Back to School

Yes I am not joking...We have gone back to school already.


After 3 weeks of summer vacation ALL of my children headed back to school. This year I have a 5th grader, a 3rd grader and 2 - 1st graders. That's right Katie and Becky began all day school!!!
Zack and Belle both began the ALPS (accelerated learning program) at a new school. It is the same distant away as Elk Meadows so they can still ride their bikes and scooters. Belle's friend Ryan is also going to the new school and they even lucked out and got to be in the same class. And Zack will also have a familiar face in his classroom since Trae has also transferred schools.
Both Zack and Belle were a little nervous about the change, but by the time they came home they had smiles on their faces and were excited about their new teachers: Mrs. Stowe and Mrs. Lybbert.


Katie and Becky started a day later than Zack and Belle. They were so excited, to the point that they were impossible to live with for the couple of days preceding the first day. They would ask questions hourly,

"Mommy, I wonder what our teacher will be like"

"I wonder who will be in our class"

"Do you think we will see Miss Snow?"

"How many days now until we leave?"

I am glad that they are so enthusiastic to learn and go to school. I am sure they will do well. I think they are excited about their new independence too. They get to ride their bikes to school and make their own school lunches. I can't believe my babies are in school all day long.

Finally...Our Trip to New England

Last night my friend Wendy informed me that I needed to blog.

Life has been crazy since we got back from Rhode Island, but I am finally sitting down on the computer and filling you all in on our trip.

Instead of spending our whole trip in Rhode Island, Steve's family decided it would be fun to go to New Hampshire together. His sister, Suzy, opens a condo there and Steve's parents rented another on that was next door.
So we all:

• Suzy and her son Eli
• Sandy and her kids Alex & Will
• Steve and I and our brood Zack, Belle, Katie & Becky
• Scott, his wife Jen and their children Abby & Tyler
• And last, but certainly not least Mom and Dad Weber

Met up in New Hampshire on Monday. The kids ran around outside and got reacquainted with each other. The women folk went food shopping and then came home and had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. Then the kids got to roast marshmallows and have smores. Steve diverted Suzy's attention and the rest of the gang ran into one of the condos and hid so we could surprise Suzy with a 40th Birthday Celebration. She seemed to be surprised we had done this for her. Jen made a cute cake and Eli, who is 7, had even managed to buy his mom and birthday gift and smuggled it to New Hampshire in his car.

We spent a great majority of our time swimming. All the children enjoyed going to the pool. I think the dads even had some fun playing with the children. We took a trip to Loon Mountain and rode the gondola to the top and had the kids play in some rock caves and climb a little tower. There was also a trip to some water falls and streams that everyone played in. We also went to a little pond that had a floating dock and paddle boats that could be borrowed. Steve and some of the boys went frog hunting and found a HUGE, BRIGHT GREEN FROG.

As you might expect there was some game playing. Sequence was a big hit with everyone. The little boys spent time playing their Gamboys together. One of the most fun activities was when we pulled the Guesstures game out. We formed 2 teams and had a blast watching each person act out their clues. It was H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!!!

A good time was had by all. When Thursday finally rolled around we cleanup the two condos, packed up our belongs and headed back to Rhode Island. We spent the remainder of our trip in Rhode Island. We even managed to squeeze a trip to the beach.

One More Camping Trip

June 30th was the last day of school!!

To help celebrate we have made a tradition of going camping the same day that the children are let out of school. Last year we invited our friends the Duves to join us and this year the Duves came along, but we also invited another family the Nighs along. Each family consists of 6 people, so we totaled 18 and has 3 sites at Smith Morehouse Campground.

What we did on our vacation:

• Fishing
• Eating
• Playing games
• Eating
• Taking walks
• Eating
• Wading in the reservoir
• Eating
• Canoeing
• Eating
• Chatting
• & don't forget Eating

The scariest part of the trip. Steve when tout in the canoe with some of the kids. As he paddled across the lake Daisy decided she would follow. Those of us standing on the shore tried calling her back, but she was focused on being with Steve. Once Steve realized that Daisy was tailing behind he made his way to the far side of the lake and the other shore. Daisy slowed down a bit. We were all afraid she would not make it. Finally we saw her pull herself up onto the shore. She was so exhausted after he little adventure she hardly moved for 2 days after the swim.

