My Family

April 2011

2011-07-28T10:05:00.005-06:00

April was quite a mixed bag of events.

Spring break we stayed home and did stuff with friends

We adventured out with the neighbors to the zoo and actually made it through the day with only a few sprinkles. Rain never ended this spring.

Charly really was with us she is the one taking all the pictures.

Marshal and Noelle

Noelle and her best buds!

It is always fun at our house even if it is raining just pull out the music and see what can happen. This time we got Wrapper want to be's.

Night before Austin left

Neighborhood egg hunt brought indoors due to rain.

One of our families favorite events egg dying

There never is enough eggs for everyone. Chuck did more than his share this year that made for a few sad Children.

After the baskets were found

It took Marshal several hours and eventually a few hints to find his. That bunny makes it harder every year.

Easter morning before Church

4th grade Utah program

Noelle had Davis county this is her float and report.

Some reason this program gets me a little teary eyed with every kid.

The royal wedding

I woke the girls up around three they wore hats

We made crowns

and ate scones before heading off to school.

This was the only part Marsh wanted anything to do with, He thought the whole thing was stupid and that I had gone a little crazy.

I really did not care what the boys thought I still remember watching Charles and Di's wedding with my cousin Jenny and my Grandma. I thought it was magical and thought it could be a fun memory for the girls. Besides we had a blast!!!!!

March 2010

2011-07-21T01:51:00.004-06:00

March was another successful month.

Marshal took a friend and meet up with his cuz for Jimmer's last home game

they had a blast!

Big month for Marshal he received his letter for wrestling. So proud of the kid to accomplish this his sophomore year. Now he just needs the jacket to put it on.

St. Patty Day festivities

We made some cute treats for some friends to celebrate

our interpretation of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I think they turned out alright for our first try.

The leprechaun trap

Marshal being the good big brother helped Noelle and Kendall's ideas kinda come to life.

The idea was that when he went in for the bait he would bump the wood the bucket would fall and he would be caught.

Instead they found the trap taken apart and stacked in the bucket with a doll/ monkey from their rooms sitting in the bucket and a trail of gold coins with a message for them.

TRY AGAIN

Sneaky little leprechaun

He did live a small prize and a trail of mischief

And of course you can't start the day with out green pancakes

February 2010

2011-07-19T22:11:00.002-06:00

We start the month with Miss Charly's Birthday. She was very surprised with her main present. While she was at school I dove into her room and changed it around, cleaned it and turned her desk into a vanity. She was so shocked. Sharing her bathroom with Marshal made it a little challenging for her to do her hair and make-up. Of course she would not be a teenager with out getting some clothes and Jewelry.

So this year the kids were suppose to get there favorite home made meal for dinner but sometimes things can change on a dime. Marshal had wrestling, Noelle was at dance so we decided to just pick her up from her dance class and take her out. Of course she picked Cafe Rio

With her cake

We were very busy with wrestling this is one of the many meets. He did really well this year.

I thought we were done with official scouts after Marshal received his Eagle but he received his bronze palm and has now earned his silver.

Valentines day came and we had our famous dinner

My Sweetheart!

Heart shape meat loaf, baked potatoes, asparagus, butternut squash and stuffed mushrooms.

I wish I would of gotten a picture of all the cute Valentines we made. We always make homemade Valentines this year they were heart breakers. Two hearts glued together with the candy inside that said something like Don't go breaking my heart. you would then rip them in half to get the candy out.

Charly's schedule actually permitted her to play church ball.

The first week i could not stop laughing but I am pleased to say she ended up doing pretty well.

Kendall had her President's day program, she did fantastic!!!

This is her with her teacher Mrs Warburton

This is Chuck pulling the girls around in his Klondike sled

We had a fantastic month.

January 2010 AKA Marshal Birthday

2011-07-18T17:01:00.003-06:00

I guess this should really just be a post for Marshal Now that I look it is the only event that I want to blog about.

Marshal turned 16

He really did not care much for presents. He just wanted his own set of keys to his dad's old truck.

The great thing about January Birthday's is I can always find a great deal on whatever is the new and cool thing they want. So he was surprised to get keys and his beloved i-touch.

This year the kids got to pick there favorite meal for dinner, Marshal's just happens to be breakfast. Breakfast casserole, Muffins, fruit and of course Chocolate milk.

Latter that day Marshal and Mckenna (they have the same birthday) celebrated with the family together

And the best part for everyone is the next day at lunch I grabbed him and took him to get his license. I love that he can now help take a load off of my plate just by getting himself where he needs to be.

Marshal is a great kid and we are truly blessed to have him in our family!!!

December 2010

2011-07-16T08:24:00.004-06:00

Okay this could take me forever to catch up if I do event by event. I am going to give a quick look back at the highlights of December.

Chucks Birthday

He does not care much for a big hooray on his Birthday so we fixed him his favorite meal and the girls baked him a cake love the look on Kendall's face in the corner.

The only way I could get this girl to throw this gingerbread house that she made at school out was if I took pictures and promised to blog about it. I never promised how long it would take.

Peterson Christmas Party this day was a little crazy

I was in charge and Colle had given Birth to Kinslee early in the morning. You think I would have a picture of her but I could not find one of that day.

Kendall and Scarlet they had a great time playing together to bad life is so crazy they do not get to play on a more regular basis.

December involved lots of wrestling.

Lot's of Dance

This is at the winter recital

And a lot of Nutcracker Noelle actually performed in several casts

The Linford Christmas party

You know one of those parties you go to every year because it will probably be the only time you see half the people till the next year.

Our Family Home Evening just before Christmas with the Cleverly cousins

Uncle Chuck reads them a story every year. I love how they all gather around Uncle Chuck is a fantastic story teller.

Our McAllister Christmas party at Uncle Adam's and Aunt Janae's

My sugar cookie maker

Christmas PJ's

The line up Christmas morning

Showing off her loot

Noelle and Easton trying out there new boards

Noelle checking out Easton and Gretchen's loot

Enjoying Christmas, playing games and hanging out.

Finally enough snow to build a snowman

Welcome 2011

NUTCRACKER 2010

2011-07-15T04:22:00.001-06:00

I don't think I ever posted about the girls trying out for Nutcracker this past year. Both girls had a fantastic experience. You try out according to your height so Charly was trying out for Soldier and ended up getting the lead role as the trumpeter, she was so excited and has worked hard at her dance so it was fun to finally see her get the fruits of her labor. Having a lead role did mean we were understudies for another cast and more driving for Mom but hey this won't last forever right.

Noelle tried out for bafoon but ended up being cast as the party princess. That day will be burned in my memory forever. The whole process is quite intense and very nerve racking for the Mom's. I am defiantly not one of those stage Mom's so to watch them in action also gets to you while you are sitting there waiting for the girls to come out. A quick explanation girls go in and you wait for hours then doors open and you are told that the next girls to come out have not make the cast this happens several times before they open the doors and introduce the cast. Well through the process I knew Noelle had made it because all the cuts had taken place but they were not releasing the girls like normal then the door opened and four girls are released Noelle being one of them she comes running to me leaps up on me with her arms so tight around my neck and whispers I made party princess. She was so giddy but was trying real hard to be respectful of the girls around us incase any that had not made it were still there. For anyone out there who might not understand her excitement they only take four girls one per cast for this part, she was beyond happy.

They were in cast A this year which means they perform in ogden and at the capitol theater.

opening night

We love all the great support we received!

Grandpa, Karen, Aunt Colle, Aunt Fran, & Robyn

and of course Marshal and Kendall

Aunt Fran gave them both a Nutcracker

Opening night in Salt Lake at the Capitol Theater

Grandma & Grandpa McAllister

I know I am bias but they did an amazing job this year and I am so proud of both of them and the accomplishments they both made. I love the life lessons they are learning throughout the whole process and know it is helping them to become better people. They have made some incredible friends along the way. And have had the opportunity to be taught by some of the best. This last season at one of their performances the NY times had a critic there and they were ranked in the top ten of Nutcracker performances in the US. Yes I am a proud Mom.

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-07-14T22:14:00.000-06:00

At Thanksgiving I put Ryan and Cassidy in charge of taking pictures so If you notice Cassidy tries to be in everyone or she has convinced several others to stick their tongue out. (This is her signature move for pictures) We had a good time ate lots of good food played games and strategies for the next day shopping (I love Black Friday)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanksgiving program, parade & Santa

2011-07-14T15:29:00.000-06:00

Kendall at her thanksgiving program

I love the pearls she wore.

She told me she wanted to look fancy, nothing like classing up the turkey hat.

The grand opening of Main street in Layton

After countless months of dealing with the crazy road work we were not about to miss this event.

My kids had a great time even though it was cold.

And after the parade we walked across the street to my favorite little store to see SANTA!

I guess I should of had them take the coats and hats off!

Pie Night 2010

2011-07-14T14:12:00.000-06:00

I love Pie Night! One of my favorite get together's

Here is how it works I try to do the first or second Sunday of November, everyone brings a pie we vote and prizes are handed out.

I forgot to get a good picture before we started eating.

Cass always has a tongue out!!!

We invite all the Aunts and Uncles and cousins from the Peterson side.

It is a great time to catch up before the Holidays!

To all my relatives that have not made it the past couple of years you are missing out. Colle already has a recipe in mind for this year so get a baking and get ready for the fun.

The prizes are not to shabby and the company is fantastic!!!!

Piano Recital

2011-07-14T08:26:00.002-06:00

We had our piano recital in November.

Noelle had a crazy schedule this past winter and was bound and determined to make it to the recital. I was quite impressed with how she handled everything to get her there.

Our piano teacher is fantastic!!!

She has really figured the McAllister kids out and knows a good competition gets them practicing. Noelle enjoys piano but I think she doubted her ability until after the first competition began. The progress she made during that time period was amazing.

Cute little Charly

Marshal was not aware that this would be his last recital.

The kid can play a handful of hymns and once he got there he did not progress much further. Lets face it his schedule is to busy and he was always told once he knew 7 hymns he could quit and learn how to play the guitar. I doubt unless he has a guitar class at school this will happen with homework, Sports, church and a teenage life he really does not have the time to really give it his all.

Hopefully I can keep him interested enough to maintain the songs he knows.

Fishing and BYU game

2011-07-14T02:14:00.000-06:00

The day after Halloween Chuck headed off for a week of fishing with our neighbor Lance.

He has never done anything like this but he defiantly deserves the time off.

He had such a good time and he is slowly learning that sometimes you can stop working and enjoy life.

This is one of the fish he caught.

We shared BYU football tickets with Uncle Rhett last year for Marshal and Chuck to have some father son time. One of the games Chuck was not able to go so Kendall got to go to her first BYU football game. She was so excited to go and be with Marsh I was a little worried she would drive him crazy because she would get bored but she loved every minute. And came home knowing a lot more about the game then when she left.

We are very blessed to have good neighbors the kids hitched a ride with the Peads to the game. This picture is out of order but she had the time of her life and was exhausted she enjoyed a nice nap on the way home.

Kendall and Marshal

Marshal really is an amazing big brother he made this game very eventful for her.

He made sure she had her picture taken on the statue.( I think that is because we did that at his first game) He found cosmo for her and bought her treats and taught her all about football.

I love that I have older kids to share experiences with the younger ones. The other girls I think were a little jealous of how much fun they had and our hoping they get a turn this next season. I hate to break it to them but we were not able to get tickets this year.

If you hear of anyone not able to make it to a game I have a house full of volunteers!!!!

Halloween 2010

2011-07-13T23:39:00.000-06:00

We had a awesome Halloween

I love when a holiday hits the weekend, things do not seem as rushed.

We spent the morning carving pumpkins.

This was kendall having a treat break while someone older helped carve her pumpkin.

Uncle Rhett stopped by with cute little McCall

Marshal was getting crazy eyes from so many pumpkins.

