Happy Veteran's Day!

Each year I try to have my kids at school do something in honor of Veteran's Day. Sometimes it's a journal entry. Last year, my advanced students wrote letters and this year they made cards. Each time, I am impressed with the enthusiasm and effort they put into this project.

I was raised to respect the flag and all those who have served our country but it has come to mean even more over the years because some of my very best friends have served in the military. I am grateful that they have served honorably and come home safely each time. May that continue!

Novembers to Remember

It seems like November seems to be the month when things happen in my life... some very painful, others incredibly fun, and all that I will never forget. I got my Trailblazer in November 2001. It was my first and only brand new car. I still love it!! I tore out my kitchen and began remodeling it in November 2008. I learned a lot and cried a lot but the end result is beautiful. Last November I also got to go to Georgia for Thanksgiving. I will never forget watching the sun come up as we drove from Atlanta to Columbus. If all days could be as perfect as that one. Hopefully, before this November is over, the we'll get the carpet in the rest of the house. Hmmmm..... what will next November bring?

Not the sunrise, but still the same road.

Cool School!!

Today my school was the "Cool School of the Week" on Fox 13. Big Buddha was here doing live spots before school and to see as we launched 1600 red balloons for Red Ribbon Week. It was fun and the best part was how amazingly good my kids were when we got back to class. They sat right down and got to work quietly.

You can't really see him but our Assistant Principal climbed up to the end of the ladder to give us instructions!

Mascot Bowl

A few weeks ago, we went to the Mascot Bowl at the high school. It is organized by the Sports Marketing class and they bring in college and pro mascots to play against the 8th grade team. Swoop and the Jazz Bear were there. Cosmo was a no show. The money they make goes to charity. They also had the Jazz dancers, U of U cheerleaders, and a few other groups perform and there were fireworks after the game. Thurl Bailey was the mascots' coach. This was our first year to go and my hat goes off to the teacher who shows her students how to put this all together!

This is Katelyn, Brooklyn, and Caitlin. I keep asking Kate why she can't just smile in any of her pictures.

Another Monica

It is not often that I find someone with the same name as me!!! This is Caitlin's little sister.

Happy Halloween!!!

It is 11:00 and Kate is doing the Thriller dance next to my bed. Needless to say, she had a great Halloween. This is the second year she has gone with Caitlin trick-or-treating in her neighborhood. This year Caitlin's younger brother Justin went with them. When they got back to Caitlin's house, the kids sat down and traded candy.

Caitlin, Katelyn, and Justin

Caitlin's littlle brother Joel was our favorite!! He was a little confused when his mom told him to get his picture taken with Monica because that is his sister's name too! He was a great sport about letting us take pics though.... and he even gave me some Spongebob gummies!

Caitlin's sister Megan getting sprayed with silly string!

The Utes pulling out a win against Wyoming was a nice ending to the night. Kandice texted us after the game and told us she was still proud to have this lit up on her porch. Don't worry Kandice! We'll go back to cheering for Wyoming next week!

Bonus points.... and then some!!!!

Maybe this going back to work thing isn't so bad. Katelyn very cheerily saw me off to work today. After I left, she cleaned both bathrooms, scrubbed the carpets upstairs, rearranged her room, cleaned out under her bed, wiped down all the baseboards, did some laundry, and called and offered to vacuum the rest of the house.... all before lunch!!! She also came to my school this afternoon and helped me make copies, laminate, and hang things on my walls!

Don't worry.... her day wasn't all work. She topped it off by playing night games and having a sleepover at Caitlin's house. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a fan of sleepovers. Just goes to show that hard work (minus the complaining) pays off. Doesn't hurt that I really like Caitlin.

All things must come to an end!!!

It's true. In under eight hours, I will officially be back to work!!! I am so not ready for Summer to be over.