Another cute memory for me was my friend's son Heston. He is about about 3 years old and is just so stinkin' cute. When we went to the reservoir he's dad had a little fishing rod for him to use and Heston was one of the only people that day to catch a fish and he was so excited. Unfortunately the fish had ripped a gill and did not survive. Heston's dad tried to save the little fishy. Then Heston's big sister came over and took the little fish and threw into out into the lake. Not long after that a seagull came by, swooped down and gobbled up that fish.

"Poor fishy."

One of the best parts of this camping trip for Steve and I was when the kids were safe in their tents and the adults congregated at the picnic table, played games and ate the grown up treats. It is so nice to have good friends. Lots of laughing and sharing how each one of the couple met. We had some fun conversations. I still think Dayna does something sneaky when we play Kaboom, but I can't prove it yet. BTW...Congrats on your win Dayna!!!

Yellowstone: Part 2

As we came around the corner for the Fishing Bridge there was more traffic. We began asking people standing on the sides of the road what they could see. Their reply,

"A GRIZZLY BEAR".

Sure enough in the middle of this field was a small grizzly bear laying there.
We pulled our truck off to the side of the road and joined the rest of the vacationers. It laid there for a while and then got up and ate its way through the dandelions, closer and closer to us. There were a couple of Park Rangers there that were controlling the situation. We took 2 rolls of film and about 20 digital images of the bear. A couple of people commented that the bear was pretty small, but as we stood there and watched him eat and lay down I got a good look at his crawls and came to the conclusion that he was big enough for me. When the Park Ranger informed us that if the bear got any closer to us, he was going to clear out the area we decided it would be best to leave.

We took a long and uneventful drive around Yellowstone Lake. After having encountered so many neat animals in such a short time, this part of the drive was a bit boring. Just before we got to our camp ground we saw to women taking pictures of something. I thought, "It is probably another bison".
But, it wasn't. It was a coyote standing around the picnic tables. We got out of the truck and watched the coyote. He walked around behind the picnic table and then stopped for a moment. It was watching something very closely. Then he pounced on a mouse and ate it. We took a few more photos and moved on.

We decided after a few hours of seeing animals and wilderness we would head into West Yellowstone and have an ice cream and do some window shopping. As we were leaving the park we hit, traffic again. There was a bison standing on the side of the road and on the other side of the road was a small group of full grown and baby bison. It appears that the one bison was acting as a crossing guard so that the small herd could cross and join him and the others on the side of the road. We got a couple of neat, fairly close pictures of those beautiful animals.

On the way back from West Yellowstone we saw a beautiful bald eagle perched on a log. Not far from where he was perched was her nest with 2 babies in it. We did not get a good view of the babies, but Steve got a couple of good shots of the eagle. It was incredible. I have never seen one of those in person. Once we finally got back to came, we began to make our supper. Steve went up to the restrooms and when he returned he told me there was 4 bison right there in came. I went and looked at them. It was kind of a surreal moment.

We saw so much in those short 2 days. I feel like this short blog entry doesn't even do justice to what we saw.

Yellowstone: Part 1

Sorry I have been MIA the last few weeks. We are wrapping up the kids school year and have just been plain busy.

For Father's Day weekend Steve, the kids and I went to Yellowstone Park. We got up early Friday morning and headed to Wyoming. We were finally in the park by 2:00 pm. Within minutes we saw bison laying in fields on the side of the road.

We pulled over and began taking pictures. Once we took a sufficient amount of photos we moved on to the campsite and pitched tents and unrolled sleeping bags. We then headed out to visit the geysers. We made it just in time to watch "Old Faithful" go off. Then we took a walk and visited some of the lesser known geysers in that area. Once you get over the "who's cookin' eggs" smell, it is quite incredible.

After hitting the geysers we went back to camp changed into our snuggly clothes and got the fire started. We cooked hotdogs and ate chips. Once the sun went down we sentr the kids to their tent and settled in by the fire and just spent the evening talking and poking at the fire.

