Funny Girl

Tess Keeps Us Laughing

She likes to sit up at the school table with the big kids. She gets her paper and a writing utensil and begins "her school". She thinks she is big stuff.

Watching the big girls play Hi Ho Cherry



Vroom! Vroom!



Finding Easter eggs



Putting them in her basket



Ooops! What is this in the egg? Mmmm, Candy!!!



She quit looking for eggs and sat by her basket to eat the rest of the yummies in the eggs.

Jazz it up!

Some More Hoops...

Brian and I were the lucky recipients of Dad's 5th row (and dinner in the VIP room) Jazz game tickets. He and Mom are enjoying the warm sun in Palm Springs, CA. (poor things) Well, we bought upper bowl tickets for Caleb and Hudson so they could go also. Brian and I ate in the VIP room and they had a "boys meal" (of hot dogs and chips) in their seats while watching all the pre-game activity.

Hudson and Caleb in front of Andrei Kirlenko's banner at the arena

Hudson and Caleb in front of the Malone & Stockton statues.

Caleb and Hudson inside the arena

Boozer making a shot

After half time the couple behind us tapped me on the shoulder and asked if we wanted to bring our boys down to sit in their seats because they were leaving. She handed me their tickets and the boys got 6th row seats for the rest of the game. They were in awe of the closeness - compared to their binocular viewing seats up above. We had a great evening once again watching the Jazz (and winning) and being with our boys.

He is Risen!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. The found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, the did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. v5 The men said to the women, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" Luke 24:1-3, 5

Hallejuah! Our saviour is risen. He conquered death. What a great thing to celebrate.

Our traditions for Easter are more focused on the great victory of Jesus. No bunny around here. We decorate eggs on Good Friday. Each child gets a new book. I wrap it and put it on their breakfast plate. (This year we had a small fire of wrapping paper burning on the table. That made things exciting. We had a candle lit and some of the tissue took right to that flame. No damage done.) We (with Caleb's help) hid plastic eggs in the play room for the children to find. Tess was a quick learner. Finding the eggs and putting them in the basket was great fun until one of them opened up and 2 jelly beans fell out. She of course ate them and realized there were greater things to do than find eggs. She planted herself in front of her basket and started opening all of her eggs. Score!!!

We usually get together with family for dinner but this year we had friends (the Myers family) over for a turkey dinner and all the trimmings. Yum! Yum!

Friends ~ Food ~ Fellowship ~ ~ FUN!!!

I AM BACK!!

I had technical difficulties and could not get logged in to our blog.
I am back in working order and will try to get you all updated again.

Awana Pinewood Derby -by Hudson

A Post by Hudson

The Awana Grand Prix

Weston and I bought cars for the Grand Prix this year. It was fun building them with dad.

designing the car

cutting the design,

Weston sanding his car.

My Car.

(blue one in the middle)

Weston's Car.

(the red one)

The Race Track.

Hanging out!

Dad was the announcer that night.

We all had a great time!!

post by Hudson

Happy Hens!

Happy Hens = Lots of eggs!!

Aren't they beautiful!?

It has been a long hard winter and the hens are happy to be free ranging and soaking in the sun. Therefore their egg production is in full swing!! We are loving the fresh eggs. During the winter months when the days are shorter, they do not lay eggs. As the days get longer they should each lay an egg a day. Of our 11 hens we have 9 laying. 2 have not yet.

Good Friday!

Good Friday!
We had "Special Time" ~ our time together before school where we do devotions, sing, pray, talk about the activities for the day, announcements etc. I had the children do math and then it was time to decorate the eggs. Oh, we had fun!
Funny Sidestory: Abbi asked if she could prep the colors of dye. I came in and smelled a very strong smell of my Kirkland Basalmic Vinegar. She never knew there was any other kind of vinegar except for the kind we dip our bread in. So, she put 3 tsp of basalmic instead of plain. Well, needless to say, the yellow dye was now brown. Ooops! We had a good laugh and we still had four other colors. She learned something new today!

"Little" Help

Like Little Sister... Like Big Sister

Tess is following the footsteps of her older sisters. While Maggie was loading the dishwasher she pushed the broom around the kitchen thinking she was pretty "big stuff".

Sweep. Sweep.

Look Mom! How am I doing?

Whew! That is hard work. Here Abbi, your turn.

Hoop it Up!

HOOPS!

The boys have been enjoying the warmer weather. When school is done they head out for a game of basketball.

Great exercise!

Baseball Anyone?

Spring is in the Air

Spring Training has Begun!

We are excited to have the starting Great Eight "Z" players return for the season of 2008. We are especially excited to announce our new recruit. Baby Z will be joining the team in October ~ just in time for the World Series. There is great excitement around here and look forward to our new arrival to join us.

In other words - - I am pregnant and due at the end of October!

Pretzel Guy

The Process

Hudson stumbled across a pretzel recipe. He asked if he could try to make them. Sounding good to me, I of course said, "Sure!". I helped him with the activating of the yeast and he did the rest on his own.

Kneading the dough.

Spreading the egg white glaze on each pretzel.

Abbi helping with the toppings. Garlic salt, Parmesan, Poppy Seeds, Sesame Seeds and salt.

The Best Part of the whole process -

Eating Them!!!

Moose - post by Caleb

Adrenaline Rush

written by Caleb (14 yrs old)

I had been sick most of the week and I was ready to get out of the house.