Top 10 favorite things about Summer 2009:

1. Road trips to St. George
2. Afternoons by the pool
3. Not having to wake up to an alarm or having my day run by bells
4. Boating with the Petersons
5. Katelyn's last year of Oakcrest camp
6. Katelyn's first stake dance
7. Stadium of Fire
8. Wearing shorts and flip flops every day
9. Hanging out with Uncle Mike and his girls
10. Hanging with the Gardner girls and snuggling their cute new brother Thomas.

On the up side..... 18 days until our UTES hit the field. Bring it on!!!

Red Rocks!!

A couple of weeks ago, we went to one of my favorite places.... St. George. I love it there!! I'd live there if I could. The red rocks are beautiful.

Kate climbing on the rocks above St. George.

We saw Footloose at Tuacahn, swam, relaxed, watched way too much Disney Channel at the hotel, and went to a couple of Kate's favorite places to eat! It was awesome. We can't wait to go again.

Trips to the Blue Bunny store are a tradition. The original Blue Bunny Store is gone but you can still get the ice cream at this little shop next door.

The hotel pool was great. This is where we spent our afternoons.

A couple of years ago, my friend Dan took us for Mongolian barbecue. It is now one of Kate's favorite places to eat and of course, we couldn't pass on a chance for a double double at In N Out.

Blackout!!!

Katelyn went to her first stake dance tonight!! The theme was Blackout and everyone was supposed to dress in black and white. She and Caitlin had a great time!

Happy Birthday Kate!!!

Yikes! My little girl is 14 today! Being her mom is definately the most important thing I have done with my life. When I try to look back and pick my favorite memories of Kate, I just can't. There are too many great memories. Sometimes I wish I had a video of her life so I could enjoy them over and over again. Some of her nicknames over the year have been Katie, Katie Bug, Kateroo, and Kate but one thing has remained the same. She is my best friend. She has laughed with me, worked side by side with me, wiped my tears away, and always loved me no matter what.

When Katelyn was little, her most remarkable quality was that she loved everyone! I honestly don't think it occurred to her until she was about 7 that you could not like a person. I never saw her hit, bite, or take a toy from another child. When I saw it happen to her, she responded by shrugging her shoulders and walking away. She has always loved her cousins, so much that she would drive them a little nuts with all her attention.

When Kate was little, she always had a hug and smile for others. I loved the way, when we would snuggle, she would reach up with her little hand and pat my cheek. When I dropped her off at daycare, she always had to have two hugs and two kisses before I left. She didn't talk very early but she always used a lot of facial expressions and hand gestures when she tried. As a little girl, she loved books, decorating, finger paints, going on walks and riding her bike, flying kites, planting things in the garden, and playing make believe. One day she and her grandpa role played all day long, from playing dentist to Home Depot to who knows what else? One time she came upstairs with her face covered in lipstick. When I asked him why wasn't he watching her better, he simply said... "Well, I did tell her which color looked best." I could go on and on for hours about how much fun our family has had watching Katelyn grow up. Grandma has hundreds of pictures to prove it. I finally made a DVD of the first five years and was surprised when Katelyn and her friend pulled it out the other night to watch it.

She isn't a little girl anymore and she amazes me more than ever. Everything I have done, from getting my education to living where I do was with one goal in mind... to give her some stability in our otherwise crazy lives. She has grown into a beautiful young woman and YES! She is still my very best friend! We don't finger paint and draw with sidewalk chalk anymore, but we still love to be together. Whether it is on a plane or in the car, one of my very favorite things to do with Kate is to travel.

Kate.... YOU ROCK!!!!

Stadium of Fire!!!!

Last night we went to Stadium of Fire. We had a hotel room in Provo so we headed down in the afternoon so the girls could swim and get ready before we headed to the show. Every time I tell someone we got a hotel they look at me funny because we only live 20 minutes away from the stadium. But, it is totally worth it when you only have to leave 15 minutes before to be in your seats by show time.... and even better when you are sitting in your hotel room watching traffic instead of being stuck in it. Not to mention the random couple I met when I was using the computer. Before I left, she handed me a piece of paper with the name and number of her single uncle and dared me to give him a call. But, the best part of the hotel this year was that SHeDAISY, one of the bands performing at Stadium of Fire, was also staying there. We got to meet them just before they left for the stadium. They signed the girls' shirts and let us take a picture. They were also there when we came back. Turns out that once they performed, they only got to see about 15 minutes of the Jonas Brothers before they had to grab their stuff and head back to the hotel. They actually watched the fireworks from the parking lot of the hotel. I guess that being famous isn't always glamorous.

