Dancing Queen

Aubree started her first dance lessons this week. She has been really excited but nervous at the same time. I found myself probably more nervous than she was. We got her dressed and I think we could have ended there and she would have been happy. As we loaded in the car I asked her if she thought we should have a prayer so she could have help from Jesus. She consented and I said a quick prayer for both of our nerves.

Before going she kept asking if I could be there with her. I told her I would be there but I would just be watching. I told her that her teacher would tell her everything she needed to do. I seriously had butterflies. As a Mom you just want to see your child succeed. It's hard to see them struggle even though it's part of life and I really think it's important that they do work through some struggles.

Anyway, she went right in and loved every second of the class. She did tumbling for the first 30 minutes and then ballet for the 2nd 30 minutes. There are 3 girls in her class and they had so much fun. When we were on our way home she said that she didn't need that prayer because it was "Incredible". I tried to tell her that Jesus helped her but she wasn't having it. I guess the prayer was more for myself.

Aubree asked if she could go again some day. She was thrilled when she found out she gets to go EVERY Tuesday. She's my cute little dancer and I'm so proud of her for being brave.

Quick Trip to Bear Lake

One more quick trip with way too many pictures is what happened last week-end. All summer I wanted to get to Bear Lake because I knew Aubree would just love it. We went up Friday and came home Saturday so it was really quick. We met up with Michael and Stacie for dinner and then they came back and had a campfire with us. Aubree was glad to have Abby's company. Syd and Rachel tried to be like the big girls but mostly just got dirty.

Of coarse I brought my camera and just kept taking pictures. I really need to stop. I don't know what I'll ever do with all these pictures. It's almost becoming an addiction.....It's just hard to stop when my girls are so cute and I love learning what works and doesn't work in photography. I do love the reflection in the top picture.

Even though Syd didn't sleep the greatest she still woke up pretty happy and ready for another day on the beach. Aubree didn't want to go back to our old house she prefers the tent.

Again, this wasn't Scott's first choice of a week-end, it was a little cold and the girls both came down with colds but I had a good time. I really love any time we can spend together as a family.

Merry Christmas to Me!

Scott told me the other day that BYU's opening game is like Christmas for him. That sacred day just happens to be next Saturday. Knowing this helped me decide to do a little Christmas shopping for myself.

I've have decided to buy a piano. After looking at a few in a lower price range I realized I wasn't going to get something very nice for just a couple hundred bucks. Thankfully I have "my stimulus" money from the government. When we found out we were getting that money Scott was negotiating his trip to Seattle (the 2nd one in 3 weeks) to watch BYU play. He found a way by saying we could split the money we got from the Economic Stimulus and neither of us could ask questions as to how we spent our portion. Basically it was our own "play" money.

Needless to say, Scott's going to Washington and I have a piano. My piano was a little more than my portion of the money so it is also our Christmas presents to each other. It is a used piano and a little older but so far I really like it. Now Scott and I don't have to come up with ideas of what we want for Christmas. It's a win-win situation.

The one down thing when I saw it was the absolutely hideous bench. It was all smashed down upholstered with an olive green and orange nasty fabric. It was hard to look past but I figured I could reupholster it. I didn't want to bring it in the house until I was ready to rip off the old and put on the new.

When I went to get fabric I was going to get a plain black that I could wipe off easily but then I saw this fabric just couldn't pass it up. I figure if it gets dirty I'll just redo it again. The one down side is the cushion I had is just a little tall. I didn't realize it until it was all finished. Oh well.

The first night we had the piano we had a concert. Everyone got their own turn to sit and play while everyone else listened. The girls were so excited about it. I'm sure once they actually take lessons and have to practice they won't be quite as excited.

I hope to begin playing a little more. I have never been great but I would love to learn a few hymns and play a few primary songs. So, in my spare time I'll try and practice......

Darrington Reunion 2008

Where do I start? We've been gone for the past week enjoying the Darrington Reunion. We were at Ensign Ranch near Seattle, Washington. It was so beautiful and I can't say enough about the magnificent weather. It was so nice to be outside enjoying the sun but not sweating our brains out.

Part of the reason I really enjoy this reunion is because Aubree and Sydney get a chance to spend quality time with their cousins on the Darrington side. They get plenty of time with the Stevens' cousins but the Darringtons are too spread out to get together very often.

