Buenaventura

2010-06-26T21:17:00.008-06:00

We decided to go camping somewhere close so we could just get away. We decided to go to Fort Buenaventura in Ogden. We left on Wednesday night and came home on Saturday. On Thursday, Scott and the girls hung out at camp and went and saw the fort, the cabins, teepee's and went on several bike rides and walks. (I went to CORE Academy in Harrisville so I can keep my teaching license current.) Scott and the girls saw some baby raccoons and one had fallen and was stuck in some mesh around the bottom of a tree. The girls became really good friends with the camp host and he brought them over ice cream treats this afternoon! Mallory, Hayley and Brittney thought he was great (and so did we--they were so nice!). When I returned from my class, we went on a short bike ride before we had to head home for a few hours for a YSA Activity (a BBQ and Ultimate Frisbee). We made it back to Fort Buenaventura right before they locked the gates for the night!

Scott had to work on Friday, so he jumped on his bike and rode 1 1/2 miles up the road to work! The girls and I ran a few errands and then we went exploring some more. We visited the camp host again and gave him a little thank you for the ice cream on Thursday. When Scott got off work, we ate and then we went on a canoe ride all together which was a lot of fun. We saw carp in the water and we chased the geese around. We also went on a bike ride and threw rocks in the Weber River.

Scott worked again on Saturday morning and rode his bike to work again. The girls painted pictures, played, explored and rode their bikes. When Scott got back at lunchtime, we went on a longer bike ride on the path that goes all the way over to Riverdale. We stopped under the train tracks and threw more rocks in the river (the girls LOVE this). Every time we went on a bike ride, Mallory and Hayley both wanted to be in the lead. Hayley was trying to stay up with Mallory and she almost bit the dust going down this hill--there were two long skid marks and she barely recovered--we slowed down a bit after that! She would have needed some major doctoring up if she had crashed.

We had a great time! It was nice to get away but be close to home so we could go and do the things we needed to do! We're glad we found this nice little oasis so close to home (Scott nor I had never been here before)!

Brittney and her "new" bike with training wheels--Brittney LOVES her bike!!

Row, Row, Row your boat (the girls were singing this all around the lake/pond)

All set to go exploring with our binnoculars, bug catchers and nets!!! We chased a lot of butterflies, saw millions of box elder bugs and a few dragonflies!!

Potty Training

2010-06-11T22:32:00.003-06:00

Ok- so I decided since we have nowhere we really need to go today or tomorrow that we would stay home and teach Brittney to go potty on the toilet all the time (she has gone several times when she first wakes up in the morning and also right before getting in the tub at night). I still can't believe we might actually not have a child in diapers--it's been over 6 years of continuous diapers (and we've had two in diaper for quite awhile too). Too bad I just bought another case of diaper's at Sam's Club two weeks ago and I just opened it!!

I stress so much about potty training with Mallory. I bought "Elmo's Potty Time" DVD and we borrowed "Potty Time for Girls" DVD from the Library. I bought a Potty Patty doll along with bottles and training panties to make the doll go potty on the toilet. I bought the book "Potty Training in One Day" and I devoured it--I'm pretty sure I read it twice before I even started potty training Mallory. The night before the big day with Mallory, I reread the book and took notes so I would know exactly what to say and what to do to teach her to go potty. I bought lots of little treats and candies and lots of yummy drinks for Mallory so she would need to go potty. It all worked out and after two days so was pretty much doing great.

Hayley wanted to go potty by herself when she was just 27 months old! I kept trying to hold her back because Brittney was just one month old and Potty Training was the last thing I wanted to do with a newborn. Well, Hayley kept insisting and finally I reread my book and the next morning I stuck panties on her. We brought out Potty Patty and went through the steps and she pretty much trained herself.

Well, with Brittney, I didn't pull out my book. I didn't get Potty Patty out of the basement, we just kind of talked about things, put panties on her and we went to the bathroom every hour or so. Brittney was so proud of herself! I didn't buy any special treats or anything this time either and things still worked ! She was so excited and we called a friend or family member each time she went today! She did so good! It was nice that it rained pretty much all day so we were in the house and close to home! We'll see what tomorrow brings!!

Here's Brittney--so proud of herself!!

Hayley's 5th Birthday Party

2010-06-09T22:08:00.002-06:00

Hayley was so excited for her Birthday Party! She has been counting down each day for a week and half. Hayley had 16 of her friends come! Everything went really well! Hayley wanted a Princess party and she wanted to invite girls and boys (the boys didn't seem to mind the Princess theme). We had several activities planned for the kids to do and it was also pretty relaxed. We learned from Mallory's Birthday Party last year that the kids mostly just wanted to play on the playset and jump on the trampoline. For Hayley's party we decided not to stress about things and invite the kids to play the games and do the activities if they wanted to or they could just play. We had Princess coloring pages for them to do when they arrived, we played a Princess Matching Game, we made Princess and Prince crowns, we broke a Princess Crown Pinata as well as presents and cake and ice cream. It seems everyone had a good time because most kids didn't want to leave when their parents came to pick them up! Hayley received some wonderful presents too. She received two baby dolls (she loves babies--she will be a wonderful mother some day), lots of art supplies, a jewelry kit, a beauty salon set, a slip-n-slide, a water sprinkler, bubbles, baby bottles, games, Polly Pockets, a hula hoop, Disney Princess dolls and play sets, and a water squirter. She had a wonderful time!

