We are Mountain Men...

Our school carnival is called the Mountain Man Rendevous. When I was little and went to Oquirrh Elementary we had cake walks and gold fish ponds and all kinds of old school carnival games, also the mountain men would come with their teepees and tell stories and show animal skins and neat things! Now that my kids go to Oquirrh the school carnival has morphed to a fun thing that the kids today enjoy, I miss the carnivals of old but since you can't bring homemade goodies anymore and nobody wants to win a gold fish that'll be dead come morning this is what we did...We ate snow cones that turned our tongues blue,

and yummy cotton candy!

We played in the bounce houses and the won at the midway games

And best of all, we hung out with friends and family!

Obsession?!?!?!

I have recently discovered I have an obsession for books, but especially cookbooks! I love cookbooks and own a ton of them! I'm so excited because of my newest addition...

so many good recipes that remind me of being a kid! Plus, a ton more that I can't wait to try! The best cookbooks are ward cookbooks and this is the ultimate!

YAY GIRLS!!

Annie found out before the last day of school that she made it into 8th grade honors english! YAY ANNIE!! She was also given homework for this class by the teacher before the last day so she could complete it during the summer! She's been diligently reading books so she can write an essay, 2 pages double spaced with specific criteria (not just your old time book report like I used to write!)

When we got home from lunch today and got the mail there was a letter for Shawna welcoming her to the 7th grade honors english class!! HOORAY FOR SHAWNA!! She lucked out though, no summer homework for her!!

I know that we put a lot of pressure on our kids to excel in what they do, I'm so proud of their accomplishments but mostly I'm proud because they try their hardest and do their best and it definately shows! Congrats girls! I knew you could do it!

Sunrise...

This weekend we headed up Logan Canyon to the Sunrise Campground which is 1/4 mile from the scenic lookout of Bear Lake. It was just the 4 of us and it was super fun despite the terrible weather!

Darrell and the girls on our hike

Shawna and Annie on our hike

Darrell and Shawna at Bear Lake

Kidnapped...

Annie made Shawna's Bday cake this year!

Today Me and Annie kidnapped Shawna from school. What a great birthday surprise! We took her to see UP in 3-D and then to lunch before heading back to school with bday treats! What a fun day!! Makes having my baby turn 12 seem not so bad!

Us wearing the 3-D glasses from UP!

Another last...

Tonight after dinner Shawna had homework, cleaning her tote tray. It's always been a tradition that we go outside, get the hose and I turn the girls loose with a can of shaving cream (that's right, shaving cream gets all the crap off those totes! All you with littles should make a mental note now!) The girls would have a blast cleaning their totes and playing in the shaving cream/hose until I finally came out and finished the job! Today was the last of our tote cleaning! Since middle schoolers and high schoolers have lockers and don't carry tote trays around I'm feeling melancholy while Shawna cleans her tote tray, in the sink because we're having thunderstorms, but still with shaving cream and an added bonus this year, the SOS pad. I think she did a pretty good job and I didn't even have to help!

Shawna is a Mountain Man!

Shawna started Oquirrh Elementary in the 1st grade and worked very hard to earn her 1st Mountain Man Award. The Mountain Man Award is a very prestigious and hard to earn award that is given to students at the end of each school year. Shawna has 6 of them, 1 for every year she's attended Oquirrh, and she's worked hard to get each one! Today she got the last award, 1 of 4 kids in 6th grade! Way to go Shawna!!! We are sooooo proud of you!

This is Shawna's Mountain Man Award and Physical Fitness Certificate!

Shawna wearing all 6 of her Mountain Man medals (but only because I made her for this pic! LOL!)

Goals

Last night on our walk Shawna announced that she has some goals. First she'd like to run in marathons. For anyone who knows me, you know I do not see any reason what-so-ever that gets people in these crazy marathons where they run and run and run event after event. I figure it must be some sort of sick drug-like stupor that has them doing this type of activity! However, if you know me you also know there is nothing I won't do to support my kiddies so... I think I've talked her down to a 10k! I've printed off our "schedule for training" from the internet AND in just a short 8 weeks we should be able to run a 10K, but I'm hoping Shawna will train with me for a year and we can start doing this next spring!! The other goal she has is that she someday wants to run the border of UTAH! She assures me that she doesn't want to sleep under the stars or go w/o a bath the entire time she's doing the border, she'll make sure to eat in resturaunts and sleep in hotels so she'll be clean and refreshed each day she heads out, but she wants to run the entire border of Utah! I don't know where she's getting this type of ambition from, but I think when she decides to do the border run, I'll drive her luggage! LOL!!
WISH US LUCK! And if anyone is an experienced runner and has advise for us PLEASE PLEASE SHARE! We're obviously not runners... YET!

Biker Momma in the Making...

Just a few pics of my adorable nieces...

B Mya wishing she was old enuf to go for a ride!

Lo with Uncle Darrell on the Motorcycle, she loved her short ride and didn't even mind that Uncle Darrell was the one taking her! She must be overcoming her fear!

B Mya cheering Lo on!

Dear Friend...

Dearest Becky Warner,

Thank you sooo much for the beautiful souvenier you brought me back from Boston! I wasn't expecting anything from your trip and I am so touched that you thought of me while you were away! I sure missed having you in the office and I thought of you often! I'm glad that you had a nice time with your wonderful hubby, Mark, and your friends but I'm sure grateful your back!

I'm so glad that you are working with me! You are an extrordinary woman and I love having you around! Thank you for being the person you are and for being such a good friend to me! Words cannot express how grateful I am to have you in my life.

Love,

Shara