Conger Clan

Halloween

2010-11-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween, the kids and I went up to the fairgrounds and did some trunk-or-treating. I met my friend Christina up there and we let the kids play around for a while. I also took the kids around to a few neighborhoods to do some real trick-or-treating. Grant puked in the car because he tried eating a candy bar with the wrapper on. Lewis and Shane stayed home and missed all the fun!I didn't have time to make any costumes this year because of the move, so the kids had to use stuff we already had (or in Grant's case, we borrowed it). Evan found some soldier stuff, Denver dressed up as a nerd, Grant looks cute as Woody and Alisha is a mermaid.On Sunday, we drove into town to hang out at my brother's house. We ate some soups and rolls (and goodies) and let the kids carve pumpkins.

Alisha's Lesson

2010-10-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

Alisha had the Family Home Evening lesson this week. I found this paper with her lesson written out and I had to get a copy of it.

2010 Soccer

2010-10-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

Denver, Evan and Alisha all played soccer this year. It was a pretty short season, from Sept 18 - Oct 23, with just the first and last games on Saturday and the rest were during the week. At first I was upset that the games were on school nights, but after sitting through one day of games in the blazing sun, I started to enjoy the evening games more. I was grateful for the short season, because with 3 kids playing games and practicing each week, plus trying to move, it got pretty crazy.

It was a lot of fun to watch Denver this year. It's amazing how much better the Junior High kids are at playing! The games were actually exciting to watch! Alisha's games, on the other hand, not so much (I think she just signed up for the social aspect). All in all, the kids had fun, we enjoyed watching some soccer and now it's over, yahoo!

Denver's team
I didn't get a picture of Evan and Alisha's teams, but here are some individuals I took at home.

Barn Dance

2010-10-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

Since our ward didn't want to do a trunk-or-treat this year, they decided to do a barn dance at the Ag Farm. We ate a lot of food: chili, scones, homemade rootbeer and pie. Then we visited and danced.My friend Christina came with her kids, Morgan and Tysen. Here is Morgan gettin' down! Evan and Alisha decided to decorate a cake for the cake decorating contest. They tried to win it back during the cake walk, but they were unsuccessful. I thought their pumpkin turned out pretty cute!

Half Birthday

2010-09-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

Last week, Lewis had his half birthday. To celebrate I took him to the doctor for a well check and shots. Dr. Santos said he is doing well and was pretty impressed that he is almost crawling (he said he was advanced). Lewis already gets around pretty good. He gets up on his hands and knees and then lunges, then keeps doing that until he gets where he wants to be. He also tries to go from laying down to sitting up, but isn't quite there yet. Happy Half Birthday!!!

Stats:
Weight - 16 lb. 12 oz.n (25th percentile)
Length - 25 inches (10th percentile)
Head circ. - 17 inches

Almost sitting up!Strong boy!

Arrow of Light

2010-09-13T12:03:00.001-07:00

Last week at Pack Meeting, Denver received his Arrow of Light award. Shane got to participate in the ceremony by playing the part of Akela. We are so proud of Denver and his accomplishments in cub scouts, he even earned all twenty activity badges!! Stylin' in our uniforms!

Christensen Reunion

2010-09-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend, we headed up to my Grandma's house for the Christensen reunion. Shane and I drove up the night before and stayed at my cousin's house. The next morning, we enjoyed a HUGE breakfast at my Uncle Steve's house. After visiting for a while, we headed up to the church for more activities. We played some games outside and then later went inside to watch some slideshows of the family, tell stories and listen to my brother play the bagpipes. After the activities, we enjoyed a yummy dinner. The best part was that my sister made it down from Montana and we got to play around with her all weekend! I love my brothers and sisters!!!

Back to School

2010-08-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

What an exciting day!! The kids started another school year. Denver is now at the middle school (am I really that old?) in the 6th grade, Evan is in 4th grade and Alisha is in 1st. Evan has Mrs. Simkins (the same teacher that Denver had) and Alisha has Mrs. Foster (the same teacher Denver & Evan both had), so I'm actually quite pleased with their teachers this year. Alisha was pretty excited to be in 1st grade and have lunch at the school (why are my kids always SO excited about that?). The beginning of the year always seems so overwhelming, but I'm hoping that once we get into the groove of things, that we can settle down a bit. I got a picture of Evan and Alisha at the bus stop. Denver leaves so early, that I forgot to get some pictures of him (my brain doesn't work that early in the morning). Grant was pretty upset with Alisha for getting on the bus and leaving him. I thought it was cute that he was calling her name and crying as the bus left. You know, it can get pretty boring around the house on school days! I'm trying not to be too sad! Hee Hee

Birthday Spotlight

2010-08-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

Alisha is six years old! We think she is one of the sweetest little girls in the whole world! On her birthday I told her she didn't have to do any chores, but we had someone wanting to come look at the house, so Alisha decided she would dust for me. She is also really good at helping me with Grant and Lewis, and she will hold or feed Lewis when I need an extra hand. She plays really well with others and will play with Grant for hours, but she especially loves playing with her friends & cousins. Alisha is really smart, she loves school and is really excited for 1st grade. She is also very talented and is very good at drawing and creating things (she can make anything out of paper, staples and tape). Her main obsession right now is SpongeBob, she could sit and watch SpongeBob all day long! She is such a cutie and we love our sweet Alisha Lee. We are so happy that we have at least one cute little girl in our family!

5 Months Old

2010-08-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

I took Lewis to my sister's house for a photo shoot, and this was our favorite picture. I love that cute little boy!

Bananas!

2010-08-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

Lewis tried his first solid food today, and let's just say he went bananas for bananas! He liked them so much that he would cry between bites and even tried grabbing the spoon to feed himself!
He got so worn out from his new activity, that he cuddled up to his wormy and zonked out!

Happy Birthday Denver!

2010-07-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Denver just celebrated his 11th birthday. He got to pick out his breakfast cereal, dinner and dessert. Seems like I was in the kitchen all day making chicken bundles and cake. At least I didn't have to make the cereal, although homemade cookies probably would have been more nutritious than Cookie Crisp! We had a few family members over for cake and ice cream, plus his friend, Connor. He opened some gifts and got some nice things. Shane and I gave him a digital camera and Lego Harry Potter Wii game. Shane also gave him his old pocket knife and both of his Grandmas gave him some dough (the green kind you can spend).

July 24th Celebration

2010-07-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

The kids and I spent the weekend in Panaca with Shane's family. I wanted to go up there because they were having a baby shower for our niece on Friday night, but we ended up staying the rest of the weekend for the 24th celebration. Unfortunately, Shane had to work, so he wasn't able to make it with us.

The celebration began Saturday morning at 6am with their annual dynamite alarm clock (fun.....NOT!). We then ate a big breakfast up at the church and let the kids play on the playground. Every year they do races, but the kids weren't too interested in them......until the races started and they realized they were handing out money to all the participants. They had regular running races, potato sack races and wheelbarrow races. At the end of each race they would reward everyone with dimes or quarters. I even got a quarter in the women's (over 20) race. I felt stupid because halfway through the race, my knees buckled and I almost biffed it.

Evan is the red wheelbarrow being pushed by his cousin, Preston
and Denver is also in red pushing his cousin, Hunter.Alisha in the potato sack race.I also helped Grant do a few of the races, he was a little confused, but he liked holding his money that he won. Each of the kids almost earned enough money in the races to buy themselves a snow cone, so I covered the difference.

Later in the afternoon we attended the parade. It was a small parade, but we enjoyed it because they threw a lot of candy!!We also enjoyed a yummy dinner at the church after the parade.

Little Boys Update

2010-07-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took Grant and Lewis into Dr. Santos for their well checks and shots. Doc says they're doing well, although Grant is a little behind on his speech. Here are some stats:

Grant at 2 years:
length - 34 ½ inches (almost 50th percentile)
weight - 26 ½ lbs. (25th percentile)Lewis at 4 months:
head circ - 16 ½ inches (50th percentile)
length - 24 inches (10th percentile)
weight - 14 lb. 11 oz. (almost 50th percentile)The last few weeks, Lewis has been rolling over. He is at that point where he always ends up on his tummy, but after a few minutes decides that he doesn't like it. I'm pretty sure he is teething too. He is around the same age where my other kids started getting their first teeth, plus he always has his hands in his mouth and a drool ring on his shirt.

Bumbo Baby

2010-07-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

I finally gave in and splurged on a Bumbo for Lewis. I wanted to get one for Grant when he was a baby, but it always seemed SO expensive. After seeing Lewis in it, I wish I had got one earlier. I can't leave him in it too long, because his head isn't strong enough, but he seems to really enjoy it!

Duck Creek

2010-07-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

The Leavitt Reunion was held at Duck Creek this year. The weather was really nice and we had fun visiting with some of the family we hadn't seen for a while.