I woke up at 7:30 the next morning to the smell of eggs and bacon. I got up, ate breakfast and got dressed to take on some more of the Park. We left the campground and drove down the road and hit traffic. Before wecould get too frustrated we realized that it was because there were bison walking right down the middle of the road. The walked right next to our truck and hardly even noticed we were there. I was blown away. They are HUGE!!! We saw hundreds of bison. There were fields with babies and even elk mixed in.

As we drove on we came to a bunch of cars pulled over to the side of the road and people armed with cameras. When we inquired what was in the woods we were told there were 2 black bears. Steve and 3 of the children headed in the direction with the rest of the people while Katie and I stayed with the truck. Steve got a couple of pictures, but pretty much by the time he got there they had decided to head off farther into the woods. So once my family got back to the car we headed off to our next destination, the Fishing Bridge.

I will have to leave you all hanging there. And fill you in on the rest of the exciting things we saw in a 2nd post tomorrow.

My First Race EVER!!!!

Today was the Salt Lake City Marathon. Now don't get all excited...I did not do the marathon, but I did participate in my 1st 5K...Which for me is a marathon.

Steve and I awoke at 4:30 am, dressed, grabbed our gear and headed to the Trax station. We opted to take the Trax downtown rather than drive and park. We arrive to the Gateway which is the finish line for all the races. Then we shuttled to Liberty park (3.1 miles away) It was during that drive that I got the most nervous. 3.1 miles turned out to be much further than I had been imagining all these months.

We began to congregate with other racers at the park. We stretched and awaited for 7:20 am to come. There were pace times posted beginning with "6 minutes" and ending at the back of the line with "13 minutes+ & strollers" This is where we took our place. Before I knew it they sounded the air horn and we were off. I tried to start off running, but soon realized my shins were going to burn, as usual. So I told Steve I would walk a while, but that I wanted him to go on without me. I need to "run my own race at my own pace". So he ran ahead. I cranked up the iPod and began to pick up my walking pace. I kept going...walking some and jogging some. I felt so good.

Then before I knew it I was about to finish the final leg of the run by running into the Gateway shopping center. There were people lining the sides of the road...Holding posters, ringing cowbells, yelling congratulations. Here is my moment of cornballness...I had just listened to "We Are the Champions" by Queen on my iPod, so I went back to song and played it as I came up the drive strip. I kept running.

Rather than speed walking to the finish line I wanted to run through the finish line.

I completed the race at about 45 minutes...Not "Speedy Gonzalez", but boy am I PROUD OF MYSELF. Steve finished his race at approximately 24 minutes. So he was at the finish line watching me run in and took the pictures you see.

This was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever experienced.

A Visit From Uncle Art

First let me start with:

TEACHER APPRECIATION DAYS ARE OVER!!!

It was so much fun being busy and helping coordinate all the activities, but I am so glad it is over. I for sure would not have been able to survive these last few weeks if there were not such incredible room mothers in our school. Also Wendy and Cyndi really stepped up and helped tons. I am so looking forward to working with both of them again next year. I am learning a lot from both of them.

Well, after a weekend of the stomach flu in our house we started this week off going to visit Steve's Uncle Art. He called us durign the week and said he was in the area and would like to visit. We decided to meet up at a local park. He had brought his grandson, Quincy along on the trip and thought it would be a neat opportunity for all the kids to meet. We explained to the kids that this was their "great-uncle" which means he is Grandpa Weber's brother. There were very excited to meet another cousin.
Art is quite a nice man. We sat and learned a little about him, his family and his interest and we shared with him some of our story. It was quite interesting. I think Steve was thrilled to spend some time with his uncle and hear any stories he had to share about the Weber's.

When we returned home, we ate lunch, did some yard work, BUT the best part was Steve and Zack made me a birthday cake. YEP...I am having a birthday tomorrow. I will be celebrating the 5th anniversary of my 29th birthday. I actually have not minded being in my 30's. Steve has gotten me a present and it is wrapped sitting on the china cabinet...just taunting me. I hate waiting.