Jumping on the trampoline--there were a lot of little girls jumping at once!!

Hayley decorating her crown--I just love her facial expressions some times!!

Mallory and Abigale working on their crowns

Waiting on the rock wall for a turn at hitting the Pinata

Hayley taking a swing--she kept trying to hold her head so she could see out from her blindfold--I guess the Birthday Girl can do WHATEVER she wants!!

Hayley opening presents--ALL SMILES

Ivy, Hayley and Brittney--Hayley loved her Ariel Ice Cream Cake!!

Happy 5th Birthday Hayley!!

2010-06-08T21:56:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Hayley!

Happy Birthday to you!!!

Hayley is soooo excited to be 5 years old!! She was all smiles all day today! She told anyone and everyone all day that today was her birthday!! Hayley got a new BIG bike for her birthday (it might be a little too big but she can ride it and she can grow into it)! She was sooo excited because it is bigger than Mallory's bike! Hayley was so excited when she found it in the backyard!

We love you Hayley!!

Doing Chores

2010-06-08T21:44:00.001-06:00

Everyone does chores around our house nowadays!! The past few weeks I have started a new laundry routine. As soon as clothes are done in the dryer, I sort them into each person's individual basket or stick a hanger on clothes that need to be hung up. When I am finished washing and drying laundry, everyone goes down to get their own basket of clothes and then they are responsible to fold them and put them away. For now, this system has really been working for us. I know there are a few "faster systems" out there but I'm not quite daring enough to try them out!!

I snapped a picture of Brittney hard at work--she loves being big and having big jobs (let's just hope it lasts!!). She is very particular about how she folds her clothes--she has to finish folding everything before anything can be put away (I tried to hang up her clothes in the closet that were on hanger and I got in BIG trouble because she wasn't done folding everything!!)

Fremont Elementary Awards Ceremony

2010-06-03T21:35:00.002-06:00

This morning at Fremont Elementary Mallory received an award for "The Most Accomplished Reader" in her class!! She received a certificate, two books and a bookmark!

WAY TO GO MALLORY!!

YOU ARE SUCH A WONDERFUL READER!!

(Sorry for the awful pictures--I didn't have a good angle and I think I need a few photography lessons!! Maybe someday!)

Sister Beck's Talk

2010-05-30T15:10:00.001-06:00

I found the talk Sister Beck gave at Women's Conference this year--she gave a portion of the same talk at our Stake Conference Broadcast a few weeks ago. This talk really made me think and reevaluate my life and the things I do. Here is a link to the talk if you are interested in it http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,9118-1-5187-1,00.html

Dishing out Consequences

2010-05-29T20:11:00.003-06:00

Well, Mallory, Hayley and Brittney all received a consequence for not listening last night. I called them into the house about 5 times to come get in the tub and to get ready for bed (who wants to listen to that on a Friday night???). When they finally came in I told them I would think of a big job for them to do for me tomorrow (that's one of my new takes on consequences--putting them to work--especially when I can't think of a consequence to fit the crime). When they woke up, I told them they were going to help me clean out the fridge. I didn't take any before pictures (they would have been too scary) but I did take a few of the girls cleaning and washing the fridge. They unloaded the fridge, dried all the shelves and drawers, washed out the fridge and help put everything back together. It is so nice to have a nice, clean fridge! Thanks girls!!
(They thought the whole project was fun and they just offered to clean Grandpa Ropelato's fridge for him too!! Does it count as a consequence if they have fun doing it? I kept telling them that someday they were going to have a fridge of their own to clean out and they needed to learn how to do it!)

Mallory's Mini Music Graduation

2010-05-27T16:41:00.000-06:00

Today was a day to Graduate! Today was also Mallory's Graduation from her Mini Music Class she has been taking all year from Jacqi Johnson in our ward. She has been going to this class on Thursday's since September. Mallory has absolutely loved this class!! She is always asking if it's Thursday yet! Mallory was in a class with her best friend Abigale and another little girl, Kyla.

Today for their Graduation, the girls performed several songs they have learned, identified instruments from all the different music families and the girls taught us about the different kinds of notes.

After the performance, the girls received their diplomas and we went outside for ice cream treats!!!

Mallory loves music! Mallory loves listening to music in her room. Sometimes I will find her in her bedroom, with the door closed, lying on her bed with the CD player going! I think she will do well in piano lessons in a few years!

WAY TO GO MALLORY!!!

Mallory was so excited when Hayley, Brittney and I arrived (Mallory had to go practice 3o minutes before graduation)

Mallory ready to sing

Mallory

Abigale, Mallory and Kyla "Going on a Bear Hunt"

Mallory and Jacqi after receiving her diploma

Hayley's Preschool Graduation

2010-05-27T15:59:00.000-06:00

This morning was Hayley's Preschool Graduation from Discovery Preschool of Clinton!!! Hayley was so excited for her "Celebration"! Brittney and I were able to attend the festivities with Hayley this morning.