Here are a few pictures of Grant enjoying the outdoors.Thank goodness for his cars, they kept him busy for a long time!
We stayed there for four nights, it was fun, but hard with the two little ones. Thank goodness we had a lot of helpers,especially Aunt Melanie! She was so sweet and helped me a ton!
The kids found a lot of cousins to play with. Alisha was pretty popular with her crayons and SpongeBob coloring book.Here we are just hanging out with some family at our campsite.Saturday night we had a campfire talent show with the whole family. It was really fun to hear all the songs, poems and stories that they had to share. Sunday morning we had a really neat church and testimony meeting. The spirit was really strong there and we went through a lot of tissue, especially when everyone kept mentioning grandma and all the uncles that have already passed on. I'm really glad to be a part of such an amazing family!

Independence Day

2010-07-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

This year for the 4th, we went up to the fairgrounds to celebrate (well, technically it was the 3rd). We made it in time for a yummy BBQ dinner, but unfortunately, I forgot about all the daytime activities that they held, so the kids missed out on the water fight and the watermelon bust. We also enjoyed the firework display held that evening with some popcorn. It was a decent display that lasted about 15 minutes. I was a little worried about how Lewis and Grant would do with the noise. Luckily, Lewis slept through the whole thing in his car seat. Grant really enjoyed the popcorn and somewhat enjoyed the fireworks. I heard him say "Wow" a few times and the picture below truly represents his manor during the show. He pretty much had that look of awe and amazement the whole time.
Happy Independence Day!

Stirling Reunion

2010-06-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were able to attend the Stirling reunion over the weekend (Shane was at work). We followed a long, dirt road near Leeds to a campground called Oak Grove. This was a reunion for the descendants of William Stirling (my great-great Grandfather). Most of the people that came were my Grandma & her siblings and their kids and grandkids, although there were a few of her cousins there too. We ate, played games, visited and then ate again. The highlight of the day was when my brother dressed up in his Scottish garb and played the bagpipes. On the way home we stopped at the home that my Grandma grew up in.
As explained in this plaque that is displayed in front of the home, my great-great Grandfather, William, built the home with money that he was awarded for preventing an explosion at a silver ore processing mill.
Isn't family history fun to learn about?

Father's Day

2010-06-21T12:50:00.001-07:00

The kids went "all out" for Father's day this year. They started a few days early with a restaurant, complete with costumes and yummy food. Then on Sunday, we gave Shane a certificate for a pocket knife that he had been hinting about. Shane was pretty touched that the kids had each pitched in $10 of their own, hard-earned cash for it.
I had fun making gifts for my dad and Shane's step-dad. I made this candy bar poster for my dad. It was a little cheesy, but I think he liked it.For John, I made a cute paper wallet. I put some pictures of us on the inside and also a gift card. I wish I had taken a picture of it!

Happy Father's Day!!

Class of '95

2010-06-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

I attended my 15-year class reunion yesterday. We enjoyed visiting, eating, playing games and visiting some more! Thanks Amy for all your hard work (and everyone else that helped). Back Row: Ryan, Elisabeth, Melissa, Lauralyn, Will, Kiley, Clarence, Hillari, Amy, Ryan, Jason, Shane and Tricia
Front Row: Heidi, Shellie, Chantal, Vicki, Myrna, Michele, Tanya and Becky

Happy Birthday Grant!

2010-06-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Grant just celebrated his 2nd birthday. He got to pick some birthday cereal (with the help of dad) and enjoyed it for breakfast.
That day was a pretty busy day for me. In the afternoon, I finally found some time to whip up a cake. Grant had fun "helping" me make it.
I didn't have a lot of time to decorate the cake, so I'm not super happy with the results. At least Grant liked it (and it tasted good), that's all that matters, right? I'm not sure that he fully understood the whole "birthday" thing, but I do know that he enjoyed eating cake and ice cream and really loved all the new cars and monster trucks that he got to open. Happy Birthday!!

Tropic & Bryce

2010-06-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we headed up to Tropic Reservoir to camp for 3 nights. Shane took the kids fishing a few times on Saturday and I enjoyed playing games and going for walks. The kids also had fun playing with cousins.

I forgot how hard it is to camp with a baby! Waking up in the middle of the night to feed him was miserable, especially since he didn't like cold bottles!Playing games with the fam and Alisha coloring as usual.
Grant loves being outside! He decided to rub dirt all over his body!
Hangin' out
Sunday they were giving free admittance into Bryce Canyon. It's sad that I've been camping in that area since I was a kid and this was my first time to Bryce Canyon. I guess it took free admittance to finally get me there!The "gang"Well, we had a pretty good weekend, even despite the fact that Shane was cranky the whole time!!

2 Graduations

2010-06-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Denver and Alisha! Denver graduated from elementary school and Alisha graduated from Kindergarten. We went up to the school in the morning and attended both of the ceremonies. Both of the Kindergarten classes sang some cute songs about what they learned. We enjoyed it even though we couldn't see Alisha. When the kindergartners were done, the 5th graders came in and had some awards and then a really long slideshow of the kids now and as babies. Don't tell anyone, but I teared up a little during the slideshow!

Alisha with her teacher, Mrs. Hardy

Big Boy Bed

2010-06-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

Since it is almost Grant's 2nd birthday, and we are sick of having Lewis in our room, we decided to finally move Grant into a big boy bed and move Lewis into the crib. It was a little tricky trying to get Grant to cooperate, so we bought him the Cars bedding to make the transition a little easier. Grant is totally obsessed with Cars, so he is pretty happy with his new bed, and Shane and I are happy to have Lewis out of our room! The last few nights have definitely been more restful for us without Mr. Grunty Grunterson there!

Chautauqua Report

2010-05-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

The 3rd grade just finished up their Chautauqua reports this week. For months, they've each been researching one significant person in American history. Evan chose to do his report on Jonas Salk. Jonas Salk was a research scientist who discovered a vaccine for polio.

After writing their reports, they had to memorize the whole thing. On Thursday, they dressed up as that person and presented their reports to all the parents. They gave their reports as if they were that person, telling us about their lives and the things that they accomplished.
When they were done with their reports, they all brought some finger foods and had a huge buffet in the cafeteria. We are so proud of Evan, he did a wonderful job on his report!

Our Squatty-Legged Boy

2010-05-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I took Lewis in for his 2-month well check. He got 3 shots (OW), and a clean bill of health! Dr. Santos was very impressed with how strong he is. Here are his stats.
Height - 21" (3rd percentile)
Weight - 10 lb. 11 oz. (25th percentile)
Head Circ. - 15" (10th percentile)

Baby Blessing

2010-05-11T16:56:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, little Lewis was blessed by his father. It was a nice blessing and we were so happy to share this special moment with our extended families.
Family picture outside of the church. Alisha holding Lewis.After church, we had a luncheon for the family members. It was yummy!! We visited for a while and let the kids play.

Halle & TerraCynthia, Debbie & LewisCharlie & JulieGrandpa John, Grandma and RyanRyan, Melanie, & SuzieCarissa & Cameron Debbie & LewisSome even stayed for a game of Ticket to Ride. It turned out to be a really nice mother's day!

May Day Dances

2010-05-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

Last night, we went up to the fairgrounds for the annual May Day dances. I got to go down and braid the Maypole with Denver, then his class also did some tinikling.
The kindergartners did their cute little parachute dance.
Evan was embarrassed because his grade was square-dancing and he had to hold hands with girls, EWW!I love watching my kids at the May Day dances. I think mostly because it's very nostalgic for me. All of the dances that my kids were in this year, were ones that I did as a kid.

Evan is 9!

2010-04-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

For Evan's birthday this year, Shane took the 3 older kids camping out in the middle of nowhere.
Before they came home, he let them explore and play in the water. Evan got a few gifts from us, for his birthday. . . . a potty and a gun! He actually got the gun a while ago, (because Shane couldn't help it) and the potty was really a gift for the whole family (after an incident they had while camping), he also got some cash from both Grandmas.
I was worn out from a long day in the kitchen! He had requested muffins for breakfast, stuffed shells for dinner and cherry pie for dessert, but I must say, they all turned out delicious!!
Happy 9th!!

Fun at the Fair

2010-04-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

Every year when the Clark County Fair comes to town, we do the same thing. We spend a few hours during the day looking at the animals and displays. We take some goofy pictures. Then Shane goes home with the little ones, and I head up to the carnival with the older kids (Shane refuses to go because of all the lurking germs there, plus he's afraid of the "Carni's"). We have a lot of fun and I like to stay late to get my money's worth.

Alisha on Carousel. On the new Ferris Wheel.The view from the Ferris Wheel.We had a fun night, but I was sure glad to slip into bed that night! I was worn out from walking around all day, plus staying out until midnight.

10 Weeks

2010-04-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

I have 10 weeks until my 15-year class reunion. I've got to lose some weight and I've decided that I needed your help again. So, each Saturday I will be posting my weight loss on the sidebar of my blog for the whole world to see! Hopefully, it will motivate me like it did last year. Here is my "before" picture. Wish me luck!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we joined my family at my brother's house for a Easter BBQ and the kids also stayed to watch a movie outside in the backyard. On Saturday, the kids and I colored some eggs. My sisters, Deb and Julie showed up just in time for the festivities (unfortunately, I don't have a picture of Julie). Grant really liked coloring his eggs and thought they were fun to hold.
I also really enjoyed Conference on Saturday and Sunday (the parts I stayed awake for). Sunday evening we met up with part of the family again to partake in a yummy Easter dinner.

