Great Scotts!

random

2012-01-22T23:27:00.003-07:00

While I am trying to figure out the password to Justin's laptop so I can load pictures, I wanted to remember some funny things the boys have said lately.

We will start with one from Liam.

We were playing "pass" with his stuffed angry bird and after a couple throws he decided that the areas in front of the couch were acid. He jumped onto the couch and proceeded to tell me that the areas on the side and in back of the couch were safe. I asked him how we were going to be able to get anywhere since we are not allowed to go over the back of the couch. His little body manuvered over to the side of the couch to get off and as he was hopping back on, one of his feet touched the acid.

I asked him if his foot hurt since it was probably burning off because of the acid and he looked at me and said: "I'm okay, I am wearing special shoes."

One from Luke.

Our cable is out due to all the snow that has been falling up at my in laws. The boys get a little restless and Luke was getting a little bored. I was at work and Justin texted me a conversation he had with Luke.

Justin: "Why don't you choose a board game?"
Luke: "No way. Grandma and grandpa only have old games like the pioneers had when they walked and walked."

Oh boy.

Lastly, another one involving Liam and I couldn't have a post about funny things my boys say without including a bodily function.

There is quite a bit of roadwork being done on the way to the boys' school. Liam and I were on our way to pick up the brothers and as I was turning onto the road I smelled something foul.

"Liam, was that you? Did you toot?"
"No mom! It was you."
"Um, I know it was not me."

The smell dissipated somewhat but then a couple seconds later it was pretty bad again.

"Seriously Liam. Quit farting!"
"Mom! It wasn't me! I didn't feel a burst from my bottom!"

Turns out they are working on the sewer line.

light

2012-01-16T21:06:00.013-07:00

One of my most favorite things about Christmas is all the lights.

We love to go see the Temple Square lights early in the season on a random weeknight--absolutely NOT on a Monday--so it is not super crowded. This makes walking down lover's lane more romantic, taking pictures easier, watching the nativity more meaningful, being able to spend a moment with the Christus and reflect on the true light of the season.

It was so bitter cold but the boys kept warm running everywhere looking at all the different nativities and I didn't have to worry because again, there was hardly anyone there.

One million lights greeted us at the zoo about a week later. It was absolutely stunning.

And the fact that we got in for super cheap thanks to Groupon it made the night even more enjoyable.

Light makes everything lovely.

2012

2012-01-06T05:21:00.007-07:00

Hello New Year.

There have been many things that have been on my mind lately and I realize I still have much of the Christmas holiday to post but with our computer temporarily out of commission I feel this is a perfect time to take a breath and reflect on our life over the past year or so.

It has been a crazy ride the past couple years. Well, the last few years actually. One that involved tears, patience, swallowing pride, and a huge amount of self realization. It was actually very productive and created a strange but lovely garden of stress and harmony and self confidence and frustration and a most bountiful harvest of hope.

Part of me wants to push rewind and revisit choices that were made. Actions that were taken. Consequences that were felt. But then my practical side realizes that this never can be done and we look at the damage. A few bruises here. A bump there. Overall, we have come through relatively unscathed.

I am not quite sure what I am supposed to learn from all of this however. I am obviously not catching the hint because I feel that we have had the same trials over and over but hopefully I become more polished as I tumble through. I feel like it is slowly coming to an end but don't want to become too sure of the prospect of our own house again yet since everything is in God's timing but I am hopeful that what we have been working so hard for will finally come to fruition.

Justin and I are better communicators. Better friends. More thoughtful and kind to one another. No, it is not all roses and butterflies around our home but we are definitely in a good place. A happy place.

My kids are amazing people. I am so proud to be their mom. Honestly, I love being a mom more than anything in the world. I cannot imagine my life without them. Sometimes I feel like I am uninteresting because my life revolves around my kids and they are all I ever really talk about. But then I don't care because they are my life.

Nick is wonderful. He has such a good head on his shoulders and plans to do good things with his life. He is polite and helps and uses his manners. He also uses his big brotherliness to bother the daylights out of his siblings but if that is the worst he does, I can live with it. He will get what is coming to him in a couple years when those little brothers become taller and stronger than he is.

Andrew is fabulous. He is scatterbrained but makes up for it with his sincere love for everyone. He is so loving and kind and sensitive that it makes my heart melt. He is such a delight to have in our family.

Luke is as stubborn as the day is long but he makes me smile. My favorite thing lately is to watch him play the cello with his tongue sticking out. His smiles melt my heart and I love that he signs "I love you" as he walks into school and makes sure that I am watching.

Liam is my little buddy. We do everything together. He is worried that I will die before him and it is a source of anxiety for him. I assure him that it will be a long time before this happens. He asked my dad the other day if he would be his friend because Grandma Scott said he could have one friend come up and play with him at their house. I thought it was the cutest thing ever. I am so happy that he is our baby.

I don't want to focus on New Year's resolutions because there are so many things that I would like to accomplish. There is one goal, however, that I realize I must focus on. My relationship with my Savior.

I have not been doing the little things that I should be and want to be doing but time slips away and another day goes by without saying my prayers. Or reading my scriptures. You get the idea. So no more excuses. I will be better.

One of my favorite people ever passed away just before Thanksgiving. An incredible woman who bravely fought breast cancer with grace and with an insane amount of courage. She is wonder woman and happens to be the mother of my dear brother in law.

At her funeral service, I learned that one thing she was adamant about was everyone being together in the celestial kingdom. "No empty chairs." I love love love that and I hope it is okay with her family but I would like to also use it for my family. "No empty chairs" means there will be family home evening. There will be good choices. There will be no excuses to do the little things that keep our family strong. This is why I got married in the temple--to have an eternal family.

I also want to post inspiration that I have read or heard to help me stay on track with my goal. I will start with a talk from the October General Conference.

Read it here.

2012 is going to be a good year.

I love it already.

festivities

2011-12-26T15:00:00.010-07:00

I absolutely love the holiday season. It is magical and beautiful and amid the stress and craziness it brings promises of happiness and love and family.

Thanksgiving was spent at my parents home and we stuffed ourselves with a delicious meal surrounded by family and old friends.

As we compared our food babies, we began our rousing annual bingo competition.

Pretty soon the little ones dropped out one by one and were drawn in by my wonderful cousin Brian. It was so adorable hearing their little voices calling out the numbers.

We hit the Festival of Trees. Twice. In shifts.

Both times were super fun.

The first time Luke, Liam, and I along with my sister and her girls and my sister in law went Thursday morning and there was hardly anyone there. We decided to try the Kids Corner for the first time ever since it was virtually empty.

They went fishing, got candy, made some crafts, and Liam was eaten by a huge bubble.

Then we perused the gingerbread masterpieces and the fun trees. I made a mistake of reading some of stories associated with the trees and choked back tears numerous times. I feel so lucky right now that my entire family is happy and healthy.

The second time Nick and Justin joined us and next year Nick wants us to decorate a gingerbread house and donate it to the cause. It may be sorry looking but we will give it a try.

We also decorated our tree...

...made North Pole cupcakes...

...Liam had his Christmas program and showed off his dance moves...

...we "elfed" a couple families in our neighborhood...

...and made some reindeer cupcakes.

It has been a wonderful start to this most wonderful of seasons.

goings on

2011-12-20T07:48:00.009-07:00

Things have been hopping lately. What with Christmas quickly approaching it is easy to let the little moments slip by without so much as a glance.

Andrew finished phase 1 of his orthodontic treatment and got his braces off! This is code for "I will be paying for the orthodontist's trip to Barbados this summer when phase 2 rolls around" but it truly is worth it seeing his smile transform.

My darling niece just turned two. Read about her party here. My sister is pretty. darn. creative.

Nick was sporting a nasty stache so one morning before church Justin helped him shave it off.

Liam had a super cute Thanksgiving feast with his class. They each brought a food that they would like to share and he chose mac and cheese. The parent volunteers would go around the table and ask if they would like the different foods and they would need to use their manners replying with "Yes, please" or "No, thank you." It was absolutely adorable.

Luke started basketball. His team is terrible and it is quite painful to go watch his games but he loves it. The last game they had they started getting the hang of it so maybe there is hope we will maybe win one game this season. Or just not be behind by double digits.

We had two football banquets.

And Liam finally lost that pesky wiggly tooth that had been plaguing him for weeks. He got a whole dollar from the tooth fairy. Lucky fellow, I remember getting the going rate of a quarter when I was his age.

birthday dinner

2011-12-14T12:33:00.005-07:00

At 13 I think that friend birthday parties should be put on hold. Not indefinately, but maybe until the big 1-6 rolls around.

So we opted to invite the grandparents to go to dinner. I think Nick was more excited about that than if I had planned for his friends to come along.

We went to Pat's barbeque. We had to plan the night way in advance due to the schedule that football carved out for us this fall so Nick chose the venue weeks before and couldn't wait until the day to come. The time seemed to take forever because the thought of their delicious grub tantalized my taste buds and made me salivate. A lot.

I had never been when they have had live music playing. It was super cute because the boys would move to the music as they were eating. There was not a whole lot of conversation around the table because the music was so loud but there was visiting in little groups throughout the evening and it was quite delightful.

My boys are lucky to have two sets of fabulous grandparents. Grandparents that are supportive and loving and help Justin and I raise our brood. They exercise just enough extra parenting to help guide them (and us) through tough spots. And the coolest thing about their parenting is that my boys don't even know what hit them because it was done on the sly. By someone other than their parents. It is great to have that secret backup ammunition.

We love you Nick. I am proud for the choices you are making in your life and hope that you continue on the path that you are on. You have good friends and have a mature head on your shoulders that has helped you see a bit into the future to help you make good decisions now. You want to go to college so you want (and are getting) straight A's. You want to go on a mission so you go to church and sometimes read your scriptures. I wish that you could see that your brothers are most likely going to be bigger than you one day so you would stop picking on them. I guess you will learn that one the hard way.

Happy, happy birthday love.

until next year

2011-12-05T09:35:00.011-07:00

Championship games baby.

It was frigid cold. The uncomfortable cold that bites and goes all the way through the body and rattles your bones. I am so happy that I decided to bring a million blankets.

Yes, Liam is in this pile somewhere. Everyone kept asking where he was and couldn't believe that he was holed up in his little cave. He totally fell asleep. It was awesome.

And the game was SO worth the agony of exposing ourselves to the bitter elements. Just to recap, we played against Stansbury. During the regular season we had tie game of 0-0 for the entire time of regulation and then we scored during overtime and held them for the win.

This game was intense. I was so worried that it was going to come down to a second overtime duel between the two teams. To be honest, I don't think my heart could have handled it.

Herriman scored first and played an incredible game of defense. Nick had a very good game including catching 4 passes. One of Nick's friends, also named Nick, deflected two passes forcing Stansbury to their fourth down and giving us the ball with under two minutes to go in the game. But on the punt, it hit one of our players which awarded Grantsville the automatic first down at their own 5 yard line.

I felt sick. I wanted the boys to win so bad and I felt all hope was lost to get out of this game without going into overtime. And who knows what can happen then.

But you know what? Our defense held them inside the 5 yard line with less than a minute left for four downs. They really didn't even come close.

I am totally lying because I really bit all my nails off and almost peed my pants but it was so amazing to watch our guys hold their ground and come away champions.

Yes, champions. They earned the right to wave their one pointer finger in the air and
jump up and down and hug and yell their little hearts out.

Herriman 6. Stansbury 0. What else is amazing is that for the entire season, Herriman's defense only allowed 49 points to be scored and the offense scored 217 points. Pretty. freaking. awesome.

During Andrew's game I had to keep imagining that I lived on a tropical island and that it was insanely hot outside. The weather was even more miserable than Nick's game if that is even possible. And just to add insult to injury, the snack shack ran out of hot cocoa. That should be a felony.

Seeing my cute niece visiting from D.C. helped warm my spirits a bit though.

Although the spectators suffered, thankfully the team had a little hut set up with multiple heaters to keep them warm.