Nothing but guts. Some people hate this part she enjoyed it.

Yes we had rain!

Luckily those expensive rain ponchos are getting good use!

Nothing better then dressing up as some one you love, candy and hanging with the cousins

Kendall looked so funny once the wig came off and she still had make up on.

Showing off the loot

Grandpa and the kids

Seriously this cute kid does not need a costume to make us smile

These two were hard core trick or treaters.

I love what good friends they are!

The teenagers slowly made there way back after hanging with friends

Noelle's loot before they went out again.

We had so much fun this year, some of the cousins came over to trick or treat and some stayed back to help hand out candy and eat the best chili ever. Grandpa joined us and after everyone had gathered enough candy or in Noelle and Stockton's case we made them come home we enjoyed hours of hanging out. I love Halloween but this year was one of the best I can't wait to see what happens next year.

Ward Halloween carnival

2011-07-13T21:10:00.000-06:00

Our Young Men and Young Women do a Halloween carnival for the ward every year.

Since Chuck is the Scout Master he gets to dress up. I love the costume I came up with for him this year, He was DOC from Back to the future.

This is him showing off his DOC moves.

I decided to dress up like one of my friends in the ward.

So I went as MaryEllen dressed to work on the farm.

This is madame Charly the fortune teller with her crystal ball.

The best part of the ward carnival is that you can get your pictures taken

so here is the whole clan

DOC, MaryEllen, Buzz, Madame Charly, Indiana Jones and Snow White

40th

2011-07-13T10:26:00.003-06:00

I have had a mental block about my blog for quite sometime, I struggle with how much to put out there for everyone to read. I use my blog as my form of journaling and find that it is a great way to help me when I need to see what someone did for a birthday or who came to what etc. I love that I can share a glimpse of my family with people. I guess my struggle is sometimes I want to share more but situations or relationships sometimes make it tricky. So I have given it time (to much time actually now it is that haunting thing in the back of my head) to think things through and have decided sometime I do have things I want to get out and write down for me and my children so that maybe we can learn from them. I have decided if it is to touchy I will write it down elsewhere for those reasons.

I have almost a year to update and am going to do it in order a couple of posts a day for awhile.

Last October was my 40th Birthday. Leading up to my Birthday was a horrible week. Chuck was crazy busy, we had no money and well I had a situation happen that crushed my self worth. I was not looking forward to my big day just because I did not for see anything fun happening. I am not someone who dreads how old I was turning in fact I am quite the opposite and really wanted to be remembered and have a big celebration.

The saturday before my birthday Chuck and I were planning on going to dinner with some dear friends about an hour and a half before we were to leave one of my friends showed up with a script and was letting me in on the big secret they had planned a surprise mystery party for me. I was completely shocked and very excited. I had a hour to come up with costumes for Chuck and I.

Here we are Chuck played the part of Mark and if I remember right I was Maria .

It was so much fun and I was completely surprised. A lot of work had gone into the night. I loved everyones commitment to playing out their roles and the costumes. We were all attending our twenty year high school reunion. The big discussion was about a murder that had happened just before our graduation when dun dun dun.......another murder took place oh no what would we do someone amongst us was a murderer.

Seriously was such a fun party.

Here is the whole group except for David he was taking the picture.

We had a fantastic dinner, good fun and solved a murder or two.

Oh yeah Matt was the murderer

They even made me this cool cake!

Thanks guys for making my Birthday FANTASTIC!!!

Thank heavens for good kids!

2011-02-06T23:33:00.005-07:00

Everyday I tell myself that I am going to take a minute and update this blog and well as you can see it just has not happened. I think I have gotten so far behind that it just feels a little overwhelming so I thought I would just start from today and move forward. And that is when I remembered why I do this. I am terrible at journaling and well if this is how I accomplish that goal than who cares if I have to do a little updating as long as I do it RIGHT?

When I look back over the past few months I am amazed at how much has happened my kids really have grown leaps and bounds. They have all encountered sorrow's, hard times, enjoyed monumental steps in their lives and had some great adventures along the way. Sometimes they seem to grow up much faster than other times.

So tonight I guess I am going to head on back to October.

In October was our Daddy daughter activity for the Activity Day girls. I am one of the leaders and need to be there to help take care of everything. Chuck needed to be there with Noelle, Marshal was at work and Charly was at dance so at the last minute I realized I had no where for my sweet little Kendall to go. I know it is not a mother of the year moment by any means. I literally forgot about her until I was walking out the door to the church and see her standing there. Now I am sure if I called a neighbor they would have been more than happy to help me out but I seriously was out of time. Kendall suggested she could come and she promised she would stay out of the way because she knew this was Noelle's special day with Dad. I paused for a second because if you know this cute little girl you know there could be a secret motive behind this generous suggestion. I agreed and she ran grabbed a bunch of books and headed out to the van. When we got to the church she helped me set up and get everything ready before they showed up. As soon as the girls and there Dads started to arrive Kendall ran got her books and took off. And this is how I found her several feet away and behind a tree so no one would see her.

I grabbed a few pictures of her with out her knowing it and had to chuckle and what a good little girl she is. No matter how silly she can be she knew and understood that this was something important for Noelle and someday it will be her turn, but until then she stayed away and asked Noelle all kinds of questions as if she had no idea what they did. I am truly blessed to have such good kids.

Family Pictures

2010-10-20T20:00:00.006-06:00

The last time we had a family picture taken Kendall was 3 weeks old

It was long over due!

I am grateful to have such a good friend to donate her time and talents to help me out.

Kendall really wanted to pose herself and this is what we got when we gave her the chance.

This is my favorite even if you do not see there faces.

Best friends for life (I hope)

We have hundreds more I just thought I would give you a small taste. We still need to crop and decide which ones to print.

This and That

2010-10-17T18:00:00.004-06:00

Okay so no matter how hard I try catching up is almost impossible.

My kids probably notice more than anyone if I have blogged or not.

My two youngest keep asking when I am going to post crazy hair day.

Before school started I told Kendall she needed to remove last years projects off the display wire so she would have room for this years.

I am not big on storing everything they make so I let them display there favorites and then we take a picture of them and throw them away. Well Kendall was unaware of the throw away rule.

She was sad.

Crazy sock day!

Crazy hair day.

The Fun Run

Noelle cracked me up I was helping with the fun run and after her first time around I noticed that girl had her ipod to help her run.

Both girls wore there running clothes and did fantastic.

Kendall ran 7 times around and Noelle ran 11

But of course Noelle thought the water fight at the end was the best.

After priesthood session we always have pizza and fun. This year I introduced my nieces and nephews to Just dance.

They had a ball and I loved watching how much fun they all have together.

I think Kyle danced more this night then all off high school.

Our school won a chance to have chopper five come to the school the kids loved it.

This reading program is the best thing that has happened to my little Noelle. She is all about competition and if this is what it takes to get her to read like she has been I am all for it.

I can not believe first term is almost over. Everyone is doing great so far and I am really proud of each one of them.

I have decided that if I give you a sneak peak of my upcoming posts I might actually get them done. So coming soon.

Noelle's Birthday

Family pictures

The end of Football

and much much more!

Whew! I got that done.

2010-09-27T10:14:00.004-06:00

I was asked to decorate for Women's conference this past Saturday

I have to admit I was very nervous about it.

My schedule was so crazy last week that I did not even start to work on it till friday morning. Thankfully I got to pick the theme. I went with a Harvest theme. (It is the easiest to decorate with.) I was a little frantic and was doubting myself big time that I could do this.

I think it turned out pretty good and hopefully someone else will get a turn next time.

First Day of School

2010-09-24T07:55:00.002-06:00

First Day of School was a big one for us this year.

High School

Junior High

All day school for Kendall

Love this picture

They are so dang cute!!

We have made it half way through the first term. Kids are doing awesome and Mom is still trying to get in the groove of things. Maybe by the end of the semester. wink wink!

Charly's lesson

2010-09-23T08:26:00.004-06:00

Some lesson's I think are harder to learn than others this being one for Charly.

With Junior High about to start Charly's schedule was going to become a little busier and I had told her that I really thought she was going to have to give something up. And that she would have to decide what it would be. This was a difficult thing for her because all her activities have brought joy to her, she felt like they all were teaching her and she knew she still had lot's to learn from them.

But with harder classes and new activities she would be soon trying at school a decision had to be made. It came down to giving up the violin. She does not have another night to give for private lessons and with choosing choir, orchestra had to go.

So we set off to return our violin. She was a little sad because she was just starting to get pretty good at it. She just does not have time to practice and without that you do not grow in any talent.

As we were driving to return it she was telling me how glad she was that she had tried the violin and that maybe someday she will pick it up again because she knows it won't be a scary thing. Made me think of how many things over my life I wanted to do but let fears get in the way. Maybe although I think she takes on to much most of the time she is just figuring out where her loves and strengths really are.

So we will see what this next year has to offer. What new adventures and lessons she has in front of her.

Mother Daughter Retreat

2010-09-22T08:23:00.004-06:00

Our first of hopefully many Mother Daughter Retreat's.

The weekend before school started we headed out for a girls get away, spend some quality time doing what girls do best Shopping, talking and having a relaxing weekend together.

Destination all the outlets in Vegas! Normally not a big fan of Vegas in fact I think it is one of the most disgusting places to visit let alone take my girls to. We were staying at a awesome hotel away from the strip and had planned to do most of our shopping at all the outlets so we knew we were pretty safe in staying away from all the nastiness.

5 girls

3 Mom's

all in my Van

and not one problem

These girls get along so well together!

Noelle, Madison, Charly,

Olivia & Abby

Loved this picture

After a long night of girls freezing someone taking all the covers or room on the mattress, we still get happiness.

Love that Noelle's arm is around Abby!

Our Hotel was incredible!!!

(Thanks Wendi for arranging it)

It had a beach swimming pool. So of course you knew someone was going to be buried.

an amazing lazy river!

We only spent a few hours on the strip hitting the safe highlights for the girls.

My girls loved the M&M store and had many questions about all the people who were dressed weird on the strip.

Of course we spent plenty of time shopping.

Both my girls had been saving there money for this trip and I loved watching Noelle with her money. If I did not want to buy something for her either for the price or I just did not like it she would sit and think about it and decide how much she loved it before she was about to spend her money.

Not sure where Abby is or why there is not one picture of us Mom's or even a picture of us with our daughter's but we had a fabulous time. Look forward to doing it again.

I am glad my girls have so many good influences around them.

I am very grateful for the time we were able to spend together as Friends. I think this trip was a good lesson of how important friends are and how the norm does not have to consist of drama and gossip. That life is what you make of it.

Thanks Girls we had a fabulous time!

The Quilt

2010-09-20T17:51:00.003-06:00

I have never claimed to be a great quilter, but I can quilt and was taught by one of the best. Last November when picking up my girls from dance I was talking to a friend and showed her that my fingers were raw from all my quilting. Before long I was walking out of there finishing a quilt for someone. I really don't think you could pay me to do this again for someone but the positives that came out of this project were overwhelming.

First a quilt that had been started by several different people was finished and in time for someone's wedding.

Second I learned I could actually finish a large quilt I had serious doubts about myself.

Third who knew the therapy value of sitting around quilting with friends.

And the Fourth and most important thing was SERVICE. Not the service of me doing the quilt but the service that was rendered to me to help finish this never ending quilt.

So many women showed up to help me and kept coming back. and I owe all of them hours of thanks. And a special thanks to two unbelievable friends and one incredible sister who came over and over to help, brought me treats, showed up at late hours knowing I would be quilting You girls Rock! I love you and am glad you have my back I can not think of any better friends.

It took over 120 hours and I am not sure you can tell but we quilted around all the white squares and triangles and all the red is quilted.

Anyone up to quilt something for us and way cuter?