Hayley and all her classmates went and got ready in their graduation caps and they all marched in with the Graduation March playing (I don't remember the real name of this song). After they sat down, the kids performed several songs and chants that they have been learning throughout the year. They went through their alphabet sound chant with the sign language alphabet, Five Little Monkey's, Number Writing Fun and an End of the Year Cheer. Hayley did so well--she was singing the whole time and I could hear her. Mrs. Pett handed out the kids diplomas and a special Memories book she has made for each of the kids throughout the year with some of their artwork and pictures she had taken.

After the graduation, we went outside for some treats and the kids played one last time on the swing set and all the fun toys. When I went to thank Mrs. Pett for everything, she thanked me for being such a great PR person. Everyone who asks if I know of a good preschool, I tell them about Tami because she is so wonderful!! Several of Brittney's friends are on a waiting list with her for preschool in a year and a half. We love DISCOVERY PRESCHOOL!!

Mrs. Pett wrote a personal note to Hayley too! Part of the letter said,

"I loved having you in my preschool class this year. You are such a happy girl. I love your smile! You are a hard worker. Thank you for listening and obeying the rules. Thank you for being a friend to everyone in class. You are a smart girl and will do great in kindergarten."

What a sweet and personal letter!!

Hayley has loved preschool so much!!! She has made some wonderful friends and she loves Mrs. Pett. Mrs. Pett is wonderful! Mallory loved her so much too!

WAY TO GO HAYLEY!! YOU ARE SUCH A WONDERFUL AND SMART LITTLE GIRL!!

Kaitlin and Hayley

Georgia, Kaitlin and Hayley

Madison, Cannon, Georgia, Kaitlin, Hayley, Brock, Jane, Moses

Hayley--the HAPPY Graduate!

Singing "H..Hayley /h/ /h/ /h/" (She was all smiles and her face totally lit up on this part and I loved how her leg was swinging up and down--this was during their Alphabet Sound Chant and after each letter, they have a card for all the kids in class with their picture and the beginning letter of their name--Hayley loves anything about her--she is so cute!!)

Hayley receiving her diploma and her Memory Book

Hayley looking through her Memory Book as soon as graduation was over!! She totally loves it!!

Mrs. Pett and Hayley

Hayley and Brittney eating refreshments!

Mom and Hayley

Hayley and Georgia

Cleaning the Church

2010-05-22T22:40:00.002-06:00

This morning was the Primary's turn to clean the church. We had so many Primary kids and teachers show up that it only took about 35 minutes to clean today! While we were cleaning, the bishopric was in the kitchen making the kids waffles and scones! What a treat! It was delicious!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Grace, Mallory, Alaina, Brittney, Morgan, Hayley, Crede, Ethan

Hayley and her yummy waffles!

Brittney diggin' in!

Mallory savoring every bite!!

Hayley's Scripture Reading

2010-05-20T22:24:00.001-06:00

The past few weeks, Hayley has become fascinated with my scriptures because they are soo colorful!! (I have a very intricate way of marking my scriptures and I LOVE THEM!) Tonight when I went in to cover up Hayley before I went to bed, I found her scriptures opened up on the floor beside her bed with her black colored pencil. She was "Reading" and marking her scriptures before she went to bed (in the dark no less!)! She is so cute! I love that she is gaining a love for her scriptures too!

We love you Hayley!

Dinosaur Park Field Trip

2010-05-19T22:03:00.001-06:00

Today was Hayley's Preschool Field Trip to the Dinosaur Park. It worked out perfectly that we could all attend together today!!!! Mallory has had the past few days off for End of the Year Kindergarten Testing (Mallory had her appointment earlier this morning) and today is Scott's day off!! We brought Moses (Hayley's friend and our neighbor who is in Hayley's preschool class) with us too!

We met in the Education Center first where the kids made dinosaur puppets and they learned all about the four types of dinosaurs: carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, and insectivores (I never knew there were insectivores until today). After the craft, we were able to go and do whatever we wanted! The kids ran from here to there and back again!! Scott and I were both standing there trying to find and count heads!! We finally pulled all four kids together and discussed a few rules (we probably should have done this before we even got out of the truck--the kindergarten teacher in me wasn't thinking until everyone was able to run wild--Whenever I took my kindergarten class to the Dinosaur Park--which was at least five times--I ALWAYS had "The Talk" with them before we left the classroom, than again before we got off the bus and then again before we left the Education Center!!) Anyway, we had a great time. We walked around with Hayley's friends, Georgia and Madison (they were also on her soccer team--and their sister Justice, who is Mallory's age and their mom--my friend, Julie) and also with my sister Aleece and her daughters Kaitlin and Arika and her son A. J. We really had a fun time! The kids wanted to play on the playground more than anything!! I was sooooo glad Scott came with us!! I was wondering how I ever did this field trip with 20+ kids and no parent volunteers!! We brought a lunch and shared our sandwiches, chips, granola bars and cheese sticks with our friends! It turned out to be a great day!!

Brittney coloring her Triceratops

Mallory coloring a Utah Raptor

Justice and Mallory

Hayley Boo (it was funny to hear all Hayley's friends from her preschool class calling her "Hayley Boo" too!!