Andrew and his team played well. They had barely lost to this Alta team during the regular season by only one point so it was a fair matchup. Herriman scored first and had the lead at halftime.

Alta rarely ran the ball down Andrew's side because he has established himself as a tough defender. I am so proud of Andrew and all he has learned in his first year.

It was a high scoring game and in the end we lost 27-22.

Second place is pretty darn awesome though and Andrew was excited about finishing out the season so well.

Here is to free Saturdays. At least until basketball starts.

13

2011-11-29T08:26:00.006-07:00

I have a 13 year old.

It is a little crazy to wrap my head around this fact.

I remember thinking that my parents looked so mature and put together when I was 13 and I don't feel anywhere near as mature or put together as they seemed.

He welcomed his birthday in grand fashion at football practice. I guess the tradition for the team is to have the birthday boy crawl under everyone's legs and receive a birthday spanking.

I think it is weird but whatever. Those football players. Any excuse to smack a butt.

Then he came home to his birthday dinner and presents. He also thought he needed to parade around without his shirt on so I tried to post pictures that didn't show him so exposed.

Sheesh. Teenagers.

He also requested a carrot cake for his decadent dessert. I made one--from scratch--and despite its unfortunate looking appearance, it tasted, if I do say so myself, amazing.

Click here is the recipe.

He is almost as tall as I am and he has passed up my mom and my mother in law. He has bigger feet than I do. He is determined and serious and helpful and annoying and does show his fun side every once in a while. He is a tad OCD. He is kind to others and is nice to his brothers when he wants to be.

A typical teenager.

I love him with all my heart.

11

2011-11-22T15:51:00.004-07:00

My darling Andrew turned 11 and on that very day he was wondering if he could watch an unscreened PG-13 movie because he "was a preteen you know."

He didn't get to watch the movie despite his new found maturity.

He did get some gifts that made him pretty darn happy though.

How I love this little boy.

He is thoughtful and sensitive and absentminded and moody and goofy. He is very black and white. There are times when I wonder how much emotion can fit inside his body without it oozing out his pores.

Here is to many happy years to come.

playoffs vs bingham x 2

2011-11-21T14:37:00.013-07:00

The Saturday of the playoffs was of course the only Saturday we had terrible weather. I think Mother Nature likes to test us every so often and see who the die hard fans are.

I am happy to say that we passed her test.

Although there was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, once the sun came out it really wasn't too cold.

We came prepared though. I think these boys had 4 or 5 layers on, blankets, hot cocoa, and a space heater. They were pretty darn comfy. I threatened them before the game however that if one complaint left their lips it would not be recognized because everyone was going to be suffering.

I need to threaten that more often. I did not hear one peep from any of them.

When did Nick's legs get so long and lanky?

Bringing down a couple guys. Here...

... and here.

I don't want to wish snow at every game but it did keep the boys entertained the entire time building little snowmen and forts. And warm. The layers started peeling off as the game went on.

Another tackle...

If you squint really, really hard you can see that Nick trying to catch a pass (right in front of #41) and a Bingham guy is jumping in front of him. This would have scored a TD in regular play but a pass interference was called putting the game into overtime.

Herriman scored a TD on the third down in OT and although Nick missed this catch for the extra point, I think it is a pretty cool picture.

Bingham tried to score on their 4 downs but I am proud to say that Nick stuffed his guy causing a fumble and one of our players landed on the ball. Herriman won 6-0.

What a sweet redemption. Bingham was one of the two teams we lost to this season. The other team we lost to, Alta, lost to Stansbury so we will be playing Stansbury for the CHAMPIONSHIP!

Andrew was able to have every boys' dream come true and play in a big mud puddle for his football game. He also played Bingham--the very team they lost to the week before.

Andrew was an animal looking for the kill. He played so hard and had some awesome highlights.

Like this sequence of pictures. He is on the far right...

...coming closer...

...got him...

...and brought him down.

Another great play...

This picture makes me so happy! They won the game in overtime 12-6 (I know, two overtime games in one day. I was exhausted!) and they were jumping all over the place.

On to the CHAMPIONSHIP against Alta!

The fact that they won makes it a little easier for me to TACKLE the challenge of getting this dirt out of his uniform.

That pun was totally intended. You're welcome.

fright night weekend

2011-11-20T10:43:00.004-07:00

Football games.

N vs Copper Hills (missed this one but very dramatic with two players and two coaches from Copper Hilss being ejected and a mom and a brother of one of said players taken off the field in handcuffs)

A vs Bingham (a loss but they meet again in the playoffs!)

Pumpkin patch.

Trunk or treat.

School parade.

Carving pumpkins.

Spooky dinner. Blood soup with eyeballs. Witches broomsticks. Apple cider.

Trick or treating.

And the only picture I got of Luke in his full costume.

Happy Halloween!

fall break

2011-11-19T08:47:00.009-07:00

This was the boys' first break from school and it was welcomed wholeheartedly.

I think I look forward to these breaks more than the boys do. But now that Liam has had a taste of a long weekend, he tells me quite frequently "Mom, I need a fall break." We just had UEA, parent teacher conferences, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up so I think he will be pleased that his wish will come true.

Nick went fishing with friends on Thursday and slept over while the other boys went to various friends' homes to play. The next morning Luke had a scout activity at the zoo and since Andrew, Liam, and I didn't have any plans, we decided to tag along.

There aren't very many animals left at the zoo. But the ones that are there were active and enjoying the beautiful late fall weather.

This monkey was swinging everywhere and carried his baby doll in his toes.

The boys rode the merry go round.

Went into the stinky reptile house.

Watched the tigers for a while. It was feeding time so this one was gnawing on some bloodied limb of what looked like a rabbit. It actually made me a little nauseous so I went to take pictures of the other cats hanging around.

We told Liam that giraffes have purple tongues so he wanted me to take pictures of it.

That night Andrew and Liam had a dress up Halloween party at their friend's house and they both had a fantastic time.

The next day we filled our time with football games. Nick played against Stansbury and Andrew's opponent was Hillcrest.

Nick's game gave me heartburn. It was a well played game for both teams and we went into overtime with a score of 0-0. We were able to score on our second play of overtime and hold Stansbury to win the game 7-0.

A great catch by Nick.

Andrew's team beat Hillcrest. They have been playing so well lately!

It is crazy to me that there is just one more week of football season left! But after today's wins, both of the boys will be in the playoffs so we have at least one extra week if not two. I love football but I am ready to have my family get back to normal and have our weeknights and Saturdays back for a little while until spring.

Justin took the older three boys hunting after the game so Liam and I hung out at my parent's house for the night.

There is only 10 more days until the next break. I think we can make it.

creatures of the night

2011-11-16T19:31:00.003-07:00

Creative genius(es) at work.

I am too OCD to make cookies look kooky but I love the boys' creations this year.

From the looks of it, someone couldn't wait to see if they tasted as good as they looked.

cornbellies

2011-11-14T12:26:00.013-07:00

We always love our annual trip to Cornbellies.

The past couple years have been fun but with the older boys getting well, older, the little extras that they promote become more appealing. And the little extras add up pretty darn fast.

I was so happy this year that all those little extras were included in a nifty little wristband and the boys could play to their hearts content and I didn't have to say no so often.

The free activities were still a hit too.

Like tetherball,

a big pirate ship playground,

and roping stationary cattle.

Nick brought his good friend Nick along to hang out with. I love Nick's friends and I hope that he continues to find good boys to be with.

Justin was the first one of the day to make it to the top of the rock climbing wall. We got there around 5ish so I guess we can consider that a good accomplishment.

Luke was the second one of the day. He was super proud.

Then came the corn maze.

And paintball.

And the highlight of my evening was watching everyone ride the bull.

Oh. My. Goodness. Watching Liam with his little arm in the air holding on for dear life as a string of spit followed him as the bull spun him around and around could keep me smiling for days. He did not fall off once and that earned him bragging rights since his older brothers did.

Luke opted to pan for rocks instead of riding the bull. If I would have thought ahead I would have bought myself a wristband and just given my extra ticket to him to ride the bull as Justin gave Liam his extra one to pan for rocks. Oh well, there is always next year.

vs riverton & vs olympus

2011-11-13T14:51:00.006-07:00

Both boys had such good games!

Herriman slaughtered Riverton. It was fantastic.

Nick played a phenomenal game. He blocked like crazy and caught four passes.

Sorry #86, you won't be getting that guy.

I know this is way blurry but I love how hard Nick is working.

There was a little bit of excitement on the field during this game. Scary excitement. One of the boys from Riverton received a tackle from one of our bigger players and we thought his leg was broken. He was even taken off the field in an ambulance. Luckily, the only injury received was a bruise and was totally fine.

Awesome catch.

After Nick's game we drove up to Albion Middle school to see Andrew tear it up.

Andrew was a tackling machine. He also blocked well and even got an interception!

The little boy in green is not hurt, just really bummed that they were shut out.

What a cute boy.

bewitched

2011-11-12T12:30:00.004-07:00

Justin's cute cousin Stacey planned a fun girls night out for all the Scott women.

We all had dinner at her house and then headed over to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village. I had never been before and it was super fun dressing up. Justin even picked out my fake eyelashes.

Fancy.

It was a much needed night out with girls and I hope we do it again next year. I may suggest that we head over earlier so I can get my fortune told.

Here is our group:

colleen.stacey.diane.melanie.sylvia.mistie.me.adriene.candace.tiffany.

And a pic of just the immediate Scott women.

melanie.mistie.me.sylvia.

And, totally unrelated, I found a draft of Luke's thank you note that he sent up to Primary Children's and I just want to jot it down.

Dear nurses,
Thank you for taking care of me when I had my appendix taken out. It was really nice of you. Thank you so much for all that you have done. And your playroom was really fun. And your patio was really fun to look off of.

Love, Luke

vs bingham & vs riverton

2011-11-12T12:05:00.003-07:00

I don't know if I just didn't take pictures this week at football or what.

I just have this one that my friend sent to me of Nick getting the quarteback.

Pretty darn awesome.

Sadly, the Mustangs fell to Bingham 7-0.

On a happier note though, Andrew's team had their first win of the season against Riverton!

field trip

2011-11-11T18:30:00.005-07:00

Liam's class went to Discovery Gateway and I decided to tag along.

We all gathered in the gym to wait for the busses to pick us up. My little group for the day to keep track of was Tru, Viren, Chandler, Liam, and Vanesia.

The bus ride was fun and as always with over 100 students a little bit chaotic. Lion King was playing on the DVD and it kept the kids relatively entertained. It conveniently shut off though about the time when Mufasa was about to get trampled. I don't know if it was on purpose or if it was because we were getting close to our destination.

Before we left I felt pretty good about being able to keep track of my little group. The teacher had made color-coded name badges that I pinned on their backs and was confident that following 5 purple tagged little ones would be easy.

Once we got there, however, the museum leaders put them all in these little red or yellow jackets so they were one big cluster of kindergarteners. And the kids had their own ideas of what they wanted to do. One of my girls missed their mom and started crying. Liam was bugged that I was comforting this little girl. I felt it unravel for a brief second but then had a quick breath and everything seemed to go okay.

I think I even had fun.

More importantly, it looks like the kids had fun too.

autumn loveliness

2011-11-10T08:06:00.007-07:00

I love autumn. It is my favorite season of the year.

On October 3 we had a Welcome Fall Dinner with pumpkin soup, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin milkshakes, and pumpkin bundt cake. It was good in theory but the soup was absolutely horrid. Nick said he liked it but I think he was just being nice. I told the younger two that even though they didn't like it, they had to have a couple bites anyway before they could have dessert. Luke plugged his nose and tipped his bowl near his mouth to take a couple swallows and told Liam that it was better this way because he wouldn't be able to taste it. Liam imitated Luke but before the bowl even hit his mouth he began dry heaving. I decided I would let them have dessert anyway just for trying.

Then we drove up Butterfield Canyon to see the gorgeous array of colors that were dotting the mountaintops. It was drizzling a little bit which only added to the richness of the vibrant colors.

Sometimes I am amazed by the gifts that Heavenly Father gives us.

Absolutely stunning.