4-Eyes

2010-03-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

Denver had been complaining for a while that the black board was blurry. So, I finally took him to the eye doctor last week and found out that he is near-sighted and needed glasses. I think he looks cute!

Just In the Nick of Time

2010-03-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we were going about normal business. I made some funeral potatoes and took up to a funeral and then went to visit with my sister, who was at my parent's house, scrap-booking with some friends. Shane and Denver had been at a hunter's safety class all morning. Just before 3:00, I decided that I needed to get home and start some bread for dinner. I loaded the kids up and headed home. When I got home, I was about to unbuckle Grant from his car seat, when I felt a gush of water (thank goodness I was still in the garage). WHAT THE?!?!? When I finally realized what had happened, I heard Shane pull into the driveway. I told him that my water broke and then immediately he began gathering the kids up and loading them back into the car. He ran the kids back to my parent's house while I tried to pack my bag (no, it wasn't packed yet). When he got back, we got into the car and bolted into Vegas. About 10 minutes into the trip, my contractions started. I began timing them and some of them were only 3 minutes apart. My water has never broken on it's own before, so I didn't know what to expect, but my labor generally goes really fast. I was praying over and over that I would make it to the hospital. We did hit a little traffic on the 95 headed towards Summerlin Hospital, but once we got into the emergency lane, we got around the traffic pretty quickly. Once I got up to Labor & Delivery at the hospital, I told them that my water broke and that my contractions were 3 minutes apart. One nurse looked at me and asked if it was my 1st baby. When I told her it was my 5th, they started moving a little quicker. I changed into a gown, laid down in bed and then about 5 minutes later she checked me and realized that his head was already at a +2. At this point, I was getting pretty uncomfortable. She kept telling me to breathe and finally I informed her that I was going to push. She put on some gloves and pretty much caught the baby. He was born at 4:37pm (just 1 hour and 35 minutes after my water broke!). He weighed 5 lb. 12 oz. and was 17 inches long. Since the baby surprised us 3 1/2 weeks early, we still hadn't pinned down a name. So, after deliberating for the 2 days we were in the hospital, we finally came up with a name. Introducing.......

Lewis Stirling Conger
Mom and baby, both doing well!Aunt Julie
Grandma Evans
Shane, Grant, Uncle Wayne
Denver, Aunt Melissa, Evan & AlishaSorry, Cynthia and Debbie, I forgot to take your pictures!! Thanks, everyone, for coming to visit!!

Pinewood Derby

2010-03-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

Denver and Evan were able to make cars and participate in the pinewood derby today. Our Stake ran the event, racing individual wards separately and then racing the top 4 from each ward at the Stake level. Evan was a bit upset, at first, because his car was dead last coming down each of the four tracks (especially after doing so well last year).
Denver took 5th place at the ward level and was pleased with the results. Grant really enjoyed watching the cars race down the tracks.Each of the boys from the ward received a goody bag for participating and some sort of award. Denver got an award for the best cheese car and Evan got an award for the coolest limousine. Good job boys!

Family Fun Night

2010-03-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

To pass something off in his Webelos book, Denver had to plan a family fun night. So, yesterday we went to the park and had some pizza (and chocolate milk) and then played for a while.Grant had a ball just watching the cars go by.The kids had fun riding on their scooters in the skate park,playing basketball with dad (and mom too),swinging,and just being monkeys!We had a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful! Why don't we do stuff like this more often?

Semi-Surprise Baby Shower

2010-02-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, I had plans to go to lunch with my friends, Jocelyn and Christina. The day before, I happened to be on the phone with another friend, who asked about my shower the next day. WHAT?!? Apparently, Jocelyn was really sneaky and planned a surprise shower for me. I showed up for lunch prepared to act surprised, but they already knew that I knew! Either way, I have awesome friends and we had a good time together! We ate lunch, I opened gifts and then we enjoyed some cheesecake for dessert, YUM!

They brought me all kinds of gifts.....blankets, bibs, diapers, clothes, frames and even some fancy lotions to pamper myself!

This is a very cute diaper cake that Christina made for me.
Thanks, Jocelyn, for the shower and thanks to all my wonderful friends for coming!!

Day Trip to Brianhead

2010-02-20T20:45:00.000-08:00

Some of my family went up to stay in a cabin at Brianhead again this year. This time, they decided to let the kids come too. We figured the cabin would be crowded, so we opted not to stay the night. We left early Friday morning (the kids had no school) and headed up there for the day. Grant and I stayed at the cabin and played with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Debbie, Aunt Cynthia and Halle. Shane took the older kids tubing and everyone else went skiing or snowboarding. Shane and the kids had a blast!We borrowed some snow gear from our neighbors and the kids stayed nice and warm. Thanks Amanda!
Shane said that Alisha was the first one down the hill and that she was grinning from ear to ear! (not represented by this picture)They had a pulley system that would take you up the hill. Looks fun!My sister, mom and I made a huge turkey feast for dinner, that we enjoyed once everyone got back from the slopes. We took off shortly after dinner because it was snowing and starting to get dark. We stayed the night in St. George at Grandma Conger's house. The next day we did a little shopping, went to see Grandma's house that is being built and went to lunch before heading home. What a fun weekend!

Valentines Day

2010-02-15T16:48:00.001-08:00

The last few years, we haven't really celebrated Valentine's day. Shane always rants about how it's a stupid, made-up, commercialized holiday. For the most part, I agree with him. But, it's still fun to have an excuse to go on a date or to eat a lot of chocolate! Since I bought myself some new dishes a few weeks ago, we used Valentine's day as an excuse to justify the purchase.
I also received many beautiful (and tasty) broccoli bouquets from Shane's garden over the past few weeks. I must say that it was way better than wasting money on a flower bouquet that will just die (and you can't eat). It is the best broccoli I've ever tasted!
We didn't make it on a date, but Shane did share his chocolate orange sticks that he got as his gift. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

House For Sale!!

2010-01-25T14:01:00.001-08:00

Custom home for sale in Logandale subdivision! 2330 sq ft with 4 bdrms/2.5 bths, & 2-car garage. Open floorplan, huge kitchen with granite countertops and walk-in pantry, full front porch and large back porch, all on 1/2 acre lot!
$249,900
Randy Carlson
Realty ONE Group
702-355-1000

3D ultrasounds

2010-01-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

I had these 3D ultrasounds taken at Dr. Wold's office yesterday. They some-what resemble a baby, but I figure (and hope) that 3D ultrasounds aren't perfect! It is still very interesting to see what's going on in there!

GATE

2010-01-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas break we received a letter from the school accepting Evan into the GATE program (Gifted And Talented Education). He scored in the 97th percentile on the test and a 12 on the Matrix (whatever that is). The kids are supposed to score in the 98th percentile to make it in the program, but if they have a Matrix score of 12 or more, then they only have to score in the 84th percentile or higher. Evan is such a smart boy and I'm excited to have him try this program and see if it can stretch his mind a little more. I'm so proud of him and his capacity and willingness to learn!

New Year's Eve

2010-01-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Eve we drove to Las Vegas to spend the evening with some of my family at my brother's house. We ate A LOT of food and played some games.
Alisha watched a movie with her cousin, and some of the boys occupied their time by playing a game that they made up. I'm not sure what the game was exactly, but I think it had something to do with trading cars.
At midnight we watched the countdown on TV and welcomed in the new year with a glass of sparkling cider. We headed home just after midnight, because my brother had to go to work that morning. If you look at the picture, every single one of our kids were still up at midnight! Luckily, they slept in that morning and Shane and I didn't get up until 10am!

Christmastime

2009-12-26T10:19:00.000-08:00

We had an enjoyable Christmas again this year. My siblings and I (plus spouses and kids) gathered at my parent's house on the 23rd for dinner. Suzy and her family weren't able to make it this year, so we really missed them! After a wonderful turkey dinner, we gathered in the family room for our annual talent show and nativity. For our contributions to the talent show, Evan played "Up on the Housetop" on the piano, then I played "Jingle Bells" on the harmonica while the kids sang along. For the nativity, Alisha was an angel again. Denver and Evan decided they didn't want to be wise men or shepherds this year, so I conjured up a sheep and donkey costume for them. Grandma gave all the grand kids pajamas again! So cute! The kids also opened their "cousin" presents and then all the adults opened their "sibling" presents. Suzy sent a package for us with a Restaurant of the month card and a blanket she made for us (one side has the Broncos and the other side has volleyballs), we love it! Mom and dad also gave each of the families a box of food storage. We went back to my parent's house for breakfast the next day to celebrate my dad's birthday. The rest of Christmas Eve was quite relaxing and enjoyable (minus the last- minute wrapping frenzy).