THE GIRLS: Hayley, Georgia, Madison, Justice, Kaitlin and Mallory

Kaitlin, Madison, Justice, Mallory, Hayley, Moses and Georgia

Plus Brittney

Hot Tubbin'

2010-05-15T21:22:00.004-06:00

Mallory and Hayley having been begging to get in the Hot Tub for weeks! Today, they finally got their chance! They invited their friends, Morgan, Grace and Miles over to enjoy their little dip!! They had a blast! There was water all over the place when they were done but they had a great time!

Hayley hangin' out--she kept complaining the water was tooo COLD!! Silly girl!

Mallory and Hayley

Hayley as "Cousin It"

Mallory going under--getting ready for swimming lessons to start again in a few weeks--practicing her skills!

Grace, Hayley, Mallory and Morgan --Scott added a few sand toys--buckets, boats and a water can-- to add to their fun

Service Project with the Young Single Adults

2010-05-13T21:11:00.001-06:00

It was great weather tonight for the Clean-Up Project along the Walking Path in Clinton! We brought bags, rakes and a wagon to pick up trash and debris along the path. There were soda cans, plastic water bottles, garbage and even a mailbox (a cow mailbox to be exact) and lots of other stuff we cleaned up along our way. Scott was walking along with a rake and fishing lots of trash out of the water puddles. I kept Brittney and her friend, Alyssa (her dad is in the bishopric with Scott--and they are our really good friends), moving along. Mallory and Hayley were walking way ahead of me with several of the Young Single Adults. I'm so glad they were with them and kept them safe! We ended our night at the Wayment's for a BBQ! It was delicious!!

Brittney loved blowing dandelions along the way!!

Brittney pulling the loaded down wagon (can you see the slimy, cow mailbox on top?? GROSS!!)

Brittney and Alyssa walking down the path with several of the Young Single Adults up ahead (Mallory is up there too in a white jacket--holding a garbage bag--GREAT WORK!!)

Alyssa and Brittney wrapped up enjoying doughnuts after the BBQ

Bike Ride

2010-05-12T21:06:00.003-06:00

This afternoon, Scott, Hayley, Brittney and I went on a bike ride down the walking path. We were looking to make sure there was garbage to be picked up tomorrow when when the YSA have their service project. There was quite a bit of garbage! We had a great little ride too! Hayley loved being "the leader of the pack"!

Hayley's Pet

2010-05-10T22:11:00.004-06:00

What is this you ask?

Why, it's Hayley's new pet!!!

While I was making dinner, Hayley came into the kitchen and she wanted to show me something upstairs. She made me close my eyes and she led me upstairs to her bedroom. When I opened my eyes, I saw Hayley's New Pet. There, sitting on her dresser, was a shoe box with about 2 inches of water in it (which was leaking out of the box) and she had a little plastic clown fish floating in the water. She was so proud and excited to have her own pet!! I totally burst her pride when I quickly took the box into the bathroom to dump out the water which had started puddling on top of her dresser. She couldn't quite understand why she couldn't keep the fish in a shoe box on her dresser!

What a cutie!!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T22:26:00.000-06:00

Ok- I totally got spoiled on Mother's Day this year! Scott bought me an iPhone 3GS! We haven't owned a cell phone in almost 6 years and Scott went out and got me the nicest one on the market! My goodness--this thing does everything!! I have a ton to learn! Scott couldn't wait until Mother's Day to give it to me. I guess he bought it on Wednesday (the 5th) and he called me at 8:15 a.m. on Friday (the 7th). (On a side note: 8:15 in the morning is pretty busy at our house because I'm trying to get everybody ready to leave to take Mallory to school--getting hair done, breakfast, backpack packed, etc.-- a pretty hectic time.) He told me to go over by the computer because he wanted me to check on something for him. I told him the computer wasn't turned on yet and I asked if he wanted to wait while it booted up or if he wanted to call back in 5 minutes. He kept telling me to go over by the computer. I could hear this "New" noise and I couldn't figure out what it was. Scott kept asking me what the noise was and I kept telling him I had no idea. Finally, he had to tell me to look on top of the bookshelf on the computer desk and there was my phone, just a ringing because Scott kept calling it!

I am now up-to-date technologically in the Cell Phone Department. The Young Single Adults have given Scott and I such a hard time about not having a cell phone. We held out for a long time. I'm really glad I have one because I worry about the kids not being able to get a hold of us if there was a problem at school or when we aren't home. Now I have to learn how to use it!! I have no idea how to send a text message or what an app is but I'm sure I will learn quickly!!

The girls all made cards for me in Primary today that were so sweet! Mallory planted a sunflower for me at school and wrote a nice card. Hayley made me a key chain at preschool with a cute card too!

We went to Scott's mom's house for the annual pizza party and then to my Grandma Peterson's to meet up with my mom.

It turned out to be a wonderful day! I am so blessed and lucky to be called "Mother", "Mom", "Mommy" and "Mama"! I used to totally dread Mother's Day when I was in my 20's before I became a mother! I have three beautiful daughters that want so bad to do what is right and to make Heavenly Father and Jesus happy! They all love to learn and they want to make me happy! I am so lucky!!!