I made the boys get out about a thousand times because I would see a beautiful bunch of leaves here or a lovely group of trees there. I don't think they minded dodging the raindrops much.

It's like it was touched with a paintbrush. Three colors at once.

What a treat for the boys to find animal bones. Circle of life baby.

We drove over the mountain to Tooele because Luke said that he had never been there. It was a nice little family outing driving with our windows down, feeling the cool air against our skin, smelling the rainy leaf smell and viewing the beauty that is in our own backyard.

Autumn, we are so happy to see you.

vs alta x 2

2011-11-08T08:36:00.007-07:00

Yes, another football post.

I take so many pictures of their games that it would be a shame not to share them.

Nick was handed his first loss of the season after a long, hard battle. The final score was 6-0.

Justin thought he would suit up and help out Andrew's team. Poor kids haven't won a game yet despite their best efforts.

Unfortunately, this would not be the day. After a tough game, the Mustangs fell to Alta 21-20.

We'll get them next time boys!

vs juan diego and vs hunter

2011-11-07T12:34:00.008-07:00

Happy day.

We were able to attend and watch both boys' full football games.

Nick vs Juan Diego.

Andrew vs Hunter.

That evening we decided to see what the witches were up to at Gardner Village. Nick was planning to go to a friend's house and before he left I told him we were thinking of going to see the witches. He hesitated a minute before firming up plans with his friend and then told me to call him before we left so he could come. I loved that he still wanted to go even though it is such a simple activity. He is really into being with his friends lately so I gladly called him when we were leaving and had him drag his friend Hunter along. I am glad he was easy going with my ~~demands~~ requests to take pictures every five seconds.

Then we visited the candy store...a must when visiting. Jelly bellies were the candy of choice for everyone.

I am so happy we decided at the last minute to squeeze in this fall tradition since it was the only time we found to go. We didn't end up doing the scavenger hunt this time but there is always next year!

space-the great unknown

2011-11-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

I have a serious problem.

I formulate grandiose ideas in my head for parties and I expect them to materialize with perfection the day of the party. Most of the time these ideas actually work and the party comes and goes with maybe only a slight variation from the original plan.

Not this one.

I was a mess. I was not as organized as I wish I would have been, I didn't get the pinata I thought would be best, I didn't make little signs for the food with clever little names, I waited too long to start the party favors, the playdough I made did not work at all, and Liam was a little stinker the entire time.

Luckily I have a husband who puts things in perspective for me and that my parents came out to help me in my frantic state.

We had the party at a local park which was good and bad. The kids had fun playing on the playground but that really is all they wanted to do. I finally resigned to the fact that they were six and just let it go. No matter that they didn't want to do any of the party games, they were having fun entertaining themselves. I also forgot to bring a million things from our home so I had to keep having the boys, and one time my dad, go back and get things that I needed but thankfully we live super close to the park. My cute friend upon seeing my playdough disaster offered to go home and make me some. The party favors turned out just fine, and the little signs for the food? The kids can't read that well anyway.

As the kids arrived we had them color a picture of the solar system and ate snacks.

I made these jet packs for all the kids which were a big hit. Except with the birthday boy. He wouldn't even put his on at first. I wanted to yell at him "Do you realize that I spent forever on these? It is a freaking jet pack--you WILL put this on and you will love it!" But I refrained and let him grump around a little more.

He finally came around without my gentle prodding.

I had planned a little game with nuts and bolts in water and having them try to fix the space shuttle but it didn't really go over well. So we opened presents instead.

Then it was pinata time. I will never forget the reaction of one of the girls at the party when I announced that there was a pinata. Literally bouncing up and down she replied: "I have always wanted to do a pinata! I ask my mom everyday if we can have a pinata!" I was adorable. And then when all of the candy spilled out and all the kids were going crazy, she quietly picked up just two pieces. I said: "Look at all this candy! Why don't you pick some more up and put it in your bag?" She replied with "No, that's okay. I have one for me and one for my little brother."

Then we made galaxy playdough. A fancy name for playdough with glitter in it.

Grace.

Clara.

Max.

Jackson.

Bella.

Lea.

Graham.

Collin.

So all in all, the party was a success. I had to realize that it was for Liam and not for me. I don't need to feel like I need to have a thousand activities to keep the kids entertained, they will do that just fine on their own. I also don't need to expect perfection especially from something as volatile as a party.

Cute cousins.

Hopefully I can remember that for the next one.

vs judge

2011-11-04T09:02:00.003-06:00

I was able to stay in our home turf for Nick's game while Justin and Andrew drove all the way to Park City to play Bountiful. Why they have us going to Park City for a game against Bountiful is beyond me. It should be somewhere like say, in Bountiful. Or Herriman. Whatever.

Nick had a great game and although Judge put up a good fight, Herriman won. Nick had two TDs and played some pretty amazing defense. Justin kept texting me throughout the game to tell me how well Andrew was playing and how he caught a pass and made it to the one yard line. I told him that he needs to start taking pictures to document these events but I am not holding my breath.

Touchdown!

I had a terrible angle but you can see an arm reaching out through #54's stomach. Although this would be a huge advantage for football to have a third arm, this in reality is Nick completing another pass.

Yay Mustangs! Still undefeated.

deep fried

2011-11-02T08:46:00.010-06:00

I have said before how much I love the fair.

The atmosphere is fun and crazy and there is not a better place in the state to do your people watching. I love how my taste buds tingle at the smell of cinnamon almonds and scones and other deep fried goodness.

We did not go for all you can eat ice cream day. Although I was a bit disappointed to find out that we could not make it that night, it was a nice change of pace to do and see things that we usually don't get to since we are gorging ourselves on dairy products.

Speaking of dairy products, (how did you like that segway?) how cute is this butter sculpture?

It was the closest I would ever get to the royal wedding so I reveled in the moment.

We walked around for a bit and found my mom's contributions for the year. She entered 4 or 5 things and a majority of them won some type of ribbon.

This awesome U quilt won best in show.

And this lovely ditty is my new quilt for my bed.

We saw kangaroos, a sea lion show, and looked at ourselves in funny mirrors:

There was also an exhibit that had all types of science puzzles and activities. We all had fun trying to figure everything out and when Liam solved one of his, he was in seventh heaven.

We of course saw the livestock.

And then the boys were able to finally choose their two rides. This spider looking contraption caught their eye. My dad was nice enough to accompany them. I gladly took pictures. They are in the red car.

Andrew and Luke went on their favorite ride from last year, the starship 3000. Liam opted to relive a moment from last year with grandpa and went on this other octopus looking contraption. I secretly wondered how my dad could handle two of these rides in a row.

Then this attraction began to be quite an obsession with Luke and Andrew. We would be looking around for a ride that looked interesting and they would quietly wander over to the sign and would have to be redirected to the task at hand. Luke started saying: "I wonder what that snake lady looks like" every chance he got. We had to walk right by the exhibit and I thought the boys would burst with all of the curiosity that was building up in their little bodies. My mom was nice enough to indulge them with the admission fee.

I won't give away what they really saw but they were thoroughly unimpressed.

The annual ferris wheel ride...

...and sharing of a deep fried delicacy. This year it was a deep fried snickers. One word: delicious.

I made a little resolution with myself to bring a little extra cash next time so we can do some of the crazy things there like walk on water in a huge bubble or go fishing or whatever catches our fancy.

I am counting down the days until next year.

football

2011-11-01T14:27:00.009-06:00

In an attempt to keep this somewhat chronologically current there will be intermittent posts about the sport that has literally taken over our household.

This year Andrew began tackle football and it is absolutely crazy having two different practice schedules and game locations that take us all over the valley. There is practice for one of them every single night of the week. Every. Single. Night. Not to mention that we rarely get to see the boys play every game since the times are just different enough to have one parent go one week to see one boy play and then switch off. It makes me nervous for next year when Luke begins playing. We may need to hire a chauffeur.

It is a darn good thing they love it so much or else I would second guess signing them up for some good old fashioned me time. But this is our life and once it gets going, it really is fun.

I was the lucky one to see Andrew's debut game against Alta. He wears #39. The poor thing was so nervous before his game that he was throwing up. I was worried that this sensitive soul would not be very aggressive and let the game pass him by. I was surprised to see Andrew's inner beast come unchained.

He played very well for his first game ever in pads. I was very proud of him.

Unfortunately his team lost this one but he kept a good attitude throughout the game.
Nick did win his first game against South Summit.

The next week Nick and I trekked to Grantsville for his game. It was super far away. On the way out there, Nick turned to me and said: "Promise me we will never move out here." I double pinky swear.

Nick wears #20.

Look at him downing this guy.

And this guy.

I am sure glad they won because it would have been a long, silent drive home if we would have lost.

first day 2011

2011-10-31T16:23:00.007-06:00

I have a child in seventh grade.

It freaks me out a bit. How did I get so old?

I was so happy when their elementary charter school announced that they would be opening a middle school. There are definately pros and cons to any type of school but I have heard stories about the public school that Nick would have been attending. And they weren't good stories.

One big bonus of attending the new school was his group of friends were also going to join him. This made me immensely happy. I am so blessed that he found sincerely good boys to hang out with.

This little man started kindergarten this year if it wasn't already obvious from the huge sign on the door.

He brought his walkie talkie to join him in this monumental event.

He has been so excited all summer to go to "kinnergarden." Since I am back tracking just a bit and he has been in school a while, I can say that he has loved it. His teacher is amazing and does learning plans that blow my mind.

Our back to school dinner consisted of french dip sandwiches, steak fries with fry sauce, corn on the cob, yummy sodas, and for desert we had strawberry shortcake.

Nick said his goal is to get straight As.
Andrew doesn't want any missing work.
Luke said ditto to Andrew's.
Liam just wants to have fun.

My goal is to do my best to be with it enough to help them achieve their goals. So far I think we are doing okay.

s'more please

2011-10-30T16:09:00.015-06:00

Liam's birthday celebrations went on into the weekend (and actually even longer since his friend party was a little later into September) as we celebrated with our family.

Welcome to Camp Oogabooga.

My mother in law graciously hosted our party in her backyard. I originally was toying with the idea of having the party in the canyon but am glad I decided against it. It was super cozy at the Scott's house and near the very end of the party it began to sprinkle a bit so it was nice to have the option to retreat indoors.

We had a fun activity for the kids that involved glow in the dark paint while we were waiting for everyone to arrive. It was a little hectic so I didn't get any pictures but the finished product looked more or less like this:

To go along with the camping theme we lit up the firepit and gathered around it to make s'mores.

I adore s'mores. I think that they are one of the best treats in the entire world.

I put together a bar that had quite a few possibilities for s'more combinations.
There were plain, chocolate and cinnamon graham crackers. Marshmellow choices were regular, chocolate swirl, caramel swirl, toasted coconut, and strawberry. The candy centers consisted of milk chocolate hershey bars, dark chocolate hershey bars, reeces peanut butter cups, york peppermint patties, and to add a bit more variety there were bananas and oreos as well. I found itty bitty mint marshmellows but didn't know how they would fare getting roasted, maybe next time I will try to make my own minty delights.

I couldn't decide if I liked the cinnamon graham-banana-reeces-plain marshmellow or the chocolate graham-coconut marshmellow-dark chocolate combo better. Both are highly recommended.

We put lights up around the table to create the illusion we were out under the stars.

It was such a fun night. Sitting around a campfire visiting and laughing with people I love is one of my most favorite things in the world.

I think everyone else had a good time too.

Most importantly, Liam loved it.

Being the center of attention has never been a problem for him though.

liam

2011-10-25T17:21:00.007-06:00

Six.

Liam is officially a little boy. He has been impatiently waiting for this magical number to come because it means kindergarten. And getting bigger muscles. And a visit from the tooth fairy. He has not had a visit yet, nor is her presence needed anytime soon, but he is sure wiggling his bottom front left tooth like there is no tomorrow saying it is getting looser.

He is such a delightful little being. There are so many things that I love about him and so many things that frustrate me as well. But they all mesh together nicely to create the person he is.