Christmas morning the kids got up at 6:30 to open presents (despite my objections). They didn't have a lot of things to open because they each got some "big ticket" items. Grant got a cozy coupe (pictured below), some blocks and some smaller cars.Alisha got a dollhouse with a lot of furniture and accessories and some Legos. Evan got a couple of nerf guns, Spongebob Operation, and a really cool electrical circuit kit.
Denver also got a nerf gun, plus a basketball and a "real" gun (represented by the picture, because the "real" gun was locked in the safe by the time I took the picture) that has three interchangeable barrels. Some of my favorite things about Christmas is spending time with our families and listening to Christmas music (oh, and all the Christmas candy). I really could do without all the gifts and focus more on the true meaning of Christmas, but that's never going to happen! So, each year I do my best to remember our Savior through all the craziness!! Merry Christmas!!

12 Years

2009-12-19T13:59:00.000-08:00

12 years ago, Shane and I experienced one of the happiest (and scariest) days of our lives. We were married in the St. George, UT temple on a cold, yet beautiful, winter day.
We were so excited to begin our lives together! We were so young and innocent, not knowing what the future held for us, but just hoping that love would be enough to carry us through a lifetime of happiness together. I'm not going to lie and say that the last 12 years were easy, but I can honestly say that our love has grown immensely because of the many experiences (good and bad) that we have shared over the years. We don't have the "perfect" relationship, but I know that as long as we are both trying to make each other happy, we will be OK!This year we went to a movie and dinner to celebrate our anniversay. We saw "The Blind Side" which we both really liked, then we went to dinner at Samurai 21. We had a Teppanyaki chef cooking up our food in front of us. It was fun to watch and the food was pretty good (except Shane's overcooked fish). Thanks Shane, for 12 wonderful years!!! I love you Shmoopy!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

My Growing Boy!

2009-12-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

I took Grant to his 18 month check-up last week and he was 31 inches long (still a little short) and weighed 23 pounds 6 ounces. The doctor was quite happy with his progress!

Grant hadn't been eating very much for months, but then last week, he suddenly started eating everything in sight!!Also, Sunday was his first week in nursery and they said he did really well. No crying at all! Plus he scarfed down all his snacks! I think I can start enjoying church again (at least for a few months).

Christmas Festivities

2009-12-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we were able to enjoy some Christmas festivities. First, we went up to the elementary school and watched Alisha in the Kindergarten Christmas program. It was such a cute program with a lot of fun Christmas songs and dances. Alisha is in the front row wearing a black and red plaid dress. That night, we went up to the church for our Ward Christmas party. We enjoyed some food, a talent show (I had to get up and sing a song with the scouts), a slide show of ward members (made by Kay and Bishop Barlow), and a special visitor!! Alisha told Santa that she wanted a doll house for Christmas.Denver is too big to sit on Santa's lap!
Evan didn't talk to Santa because he said the line was too long and I didn't even dare take Grant near the big, red, scary man!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

Shane had to work Thanksgiving day this year, so the kids and I went to my mom and dad's house for dinner. We enjoyed the tradition turkey dinner (and pies), and also spent some time with my parents, my sister, Debbie, and her family and my sister, Julie, and her husband. Shane was able to have a turkey dinner at work, but says that most of the food was not very good. At least he got to enjoy some of our yummy leftovers after work!!

The next day we got together with the rest of my family at my brother's house (minus Suzy and her family) and enjoyed a lot more food and fun! The kids also helped to make some paper ornaments to send to their cousin, Kyle, who is on a mission in Texas.

We really enjoyed 3 full days of visiting, eating and playing games! I love Thanksgiving!

A Scouting We Will Go!

2009-11-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks, Denver and Evan have been involved in several scouting events. Last week, Evan received his Bobcat award at the November pack meeting. The next day, the boys got dressed up in their uniforms and got to ride their bikes in the Veteran's Day Parade. I didn't get any pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

Then, this week, the 5th graders presented a patriotic program called "Americans We". All the scouts involved wore their uniforms and sang many patriotic songs along with their classmates. Denver also lead the color guard and posting of the colors before the program began. It was a neat program to watch and really made me proud to be an American! The cool part was seeing several Veteran's in the audience dressed up in their uniforms.
Also, Denver and I were able to help pass out flyer's for the Scouting For Food program that is held every year. It's feels good to help gather food for families in need!

Fun Run

2009-11-10T12:40:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, Grant Bowler Elementary held it's 1st annual 5K & 1 mile fun run, so Shane, Denver and Evan decided to take a stab at the 1 mile. I stood at the finish line and was quite surprised when Evan came running in about a minute and a half after the winner. I'm not sure what place he was in, but he came in at an amazing 8 minutes and 53 seconds! Shane finished at 9:40, which I thought was pretty good considering he didn't really train for the race and was fighting off a cold. Then Denver came in a little later at 11:o1. He was a little upset and said that his shoulder was hurting. Well, I thought they did a good job and I'm proud of all of them!They had to turn around so they could show off their numbers!

Sad Day for Alisha

2009-11-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T17:09:00.001-08:00

The kids had a fun Halloween this year. They carved their pumpkins on Friday with Shane, while I was in Vegas.
We dressed up on Saturday and went up to the Stake Center for the trunk-or-treat. My friend and her family came with us as well. When we got home, the boys ended up doing some "real" trick-or-treating by themselves, Shane and Grant stayed to pass out candy, and Alisha and I went with my friend up to the fairgrounds to check out the festivities up there. Shane and I and our lame costumes.

Our Various Activities

2009-10-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Denver and Evan played soccer again this year. Our days got a bit crazy during September and October with all the practices and games, but we somehow made it through the season! The boys did a good job and had fun.
Grant and I were able to go to the pumpkin patch and pick pumpkins for the family. We didn't get one for Alisha because the kindergartners were going on a field trip there.

I was trying to get Grant to hold a pumpkin and pose for the camera, but he kept throwing the pumpkin down. What a little stinker!
Alisha has recently lost her first two teeth. The first one came out while Shane and I were still on the cruise and the second one came out the next week. You can't really tell that she lost them in this picture because the two new ones are already growing in. She was pretty excited about losing them, mostly because the tooth fairy left a dollar for each one!
A few weeks ago, I finally convinced Alisha that we needed to take her training wheels off her bike. After Shane took them off, I practiced with her a little bit and she picked up on it pretty quickly. Now she's a pro! She can start and stop by herself and doesn't need help anymore!
Evan has been playing the piano for almost 2 years and he finally got to participate in his first recital. We met some other families up at the Stake Center one evening for a Halloween recital. All the kids dressed up in costumes and then played their pieces. Afterwards, we went into the kitchen and ate some treats. We had a fun evening and Evan did a great job!

First Haircut

2009-10-19T14:56:00.001-07:00

Grant's hair was getting pretty long on top (and really gross in the back), so I figured it was time for his first haircut. I expected a lot of crying and squirming (because of past experience with first haircuts). Well, there was some squirming, but it was because he was getting tickled. I couldn't believe it, he was SO good! He just sat there, giggled now and then, and really seemed to enjoy himself! Weird! Anyway, it took me a few days to get used to the buzz, but now I think it looks adorable!

Mexican Riviera

2009-10-13T10:37:00.001-07:00

Shane and I just got back from a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise. Thanks to my mother-in-law and her husband, we were able to leave the kids behind and have a nice, relaxing trip. We left early Saturday morning to head down to L.A. and by noon we were already eating lunch on the ship. Sunday was a hard day because Shane wasn't feeling very good, so he stayed in the room most of the day (I wonder if the football game had anything to do with that).

Sunday night, Shane woke up to a dripping sound in our room and the next day, we woke up to wet carpet. They fixed the drip, and tried to clean up all the water, but there was just a wet, musty smell lingering in the room. Finally, Shane got sick of it and complained and got us moved to a balcony room.
This is the main dining room that we ate in most nights. Shane said it was a little too fancy for his taste, but I enjoyed being served.
My parents and most of my siblings (plus spouses and a nephew and niece) were on the cruise as well. It was fun to hang out with them when Shane was being a party pooper. I really enjoyed doing everything that I could. I took a juggling class, a line-dancing class, a ballroom dancing class, an improv class, played a few games of BINGO, and totally made a fool of myself while singing and doing Rocky moves to "Eye of the Tiger" in Karaoke. Shane was usually found near the soft serve ice cream at the buffet.After dinner, we would usually catch a show or two. There was a juggler that was fun to watch, and I enjoyed being entertained by Second City improv. A few of the shows we saw weren't that good, but we went anyway. My brother and his wife really entertained us when they were contestants on the Newlywed game.

We also enjoyed the Ports of Call. On Monday, we did some shopping in Cabo San Lucas and got some fun gifts for the kids. The next day we tried to Snorkel in Mazatlan, but the water was too murky. On Wednesday, we took a van tour of Puerto Vallarta. During our tour, we got to see a lot of the city, some beautiful views of the ocean, and got to sit at a restaurant in the rain forest. We also did a little shopping and went to Mister Tequila's tasting gallery. We learned some interesting facts about Tequila, but we decided not to try any.

