Monday, May 18, 2009

PARTY OF THE YEAR!!!

This is what happens after you attend the PARTY OF THE YEAR!!!
Yes, there were even policemen!

Emily, Kendyl and Blake
WOW!!! Some of the kids attending the party. 300 invitations were sent out.


Dean, me, Emily and Matt, four of the coolest chaperones you will ever meet.

Kendyl's first slow dance was with her dad, how sweet.



Kendyl and Emily being CRAZY!!!

Last Friday we were invited to the PARTY OF THE YEAR!!!! We have stayed in contact with our old Highland friends and one family invited Kendyl to their end of the school year party. They asked Dean and I if we could chaperone. We were as excited to see everyone as Kendyl was. As much as we love our new neighborhood, whenever we go back to Highland it is like going home. The party was in the Fuller's backyard. They have this party every year. The hire a DJ, send out over 300 plus invitations, and have lots of good, clean fun. It was so good to see some of the kids from the neighborhood and Kendyl's friends. I have never known such awesome youth!!!!! At about 10:40 pm three Highland Policemen showed up and told us that they were having complaints as far as American Fork regarding the noise and the party would have to end because it was too loud. I say that is a sign of a great party. As far as the party goes you couldn't find one cleaner. When you entered the party through the side of the house, they had a sign there that said "Remember Who You Are." Don't you think the cops could find some more serious crime to fight?
Jake and Addy also had an awesome time. They spent the evening with our old friends the Bushman's. The had pizza, watched movies and laughed and laughed, just like old times.

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE!!!

My sister Brooke calleld me last week and told me she heard that our parent's house, the house I grew up in, was for sale and had recently been sold. She had contacted the owner and asked if we could come see it before she moved away. The owner called her immediately back and said she would love it if we would come and look at it. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first but the day came and I knew I had to go. It was such a weird feeling driving there, kind of like going home again. The house was beautiful and my mom would have loved every single thing she did with it. This was my dad's work shop. He had and still does have every tool and saw you can imagine. Lots of memories were made here. She made it in to an awesome play room for her boys.
This was my mom's sewing and later scrapbooking room, her own private office.

The basement family room.

This was in the same general area as my parent's master bath but nothing like it. They removed walls, added walls, new cabinets, everything. It is beautiful.

The master bedroom.

The main bath, again nothing like it used to be.

The upstairs family room.

The dining room. My parents didn't use this as a dining room. It was part of the extended family room. This looked incredible. I loved all the windows, kind of like eating outside at every meal.
The kitchen. She redid everything. It looked incredible. My mom would have totally loved it.


The front room. We often teased my mom and dad becuase when we lived there, this room was only used for home teachers and it was not this pretty.

The backyard had stayed the same. This was the most amazing backyard and the most incredible place to play as a kid. I remember jumping on the tramp back there, playing in the sandbox, Sunday dinners on the patio in the summer, playing barbies up in the rocks and having many barbie weddings back there. Kendyl also spent a lot of time back there playing too. Dean and I only wish our backyard looked like this.
They kept this rock. My sisters and I played on this rock all day long. When we were leaving my sister Brooke commented how it looked so much smaller now but back then it was our island.
This is the front of the house. It has stayed the same. I remember sitting on that porch and talking to friends, mom and dad, sisters and also getting in trouble by my dad for pulling the leaves off the bushes that were there. My dad made me write a two page report on the importance of leaves. I never picked leaves again. I also remembering talking to my friend/boyfriend Brock out on the porch and my sister Marnie spying on me. I caught her watching me and she tried to hurry and hide and ended up chipping her two front teeth on the window tile. FUNNY, FUNNY memories.

It was such a great experience to go down memory lane. I moved to that house when I was in kindergarten and lived there until I got married. My parents would probably still be there today if my mom was still here. It was a wonderful place to grow up. As we were leaving, the owner told us she has loved living in this house and was sad to go. The only reason she was leaving was that there were not a lot of little kids in the neighborhood, in fact the primary was made up of four families. She also shared an incredible story with us. When she first moved in, her oldest boy was about two. They were sitting on the porch swing and her son pointed inside the house and said "there is the lady in white, mommy." At first she was a little bit scared as anyone would be but her son mentioned her often and said she was a very nice, pretty lady and she shouldn't be scared. She was happy. Pretty awesome!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Jake's cute gift. He was so excited to give it to me, that he gave it to me early. I treasure these homemade gifts.
My stepmom Terry gave me a yummy candle and even better vegetable peeler. She is so awesome!!!