I am so happy that he is so versatile. It is a blessing with my crazy schedule and running the boys here, there, and everywhere. I don't feel I give him the attention that he needs because I am tired much of the time which makes me sad because this is the last year that I will have any of my kids at home at all during the day. I feel guilty that I make excuses why we don't go out all the time playing the day away when I should be relishing this opportunity. I need to live in the now and not worry so much about losing a couple hours of sleep here and there. That I can catch up on...this time I will never get back.

I love to have him help me in the kitchen. He enjoys making cookies and he is a mean egg cracker. And he always remembers to wash his hands after he is done breaking them.

I love feeling his little hand grab mine whenever we are walking anywhere.

I love how his eyelashes touch the lenses of his glasses.

He still will climb into bed with us, more often than not lately. It is Justin's fault but he snuggles with me. I am tempted to shove him over to the other side of the bed but I don't and I am too tired to walk him back to his own. So I smell his stinky breath for a few minutes and then drift back off to sleep.

I love that he is still in the stage where he mixes up his words and says funny things like "Maverick store" for "fabric store." That one took me a while to figure out.

He is good at math. He is getting good at reading and very frustrated with all of the different rules of the English language.

He leaves his mark everywhere, preferably with a black permanent marker.

I love the look on his face when he is trying to figure out how something works. He cocks his head to one side with his mouth open and raises one eyebrow as he focuses on the different gears and inner workings of the machine. He wants to be a "fixer" like those on the television show How It's Made.

He is a good friend. I love watching him interact with all of his classmates in school. I walk into his class to get him and as we walk by all the cars of the carpools there are always multiple kids yelling out the window "Bye, Liam!" I love it.

He loves Dr. Pepper, peanut butter and honey sandwiches for breakfast, and Spongebob. His movie of choice right now is Monsters Inc. He sings along to country in the car. He gives amazing hugs.

How I love this quirky, charming, sweet, sassy, naughty, and delicious boy.

His breakfast was happy to see him.

He wanted a new scooter for his birthday because he left his other new one that he received for his last birthday at a park where we were watching a baseball game. It wasn't exactly the same as the old one, but it has bigger wheels and a little place to rest your back foot. He thought it was awesome.

He also wanted a happy napper, not to be confused with the pillow pet.

We walked (and rode) over to Iceberg to have lunch. I am glad that it was empty because he rode his scooter around and around and around the joint to his heart's content.

I love how he is holding his drink. So manly.

His new glasses even came in on his birthday. He was so excited to pick these up just in time for school to start. I think they make him look so distinguished.

I worked the night of his birthday so the next day my dad came and picked him up to take him out to lunch to McDonalds.

Then for dinner we had Liam's requested culinary delights: spaghetti with meatballs, garlic rolls, salad with cucumbers, carrots, ranch dressing, and crust (croutons). And he requested a lego cake.

It was a pathetic looking thing but it passed the test.

Happy birthday little man.

sweet tooth

2011-10-24T00:01:00.006-06:00

Our family has a slight obsession.

Actually, it is a pretty intense one.

Have you heard of Kid History? We think it is pretty darn awesome.

The premise of this series is simple. There are family stories told over and over around the dinner table and at family get togethers that everyone knows well. Even the kids. These brothers film their kids telling these beloved tales and then use their voices as they reinact the adventures.

If you want to indulge yourself, take a peek at their latest endeavor.

The geniouses of these videos had a premiere to promote this gem and I bought tickets earlier in the summer. I feel totally bad because I ditched Luke while he was in the hospital with Justin and took the other boys to see it. I know that is rude but within the last year I have bought tickets to 3 events that we have not been able to make it to and I refused to waste my money again.

I promised Luke we would take him to the next one. And the boys got him autographs which soothed his little heart a bit.

People were dressed up like various characters featured in the different episodes.

It was so fun to see all of the actors and hear their real voices.

Andrew was so excited to meet all of the actors and get their autographs. They were all so nice and thanked us for coming.

Randy:

John:

Richard:

Dave:

& Brett.

We cannot wait to see what the next episode will bring!

stupid appendix

2011-10-23T10:42:00.000-06:00

The day after we went to Lagoon, Luke began complaining of his sides hurting.

He didn't want to eat, was a little nauseous, and had a low grade fever. All he wanted to do was lay on the couch and rest.

I figured he caught some virus from Lagoon.

I gave him Ibuprofen during the day, he was able to sleep at night but on Tuesday evening he insisted his symptoms were getting worse. I bought some laxatives thinking he hadn't had a good poop in a while. I made plans to take him to the doctor in the morning.

Before bed, Justin asked me if it could be his appendix. I didn't think so but looked up the symptoms online and some of them matched, some of them didn't. He wasn't complaining of a specific, right sided, holy cow this is the most pain I have felt in my life kind of pain. But it did put a little worry in the back of my mind. I made beds on the couch--one for me and one for Luke--and told him that if he was in pain during the night that he could wake me up and I would take him to the emergency room. He nodded off to sleep as the ibuprofen kicked in and I followed suit and drifted off around 11:00 pm.

Tap...tap. "Mom?"

"What bud?" I glanced at the clock. 1:00 am.

"I can't wait for the doctor."

So we grabbed a blanket and headed over to the Riverton Hospital ER and he looked pale and yucky but walked in. They poked and prodded him, started and IV, drew labs, and gave him morphine. With a white count of 26 along with other diagnostic tests we received a diagnosis of appendicitis and instructions to proceed directly to Primary Children's Hospital. They were so positive that they didn't even order a CT scan of his abdomen.

Sweet. Called in sick to work. Called Justin to tell him the news. By this time it was 3:30 am.

We made it to Primary's and they poked and prodded him and luckily were able to use the labs that were drawn prior to our arrival.

Justin arrived and we hung out in the ER for a couple hours until they transferred us to the Children's Surgical Unit on the third floor. Luke would be having surgery sometime that day.

He was made as comfortable as possible while he was waiting and even was able to play a game of hospital bingo.

We were told there was a surgery cancellation at 10:00 so we would be rolling back around 11 or so. Luke was beside himself he was so nervous and it was heartbreaking. There was nothing we could say that would calm him down. We just said a prayer and watched the anesthesiologist take him through the doors to the operating room. Then we said another prayer. And waited.

He was in surgery for about and hour and a half and we began to get a little worried because they told us it would be an hour tops. I started thinking the worst but then they finally came to tell us he was coming out of the recovery room and would be transferred back to his room on the CSU. I went to go meet him and Justin went to talk to the surgeon to debrief.

The surgeon explained to Justin that they grade the infection from a ruptured appendix from 1 to 5. She told him Luke's was a 5 but if there was a number 6, that would have been it. They weren't able to get all the infection out but started him on some heavy duty antibiotics to hopefully get rid all of it. She asked Justin if Luke walked into the hospital. Justin answered that he did. She told him we had a strong, brave little boy. She said that for his abdomen to look the way it did that he was probably in the worst pain imaginable and most adults take an ambulance or crawl into the ER when this happens.

It made me cry when he told me this. I cannot believe that I didn't take him in earlier. Luckily everyone I encountered made me feel better and tried to tell me that I am not a craptastic mom.

He had a rough start. They placed a PICC line for TPN and antibiotics on Thursday, he had a NG tube placed on Friday because he was vomiting up so much bile. He was in so much pain all the time and he would cry out: "They said that I would feel better after my surgery, not worse!" I hated not being able to take away his pain. That was the absolute worst part.

They started him walking on Thursday which he hated. But he did it anyway. Four times a day.

We had an incredible view of the valley which I appreciated but then began to loathe at the same time. I was resentful that real life could go on while we were stuck inside. I would try to imagine where all the different destinations cars were going to and adventures they were having. I then put everything in perspective and was instantly contrite. Luke would get better. There were many patients in this hospital that their parents couldn't say the same statement about. This experience forced me to slow down and weed out the extraneous activities to just focus on what was important. To be honest, looking back, it was exactly what I needed.

We had a ton of visitors. He had most the day of his surgery but I felt weird taking pictures of Luke with his loved ones while he was incoherent. We also were blessed that in the approximately 279 hours that he was there, he was only alone for 4 of them. We are grateful for all those that watched and played with our kids, sat with Luke while I had to run other kids to appointments, brought us dinners, brought cute little gifts for Luke, that our boys are so flexible, and prayed for our family. We cannot express our love for you enough.

We are also immensely grateful for the care we received from Primary Childrens. They are outstanding. The doctors and nurses were phenomenal and I was especially impressed with their child life program. They were frequently coming in to check to see if they could bring any toys in for Luke to play with and they brought activities for the other boys to do to while they were visiting. They totally got Nick hooked on Monopoly.

There is also nothing like a sweet, goofy older brother to help bring out Luke's smile. I can't remember why Andrew was up there by himself that day but his kindhearted spirit was just what the doctor ordered. He played legos with Luke forever and I just watched their interactions with contentment.

Having your own Playstation in your room doesn't hurt either.

Little by little he began to get better. His NG tube came out which was good and bad since he was still vomiting quite a bit a couple days after it was out. After being threatened with placing another one, the vomiting ceased. He had his periferal IV taken out on Monday and took a walk all the way down to the playroom on Tuesday. He even got his JP drain out since his wound drainage had decreased so much and there was no evidence of infection.

He had an xray done on Tuesday as well that told us that nothing was blocking his intestines and that it was just time until he began to poop. The infection had been very isolated in the area where his large and small intestine met and so nothing would be able to move through until that section woke up.

We increased his walks to six times a day and I would not allow him to have morphine anymore. This was hard because I felt like a mean mom but morphine makes your stomach sleepy. We used a ton of heating packs and I would make him try to use the bathroom every time he got up. I had not been as obsessed with my child's bowel habits since he had been a newborn.

He hated me for a minute.

But, the vomiting was gone by Thursday, he had popcicles on Friday, and something magical happened. He finally pooped.

No, I did not capture that lovely moment on film. But I have this cute picture instead.

From there it was easy peasy. Saturday he showed off the gameroom to his brothers, ate jello, ramen, and crackers for lunch, a smoothie for a snack, and his long awaited cheeseburger and fries for dinner. All of these were partial meals, mind you, but it was such a relief that he could eat something and finally keep it down.

Luke had four different dogs come and visit him while he was cooped up. His favorite was a black poodle named Eliot who would "pray" for Luke and bark "Amen."

We got the word that we would possibly go home Monday, if not Tuesday. My heart sank a little at the sound of that but at least there was good progress and a light at the end of the tunnel. However, on Sunday while we were walking the halls, we ran into the doctor. He asked how things were going and if he had vomited today.

Good, and no.

Great! He can go home today.

Best. news. ever.

We received discharge instructions and some pajama pants for Luke since we did not come prepared for him to be able to go home.

It is so nice to be all together again!

it's what fun is

2011-10-05T19:52:00.018-06:00

After some technical difficulties with our internet at home, I am finally up and blogging again. And boy, do I have a lot to catch up on.

Once we returned home from our vacation we decided to spend some quality time with Justin's family at Lagoon.

We hadn't been in a few years and the boys had been begging to go for months.

Luke and Liam were excited to go on the big swing ride just like at Liberty Park. It was the first ride we hit.

The boys then spotted the Tidal Wave and Liam hopped on just like a big boy. My heart was not ready for this transition and was fluttering rapidly as he climbed up into his seat. I was relieved a bit to see that Justin headed toward the middle of the ride and not to the ends to gradually initiate him into the "exciting" rides.

I had nothing to worry about. He loved it.

It also sparked a voracious need for speed which was squelched by his height. He was just about an inch too short to be admitted onto all the rides that tempted his inner beast. I think I am getting to old to ride those things with all the jolting and strange ways the body becomes contorted as you are whipping around corners and going upside down. I was done after riding just a few so I was secretly relieved when he was not allowed on. Luckily, the daredevil in him was pacified by some of the mid size rollercoasters.

It made me happy that the sweet little boy in him still felt the need to be little for a minute.

We had a glorious time playing the day away.

This was Liam's first time on the bumper cars. It was love at first bump.