Kendalls Birthday

2010-09-20T09:48:00.003-06:00

Todays update I feel a little guilty that it took me so long to get to.(MOM GUILT)

Kendall's Birthday

She had a fantastic birthday Celebration the lasted several days.

Kendall had a family party the night before

we had cake and ice cream

Hr cake was simple

but chocolate and that is all that mattered to her

Hanging out with cousins

Party games are a must

REd rover red rover nobody wanted to send Brock or Marshal over

and yes I even played

this would be why I get the title

Favorite AUNT by my nephews!

Birthday morning her best friend in the whole world came by to give her a gift.

Seriously how cute are they!

Birthday party with friends at Cherry Hills

We had plenty of cupcakes to share throughout the day

Kendall likes a good cupcake

some of our friends

Finally time for presents

When she opened Jessie she yelled "someone grab the sharpie"

She was on cloud nine I almost cried when I saw how excited she got and to think days before Chuck and I were still scrambling to find her one, they were out every where we went.

Birthday Dinner with Mom and Dad

This is why she loves birthday dinner they bring you a treat and sing to you.

She even picks where we eat according to the dessert. She was giving this restaurant a try because her siblings told her they had good birthday treats. She informed them that it is alright and treat Lonestar's is still the best.

(To bad our Lonestar just closed down this week.)

The best picture of all

The day or day's were a complete success

Mom can we get a boat?

2010-09-19T21:39:00.002-06:00

Okay back to catching up in July we were invited to go boating with some really good friends . My kids had the time of there life and now I am asked often if we can buy a boat?

Noelle could not get enough of it. She tried everything they had and was very sad when the sun started going down she could of stayed on the water all night. Which is a crack up since we had to force her to try things in the beginning.

She tried the wake board and got up for a minute, loved to surf behind the boat and really loved the tube all though she wished they went much faster.

Marshal trying the surf board

This picture really captures my kids. Marshal and Noelle wanting to go fast and Charly hanging on for dear life. (Which explains why it was not fast enough for Noelle)

Chuck was in pure heaven when he got to get out on the water. He loves to water ski and it has been awhile. Not sure where my pictures are of him because I swear I took pictures. He felt his age the next day and thought if we got a boat he could overcome this if we did it more often.

Kendall had a ball and loved the tube in fact she thought this activity was all arranged for her and her birthday. According to her we had a 6 day celebration.

You gotta love that girl!

I am so thankful for good friends who help create life long memories for my kids. You guys are awesome and we are very grateful for your friendship!!! I guess if you can't buy the boat have good friends who will take ya!

Let the Holidays begin

2010-09-12T19:36:00.003-06:00

So I have to interrupt my ever so slow catch up of our summer activities to share some exciting news. Every year we get the opportunity to try out for Ballet West Nutcracker. This year was Charly's 4th try out and Noelle's 2nd. Although Noelle would tell you that she was not tall enough last year so it did not count.

Charly was trying out for Soldier and really was hoping for a call back for Clara

Noelle was trying out for Baffoon and secretly I was hoping she could get a call back for party princess.

The day was long and to be honest it is so nerve racking that every year I wonder if putting them through try outs is the healthiest thing for my girls. They are both so kind and compassionate that it is a little scary to set them loose for such rejection. But like every year before no matter the out come I come away very proud of their actions and the way they handle themselves.

Charly was up first for soldier she seemed very confident and was very hopeful that she could get a call back for Clara. After several hours and a few cuts they announced that when the door opened that the girls coming out were this years cast of soldiers. Yeah she made it! Now we hold our breath because the longer it takes for her to come out the better her chances are that she is getting a call back. They take a little over 60 girls for soldier and a good forty had been released my heart was racing could this be she actually was going to get a call back? Then her smiling face appeared excited she made soldier and although she did not get the call back she wanted she said "I am just grateful that I get the chance to dance with so many talented people. I did my best and am proud of it." Whew another life lesson handled with grace.

Then it was Noelle's turn she had been there a long time waiting for her chance and about 20 minutes before she gets her call time the nerves hit and her tummy is now upset. Of course she is sure it has nothing to do with nerves and that she is just getting sick. I give her medicine we say a quick prayer together and she is off. Leaving Mom worrying that she does not have a problem in the next few hours. After several cuts they announce if your daughter is still in there she has made this seasons Nutcracker. Whew we did it booth girls made it! Then the door opens and they release four girls one being Noelle who was running and jumped up on me and was shouting Mom I made party princess over and over. It was the cutest thing ever because this is not a normal Noelle reaction.

Latter that night after hearing booth of there stories of what happened back stage I learned that Noelle like me was secretly hoping to be cast as the party princess. Even a day latter she keeps saying can you believe it Mom I made it.

Tomorrow we are on our Nutcracker journey for 2010 we find out our casts and our official rehearsal schedule. Wish me luck that they are in the same cast! I am so excited for both of them and for the experience they are about to take part in.

There Home!

2010-09-01T22:52:00.001-06:00

No I did not forget I was updating power outages and sick kids have messed with my schedule. Todays update was a trip to St. George to see are Grandpa who had been on a mission. We had tons of fun and enjoyed hanging out with our cousins. Glad you made it home Grandpa & Karen!!!!

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Makings of a Successful Holiday

2010-08-28T17:52:00.004-06:00

Todays catch up is the 4th of July

Things that make are 4th a success are

Breakfast in the park and shopping the booths after. We have no pictures of this because we were to busy talking with old friends we have not seen in awhile.

Girls showing off their 4th of July attire

The girls and some friends waiting for the parade to start.

lots of candy always helps!

Marshal with one of his biggest fans Boomer.

I forgot to take a picture of Marshal actually in the parade.

Go Lancers!!

Water-slide fun

What holiday is complete with out getting wet.

Things we do why we wait for the parade

Read books,

Enjoy good friends

Play games

And laugh

The ride home

Two happy parents

Another successful holiday that will have a life time of memories.

dance,dance,dance ahhh!

2010-08-27T08:46:00.002-06:00

Our family has discovered a new game for the wii It is called Just dance. They can play this thing for hours in fact first time I played it was at a girls night out and we played for hours it was so much fun that I went out and bought it the next week. The funniest about it is Marshal can kick all there little booties.

First day of princess camp.

Kendall looks forward to this every summer she had a ball and I love how excited she gets about being polite and proper.

Charly and Noelle performed at South Ogden days.

I was hoping to get a clip of Noelle dancing to Billy Jean up but it is not working for me this morning. That girl really knows how to shake it.

I love this picture!

Noelle has been bugging us to let her babysit we let her give it a try while we went to dinner. This is what we found when we got home. I would say she did a fabulous job when she was able to get both of them to bed.

Camping

2010-08-26T08:17:00.002-06:00

Todays catch up is on a camping trip Chuck took the kids on one weekend while I was having project night with friends and Charly was babysitting.

The girls loved it but soon found out camping with out Mom is very different. First being Dad did not worry about where they were headed and if there was a potty. This really concerned Kendall when she found out Dad expected her to go in the woods. After one try and quite a disaster at that Chuck found a potty for them.

They loved the fishing and taking turns going down the river in Dads kaiak

Marshal was the photographer and wanted to make sure you knew he was there. They came home with more shots like this then you could believe.

They had a great time. Noelle learned why you should not lean so far over the edge of the boat and Marshal learned if you are going to play in the water to not have your ipod or cell phone in your pocket.

I am taking control!!

2010-08-25T09:18:00.003-06:00

I can not believe how behind I have gotten on this blog (actually I can) I am going to attempt to catch up on some of our summer highlights. I have never been very good at keeping a journal but know the importance of it, this is why I blog my form of journaling to help us remember some of the fun and important times in our family.

Our family is in such a unique stage where my oldest and my youngest are both hitting big milestones in there life. I guess that is why I tried to emerge myself into this summer and enjoy the times we had together and not worry about if my house was perfect, if the laundry was done or even keep up on this blog. Now that everyone is in school I have given myself a little time to catch up our blog.

The last 6 months or so I have been working on getting healthier and trying to lose some weight. In May (I think) I ran a 5k now I know to all my runner friends out there you are thinking ya so well this was huge for me I am not a runner still can not believe that at one time in my life I actually ran 4 miles a day.

This is the cute group that did it with me.

But my biggest supporters were my family. My little kiddos and Chuck (he is taking the photo) made sure they were all there to run with me. After awhile Marshal and Noelle took off ahead my pace being much slower than there's. Charly stayed with me being her cute little self encouraging and telling me how well I am doing and just before I finished Marshal and Noelle who had already finished came back to run in with me.

I am surrounded by the most amazing people. I had a break down about the struggles of my weight with some friends one night and by the next day they had come up with a plan to help me. Needless to say I have completed the insanity videos now go to the gym regularly and although the process is taking longer than I want I am getting there.

I am so grateful to have such a unbelievable support system. You all know who you are. Thanks for being there and most of all thanks for listening and helping me I know my journey is ongoing but I am glad you have given me the drive and fight to endure.

Late night Ramblings

2010-06-05T02:26:00.001-06:00

I should be in bed I am so tired but my mind does not seem to want to shut off tonight. I guess the overwhelming JOY of the last day of school has got me going. I have been looking forward to summer, I know several Mom's who dread the last day of school I have heard everything from I am not ready for all the whining and crying to what am I going to do with them all summer. I have to tell you I have never thought this, in fact I can't stop thinking of all I want to do with them. So I say bring on summer dance, early morning football, tennis lessons, piano lessons, popsicles, Cherry Hills, all the camps they get to do, bike rides, roasting marsh mellows in the back yard, barbecues, late nights, night games, and of course spending time with all our family and neighbors.

I guess the realization that before long this time in my life will be over and I don't want to look back and think I should of enjoyed them more. I have fond memories of my childhood summers and I am hoping to create the same for my kids.

So much changed in one day. Marsh is now headed to High School, Charly is off to Jr. High and my little Kendall will be in all day school. WOW did not think it would hit me so hard but I have to say I had a moment today at Charly's graduation. You know one of those Mom moments where you don't want to cry and you are not sure why you are about to cry. I guess that is why I am up so late tonight trying to get a handle on it all. The excitement, the sadness, and of course the worries a Mother can have.

I really am not worried about any of my kids upcoming adventures I know they will be fine. High School and Jr. High really does not scare me like some. I know both kids are good hearted kids who will find there way. I just hope that I will be able to make it. I hope and pray that I will be strong enough to guide them in the right direction's and to be strong enough during the hard times. 6th grade almost killed me emotionally to watch my sweet daughter deal with some of the things she dealt with. I have never questioned myself as much as I did this past year. I often wonder if my own Mom ever had these thoughts, and what she did. I do know that I am not by myself and that with lots of prayers and good family and friends I always make it.

So here's to Summer I am leaving my fears and worries behind to enjoy the next few months.

The Many adventures of MAY!

2010-06-01T07:58:00.005-06:00

I am sure if you ask any Mom which two months of the year are the craziest they will tell you May and September. That is defiantly the case for our family between all the stuff the kids have at the end of school and the extra fun stuff we do, life can get busy. So here is a run down of the highlights for the month.

Marshal was in the school play this year they did High school Musical. I never thought this would be something he would try. After many months of practice and I mean many, he tried out last fall and they practiced the whole year. He played Jason and did a great job. We had so much fun watching him he defiantly was not afraid to perform and obviously does not worry what others think ( A quality I am very glad all four of my kids have) He took his role and made it his own adding his own personality and I have got to say the boy can dance. I tried to get a video clip on here but just could not get it to work.

The fun run

All three girls ran in the fun run. Kendall took it way more serious than the other two she worried for weeks about the food she ate was it healthy enough was she getting enough exercise you get the point then the day finally came (it got rained out a couple of times) She could hardly wait and I have to tell you I was actually nervous she could even do it. The girl shocked me she ran around the track five times in a half hour which is a little over 2 miles and she beat most the boys and ran further than all the girls.