These next three pictures are of Puerto Vallarta, it was definitely the most beautiful of the three stops.It was nice to not have to cook, clean or chase kids for a whole week! It sure has been hard trying to adjust back into the "real" world. Whose going to leave us towel bunnies now?I was able to catch the sun rising over the ocean on Friday as our ship was heading back to L.A. After 7 days, we were all ready to get home. Unfortunately, our trip home was really long! We had been driving for just a few hours, when one of my brother's tires blew and we had to pull into Victorville, CA and get some new tires. When we got home, Grant acted like he didn't know who I was and it took him a while to warm up to me.

Bear Badge

2009-09-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

At our pack meeting last week, Denver received his Bear badge, plus 1 gold and 3 silver arrowpoints! Good job Denver! I'm going to miss him in the Bear Den, but I can't wait to see how he does in Webelos.

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

We decided to get one last camping trip in this year. So, over Labor Day weekend, we met up with some family on my brother's property on Beaver Mountain. The first night we were there turned out to be not so fun. Shane started setting up our tent trailer and realized that he had left the key at home. He was still able to set it up, but we had to step over the part that wouldn't unlock, and we were unable to use the door. My brother showed up that night also, and discovered that the trailer they were sleeping in had mice, EEEWWW!!! Anyway, by the next day, they had cleaned the mouse crap out and had set some traps and we had my sister stop in Logandale on her way up on Saturday to grab our key.

On Saturday, we traveled about 1 1/2 hours to go to the Evans reunion in Hatch. We were there for a few hours to eat and visit. It was nice to see some family that I haven't seen for a long time.

This was the view we had coming down Beaver Mountain into Junction, UT.
It was freakin' cold up there, and some campers nearby were driving us crazy because they were riding their stupid dirt bikes ALL DAY LONG!!

But despite all of that, we still managed to have a good time. We played some games.....
played in the dirt......rode 4-wheelers.....hung around the fire....and enjoyed some yummy food (and treats). It was so much fun, that the headless horseman decided to show up!! OK, that's just Evan being silly!Thanks Kevin!!

Peaches

2009-09-12T11:43:00.001-07:00

My mom and I were able to sell over 200 boxes of peaches this year. We don't make any money doing it, but we do get free peaches! Her cousin has a orchard in Leeds, UT and we do it to help them out. I hope everyone enjoyed their peaches as much as we did!
Most of the peaches came on the 24th (the first day of school) and they dropped off more on the 27th. We had a pretty smooth operation set up on the front porch and the kids decided they wanted to capitalize on all the people coming that day. So, they sold cookies and lemonade to the willing peach customers and made about $33. It turned out to be a long, hot day, but we were able to enjoy some yummy peaches!

Birthday Girls

2009-08-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Alisha and I both just celebrated our birthdays. We didn't go all out and do anything fancy, but we enjoyed our days anyway. I was going to attempt a Little Mermaid cake, but when it didn't go as planned this is what we ended up with. We invited a few family members over for cake and ice cream and to open presents. Alisha got some fun gifts from everyone, including an Ariel dress with accessories from us.

As for my birthday, Shane let me relax and be lazy all day. He ended up cleaning the house for my gift, which I really liked!! Plus, I got a really fancy Cutco knife a few weeks early (which I really like too). To top it all off, we headed over to my mom and dad's house for dinner and dessert, YUM!

Thank you everyone for the gifts and calls that made our days special!!

Finally Walking

2009-08-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the month, Grant finally got serious about walking, and decided to take some steps. Each day he got better and better and after a few weeks, he got to the point where he was walking more than he was crawling. Now he is just cruisin' around the house (apparently picking up purses as he goes).

First Day of School

2009-08-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Alisha and I were both really excited about school starting this year. I'm happy to report that zero tears were shed between the two of us (come on, did you expect anything else?). I think the boys were a little excited, mostly so they wouldn't have to do as many chores at home.

We are lucky because the bus comes right into our neighborhood just around the corner from our house.
Here is a picture of Alisha with her cousin, Terra. They are not in the same class, but they do get to play with each other at recess.Alisha with her teacher, Mrs. Hardy. She is such a wonderful, sweet teacher!!I thought I'd get more time to myself during the day, but Kindergarten doesn't really last that long. Oh well, at least I get rid of the boys during most of the day!

Brianhead

2009-08-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Shane's cousin, Kellee, let us stay in her cabin up in Brianhead. We met up with some of Shane's family on Tuesday afternoon and stayed until Friday morning. We had a good time up and enjoyed some great weather. Some of the other things we enjoyed were . . .

taking walks (and dreaming about owning a cabin)
playing gamessight-seeing (Cedar breaks)and enjoying the company of family!Thank you Tom & Kellee for letting us stay! And thanks Melanie for making the trip happen!

Den turns 10!

2009-08-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Denver had his 10th birthday last week. His birthday was quite uneventful, but I think he enjoyed it anyway! He helped me make this ice cream roll, it looks gross, but it was really good.
He has been enjoying his gifts. He got rollerblades and pads from us, Evan bought him a video game with his own money, and we helped Alisha buy him some more legos. He also got a game from Grandma Conger and a scout pillowcase and some chocolate rocks from Grandma Evans.
Hope you had a good birthday, Buddy! We love you!

Montana!!

2009-07-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

Our first day in Montana, we wanted to relax a little after all the driving. That afternoon, we did go to the Museum of the Beartooths in Columbus. The kids had fun with their cousins and enjoyed the museum's hands-on displays. Like the tepee.....
the rail car.....and the old school house.The next day started off with a beautiful hike next to the Stillwater river. Then we headed to Red Lodge and visited a nature center that had over 75 native animals that couldn't be returned to the wild. Here are a couple of bear cubs that we saw there.We also went shopping in Red Lodge, there were a lot of cute little stores and gift shops downtown. Grandpa kept getting left behind because his knees were hurting. Alisha felt bad for him and went back to walk with him.
The next day I woke up early and ran my first official 5K with my sister, her son, and our sister-in-law, in the Columbus Patriot Run. I did a decent job considering I signed up last minute and didn't train for it. I had fun and I can see how people can get hooked on running because I already want to race again! This is us after the race with our door prizes. We also attended the Freedom Days parade that morning and raked in the candy!That afternoon, Milo took us out rafting and we had a blast. As you can see, we all went except Grant (he stayed with Grandma). My nephews, Andre and Cameron were just ahead of us in kayaks. This last picture I took on my sister's 10-acre lot. I had everyone turn around and it looked really cool. It reminded me of the title sequence of Lost. Just across the road from this lot is where her in-laws live. We went up to visit and let the kids play. As we were leaving, we saw a bear up there, right where the kids had been playing! FREAKY!!!!

We had so much fun up there! Thanks Suzy and Milo for everything!!

Yellowstone

2009-07-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

On the second day of our trip, we were headed to Yellowstone National Park. We had a minor setback, when a tire blew on my brother's vehicle. We ended up making a unscheduled stop in Pocatello, ID, so he could get a new set of tires. We walked to a nearby baseball field and relaxed and let the kids run around for a while.By late afternoon, we made it to Yellowstone, WY, it was beautiful! We saw some wild-life.....and a bunch of geysers. Rylan, Evan, Connor and Denver near a geyser at the Norris Geyser Basin.The fam at Mammoth hot springs.After a long day, we stayed in these cool cabins next to Hebgen Lake, about 20 miles from the west Yellowstone entrance. They were really nice cabins, with 3 king beds (one in a seperate room), bathroom and an optional kitchenette! The next day, we hit some of the highlights of Yellowstone, including more wildlife (this bald eagle caused a major traffic backup going into the park).....some mud pots....Old Faithful....and a view of the upper falls on the Yellowstone River.We headed out of the park in the late afternoon and drove OVER the Bear Tooth Mountains on our way to Columbus, MT. It was such a beautiful, amazing and scary drive!

Museum of Ancient Life

2009-07-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

On our first day of our 10-day trip to Montana, we stopped at Thanksgiving point in Lehi, UT and went to the Museum of Ancient Life. They had an amazing display of dinosaur fossils.
The kids and I playing in sand at the Erosion table.My brother and his family were also on a 10-day trip to Montana and we ran into them at the museum! What a coincident! Rylan, Evan, and Denver
The kids digging for fossils.Grant, Alisha, Chandler, Evan, Ginormous Shark, Rylan, Denver, Jared and CameronAlisha and her silly smile!What a fun way to start off a vacation!

4th of July

2009-07-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

I had a jam-packed, fun-filled 4th of July this year. I began the day bottling tomatoes with my sister. Crazy fun!
Then we went swimming at my sister-in-law's brother's pool. It had some cool cliffs to jump off of and a really huge slide! Afterwards, we headed to my brother's house for an amazing BBQ! Chef Roddy smoked some ribs and chicken that were out of sight! Later, we headed up to the ball fields to watch the fireworks.
Grant thought they were pretty cool! Then the kids got their turn to play with fire. Happy Independence Day!

I'm A Big Boy Now!

2009-06-28T17:39:00.001-07:00

On the way to church today, Grant got his first ride in his front-facing car seat. He had a look of bewilderment on his face the whole way. I couldn't help but watch him in the rear-view mirror during the ride. Also, we have to be careful not to leave the pantry door open anymore, because when we do, this is what we find!!! He thinks he is so big!