Andrew randomly ran into one of his best friends who was unfortunately moving to Missouri the very next day.

One of the best decisions we made was to let Nick invite one of his good friends. They were off doing their own thing all day long. They rode the Rock O Plane seven times in a row and finally got it to spin around. I don't know if Justin and I would be able to handle that kind of abuse.

They would periodically meet up with us when it was convienient for them. Like when we were handing out food or money.

They did honor us with their presence on a couple rides though.

Waiting to ride The Rocket. After this picture, cute Halle glanced up at the ride and was brave enough to realize that this was not the ride for her and bowed out gracefully.

The men however enjoyed it thoroughly.

I love these pictures just for the fact that the boys look so carefree and happy. I love that they are living in the moment being spontaneous and letting the joy of what they are experiencing fill their little souls.

Thank you, Lagoon. It had been too long.

adventure days 17&18&19

2011-10-04T20:33:00.000-06:00

Ahhh...home again.

We decided to drive back along I-70 to get more exposure to the United States. See things we have never seen before. I really wanted to see Kansas since I have never been there before and the boys had never been to Colorado.

It actually was quite a nice drive. I liked Kansas more than I thought I would.

Another big attraction for Nick especially, was seeing the Colts stadium in Indianapolis.

We were able to see the beautiful Washington D.C. temple on our way out of the city. It is gorgeous!

When Justin and I were first married we had a goal to visit all of the temples around the world. We are way far behind. I hope one day to see the inside of this one.

We stopped in West Virginia to eat lunch. No where fancy, just at Wendy's and Subway, but in order for us to say we have been in a state we have to eat or sleep there.

Check West Virginia off the list.

We made it to Indianapolis in the mid afternoon and Nick fulfilled a dream and saw the home of his favorite team. His other dream is to see Peyton Manning play. I hope that we can make it happen.

This stadium was amazing.

We ate at another Triple D approved joint the Steer In Cafe. We got to put a little pin in the map right near Herriman, UT. We were only the second people from Utah to visit.

We drove on to Terre Haute--how in the world do you actually say this? I heard at least three different pronunciations.

Drove through Missouri. I think if I were driving I would have taken a detour to the big arch in St. Louis. But I wasn't.

Then came Kansas. We made it all the way to Goodland which is the western most city before leaving that great state. They boast the largest Van Gogh sunflower painting in the world. We ate at a delicious, reasonably priced local diner called Shiraz.

I was a little leery of the place because it sounds like it is named after a hooker, but it really has good food.

Our route continued on I-70 to Denver and then we connected to I-15 through Wyoming and then home.

It was lovely to be back. And even more lovely to relive our wonderful trip over and over and over. One we will never forget.

adventure day 16

2011-10-03T16:19:00.000-06:00

We may or may not have seen a motorcade with someone important in one of the cars.

The information is classified.

We waved at every single car that drove by. I wish whoever the special person was would have at least wiggled their fingers out of the top of the window.

Maybe it wasn't anyone significant. But we liked to think that it was Mr. Pres.

We then walked right in front of the White House.

Well, when I say in front it really means behind a fence and across the street but we were pretty close. Next time I am totally getting tickets to do the tour.

We then walked to Ford's Theatre.

Here are the kids waiting to get into the museum.

I think Nick is really sick of having his picture taken.

The building President Lincoln was taken to after he was shot.

The museum was incredible. There were so many artifacts and pictures on display. One of my favorite exhibits was a video of past presidents reciting the Gettysburg address.

We then headed over to the National Archives to see an original copy of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

There was not even a line which made me profoundly happy. I was a little giddy as we made out the signatures on the delicate documents. These things actually occurred and there was proof right there in front of me. I mean I was staring right at Benjamin Franklin's finely penned signature.

I know, I am a nerd.

We had some pretty grumpy kiddos after all this tromping around being pulled to museum after museum. I don't blame them because it was a lot of walking around in the awful humid air for days. We had saved the piece de resistance for Liam until the very end and it was not met with as much enthusiasm as we thought he would have. I think he was mentally and physically done.

In spite of himself though, he did have a pretty darn good time at the Air and Space Museum.

So did everyone else. I didn't get a ton of pictures here because it was such a hands on museum that the boys were running around like crazy trying to do whatever they could and it was hard to keep track of them all. I loved it.

We even saw an IMAX film about the origins of space. Liam was fixated on every detail. I saw it as an opportunity to close my eyes. Best. movie. ever.

No, Nick is not hurting Liam. If you will, scroll through the archives of our trip and you will notice that Liam is either hiding, turning his head from the camera, or scowling. This was an attempt to make him look at the camera and smile.

I can see it in his eyes that he is happy.

We were able to see the inside of a real life space shuttle. Here is the astronauts' shower...

...and where they eat. They even sleep standing up in a little compartment off the side of this main area. Talk about usable space!

We had one more thing to visit on our checklist but Luke and Liam vehemently refused to walk one more step. My nice parents took them back to the hotel with them while Justin, Nick, Andrew, and I went to the Capitol building.

On our way we saw a family of ducks...

...and a memorial to Nick's favorite president: Ulysses S. Grant.

There was quite a bit of hubbub around the grounds because they were setting up for a concert that President Obama was planning to attend. Pretty fancy.

I think the Capitol building is exquisite.

We were able to score some tickets for the House and were able to see a debate about medicare and the national budget. Nick asked me what it would take to do that one day.

We met a little friend.

Andrew asked us as we were walking if they had monuments for every president. We said that we didn't know. Then he wondered aloud if they had a monument for a random president, like Garfield. I told him probably not. To be honest, I am not too savvy about what each president has accomplished and I guessed that Garfield's contributions were minimal because I don't hear much about him. But guess what we saw?

Yes, a freaking statue of President Garfield. Andrew laughed his head off.

I guess I need to read up on my presidential biographies.

We went out to dinner at good old Chili's that night with my parents. It was delicious.

I hope to return here in the near future. Maybe during a different season when it is not so insanely hot. There is so much here to experience and see and I know we just scratched the surface. I am so happy that our family had this opportunity to become acquainted with this amazing piece of American history.

But, it will be great to be home.

adventure day 15

2011-09-28T19:23:00.000-06:00

The next item on the agenda was visiting Arlington cemetery.

I didn't realize the magnitude of this beautiful venue. There are over 330,000 grave sites dotting a vast 624 acres. It is truly humbling and sobering to see them stretching on and on. I am so grateful to those who have fought and continue to fight for our country.

Thank you.

Mary Todd Lincoln.

The eternal flame at President John F. Kennedy's grave.

We wandered up to the Tomb of the Unknowns. While we were waiting for the changing of the guard, we found refuge in the little museum there with pictures of funeral processions and different medals that soldiers have received.

Luke and Liam parked themselves out of the way on the floor and enjoyed the air conditioned room. They were quite adorable in the way they were interacting with each other. And for your viewing pleasure, here is also an unidentified bum.

The changing of the guard was beautiful. I love the way it is conducted with such precision and grace. I also admired these men who seemed unruffled by the stifling heat in their full uniforms.

Wending our way in the sticky heat also made me more grateful for our founding fathers and those in the Revolutionary War. They must have really wanted to form our country if they fought so hard day in and day out in this blasted heat. My thoughts then wandered to those who have fought in all different conditions and those now who endure temperatures of over 110 degrees to fight for our freedoms now.

Again, I thank you.

The heroes of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

We are grateful to Sir John Dill because his beautiful memorial had a large sprinkler placed on it watering the grass.

Although it was not my intention for the boys to run through the welcoming respite from the heat, I think I was pretty positive in the back of my mind that it was going to happen. I didn't mean to be disrepectful in anyway but I speculate that if there were sprinklers available to the soldiers during the Revolutionary War that these men would have done the exact same thing. And it was only for a minute.

A blissful minute.

We definately didn't see everything there but I am grateful for the experience.

We decided to return to the hotel to cool off for a while before heading to Baltimore to see the Orioles play.

Did you know there is another person with the same name as this darling boy who plays for the Orioles?

Yes, it's true.

One of our friends gave Luke a baseball card of Luke Scott and he thought it was the coolest thing ever. When I was planning our trip and told Justin we would be going to an Orioles game, he got super excited and the business man in him took over.

He contacted a few people in the Orioles organiazation to see if we could set up a meeting with the baseball player. They were always super nice but couldn't confirm anything. The best they could do was tell us to arrive early for batting practice and see if we could get his attention. One lady also added that he is on the DL and is a bit grumpy about it so not to get our hopes up.

Somehow Luke took that as we are definiately going to meet his namesake and it was not "if" but "when" he had his baseball card signed he would be so happy.

I was not optimistic and was praying in my heart that his dreams would not be crushed.

We arrived at the field early to try to jockey for position. Once the gates opened Justin pulled Luke toward the dugout and was persistent in his inquiries about the famous Luke Scott. No one would give him a straight answer. Not because they were being rude, but because they couldn't.

Until this wonderful young man emerged. I will refer to him as our knight since I regrettably do not know his name.

I would have given up way before this point. Just told Luke that the man was busy and he most likely would have forgotten about it a couple days later. This is when I am so grateful for a sweet talking husband. Justin caught his attention and asked if Luke (#2) was in the dugout. Our knight said he could go and check for him. Justin added that there was a young fan here with the exact same name. Our knight became what seemed to be genuinely excited and said "No way! That is awesome!" Then into the dugout he went.

By this time, Luke was bouncing up and down with excitement. I was still reserved and hoping that this elusive player would make a boy's dream come true.

And out he came.

He met with a serviceman first to chat with him a moment and thank him for serving our country. Then over to Luke he went.

He said "Your name is Luke Scott too?" and then shook his hand. I didn't catch the rest of their conversation but Luke had a huge smile on his face.

We got his card signed. Mission accomplished.

Needless to say, because of the generosity of our knight and everyone that Justin talked to along the way and the way that Luke Scott #2 treated my Luke, the Orioles are now my favorite MLB team.

We all caught a bit of Oriole fever.

What an awesome day! One more day in D.C. and then headed home. I can't believe our trip is almost over. It has been so much fun!

adventure day 14

2011-09-26T09:37:00.015-06:00

Oh, how I loved Washington D.C.

I have always wanted to visit and it exceeded every expectation.

It is so rich with history and it was surreal to actually be there. It was marvelous.

We started our day at the Museum of American History.

It was enormous. My favorite exhibit was the First Ladies at the Smithsonian. There were gowns, White House china, portraits, and personal belongings dating back to Martha Washington. I loved all the dresses that more current first ladies wore to the Inauguration. I didn't know if I was allowed to take pictures because there were such fragile artifacts but I kinda wish I would have snuck one of Michelle Obama's ensemble. It was exquisite.

We then walked through an exhibit that spotlighted the Star Spangled Banner. It was pretty incredible. As you walk down a dimly lit hallway you read about the Battle of Baltimore in 1812 while you hear gunshots in the distance. As you round the corner, you come to a beautiful display of the original flag that was flying over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor inspiring Francis Scott Key to write his most famous lyrics.

After that, the younger boys were done with American History. There was a ton of information and most of it the little ones couldn't understand. I do want to go through again--without kids--to see the entire museum.

We then headed over to the Museum of Natural History. This had more visually interesting displays and we spent a good amount of time here.

The animal exhibits were a big hit.

We were able to explore the evolution of man. I can't remember what period this skull is from but it was Andrew's favorite.

While we were walking through there were quite a few sculptures of naked women and children. Luke would blush and giggle hysterically when he would point out an uncovered body part. We finally got through that section and he calmed down but then he decided he had to use the restroom. Unfortunately, the only way to the restroom was through the naked section and it started a whole new cascade of laughter. Boys. Sheesh.

As we wound around the museum we came across the space section. Liam exclaimed: "Finally, something that I like!"

The Hope Diamond.

It was time for a treat after we crammed all that information into our noggins so we stopped at the ice cream stand outside the museum. I got a double caramel Magnum bar and it was amazing. A little bit of the chocolate dropped on the ground and I am not ashamed to say that I picked it up and ate it. Yes, it was that good.

