A weekend in Florida

Gregg left for a business trip to Ordando, FL on Monday, April 7. On Thurdsay, April 10, I flew down to Ft. Lauderdale and was able to spend time with Rich & Sharon and Chad & Angie. We had a really fun weekend. It was fun to see where they live and Kiara and Indigo's school that they attend. We went on a fun bike ride, went out to dinner at "Flannigans" and spent most of the day on Saturday on the beach (the pictures that I took of Gregg didn't turn out very well they looked white). I am now hooked on the game "puzzle planet" after playing it with Chad & Angie and Sharon while staying at Rich & Sharon's and I received a new nintendo DS for my birthday from Gregg!!!

On Sunday, we went to church with Rich & Sharon and had a nice birhday dinner at Chad & Angie's. Thank you Rich & Sharon and Chad & Angie for a fun weekend and a good 40th birthday!

Mom's 40th!

Today is my mom's 40th birthday! THE BIG 4-0! wowie! The point of the mountain! (JK) Well, instead of us sharing this wonderful celebration as an imediate family, she is in Florida and left behind her wonderful....spectacular...grateful... not to mention adorable kids here in Utah. So I found a quiz about what her birth date says about her. Hope you enjoy! ~Makel

Your Birthdate: April 13

You're dominant and powerful. You always need to be in charge. While others respect your competence, you can be a bit of a dictator. Hard working and serious, you never let yourself down. You are exact and accurate - and you expect others to be the same way. Your strength: You always get the job done Your weakness: You're a perfectionist to a fault Your power color: Gray Your power symbol: Checkmark Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

7 Wonderful Years

We celebrated Jared's birthday last weekend (March 9). I can't believe he is 7. It has gone by too fast. Jared brings alot of character into our family. I have enjoyed Jared very much, and even though I don't admit this much, it has been good for me to experience having a boy. He really does bring alot of joy into our lives. We Love You Jared!

The Passing of a Prophet

I have a book that sits in my living room entitled "One Bright Shining Hope" messages for Women from Gordon B. Hinckley. I was thumbing through it and came upon this quote:

"As I look back upon my life and think of the wonder of the companion who walked so long beside me, I cannot get over the tremendous influence that she had on me. She was the mother of my children. She gave them life. She nurtured them. She guided them through their formative years. She loved them and dreamed of them and prayed for them.

She was so wise and good. She just seemed to have present in her all the good qualities of her most sterling forebears. All of those seemed to come together in that one little girl who bewitched me when I was young and in love.

Now a beautiful marker of enduring granite marks her final resting place, and engraved in that stone, beneath her name are the words, "Beloved Eternal Companion."

And so she will be mine and I will be hers through all of the eternities to come."

A few days after reading that, President Hinckley passed away. I thought of the quote that I had just read and it gave me great comfort to know that he is reunited with his wife and many other relatives and friends. During the press conference with President Thomas S. Monson, he said "all is well with President Gordon B. Hinckley. " I am so thankful for the knowlede we have of life after death. Our lives our eternal.

My friend e-mailed the other day with this challenge: Since President Hinckley lived for 97 years, she is challenging people who are interested to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days, either individually or as families.

How sick are we?

I got a phone call today from Kaysville Elementary saying that Jared had a headache and could I come pick him up and bring him home? Of course, when my child is sick I want nothing more than to be there and do what I can to take care of them. However, on our way home Jared asked me if you can die when you take medicine and aren't really sick. He also asked me as soon as I pulled into the driveway if he could play Nintendo DS.

I understand we all feel that we need a break once in awhile, but Jared had the privilege of taking a teaspoon of tylenol and laying around. Absolutely NO Nintendo DS.

Jared has two wonderful 1st grade teachers. He just would rather eat a fruit snack and play Nintendo DS instead of go to school.

Looking back at the year 2007

The year 2007 was a year of ups and downs for me.

On January 19, 2007 my Dad went under full cardiac arrest and had to be put on life flight. I remember receiving the phone call that evening and while Gregg and I drove down to Utah Valley Hospital, I didn't expect to see him alive. He spent 12 days in critical care and 8 days in physical therapy and rehab. It was hard for me to watch him go through that.

We finished our basement after two years. I am so grateful for Gregg and all of his hard work he put in on finishing the task. (I am also grateful for all of Steven's hard work).

Jared graduated from kindergarten and started 1st grade. It was hard to have him gone all day (and still is). He is very busy and is involved in soccer and basketball. I can tell he is going to be very athletic just by watching him play. He really enjoys sports.

Gregg turned the big 4-0 this year.

Natalie started wearing glasses and also started 4th grade. She takes piano lessons and is in ballet.

Kirsten started junior high and is loving it. She also started young womens. She is acting more and more like a teenager (which is good and bad). She tends once a week for my friend who teaches clarinet lessons, plays the piano and violin.

Makel started her sophmore year at Davis High. She has a good group friends that she hangs out with and they are doing things every weekend. She can't wait for us to get kitchen appliances and furniture downstairs so they can pop popcorn, have pizza, order chinese, play games and watch movies without us interrupting. She also passed the test for her Learner's permit. She will be driving soon and the thought of that scares me.

Overall, I would have to say that despite all the changes that happen in our lives, we have been very blessed. I wish everybody a happy new year and I hope the year 2008 will be one of the best for us all.

Christmas Prep

Tis the season to be busy. We have been very busy in preparing for this Christmas season and are sorry we have not made more postings this month. So now you get one long blog.

We started December with a wonderful little snow storm (see previous post). This really got us in the spirt of Christmas. The kids were thinking of Christmas pasts and Makel wanted to know why didn't make sugar cookies and pass them out to our neighbors. The following pics will help explain why we dropped that tradition.

We had lots of fun cutting and decorating (and licking our fingers). We made all sorts of shapes and sizes but our favorite ones were the trees. That is why Makel made everyone make so many - not.

These are everyones favoites:
Gregg - Christmas Tree
Kim - Stocking
Makel - Santa
Kirsten - Candy Cane
Natalie - Rudolph
Jared - Holly
But we didn't mind any of the others when it came to eating them, especially Jared who always eats more then his share.

We made two large containers of cookies but any guesses on how long they lasted? We will make a special cookie for the one who guesses correctly. You will have to wait until next year when we will make a fresh batch.

We have also been busy with Christmas programs and parties.

Jared had a singing program and of course sang the best out of all the 1st grade. They even threw him a party after words.

Kirsten is also excelling in her violin skills. She had a great performance in her Christmas concert and played better than anyone in the 7th grade ( they didn't throw her a party). She is first chair to me.

Santa came to visit us at one of our family parties to check on how good the kids have been this year. Makel and Kirsten are getting to the point where they don't feel comfortable sitting on Santa's lap (but who really does).

We are having a great Holiday season and having lots of fun. We are so very thankful for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and know that this is a very special season where we are reminded of his life. We are so grateful for his life and sacrifice. We are so glad we can be together as a family forever. What better gift can we receive.

We love you all very much and want to wish is a Very Merry Christmas!