Family Reunion at Bear Lake

Wednesday, June 29th--My sister, Amanda, and her family flew to Idaho for a short while. They flew in from Hawaii to visit Ben's grandma, who has poor health and not expected to live much longer. They weren't able to come down to the Salt Lake area so we met them up at Bear Lake for the day. My other sister, Alishia, and her family met us up there as well. We had hoped my BIL's family cabin was available but it was booked. We had also hoped to find a spot on the beach, we knew there were picnic areas. Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of flooding in the area, due to rapid snow melt. The beaches were all under water! Instead, we paid for a day-pass at the KOA. It was perfect, complete with a pool, play area and grassy spot for us to sit and visit for a while. I gave Amanda a list of things I wanted her to bring from Hawaii and she did not disappoint. A bunch of yummy macadamia treats to last us for quite some time!

As we were visiting, a storm blew in and created some massive wind with some rain. It made for not-so-great visiting but, luckily, it went by a short while later. Elise and Brady LOVED spending time with their cousin, Keven. He's a few years old than Elise but they all get along great. All the cousins were together for the first time in a couple of years. There's 5 altogether. We took pictures of these wacky kids for Nana and Papa.

We were only able to stay for a couple of hours before it was time to make the 2 1/2 hour drive back to Eagle Mountain. Luckily, we got all caught up with Amanda, Ben and Keven. One of these days we'll be able to save up enough money to afford a trip over to Hawaii to visit them. They seem to enjoy living there!

Happy Fathers Day!

Sunday, June 19th--Another awesome Fathers Day for an awesome father! I say it all the time, and, yep, read it again, Nate is one of the best dads I've ever known or seen. He loves and adores his children. It warms my heart to see him interact with Elise and Brady everyday. I am one lucky woman to have him as my partner as we raise our children, in hopes we're giving them a great foundation to build a wonderful future for themselves. He loves to take them to baseball games, movies, amusement parks, etc. He reads them stories every night before bedtime and says prayers with them. One of his favorite activities is to take them to the library to pick out books to read. He has such a love of reading and both of our children have that love too. I have developed that love too, thanks, in part, to him.

I look forward to many more celebrations of Nate as a dad! You are the best, my love!

Last Day of School!

Friday, June 3rd--HOORAY! Another school year is done and over! Brady did very well in Kindergarten. I couldn't be any more happy with the way his first year in elementary school went. He had such an amazing teacher. Ms. Cindy Sorensen is, by far, one of the most incredible and devoted teachers I've ever met. WOW, she has a heart of gold! Each and every one of her students learned to love her greatly. I volunteered quite often in her class and could see that even disappointing her by having to "pull a card" would break the students hearts. Cindy and I have developed a wonderful friendship. She has found her knight in shining armor, Matt Anderson, and will be marrying him in the middle of July. I fixed her up with Nate's brother, Kip, in December. Things were looking pretty good, they had gone on several dates (I was secretly doing a happy dance every time I saw one of them!!!), but it was not meant to be. Cindy met Matt shortly after and it was fireworks! We're so happy for them!

Elise has a great year too! She finished 3rd grade with high marks and more confidence in herself. She had two teachers this year, Mrs. Christine Mair and Mrs. Crystal Spencer. Mrs. Mair was her morning teacher and left when the students went to lunch then Mrs. Spencer came for the afternoon. The two make a great team and I think Elise benefited from that. Elise had Mrs. Mair in 1st grade so she, and I, were quite thrilled to find out she had her again. Both of Elise's teachers are very kind and have done a wonderful job. We will miss them as she heads up to 4th grade.

With Brady's special needs, we are able to request his teacher every year. We've asked for Mrs. Angie Simpson. She was Elise's 2nd grade teacher and was awesome! I spoke with her a few months ago and asked if she would be okay taking Brady's needs on. She happily said "Yes!" I loved working with her when Elise was in her class and now I'll get to work with her again! It's a blessing knowing he'll be with a teacher we trust to care for him and be aware of his needs. He also has a great aid, which he'll have again for 1st grade. Pat is so on-the-ball caring for him and making sure he tests at a specific time. With 1st grade being full time, it makes me quite nervous and gives me anxiety to think a huge part of his care will be turned over to Pat and Mrs. Simpson. I have to have faith! I have to also realize my little guy is growing up and is starting to understand more and more how to manage the disease himself, with someone looking over his shoulder, just in case.

Let our summer begin! Lots of fun activities to look forward to!

Memorial Day

Monday, May 30th--We did our annual camping trip to Palisade State Park, in Sterling, UT. We came home on Monday pretty early and decided to go visit some graves of family. The morning started out HORRIBLY cold and rainy. On our drive home we even hit some snow---pretty scary when you're pulling a camper! Even with the chilly weather we ventured out to the graves. Our first stop was in Sandy to visit my Grandma Van Otten (my moms mother). I haven't been to her grave since Elise was a baby. It was windy, rainy and COLD but I was so happy I went. I was surprised no other flowers were at her grave since there is other family in Utah but I was able to pick up some beautiful mums. I miss her so much. She's one of the rare few I have ever known that loved unconditionally. She passed away when I was 16. My Grandpa Van Otten is still alive at 95 years old. His memory is not so great but he's doing well, considering his age.
Our next stop was in Midvale to visit Nate's Grandpa and Grandma Mlaker (his moms parents). By now if was hailing outside and the hail was big enough it was hurting us so we quickly looked, took some pics and ran back to our car. Nate's grandma was very much the same as my own and I know he misses his grandparents as much as I do.