Back to the cake. It was fun watching Steve and Zack working their way around the kitchen. They would read the directions and if the did not understand something they would say,

Aw...skip that part...what's next?

They still need to frost the whole thing, but what a treat to get to watch the two guys in my life working together to help make me a yummy "CHOCOLATE" cake.
I have the best family!!!
That is the best gift any girl could get from her family!!!

Busy Weekend

This past week was Teacher Appreciation at our elementary school. This has been one of my responsibilities in PTA. It all went pretty smoothly. I will have to do everything again this week for tracks A & C, hopefully it will all go off without a hitch. Friday, the PTA board for next year headed off to BYU for convention. We were there all day. I took classes on being President-Elect, which is kind of interesting. You have no specific responsibilities other than shadowing the President. I am sure Wendy will come up with plenty for me to do. I definitely got an idea of what a HUGE responsibility it is to be President. We made it home by 6:00 pm and even stopped at the Sinclair station near the freeway to get a REAL diet coke. (thanks Wendy!!) Once I got home I got Katie and Becky into their dance clothes and headed out for their final dance recital of the year. HOLY COW!!! This was a marathon of dance recitals. It began at 7:00pm. The program listed 39 routines with an award ceremony in the middle. We finally saw the girls perform their 1st dance after being there for an hour and then saw the 2nd routine an hour later. We did not stay for the end of the recital. Steve went and bought roses for both girls and presented the bouquets to the girls as we left. They were so tickled to get their first bouquets of flowers. It was so cute.

PTA Convention was suppose to continue through Saturday, but I decided Saturday morning that I would skip convention and go on the ward hike that Steve had planned. We met up with about 20 other people in the ward and hiked in Herriman. It was actually quite a good time. Steve had a list with pictures of the trees and flowers that would be on the trail and handed these out to the other hikers. Nanette, the activities chairperson, promised prizes for those people that could find all the items on the list. I did not concentrate on the treasure hunt. I put on my iPod and focused on getting up the hill. When the walk was all over it appeared most people had found all the items and had enjoyed the whole experience.


We spent the remainder of our day in the backyard. The kids swam, I laid out and Steve split his day between doing chores and playing with the kids in the pool. It was a fun day. Our neighbors called and invited to their home once it got dark to watch a movie outside on their projector. The kids were so excited. We packed up our popcorn and blankets and headed over at 8:45 pm and joined a few other families. We settled into our perspective blankets and JJ turned on the movie "Doogal". I will say that my kids LOVED this movie. The adults on the other hand were not impressed. It had an all star cast of voices, if I had seen it on the shelf in a rental store, I probably would have rented it. BUT, it was ODD!! It tried too hard to appeal to adults and still be a kids movie. But as I said before, the kids really did love it and that is what is important and the adults ALL got a good laugh. We are so grateful for this awesome neighborhood we live in. We seem to get along with our neighbors and I am really enjoying the opportunities to get together we these really cool families.

Finally our day ended and the kids went to bed. I love being busy, but it sure is nice when the end of the day comes and I can put on my jammies and snuggle into my bed with a book and the 10:00 o'clock news!!!

Mother's Day

Usually I totally enjoy my Mother's Day, but unfortunately this year I was sick. Friday I awoke with some "creeping-crud" and it stuck with me through the weekend.

Steve got up and made me breakfast in bed. My favorite omelet and a cup of hot cocoa. He brought it on a try with the Sunday paper. A little while later Steve returned with the kids in tow to deliver my Mother's Day goodies.

He had gotten together with the kids and made these cute butterflies. (A little background...Last year he made a wooden flower using the kids hands as the different petals and then his own hand as the leaves on the stem.) So this year he used the kids feet which were traced to make up the wings. Then added headshots of each child and then the cut and decorated everything. I thought they were so stinkin' cute.

The Steve brought me a new cushion for my chaise lounge outside. The dog ripped my old one. And he also got me another Michael Buble CD.

I missed church that day, but sent the kids. I spent most of the day napping and trying to get over my cold. Once Steve got home he made dinner for all of us.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a thoughtful husband that makes me feel so appreciated and loved...Not just on Mother's Day, but every day.