Last Soccer Game of the Season

2010-05-06T20:57:00.003-06:00

Mallory and Hayley had their last game as "The Purple Butterflies" tonight. It was COLD again! It seems that every game this spring was just COLD!!! Mallory didn't seem to mind at all.

Mallory scored another goal tonight. She is quite the soccer player! She is not afraid at all to get in and get after the ball. She is good to follow up any shots she makes to the goal--just in case the goalie misses, she can try for another shot!!

Hayley did great tonight too! She had a little break away where she kicked it 2 or 3 times in row!

Way to go GIRLS!!

Georgia and Hayley playing on the sidelines!!

Mallory--all smiles after making a goal!!

Hannah, Mallory and Madison

Library Day

2010-05-02T20:51:00.001-06:00

Today, Brittney and Mallory set up their own little Libraries with different "Collections" of books. First, they got everything set up and then they asked Hayley, Scott and I to come and check out one of their books. It was so fun to watch them and to hear their thinking. Brittney laid out her "Collections" so systematically and they had to be lined up against the wall "just so". Mallory was talking about how the library is at their school. You can see by her little Library that is a lot like the Library at school.

Mallory's Library

Brittney and her little Library

Brittney's Library System (Who needs the Dewey Decimal System anyway???)

Stake Conference

2010-05-02T17:16:00.001-06:00

Our Stake Conference this weekend was WONDERFUL!!! We had the adult session on Saturday night and then we had a broadcast conference from the Conference Center in Salt Lake. All the stakes in Davis and Morgan counties attended this conference!

The adult session at our stake center was so good! There was a neat sister who spoke (I think her first name was Nicole but I'm not sure if I caught it correctly). Anyway, her talk was wonderful and she spoke about families, parenting and mothering! Just what I needed! She referred to several talks from this past General Conference (the same ones that spoke to me and answered and help guide many of the questions I have). She spoke about how important it is for me as a mother to spend time daily with the Savior--reading scriptures, praying and seeking revelation to do the right things. I really cannot be an effective mother and wife if I don't put Heavenly Father first. As I put Him first, all else will be taken care of. (Which reminds me of a quote I absolutely love by President Benson that basically says: If you put Christ first in your life, all things will fall into place or completely fall out of your life.). She ended with the words to one of my favorite Primary songs (I have several) "Love is Spoken Here". I really need to get that done in vinyl lettering and hang it on my wall--something to remind me how I can be an example to my children and speak to them with love and kindness (I have been meaning to get that on my wall for some time and it is time to ACT!). This talk was soooo good--I have not done justice to it here in my ramblings.

President Reed spoke at the end and his talk touched my heart. He talked about Sacred Moments, Sacred Times and Sacred Places. Here are a few questions I asked myself: Is our home a Sacred Grove? How can I make it a Sacred Grove for myself, for Scott and for my little girls? Are their quiet times in our home when we can ponder on what matters most? Do I hear His voice speak to me? Is His voice very familiar to me? He reminded me that Heavenly Father speaks and He speaks to us often if we are in tune to hear Him! It was sooo good!

As we sat down in our Stake Center for the Sunday broadcast, they had live video of the who was seated near the pulpit and who was going to speak to us today! My heart lept for joy when I saw Sister Beck sitting there and I thought to myself "This is GOING to be WONDERFUL!!" I absolutely love listening to Sister Beck talk--she truly speaks to us today. She speaks to me as a wife, a mother and a daughter of God! She truly is inspired. I still think of her talk several years ago when she was in the YW General Presidency when she spoke about having a Mother Heart. I loved that talk and every talk I have heard since!! I couldn't wait to hear what she had to say today!

In our Conference, Elder Rasband spoke first. His talk was excellent and he spoke a lot about temples and temple attendance. He spoke of the need to stand in holy places as often as possible! He quoted President Monson who said if we place our burdens on the Lord, he will hold and cradle us step by step to the Celestial Kingdom! WoW! I love how he uses the word "cradle"!

Next, Sister Beck spoke. I was trying so hard to write down a lot of what she said but at the same time my sweet little Brittney was climbing all over my lap--she helped me take notes and I wish I could have written EVERYTHING down because it was soooo wonderful! She talked about the importance of strengthening ourselves, our families, our communities and the world. She asked several times "What is my mission? Why am I on the Earth?". The big answer to these questions is to build up the Church of Jesus Christ. She said that taking care of our posterity, our children and grandchildren, takes precedence over all else. That is the most important thing we can do and while doing so, we build up the Church of Jesus Christ. She taught that each woman, is a lioness at the gate of her own home--we are totally in charge of what comes in our homes and what goes out and what happens inside our homes. She spoke again about priorities and how to prioritize the things we need to do. She said, "when our priorities are out of order we lose power". She talked about three categories of things we as woman have. Here they are with a little explanation of each:

1. Essential Things--if we don't take care of these things we won't make it to the Celestial Kingdom--these are the SAVING things we need to do--
-personal revelation
-personal scripture study
-personal prayer
-making and keeping covenants
-repenting
-sacrament meeting attendance
-temple attendance

2. Necessary Things
-homemaking
-cleaning
-house of order
-family meals and mealtimes
-home for the Spirit to dwell
-teaching children
-Family Home Evening
-Family recreation
-be a comfort to my husband
-being self-reliant

3. Nice to do things--things that are nice to do but they aren't going to save us
-crafts
-hobbies
-reading
-travel
-time-out for yourself
-lunch with friends

She ended with reminding us that the Lord depends on each one of His daughters to fulfill their mission on Earth!! It was so good!! (I heard that she gave an extended version of this talk at Women's Conference at BYU just a few days before, it doesn't look like they have the transcipts of these talks online yet but I will definitely be checking again later so I can reread what she said.)

