Student Of The Month

Anne was chosen as student of the month for the 2nd grade.  At Butterfield they choose themes for the month to choose the student by.  This month was honesty.  This is what her teacher wrote: "Anne is such a wonderful girl to have in class!  We appreciate her willingness to admit her mistakes.  If she doesn't do a math problem correctly, she has the motivation to fix it herself.  We also appreciate her honesty when taking timed test.  The second our timer goes off, her pencil is up in the air, even if she didn't finish the test.  She such a hard worker, and we love having her in class!"

Nice work Anne!  I can't think of a better quality to have than honesty.  Anne loves school and does an amazing job being a student.

The Circus

 The other day Mike was talking to one of his customers.  He had mentioned that he had taken his family to the circus the other night.  He was telling Mike all about it and sold Mike on taking the kids to it.  It was a traveling circus so, the last show that was somewhat by us was up in Heber.  Our kids are always asking us to check them out of school so, we thought this would be perfect opportunity to surprise them with a check out and head up to Heber.

We got to circus about an hour before it started and they let the kids ride on the circus animals.  The kids and Mike wanted to ride the elephant.  We had to pay a little bit more money but, felt like it was a once in a life time chance to ride on an elephant!

 These pictures are the view from Mike up on the elephant.

 They also wanted to ride a camel so, they did that too!

 Lucy was happy to just ride the pony.

 The circus was really entertaining and we had fun watching people almost kill themselves or really hurt themselves.  I have never understood walking on a tight rope with no netting below and doing things like jump roping and doing flips on a tiny rope.  These people are crazy!  The animal tricks were fun and our favorite was the dog show and Lucy LOVED the elephant show.  She was clapping and waving at the elephants.

While at the circus, I was watching the pony ride area when I noticed a ladies phone had dropped out of her pocket.  I then saw the guy right behind her pick up the phone, look around, and then put the phone in his pocket.  I ran up to the lady and said are you missing your phone?  I believe that guy took it.  He was making his way back up to his seat.  She ran up to him and I started running up to him in case he lied and said he didn't have her phone.  Luckily, he said he had it and she got her phone back.  I just couldn't believe that someone would just steal something in public like that and not even blink an eye.  I was glad I was aware of my surrounding and could help someone out!

We then went out to eat at a dine-in Pizza Hut.  We filled our tummies and made the drive home.  I love  to do spontaneous activities and mess up the the usual groove.  I think it's good for your soul!

We have a Bear!

 Jason got his Bear this month.  He had such a fun year in scouts and we are proud of his accomplishments in getting his Bear.  I feel bad I didn't get a picture with Mike and I at the church.  So, the picture the next day will have to do!

Dancing Princesses

I love having these two girls home all day.  Eliza and Lucy have become great friends and I loved watching their relationship grow.  Lucy is really into dressing up and playing princess.  Eliza couldn't be more happy because she likes to dress up too.  At least once a day they dress up and dance.

 Twirling

 Dancing

 Cartwheeling

Spinning

Church Time

 What do you do with a 2 year old that won't sit through sacrament meeting?  Take her out in the foyer and let her take pictures of herself!  Lucy is getting better at sitting through church but, she still has her moments.  She does however love nursery which we are so thankful for.  Our other kids did not like it as much but, Lucy looks forward to nursery all week!

10 Years of Jason!

 I can not believe that Jason is 10!  I feel like he is still my little boy but, he is growing up and turning into such a wonderful young boy.  I told him this was his last year holding up his hands and showing the camera how old he is.

Jason was born on a pretty mild January day.  He was born on a Saturday and I remember so clear the feeling of being a new mom.  I was so nervous and worried about feeding him enough, did he burp okay, was he having enough wet diapers, and on and on.  The first week I had him home he wasn't sleeping well, I was having a hard time learning to nurse, and trying to figure out how to get anything done with a baby.  I remember calling Mom and asking her why she had 5 kids!  I just couldn't imagine it getting easier and how could anyone handle more than one?  Jason was a huge blessing to Mike and I and he was suppose to come to earth at a certain time.  Mike and I had not been married very long before I became pregnant with Jason.  He had been waiting for Mike and I to meet so he could make his way to earth!

When Jason was a baby he was always trying to pull ahead physically.  It was like he was this huge spirit in this body that drove him nuts.  He rolled over, sat, ate solids very early as a baby.  At nine months he was full on walking.  I remember him walking at church once and someone commenting that it just didn't look right to see a baby that small walking around.  His spirit hated being a baby.  He was much happier being able to move around on his own.

As a young child Jason loved Elmo, Bob the Builder, Thomas, and any type of toy truck or car.  He always has loved being outside and as a baby he loved being in a swing.  I would have to swing him for hours it seemed.  He got into the super heroes and he loved running around with his superman cape on.  When he was 4 years old he broke his foot.  We still do not know exactly how he broke his foot but, we didn't believe him for about a day.  He said his foot hurt and we told him to go to bed that it would be better in the morning.  He crawled to bed and we thought he was being dramatic.  The next morning he was still crawling around so, I took him to the Dr. to find that he had broken his foot.  Worst Parents Ever!!!  We felt so bad!  He ended up getting a cast and he learned how to walk, run and do whatever he wanted in that thing.

Jason has loved being in school for the past 5 years.  He has learned so much and made some good friends through school.  He was bullied in 1st grade but, he was brave and went to talk to the principle about it.  He stood up to the bully and now he is really aware and sensitive to others that are bullied.