We left the comfort of the air conditioned halls to brave the sweltering heat as we visited the monuments.

Washington Monument.

World War II Memorial.

Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

Then the Lincoln Memorial. I got chills when I saw it.

I commented to Justin that I had waited all my life to see this. He answered back with "I don't think you have been waiting your whole life..." but I truly think I have. I have always loved learning about and listening to stories featuring this wonderful President.

It is so crazy that I am standing here on this spot where MLK's famous speech was given. The exact spot.

I was a little sad the reflection pool was torn up. Good thing I have an unbelievable imagination.

Korean War Memorial.

The Jefferson Memorial. We didn't walk all the way over there. I guess I am a wimp.
We did catch a glimpse of Mr. Jefferson standing inside. Pretty amazing.

Nothing warms my heart more than seeing my boys be kind to one another.

adventure day 13

2011-09-25T13:15:00.000-06:00

While we were planning our trip, I let the boys choose one thing that they wanted to do since we just would not have enough time in one day to see all there was to see.

Nick: Mets game.
Andrew: Ground zero.
Luke: The Empire State building.
Liam: didn't really know what New York was all about. Just along for the ride.
Corinne: H&M. And eating a hotdog in Central Park and reinacting scenes from Enchanted.
Justin: whatever we wanted. Except the Enchanted nonsense.

We started out our day by strolling along the Hudson River on the New Jersey side and gazed at the famous skyline.

We talked a lot about 9/11 and the events that happened that day. Justin pointed out where the twin towers used to stand.

We stopped at the Korean War Monument to see Lady Liberty. She is truly magnificent.

I am super upset about this picture. I was debating whether or not we had enough time to hop on the ferry to Ellis Island and explore the Statue of Liberty a little more. I decided we didn't but then after we left New York and were in a totally different state I realized it was on the 15 things to do list. Justin said it counted since we were so close but we may have to go back. I really did want to go there because Justin's grandparents and mom immigrated over to the United States when his mom was 2. It would be cool to see their names in the logbook. I also think I would like to climb to the top of Ms. Liberty's crown.

We then went over to Ground Zero.

There was a ton of construction going on with the memorial and new office building so it was hard to see anything. We then walked over to St. Paul's chapel. It has an impressive history. Most recently, on September 11, 2001, St. Paul’s Chapel escaped destruction when the World Trade Center buildings collapsed across the street. Although the churchyard and church were filled with debris and dust, there was no physical damage to the building. It is a functioning church and also serves as a memorial to those who were killed in the attacks. It was so humbling and finally put into some perspective of what truly happened that day. Being thousands of miles away in Utah, I cannot even begin to imagine the horror and devastation that was happening right there on the very same streets that I was standing on while I was hugging my two young boys sitting on my couch watching it unfold on the television ten years ago.

It is surrounded by a churchyard with unique gravestones and memorials, some from Revolutionary War days. Beautiful.

The subway was much better than the day before. Liam became very comfortable on the trains and would stand up holding the pole and run around it. He also memorized both the sign on the door that said: "Do not lean on doors" and the computerized voice that would come on when the doors would open and close and repeat: "stand clear from the closing doors" multiple times during the ride.

Then we visited Central Park. Walked right by the Plaza.

We ate cheeseburgers instead of hotdogs. They just sounded better at that moment. We didn't skip down the walkway singing "How Does She Know?" but I did see quite a few of the scenes where they filmed parts of the movie. We walked by the zoo and saw the entrance made famous by the Madagascar movies. The boys loved it.

It was so blasted hot and the boys were getting a little grumpy so we went to FAO Schwartz. It was just what the doctor ordered. We had so much fun in there and they loved looking at the huge lego figures, there were demonstrators performing magic tricks, and we found a perfect backpack for Liam. It totally made up for the fact that I wasn't able to go to H&M. And honestly, who wants to go shopping with a group of grumbly boys?

We finally made it to the Empire State Building. Luke was absolutely giddy. He had been talking about this moment for months.

He said it totally lived up to his expectations. And he even was able to pick out a snowglobe in the gift shop. We had a pretty estatic 9 year old.

We then walked forever to go eat at America's first pizzaria: Lombardi's. It was totally worth the walk. No wonder it is voted one of the best pizzarias in America.

I mean how could something with this much cheese not be super delicious?

We ordered the famous Margherita Pizza and a tasty little meatball number. Liam liked the sausage so much that he stole the meatballs right off Luke's piece when he wasn't looking and stuffed them in his mouth. Classic.

Goodbye New York. What a whirlwind these two days has been. Now, off to Washington D.C!

adventure day 12

2011-09-20T07:53:00.015-06:00

We left Niagara early in the morning to drive down to New York City.

We had tickets to the Mets game that started at 4 in the afternoon. We hurried to our hotel that was in Jersey City, New Jersey, dropped our stuff off, and walked over to the PATH train that would take us over to the city via the Holland Tunnel.

Then we deciphered the subway system and hopped on a train to Queens. I am not a very adventurous person and the subway freaked me out. The stations were hot and crowded, so many trains going so many different places, I was afraid that I would lose my kids, afraid we were going to get lost, afraid that we were going to get pick pocketed, afraid of pretty much everything. Justin kept telling me that I needed to chill out.

The two days we were there were torturous for me. I hated it. I think we tried to pack way too much into too little time and I was exhausted even before trudging up and down the busy streets. I tried to not be too vocal about how I felt around my kids because I didn't want them not liking the city because of my feelings. Andrew however was not shy about he felt though. He hated it too. Luke absolutely loved it.

Now that I have been home for a couple months, I realize that I did get to see some amazing sights and I did have a good time. I just didn't love it at the moment. I may consider going back to give it a second chance. And maybe just see a couple things and go to a show. Maybe.

That all being said, we made it to Citifield and watched the Mets beat the Phillies.

The stadium is absolutely ginormous.

olive is always the entertainer. She thought it was so funny to have this cup on her head and dance around. We thought it was pretty darn funny too.

After the game we decided to visit Times Square in all its lit up glory.

As we were walking around, Luke was making all sorts of comments. Two of my favorites:

There had just been a celebration of some sort just past Times Square and there was garbage everywhere. Luke kept making little remarks under his breath like: "This is gross!" "I can't believe all the garbage!" And then after a minute he said to me: "I feel so bad for all the workers! This will take forever to clean up!"

We walked by a billboard advertising lotion with a picture of a naked lady from the neck down laying on her abdomen. Luke stared at it for a minute and then asked: "Why do they need to show her bum? Why can't they just take a picture of her foot or something?"

I was too tired to try to explain anything so we just kept walking.

Luke wanted to take some pictures and after the last one he took looked at the screen and noticed the word "Hersheys." It is pretty obvious where we ended up.

They had this cool candy loading device that made it seem like as the kids turned the wheels, the candy was pouring into a cute little bucket right from the ceiling. We were able to choose from quite a few different delicacies from the Hershey minis collection. My boys chose Reeces peanut butter cups and Hershey kisses. It was totally worth the 12 bucks.

We decided it was time to leave after Justin was presented a gift from a very masculine looking lady. Or a very feminine looking gentleman.

Yup, my man still has it.

adventure day 11

2011-09-19T16:49:00.003-06:00

Early Friday morning everyone piled into their cars to head to Niagara Falls.

I was so excited to go. I have only seen pictures and the only "real" vision I had of the place was when Clark Kent and Lois Lane visited a swanky hotel with the vibrating bed in Superman.

I was also super excited because about six months ago, my dad came across a list put out by CNN of 15 places to see before you are 15. I am obsessed with it. We only have three more years before Nick turns 15 and although we will do our I was pleased as punch to find out that after we were done with our adventure, we could cross three of the places off our list including Niagara. Not too shabby.

As we were driving into the city of Niagara, I was a bit disappointed. It was gross and not the picturesque oasis I thought it would be. But to my delight, it became more and more beautiful by the minute as we drove closer to the park. When we actually entered the park it was exactly like I had imagined. It was serene, lush bushes and shade trees everywhere, and of course the spectacular waterfall.

We saw more than one couple getting their wedding pictures done.

After oogling at the waterfall for a while we decided to get into the nitty gritty of the action and go on the Maid of the Mist. We donned fashionable blue raincoats and boarded a large boat that takes you past the waterfalls and makes a loop near the Canadian horseshoe falls.

It was absolutely stunning.

After our excursion we decided we needed ice cream. The boys thought it was awesome because we let them get two scoops. It was so hot though that much of the ice cream ended up on their faces or clothes or hands but it tasted super good.

There was quite a bit of wildlife to observe in Niagara. We saw orioles and cardinals and there was a squirrel who stole the rest of Liam's unfinished ice cream cone and climbed up a tree and promptly finished it off.

We then walked along the path to look at the Horseshoe Falls from above. It felt so good to be sprayed by all the mist. Muggy heat is for suckers. I would take the dry Utah heat anyday.

We hung out in the park for a while and then headed back to the hotel.

Justin and I love the show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Justin went on the Food Network website and mapped out the different restaurants that were featured on the show for all of the different cities that we were staying in. We decided to take a little jaunt to Buffalo to try the Blackthorn Pub.

Holey moley, it was awesome.

It is a little Irish pub that packs a lot of charm. I wasn't sure what to order until a huge plate of mouth watering goodness passed by. It was a plate of fish and chips that was enormous. I am serious when I say the fish was as long as my forearm. The fact that this looked good to me was baffling because I don't like fish at all. Not a bit. But apparently, everything tastes good beer battered and deep fried. Justin and my dad ordered the same thing. Nick ordered the crab cakes that were featured on Triple D. Andrew and Luke ordered off the kids menu. Liam fell asleep in my lap.

It was a delicious evening.

Tomorrow...off to New York City!

adventure day 10

2011-09-14T18:24:00.023-06:00

We met Thursday morning at the park to head over to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The boys were in a good mood and even though still bummed about the loss the day before, they were excited about having a day off just to relax.

To be honest, so were we.

To pass the time while waiting for everyone to arrive, I took pictures...

...and the boys tortured each other with purple nurples. Every boy was walking around with their hands covering their chests so their poor nipples didn't get twisted.

We finally got everyone together and headed to our destination.

Just a little taste of this adorable town and its charm:

This place was enormous. I wandered around with the team for a while, tried not to lose my kids, lost my husband, and to be honest, got a little bored. There is so much to see in there and although I like baseball, I don't want to read every little plaque about every little event that happened in the past 100 years. I think it was a little overwhelming for my little brain.

There were some cool things though and I found Nick again about halfway through and it is fun to see how excited he gets about these little facts.

Here he is in front of a replica of a locker in the Anaheim Angels locker room. He has loved the Angels since he was in preschool. I don't know what sparked it, but I admire his unwavering dedication to his team.

This is the most valuable baseball card in the world. The crown jewel if you will. This is the T206 Honus Wagner valued at 2.8 million dollars.

Yes, million.

I think Liam's face says it all. This was near the end and it portrays exactly how I was feeling. Tired and sick of walking around. Sometimes I wish I were 5 so I could have this look on my face and not care that everyone knows that I am not happy.

This is Jackie Robinson's uniform...

...and I maybe want to say that this is his bat but I am not totally sure. The owner of this bat made little marks around the logo to keep track of all of his home runs. If you look close enough you may be able to see them.

After our excursion, we got ready for closing ceremonies. If the opening ceremonies made these players feel like celebrities, the closing ceremonies made them feel like they were All Stars.

All the teams were announced and then the coaches read off the names of each player as they ran under a big archway. The player then received an All Star ring from the founder of this wonderful park. It was really nice because they started at the end of the alphabet which meant that our team was one of the first ones out and then the boys came to sit with us while we waited for the 100 other teams to make their way through.

Showing off their bling!

There were amazing fireworks after every player received their ring to pass the time until the championship game between the #1 Tennessee Naturals and the #3 Louisiana Force began. The game was fun to watch-there are some pretty.amazing.players. on those two teams. We were rooting for Tennessee since they bunked right across from our team and everyone said they were nice guys. Our cheering led them to beat Louisiana 4-3.