Some of the highlights for me were:

1 - Going down the giant slip-n-slide - As Spence put it "It was a little ghetto-ish", however it really was a blast. The best thing I can compare it to is going sledding in the summer. There was a huge plastic tarp covering a hill and you got on a tube and sailed down. We had so much fun being "brave" as we attempted different tricks. After watching us on the video it doesn't look near as fun or exciting as it really was. I felt like a kid again.

2 - Being dumped on our canoe ride - Scott and I thought it would be fun to go out canoeing on the little lake. We decided to take the girls thinking they would enjoy it also. Well, we didn't even get off the dock before Syd and I went into the drink. Luckily I was already wet from the slip-n-slide and the water at that point was only a couple of feet. The scary part was looking up and seeing Sydney face down in the water. Needless to say she was very still the rest of the ride. It was a fun little ride.

3 - Watching the girls excitement as they got to ride horses aka "neighs" - They had horse led rides that the girls got to enjoy. I was proud of little Syd who bravely sat on the horse and walked around.

4 - Eating yummy food - I always know if the Darringtons are cooking it's going to be good. This time was no different. If only I could have had a little more pulled pork. It was all delicious.

5 - Hanging out in the late evening with the adults - As with every get together there are so many kids running around sometimes it's hard to have a conversation with others because of the attention the kids need. It's great once they are all in bed and we can sit and laugh with each other.

6 - The Darrington Olympics - It was fun watching the kids compete in different races. The adults even participated a little but the kids did most of the running. Melissa really worked on getting them tired. The dads carrying all of their children had to be the funniest. Scott only had to carry Aubree since Sydney was taking a nap. Watching Rob trying to carry 3 and Spencer carry 4 was pretty funny.

7 - Taking a gazillion pictures - Yes, this is a big shock but I took sooo many pictures. It was fun and I really enjoy it so everyone had to suffer through a few photo shoots. My family just happened to be the hardest of all. Aubree was fired up we took her from a movie with her cousins. We couldn't get her to smile for anything. Maybe next time. My goal was to get a cute close up of each of the kids. I remembered the last night that I didn't think I had one of Kendall so I grabbed her Thursday morning and we took a few. After we got home I realized I forgot Aubree. We still need to take one of her and pretend it was at the reunion. Oops.

8 - Traveling to and from the reunion - This may seem weird that spending approximately 25 hours in the car is enjoyable but I really do like it. Yes, it has its moments but overall I like it. It's one of the few times I have Scott's attention all to myself. We talk and talk and talk about anything and everything. We also got to stop in Boise on the way and eat dinner with the Harwoods. It was fun to see them and their cute new house. I really like Jessica's style and always see new ideas in her house. We spent the night with Philip and Karen and their kids. Thanks to Evan for giving us his room for the night.

Then we went to Richland and spent Sunday with Kim and Dave. Hopefully Dave will let us come again after Syd moved Dave's Star Wars toys. Sorry, Dave. Then we went to the reunion on Monday.

On the way home we decided the 12 hours wasn't long enough so we took the scenic route home and went through Spokane, the Idaho Pan Handle, Montana and then down. It really was beautiful and we made it all in one day. It was 14 hours in the car. We pulled in about 2:45 am and fell into bed. The extra couple of hours were worth it because it was so beautiful.

There were other fun moments but I stopped writing for few minutes and my mind is blank so I guess it's time to end this post. It was a fun little getaway and I can't wait to do it again in 2 years. Hopefully we can do it in conjunction with Scott's parents coming home from their mission. We were sad they had to miss this one but glad they are serving the Lord.

Over Again

Church Softball is over again. Scott had his final game last Thursday. As we were talking about it on the way home he said he didn't feel the same passion he once had for the game.

I actually enjoy going to the games more than I have ever enjoyed it. Part of the reason is the girls can play on the playground while I sit in the shade, relax, watch the game and chat with other ladies. It just seems like a summer activity that I've leaned to enjoy.

Every picture I tried to take of Scott hitting the ball turned out a bit blurry so I'll post this one of him on first base (insert your own first base joke here) waiting to run.

Every once in awhile Aub and Syd would sit on the bleachers and cheer for their dad instead of playing on the playground.

Once Upon a Time....

Once upon a time I went to Ricks College. Looking back at those days they were so carefree and probably the funnest (is that a word) time of my life. We partied and played EVERY day! It's easy now to forget how life was until you meet up with those you shared that time with. The following picture are my roommates for the 94-95 school year. I am on the bottom right (notice my hair isn't quite as big).

