Behind Again

I tried to be so good and post in my blog at least once a month but I am behind again. Halloween has come and gone, Football is over, baseball is over and the boys have just started Jr. Jazz basketball. We made it through one quarter of school and the kids all did really well and I am a proud mom. Harlee is learning to read and it has opened up a whole new world for her. Brett and I celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary and our oldest child turned 14-WOW! Life has been such a whirlwind but I wouldn't change a single thing. As Christmas is creeping up on us I find myself wishing we had more. I wish I could give my kids every single thing they have asked for and them some but it is just not possible. I have to sit back and remember that we are truely blessed. We have a roof over our heads, food on the table and warm clothes on our back. We have tried to focus more on making memories rather then spending money on toys that get thrown into the toy box the day after Christmas. We started a new tradition on Thanksgiving with just the six of us. We went to see a movie. "Rise of the Guardians" was a perfect way to kick off the holiday season and the kids really enjoyed it. We came home after and the kids got to decorate their tree that is downstairs. The next day was filled with more decorating and then we took the kids down to the Gateway for a little shopping, dinner and fun. We have spent time with our new friends, The Terry's and have more plans with our new friends for some other Christmas activities. Merry Christmas!

Random Happenings

We have so much going on and I don't want to miss anything. I had a chance to take Brynlee to Thriller again this year. We made it a girls day and invited her friend Megan from dance and her mom. It was fun to spend the day laughing and giggling with the girls. This week the kids were off for UEA. We went to the Pumpkin Patch, Gardner Village and topped it off with a cute Halloween movie. We saw "Hotel Transylvania". The weather has been really nice for this time of year and we are taking full advantage of it.

Epic

A couple of weeks ago both girls had a chance to attend a dance convention in Provo called Epic. They bring in choreographers from out of state to teach workshops to the girls. This was a huge opportunity to learn from some of the best. Harlee's only last 4 hours one night and Brynlee's was 5 hours on Friday night and 7 hours on Saturday. She had a chance to take a class from Liz Imperio who has choreographed concert tours for Jennifer Lopez. She was amazing with the girls and I was very impressed with her. Apparently I didn't take any picture of Harlee dancing but I did snap a few of Brynlee.

October Happenings

Since I am really bad at updated my blog all the time I will try for a monthly update. October has been another busy month. Trevin is knee deep in football and loving it. Right now they are 4-3 and if they win one of their next two games they are headed to the playoffs. McKade just finished up fall baseball. He kind of stalled out at the plate but finally got a chance to pitch in a couple of games and did a great job. I have already told him he has to give football another chance next year. The girls are busy at dance working on competition routines and solos and trios. Brett and I are just busy getting them to where they need to be.

Parent Teacher Conference

We are back into the swing of things at school and it's time for Parent Teacher Conferences already. I am so proud of all four of my kiddos. Harlee is keeping up with her classmates and actually has two girls in her class that she is trying to be just as good as. Competition is a great motivator for her. Brynlee is reading on a high 4th grade level and completing math that is the end of a 3rd grade level. She is a very good student and a good friend. McKade has 4 different teachers this year. He is really quiet but is doing very well. Trevin is in 8th grade and has 8 different classes. By looking at his grades one might think he is struggling but all of his teachers say that he is a really good student. He is focused in class and they are not worried about him at all. I love gettting good reports like this.

Brynlee's Baptism

Brynlee turned 8 this past July and made the choice to be baptized. Because of a family reunion in August we had to postpone it until the beginning of September. She was so happy and we are so grateful for all of those who came to help us celebrate this special day for her.

Summer Catch Up

We had a busy summer full of swimming, baseball, dance and various other activities. Back in July the girls had dance tryouts and Harlee was finally old enough to try out for a team. She made team Platinum a average age 6.5 team and Brynlee made team Jasper and average age 9 Advanced team. Brynlee is doing a Lyrical solo this year and Harlee is doing a trio with 2 of her good friends. It's going to be a good year.

McKade had a full summer of baseball. He played on the All Star team again and they did pretty well. They placed 2nd in the All Star Pre-Tournament that was hosted out at our field. They didn't fare as well in the actual tournament but it was a lot of fun.

Trevin spent his summer at a few football camps getting ready to play football again this year. He went to one camp hosted by Paul Krueger and received an award signed by him.

I took the girls to see Big Time Rush at Usana. It was their first concert and alot of fun for me too.

That's kind of our summer in a nutshell. We were crazy busy but it flew by!