There was definately some goofiness going on in the stands.

What a fun week. Niagara Falls, here we come!

adventure day 9

2011-09-14T18:12:00.001-06:00

Wednesday launched the beginning of single elimination tournament play. I felt a little selfish that morning because did not want the Scrappers to lose. I just did not want to go out in the first round-I wanted to keep watching baseball. It was nice because rather than pitting the worst team against the best team, it was pretty evenly matched to start out. We were ranked 80th and played the 79th ranked Lake County Thunder from Illinois. We won 15-8!

We got to the park a bit early and had a pleasant surprise of running into our team on their way to the field. I was so excited about the picture opportunity and these boys humoured me and complied with my wishes to smile for the camera. And all of the other parents cameras. I told them they better get used to all the paparazzi now so they know how to handle it when they are famous.

Bridger. Austin. Jaxon.

Chance. Hunter.

Tyler. Nick.

Cooper. Zac. Aaron. Kai.

Our coaches: Scott and Troy.

Group pictures right after warm up.

The boys were excited and came ready to play. It is so fun to watch them when they are engaged in what is happening on the field.

The next game was right after that at noon against the #63 Highlands Ranch Cougars from Colorado. We lost this game 6-5. If the first close loss was heartbreaking, this one was absolutely heartwrenching. I actually cried after it was over.

We had two home runs this game: one by Bridger and one by Cooper. This was the celebration at home plate right after Cooper's home run.

It was a tight game the entire time. Nick was the last one up with 2 outs and gave a good effort but struck out with the bases loaded. He hates being in that situation because he feels he never executes. When the bat made its way around without hitting the ball, I crumbled because I knew exactly what was going through his head. I was not sad that they lost, I was sad because my son's heart was breaking.

There were no words to console him after the game. People kept trying to tell him he did great, he has played well the entire tournament, that he was one that they would want in that situation. He would have none of it. He kept saying over and over that he let his team down. He is the type of person to just let simmer for a while and mull over his feelings and then you can communicate with him tidbits at a time.

After the game we went to the entrance of the park to get some pictures by the cute baseball flower mound and the big sign that welcomes you into the Dreams Park.

As everyone knows, there is no crying in baseball. During the season we had a few boys who would get emotional if things weren't going their way--my boy included. The coach thought this was ridiculous so he threatened the boys that if someone started crying, he would order the rest of the team to go and give him a big group hug. This threat usually detered the tears from falling. Nick was still pretty down on himself while the group was getting their pictures done and without any prompting from the coach, some team members took it upon themselves to initiate the feared hug. I think it helped ease the pain a little bit from Nick's mind to let him know that his teammates still loved him.

We have had such a fun time here at this amazing place. It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for these boys and I am so happy that everything worked out so we could make it happen.

After pictures were over, Nick changed and we checked him out so he could hang out with us for a while. We went to the Penguin, our favorite ice cream place, on the way home because ice cream makes everything better. Especially this place.

The secret to the ice cream is that they add mixins to soft serve ice cream. My favorite combination was lime cheesecake. It was absoultely scrumptious. It tasted exactly like key lime pie.

Nick cheered up a little bit. There is nothing like a goofy younger brother to help lighten the mood.

It was fun to hang out and laugh and I really think the younger boys missed their older brother. It was a sweet reunion.

We went home and ate dinner and hung out getting excited about going to the Baseball Hall of Fame and closing ceremonies the next day and talking about how much fun this week has been. I can't believe it is almost over!

adventure days 7 & 8

2011-09-10T14:28:00.010-06:00

On Tuesday we started the day playing against the BCC Patriots from Maryland. And guess what? WE WON!

It was so nice to finally have the boys reap some benefits from all their hard work.

My sister and her girls came up from New York City to watch a couple games and spend the rest of our vacation with us.

Cute little Olive...

...and Caroline with my dad.

This smile was worth the drive across the country. Uphill. Both ways.

Walking off the field victorious. Finally.

Our next game was against the Oak Mountain Baseball Club from Alabama. We lost 11-4.

After the game they asked the team to pray with them. When they asked Bridger, one of our players, to offer the prayer he answered with "I said it last night." There was a good laugh at that and then he went on to offer quite a nice prayer that included thanking Heavenly Father for allowing them to play in this tournament and that they were able to have this experience.

After the games Nick ate dinner with us at the house and even though it was a simple dinner of brats and pasta salad, he was so excited because he was sick of all the cafeteria style food that was being served for meals at the Dreams Park. It was fun to have him home for a little while and after we ate dinner he headed over to his friend's parent's cabin to go fishing. And what do you know, he actually caught something!

The rest of us decided to do something a bit different. On Tuesday evenings the super extravagant hotel in town puts on concerts in its backyard.

The view was stunning. The hotel sits right on the lake so we were able to listen to wonderful big band music and enjoy the beautiful scenery. I wish I lived near a lake. Or an ocean. I would even take a stream. I absolutely love water and how I feel when I am around it. Everytime we go on a vacation that puts us near water, I try to figure out a way to move there. Unfortunately, that is unrealistic right now but hopefully one day my dream will come true.

The boys loved throwing rocks in the pond, running down the steep hills-- just running around in general. rolling down the hills, and just be boys. We did all of these activities before the concert started but I think we got a little rowdy during the concert because there weren't very many people there and so every little sound would be noticed and we did get a few snarky looks. It did get a bit chilly though so we headed out early.

Olive was very excited to show everyone her crazy faces. A lot.

This place really truly is absolutely beautiful.

adventure days 5 & 6

2011-09-10T13:02:00.000-06:00

We spent the next four days of our adventure watching a lot of baseball and Nick have the time of his life. It was fantastic.

Our overall record of 6-2 for the tournament may not sound all that impressive but I have never seen such determination and heart from any other group of boys. I was so proud of them. We were not ranked well going into the tournament and the luck of the draw had us playing against 3 teams that were in the top 25 during seed play. The boys played their best and had fun doing it.

Our first game was bright and early Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. against the Waukesha Firebirds from Wisconsin. We lost 7-1.

I am so mad at myself that I didn't bring a little notebook to the games to record the little details of what happened during each game but I think I either thought I would remember and I was having too much fun enjoying the experience.

I do remember, however, that there was a girl on the team that hit a home run over the fence. Girl power all the way.

Thank goodness for legos. These two, Luke and another little brother on the team, Koa, kept themselves entertained throughout both games for 3 days: a total of about 15 hours. I don't know why I never thought of bringing legos before. I actually was able to watch the games.

It wouldn't be a ball game without a refillable baseball mug...

...or sitting on a stack of chairs as tall as you are.

Some of the Scrappers' most loyal fans.

Our next game was against the Mallard Creek Bulls from North Carolina. We lost 8-0. Nick remembers that they did really well against this team even though they lost. He also says they were a really good team with a really big kid on it that was intimidating. I think he really likes the word really.

My parents were able to come and travel with us and they arrived on Sunday. Originally, Justin's parents were going to come as well, but last minute work changes happened for my mother in law and so they were not able to come. It was sad that they couldn't be there but they supported him wholeheartedly from home. Most of the games were filmed and broadcast over the internet and my father in law watched every one. It is so great to have all this support for our family.

Our games on Monday didn't start until 1:45 pm so we went to go say hello to Nicholas and then visited one of the many miniature golf places around the Dreams Park. Come to find out we went to an all in one stop for fun. It wasn't just any old mini golf joint--there was even a place out in the to pan for precious stones like iron pyrite, arrowheads, and crystals. And they had amazing orange cream soft serve ice cream to boot.

Look at all his loot!

The next game that followed was one of the best yet heartbreaking games of baseball played by these boys. We played the Longshots Teal from Illinois. We came out ready to play and worked hard the entire game and had a tough loss 11-10 in 10 innings. Regular games went 6 innings and our boys never gave up the entire time. We had quite a few teams come and hang out near our field to watch the game since it was so intense.

We were ahead for 5 innings and even included a two run homer by one of our players. Unfortunately, the Longshots came back and tied the game for a while and then was ahead by one run in the last inning. We were down by 1 run and home team but couldn't make it work for us. So, so sad.

This is a rare smile from Nick on the field. He loves playing the game but is usually so serious. Oh, it makes my heart happy.

Chance (#3) made an amazing catch in center field and Tyler (#10) is the best cheerleader on the team. He gets so excited for people when they make a good play.

Another memorable tidbit about this game is that Nick finally got a hit. He hit the ball multiple times during the tournament but it would fly out, ground out, or he would get thrown out at first. He was getting quite frustrated with himself so it was a relief to finally have this monkey off his back and have him get on base.

It is so funny to me to see the truth in how different 12 year old boys actually can be in development. Yes, they are both 12.

I felt so bad for the boys after the game. They cried and searched out parents to help heal some of the hurt. It is hard to get older. The problems get more frequent and the disappointments become more real. Life hands out hard lessons that can't be solved with a Happy Meal. Although they didn't win, they sure gave it their all and can be proud of the way they played.

Our next game was at 7 pm against the Ariondack Heat from New York. They smoked us 15-0 because they stole bases like nobody's business. The boys just took it all in stride and still played the game.

Nick pitched this game and pitched one of the best games he has ever played. I usually get tense while he pitches because he is a perfectionist and if one thing goes wrong he blames himself and sometimes falls apart. But he was as calm as could be on the mound. After the game I told him that I noticed a difference in his affect and commented on how well he did. He replied with "Well, we were losing so bad that I figured that I couldn't do anything wrong so I just threw the ball." I told him he should think like that every game but I know for him it is easier said than done.

We hung out for a little bit after the game and then the team went back to their bunks and we went back to the house to go to bed. I was so emotionally drained and grateful that we would be able to sleep in a little bit the next morning.

adventure day 4

2011-08-10T16:18:00.022-06:00

Upstate New York is absolutely lovely.

Cooperstown is one of the most quaint and picturesque towns in the entire United States. It is on a beautiful lake, there are charming, old fashioned houses along the streets and some large mansions around the lake, fun shops on the Main Street, it is clean, the people are nice despite the massive influx of people on their community every summer...I could go on and on.

We stayed in an even smaller town just outside of Cooperstown called Hartwick.

I loved it.

We stayed in a cute blue house called My Blue Heaven. And you know what? It truly was. I took these pictures of the outside. We loved the wrap around deck, the wooded area we were in the middle of, and the yard was perfect for the boys to run around in. The inside was cute too, I don't know why I didn't take any pictures but there were two levels with plenty of room to hang out in and I loved that there was a laundry room and a kitchen which saved a ton of money with not having to go to a laundromat or out to eat every night.

Liam wants to live there.

Early Saturday morning we went to go say hi to Nick. We walked around the park a little bit and bought some souveniers. The team was out eating breakfast in the park which was nice because we as family members were not allowed where the players lived. If we wanted to see Nick, we would have to check him out and one of his coaches would have to walk him to the entrance. It was reassuring to know that a coach had to accompany the boys everywhere they went even though the pre teens weren't sure they liked it so much.

We bummed around the park for a little bit and then went into Cooperstown to look at all the fun shops there. Every shop we went in produced a flurry of requests for things that caught the boys' eyes. It is hard to just choose one thing when everything looks so special. To help divert the boys we headed over to the local Farmer's Market and bought some delicious peaches and blueberries. While our mouths were dripping juice from the peaches we decided to drive back to the house and have lunch and hang out before Nick had his opening ceremonies.

This is us squished into the bleachers with the other parents our team waiting for our little All Stars during the opening ceremonies. The scene was pretty electrifying--teams that had banners and matching shirts, people who were selling concessions, "Bally" the mascot walking around--it felt like you were at a major league game. And yes, Andrew did survive the head lock that Liam has him in.

They even had skydivers.

Then the moment we all were waiting for. The announcement of the teams.

We were one of the very last ones to be announced since they went alphabetically and when there are 104 teams to be announced, we were waiting quite a while. But it was amazing. The procession was similar to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics: each team carrying their team banner, proud, smiling boys everywhere who definately felt like superstars, teams throwing swag into the crowd, and adoring fans screaming out their names. I still get chills thinking about it.