Elder Robert D. Hales of the Twelve spoke too. He spoke about the Family Proclamation and how important it is to teach our children--there is an urgency to teach them correct principles.

President Henry B. Eyring spoke last. He spoke about Zion and how we need to create Zion in our hearts and in our homes where we eliminate selfishness, cooperate completely with one another, be willing to sacrifice whatever the Lord asks and to consecrate our time and means to build up Zion.

Stake Conference was truly wonderful! I felt the Spirit speak to me about things I need to do to be better and I learned what truly is most important.

I love my Heavenly Father. I know He know me personally and I know He hears and answers my prayers. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know he saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove. I know President Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today! I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His church on the Earth today!

Hayley's UNBIRTHDAY Preschool Party

2010-04-27T11:15:00.000-06:00

Because Hayley's birthday is in the Summer, she was able to celebrate her birthday at Preschool today! She was so excited to take treats and share them with her friends. Hayley picked out Twinkie's for her birthday treat and since it was "Uu" day, she also took Hershey's NUGGETS (because they have a U in them) to share! I guess the Nuggets were a big hit! Hayley got a birthday crown, she was the leader of the day, she brought the treats, she received a new book and a stuffed Butterfly from Mrs. Pett! What an awesome day! Here is Hayley standing by the flag with the Birthday Banner on it!!
Happy UN-Birthday HAYLEY!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Camping in Knolls

2010-04-24T23:36:00.001-06:00

Since Scott had Friday and Saturday off this week, we decided to go camping and 4-wheeling in Knolls (in Tooele County). When we woke up Friday morning, it was raining and I really wasn't very excited to pack the trailer and go camping--camping in the rain isn't very much fun (actually it isn't that bad because of the trailer). Anyway, we left as soon as Mallory got home from Kindergarten.

On the way to Knolls, the sun came out and there were very blue skies! It turned out to be a very nice weekend. When we arrived, we drove around looking for a place to camp (this is our very first time here). We decided to find a place to turn around and Scott pulled off the road onto a little dirt road where he thought we could turn around. (We have a very LONG load with our truck, the 5th wheel trailer and then the 4-wheeler trailer behind that.) Scott pulled off and went over a dirt road to turn around and all of a sudden we were in sand and sinking. The wheels spun and I was thinking "Oh no, we can't get stuck! How would we ever pull everything out of here!!" Scott got out and assessed the situation while I said a silent prayer. He tried several times to get the truck in four wheel drive and finally it clicked in. Amazing, we were able to drive right out of the place we got stuck!!! The prayer totally worked and Heavenly Father was really watching out for us! After we found a place to set up in the parking lot (that's where you are supposed to camp--right in the parking lot), we went for a ride on the four-wheelers and I took a picture of our sinking track marks in the sand.

Our tire tracks ---our little miracle!!

Mallory, Brittney and Hayley--ready to ride!

Brittney

Mallory

A look at Knolls

A little walk to check out the sights

Mallory

Brittney, Scott and Hayley riding the dunes

Brittney (falling asleep), Scott and Hayley

Scott jumping (I have another shot where he is getting a lot more air but it's kind of blurry!!--you'll have to trust me!)

Scott showing off for HIS GIRLS

Hayley

Scott and Mallory hill climbing--this is a close up but this hill was pretty long and pretty steep!!

Brittney and Hayley watching their daddy

Hayley, Mallory and Brittney standing on a sand pillar--can you see how Hayley is totally clinging onto Mallory for dear life?? She was soooo scared to be standing there!!

Mallory and Scott posing with their sand castle they built--Brittney just wanted to be in the picture too!

Oh--I almost forgot, I had another little miracle on this trip. We went for a ride across a very flat area. Mallory was riding with me and I was letting her drive! She did a great job driving! When we got across the flats, I took over driving again with Mallory sitting in front of me. I really don't like the girls sitting in front of me because our helmets are always clanging together! Anyway, I was following Scott and I need to climb this steep sand hill. Well, I didn't gun it enough and I probably should have rolled the 4-wheeler but it didn't roll. I was about 5 feet from the top of this hill and I held the brake, screamed and Scott jumped off his 4-wheeler and made it down the hill, I got off (still holding the brake) and Scott was able to back the 4-wheeler back down the hill and then he got a good run at the hill and made it over. When Scott got to the top, he made me get back on the 4-wheeler, ride down the hill and ride back up the hill. I hadn't used 4-wheel drive on my 4-wheeler all day but this was the time I should have put it in 4-wheel drive before attempting this hill. I know Heavenly Father was watching out for us again. I know the prayers my little girls say to have us be safe are answered!! I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who watches out for us and protects us! I really need to recognize His hand more often in my life! I know there are times daily He has a hand in my life--I just need to stop and recognize them!