Charly had her orchestra concert

Easily over two hundred kids on stage at the same time. I guess that is the key to being able to tell what the song is they are playing.

She did great and really has enjoyed playing the violin I just wish she could of fit it into her schedule for next year.

The girls had a great show this year they did Peter pan and a tribute to Michael Jackson. Noelle's Billy Jean was awesome and Charly pointe number was fantastic she danced to the song fireflies. My little Kendall is one incredible dancer (I know what Mom does not say that) This girl knows her stuff and has the confidence to go with it.

We had our final Kindergarten program.

Can you even believe it next year I will have one in High School, Jr High and Elementary and all day school to boot. Who knows maybe I will catch up on the laundry.

We have completed countless term projects. ( and I mean countless) This one was for History it had to be at least ten hours of work that is including the research and be about something man made and this term was on any asian country. I have a strong opinion on some of these ridiculous projects but I will spare you of that, needless to say he got marked down 15 points for all the lines not being straight. You would think your grade in art would not be determined on your art abilities.

We have also enjoyed Dare Lagoon day, Mother daughter activity, several field trips, a couple camp out's, numerous rehearsals, Mother's Day, 6th grade program. This is just a small sampling of our month we have enjoyed every last day and I am very glad we only have four more days of school left this Mom can use a break.

Disneyland 2010

2010-04-25T17:30:00.002-06:00

Finally I have edited down 3/4 my pictures to give you a sneak peak of our vacation. Although it was a last minute decision to go over spring break and we might not have been as organized as normal we had a great time. In fact I am wondering why I have spent so many years planning when winging it seems to work just as well.

You will see in the photos that we really enjoyed ourselves we played musical chairs with the gang from Alice and Wonderland, Kendall danced with Mary Poppins, Noelle and Kendall danced in a parade or two, Kendall got soaked on Grizzly water run that we even had to remove clothing and let her wear moms hoddie and my favorite was looking over at Marshal while he was waiting for the girls to meet Tiana, and seeing he had found some feathered friends to feed.

It was a much needed get away We had the time of our lives. Disneyland truly is a magical place.

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loads of help

2010-04-15T12:45:00.002-06:00

I am working on a post about our trip it is taking me awhile to get it down so it is not overwhelming but in the mean time before we left I had four very willing helpers to get things ready and to help get all the chores done.

I like to come home from a vacation on top of the game so I like the house spotless every stitch of laundry done etc. This felt like the impossible since we had only decided a week and a half before to go. I was doing an eagle court of honor and of course trying to put the trip together. So I needed everyone to help. First the laundry after we washed and folded everything I would ask different kids to put it away well Kendall was more than willing to help and do anything so Chuck asked her to go put all his socks away for him.

This is how we found the socks we both busted up laughing. I mean the girl tried and she did get them all in what's the big deal if the drawer does not close right.

You gotta love it!!

Marshals an Eagle

2010-04-14T11:56:00.004-06:00

Life has been a little crazy around here but we have had some great memorable events that I need to take the time to journal about on March 31, 2010 Marshal received his Eagle award.

Marshal and two of his buddies Kadien and Hayden sang the National anthem

They did a really good job I think Marsh was a little worried about everyone hearing him sing. He sings all the time at choir and stuff but not in front of family and neighbors.

Chuck Marshal and I with the Eagle his name was Donte

The eagle Nest was very impressive and I even think my brothers had a picture of my brother Brandon that they held up so he could be part of the nest.

Marshal receiving his award he had his Dad present it to him

Joey, Zane and Marshal

Throughout our Scouting journey Marshal has had some incredible leaders who made a lasting impression on him and I am sure these men will never fully know how much they have touched him. This is Brother Kelly he was Marshal's 11 year old scout leader and then later became one of his scout masters. Marshal presented him with the mentor pin. From a mother's perspective I am grateful for this man he has always been a great example of the kind of priesthood holder and Man I would like my son to be.

This is Brother Manfull

Marshal loves this guy he had a lot of fun with him and also learned a lot of life lessons along the way. Marshal really loves the fun rivalry they have between the two of them as far as a couple of college teams go.

Next is his Dad who also was one of his Scout leaders and his Grandpa McAllister

Marshal has been blessed with a Dad who usually always made time to go on the camp outs with him. I do think this was one of the many factors that helped Chuck get this calling.

Brother Derrick was not just a leader for Marshal but truly a friend.

When he was released Marshal was a little bugged he kept saying who is going to bring the fun now. Brother Derrick is now in the other ward and we miss him but it never fells if he sees Marshal he stops to say hello

And last but not least is President Dibble

Marshal not only has had the opportunity to learn from this great man at church but to also work side by side with President Dibble on his farm he has learned to work hard and to enjoy it. He taught him how scouting is a great way to become closer to your Heavenly Father.

I did not think this day would mean as much as it did to me. I am so proud of Marshal and all his accomplishments. At big events like this it does make me miss that my parents are not able to be there but I am very grateful for all the family and friends that rally around my kids and come out and support them. I have truly been blessed in my life to have 4 great kids a wonderful husband and the most amazing family and friends.

Thank You for everything you do for us we love you all!

Wrestling

2010-03-24T17:58:00.000-06:00

First I am so excited that I actually got a video to work on this thing Whoot Whoot!

This is Marshal's first year to wrestle and it has ben a blast to watch him. It really takes me back to the years of watching my little bro Brandon. Marshal has done incredible job he wrestles 140 and he has won every match he has had. This sport has brought a confidence to him that Chuck and I have been trying to pound into his head for years. He is a great team player but always lets that kid with the big ego get in his head. Finally with this sport he can see how strong he is and that he does contribute to the team. This match was his quickest I think he pinned him in 44 seconds.

Neighborhood egg hunt

2010-03-23T22:38:00.003-06:00

Monday with the kids being out of school we took advantage of having our

neighborhood egg hunt.

Thanks Wendi you ROCK!

This picture cracks me up this is Noelle with one of her BFF's Madison

They get along so well together but the height difference is priceless.

Kendall with all her loot

It was cold so we headed inside for a picnic and when the troops were getting restless my older kids came to the rescue. I am really proud of both Marshal and Charly they don't beg to stay home and complain that its just for little kids they go and make it fun for all the kids. The top picture is of the kids deciding who to call over for Red Rover and the bottom was the other side. After the pictures were taken a couple Mom's got in on the game and we had a great time.

A game of Duck Duck Goose

And last but not least Marshal and all his little minions

Activity's like this just make me smile because I know before you even can imagine they are all grown up talking about the Remember whens and I am glad that they will include good times with great neighbors. Chuck and I both know we were lead to this neighborhood and I am positive the people that live here are why.

DARE Graduation

2010-03-18T23:06:00.002-06:00

Last week was Charly's DARE Graduation. If you are not sure what this is it is a program put on by the police department to teach kids about the effects of drugs how to handle friends who might offer drugs etc. It is a several month course and is a pretty big thing in the sixth grade world. As parents Chuck and I have never had a problem discussing these things with our children but I love that the program teaches the kids together as a group so that they can talk about it amongst each other.

This is Charly and Mckenna with there DARE officer

The Mayor and Miss Layton came and spoke to them.

You got to love a mayor who has no problem wearing his gangster suit to the DARE graduation.

This is most of the neighborhood girls

Charly, Mckenna, Hannah, Paigly, Taryn and Kennady

After the graduation the parents were encouraged to stay and have lunch with them. I brought Subway for Charly and Mckenna they were so excited to have lunch brought in to them. We had a good time and I am very proud of both of them for making such good decisions this far in there life. I also feel very blessed to be able to go and be part of these big moments in my children's lives and to have family close by to share it with. I know that I am truly blessed to be a stay at home Mom.

St. Patty's Day

2010-03-17T23:59:00.005-06:00

When Marshal was around 4 or 5 we read a book about leprechauns and how this little boy would try and catch him. Ever since then we have been putting out a trap the night before St. Patrick's Day and trying to catch him ourselves. This year Noelle was positive we would catch him because our trap was a little more high tech then years past.

Marshal made this special trap to help the girls catch him.

Noelle and Kendall were positive that gold would lure him in.

This pesky little leprechaun got the better of us again this year.

He turned all the chairs up side down on the table and counters. He took all my rugs and laid them all over the Great Room and had a path from the back door to the girls bedrooms with suckers that were on the counter in a jar.

He took all the gold which really still is puzzling Noelle and left the trap on new water bottles for each of the kids and took more candy from the jars on the counter and decorated the top of the trap. He also found the girls dolls and stuffed animals and hung them on the railing.

Here are the kids with there new water bottles.

Marshal then made green pancakes for breakfast.

I say who cares what color they are if someone else is cooking them.

Notice Marshal's green shirt.

He is a big fan of 80's pop culture and loves his green Callahan Auto Parts shirt.

I should of taken a picture of all the kids dressed in there green.

Then latter in the day I made green cinnamon rolls.

Normally we have green bread but I thought it might be fun to change it up.

They did not look to bad and of course they tasted fabulous

I know some people have told me that I go a little over board but I think childhood should be magical. If you could of heard my youngest two and how excited they both were about the events of the day you would understand why all this is worth it.

Noelle is still baffled why the trap did not get him this year and is sure there is a bigger message in the way he left the house. She is sure the path way he made through out the house means something and she is positive she will figure it out before next year.

I hope everyone had as much fun as we did

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Bits and pieces of our Weekend

2010-03-01T11:04:00.002-07:00

I can not get this dang thing to post pictures today. So quick update and maybe when my teenagers get home they can help me. By the way my son says that is a sign of old age when you have to have your kids show you how to do everything.

We had a great Sunday we had the opportunity to hear from a member of the quorum of the twelve. L. Tom Perry yesterday. It was great to sit next to Marshal and see how much he got out of it and how inspiring it was to him. After he spoke and we were singing the closing song Marsh got up and made his way to the side of the stage so he could shake his hand. Elder Perry took his hand and said Elder when will you be leaving Marshal was of course excited that he would think he is ready to leave on a mission. In Marshal's world its years away in mine it is just around the corner. I am loving the stage I am at with him and trying to enjoy every minute watching him become such a good young man.

Friday night Chuck took Charly on a special date just the two of them they had a great time and I think the one on one time with each parent is really important. She is at such an awkward stage in her life where she needs to know how special she really is. While they were gone I went out with some friends when I got home I found a stack of cards my kids had made for Charly one made me laugh but Marshal's really made me tear up because he said to her what every mother hopes for.

Dear Charly,

I hope you know that you are the best friend anyone could have and you can always count on me and your sisters to be your friends. Even if your friends don't always work out we will. I love you and am so glad that you are so smart you will be a great Young Women

Love, Marsh

I don't know if she realizes yet how lucky she is to have such great siblings. That friends will come and go but they will always be there for her. (I hope he he)

I love having these moments where you know that they are actually listening to you and our learning from you. It gives you a sigh of relief that maybe when you are done with them they won't need a therapist after all.

She is no dummy!

2010-02-25T22:00:00.003-07:00

My cute little Kendall woke up early Wednesday morning got herself dressed made her bed ate breakfast and then came and asked me what chores she needed to do so that she could watch High School Musical.

Now I am a totally different parent with the TV than I was with Marshal she actually does not get to watch much TV and usually she only gets to watch movies if Chuck and I are out and the older kids are watching her. So when she came to me with this request and had learned from watching the older kids that if you get your chores done act responsibly you usually have more room to negotiate. I could not say NO right.

She was glued and never even noticed that I took her picture. You gotta love her!!!!

Project almost complete

2010-02-23T10:04:00.003-07:00

My play room has been at 80% complete for three years and I have been on a mission to complete something around here. With Chuck being out of town so much lately I have plenty of time. (Some reason when he is gone I stay up for hours) So I made a list and have slowly but surly knocking things off of it.