Our position in the stadium was perfect. Our team ended up right in front of us after their names were called which was perfect for pictures. Pictures of a truly once in a lifetime event for Nick.

Here are our fearless coaches: Travis, Troy, and Scott.

Thank goodness for a coach who understands a mom's need to capture these moments on film and telling my son where to look at the camera.

Bridger even had his head shaved to look like a baseball.

After the opening ceremonies there were 4 competitions: The Golden Arm (who can throw the furthest and most accurate), the Road Runner(who can run the bases the fastest), the King of Swat(who can hit the most home runs), and Around the Horn (the team who can throw the ball around the bases the fastest).

Nick was chosen by his teammates to compete in the Golden Arm.

The object of the contest is to stand 125 feet away from the board and the boy receives 1 point for hitting the black part, 3 points if it hits the target, and 5 points if it goes right in the hole. If the ball bounces and then hits any part of the board or goes through the hole, the boy is only rewarded 1 point.

Nick did pretty well. His total was 3 points and he needed 4 to get into the finals. Bummer. He hit the target once, over threw the ball on his second throw, and then one hit the ground and went right through the hole.

Here he is warming up a bit...

and waiting for his turn to throw.

Right before his last attempt. It looks like he is giving the ball a stern talking to.

So proud of him!

adventure day 3

2011-08-07T13:22:00.020-06:00

We got off early Friday morning and in our close examination of the map, we realized that we were just a few miles away from Kirtland, OH and Palmyra, NY was just a few miles off the freeway so we decided to go and see these two significant sites of the Restoration of the Church.

We just stopped by the temple in Kirtland since it was 6 in the morning. It was pretty awe inspiring to see the first temple of the Church. It was beautiful and the history behind it is humbling. I honestly don't think that I would have made it if I was a pioneer. I don't know. The times were scary then and they are scary now. Just different kinds of scary. Being persecuted day in and day out and having to cope with the trek out west sounds so stressful to me. I am extremely grateful for their strength and in being so dedicated to bringing the Church to where it is today. Eternally grateful. We drove by the Newel K. Whitney store and the surrounding area and then went on our way.

Our next stop was Palmyra, New York. It was wonderful to see the boyhood home of Joseph Smith and where all the stories I have heard since I was little about Moroni, the golden plates, and the Sacred Grove with my own two eyes. I am so happy that we realized we were so close to these sites because I would have been severely disappointed if we would have passed them by. Who knows when we will ever be back in upstate New York.

There were three boys who slept in this bed and three that slept in one just like it in the same room. And the fact that an angel came 3 times during the night and only Joseph woke up? Amazing.

I bet that never in a million years would Joseph think that he could look outside his home and see this beautiful temple. But then, maybe he knew all along.

The frame home that the Smith family later moved into.

This is the original brick of the fireplace that Joseph Smith hid the golden plates so a mob could not find them.

My favorite part was the Sacred Grove. It was absolutely beautiful. Once you walk in, there is an intense feeling of reverence and you can feel that something special occurred here. I could have stayed in there forever.

This was totally unprompted. I walked behind these two for a few minutes snapping pictures until I got the perfect one. Justin even commented that I had enough and should stop snapping pictures already. I am glad that I took this last one.

We then went to see the Hill Cumorah. There were a million people there since they were getting ready for their annual pagent but it was neat hearing the performers go through their songs as we were walking up the path to see the monument of angel Moroni.

It was such a lovely time. I am so glad that we were able to go see these sites. I have been finishing up the Work and the Glory series, honestly just to say goodbye to those darn Steeds, but it truly has strengthened my testimony of Joseph Smith and I love the church all the more.

We piled into the car again and then headed to our final destination of this part of our trip. Cooperstown!

We dropped Nick off at his bunker and helped him get set up. This is the only time we were allowed in Baseball Village during that week. It was so weird not having Nick with us! We were one of the first ones there so he got a pretty sweet spot in the corner on the bottom bunk. His good buddy Chance got the bunk on the top. They had to bring their own sheets and just had a footlocker at the end of the bunkbeds that we put all of his stuff in and locked it up with his padlock.

We weren't there very long until players from the other teams came around wanting to trade their team pins. Nick was caught up in the fever and was soon off trading his pins off. He got 95 of the 104 teams represented and has over 100 pins total with his umpire pins and others he received while he was in Cooperstown. I'll have to take pictures of the pins he received because they are pretty impressive.

Here is what the Scrapper's pin looked like. Pretty darn sweet.

It looks like he is pretty psyched to be here.

We are too!

adventure days 1 & 2

2011-08-01T08:45:00.016-06:00

We just returned from a fabulous vacation back East.

Our adventure began with Nick's coach telling us last summer that their team, the Utah Scrappers, would have the opportunity to play in Cooperstown. But not wanting the trip to just be about baseball for the other boys, we decided to travel after the week long tournament. We spent a total of 18 days on vacation and not only went to Cooperstown but to Niagara Falls, New York City, and Washington D.C.

It. was. awesome.

We crammed everything and everyone into our Suburban and trekked over 5000 miles, covered 18 states, and was able to experience first hand the amazing beauty America possesses.

The first day we drove to Omaha. It took about 15 hours to get there and surprisingly, it wasn't that bad of a drive. We watched quite a few movies, the boys found licence plates (they found all but one U.S. state (Hawaii), 4 of the Canadian Providences, and one Mexican licence plate from Chihuahua over the course of the trip), drew in notebooks, and were very well behaved. We ate at a cute restaurant called the Farmhouse and tried deep fried pickles. As bizzare as they sound, they were actually pretty tasty.

We woke up early the next morning and continued our trek east. As we were looking at the atlas, we realized that we would be pretty close to South Bend, Indiana by lunchtime, home of the famous University of Notre Dame. I think it is every college football fan's dream to see the well known icon so we pulled off the freeway and ate lunch on the campus lawn while watching a group of coeds play a game of handball.

The boys made friends with this squirrel who was super interested in our leftover food.

We decided to walk around the campus a bit. It was absolutely stunning. I loved all of the old buildings, the endless tree canopies, and the spirit of pride that everyone had on that campus was almost tangible.

This was my favorite building on campus. It is their law school. I think I may need to change my profession.

Wouldn't walking to these doors make you want to go to class everyday?

Of course we had to stop by the football stadium. It was locked up for the season but the boys, all 5 of them, had to take a peek inside.

However, that little peek was not enough for Justin. As I was taking this picture, he asked one of the administrators walking by the stadium if we would be able to get inside. He told her that we were driving from Utah to New York and that we would only be there for an hour and he would love his boys to see the inside of the stadium. Isn't having kids awesome? Don't you love how if you really, really want something you will usually get it if you say your kids want it? After a little persuasion, you know what? She got on her little walkie talkie to Dan, the head groundskeeper, and he let us in.

You could tell Dan loved his job. He told us all about the stadium, how he cares for the grass, everything you would ever want to know. He was such a nice guy. He took our picture, let the boys run around the bleachers, and let Justin and the boys go out onto the field and touch the grass. I don't think Justin has washed his hands since. He said if the locker room wasn't in the process of getting recarpeted, he would let us go in and look around. Justin actually swooned.

There is a beautiful cemetery just as you enter the campus and I had to stop to take some pictures as we were leaving. I don't know why I am intrigued with cemeteries but they are so reverent and peaceful and you wonder what the life stories are of the people who are buried there. I am particularly drawn to those with old, big, romantic headstones with full grown trees and beautiful surroundings because I think that it is a tribute to those who are laid to rest. This one fit the bill perfectly.

We made it to Willoughby, OH that night which is a little suburb outside of Cleveland. We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and went to bed to get rested up for our final leg of the trip to Cooperstown, New York.

last days

2011-07-28T16:58:00.007-06:00

Surrounding the last days of school before summer was a whirlwind of activity. There were so many things to do between the three elementary boys that I was at their school almost everyday for 2 weeks. It was super fun and this year for some reason went by really fast for me.

We were blessed with amazing teachers. All different but all perfect for the individual boy. Nick's was fun and outgoing but firm and able to keep Nick on track. She was able to keep his goofy and fun side while cultivating his side that was becoming a more mature young man. Andrew's teacher was sweet and caring and made Andrew realize that if he does his best work he will more often than not be done the first time. Luke's teacher seemed to go with the flow with Luke. I don't know if it was because Luke is getting more focused at school or if his teacher let the small things slide but Luke loved going to school. I think he had a bit of a crush on his teacher which probably helped a little.

Some of the fun activities we were able to attend were Nick's wax museum and the end of school carnival.

Nick chose to be Titus. He chose Titus because he was a very important emporer in ancient Rome. He helped finish the colluseum and he helped with the people of Pompeii after the volcano erupted.He was around in a bad time. There were two natural disasters during his rule. One of them was the fire of Rome and the second was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Nick and Dylan.

Nick and April.

Madison, Cassidy, and Nick.

The end of school carnival was a blast. There were bounce houses, treats, a dunking booth, face painting, tattoos, and a slew of other activities.

Here is Luke and his teacher, Mrs. Hale. Sad that the other teachers weren't there.

Here are Luke and Liam getting their airbrush tatoos. They felt pretty darn awesome.

The boys had a great school year and I am excited to see what the upcoming year brings. Nick goes into Junior High which excites me and scares me at the same time. All of my kids will be going to school every day. It is crazy. I am glad though that their time away from home is with teachers who care about them and they are with good friends. It is really all that I could ask for.

liam's last day

2011-07-25T15:50:00.017-06:00

We just returned from a fantastic vacation that I need to start posting about but before I begin there are a couple events that cannot be forgotten.

One is Liam's graduation from preschool.

It was freaking adorable. My emotions were a bit close to the surface going to the program because this is my baby all grown up. He is so ready though to move on to Kindergarten and I am glad that he passed all his requirements from Early Intervention and did not have to go last year. He would not have been ready socially or academically but I have to admit, this last year he has grown leaps and bounds and is all grown up.

I mean, just look at how excited he is.

These poor kids were the center of attention about halfway through the program. I noticed the little girl first bobbing her head since she was sitting next to Liam and then after I pointed her out to Justin, he said he was laughing at the little boy next to her. The girl would wake up periodically and try to sing and do the actions but the boy was out for the count. I would not be surprised if he has some whiplash injury.

I made it through the program just fine and then they started the darned slideshow. I think they should be banned.

I cried through the entire thing. Just seeing him and all his friends doing their little preschool projects was so endearing and it will be the last time I will have to endure it. The boys would look and me and laugh and I warned Nick that this was nothing...wait a few years when he graduates from high school. I may have to be escorted out by security since my tears will flood the venue.

Still a few more years. Whew.

Then Pomp and Circumstance was played and the students walked out on stage in their itty bitty graduation hats and received their diplomas and a lei.

So happy and such a big boy!

Liam and his cute friend Clara.

His proud brothers.

Liam and Lea.

The proud parents.

Thank you Miss Amber for all your love and patience and for all you taught Liam! He loves school and had so much fun in your class.

Watch out Kindergarten. Liam is ready.

Great Scotts!

*random*

*light*

*2012*

*festivities*

*goings on*

*birthday dinner*

*until next year*

*13*

*11*

*playoffs vs bingham x 2*

*fright night weekend*

*fall break*

*creatures of the night*

*cornbellies*

*vs riverton & vs olympus*

*bewitched*

*vs bingham & vs riverton*

*field trip*

*autumn loveliness*

*vs alta x 2*

*vs juan diego and vs hunter*

*space-the great unknown*

*vs judge*

*deep fried*

*football*

*first day 2011*

*s'more please*

*liam*

*sweet tooth*

*stupid appendix*

*it's what fun is*

adventure *days 17&18&19*

adventure *day 16*

adventure *day 15*

adventure *day 14*

adventure *day 13*

adventure *day 12*

adventure *day 11*

adventure *day 10*

adventure *day 9*

adventure *days 7 & 8*

adventure *days 5 & 6*

adventure *day 4*

adventure *day 3*

adventure *days 1 & 2*