Super Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the greatest Mom ever! I am so blessed to have you as my Mom. You mean the world to me. I love you so much! I miss not being able to be there with you on your special day. I look up to you in so many ways. You have a heart full of love and show compassion to everyone. You are so caring and devoted to your family. Thank you for always being there for me. We have many great conversations. I can talk to you about anything and know that you have my best interest in mind. I treasure our close relationship as mother and daughter. I love laughing with you. You are wonderful! Thank you for everything you did for me growing up. I was blessed to do so much in my life and to always have you there supporting me and cheering me on. I am who I am because of you. You are a kind and thoughtful Grandmama! My kids love you dearly. You do so many fun activities with them. They love being with you and they want to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY too! XOXO

Bad Rad Awesome Dad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best Dad in the whole world! I love you so much! I wish I could be with you on this special day. You are incredible in so many ways. I love that you are so funny and extremely talented. I love that I can talk to you about anything. You are so brilliant and knowledgeable, which makes it easy to always give great advice. I know I can come to you when I need my confidence boosted. You always help me feel good about who I am. Your love is unconditional. You have supported me in everything I have ever done: sports, music, jobs, marriage, moving, church callings, motherhood, and so on. For that I am truly appreciative. You are wonderful! What I love most, is that my kids know you the way I have always known you. They love their Grandpa and wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY too!

Lagoon Adventure

Well, Matt's work hooked us up again with 1/2 off tickets to Lagoon! Of course we couldn't pass up the good deal so we took full advantage of it. We were able to go one day with our good friends Aaron and Bonnie. Yes, just a grown-ups day!:) We laughed our heads off and seriously had so much fun! Two days later we took the kids and felt the excitement all over again. We had such a good time! Matthew, Kynlee, and Karley were so brave. They tried all of the big rides and loved them. The lines were not too long, so Matt and I would take turns sitting out with Kenzie to go on the roller coasters. Their favorite rides were Colossus, The Bat, Wicked, Rattlesnake Rapids, and Tidal Wave. Kenzie had her favorites too. She loved getting wet on Odysea and riding the little cars all by herself. She was a trooper the whole day. Just before we left, we let the kids play in the dancing water feature. They got soaked! It was the perfect way to end our fun-filled day. We made lots of good memories and can't wait to go again next year!

Watercolor Happiness

When the kids and I were at the store buying some needed school supplies, Kenzie talked me into getting her this watercolor paint set. I figured it would be a fun activity for her and I to do while the older kids were at school. Little did I know that it would completely make her day. She kept saying in her cute lingo, "Uh me so happy Mom!" She had so much fun and I look forward to doing more one on one activities with my little buddy.

Back To School

The kids had their first day back to school. They were so excited to go and Mom is so excited to have a daily routine again! This is their 2nd school year in UT. They have made so many wonderful friends in the neighborhood and through school. When they got home today, they each said their day was AWESOME and that they are going to LOVE their teachers! I was so glad to hear that.

What a good looking bunch of school kids.

Matthew is in Mr. Jeppson's 6th grade class. It's hard to believe this is his last year of Elementary School.
Kynlee is in Mrs. West's 4th grade class. Her teacher is lovingly known as "The Wicked Witch of the West".

Karley is in Ms. Bennet's 2nd grade class. She has grown-up so much since last school year.
What pretty girls! They had so much fun picking out their first day of school outfits. Good job!
The bus stop is conveniently at the corner of our house. I'll tell you right now, it makes it real nice for running behind days and cold, snowy days.

A Little Piece Of Home

Grandma Debbie suprised us this afternoon. How fun! She had come up here for a Family Reunion and made some time to visit with us. So sweet! Her timing was perfect. She was here when the kids got off the school bus. They were so excited! Of course she had to spoil us in the couple of hours she was here by taking us to Arctic Circle for a yummy treat. The kids enjoyed being with you. Thanks for taking the time to visit us. It was so wonderful to see you! We miss you and love you lots!

A Birthday Wish

Happy Birthday Donna! You are an amazing lady. I am in awe at the many incredible talents you have been blessed with. You are a wonderful Mother, Mother-in-law, and Grandma to my family. You always show us kindness and love. I treasure our relationship and my kids love you more than words can say. I hope you had a great Birthday. You deserve it. We love you!

This is Matt and his brother Steve with the Birthday Girl. As this picture shows, they both had just got in from a hard days work.Kenzie and I got Grandma this bouquet of balloons as part of her birthday gift. We delivered them to her at work. She was so suprised! She works at Willowcreek Middle School in Lehi. She is in the cafeteria and is known as "the fruit lady". She loves it!
Donna's sister, Becky, suggested that I make this cake. It is called O'Boy Oatmeal Cake. It turned out extremely moist and yummy with its coconut/pecan frosting. In case it is hard to tell, the candles were formed to make the number 61. "O'Boy" that is old!:)
Grandma and her cute UT grand kids had lots of fun celebrating her birthday!

