Shared photo book from Andie

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Chance Junior ROTC

Chance has joined a Junior Officer Training program at his high school. It gives him PE credits, and they do a lot of competitions and awards. I worried about him moving from junior high to high school, but he has friends in early morning seminary who are in the JROTC program at his school, and he has done great. He had an award ceremony and got a "good conduct" award, "academic award" for good grades, "raider team member" award (raider team is a competition team, they do obstacle courses and drills), and the prestigious"Senior Army Insructor's Leadership Award" for displaying outstanding leadership skills. WOW, what a kid! He has also grown 3 more inches, and thinks it's funny to pat me on top of my head. He is not perfect, he likes to hide in his room reading when it's time to clean the house, and can have a temper when arguing with Alyssa. But he is very helpful, and patient with the little girls-I couldn't have asked for a better son in the whole world.

Fun With Cousins (and Police)

Natalie & her family came to visit a few weeks ago. The kids are all sitting in the "ice plant" that grows all over our neighborhood. We have heard it's actually a tropical plant, but someone planted it all over the military base to keep the sand dunes from eroding. It hasn't really worked, because some of the buildings on the west side have fallen off the cliffs onto the beach. The playground behind them is right outside Abby's window, and she always want to go play. It's been a pretty good bribe to get her to pick up her toys etc. It was just too tempting one day last month though, and she ran outside in her underwear to go to the park. Unfortunately, one of the base police was driving by, and saw her. Kyra saw the officer talking to Abby. & ran in to tell me He then called for backup (they must be really bored), and the two officers got all kinds of information from me to write up a report. Hopefully that will be Abby's first and last criminal encounter with the police.

Abby and Ellie are standing in front of a rock wall at lover's point. This is in Pacific Grove, which is about as far west as you can get in the U.S. except Alaska and Hawaii. At lover's point, there are rock outcroppings along the beach, with about a 30 feet down to the water. Everyone was sitting up on top of the rocks, watching the surf that crashes up against them. There were some pretty high waves that day, and the water was splashing all the way to the top of the rocks. The last picture is moments before Natalie, Ellie, & Elaine were drenched by a wave. They didn't see it coming because they had turned around to pose for Rob to take the picture.

The 4th picture is everyone on a beach in Big Sur, right after we all watched the sun set. This is one of our favorite beaches because the water crashes between the rocks and shoots up like a fountain. There are also cool purple streaks in the sand that I've never seen anywhere else.

The 5th picture is some of the kids in front of a section of redwood., showing the dates some of the rings were made (clear back to the time of Christ). We love going to the redwood forests along the coast. The smell is wonderful, and they are soooo tall, you fell like a tiny little bug.

Legoland

For a Christmas present, we took the whole family to Legoland in San Diego. Chance has wanted to go since it opened when he was about 4 years old, so we decided to finally go since it's a shorter drive now. Chance has collected every boinicle ever made, and he got some pictures with life size bionicles. Everything in the park is made of legos- a lego animal safari, lego castles, and miniature NYC, Las Vegas, and other cities made legos. There is a factory that shows how legos are made, and you can race each other in big lego firetrucks. It's not as big as Disneyland, but if you have a lego fan in the family, is is definitely worth a visit.

We made it to CA in one piece, but I don't have any pictures yet. These are some pictures Ethan took of us on an old train right before we left. The trains are on the old DDO in Ogden. I love the peeling paint and rusty metal, I hope they don't get rid of them before we get back.

We have been pretty busy, but loving the complete absence of snow to shovel. Justin is doing well in class, and Chance loves High School. Alyssa doesn't like her school, but have made some friends at church. Abby started joyschool and has been using the potty be herself (this is VERY exciting- she had been refusing to go unless we sat next to her). She definitely got a stubborn streak from somewhere.