Scrapbook USA Expo

This weekend was Scrapbook USA Expo in Sandy. I love doing this so much. Friday was "EARLY BIRD". Dayna and I head to South Towne Center at 7:45 am and got in line with the rest of the scrapbook enthusiast. Suzanne joined us before the doors officially opened. The doors opened at 9:00 am and we found a table, parked our croppers and began seeking out the bargains. My favorite vendor was Lil' Davis. Everything in their booth was $1.00. OH MAN!!! That rocked my world. Scrapworks had some pretty cool bargains on some of their older lines. The I found the Fancy Pants store. I actually had never even heard of Fancy Pants until I signed up for classes. They have some of the coolest chipboard and their ribbons and rubons are beautiful. They did not have any HUGE bargains, but I did stock up on the chipboard. I took two classes on Friday: SEI-Album in a Box using the Twitterpated line and FANCY PANTS-Chipboard Album. Jill and Tiffany joined us. It was a fun evening. We cropped and shopped until midnight and then headed home.

Saturday morning I got up and showered and then got Steve and the kids off on their camping trip. Dayna came and picked me up at 8:15 am and we were off for round two. It was a little more mellow, but still just as fun. I took two more classes on Saturday: REFLECTIONS-Paper Bag Travel Album and SCENIC ROUTE-Card holder and 4 cards (this was my favorite class. I {heart}Scenic Route)

I did a little cropping and got to say hi to Stacy Julian. She was there teaching a Make & Take. I just totally dig her. I love her whole philosophy on scrapbooking. She is also just a totally neat lady. I have met her a handful of times, even got to share a shuttle with her to the airport last year, but she actually remembered who I was. That made me feel so good. Before long 6:00 pm had arrived I had to go home. It was nice and quiet and I spent most of the night trying to get all my goodies put away.

I highly recommend the is show to anyone that feel like coming. It is a BLAST. The next one is in September.

Pinewood Derby 2006

RACERS!!
START YOU ENGINES!!!

Tuesday night was the cub scouts Pinewood Derby. Zachary and Steve started to work on their car about a month ago. Steve went on the internet first and they spent one evening just looking at different cool designs. Steve asked Zack if he wanted a cool looking car or a fast one. Zack wanted a cool car. So, as many of you who know Zack might expect, he made a Bionicle Car. Zack was pretty proud of his creation.

The races began. The kids were pretty excited and cheered for eachother. I think the best part was watching the Dads watch as the cars came down the track. You could see the little boy in many of them coming out. Unfortunately because of Zack's car was so cool with all its parts, it had a little drag and was one of the slowest cars, but it sure did look cool coming down the track.

There was a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners and then there was a vote by the scouts for who they thought had the "coolest" car. There was a tie between two brothers. Then the rest of the boys. Zachary won "MOST FUTURISTIC " He plans on putting his car in a case on putting it on his self with last years car.


He already has plans for next year's car. Let me just say,
"F-A-S-T!!!!"

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Zack is playing baseball this year. He played two years ago, but did not seem to be very enthusiastic about playing so we took off last year. This year when we heard about the registrations we asked Zack if he was interested in playing this year. He is a little more interested in playing this year, but we are not expecting him to have the major league scouts watching him.

He had a game on Thursday. Papa and Grandma were there to watch. Steve was helping the team by keeping score. His first time up he was a little scared of the ball (he had been hitting during the practice before the game) But when he was up to bat his second time....

HE ACTUALLY HIT IT!!!

He made it to first and it was overthrown to the 1st baseman and he got to steal to 2nd. Then after the next batter hit he got to score. Not only did he score...he slid. It was too cool. The look on his face is one that I cannot even begin to describe. This was the first time I had seen absolute JOY and PRIDE in my son's face. It was one of the neatest moments that I have had as a parent.

He walked his 3rd time up and was able to score also. He was proud for scoring again, but it doesn't compare to the look he had on his face that first time he scored.

A Cowboy's Sweetheart

I was sitting outside the other day and Belle came and sat infront of me on this old rocking horse with a cowboy hat on. I got some great pictures for a layout. This is my favorite.

ENJOY!!

Belle's Baptism

Ysabelle was baptized on Saturday.

