Happy Father's Day

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

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

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

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!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Fftdhc

Park City Weekend

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

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

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