Pine Valley

2009-06-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

We just spent a few days camping up at Pine Valley. We found a great spot with nobody really close by. We were also able to spend some time with some of Shane's family. They slowly trickled in for their reunion over the weekend . Unfortunately, we had to go home before the festivities began!

Stinkin' Denver made a goofy face every time we tried to get a picture of him!
It was hard having Grant up there, because he still isn't walking yet.
He did pretty good when we would take him for a ride in the stroller or let him crawl around in the dirt and over the small rocks. He must have been craving some minerals, because as you can tell in the pictures, he was enjoying the dirt!Of course, the boys couldn't stay away from the fire! (The boys with cousins Eli and Jake)Thank goodness we had our tent trailer. We ended up watching a movie inside while it poured for a few hours!Shane took good care of us and kept us nice and warm in the tent trailer (somehow I didn't get any pictures of him, oops!). The kids all slept really good, especially Grant, he slept like a baby!It had been a few years since I had been camping, and it showed! We ran out of paper towels, cups, plates, spoons and countless other things. Not to mention the stuff I just forgot to bring! Thank goodness for Uncle Ryan!

The Last Few Months

2009-06-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

The last few months, we've been doing some projects and activities that have been keeping us really busy.

First, we finished the landscaping in the front, right before we had family over after Evan's baptism.Another project that took a lot of time was Denver's country report. It turned out really nice, but I'm glad it's over!

Two things that really made things crazy were me playing volleyball and Denver playing baseball. Seems like we had a game or practice almost every day of the week! I had a lot of fun playing, but a little disappointed that our team didn't win more!

We also attended Alisha's pre-school graduation. Her class got up in front of all the families to sing some songs and count to ten in 3 languages, it was so cute! I can't believe she is going to Kindergarten next year!
The boys were also able to attend cub scout day camp. It started the day school got out and went for 3 days. They had fun doing archery, bb guns, swimming and many other fun activities. They also did really well on their egg drop. They both wrapped their eggs in soggy diapers and wrapped them up with duct tape. Both of their eggs survived! They had a family day where we ate lunch, watched some crazy pirate dances and the kids got awards.

I also hosted a baby shower for my sister. With the help of my mom, sisters and sisters-in-law, we planned a great shower! There was a great turnout and she got a good start on her baby supplies. The food was yummy and we had fun playing a game and visiting with everyone.

Now that all of these activities are over, I feel like I can relax a little!!! Thank goodness for summer!

It's Fun To Be One!

2009-06-09T20:35:00.001-07:00

Today we celebrated Grant's 1st birthday. He got some fun presents and was able to enjoy some yummy cake and ice cream. He really liked the Cookie Monster cupcakes . . .
. . . But it was the ice cream that he REALLY loved! He loved it so much that he ended up using his fingers to get the last drops!
Happy Birthday little man!

School Stuff in May

2009-06-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

We started off the month of May with the May Day dances. Denver's grade did the Stayin' Alive dance and Evan's grade did the Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride. They both did a great job!

The boys with their cute little cousins.The last few weeks we were busy putting the final touches on Denver's country report. A few months ago he had to pick which country he wanted. He picked Scotland (yes, I swayed his decision a little). I spent a few days making his kilt & tartan fly plaid, another day helping him paint his flag and another hour or so making Scottish shortbread for the buffet. I don't know about Denver, but I put a lot of work into it!

Denver and his friend, Jake, both did their reports on Scotland. He worked on all the written part at school. Last wednesday, we went up for the program, which was really neat. The kids were all dressed up while they danced, sang and played ethnic music on various instruments. Thursday, they each had an exhibit to display things about their country. Then the kids would sit by their stuff and answer questions to the students, parents and teachers walking by. Grandma Evans helped us out by printing a picture of some ancestors to display and also let him lay out a tartan that Grandma Christensen bought in Scotland. On Friday, each 4th grader brought in a type of food from their country and they got to go and try anything they wanted. After the students all ate, somehow there was still some food left for the teachers and parents to try out.

Denver and his friend, Connor, pigging out at buffet (that's not a mustache, it's a tortilla chip). I'm so proud of Denver, he did a great job and it was neat to see him so excited to learn about Scotland. Even though it was a lot of work for me, I really enjoyed helping and learning about the land where some of my ancestors came from.

Baseball

2009-05-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

Denver just finished off another season of baseball. He did a great job and had a lot of fun!! I'm not sure if he'll play again next year, he doesn't have his whole heart into it, like he does with soccer. I must say, I'm a little relieved that the season is finally over. I do enjoy going to the games, but it does get to be a bit much with 2 practices and 2 games each week!
Good job, Aztecs!!

Edna McBride Leavitt

2009-05-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

Edna McBride Leavitt, age 95, our beloved mother and grandmother, returned home on May 11, 2009 in Kingman, AZ. She was born January 6, 1914, in Pima, AZ to William and Mary Lines McBride. She married Evan Leavitt in September of 1936 in St. George, UT. They were later sealed with their family in the St. George Temple on June 6, 1964.

Edna grew up in Pima, AZ until she left to further her education to become a teacher. She helped to raise her 9 children through teaching school and was a wonderful mother and teacher.

Edna is survived by Barbara Rhoads (Earl), Louise Conger Robson (John), James Leavitt (Elaine (Tree), Carol Seegmiller (Phil), Eileen Bechtol (William (Woody), Janice Graviet (Vernon). She was blessed with a posterity of 166 including 40 grandchildren, 114 Great Grandchildren and 3 Great, Great Grandchildren. Preceding her in death were her husband, Evan, and 3 Sons, Karl (Suzanne), Robert (Marie), and Kenneth, as well as her parents and 9 siblings.

Funeral services will be Saturday, May 16, 2009, at ll:00 a.m., at the Metcalf Mortuary Chapel, 288 W.

St. George Blvd., St. George, UT. A visitation will be held Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., at the mortuary, prior to services.. Interment will be in the St. George City Cemetery, under the direction of Metcalf Mortuary.

Before & After

2009-05-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I made a New Year's resolution to lose 30 pounds in 16 weeks. Well, my 16 weeks was officially over on April 26th. Although I did fairly well, I didn't quite reach my goal of 30 pounds. My total loss was 25 pounds.

Before
AfterThanks everyone, for your support! I couldn't have done it without all my faithful readers. Because of my success over those 16 weeks, I've decided to do another 4 weeks. I will be posting the numbers each week like I did before. So, check in each Thursday (starting May 21) for my weekly updates.

To My Valentine

2009-05-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

The last few years, our bishopric has put on a Valentine's dinner. This year it was all planned out, then the chapel burned down. So, after a few months of waiting, we finally got our Valentine's dinner last night (we celebrated Mother's Day, too). Traditionally, the men have a dessert contest and write poems for their Valentines. Well, this year, they decided to have the women write the poems. So, after dinner we enjoyed the desserts (Shane made some yummy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies) and listened to some poems. Here is my poem for Shane.

To my chap Shane, I better say,
You’re such a wonderful guy!
But I bet most days, you wonder if
I care or really try.
Sometimes I’m moody, and not very nice,
PMS will come and go.
I say mean things, I tease and taunt,
I laugh at your second toe!
Your baggy pants look really gross,
Your crocs are very ugly.
You dress real old, like Mr. Roper,
That old fart on Three’s Company.
What’s that you say? I embarrassed you?
When I dressed up as Pat.
A him or a her, a he or a she…
Well, I didn’t wear FLAG pants!
Well making fun, is not the only thing,
That I do to make you doubt….
You ask me to feed your smelly cats,
But that I can do without!
I also use your nose hair scissors,
To try and trim my brows.
Plus you think, when I make sloppy Joes,
That I disregard my Vows.
When you’re at work, I throw junk out
(you haven’t noticed still)
And I put things away, before you are done,
But to me, that’s quite a skill!
I crack the whip, I put you to work,
Get out and finish the yard!
You say it’s hot, it’s just 90 degrees!
It can not be THAT hard!
Well, you may feel, that I’m uncaring,
And don’t show any concern.
But despite all the things I do and say,
I love my giant nerd!

Evan's Baptism

2009-05-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

Evan's baptism turned out really nice. It was a Stake Baptism, so after Bro. Hopkins gave the talk on Baptism, they sent each ward into the Relief Society room. Evan and Jocelyn Jackson were the only ones getting baptized in our ward. She was baptized first, then Shane baptized Evan. After they got dressed, the Jackson's did a musical number that was really nice and I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Shane was able to confirm Evan and give him a nice blessing, with the help of a lot of other priesthood holders. Bishop Barlow was conducting and he always does such a wonderful job. Afterwards, we headed back to the house and had family over for dinner. We had a good time eating and visiting family. We missed those members of the family who couldn't make it. Some of my siblings went to the Guns 'N' Hoses benefit. It was a hockey game where the cops and firefighters play against each other to earn money for a good cause. This year they donated their earnings to my brother, Kevin, to help with his medical expenses (who is doing well, in case you were wondering).