We got to the building at 12:30 pm. It was a little early, but we would have the opportunity to take pictures (I am all about the scrapbook moment). Belle was already in her jumper and Steve changed into his once we got there. My mom and dad came up for the occasion. Bro. Duve, who is on the bishopric, arrived only to find that his key could not open the doors that enclosed the baptismal font. I began to freak out, but tried to stay calm. I knew eventually he would get the correct key. People began to arrive and take their seats.

Finally Bro. Duve got the key and opened the doors only to find that the font had been drained since the baptism a few hours before our own. YIKES!!!! He came to me at 1:00 pm, the time that the programs was suppose to start and informed me of our predicament and that it would take about 25 minutes to fill the font enough for Belle to baptized in. Everyone was quite patient as we waited and listened to the water fill the font. Finally about 1:20 we began the program. Zachary read a scripture, my father presented a talk about baptism and then Zachary, Katie and Becky sang, "I Am A Child of God" to Belle. The she and Steve entered the baptismal waters. Even with only a little water in the font, it only took one dunk. She got out and I assisted her in getting into her pure white dress and helped dry out her hair. Then came back into the Relief Society Room and listened to my mom's talk on the Holy Ghost and then Steve confirmed her and said a sweet blessing.


This was such a beautiful baptism. I don't think I have ever felt the spirit as strongly at a baptism as I did at Belle's. It was quite incredible. It was kind of funny...Later in the day, when I looked at her she even looked a little different to me. More confident, mature, she was beautiful.

Belle's Ear Piercing

As I was planning for this crazy weekend last week, Belle came to me and said, "I can't wait until Saturday, I get to have my ears pierced."

HOLY HANNAH!!!!

I had forgotten I had told her when she turned 8 she could get her ears pierced. But we had planned a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt for the morning, I needed to pick up the birthday cake, go and get the pictures developed from the Primary Activity the day before, clean up my house, get the kids washed and dressed for the baptism and actually get over to the church. When was I gonna do this or even have the energy.

I told told my friend Wendy about my predicament and she reminded me that our neighbor Lindsi pierces ears and that Wendy actually had a set of studs we could borrow.

So Saturday morning I was on the phone with Lindsi and determined I had a half hour window to come over and have this done. Wendy, bless her heart, could not find the studs and remembered that she had lent them to her sister in law, who lives in the next town over. So she drove over there and met me at Lindsi's for "THE PIERCING". Belle had no idea what we were doing. We pulled up in front of Lindsi's and I said, "okay Belle...Let's get those ears pierced." She was a ball of excitement and nervousness all rolled in one. We had a good audience: Lindsi's daughter's Bailey and Emily, a neighbor Mackenzie and Wendy and her daughter Kayla.

Lindsi got the first earring in without much resistance, but Belle was a little hesitant to have it done again. Everyone in the group reassured her it would be okay and that she was being so brave. I worried about the time. We still had so much to do. Finally Lindsi said, "Do you want your mom to hold your hand?" I did and she seemed to relax a little.

She does look really pretty with the new earrings and has shown everyone that she now has pierced ears. I can't believe how mature she looks.

Madam Crane's Wax Museum

Friday Morning the D Track 4th Grade put on a Wax Museum. The kids had to read a biography, write a 1 page report, make a poster with pictures and facts, BUT the best part was that they got to dress up as the person the read about. Zachary had read a book about Abraham Lincoln. We had fun coming up with his costume. Steve went to a party store and found he top hat and then went to DI (a thrift store) and found a black bow tie. Then using a piece of felt Steve made a beard that attached to his glasses. He did not have a black suit jacket, but wore ablack one of mine that had been hanging in my closet. He looked so cute. We arrived at Mrs. Crane's room at 10:00 am to find all sorts of great characters: John Muir, a few Helen Kellers, Frida Kahlo, a couple of Tiger Woods, Babe Ruth, Mia Hamm. On the cout of 3 all the students had to hold their poses as the parents proceeded to walk through. We also visited the other 4th grade class rooms. Some of our friend's were in those classrooms and were George Washington, Venus Williams and Albert Einstein.