We had a great time together as a family! The girls made a little friend Makenzie who was camping near us-- they live only 2 miles away from us here in Clinton and Makenzie goes to the same preschool Hayley goes too! What a small world!!

WHAT A WONDERFUL SHORT TRIP!!!! It was soooo nice to get away for two day!!

"STUDENTS OF THE MONTH"

2010-04-23T11:15:00.000-06:00

Wednesday (two days ago), Mallory came running in the house after school so excited because Abigale was chosen as "The Student of the Month" and she had lunch with the principal at school (Mallory was Student of the Month in December). Mallory was so excited because tomorrow they were both going to wear their "My Principal Believes in Me" T-shirts to school and be TWINS! They ended up wearing their shirts today because yesterday was Earth Day and they had to wear brown and green to school! I had to snap a picture of the TWINS! I bet this won't be last time they dress the same!!! It's wonderful that Mallory and Abigale are such great friends!!

Hayley's Decorations

2010-04-21T23:12:00.000-06:00

Hayley loves decorations!! Today I came upstairs and I noticed something different about Hayley's bed! She had decorated it again with all her stuffed animals and dolls--this time all of them had a disposable bib on them--they all matched! How funny!!

Family Home Evening at the Ropelato home

2010-04-19T23:04:00.000-06:00

Family Home Evening at our house is almost always an adventure!! It's always a fight to see who gets to give the lesson and be in charge! Brittney always wants to pick the songs (we sing "I Am A Child of God" and "I Love to See the Temple" every week) and she wants to lead the songs. Tonight, Mallory and Hayley both wanted to give the lesson. While Scott and I were cleaning up the dinner dishes, Mallory and Hayley were coming up and down the stairs several times "Setting Up" their lesson. I captured a picture of their set-up before we began. They had several pictures and toys arranged in the living room window seat. They had the CD player with Primary Songs plugged in and cued for the song they wanted to use during their lesson. Scott and I had to "Guide" their lesson so we could learn about a gospel principle. We talked about preparing for the temple and we listened to the "Family Night" song! They are so cute! We had special blankets laid out on the floor to sit on and lots of visuals to look out!!

Playing at the Park

2010-04-16T22:50:00.004-06:00

Mallory, Hayley and Brittney have been begging for weeks to go play at the park! We finally went to day with our friends, the John's. We had a great time!

Brittney trying to climb up a slick tunnel--this tunnel was sooo frustrating for Brittney!

Mallory

Abigale and Mallory--the best of best friends

Hayley Boo!!!

Hayley and Preslie--Hayley is sooo cute with Preslie--they went down the slide together over and over and over!!

All smiles!!

Brittney B!

Abigale and Mallory hangin' around

Brittney balancing on a little swing

Preslie and Brittney balancing well.....

and not so well!!

Mallory smiling BIG!! What a cutie!!

The "PURPLE BUTTERFLIES" play again

2010-04-13T22:25:00.001-06:00

I finally took pictures of Mallory and Hayley playing spring soccer. Mallory is a strong forward and Hayley loves to play goalie!! Tonight, Mallory scored two goals and Hayley got in quite a few kicks herself! The girls are on a team with several girls from their team last fall--Justice, Georgia, Madison, Kallie and Hannah! It has been a lot of fun (I enjoy talking to the other Mom's I got to know in the fall, too!)!!!

Hayley throwing the ball in

Hannah and Hayley (Hayley is talking to her coach--who is Hannah's dad--as she is walking down the field--she is always talking to her coach--I wonder what she is saying??

Mallory bringing the ball down the field

Mallory #11 getting ready to kick a goal!

Mallory on the run

Mallory again!

Mallory and Justice--the stars of the team (Justice is sooo FAST--she comes out of nowhere to get the ball--she scored 8 goals tonight!! Go Justice!!)

Mallory after scoring a GOAL!!! You go girlfriend!!

Mallory, Hayley, Addison, Aubrey, Taylor (our bishop's son who is a referee), a green team girl and Justice

Mallory and Hayley going after the ball

Mallory and Hayley again together by the ball

Hayley playing goalie

What's a goalie to do when the ball is on the other end of the field??? Why not SIT DOWN AND RELAX!!!!

Easter Dresses

2010-04-11T22:14:00.000-06:00

The girls wore their cute Easter Dresses the week before Easter and the week after to church (because General Conference was on Easter)! They looked so cute!!! Yes, they all matched one another too! (I used to hate it when I was older and my Mom dressed my two sisters, Aleece, Leslie and I all the same--if I had a scanner, I would add a picture from 25+ years ago).

HAPPY EASTER!!!

A Monumental Moment!!!!!!!!