Addy's class made these darling recipe books. Miss Billings asked all the moms to send their child's favorite recipe to school. She then asked the child how to make their favorite recipe and combined them together in a cook book. It is so funny. Addy's favorite thing that I make is pasta salad. Addy told her teacher that you mix 100 noodles and three cups of sauce together and serve.
Kendyl got me this awesome plaque. I love it. It is so her.
The kids also gave me this cute little plaque that says "With Love Our Family Grows."

Dean surprised me this year and totally spoiled me. Kendyl had a soccer game that Saturday before Mother's Day and after that game, he sent me to the spa for a manicure/pedicure massage. It was heaven!!!!! He took me out for dinner that night, so fun to be with him. I always love to go to church on Mother's Day. Jake and Addy both sang in the program and then they had the dads get up and sing a song. The bishopric had asked a few of the youth to get up and share their testimony about their moms and they had asked Kendyl to. I didn't know. It was a total surprise. She did such a good job. The whole program made me cry.
Being a mother is one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I love being a mother and wouldn't change it for anything!!!
The Friday before Mother's Day my dad called me and asked if he could come over and see me. He told me he had a surprise for me. I told Addy he was coming over and he had a Mother's Day surprise for me. Addy thought about that for a minute and then said "but you aren't his mother." So funny!!! It was so good to see him and I love the flowers. They were so beautiful!!!
I spent some time on Mother's Day thinking about my mother and what an amazing person she was. I think one of the most important things she taught me was how to love. I always knew no matter what I did and I was a stinker, that she loved me. I hope I teach my children that same thing and I hope they know how much I love them always. I love you mom. Happy Mother's Day.

Addyism!!!


Addy is so funny right now. She is coming up with the cutest things. The other night we were cuddling in bed and she told me "mom, I loved you even before I knew you." She has heard this from me before on many occasions but to hear it from her, just made me melt. Also the other night we had gotten home really late and I told her to go get in her jammies and I would do the same and we would meet in the living room. She pulled me down and whispered in my ear "ok but save you for me." I do love to cuddle with her. There is nothing better.

POKEMON madness!!!


Jake has a new obsession. He LOVES pokemon cards. He trades them with his friends at home, at school, at recess and even before school. He loves to take them in the car and organize them and look at them. It is CRAZY. There have been days where I have found him on the sidewalk having gotten right off the bus, with his friends trading cards. He has told me before that he loves four things right now and they are in this order 1) animals, 2) soccer, 3) pokemon cards and 4) his family. FUNNY FUNNY!!!!

Bunny Time!!!







Of course when you are at the mall, who can resist the food court for lunch. Addy got to pick. She chose PANDA EXPRESS!!! Yummy, yummy.
For months Addy's Build-A-Bear bunny has needed some surgery. She was literally falling apart. Addy and I decided to make a day of it and headed to the mall. While the procedure was being perfromed, we decided to do some shopping there. I told her she could pick a new outfit for her bunny. Addy loves this bunny. Her name is Abby and she sleeps with her every night and comes down with Addy every morning and eats breakfast with us. Addy picked out a new bikini for her bunny and a cell phone. What decent bunny doesn't have a cell phone these days, right? I love to spend time with her. She is growing up so fast. Just of note, Abby is healing perfectly and was back to normal in no time.

Mommy Daughter Time!!!

I just wanted to throw this in because it is funny. You should be grateful it is not a close up. I couldn't be that obvious. No one should be subject to this while watching a soccer game.


Last week Kendyl and Jake both had a soccer game in different ends of town. Dean took Jake and Addy and I took Kendyl. It is so much fun to watch a soccer game uninterrupted. On the way home Kendyl and I decided to take full advantage of this time so we went to Costa Vida for dinner. It was awesome to spend an evening with my favorite 14-year-old.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

SOGGY SOCCER







This is Kendyl's game face. Don't mess with her!!!
There is nothing like soccer games in the rain. Kendyl actually likes to play in this weather. Jake and Kendyl both had soccer games in the rain, at the same time, different places on Saturday. Dean took Kendyl and I took Jake. We all were soaking, dripping wet. It is so rewarding to see them both doing something that they love and are really good at. It kind of makes all the driving and money we spend on soccer worthwhile?