where did December go?

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Techmeyers and then headed to Boise for cousin Spencer's baptism and cousin Heather's missionary homecoming. It was a delightful weekend.

December has been quick and fun! We enjoyed time with Mindy, Clinton & Lizzy (they were here for a week or so). Zachary and Anna have been playing Junior Jazz basketball--fun for them to play and fun to watch. Anna had a number of dance performances including Festival of Trees, the Christmas recital, and at the Murray Care Center.

Zachary, Anna, and Griffin are all in the school choir. Zachary and Anna both had solos in the Christmas concert and did amazing!

The Christmas piano recital was an enjoyable evening as well. It is very rewarding to watch the kids who practice and prepare well perform well. Our kids were happy with their performances, as were we. Zachary and Anna played a duet together as well as solos and Griffin was the opener with Jingle Bells. He played though his song several times because he liked how it looked to watch the hammers hit the strings.

Our ward party was Return to Bethlehem. Everyone dressed in appropriate attire and had a true Bethlehem experience. The boys were asked to be the wise men for the Nativity and the girls were asked to be the angels. Thanks to mom for all the great costumes.










We scored six tickets to a Jazz game so we drove downtown, had to park a ways away so we walked a bit and then took the train the rest of the way to the arena. We had a good time together. There's something fabulously festive about being downtown with the lights and snow and Christmas music.

being responsible

Anna was recognized yesterday in the Character Education Assembly as being responsible. Here she is pictured with Sharky, the school mascot.

Anna is very responsible. When she puts her mind to it, she can accomplish anything including having the best attitude or being the most helpful or getting her room cleaned up in record time or memorizing a piano piece.

She's a great girl and an important part of our family.

Jeremy

Yesterday I was asked to make a clever (or not) handout for those judging the Reflections contest at the elementary school and I agreed. It was a busy day. Jeremy agreed last night to go purchase the 100 Grand candy bars ("Thanks. You're worth 100 Grand" was the plan) while I got the kids ready for bed.

I'll be honest, sometimes bedtime isn't calm, nor is it a sweet, bonding time at our house. Not that I wouldn't love it to be that way. So I'm in the bedtime process, a little irritated, and the phone rings. Sigh. The caller ID identifies that it's Jeremy and I mumble, "you're the creative one, just pick something that works." I answer the phone and I hear: "What about 'don't be an Idaho Spud.' No, that's not quite it. What about 'Thanks for judging even if you're a nerd.' No. Oh, here we go. 'You're a red hot tamale and a good judge, too.'" On it went for several minutes while Jeremy made me laugh, helped to change my attitude, and made me feel grateful for the blessings that I have been given.

pumpkins and leaves

Jeremy is so good at so many things. He completely orchestrated the pumpkin carving--you may notice that each pumpkin was designed by it's holder--and leaf cleaning up. It's a good thing he's here to provide fun, memory making opportunities for our kids.

I love fall for the crisp air, sweaters, pumpkins, zucchini bread, and crunchy leaves. I love these little people.

halloween festivities

This is Jeremy's idea of Halloween decorating. He's pretty amazing. Here's the fabulous cowgirl and cowboy.

Just down the street is a fun little nursery called Engh Floral. Each October they set up a pretty fun straw maze and other cool fall things. Here are the kids on the Black Pearl; the weather was very pirate appropriate.

The kids humored me while I took lots of pictures. Naturally, this one is their favorite.

El Dia De Los Muertos

We had our annual Dia De Los Muertos party a few weeks back. We ate delicious Mexican food, enjoyed visiting with family and friends, and even had a few newcomers (welcome John and Sarah with the UPS man). The kids played in the Haunted Back Yard (compliments mainly to Zachary and Jeremy) and watched a Halloween movie (projected on a bed sheet) from the trampoline (it wasn't quite as cold this year so none of the kids came in with frost on their blankets). Jer was hill folk (you can't quite see the arrows coming out of his back) and I managed to squeeze into my prom dress (the "dead" aspect was very disturbing, especially to Griffin and Jane) and assigned myself the title of "prom queen." It's amazing how your body changes over time (and babies).

shoot 'em up

Last Saturday was the ward Primary party. Here are the kids in their cowboy and cowgirl get-ups. Fun.