I have had boxes of things from both Chuck and my childhood that I have been saving for my vision. This is on top of the tall cabinets.

This is a closer view. I am a lover of old things especially when they have a story to tell and well almost everything up here is about Chuck and I. My first book I got to pick out all by myself, Chucks erector set you get the point.

There are a few things that use to be Marshals that he has out grown that I used.

This is the opposite side of the room we were going to build a small corner cabinet for the TV and game cube but I got tired of waiting for that so I went and got another cabinet to complete the wall and then had Chuck put up the final base board that needed to be installed and touched up the paint. I now do need to hang one more movie poster above the cabinet and that will be coming soon.

This is of course Kitchen central Kendall's favorite place to be.

That is the new base board

And of course no Play Room is complete with out a castle.

I am not sure why this project set on hold for so long but I love how it turned out. I have just a few more things here and there to do but it is nothing anyone else will notice but me so I am calling this one complete. Now we can only hope the kids can keep it clean. It feels great to get things off the list not that the list will not keep growing but at least it keeps revolving right.

Retro Birthday

2010-02-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

For Charly's Birthday Party we went RETRO. I called it hippie and she looked at me and said do you mean Retro I laughed that for the first time I got that look you know the one they give when they think you have no clue what you are talking about. I guess actually growing up in the 70's did not count.

We made as Charly puts it "totally cool invites" Not sure why I did not get a picture of them but every girl was given a 45 record with all the party info printed on the front. I was able to find an antique shop that was selling them for .25 a piece. Because I was not about to use my old records.

Everyone was told to dress up in there best tie dying peace love en out of sight threads.

Several girls asked Charly what threads were.

This picture does not do her bell bottoms justice they were split up the side. The belt took me back my cousin had one just like it. This lovely outfit was only $8.76 at Savers

The decorations were set

And the girls arrived

Shelby, Kennedy, Hailey, Taryn, Hannah, Marjom,

Charly, Sammy, Paigly & Mckenna had to leave early

Our Retro party would not be complete without tie dying

Not everyone wore gloves

For dinner they ate pizza but for dessert they fondued

This was a lot of fun for the girls most of them had never heard of fondue.

The party was "out of sight" (Marshal wants to bring some of these sayings back.) Everyone had a great time. They even all wore their tie dye shirts to school the following Monday. It is fun to watch how Charly is handling growing up. Although there have been some tough times lately she handles it much better than most she is such a kind hearted girl with a heart of gold, I learn a lot from her daily. I love that she is not afraid to dress up and have fun. She has already figured out that you simply sit back and enjoy the ride.

Homemade suckers

2010-02-21T18:07:00.003-07:00

Lately I have been a little on the lazy side as far as my blog goes so I am hoping to fix that and catch up on things so you can expect a lot of activity from me this next week.

The beginning of the year I made me a list of things I wanted to do this year and on my list it included making homemade suckers. I have some great memories of making them with my Mom and I thought she was so cool that she knew how to make them.

They are pretty easy to make our first batch was watermelon

According to the recipe I should of had plenty of molds by I learned this was not true we have since picked up more and are hoping to make a batch of root beer suckers next.

Charly truly enjoys learning to do this kind of stuff. She is becoming quite the little chef.

Needless to say this project did not turn out as I had hoped. We cooked it as long as the recipe said and to the temperature we should of but I think they tasted over cooked. Marshal on the other hand has loved them and I think he ate almost everyone. Not only did they taste a little to done but I think they could of used a little more flavoring. I could not get them off the marble or I could not get all the molds off. We have since become much better at them and I have found the best place to get flavoring is Hobby Lobby

My hope is that along with a new skill my children had as much fun as I did. I am trying to make lasting memories with them. I wish I would of gotten a picture of all of them in the end. Colle and Easton and Gretchen also helped and Easton was so concerned that he was not going to get one because his Mom keep telling him that these were not his that they were Aunt Andrea's In the end everyone got one and all were happy.

Happy Birthday Charly!

2010-02-02T11:46:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday

I can't believe how fast our little "Charly Girl" has grown up

You are turning into a beautiful lady

Twelve things we love about you

1. Your positive look on life is truly refreshing.

2. Your beautiful blue eyes.

3. How much you enjoy playing and helping younger kids.

4. Your passion for anything you are trying to learn.

5. Your growing testimony.

6. That you are not afraid to give hugs to your Mom and Dad.

7. That life is "wonderful" for you.

8. Your willingness to do whatever you are asked to do.

9. We love watching the joy in your face when you dance.

10. All the fun games you come up with.

11. That you are such a great sister.

12. That you can make us laugh with your funny air head questions.

We love you and hope you have a great day and an even better year. Charly we are truly blessed to have you in our family thanks for being you no matter what the world says.

Grandma Linford

2010-01-24T12:34:00.004-07:00

Last night our sweet Grandma Linford passed away

We are so grateful for her loving example she shared with each one of us.

She was a fun loving spunky lady.

She had a special spot for Marshal and always let him

come over and play with the train at Christmas time. From the time he was little they would wait till all the other kids were gone and then she would get down on the floor and run the electric train with him. I am positive she did these kind of things with all of them.

I have always felt loved by her from the minute I married in to Chucks family

I knew from the beginning I was now one of her granddaughters

She was the definition of a Lady she always talked with my girls about being lady like and how to do it. She always made them feel special.

Chuck was blessed to live next door to his Grandma and Grandpa growing up and has so many memories of the two of them. I have always enjoyed watching Chuck with her. Even these past few years she would call him and ask for Charles to come help her with things. He was always so willing to help her.

I am not sure why in life that it takes a death to make you reflect and to try to be a little better, be kinder and appreciate life more. Hopefully we will remember the lessons she taught us and we can grow from knowing her.

We will miss you Grandma!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARSHAL

2010-01-09T10:32:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday

It seems like yesterday when you were this little

15 things we love about Marshal

He is very thoughtful not a quality most boys his age have.

His laugh, now that his voice is deeper his laugh changed and it makes me smile.

He is Honest

He is Kind

Sense of Humor

He is a gentlemen

Willingness to learn

I love how he interacts with younger kids

True to his word

I think he is handsome

Now that he is getting older I love that he still likes to hang with his Mom and Dad he still talks to us.

Kendall loves that he always helps her make her bed.

Noelle loves that he will play catch with her.

Charly loves all his good advice he gives her and all their long talks when they are suppose to be in bed.

And most of all Chuck and I love his strong testimony and willingness to share it.

We love you and hope you have a great day.

We could not ask for a better son

Christmas in Review

2010-01-04T10:24:00.004-07:00

Here is the past couple of weeks in review

The Sunday before Christmas at the Linford party we had a surprise visitor in fact when I say surprise I mean it none of the adults had told this helper to come to our party although they knew who he was. Kendall was first in line and she hopped right on his lap and started to whisper away in Santa's ear. She was giving him a few new items that she was not planning on telling Mom and Dad to see if she would get them.

My Guys

Traditional cookie making. I let them help roll out the dough they thought it would be more fun to put flour on their faces like the rice crispy commercial

Her flour on the face was real.

Marshal was on oven duty

Everyone does it

The line up

One of our latest wake ups ever 5:30

Chuck and I are all about letting them be kids and enjoying the journey so no we don't make them go back to bed.

Noelle's favorite present her fully automatic dart gun.

She is not your typical little girl!

Charly showing off her Bella and Edward dolls

Yes he sparkles!

Favorite two picture of the whole day

Kendall sleeping with her new twin dolls and she is so exhausted she doesn't even clear the bed

Nutcracker was the week after Christmas this year

Love watching her and the Nutty Nutcracker was the best but never want this cast again. She never got to enjoy her week off after Christmas.

We had a wonderful Holiday Season!

Christmas home tour

2009-12-28T23:52:00.001-07:00

I was challenged to show a tour of my home decorated for Christmas by one of my crafty blogger friends and although Christmas is over I promised I would get this up before the new year.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Noelle learns to ski

2009-12-23T11:59:00.003-07:00

Last Saturday Chuck was taking Marshal and a friend skiing

Noelle has wanted to ski for years but it never seemed to happen so Chuck decided it was the perfected day to teach her.

She was a natural and loved every minute

Seriously have you seen a happier child!

Noelle could spend hours out in the cold this is defiantly her sport!

Kendall is hoping to have her turn soon but I think teaching one kid at a time is the best way to go. After he has taken Noelle a few more times we will let her give it a try.

Pictures with Santa

2009-12-22T11:54:00.004-07:00

Marshal says this picture is destined to be an AT&T ad, raising the bar!

Keep in mind I am on my tip toes. Never realized Charly is about to pass me up.

I Love that my ward does pictures every year!

Christmasland Show

2009-12-20T15:19:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was our winter show all three girls did a wonderful job.

This year several of our neighbors have joined our studio so this morning at church when the primary kids went to sing for the Christmas program one of the little neighbor boys grabbed Charly before they sang and told her that she did a wonderful job and that he loves watching her dance.

I feel very loved that my Mom's sisters make such an effort to come watch the girls.

This was Charly's first performance on her toe shoes she was so excited to have them there to watch her. She put in so much work for this show. With nutcracker going on she had missed so many classes that she would practice at home she made arrangements to meet at the studio and get in extra practice whenever possible. She did an incredible job you would have never know that she missed any classes.

As a mother I think it is fun to watch your kids be involved, the part I love most is the life long lessons they learn. It does not matter if they are playing the piano, playing a sport or learning something new there is always a greater concept being taught. In dance they have learned to be confident, graceful, to have good posture and how to learn from those around you instead of being snotty or jealous. And last but not least the friendships they are gaining.

I had to get a picture of our very supportive Dad

Chucks Birthday

2009-12-16T08:43:00.002-07:00

I know this was last week but I had to show how cute the kids decorated for Chuck

We had 40 balloons

We had all kind of surprises in 40's for him

Marshal told the lady what to write on the cake he thought it was so funny

I am an Aunt again

2009-12-16T08:38:00.002-07:00

I had to share this cute picture of my new niece McCall. She opened her eyes for us just before we left on sunday.

Our Soldier

2009-12-15T10:43:00.003-07:00

The Nutcracker is a big part of our Holiday traditions.

We get to experience the hard work and joy from a dancers perspective.

Charly has been given some great opportunity this year. She has performed a couple of times already filling in for dancers who for whatever reason were not able to perform. Her actual cast does not perform till the week after Christmas. Dec 26 - 31st

This saturday is the girls Christmas show for there dance studio

I am really excited for Chuck and the kids to see Charly perform for the first time on her toe shoes.

Being a mother who danced herself I am in awe of Charly and all the talent, dedication and love she has for this talent. I am grateful to her teacher for all the time and energy she puts in to these girls and for all the professional dancers she brings in and to ballet west for giving Charly such a positive experience to work with their company.

Peterson Christmas Party

2009-12-13T23:17:00.004-07:00

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The one thing I love about the Holidays is getting together with family and traditions. I remember when I was a kid and we were dressing up for the nativity and now it is our kids. I wish I would of gotten more pictures of everyone there but when you hand this job off to a kid, you get what you get. We had a great time and I am very grateful to everyone for taking time out of there busy month to come and enjoy each other. Merry Christmas!!!!

Happy Birthday CHUCK!!!!

2009-12-09T13:35:00.003-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHUCK!!!

I can not believe I have known Chuck long enough for him to be 40

Thanks for all the hard work you do.

You are an awesome Dad and Husband who always puts us first.

This is Chuck at Marshals age.

Love the 80's hair and shirt he still thinks this shirt was the bomb.

We hope you have a great day and know that we love and appreciate you.

Happy Birthday!

