Sweet 16

Yup, 16 years ago my Conner decided....finally..... to be born. He's been the sweetest, most caring, kindest and cutest boy. I love when I have parents of his friends tell me what a good boy he is. I agree :) For his 16th I had a bunch of his friends come down to Lazer Assault, and we surprised him. He had a good day.

Cake!!! When we gonna eat this cake????!!!!! The bestest part, huh baby boy.

A few quilts I've done

This is the very first quilt I started. It's a block of the month, and I'm pretty darn proud of it.

My goal is to have a different quilt each month. The only problem is.... I really like fall, and Halloween. So I have 2 Halloween quilts right now, and one Fall, with fabric for several others. Hmmmmm. I also like snowmen, and snowflakes.....



I also really like to do throw size quilts. I would go nutso making big ones. Not nearly enough patience, and they are just so hard to maneuver.














I've done a bright one for Brianna, and a crazy one for Conner. I'm sure they will get more down the road. Conner uses his every night. He loves to sleep cold, then snuggle under a bunch of quilts. Brianna uses hers on her bed, but it's more decorative I think.

For the rag quilt, I embroidered the blocks, then put it all together. I'm working on another snowman one, that has a ton of embroidery. My goal is to have it done by Christmas 2011. We'll see......

The red and white star one is actually one I did at a quilt retreat. This quilt made me realize my machine is a "toy" machine, because it DID not like all the seams at these points!!

Some of these are for friends that retired, or had babies, or for a Christmas present.

Yes, another Halloween one. I told you.... I really really like Halloween! And the witches undies fabric in this is the best. Makes the whole quilt!

And this is a cute baby one. I did one in pinks and browns too, but forgot to take a pic. And maybe, just maybe, the baby this was meant for will actually get it before his 1st bday...... maybe.

Elementary Ballroom

This year Brianna participated in the Elementary Ballroom program. She was in Level 1. She and her partner Richard were the overall couple. That meant that they knew all the dances well,and would draw a dance out of a hat and perform it. Grovecrest actually won the best overall points at one comp. They were amazing!

Brianna and Kyli. Just before one of the comps. The colored flower in the hair let us know what team they are on. The boys numbers match the flower color.

Yup, Brianna got a Hi Gold ribbon. She did the chacha, foxtrot, meringues and the swing. The did soooooo good on all of them!

January

So, I really like Snowmen. All kinds. In fact, I collect them. Stop my house in January, and you can see all my lovely snowmen. And I really like them when my kids build them for me. In the snow. But they whine and complain about it, because apparently snow is cold and wet, and they get cold and wet while building the snowmen. Hmmmm. So after about a million hints that I really really wanted a snowman, and not getting any results, I whined. And Brianna marched outside and built this for me. Isn't he cute!!!!! He's about 6 inches tall, and took her about 30 minutes to make. Not cold and wet for her! I like him. I think I named him Fred. This is Conner. Yup. Really. This is the promo pic that his director used for the year in review CD. Schweeeet. Handsome little man if I do say so.....

Voodoo was invited to headline Salt Lake's Eve celebration. They were on the stage at the Gallivan center, jumbo tv's spread around. It was sooo fun! In fact, the band that played just before them was Neon Trees. Before they were really super well known. It was a fun evening. Brianna and I hung out and danced, while Brad helped backstage. Maybe they will get invited back again!

Odds and Ends

So You Think You Can Dance?

Brianna and I had a date and went to see this show. We watch it every week, and it was so cool to see our favorite dancers live. The are all amazingly talented dancers, and it's a dream of Brianna's to be on the show when she is old enough. Only 6 more years to wait.

Brianna is soooo excited for the show to start. I got major mom points for taking her!

Of course, she can't sit still for a minute. If there is any room at all, and even sometimes when there isn't room, she is dancing, and leaping, and kicking.

Girls night out! Fun times.

Waiting, waiting, waiting....

But what a great show to wait for!! Brianna really wishes it would come back, I told her season 6 winners will be here in spring time or so. She said she doesn't want to wait that long :)

This was a running joke all show. Two of the contestants on the show had to do a Russian folk dance. It was pretty interesting, and during this show, they kept sneaking on stage in costume trying to do the dance. They finally got to do it, with all the dancers. It was a lot of fun to watch.

So, this is Conner's rubix cube. He has had it for years, but I found it when I cleaned his room. (yes, I cleaned, and Brianna) he sat down and solved it. I thought, huh, so messed it up. He solved it again. He can do it in about 2 1/2 minutes now. Wow. I mean, I knew my kids were brilliant, but they just keep showing me its true!

Yup, solved it again.

Here is Brianna in her new pointe shoes. She has been working on getting her feet strong enough for about a year or so. She made it! I got a little teary, I admit it. I have told her since she was tiny that one day I wanted to see her in pointe shoes. My little ballerina is growing up, sniff sniff.

Band '09

Pleasant Grove Marching Band 2009 season. This year the band was amazing. The show they did was to music from Cirque Du Soleil. Mr. B choreographed all the movements, and the band scored higher than they have since 1993!!! Several first places, several best overall, and a superior rating. Way to go!!

One of the parades this summer. I think they did four. In the sun, marching and playing the whole way. Yipes.

A few of the amazing trophies they won this year. The big one was the best one!

The kids were so excited. They worked hard for this one, and deserved it.

Conner striking a pose. My cute little boy :)

Attention. Getting ready to play the best ever!

Drum majors salute. They led the band to some amazing performances.

Trip to Idaho

On our way to Challis Idaho for Amanda's wedding. We stopped at Craters of the Moon thingy. Very interesting. And very windy!!

Up by Challis there a ton of old mining towns. We stopped at several, because I love old buildings that are falling down. I wish I could have gotten some bricks or something, but I restrained myself.

Aren't these the most amazing old buildings? Houses, saloons, grocers, and the mills themselves.

Not sure what this one is. Conner thinks its a mine entrance. I say maybe a food cellar or something. Who knows.

This building was very cool. It was huge, and all built on a hill. Of course none of these mills are in use any more.

Ahh, my cute kids.

These are tailings piles. The dredge would dig up tons of rock, sift through some stuff, and spit all the extra out. There are actually nuggets in these piles, but to find them would be very difficult. But makes you think, hmmmm.

Yes, a double out house. You really couldn't pay me enough, but of course, it was behind a saloon, so maybe if you were drunk enough you wouldn't care. Ewwww.

Yup, this is my dream house. Check out the tub in the master bedroom. Actually it was the bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room and bathroom all in one. Who needs more space?

This is the gold dredge up by Challis. It's basically a big boat that they would move up and down the river, digging up river bed rocks and extracting gold dust. Anything big it would spit out, hence the possible nuggets in the tailings piles.

And that was part of our fun runaway. It really is pretty country up in the middle of nowhere Idaho. If you like ghost towns and such. :)