When he turned 8 he made the decision to be baptized and we were so proud of him.  He has been blessed in his life through that decision.  He has started scouting also and has had so much fun going to scout camps and learning fun things.  Jason loves golf, and basketball.  He has really gotten good this year in basketball.

Jason is a wonderful son with a strong testimony.  He is always willing to share his testimony or teach our family lessons for family night.  We love this kid so much and are so excited to see his next 10 years.  Happy Birthday Jason!!

 On the morning of his birthday he got a new wii game and remote.

 He got his own iPod.  He wanted something to listen to his music on!

 He also got this clock radio to play his iPod music on.

 I made this poster of Jason over the past 10 years.  I think this was more for me but, it was fun to see how much he has changed over the years.

 That evening he chose to go to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday dinner.  We had Alex, Andrew, and Grandma Schwitzer join us.  We then headed back to the house so the boys could have a late night.

 Jason wanted brownies for his birthday dessert this year.  So brownies he got!

He had a fun night with Andrew and Alex.  We had a fun day celebrating Jason!

It's a Girl!

We had a fun afternoon celebrating our new niece to be.  Joe and Jessica are expecting a little baby girl.  We decided to celebrate with all the girls.  We went to afternoon tea at the Grand America and had a little shower for Jessica.  It is called tea but, we all had amazing hot chocolate with yummy finger foods and dessert.  It was fun to be just with the girls and Jessica got some cute things to welcome this little girl into the world.  I can't wait to see her little face!

Cousin Time

 My girls have been begging to have a late night with their cousins for months.  It seemed there was never a good weekend to do it.  We finally found one and I had to get some pictures of these cute girls.  We made homemade pizza and each girl got to make their own personal pizza with the topping they like best.  They then got in their pajamas and played and played.  I turned on a movie but, they just wanted to play together.  The younger girls started a  hair train.  They would take turns brushing each others hair.  The older girls had some game going on in our unfinished basement.  I starting to question to even finish the basement because the kids have so much fun riding cars, and scooters around the basement.

We are so thankful to have our cousins close.  It has been a huge blessing for us to be closer to family!

Goodbye Mazda!

So, I am really weird but I attach to things because I think of memories.  For example, I sometimes have a hard time giving clothes to the D.I because there will be a memory with that piece of clothing.  So, when Mike said it's time to sell the Mazda I started getting a little sad.

We got the Mazda back in 2003 when Jason was 6 months old.  We were living in Indiana and we needed another car for Mike to work in.  We wheeled and dealed with the car salesman  and used every discount we could think of to get this car in our price range.  This was the car I drove my 1st baby around in and all the fun I had learning about being a Mom.  We lived right by the Mall and sometimes I would take Jason and just walk the Mall.  There were some days I was lonely.  Mike was trying to get this company going and selling wheelchairs.  I loved being with Jason but, sometimes I look back on that time and remember it being hard.  We met some amazing friends out there though.
We will never forget the Soelbergs!  They lived by us and worked for the same company.  We both had small babies and I instantly loved them.  Sara taught me how to sew and she spent hours with me teaching me about the art of sewing.  We would laugh and laugh about Kaylin (sp) and Rusty.  I loved Sara because she knew exactly what we were  going through.
We loved the Robinson family and I remember meeting Heidi for the first time and felt like I knew her.  It ended up that we were both Youngs!  I still do not know if we are related but, I feel like we are!  They let me stay with them for a week with Jason before moving back to Utah.  Mike was driving back all our stuff and I stayed to close on our home.  I will never forget their kindness to me at that time.
We loved the Partridge family also.  I would watch their little Anna some days and it was good for Jason to have a friend.  We then became friends and Lori was so fun to talk to.
 We were not in Indiana for very long but, I feel like I met some kindred spirits ( in the words of Anne of Green Gables)  I am so grateful for the time we had there.   It has been a wonderful car for 10 years.  This has been Mike's car and he uses it for work.  It had almost 200,000 miles on it from driving from Indiana to Utah and then driving all over the state of Utah with Mike.  It was a wonderful car but, it was going through gas like crazy.  I need Mike in a safe car with all the driving he does.  So, we sold it and Mike got a new car that gets great gas mileage and other features that will make driving all day a lot nicer.

I had to get a picture and then I waved goodbye to it and a little tear was shed.  I am so weird but,  it was like saying goodbye to the last 10 years.  I really am happy to have the new car and feel so much happier knowing Mike is safe and that we are saving money on gas!

I Had a Birthday....#35

 I had a wonderful birthday this year thanks to wonderful Mike and my sweet kids.  I woke up to a birthday breakfast and lots of hugs and homemade birthday cards...my favorite.  Mike came home from working all day with these beautiful birthday flowers.  I love getting flowers and these were amazing.  Grandma and Grandpa Young watched the kids while Mike took me out to dinner to the Cheesecake Factory.  Mike gave some new very fancy birthday earrings...I love them!

We ended my birthday by bringing home lots of cheesecake to share.  I made a birthday wish and will start my 35th year.  I am getting old!!  I am loving this time of my life.  I love the ages of my kids and I am trying to enjoy every second I have before they move on and I become really old!  I have had a wonderful 35 years!

Jazz Game

 Mike and Jason got to go to a Jazz game thanks to Jason's hard work playing Jr. Jazz!  They had a great time sitting way up on the top.  Dad always makes an outing fun......huge ice-cream and going down closer to the court.  They had a good Dad/ Son date!