Birthday Week

2009-04-27T11:57:00.001-07:00

We started off the "birthday week" with Shane's cake last Sunday, I made it a few days early because I knew that we would be having Evan's cake on Friday, while his friends were over. Shane loves Hostess orange cupcakes, so I tried to recreate one, it turned out really good!
Evan got up on Tuesday and opened his presents from us. He got scriptures, a video game for the Wii, and a little cash. He also got some money from Grandma Conger and a scout pillowcase that Grandma Evans made.He loved Shane's orange cake, so he wanted me to make orange cupcakes for his class (except he wanted chocolate frosting instead of orange). We also had BLT's for his birthday dinner that night.We had a treasure hunt set up for Shane when he got home from work on the morning of his birthday. When he finally found the treaure, he found some goodies that the kids bought at Wally's and the game, Ticket to Ride, from me. Unfortunately, Shane had to go back to work that night, but at least we were able to eat fish tacos for his birthday dinner, before he left.

Evan wanted a sleepover instead of a party. So, I let him have two friends to stay over on Friday. We ate pizza for dinner, had cake and homemade ice cream, and Evan opened present from his friends. They also played out back and on the Wii all evening before they retired to their sleeping bags in the playroom. He was pretty tuckered out after a long week of celebrating!!

You're invited!

2009-04-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

Pinewood Derby

2009-04-19T20:08:00.001-07:00

This year, Denver and Evan both got to participate in the pinewood derby. Shane had them draw a picture of what they wanted their cars to look like, then he cut them out for them. As you can tell, the boys painted their cars all by themselves. Evan's car is the colorful wedge shaped one, with the wheel wells and Denver decided to do a truck.
First, they raced at the ward level. Each car ran four times, once on each of the four colored tracks. After all the boys had gone, the track's computer program (which was really awesome) took the average of their four runs to come up with their final time. Well, Evan took 1st place and was invited back later to compete at the Stake level! The 2nd and 3rd place winners, Josh Cox and Gavin Henrie, were also invited back. Our ward had an award ceremony following, where Evan received a medal for 1st place and Denver received a certificate for "Most Realistic Car". When we went back later for the Stake competition, it was pretty packed (I'm assuming there were 3 boys from each ward). It was really exciting! They had them run on all four tracks again and then came up with their average time. Evan ending up taking 4th place in the whole Stake and was awarded a trophy by the Stake Presidency! Congratulations Evan and Denver!

Spring Break

2009-04-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some things that the kids did over spring break....
- had cousins over to play and stay the night (and their mom & dad too)
- went shooting with dad (Denver)
- ate homemade pizza and ice cream (Thanks Aunt Heather!)
- went to the fair
- took a tour of Anderson Dairy
- had Family Home Evening
- helped mom clean the house
- had a piano lesson (Evan)
- saw Monsters Vs. Aliens at Pioneer Theater
- witnessed Aunt Julie changing a diaper- slept in the tent trailer
- went to the library
- read
- had an Easter egg hunt with cousins
- ate tons of candy- watched a lot of TV & movies
- slept over at cousin's house in Las Vegas
- tried to sleep while mom and aunts & uncles played guitar hero until midnight
- went shopping with mom at a million stores
- colored some Easter eggs

3 Days, 2 Hospitals

2009-03-31T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can probably tell by my title, the last few days have not been very fun.
Day 1: Grant woke up Saturday morning really croupy. We spent half of the day doing breathing treatments and steaming up the bathroom to help, but our efforts were all in vain. By 2:00, his breathing was very labored and fast, so I finally decided to take him to the doctor. I called Grant's Dr.'s office in Vegas and found out that they were closing at 3:00 (just my luck) and the nurse insisted that I take him to the nearest urgent care. So, we dropped the other kids off at my mom's house (and a present to a baby shower that I had to miss) and we headed to Mesa View Hospital in Mesquite, since it was pretty much the only place nearby to find a doctor on a Saturday night. Grant's oxygen levels were fine, so they treated him for croup (a shot and 2 prescriptions) and sent us home.
Day 2: He slept good and woke up in decent condition. He was still a little wheezy, but at least the croupiness was gone. Nothing that some steroids and breathing treatments couldn't fix, right? WRONG!!! By afternoon, his breathing was very rapid and labored and had even ME worried. Grant and I headed back to Mesa View and left Shane and the other kids at home (thinking Grant might have to stay the night at the hospital). This time, his oxygen levels were in the 80's. They gave him a blow by of oxygen, an IV and some breathing treatments. The doctor informed me that Grant needed to be at a hospital that was more equipped for children. So, they sent us in an ambulance to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas and we got there at about 11:00pm.Day 3: Grant and I got about 2 hours of sleep. They told us he had a viral infection (like RSV, but a different virus). He wasn't eating, he wasn't sleeping and he wanted me to hold him the whole time! They basically gave him breathing treatments, some steroids, and some Tylenol and Motrin to bring his fever down. By about 2:00pm, he started eating again, his fever was coming down and his breathing was way better. Shane left the other kids in my mother's care (again) and came in to "relieve" me, but Grant didn't like that idea much. Anyway, they watched him for a few more hours and decided he was well enough to go. So, we picked up another prescription, some dinner and then headed out. Needless to say, Grant and I were so glad to be home!!

Homemade Meal

2009-03-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, while the kids were eating breakfast, I realized that almost everything they were eating was homemade or homegrown. I made the bread and the jelly, and the eggs came from our chickens. Now, I just need to make the apple juice and butter, and we'll be set!

2 Finished Projects

2009-03-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Shane and I were able to finish two projects. Yes, you heard me, two! I know, finished projects are pretty few and far between around here. If it weren't for Shane, they probably still wouldn't be done. You see, he gave us the kick in the pants that we needed.

First, HE thawed the gallon of pomegranate juice that was in the freezer for almost a year and a half. He decided he was going to drink it, since I probably wasn't going to make jelly after all! So, I figured I better buckle down and make it, or I'd have to sit and watch Shane drink a $15 gallon of juice. Needless to say, I made the jelly (and some syrup too), and they both turned out so good! HA HA to all of those who said you couldn't freeze pomegranate juice!
Second, HE bought a new TV. About 2 1/2 years ago, I bought a dresser from my sister for $50. At first, Shane thought it was a waste of money. Then, I told him of my idea to refinish the dresser and use it as a TV stand, and boy did he perk up! Our plans to refinish it were never a priority, until Shane came home a few weeks ago with the TV. He took the top drawers out and made cubbyholes for the satellite box and DVD player. Then we sanded and stained the whole thing and topped it off with new handles (it will look better when we get the last one on). I love it!
If you are wondering what movie we are watching, it's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

9 Month Stats

2009-03-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Grant's 9-month well check. Here are the stats:
Weight - 16 lb 13 oz (3rd percentile)
Head circ - 17.5 inches (25th percentile)
Length - 26.5 inches (5th percentile)

He's a little small for his age, but he is growing. See, he's already too long for the width of his crib!
And lately he has started pulling himself up to a standing position!

Brianhead Getaway

2009-03-03T09:54:00.001-08:00

I had a fun trip to Brianhead with my extended family this past weekend. My brother's friend let us borrow his cabin again. In years past, it was just a getaway for the adults, but this year they let the older grandkids come too. Shane was invited to come, but he didn't because he couldn't find anyone to watch the kids. I was going to ski (or snowboard) but finally decided I just wanted to relax. After my niece broke her arm and my brother bruised his ribs, I was glad I didn't! So, over the 4 days, I played a lot of games, ate some yummy food, watched some movies, went for a walk, and even fit in a workout.

My family always makes the best food, but as you can tell on my weight loss last week, I was able to control myself!One night we had a mexican dinner similar to Cafe Rio (only better). YUM!!I had never played Guitar Hero before, until this trip. I had so much fun! That is me in the grey and green shirt playing the guitar (even thought the drums were my favorite). We couldn't get enough of it!In the upstairs loft, they have pool and fooz ball too.It was so nice to get away for a few days to relax. I really appreciate my sweet husband for taking over the house and 4 kids and letting me go. Surprisingly, he survived without me!! : )

Life With 5 1/2 Teeth

2009-02-18T09:45:00.001-08:00

At 8 months old, Grant now has 5 1/2 teeth. The bottom two popped through back in November, and the top three just within this past month, with #6 (top right) threatening to come through soon. So Grant's life with 5 1/2 teeth consists of.....
a constant ring of drool on his shirt.....putting EVERYTHING in his mouth.....and biting anyone who gets in his way!Oh, the fun adventures of teething!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

2009-02-05T08:03:00.000-08:00

I have many memories from the Logandale chapel. As a kid, I attended that chapel as part of the 1st and 3rd wards (before the Stake Center was built) and I was baptized there. I have so many fond memories of Primary, Young Women's, Sunday School, Stake dances and various other activities that were held in that building when I was young. For almost four years now, we've been a part of the Logandale 5th ward that was meeting there. Here is a picture of our family in front of the chapel, just after Grant's baby blessing in August.It has been so weird driving by the chapel since it burned down Wednesday morning. I still can't believe it happened! I'm sure it will sink in more when we start getting shuffled around to other buildings for church and activities. As of right now, we still haven't heard where we will be this Sunday. The funny thing about this whole thing is how I found out. The fire happened at about 4am on Wednesday. At about 10am, my sister who lives in Montana called to tell me she heard the valley's big news. I was quite confused and insisted that she tell me what was going on! Ever since she broke the news to me, I haven't been able to get it off my mind. I'm really going to miss that old building, but hopefully the memories will live on!