The coolest thing about our apartment was we had the shortest girl Loralee (4'10") and the tallest girl, Krissy (6'2"). If you notice the following picture everyone in the back row is standing on the floor.

After graduating from Ricks Alice came back with me to Morgan for the summer to work and hang out just a little more. We were planning on missions before finishing up our bachelor's degrees. We continued to do dumb stuff like dress up in my mom's old clothes. It didn't matter what we did we had fun doing it.

Before we all left on missions we took one last hurrah and went to Disneyland together. It was Me, Krissy, Alice and Lol. We had so much fun and it was my first plane ride. We went in October 1995.

I haven't seen Alice since 2002 when I went to her home in Mesa. Every once in awhile the rest of us get together and it is always so much fun but it was especially fun yesterday.

We had SOOOOO much fun talking and laughing about the good 'ol days. I have to admit it is a bit tough to talk when there are 10 kids between us but we managed to catch up. This picture is all but one child and myself. CRAZY!

The best thing yesterday had to be watching "The Roommate Video" that Alice and I put together at the end of our Sophomore year. We were so proud of the video and as we watched it we were still proud of the technology we used in 1995. We didn't actually finish the video because we had to pause on every picture and figure out who everybody was in the picture. We also realized as we watched it that we had about 50 pictures of the same date scattered throughout. We were laughing so hard as our kids were looking at us wondering what had gotten into their moms.

Loralee just cracked me up in this picture. I was trying to get a cute picture of her and Alice talking but Lol was so animated in her story that every picture she is pulling some new face.

We ended up spending the whole day together. It was so fun to see Lol and Alice. We actually got a picture of the 3 of us. I think we may look better now than 14 years ago.

Family Camp Out

One of my fondest memories during the summer growing up was camping as a family. It seems we were gone somewhere every week-end. My parents had a membership to Camperworld, which are campgrounds but they usually have grass, bathrooms, showers, swimming pools, etc. One thing about it, we didn't have to work. If we stayed home we had to work so we were all about getting away. The campground we went to the most was in Coalville.

Each year in October during General Conference we still go up there with a bunch of relatives and watch conference together. The pool is always closed by that time of year and I wanted to take my little family up during the summer to enjoy what I used to enjoy.

Scott promised me one week-end (Friday-Saturday) that I could plan and choose what to do. Our week-ends have filled up so fast that it's crazy to find one open. Since the Rowley Reunion was only an afternoon/evening thing that freed up last Friday and Saturday.
I packed everything up and was pretty much ready to go after Scott got in his promised golf game. The girls were so excited to have another new house. On our trip to Mt. Rushmore Aubree was excited to see our new house every night.

The girls could hardly contain themselves once the tent was up. They just wanted to play house. Everyone laughs at our huge 10 man tent when it comes to putting up tents. Not that it's hard to put up, it's just that it's so big. We love having all the space.

Thanks to Marcus we have a tent. I don't think Scott would ever buy a tent for the 1 or 2 times a year we use it but I love having it. Marcus gave it to us probably about 8 years ago for Christmas. It was the year he got his new job and bought everyone nice Christmas presents. Thanks Marcus! We are still using it.
Anyway, we then went swimming and it felt sooooo good. The girls loved it. Aubree even put her head under (not by her choice, but by Scott's choice). She wasn't real excited about that but on the way home she said. "Mom, I have a good idea. I can go under again and close my eyes this time." I asked if she hadn't been closing her eyes before and she said no. I guess that explains the blood shot eyes she had the entire time we were there.

Syd had so many life saving devices on while swimming that she could barely breathe. They required a life jacket for 3 and under because there is no lifeguard on duty. She was also in her little baby tube. She couldn't move at all.
This picture was an exciting 2 man game of Duck Duck Goose. You just never know who's going to picked to run with 2 people. The girls loved it anyway.

Later we roasted hot dogs and suffered though a meltdown by Aubree who was exhausted. We tried to put both girls down to bed but then neither of them were tired enough to actually go to bed so they came back out and sat around the campfire with Scotty and I.
It was a little cold and I thought the whole family might end up sleeping on the air mattress with Scott and I but we only had one kid in bed with us at a time. I guess that's a success. We got up and played on the toys and walked around in the morning and the packed up and headed back home.

It was a fun 24 hour trip and I want to do it again next year. We can only hope we have a newborn and can't do fun things like next year that but we learned long ago not to hold our breath on that one.