2010-04-10T19:47:00.007-06:00

There is a MONUMENTAL event happening at this very moment downstairs! Scott is cleaning out his church binder!! Yes, you heard me right--he is cleaning it out and I have proof!! I have been teasing Scott about this for months--possibly years! Scott has a black church binder that grows and grows each week! The last time I hefted the thing--it weighed at least 15 pounds--or more--and that's no joke!!! I have teased Scott that he has minutes from Ward Council meetings since August 2004, when he was first called to be the Ward Clerk of the Young Single Adult Ward!! After I snapped the pictures, he said there was a paper he found in there from 2005!! That was five years ago!! I can't wait to see how much this binder actually weighs when he's done!! What a lug to carry around week after week and ALL day on Sundays!! (Add the scriptures and his set of keys and it's even more!!)
I love you Scott!! I just had to write about this! You'll want to remember this in 20+ years!

THE PILE OF GARBAGE!!!! (There was a lot more when everything was said and done!)

Decision time--should it stay or should it go????

The finished product!!---LOOK how THIN it is!!!

OUR LITTLE ENVIRONMENTALIST

2010-04-10T19:23:00.005-06:00

Mallory and her friend Morgan were playing at our house this afternoon. Mallory came and asked me for some tape and I watched as she and Morgan went and posted this sign on the light post in front of our house.

A little while later, I was looking for them because Morgan needed to head home and I saw them down the street with the wagon. When they got back home I asked what they were doing. They were out picking up litter. I snapped a picture of them emptying the litter they found into the garbage can. I had them go in the house and wash up before sending Morgan home.

I was thinking about what spurred this idea in their heads. On the way to Yuba Lake earlier, the girls were looking at a few books we brought along for the trip. One of the books we had was "Fancy Nancy--Every Day is Earth Day". I read it aloud to the girls and maybe that book got Mallory thinking a little. Hopefully she doesn't go tooo GREEN and get mad at us--we have a lot we could change to be more Environmentally conscience at our house--it would be a good change though!!

If you haven't read any "Fancy Nancy" books, you need to! They are cute, cute books and they teach lots of great new vocabulary words!!

ROADTRIP to Yuba Lake

2010-04-10T19:14:00.004-06:00

We decided to drive down to Yuba Lake to check out the campground for our Peterson Family Vacation in July. We left about 9:30 and we stopped at McDonald's in Lehi for breakfast (the girls were ecstatic to go to McDonald's). We ate Sausage and Egg McMuffins and some Cinnamon Roll things! We continued on to Yuba--drove through the campground twice and walked down to the water to throw in a few rocks. When we got back in the truck, Scott started down a dirt road and then we decided to turn around because the other campgrounds have absolutely NO FACILITIES nor WATER. Scott pilled out and was driving down the dirt road a little crazy but the girls thought it was great! They were laughing and squealing the whole time!! They had their windows down and the wind was messing up their hair! What a treat!!

Just check out the PURE JOY on their faces!

Hayley

Mallory

Brittney--I decided Brittney would absolutely love MUDDIN in a JEEP!

Brittney B.

2010-04-09T18:57:00.002-06:00

Brittney has been so cute lately! I can't believe how fast she is growing up! Our baby is now 2 1/2 years old!! She isn't a baby anymore!! She has been so fun to watch as she plays! She loves to dress up and play house! She loves to take care of her babies! She loves to pack up bags of clothes and toys to go camping! She loves her backpack and filling it up with things! During her nap, she likes to set her tennis shoes by her on her pillow so she can put them back on when she wakes up.

Brittney is very independent and she likes to pick out her own clothes and get dressed all by herself! She has very little interest in the potty and wearing panties---hopefully that will come soon!! Brittney loves her little friends, Preslie, Ella-Bella and Alyssa--she is very excited when she gets to play with them.

We love Brittney! She loves to gives hugs and kisses! She is a tenderheart! Her favorite songs are: "I Am A Child of God", "I Love To See The Temple" (both verses), "Daddy's Homecoming" (a.k.a. Daddy's Home From Work Song), "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Follow the Prophet" (sung while shaking eggs)! Brittney loves to read books and swing on the swing. Brittney is talking up a storm lately!!

BRITTNEY, WE LOVE YOU!!

Brittney climbing the Rock Wall all by herself!!

Brittney playing house all by herself!! Notice the full backpacks, the shoes, her Webkinz "Puppy", her babies, her purse with money and her cell phone, her little computer, her Buddy, and lots of baby clothes, and the baby bed!! She has it all!!

Brittney and her baby (We have only done hair twice this week--with the girls on Spring Break we've enjoyed the vacation!)

Brittney playing dress-ups (she always has to have on princess shoes whenever she has on dress-ups)

SNOW in April!!!

2010-04-06T18:02:00.002-06:00

This morning we woke up to about 6 inches of snow!!!! Mallory and I put our boots on to drag the garbage can out to the curb for garbage day. As we got to the road, Scott pulled up (he went to work around 6 a.m. so he could plow the lot at work). Mallory ran back inside and got all of her snow clothes on so she could help shovel our walks. Hayley and Brittney woke up and hurried and got dressed too so they could go play in the snow!!! They had a blast helping Scott snow blow and then they got to play!! (The girls are on Spring Break all week!!) Brittney jumping on the trampoline!!

Hayley, Scott and Mallory

Mallory climbing on the pile of snow from the trampoline!!

Hayley being lowered down into fresh snow to make a snow angel