First week of December

2009-12-07T09:42:00.005-07:00

This last week was full of all kinds of fun adventures and lessons learned. Earlier in the week I had the opportunity to help my nieces decorate their house for Christmas which was a lot of fun to see them in that role. While I was there I had an interesting thing happen. My niece pulled out this decoration that use to be my Moms. It was this lenox Christmas tree that a really good friend of hers had given her. I never thought to much about it but the minute Talia pulled it out of the box and showed it to me I could recall the excitement my mom had when she received it. The conversation her and I had about it and how much she loved this friend. I still can't figure out why this memory became so strong to me but it did give me much to contemplate about. It made me wonder if this friend of my Mom's has any idea of how much she meant to my Mom and if I express enough gratitude and love to my family and friends. I am hoping to make this a bigger priority this coming year. I am very grateful for all my family and friends and hope I can strengthen relationships this year and even repair a few.

Saturday I got a call from my nephew Easton asking me if I could take him shopping to get his Mom and Dad's Christmas presents. Soon as he got his room cleaned we headed out. I had so much fun he had so many ideas of what to get them. I found out that he thinks his Mom and Dad are big fans of cheetah print things. (Colle is there a wild side I don't know about he he!) After our first store he had decided that he wants to do this with me every year for the rest of his life. I hope I coached him enough on what to say when his Dad tries to trick him into telling what we got.

Marshal had his final board of review this week he is officially an eagle just need to have the court of honor. At one point in the interview they had Chuck and I join them and it was really neat to here what these men had to say about him. I am a so proud of him he worked hard to get here. He learned a lot of lessons along the way and had a ton of fun. I am excited to see him take the challenge that was given to him to find one boy and make a difference in his life.

Sunday we made gingerbread houses and watched miracle on 34th Street

We made two houses Marshal and Noelle on one and Charly and Kendall on the other.

They had a great time. I enjoy this time of year and all the fun activities you can do as a family.

To end the night we had tithing settlement while we were there the bishop asked if there was anything he could do for our family and with out missing a beat Marshal says Yeah the Christmas lights we hung on our house won't go on could you come fix that. Chuck and I bust up laughing. To be a teenager!!!!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-03T09:39:00.001-07:00

These two characters did not even make it to the kids table this year!

Nicolle trying yams for the first time

No matter how old you can't resist the olives on the fingers

Buddies

Big kid table

We had a great thanksgiving not sure why I did not get a picture of all the adults. We had great food and played a game and relaxed and enjoyed each others company.

Charly's girl day out!

2009-12-02T09:23:00.004-07:00

Last wednesday I took Charly and her friends to go see the movie New Moon

She was so excited to see it and had fun fixing little treat bags for each of her friends.

We copied the idea from our awesome friends Lori and Emma and Marshal helped her create labels for all the treats. Not sure why we did not get a better picture of them here is what was in each bag.

Cherry 7up labeled type A

red filled oreos labeled bite me

candy kisses (that is as close as these girls will ever get to kissing Edward or Jacob)

and New Moon chocolates

This is the gang

Taryn, Kennedy, Paigly, Hannah and Charly

The best part for Colle and I was listening to them all talk about the movie on the ride home.

It was hard not to giggle at how many times the word "HOT" was used.

I know that not everyone out there is a fan of the twilight saga but I have to admit I liked the books and this last movie I thought was pretty good. Charly was a little bummed that she did not get to see it opening weekend but I think we made up for it by turning it into a party.

Pie Night

2009-11-23T11:00:00.005-07:00

This was my pie entry. Chocolate bottom banana cream pie

It tastes as good as it looks

Here is Colle's she made a macadamia key lime

It was my favorite

I did not get a picture of all the pie's and we had a lot of them.

Next year I will have to be clearer on the rules but we had a really good time.

We don't see each other as often as we would like so it is a lot of fun when we get together.

I love the holidays and love all the excuses I can come up with to spend time with family.

I hope everyone had a great time and has a Happy Thanksgiving!

october updates

2009-11-21T10:09:00.002-07:00

October was packed with so many things that I have not blogged about so here is my month in quick review.

Daddy daughter date.

Pumpkin patch, Hay ride, Cider and doughnuts and time with your dad

I am Noelle's leader so I got to be there to take pictures love how Noelle was prepared for the chilly weather.

Chuck and the girls

They had a great time Chuck is an awesome Dad and I am glad they all love spending time together!

My most favorite Birthday gifts.

Being a crafter I get giddy when someone takes the time to make something for me.

I had to give my friend Lori a shout out for making this for me.

Lori thanks for being such a good friend I love you and am always amazed by you!!!!

Halloween 2009

Marsh was a good sport to wear this old costume for the picture Kendall really wanted him to be Mickey with her. He is such a sucker when it comes to our little stinker-bell

Noelle and Charly were mario and Luigi I know several people who had this same costume but know one was as cute as these two.

We had a great October and I am very glad my kids were so understanding to switch costumes for me at the last minute Life was a little crazy and I just could not get the dang costumes done in time. Next year the plan is to have them sewn before school starts and all will be good.

School Picture

2009-11-20T12:31:00.004-07:00

I know some people are not big fans of school photos but I am for two reasons

1. I think it is awesome to have one from every year to show how much you have grown.

2. I think they show who really child really is no backgrounds no crazy pose just them.

Marshal has really grown up this past year both physically and emotionally. He really is a good kid not perfect but a good kid. It has been exciting to watch him. I know teenagers are usually known for being a little self centered and only thinking of themselves. Everything in their world is bigger (just ask them) the littlest thing can devastate them but on the same hand the small things can also bring them the greatest joy. I think this self discovery is so important for them as I watch him and his friends I don't actually think they are self centered or selfish just trying to figure out themselves and who they want to be.

I am very proud of him and the person he is becoming when I look at his picture I see how confident he has become and I see the fun side of him

Wow isn't she gorgeous She is quite the young lady with a heart of gold. When I look at her picture from last year I can not believe how much she has grown up. She has really sprouted her wings this past year she has learned to stand up for herself and to make the right choice no matter what the group thinks. She has become quite the popular babysitter and loves every minute of it. Her talents keep growing and I am always amazed how she stays focused on all of them.

Noelle I see a very happy little girl who will not put up with crap from anyone. She has gained unbelievable confidence this year and has finally found a love for reading. She is the best person to have on your side because the girl maybe small but she definitely will have your back.

Is this not the funniest picture ever? I mean really the eyes and that is a serious talent to get the bottom teeth out like that. This picture definitely shows all the spunk this girl has. she keeps us rolling and the love this little one has to share with most people is a breath of fresh air.

I know I got a little braggy but it is my blog and all. I am hopping to get caught up with a few events from the past couple of months so. Like normal life gets crazy and the blog sometimes falls through the cracks. But since this is my form of journaling I hope to get most of it down.

Hangin out

2009-11-19T18:03:00.005-07:00

Last week I was doing a little quilting and had to stop to get a picture of this.

Never let a quilt get in the way of a good Movie

Noelle, Gretchen, Easton & Kendall

Pumpkin carving

2009-11-01T11:26:00.007-07:00

We had a lot of pumpkins this year in fact it took almost all of Halloween day to carve them all each kids got four pumpkins to help clean and design.

It cracked me up to watch Noelle try to tackle this one. When she would put her arm in to clean it out she could not reach the bottom.

These three took a little help from Mom

the spider was Noelle's and Kendall picked Mickey and Minnie

Charly needed a little help from Chuck on this one. It is the three fairies from Sleeping Beauty

Marshal went a little old School

Marshal thought the one on the rock was the best.

Got Milk?

I guess you have to have teenage humor!

Here is Ariel and Tigger

And of course the classic Jack-o-lantern with ears

We had several more but you get the picture. The kids love Halloween and had a good day. I have been sick for several days so some of the normal traditions did not happen but all and all had fun.

School projects

2009-10-28T14:35:00.001-06:00

I genuinely hate school projects I honestly think they are useless and if someone could tell me how they benefit a child I would love to hear it. This is Marshals project for history he had to make some kind of object that had something to do with the USA or Canada. Marshal chose to build the pentagon out of popsicle sticks.

After several nights of building Marshal and Chuck received a A 291 point out of 300.

Good job Honey!

Halloween Party

2009-10-27T22:18:00.002-06:00

So tonight was our ward Halloween Carnival. It was a huge success and the kids had a fabulous time. I enjoy hanging out with my neighbors. We live in a great area with so many good people.

I took a couple other pictures but I promised Noelle I would not post them yet because she was not able to attend all of tonight's activities and her and Charly's costumes are kinda a pair deal. And I would not want to spoil the surprise.

Marshal has several costumes this year. He decided to go dressed like a guy in our ward for the party. What you think pretty close right? The best was Marshal would stand like him and even answered questions the same way. I thought it was pretty funny.

I know how much work it is to put on a event like this and I am very grateful for everyone who gave so much of there time and efforts to put it on. Thank You my kids love it and look forward to it every year.

Football

2009-10-26T20:59:00.000-06:00

This last week we had Marshal's football banquet. It is always sad when the season ends especially when you lose in the playoffs. He had a pretty good season, he had a slow start because we played down a year and played older but lighter and it took a bit to get the new coaches to see what he could do and to convince them to take a chance on him.

It is hard to believe that next year we play high school ball.

Instead of trophies or medals they received posters

This is Marshal's I think it turned out pretty cool.

Red ribbon week

2009-10-25T22:42:00.003-06:00

My kids love Red Ribbon week with all the fun activities they come up with. We had inside out day, boot day, PJ day, school pride day and of course their favorite crazy hair day.

We had big plans for Charly's hair but half way into it we forgot she needed to leave for violin so plans had to change and all the pony tails got ratted instead of the wire we were going to put in them to make crazy spikes every which way.

Kendall looked like she belonged in hooville

and I think Noelle looked a little like a peacock

I laugh at what makes a kid excited for school. They are already planning next years do's.

Operation Happy Birthday!!

2009-10-14T09:34:00.002-06:00

Monday morning I presented to my children operation Happy Birthday. I guess I should explain a little bit here. Next Monday is my Birthday and well I think Birthdays are awesome it is the one day a year that is all mine. I don't care how old you are I think you want to be remembered and know that you are loved and of course who does not love presents.

Well this year my hubby is extremely busy his business which was slow almost all year has finally picked up and he is crazy busy. If you know him you already know what a hard worker he is but we are talking he gets home every night at 10 - 10:30ish then spends a couple hours doing paper work and then off to work before the sun the next day.

With this being the case I know that he has no time to take the kids shopping or to plan much of anything so I decided to come up with operation Happy Birthday. Every year I tell my kids the best thing they could get me is a clean house, of course this does not appeal to them, but truly would that not be fabulous present. So I made a list of everything I would like done before my Birthday. The list is for them and me we have about thirty-five things on it.

As of this morning we are over half way done and the kids are really getting into it. I don't think they really want to do most of the tasks but they are so excited to help get everything done so my Birthday as Marshal explained to them can be worry free. I am thinking this could be a new tradition.

2009-10-12T10:57:00.002-06:00

I love to cook and all summer I have tried to cook most things from scratch and with fresh produce. I have finally perfected this flavorful sauce for pasta. I think it is funny that one I took pictures of it and two that I am blogging about it but come on does this not look so good.

Ingredients- little olive oil, fresh mushrooms, onions, green peppers, garlic, tomatoes, basil, and a little pampered chef southwest seasoning. I was out of zucchini or I would of added that also.

We ate it on whole wheat pasta, with chicken and banana squash. I love that my kids eat almost everything I fix, not sure if it is always because they like it or just because they know I mean business. he he

I should of taken a picture of Charly helping me she is becoming quite the little chef herself.

She has really taken a interest in how you cook and asks all kinds of questions. All of my children have a night where they either make the diner or help and I am very please that they are able to do more than the basics. And I really enjoy the time I get with them, I have found it makes fixing dinner not quite as tedious as it could be. So I guess I better go decide what is on the menu for tonight.