So, Bandit, Oakley and I headed up the Cottonwood Canyon on our property. We saw five porcupines. One of them was so big I thought it was a black bear. I didn't know whether to run or get a closer look. I went closer and it ended up being a grand-daddy of a porcupine!! We also saw a lot of coyote, rabbit, deer and moose tracks. It was obvious a moose inhabited this canyon. There was lots of scat and tracks and she was also shedding lots of hair in the trees and all the other places she had been. Me and the dogs fought our way through a brushy part of the canyon. I was thankful when we finally got in the open. We were rounding this corner when... 50 yd ahead of us was a cow (female) moose . I told the dogs to sit. We watched her for awhile. She watched us. Then she suddenly started slowly walking straight at us. I slowly started backing up. Then .... she put her ears and her head down and rushed at me. It all happened very fast. The next thing i knew I was running at top speeds with the dogs by my side. It felt as if she was breathing down my neck. The shaking of the earth caused by this massive (at least 500 lb) moose got my adrenaline pumping !! I looked over my shoulder and the picture (from Google images) at the top of the page is pretty much what I saw!! I ran across a creek and jumped into a bush. I peeked out of the bush and saw that she had stopped on the opposite side of the creek. It looked as though she was trying to decide whether to cross the steep creek bank on the other side. I was sitting in that bush hoping and praying that she would turn around. But nope. She put her ears and head down again and headed at me one more time. I had no running left in me. There was no way I could stay ahead of that long legged moose for very long. I thought for sure this was the end of the road for me and that my work on earth was done. I was about to pray my last prayer when I had an idea. I said to Bandit, "Go get 'em boy!" . He, with Oakley at his heels went straight at the moose. The moose stopped in her tracks and shook her head and hooves at the dogs. While they were distracting her, I gathered up the energy I had remaining and ran. Ran for my life! The dogs caught up with me later with their tongues hanging out. I looked around and was grateful to be alive!!

I have learned to always bring my dogs when I go up into the mountains. They, especially Bandit, have saved me numerous times from harms gate. This was not the first time I have been charged by a moose . But, it is the closest I have been to my grave.

I just hope I won't have to experience too many more of these kind of encounters.

by Caleb

FYI - This is a true story written by Caleb. The picture, however, is something he found on Google images. I proofed his work but only the grammar part - periods, capitals etc. I did suggest he change one sentence and he did. But other than that, the credit for this writing goes to him.

Dewey Decimal?

Park City Homeschool Library Tour

We had a great afternoon of learning things about books and the library. Miss Heather read a couple of cute books about the library and gave the children a quick overview of how books are put on the shelf. She gave us a tour and then each child was given a piece of paper with items to find in the library. A scavenger hunt! Fun!!!

Miss Heather (Librarian) and the Homeschooler Crew

The children designed their own book cover.

(Hudson on the right)

Abbi and Dani Rae

(Papa~ take note of which hand Dani is using)

1/2 of Weston, Maggie and Elizabeth

And of course, Tess. She stayed busy gathering and dragging coats.

Fun afternoon at the Library!

(Caleb was at State Swim Meet so he was not here with us)

Missing...

Caleb was reading a book to Tess in the family room. Much time had passed and I hadn't seen them for awhile. So I started asking the children if they had seen Caleb and/or Tess. No one had. We all split up looking for them. He likes to take her outside so a few of them ran outside to look out there - nope! The rest of us split up in the house. Maggie came running up the stairs. "Mom! Mom! I found them and you will want to bring your camera. It is soooo cute!!!" So... I grabbed my camera and we all followed Maggie downstairs. There they were - sound asleep in Calebs bed. (Tess with her thumb.) My oldest and youngest taking a little nap together.
Awww, I love it!!

Ski Day

SWEET FRIEND - offered me a ski pass at Deer Valley

SWEET HUSBAND - stayed home with the children

SWEET SKIING!

March 11, 2008
It was a perfect spring day of skiing. Temp was 48 degrees. A little overcast with some sunshine sprinkled in. Great snow and lots of it. A fun day just being with my friend, Erin and "tearing" up the mountain. One day a year of perfect skiing - I am set!! That's all I need.

This is the view from the top.

To me, Deer Valley is the perfect ski resort. Here is why:

the staff carry your skis to and from your car, lotion in the bathrooms (very important), friendly staff, and NO snowboarders - just skiiers. Nothing against you snowboarders but it is nice to not have the worries of the boarders zipping around.

Don't Do It, Erin! Here she is right before heading down the Black Diamond run.

Well, not really. We stuck to the Blues and enjoyed every one of them.

The Duo.

Fabulous Day - Thank you Erin!

(and hubby)

Sushi

We all love Sushi Night!!

A favorite tradition for our family is sushi night with friends. Every one takes part. The children place their favorite orders at the "rolling bar".

Brian and Christa taking orders for the sushi rolls.

Ingredients include: Dried seaweed sheets, sushi rice, zucchini, red pepper, mango, cilantro, avocado, cream cheese, cucumber, sesame seeds, ginger root, green onion, and green pepper. And of course, the sushi (raw) fish - tuna and salmon. We also use imitation crab meat.

Even Tess loves sushi.



The diligent worker. Mr A. slicing the rolls and decorating the platters. A very fine job he does.



Caleb helping out with the rolling.



Weston showing Mr A. a card trick and Sawyer playing the drums with the chopsticks.



Perfect table



Lots of sushi!

And affordable and fun!!!

Oh, how we were full and very satisfied!