Questions and Answers

2009-01-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

There are two questions that I've been asked a lot lately. So, I thought I'd be nice and answer them for you.

Q - How is your brother?
A - Well, if you haven't heard, my brother Kevin was diagnosed with stage 4 Glioblastoma (brain cancer). He's currently getting chemo and radiation treatments in Las Vegas and he feels pretty good. In fact, he felt good enough that he went back to work on light duty. He has such a positive attitude and has been so strong during this whole process, he's such an inspiration to me. In fact, instead of sitting around feeling sorry for himself, he is trying to focus on others in need. He is part of a team that will be participating in the Kendall Tenney Make-A Wish run/walk on Jan 31st. All the proceeds go to making a wish come true for a child with a life threatening disease. His goal was to raise $2,000 in sponsor money, he didn't quite make it there, but thank you to anyone who contributed!

Q - What are you doing to lose weight?
A - Two words . . . . diet & exercise. I've been trying to exercise 5-6 times a week (about 30 or 40 minutes a day). I like to mix up my workouts so I don't get bored. I do aerobics, step aerobics, Tae-bo, running (well, more like jogging/walking), elliptical, lifting weights, and anything else I can think of (even boxing on the Wii). As far as my diet goes, I'm trying to eat healthier. I count points some days, other days I just try to make better choices (more fruit & veggies & whole grains, less goodies). After 3 weeks I'm still doing good and I feel great, thanks for your support!

Crawling

2009-01-11T19:40:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Grant started getting up on his hands and knees, then he started rocking back and forth. Now, over the last couple of days, he has started moving. He's almost got it down!

Same Ol' Resolution

2009-01-04T18:58:00.001-08:00

If you ask Shane, I have the same New Year's resolution every year . . . . . to lose weight. Every year I start off great and then after a few weeks I lose my steam. Well, I've made the same resolution this year, but this year's results WILL be different. You may be wondering how this year is different than the others. Well, I'll be dieting and exercising just like every other year, but this year I'll have a great support system . . . . . YOU!!!! I'll be keeping track of my weight loss for each week on my blog (see sidebar). Having to report to someone each week is going to do the trick! My goal is to lose 30 pounds in 16 weeks. This will put me at about 2 pounds a week until the end of April. Ultimately, I would love to lose 45, but I want to start off with something more attainable, something I can reach and possibly pass! Wish me luck!

Here is my "before" picture

Christmas Highlights

2008-12-30T11:02:00.000-08:00

Here are a few highlights from our Christmas season.

We went to Alisha's preschool and her class sang some Christmas songs to us (I think the kid next to her has head lice).

My parents held their annual family Christmas party on the 23rd. My sister, Suzy, and her family flew in from Montana for a few days, so we were able to have everyone together this year. We ate a yummy ham dinner and then held our traditional talent show and nativity. For the talent show, Evan and I played a duet of Jingle Bells on the piano while Alisha and Denver shook some jingle bells. Also, every year the kids all act out the nativity while the story is read out loud. Grant played baby Jesus, Alisha was an angel and Denver and Evan were wise men. After the nativity, the kids got to open their gifts from their cousins.The most exciting part of the evening came when my sister Natalie (who just got married in May) announced that she is pregnant.

On Christmas Eve morning (while Shane was at work), we all got together again to have my dad's birthday breakfast and then we opened our time capsule that we sealed 10 years ago. That was really fun to open and see what our lives were like 10 years ago. Shane and I had only been married for 1 year and didn't have any kids.

That evening the kids and I got home at the same time that Shane got home from work. When we went in the house, we found out that Santa had come to our house early. Denver and Evan got a Wii with a bunch of controllers and games, Alisha got mostly princess stuff and Grant got a few baby toys.

Yesterday we went out in the middle of nowhere and shot the gingerbread house with my new gun that I got for my anniversary. Here is a video recap of our Christmas that I'm putting in our new time capsule.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Catch Up

2008-12-15T13:01:00.001-08:00

The last few weeks I've been so focused on what's going on with my brother, that I've neglected to post anything that's going on around here. So now, I'm going to try to play "catch up" on things we've been doing.

First of all, if you haven't noticed yet, we had some family pictures taken. My sister Natalie took them and I love them! She always does such a good job. I told her I could probably drum her up some business. I'm not sure how much she charges, but she says she would probably be available in the spring if anyone is interested. Here are a few of the pictures she took.

Somehow, all of our noses started itching at the same time!

If you look close, you can see the moon in the background. Denver Evan Alisha
She is wearing her "mommy" shirt in these pictures.
When I asked her why she called it that,
she said, "It makes me look like I
have those feeder thingy's." Grant

The past month, the boys have been playing flag football. This is their first year playing, so it's been a learning experience for them, but at least they've had fun. It has been fun watching them play, I just wish it was warmer! This is their last week playing, so hopefully I'll get a few pictures of them in action.

At the beginning of the month, our ward had a Christmas party. Before dinner started, the kids got to go sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. The primary (and scouts) also got up and sang a few songs (sorry, no picture). Last Monday, we went up to the school for the Honor Roll Ceremony. Denver was on the AB honor roll and Evan was on the A honor roll. Good Job guys!

More Prayers Needed!

2008-12-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

Today I went to visit my brother in the hospital, again. He went home Saturday evening, but went back in on Monday because of some swelling, plus he was in a lot of pain. He is feeling a lot better today and is still recovering fairly well from the surgery. The bad news is that the doctors were guessing he had stage 2 cancer, but when they got the labs back today, it was diagnosed as stage 4. It is basically a fast-spreading cancer. I am still quite hopeful, because he does have an appointment next week at UCLA. They are known for innovative cancer research and will hopefully give him some good options. Please remember him in your prayers!

Good News

2008-12-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

For those who were wondering how my brother is doing, here's a little update for you. We found out that they were going to do surgery on Thursday to remove the brain tumor. So, Wednesday evening, my family gathered at the hospital. Kevin received a priesthood blessing from his bishop that was very comforting. One of the things that stood out to me in the blessing was that many people would be astonished at his fast recovery. When the blessing was over, his nurse from Tuesday night came in and serenaded us with his guitar. We also had a family prayer, which was a very neat experience. On Thursday, I heard (via text message) that his surgery went well. As soon as he woke up he was talking and joking around. They removed most of the tumor, but there is still a possibility of radiation and chemo in the near future. Well, today (Saturday), around 5:30pm, I got a call from my mom saying that they were sending him home. He had already been up and about and anxious to go home. Talk about a fast recovery! Especially since beforehand they told him that he would probably be in the hospital for a week after the surgery, plus rehab after that. I have no doubt that the priesthood blessing, plus all the fasting and prayers had a major role in his speedy recovery!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

Our Thanksgiving week started off great. First, we had dinner at my parent's house on Wednesday with most of my brothers and sisters. Then Thursday, while Shane was at work, the kids and I went to their house again and had turkey and all the fixin's (just a few siblings came this time). Then on Friday, we had Shane's family over to our house for a ham dinner. Everyone was there except one niece and her husband, and one nephew. Some of our activites included riding the go-cart, playing football, reminiscing about Grandpa Conger (who passed away two years ago) and playing games.
Unfortunately, the weekend ended with me going to visit my brother, Kevin, in the hospital. He went in Saturday night with a bad headache and after some tests yesterday was diagnosed with a 6cm brain tumor. It will be a while until we know how severe it is, but it's still a brain tumor! This is a picture of him with his wife and 3 of their 4 kids.I just want my family and friends to know how much I love them! Thanksgiving is so wonderful because it always helps me to remember all of my many blessings!

Picture Tag

2008-11-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

I got tagged by Lisa G. I have to post my 4th picture in my 4th folder.This is Alisha when she was about 6 months old. In fact, it was taken the week we were moving out here from Vegas.

I tag anyone who hasn't done this one yet!

Firsts

2008-11-19T09:06:00.000-08:00

Just over the past week, Grant has accomplished a few more "firsts".
His first 2 teeth popped through, so I bought him his first toothbrush. I also fed him his first solids. He did really good the first time, but by the 3rd feeding he cried the whole time and just wanted his bottle back. Now, just around the corner he'll be able to enjoy his first Thanksgiving and first Christmas, I can't wait!

Veteran's Day Parade

2008-11-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

It's sad to say, but even though I grew up out here, last year was my first year ever attending the Veteran's Day parade. Well, I'm not sure that they even had it when I was a kid! Anyway, we made it this year and it was Shane's first time. He had worked all night and woke up early to go because Alisha got to be on a float for her pre-school. Here is a few short clips of her (Shane had the camera, so we don't have much footage that isn't moving around a lot). She is the one in the red flag shirt. She looked kind of scared at first, but once she saw us, she had a huge smile on her face.