Cell Phone

2009-10-09T17:53:00.002-06:00

My cell has been broken for about a week so if you have been texting or leaving me messages I really am not ignoring you. Call my house or leave me an e-mail. Just found out a couple people have left messages about tickets if you have you will need to call me before morning so I can add you to the list.

Thanks, ANDREA

Tickets?

2009-10-08T20:56:00.002-06:00

Anyone out there that might be interested in getting Nutcracker tickets Charly is in cast D. She performs Dec 26th to the 31st I know it is after Christmas but just think the rush of everything is over and you can just sit and enjoy. Also her last two performances are the nutty nutcracker performances. Tickets to the public go on sale on Oct 17th but I can get tickets this Saturday. Anyone who is interested please let me know ASAP!

Thanks!

Andrea

Time to Catch up

2009-10-04T21:11:00.004-06:00

I have finally completed all my canning. I have decided canning is one of those things in life that when you are done and sit back and see all that you have accomplished you realize all the work was worth it. I try to do my canning so I am not always doing all of it every year, some how my system failed because this year I had a lot to do. Here is my list of what I completed.

65 quarts of Grape Juice

45 half pints of mustard pickle

32 pints of Chili Sauce

20 Quarts of Lasagna Sauce

30 pints of Salsa

8 Quarts Peach Pie Filling

40 half pints peach raspberry jam

30 half pints peach strawberry jam

12 Quarts of Peach Cocktail

Freezer Corn

and Last but not least 20 whole frozen peaches (something new I am trying)

Now on to more exciting news Charly got a call a week and half ago from Ballet West. Although she tried out for party scene and is not quite tall enough for soldier they called to see if she would be willing to be a soldier in D Cast. I ran over to her school at lunch to tell her they called and that they are waiting for her decision, she started jumping up and down and told me to call them right back she has been on cloud nine ever since. She does have a little bit of catch up to do because she has missed several practices but she is willing to do the work.

She will perform the week after Christmas for anyone who would like to go see her. Also I can get tickets next week if anyone is interested let me know.

Charly has also taken up the violin it is so neat to see her take each talent and build on it. She is truly a happy girl who loves to learn knew things. She is also become quite the little baby sitter she loves being with kids and has really enjoyed every opportunity she gets to babysit. I am very proud of her she is turning into quite a beautiful young lady with so much to offer.

Marshal had his last season game on saturday they lost in overtime but he will be going to the playoffs and it looks like he will be playing Brock whose team is undefeated. Finally we will be able to see the two play together, kinda.

I take my camera every game but end up watching the game and forget all about it, so I told the girls that they need to try and take some pictures for me. I seem to get a lot of photos of the team standing around.

Marshal tried out for the school play a couple of weeks ago. I have never seen him so nervous and even a little upset when he did not get the part that they keep having him be called back for. The play will be in the spring but I am very proud of him. I did not know he had any interest in doing something like this and am so proud of him for trying.

Marshal also has completed his Eagle project (big sigh of relief from me) He restored about 25 tables at the bowery near the church. I could not believe how many adults showed up to help and was in ah of all the support his leaders gave. I am also so grateful for the families that helped donate funds to pay for all the supplies. He announced it only once in priesthood and that sunday was able to come up with half the funds which really helped because I was shocked how much it cost to get everything.

This is our Before and After

Marshal, Charly and Noelle are all doing very well with piano, they have each been learning to play the hymns and although some of them are learning easier levels it is amazing to me how playing songs they know has made such a huge difference.

Some weeks seem to go by much faster than others I am hoping I can stay on top of things better this week. I am hoping to start some Halloween costumes this week keep up on laundry and finish a few craft projects. I say this hoping this will keep me on track.

Independance

2009-09-16T09:05:00.002-06:00

I was canning the other day and I turned around to find Kendall getting herself some ice in her glass. It made me laugh I have such independent children. I tell my friends all the time that I am positive my kids could survive with out me.

I have to share a few things that have made me smile this week.

1. Picking Marshal up from Football and he is from head to toe wet and muddy and the grin on his face. (Its a boy thing)

2. Dropping Kendall of at School and watching her run to the door with her backpack on. Cutest thing ever!

3. Watching Charly trying to figure out the violin.

I love the little things that fill my watershed of memories. I can not believe how fast they grow. I am trying to enjoy everyday with them no matter what the stresses of life might be throwing at us. There are days were I defiantly need to do better at this.

Tryouts

2009-09-14T21:37:00.004-06:00

Saturday was nutcracker tryouts. The girls have been preparing for this for months. Charly was trying out for party scene again and Noelle was trying out for party princess. The only thing I can think of to explain tryouts is the word nerve-racking.

Charly auditioned first she felt really good and was very confident. I on the other hand held it together for the girls but deep down was a wreck. The scenarios that were going through my head gave me a headache. What if one girl makes it and the other doesn't etc. When the door opens for the first girls who were being cut your heart stops for a minute hoping you do not see your child. Charly made it through the first cuts, a sigh of relief then about 30 minutes latter second cuts and the door opens and about twenty five girls walk through the door your heart is ponding and your worst fear happens she walks through the door.

Of course Charly being the most positive person I know. She is smiling, she knew what she did wrong and she was acting okay with it. Me I wanted to cry I had prepared myself for another year of nutcracker and to be honest I deep down thought she would make it and really only worried about Noelle.

This is the view of all the girls getting instruction before they headed into tryouts.

This was Noelle's first year to tryout she really was not tall enough but they were letting her tryout because she is older and more experienced. She did not make it either and after Charly not making it I was then worried that Noelle would make it and wondered if Charly would be alright with that. But of course Charly sat by her side pumping her up telling her how well she would do and encouraging her.

I have to say I am very impressed with my girls they are very gracious kind little girls who taught me a lot. Charly instead of feeling sorry for her self was congratulating her friends and comforting those who did not make it. Noelle who had told me that she was not sure if she could be like Charly if she did not make that she might cry. I told her that it would be fine whatever she felt was okay. Noelle came out smiling saying it is a little bit of a bummer but she will try again next year. Wow some adults can't even do this.

I am grateful for the experience to tryout, it is very disheartening to see your child not achieve something they want so bad but I know it is part of life. We are very blessed to have so many good friends from our little dance family. I thank all of you for supporting my girls and for being such good friends.

I guess we always have next year!

Happy Birthday Noelle!!!

2009-09-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Noelle!

It really just seems like yesterday when she was born. Noelle is such a funny little girl. She is very concerned with always doing what is right and she really has a hard time when people break rules. She is not a big fan of change and she does not like most candy. Noelle loves sports especially basketball.

She has had a few more struggles with life than my other kids, but to watch how she handles each situation makes me proud. She conquers everything head on and is never to afraid to try the impossible. She is a good friend she won't put up with people messing with her friends. She loves her family and really loves playing with all her cousins.

She might be small but she has a heart of gold. I feel blessed to have her as my daughter she has taught me a lot and has helped me become closer to my Savior. I really think that is all you could ask for as a mother.

We love you Welly!

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Look what I have been up to

2009-09-10T08:55:00.006-06:00

Tuesday morning I called Colle and asked her if she had any plans because I had plans for the both of us. (I am sure she loves how I plan her life sometimes.) I told her I had a box of corn that I needed to freeze and thought she might like some as well so we headed out to get her some corn and came back to do our freezer corn. Don't you just love all our helpers. Shockingly Easton and Kendall did a great job and did not even freak when they saw a few incredible large worms.

We got quite a lot of corn but I am thinking we might need to do a little more.

Then Wednesday I made Jam first a double batch of Raspberry peach and then a double batch of strawberry peach.

Before

My kids had know idea my jam had peaches in it and were amazed that the jam ended up Red

After

The smell of the jam really took me back to my childhood.

And this is all my spoils

30 Strawberry Peach

40 Raspberry Peach

And of course when I get all done Charly says so what you canning tomorrow? Although I am not done with my canning I do need a day off I told her. She then ask if I love canning? I have thought of that since she asked me last night and I love all the full jars on the shelf, and I like when I am canning how they sit around the counter watching and talking to me. When I was growing up my Mom did it in the basement and the minute she started my brothers scattered because they knew she would be busy for hours. I usually was drafted in to help her which I am grateful for because I learned a lot. Although at times I now feel I need a Urim and Thummim to understand some of her canning recipes.

Dang cute Jewelry hanger

2009-09-08T09:55:00.004-06:00

I have a list of projects forever long. When the kids got back in school I decided that I was going to try and tackle some of them before the year was over. I am hoping to accomplish at least one a week. I have been wanting to make something for Charly's jewelry to hang on that would look cool and have style to last through the teen years. This is what I came up with.

This is a peek at the before I found old frames. I wanted something that was a little over the top and ornate I did not care what color they were because I knew I was going to paint them.

I am a big fan of spray paint.

I then painted them a hot pink and rubbed some silver leaf on it to give it a little pop.

I then backed them with a little batting and some twall fabric and attached crystal drawer pulls.

Thanks Chuck for helping with the drawer pulls. He loves being pulled into my projects. (NOT)

And this is our final result.

Plenty of room for all her necklace's and bracelets.

Sad thing is I thought this might be to many hooks for her and I was wrong her drawer still has plenty of bangles and such on it.

I love it when my vision of something actually turns out as cute as I had hoped.

Saturday Night Football

2009-09-06T23:10:00.002-06:00

I love football season!

Saturday we watched our BYU Cougars play. Kyle and Melissa and family joined us. Charly is our family photographer she always makes sure we have pictures when we get together. I think its funny most families have pictures doing stuff together and I think this speaks volumes about my family. We all enjoy a good football game and Saturday was defiantly a good game.
I wish she could of gotten a shot when BYU scored the second touchdown because the boys all jumped up and had their arms in the air. It was a fun game to watch together.

Kaelyn and Kendall were just all about the treats and had a great time playing. They loved that everyone was distracted with the game so they had hours to play together.

Time out

2009-08-28T10:06:00.002-06:00

This picture is from a couple of weeks ago and I think it says it all.

Kendall comment for the day

2009-08-25T22:37:00.002-06:00

I have said it a million times this girl is one of a kind. Today after school I asked Kendall to go watch for Noelle's ride to dance while Noelle helped me finish getting dinner ready.

Kendall yells out to us from the other room- Noelle would you hate me forever if I made you a crappy Christmas present.

(I tell Noelle to say yes to see what she says)

Noelle- Yes

Kendall laughs and says I am kidding I wont make you a crappy Christmas present.

Noelle and I laugh and think where did that random comment come from when she yells

Kendall- Mom

Mom- yes

Kendall- I love you!

Mom- thanks I love you too!

Kendall- I know I don't say this to hear it back I just don't want you to forget.

This probably is only funny to me but I can not stop laughing at her. Seriously where did this girl come from?

Back to School

2009-08-24T22:25:00.002-06:00

Kendall was so excited she had to jump in Marshals photo.

Back to School I can't believe it is already here. All day I have noticed how many Mom's have been posting how glad they are to have the kids back in school I must be in the minority because Back to school means crazy schedules, homework, and they are gone all day. I enjoy having them around.

Can you believe how grown up he is.

Marshal had a great Day and he loves the block system. He is super excited to have seminary and not to excited about Spanish but I think he will do well.

Charly said she had a fabulous day. Mom's worried that she had more homework than her older brother.

Yes I did take her picture at school and no she was not embarrassed we leave that role for Noelle.

After taking Kendall to Kindergarten I was able to stop and see Charly at lunch with her friends they were giggling and having the time of there life. It made me smile to watch how grown up she is and how much she enjoys life.

Noelle had a great first day. Which makes me let out a big sigh this poor girl has had her trials with school and I am always glad when things work out. She was up early this morning dressed with bed made and room cleaned all before 6:00 am I think she was a little excited.