Our next stop was suppose to be up in Taylorsville to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Blackburn's graves (my dads parents). The weather was so horrible and we knew there would be some considerable walking to reach their graves, we decided to call it a day. I felt bad but it's not like we can't go anytime we want. We still remember them with much love.

Elise Is a Mom......to Butterfly's!

Saturday, May 21st--As you might remember, Elise received a butterfly kit for her birthday, back in March. Nate ordered the caterpillars after we returned from Disneyland. They arrived on May 11th. It took only 10 days for them to form cocoons and hatch. It was quite an experience to watch the whole process. Elise got 5 caterpillars and all 5 formed cocoons and hatched, all within 2-3 days. She loved taking them out of the little netted cage and let them perch on her finger. Once they were all hatched it was time to release them. We have beautiful honeysuckle bushes blooming right now so I thought it would be a good idea to release them nearby. When we went outside, many of the neighbor kids were out playing and got to watch her release them. It was a great! Elise is already wanting to order more caterpillars! She even named the little cuties but I can't remember the names.

Elise's Class Fieldtrip

Wednesday, May 18th--I love going on fieldtrips with my kids. They are always so fun! Elise's class fieldtrip took us up to the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine. Holy moly it was snowing! There was so much fog we couldn't even see into the large pit. We spent some time in the visitors center where we watched a film and then looked around at all the many displays. I had a group of 4 girls I was in charge of, including Elise. The visitors center was small and we had some time to kill after we saw everything so, naturally, the girls wanted to go to the gift shop. Ay yi yi! The girls went crazy. Of course, Elise begged me to buy her something. Instead I got a few things for her cousin who lives in Hawaii, things I knew he would love. We were suppose to eat lunch close-by at a park but the weather was so awful--who would have thought, in the middle of May, we'd still need winter coats! We rode the bus back to the school and ate lunch in the classroom. Even with the crazy weather we had a great time!

A Hot Day At Trafalga

Friday, May 13th--We have some wonderful season passes called The Pass of All Passes. It includes two fun parks, minor league baseball games, and a water park. For as cheap as they were, we've gotten our moneys worth time and time again. Today, we went to Trafalga. It's in Lehi. It has some outdoor rides and minigolf and inside is an arcade, mini golf and laser tag. The great thing is, because we have the passes, we don't feel like we have to stay for a long time at these places. Today was mostly riding on the rides outside and 1 round of laser tag. Nate and the kids wanted to do the bumper boats. LOL! They got drenched! And, of course, Brady drove Nate and himself into the fountains to get soaked. It was great to watch and be thankful I wasn't getting wet! It was pretty hot so we left and went to eat at Iceberg and ended our dinner with some yummy shakes and ice cream cones.

"The Bike Whisperer" Takes On Brady!

May 12th--We've been begging, begging, BEGGING Brady to learn how to ride his bike. We've bribed him with so many things we pray he won't remember them all. My good friend and neighbor, Ashley, has a special "knack" for teaching children how to ride bikes. I, on the other hand, have no such talent so I was happy to turn that responsibility over to her since she offered and was willing. A few months ago, Brady had tried to learn with Nate but ended up falling and was turned off on learning. One of the other problems for this poor kid is that he's so tall we had to get rid of the little bike with training wheels and upgrade to a big kids bike, making it all that more difficult. For some reason, he decided today was the day. He had been saying this for a few days but would change his mind. Ashley convinced him and away they went. It took a little time but......SHE DID IT.....HE DID IT!! I was jumping up and down cheering! He was pretty wobbly and nervous but she had him try it over and over again. It was awesome! Ashley has now dubbed herself "The Bike Whisperer" and I totally agree! WAHOO Brady!

Happy Mothers Day To Me!

Sunday, May 8th--Mothers Day was wonderful!! As per my request, Nate cooked dinner. He asked what I wanted and lasagna sounded great. He decided to try no-boil lasagna noodles. Never tried those before but we don't recommend them. The noodles were rather tough and extra chewy. However, as with every time one of us cooks lasagna, we always make two pans and freeze the other. The second pan was loaded up with extra sauce and when we cooked it a few days later, it was pretty good. After our dinner, we went over to Nate's parents house for dessert and to visit with family.
I'm so thankful to be a mom and to share my role as parent with such an amazing man. We have our ups and downs but I really have a wonderful family that I love more than anything! This is my 10th Mothers Day! I look forward to many, MANY more!

Nate Coaches Brady's Baseball Team

Saturday, April 30th--Nate's really enjoyed being able to coach baseball teams the last few years. He's really patient and calm with the kids and he's always had a supportive assistant coach too. This year Brady has improved A LOT! Nate bought some equipment to help him practice at home and he's been doing really well. On nights there is no practice or games, Nate will often take Brady to the nearby park and pitch to him or help him throw to bases, etc. Our first game was today and it was COLD! Many of the families watching were shivering. I could tell it would be cold so I packed a few warm blankets so Elise and I were able to stay warm. The little kids playing all had dark pink noses and cheeks but them seemed to really have fun playing. There's no score keeping in Brady's current age group. We're told next year score will start to be kept. Each of the little kids get to try to hit the ball pitched to them and if they don't hit it after the 5th pitch then the tee is placed in front of them and they get to hit and run. Brady hit after a couple of pitches the first round then the second round he had to hit the ball on the tee. Either way he did great and he played the bases really well too! Nate was a pretty awesome pitcher! So proud of both of my guys!