A little while later, we walked over to the stadium and stood in the crowd to try to get a view of the Jonas Brothers. Unfortunately, at the last minute, they took them around another way so we hit the kettle corn booth instead. Partway through the show, Katelyn texted our neighbor who was down on the field helping where all the military and their families were seated. She told him she wanted to be where he was and few minutes later he texted back and told her to head down. She was able to get pretty close for the last part of the Jonas Brothers and we were all able to be on the field during the fireworks at the end. Who knew the ground would shake so much when those fireworks went off.

One of my favorite parts was seeing all the soldiers in uniform standing at attention as the flag was brought in and everyone sang The Star Spangled Banner. They raised the giant American flag that has been used in the past several Stadium of Fire programs. At the end of the show, this flat was retired. Soldiers carried it flag in and placed it in a cauldron to be burned. It was very moving to see this, especially after getting to know Todd this past year. I couldn't help but think of him as he is beginning his last training before, as he puts it, "going over the water" once again.

Park City

Katelyn's friend Caitlin is spending the weekend with us so we can go to Stadium of Fire to celebrate Kate's birthday. Today we went to Park City to the outlets. If you want to entertain two teenage girls for an afternoon, take them into a store and let them try on random outfits. After we went shopping, we went to Cafe Rio for dinner. This will definately go down as one of Kate's best birthdays.

The shirt Caitlin gave her for her birthday

Boating

After the parade on Saturday, Kate and I got to go boating with Chavis, Torre, Kam, Laney, and Chavis' brother Carter and his friend Jordan. We had such a great time! If only I could find the video of Chavis and Kamry doing the Thriller dance on the back of the boat! Laney refused to put on a swimming suit or get in the water but as always, she has lots of hugs and funny things to say. Kamry, on the other hand, does great in the water. She can wakeboard forever and Kate and I both had fun riding in the tube with her. They tried to get Katelyn to try wakeboarding without any luck but she has decided she wants to try next time. Now that everyone knows she is committed. Chavis asked if she holds a grudge...I think he was tempted to just throw her in the water. We can't wait to go again! I'm up for mastering the wakeboarding before I'm 40! Thanks for making it a great birthday!

Roundup Week

Ever since we moved to Lehi, Roundup Week has been a tradition. One year we even made Katelyn a bed in the back of the car when she was sick so she wouldn't miss the parade. This year we went to the picnic in the park, the movie in the park, and both parades. I tried to talk her into just one but she wouldn't have it! We have our usual spot but this year Gardners found us an even better place in the shade. Kate was a little sad to break tradition until she realized we were still going to be able to back right up to the street so she could relax in back. We didn't get a lot of pictures of Kaylee. She must have actually been watching the parade.

Happy Birthday to all of us!

Today my parents took us out to lunch for our birthdays since Mike, Kate, and me all have ours within two weeks of each other! We went to Tucanos at Gateway. I wondered what Kate would think.... rolls and grilled pineapple got a thumbs up. She was a little iffy on the deep-fried bananas and the chicken hearts were definately a big fat no! I'm with her!!!! We managed to avoid any birthday singing but did each get a yummy birthday sunday. I'm thinkin' that was a way better deal anyway.

Cousins

Last week while I was at my conference, Kate got to spend the day with Mike and his girls! He took them out to breakfast before they headed to the Hill Aerospace Museum and a movie. Now I know that I don't have to take her on an actual vacation... just send her to Mike's house to spend the day with her cousins! We love you guys! Brin even offered to share her pajamas if we would spend the night.