Kendall oh man my baby is off to kindergarten. I know I should be sad but I am so excited for her new adventures. She was her classic self today.

conversation 1 that made me laugh

Noelle- Kendall how was your first day of Kindergarten

Kendall- Well when I was out side on the play ground while my teacher was talking to the parents this girl came up to me while I was on the spinning thing and said (imagine hand on hip) "get out of that now I want to play on it."

Noelle- what did you say?

Kendall- I ignored her

Noelle- Why?

Kendall- She should not talk to me in that tone. And she could of used the word please.

Noelle- well you need to take turns.

Kendall- not with rude girls.

conversation #2

Charly- How was your first day?

Kendall- GREAT

Charly- Do you have lots of friends in your class?

Kendall- Well there are more boys in my class than girls.

Charly- Any girls you became friends with?

Kendall- We did not have time to really get to know anyone today but I was looking around the room and I have decided the boys are going to be way better to play with.

Charly- Why?

Kendall- The girls kept talking and being so annoying when my teacher was talking to everyone. So unless they start raising there hands I am only being friends with the boys.

Oh man this girl is going to give her teacher and most likely her class a run for their money.

I am looking forward to this years new adventures but I really wish I could of had a couple more weeks with them. They are really good kids and I can not wait to see how much they grow and progress.

My yard

2009-08-14T14:26:00.002-06:00

I have been extremely bugged this week trying to work with the school principal over my kids classes when I found a perfect place to relax my yard. AHH The flowers look absolutely gorgeous, this year.

Seriously my hanging baskets ROCK!!!

And the red white and blue theme looks awesome.

If you need a break come check out my yard. It worked till I walked in the house.

Camp Kiesel

2009-08-11T22:59:00.002-06:00

Last week I had the opportunity to take my activity day girls to day camp. They had such a good time. If you have ever been to a scout camp you know all about the silly songs and cheers. All the young girls were not to sure about being silly until they got a chance to watch the oldest two Charly and Mckenna enjoy themselves.

Yeah Nanette for helping.

Chad was a brave Dad to come help with the girls.

The girls loved getting to use the sling shots although the rocks they were given to use I am not sure you could even call pebbles.

A test of patients and balance.

Some of my cute girls.

Maddy spent more time with Mom then the girls. She is still not sure of the whole activity day thing.

Charly doing her bulls eye dance. You have to celebrate such things. Uncle Chad and Mom soon followed with the dance.

All my girls.

I have had many callings in my life and usual love all of them but I love being with the girls and watching them grow. I love how exciting it is to see the light in each of them. I feel blessed to be apart of this exciting time in there life and help them prepare to be Young Women.

Cute Little Dancers.... & Nicolle

2009-08-02T18:45:00.005-06:00

I found these pictures today and started laughing. My girls and Gretchen were playing dress up with all the old costumes we have and then they would come do a little dance. My girls found out that Aunt Colle never took dance and they could not believe that she never got to experience putting on a sparkly costume and performing so they convinced her to try on one of Charly's old tu tu's and join in the fun.

Gretchen was not to sure about her Mom putting on a costume and joining in on the fun.

Aunt Colle's one and only recital.

S'MORES

2009-08-01T23:00:00.000-06:00

Sunday we had the family over to enjoy s'mores with us. Gretchen loves crackers and putting chocolate and marshmallow in between just makes it better.

toast marsh mellow sticks

I am not sure if they are star belly's or not.

What a perfect way to start a week and end a holiday weekend, With family. We have not gotten together much lately because of everyones crazy schedules so it was so nice to spend a nice relaxing sunday evening together.

I wish I would of taken a picture but we also did some cake in the dutch oven Chuck tried a new recipe Chocolate cherry Cake it was so yummy and I love the chocolate chunks that were added. Good job honey!

Fishing with Dad

2009-07-31T21:00:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday Chuck took the girls fishing. They were so excited.

Noelle said that it was fun but she is sure that the only fish that were in that lake were the four some other guy caught.

Charly always up for an adventure.

Little miss Kendall upset because her second time to cast she threw the pole in the lake and it sunk before Dad could get to it. She is not sure if this is all it is cracked up to be. She also was a little worried Marshal would be mad because it was one of his old poles

Kendall after her Dad told her not to worry about the fishing pole and finding out Charly packed cookies in the cooler.

They all had a great time and can't wait to go again. I think Chuck is hoping next time to go with just Marshal he says it is much quieter and he gets to actually fish. I am just glad Chuck enjoys taking the kids on different adventures and spends some good old quality time with them.

Doctors, Hospitals oh my

2009-07-30T14:10:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was quite an eventful day. But let me back up Monday Marshal woke up not feeling very well he had a stomach ache and he would get tired very easy. I thought he was just a little dehydrated because all the time we had spent outside the weekend before. Tuesday he started to get worse with bad stomach cramps and he was in need of imodium if you know what I mean. All tuesday night he was up throwing up and just felt terrible so Wednesday morning I was able to get him in to the doctor. After checking him out they sent me right to the ER for tests they were thinking it was his appendix.

After taking his blood and seeing the doctor they had decided he needed to have his appendix removed so within ten minutes he was on his was to surgery.

He did really good and is already feeling better. We were told he would have to spend the night at the hospital but in the end they let him come home last night around 7:30

When we drove up this is what we found a little sign taped to the garage door saying Welcome home Marshal.

Marshal right after we got home.

24th of July fun

2009-07-30T10:32:00.000-06:00

On Pioneer day after watching the parade we headed off to the park to help Celebrate on of our friends 30th birthday. We ate really good food and had fun sliding down the hill.

I love this first picture because Noelle had the time of her life that is her with her arms out.

Kendall was a crack up of course, she would line up a good 25 feet or more away from the slide and patiently wait till someone noticed her and told her it was her turn and then she would start running.

Our good friend Banks stayed with us for a couple of days before he headed home from college. We eventually convinced him to try out the slide he was going to try and go down on his feet like some of the Men had done but he soon found out it was tricker than he thought.

Noelle would soap herself up good hoping it would make her faster.

Marshal and one of his many buddies on the slide.

I happened to get a picture of all five of them at once on the slide.

We finished the day off with fireworks and good friends.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

2009-07-29T15:45:00.001-06:00

Last week we took the kids to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House.

We had a really good time and it was fun to see how each kid responded to it.

Noelle had so many questions and really ate the whole experience up.

Charly loved the beauty of the building.

Kendall could not get over that she got to even go inside it. She was sure every time we talked about going that it did not include her because she was not eight. After I told her she was going to be able to go she still did not believe me until her Dad told her the same thing.

The best part was to listen to Marshal explain things to the girls. He was able to answer a lot of questions and asked several questions of things he did not know.

Overall it was a wonderful experience and the temple truly was beautiful.

I remember the Jordan River open house 1981 it was the first one I had ever been to and it was a big thing for me to be able to see a sealing room and to get a visual of every thing you are taught and to see inside such a sacred building. I hope my children will remember this for years to come.

Hello Kitty Birthday Party

2009-07-28T16:18:00.000-06:00

Kendall's Birthday party outfit. We had to have a Hello Kitty shirt.

Some of the decorations

The guests

The cupcakes

Pin the flower on the garden

Played some red rover

Kendall is lucky to have so many cousins her age to come to her party.

When we started planning this party the guest list was long with more boys than girls. I finally made an executive decision that we were keeping the party to girls only (except for Easton of course) and no more than eight. Invites and plates all come in eights. And besides all that, I have had the prize bags for this party for a while and really did not want to go buy more stuff for all the boys. The only sad part is we barely knew enough girls to invite and we had to bring in most of them from outside of our neighborhood.

They all had a great time and I am so glad that Marshal and Charly were here to help with the games because you think an hour and a half is not that long, until you have to come up with enough games to keep them all happy. Thank goodness for the Hello Kitty DVD Chuck rented for the party.

Kendalls Birthday

2009-07-27T22:10:00.003-06:00

The Birthday Girl

The Hello Kitty Cake

Finally getting to open presents

The presents

Blowing out the candles

Kendall had a great Birthday she has been talking about a Hello Kitty Birthday for almost a year. In fact a couple weeks ago when our family spoke in church she actually invited the whole ward to her Hello Kitty Birthday Party. So I thought it was perfect that her birthday landed on a sunday.

My Birthday Girl

2009-07-19T00:01:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Kendall!!!

Kendall is such a incredible little girl. I know I am bias what Mother isn't. Kendall is truly a GIFT to our family. Her Sassy little spirit keeps me on my toes, it does not matter if it is one of her crazy stories or her hand on her hip when she is frustrated with me she always can bring a smile to my face. One of my favorite things she does is how often she will tell me she loves me. I will be told this at least 25 times a day, usually in Kendall fashion.

Example-

Kendall- Mominatior (yes she calls me this) I need you.

Me- I come find her in her room and ask you need something

Kendall- just wanted to say I love you that's all.

I also enjoy the excitement she has when she accomplishes something she was sure was not possible. It does not matter if it is something as simple as jumping in the pool with out her vest or learning how to pump herself on the swing set her face just lights up with new possibilities.

She is also a very strong willed little girl with attitude. I think Heavenly Father knew she would need to be strong not only for herself but for her family. I am so thankful for the blessing of being her Mom she has taught me to enjoy the journey, laugh before you cry, love before it is to late and enjoy a good story.

Before you watch her movie let me explain the song that is with it. To most of you it is a Christmas song or even a love song but to me it is Kendall's song I can't think of a better song to explain the GIFT that has been given to me.

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Fun on the 4th

2009-07-12T22:09:00.002-06:00

I was hoping to post about the 4th last week but I forgot to download my photos before Chuck headed off to Scout camp with the camera.

We had a good 4th it was pretty low key we started the weekend with the kids sleeping out in a tent in the back yard. They all thought it was a blast but next time I have been informed Kendall is sleeping in her own tent because she moves to much and kept hitting who was sleeping by her.

We then headed for breakfast in the park. The food was really good this year and we enjoyed all the booths in the park. Now normally the kids run in a 5k but I forgot to register them and when I remembered the price had doubled and I was not about to pay that. So with out a race to recover from and no Peterson reunion we had lots of time on our hands before our other events. We watched a movie had a short nap (or should I say Chuck had a nap) and then we helped our Dad go finish all his errands for scout camp.

We then finished the night with a picnic in the park and fireworks. Colle, Chad, Easton and Gretchen joined us. I actually like the hanging out for fireworks almost more than the actual fireworks. We played card games, played catch, ate good food and enjoyed each other.

I hope everyone had a great fourth and I am very grateful for all the men and women who have fought for my freedoms. God truly has been good to me.

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Cherry Hills

2009-07-01T16:09:00.004-06:00

Kendall's first visit to Cherry hills.

The other kids have basically grown up at Cherry Hills but several years ago we did not get passes and before you knew it years have gone by. I am so glad we decided to get them this year the kids have had such a good time.

Marshal showing Kendall how to enjoy the water instead of being afraid of it.

Kendall spent hours at pirates cove on her first day but was always shivering

(reminded me of my little brother Brandon)

She loved the little slides. Kendall and two of her little friends went down this slide at least twenty times strait.

Yes the other kids were there also but they were off and running with their friends. We have been several times since these photos and Kendall has discovered the big water slides that her brother and sisters go on and loves them we don't spend much time at pirates cove anymore.

Marshal has been a trooper because most of our friends who have passes don't have kids his age. If none of his friends are there he plays with the younger boys who absolutely adore him. Yesterday I was getting a kick out of watching him with five little boys climbing all over him in the pool. He even took them all to the slides and keeps a good eye on them.

Myself I remember why I love having passes it is amazing how fast my kids are up and getting their chores done so they can go play. Now if we could just figure out a better way to have dinner ready when we get home.