She's Seven!!

Well, my little Karlee isn't so little anymore! She turned 7 years old this week! She has always seemed a little mature for her age...but now her age seems to be catching up! I have never done a "friends" party before...mostly because I didn't want to and nobody ever begged for one...but Karlee really wanted one this year, so I gave in. She wanted to have a dance party and I allowed her to invite 6 friends.
They had Friday off of school, so we decided to do a lunch picnic and dance party. We had pizza and then the girls learned a Hannah Montana dance (we used a video that came with a dance mat...in case any of you thought I might have enough of the old skills to teach them my moves...uh, no!) and then they made bracelets. The presents were a big hit (Karlee got an alarm clock/radio from Mom and Dad...she is so easy to please and was totally excited about it!!) and the cupcakes turned out quite yummy!

I have to say that this was one of the most well-behaved party groups ever assembled. Karlee has never been one who enjoys noise...so this quiet bunch was just what she would have wanted...I just had to laugh because I expected a bunch of giggly girls and in the end I was begging them to get crazy!!

These parties are always completely stressful to me, so they will only be coming around everyOTHER year...but last night Karlee gave me a huge tight hug and said, "Mom, this was the BEST birthday EVER!" and that made it all worthwhile!

Is this appropriate??

Having Rylee in kindergarten has been great for so many reasons! She is really happy there and she is learning a lot! One reason it is great for me is that when she gets home...her and Audree really enjoy playing together! Everyday they have some new crazy scheme or game. Yesterday they were making houses out of books and cardboard boxes. Usually, I see what they have come up with and just laugh...but today, it was picture worthy!

I am not even sure if this is an appropriate picture for a "family" blog...but they have been like this for about 1/2 an hour and they are thoroughly enjoying this game! Don't ask what the game is exactly...because I don't even know...but they have been laughing and bouncing around and have no plans to put clothes on!! I think this all started when I told Audree to get out of her dance clothes...I was hoping she would actually put something else on!! I guess I need to be more specific!


Anyways, sorry this blog has been quiet for awhile...this week has been busy! First of all, I had a terrible cold...thought it was a sinus infection...but nope, just misery! Jake was out of town most of last week...so I didn't have any help. Also, my little sister, Brooke, has moved up to Provo!! I am so excited to have her close by and I think she is just going to love it here! So, I have been helping her get moved into an apartment and find a job! Anybody who knows of a good full-time job for a H.S. graduate...give me a call!! Also, those of you who are hair stylists...let's try to get her into beauty school...any ideas? Well, I hope you enjoy my children's completely unsupervised play time...this job is never boring!

Jake's Worst Day!

Alright, I haven't had anything "blogworthy" happen in awhile...that is, until Jake woke up yesterday!! It all started on Sunday actually. Jake was supposed to fly to Virginia for some business meetings. He was a little concerned because he had a lay-over in Houston..and we knew that Hurricane Ike had caused some problems. He drove up to SLC thinking that he could find some way to switch flights or something and get to Virginia...but no luck! He drove back home with a flight to Virginia the next morning. I can't say I was sad...one less night by myself!!

So, Monday morning Jake left early (7:00 a.m.) for his 9:45 flight...he didn't want anything else to go wrong! He got on the flight and flew for over 5 hours to Washington D.C. (this flight was long and rather uncomfortable since he was sitting inbetween two strangers). As he was getting off the flight they told him he would have to run to make his connecting flight! So, he booked it and ran (the distance of a 5K from his description) to the connecting flight! As he ran up to the gate, sweaty and out of breath, they informed him that they thought he wasn't coming...so they gave his seat to someone else...he was out of luck! After some intense discussion it was clear that they were NOT going to let him on the plane...he was told he could get on the next plane in 7 hours!!

So, he wandered about, ate some "disgusting pizza", charged up his computer and sat around the airport for 7 hours. He finally boarded the plane and was quite surprised when they announced it was a 15-20 minute flight! He had no idea that the whole time he sat at the airport he was a 1 hour drive from his final destination!! He finally arrived at the Richmond, Virginia Airport at 12:30 a.m. local time. Then he went to get his rental car...

When he got to the desk they told him that he had arranged a car pickup for Sunday, not Monday, so he had no reservation! He got lucky on this one and they had an extra car he could have. He got the car and started on his way hoping that his memory would serve him on how to get to the hotel (he was there back in March). Well, it was really dark and he was pretty tired...so his memory was not what he had hoped. He made an illegal u-turn as he was trying to find his way around town and you guessed it...

Police lights started glaring in his back window. It is now 1:30 a.m. local time...he has been traveling 16 1/2 hours. He explains to the police officer that he is lost and the officer lets him off with a warning and helps him find the hotel. I thought for sure there would be no rooms available once he got there...but by some miracle he had a room. So, at 2:00 a.m. local time he got into his hotel room...I hope he fell asleep fast, because he had meetings at 7:30 a.m.!! Yikes!

Anyways, I had to write this down in case he ever tries to tell me what a bad day he had. Now I can always say "Well, it isn't as bad as Sept. 15, 2008!" I love you Jake...I hope your trip home is a lot better than your trip out!

Dancing Queen!

Audree is so dramatic! I don't know if she gets it from watching her big sisters... but I have to think it's something that is uniquely her! That is why this dance class is so great for her! A portion ( her favorite portion) of class is "creative dance"...they dance around like butterflys, with hoola hoops, and pretty much act like she does all the time!
She is going to the same dance studio Karlee and Rylee went to...they have all LOVED Miss Tresa! In fact, Karlee and Rylee still give her huge hugs everytime they see her...so Audree has become another big Miss Tresa fan!!
Here is Spencer being a trooper...he doesn't seem to mind going to dance, karate and gymnastics. This is good news for me...we just can't wait until his big sisters become cheerleaders for his own big games!

Watch Out!!

Rylee is my girliest girl! She loves to dress up, do make-overs, and have her nails painted...so it was a big surprise when she recently became determined to take karate classes. I couldn't argue with her, she was inspired by my cousin's wife (a black belt) and really wanted to try it! The more I thought about it, the more I thought it might be the perfect fit for her personality. So I signed her up!

Today was her first class and she was so pumped to go! Everything from the uniform, to the studio, to the woman coach was perfect! She seemed to enjoy every second and when we left she said, "Mom, can I go again tomorrow?" Then on the way home she said, "I want to get my black belt!" I don't know if she will continue to enjoy it this much...but she seemed hooked to me!

Even though it's a challenge to have all 3 girls involved in different things (Rylee=karate, Karlee=gymnastics, and Audree=dance) I am glad that they are not competing with one another...this way they can always be eachother's biggest supporters and cheerleaders! It also makes it fun to allow each of them their own time to shine...plus it's fun to watch them each grow in something different. Being a Mom really is becoming more and more fun! I am just so proud to be a part of their lives!

Labor Day!

Well, our original Labor Day plans of taking a hike to the Timpanogos Caves were destroyed by a crazy storm! We had to be flexible, but we wanted to spend time together as a family...and with my Dad and Brooke, who are in town visiting. So, we headed out to our favorite hamburger joint, JCW's (their hot ham & cheese sandwich is to die for!!!) and then to Cabela's (a sporting goods store/museum of sorts).
The kids loved the animal exhibits...especially the fish aquarium!
Spencer and Dad even found these great matching hats! So, even a crazy summer storm won't stop us from being together and having some fun! Thanks for coming with us Dad and Brooke! It's always fun to have you out to visit...we just hope Mom can make it next time!