Fabulous Family Fun

Matt has been working at Kennecott for about 5 months. We receive little perks every once in a while. It's great! One of the last perks we received was a coupon book full of family passes to different places that Kennecott sponsors. Did I mention that the coupons got our family in for FREE?:) We took a couple of days to take advantage of these coupons. Our FIRST stop was the Tracy Aviary, a bird zoo. It was so neat! We went to the Amazon show where we were able to go into a cage and feed Sunburst Conures slices of apples. So cool! We were all a little nervous at first, but then got comfortable having the birds all around us. We also went to an Aviator Show where they talked about and showed amazing birds. The birds actually flew right over our heads to make their appearance on the stage. It was fun learning about and seeing some really cool birds. Our SECOND stop was the Clarke Planetarium. We saw an IMAX 3-D movie called Sea Monsters. It was a story about dinosaurs and was very realistic. We all jumped when the Sea Monsters popped out of the screen at us. We also enjoyed other neat exhibits on display there. Our LAST stop of the day was the Discovery Museum. This was so fun for the kids! There are tons of hands on activities. The kids' favorites were the Grocery Store, the Building Blocks, the Helicopter, and the Ball Zone. We were quite exhausted at the end of our day.

The FIRST stop on our second fun-filled day was Utah's Hogle Zoo. Now I know the Zoo can seem boring sometimes, but we loved it! The exhibits were close together for the most part, so we were able to see all of the amazing animals. They were all out and we had close up views of most. We saw a white alligator, which is one of 10 in the world. The monkeys were hilarious to watch play around. The incredible size of the rhino, gorilla, and orangutan was breathtaking. It was warm and humid, so after a few hours and having all the fun the Zoo can offer, we were ready to go. Our SECOND and final stop was This Is The Place Heritage Village. We went on a train tour around the beautiful village and saw amazing historical sites such as Brigham Young's Home, Heber C. Kimball's Home, and Benjamin Franklin Johnson's Saddlery. Benjamin Franklin Johnson is an ancestor 6 generations back on Matt's side, his great-great-great-grandfather. He worked at Joseph Smith's store back in Nauvoo, was one of his bodyguards, and was good friends with him. Wow! We went into the Saddlery and the kids did some fun leather imprinting. As we walked down the wood planked sidewalk, we all thought how different it would have been to live in such a small, old fashioned town. The kids all went on a pony ride and saw some of the animals that were there. We were so glad that we went. It really was a touching experience.

Welcome Home Soldier

Aunt Marie came home to visit for a couple of weeks. She has been stationed in Grafenwoehr, Germany since March of 2007. So far from home. She is a Combat Medic Healthcare Specialist (registered EMT) and works at a health clinic. She is so amazing! Marie absolutely enjoys being there, doing what she loves. She will be transferring to Ft. Lewis, Washington in April of 2009. A lot closer to home. We have enjoyed having her here. She adores my kids and I hope she knows how much they love her. One night, Aunt Marie took the kids out to eat at Taco Bell. Yum! Afterwards, she took them to the store and bought them each a little toy and treat. Can you say "favorite Aunt"?:) The next morning we went to the movies and saw "Space Chimps". It was so cute and funny. And of course we had to take her to the pool. It's been fun! We love you and will miss you when you leave.

On My Honor

Matthew had a Court of Honor where he received his Tenderfoot Rank. He has also earned his Second Class Rank, but will get that next time. He is so excited about Scouts right now! He has worked so hard and has had so much fun doing it. His leaders are amazing. Matthew's goal is to have earned his First Class rank by the time he is 12 in October. Way to go buddy! Mom and Dad are so very proud of you!

My super Scout stud!
Matthew receiving his award from his Scout leader, Bro. Peterson.
Matthew bravely pinning the Mother's pin on me.

Picnic In The Canyon

Grandma Schroeder (Matt's Grandma) has been up here visiting. She is so sweet! I decided to take her and the kids on a picnic in American Fork Canyon. We went to one of our favorite spots called "Swinging Bridge". It is so beautiful! We unpacked our lunch (pizza, grapes, cookies, and drinks) and as if on cue, a few bees decided to join us. Well, poor Kynlee started freaking out, which she has been stung a few times so has good reason. And of course, that set Kenzie off. So, having been there only a few minutes, I packed it all up and we headed back to the van. We ate our picnic in the van, bee free!:) Grandma and I were able to convince Kynlee that without our food, the bees wouldn't bother us, and we would be able to go back to the picnic area to hang around for a bit. It was so nice. We really had a good time with Grandma. We love you!

The kids with Great-Grandma Schroeder.
We have to take a picture on this stump each time we come.
This picture could be a postcard. The water was flowing so fast.
We played a card game we recently learned called "Kings in the Corner". Fun, fun!

Karley and Kenzie were my little exploring buddies. They had fun throwing pine cones and sticks into the water and watching them float down the river.

Mom and her girls. Matthew took this picture. Good job!

Kenzie looking cute! Matthew, Kynlee, and Karley throwing rocks into the river.

Crash And Burn

Matthew was riding one of our little quads last week with his friend Jeremy. I guess one of the tires had gone flat and when they hit a bump in the road it made the quad unstable. Matthew was riding on the back and fell off. He got major road rash on his back and elbow, and you can even see a little on his fingers. Ouch! Luckily, his head was protected by his helmet. It was quite painful trying to clean it up with Hydrogen Peroxide and scrubbing the asphalt out in an Epsom Salt bath. Poor guy! Still, even a week later, we are doing the best we can to get it to heal up. He'll have a nice scar to show his kids someday.