Girl's Hula recital

Here are a few pictures from Alyssa, Emma, and Kyra's Hula recital. They take dance at Aloha Dance studio. They performed a few Hula dances in the red dress with green grass skirt, a poi ball routine in the red dress, a Tahitian dance in the elaborate skirts, and a dance with feathered gourds. The costumes were a lot of work for mom, but that's show biz I guess. They have had so much fun this year, and can do crazy stuff with those poi balls!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Homecoming

These are pictures from the day Justin's unit arrived home. We were at the Air National Guard air base in Salt Lake City. Abby was a little hesitant to hug him, but after about 2 minutes of watching every one else attack Daddy, she decided he was OK and gave him a kiss. Since then she has been his little shadow. The bottom picture was taken as we were walking out to the car. Chance picked up Justin's pack, and almost fell over backward, but he managed to get it up on his back and carry it out to the car. We are all so glad Daddy is home and safe!

Justin is in AMERICA!

Justin called yesterday and he is back in America! They are at Ft. Lewis near Tacoma/ Seattle Washington. Now that he is almost home, I can safely post a little information about what he has been doing. He has been with a Utah National Guard intelligence unit in Afghanistan. They have been getting info about bad guys, and helping out the people of Afghanistan. He told me that as they crossed the east coast into Maine yesterday, he could feel the spirit of the United States and freedom that had been missing in the middle east, and that he is very very grateful to be back in our wonderful nation. I am going up to WA for a couple days (yay!!) and the soldiers will get home the end of next week. This picture is of Justin on a tank, wearing a scarf that the men use to keep sand off their faces, shield them from the sun, and whatever else they need it to do.

Pay it Forward

I got this from my Friend Shary's blog. Here's how it works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well-before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Remember that only the first 3 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick! It will be fun and it will give me an excuse to make something!

Smilebox for Alison, these are so fun!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Abby is two

Everyone knows 2 year olds are famous for tantrums. Abby has actually been pretty easy compared to a couple other two year olds (yes, I'll say your names Alyssa and Kyra). But this day she was not going along with our plan. Alyssa and Emma were getting awards for their reflections projects in the Fremont auditorium, and Abby decided she wanted to go up on stage with the girls. I wouldn't let her run away, so this was her reaction in the aisle. It went on for at least 10 minutes. She didn't appreciate me taking pictures, but she is so cute, even when she's mad. By the way, the reflections categorey was "wow". Alyssa won honorable mention for her 3D clay project with a Ute fan (her teacher Mr. Jeffs) and a BYU fan (her principal Mr. Sedarholm) hugging. And Emma got 2nd place with her 3D clay project showing a caterpillar changing into a butterfly.

Christmas Surprise

Justin and Chance worked out a surprise for me on Christmas . I wasn't expecting any presents this year (except the new boots I helped the kids give me). But on Christmas eve, Chance brought out a box with a poem on it from Justin. It was the willow tree statue on the left called "promise", and the poem was about the first stage of his deployment, as he left, and treasuring the moments together. I couldn't hardly read the poem through all my tears. It had been a hard day already, getting santa stuff ready all by myself, but I felt happy that he had thought of me, and didn't expect anything else. Then on Christmas morning, after the kids had opened up all their presents, Chance brought out another box. It was the statue on the right, called "hero", and had a poem from Justin about ways he feels I have acted as a hero. I see him as my hero, so of course I was bawling again in front of everyone. Then when we got home that night, Chance came in with one more wrapped box, and told me I was supposed to save this one till Justin gets home (I'll post a picture when I open it in March). In a strange way, this was one of the best Christmases I have had. I don't hardly remember what I got, or what I stressed myself out about giving, in the past years. But I hope I will always remember to appreciate the times we are together, and not take them for granted as I usually do. I love you honey.

Here is a picture of the kids from Christmas morning. We took this in front of the window so Justin could see that it was snowing that morning. The glowing in Kyra's hand is a tinkerbell flashlight. Ethan has a new straight 'do- he seems to like it (he's always flipping his hair now).

Emma's Baptism

This is a little late, but here is a picture from Emma's Baptism in September. It was so fun for her to have Daddy home for 2 weeks. All her cousins and family were there, and her 2nd cousin and buddy Eva even showed up from Orem. The weather was a little shaky though. It rained on and off, and the power even went out that afternoon. This wouldn't normally be a big deal, but I had moments before filled my crock pot with potatoes to make cheese soup for 50 people after the baptism! Luckily the power came back on a couple hours later, just in time for the soup to cook during the baptism, and everything turned out perfectly.