Showtime Utah

My sister, Sarah, and her husband, Neil, have been instrumental in the goings-on and the start up (May 2) at the Showtime Utah Theater in Pleasant Grove, Utah. For Mom's birthday, we enjoyed an evening at the theater: good, impressive music, and a fine meal. Good times, and happy birthday, Mom.

l-r: Hollie, David, baby Brooklyn, Michael, Colette, Mom, Sarah (Miss Ruby) & Neil, Jen, Jeremy, Anna, Zachary.

is he big enough?

Griffin can ride a bike, a real two wheeled bike, no training wheels, and no help. I get that he is 5, but isn't he growing up a little too fast?

This morning as we were walking to school Griffin said, with a very serious face, "Did you know that Mrs. Smith knows everything?" It doesn't surprise me, really. After all she's a super awesome Kindergarten teacher who loves him and he knows it.

In the summer sometime we were sitting down to dinner and I admit it wasn't the greatest meal. Griffin asked who made the noodles. I told him that I did. His response: "Maybe we could just get pizza instead."

I love Griffin.

I want candy

Anna has been dancing with the Glitter group at the Guyz 'n Dollz Performing Arts Studio for two months. She completely loves it. Their first performance was at the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point last week. They danced to I Want Candy and Anna had a solo part. We're working on remembering to smile. :)


There were loads of things for the kids to do. They mostly played in the bounce toys/slides. The boys stuck together and the girls stuck together while Jer (who is walking mostly without a limp and getting around nicely) and I got to relax and observe and visit. Later on they built paper rockets and launched them. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

flag football

So, a whirlwind 4 weeks of playing flag football and it was a ton of fun. Zachary got to play lots of positions, ran in a touchdown, and caught the football in the end zone for the extra point. Here's the one thing I managed to get on film: a kick off. Is he really 9.75 years old?

knee surgery & a big pink trailer

So Jeremy hurt his knee playing basketball Feb07, had the option to have it scoped, and we decided not to have it done. Long story short, he snapped his ACL and has been walking around since without one. So, on Tuesday Jer had an ACL replacement and all went well. Doctor's orders are to lay flat (knee above the heart) strapped to an ice pack (connected to an ice chest) and strapped to a constant movement machine for 7 days. We brought his computer upstairs and yesterday he watched 4 movies. He's tired of laying down, but is a good patient and is doing his physical therapy as instructed as well.

Also on Tuesday we sold Big Pink. We had posted her for sale last weekend and ended up selling her to a family in Colorado (who drove 7 hours to get here to pick 'er up). So, when Jer went down the hallway with the anesthesiologist, I went down a different hallway and zipped home to take care of the sale. I got back to the hospital 20 minutes before Jer got out of surgery. Wow.

I am grateful for sisters, grandmas, and awesome neighbors for helping us out these few days.

cousins, peaches & flag football

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Cassie & Rissy got to stay with us for a few days while their parents celebrated their anniversary. The kids and I built a fort in the girls' room that they all slept in (I use the term "slept" pretty lightly). We had a fun weekend.

We have been fortunate that mom's peach trees have continued to produce good fruit. We bottled whole peaches and got several batches of peach jam and peach syrup as well as some dried peaches. Jane was a good little helper--she was in charge of removing the pits from the peaches. We've been working on tomatoes and salsa this week.

Zachary decided that he'd like to try flag football. He is really enjoying it, pulled some flags in Saturday's game, and caught an interception!

Utah State Fair

We went to the Utah State Fair last Friday night. Anna and Griffin chose to spend their money on a ferris wheel ride and Zachary chose to spend his climbing the rock wall (he climbed to the top both times!). It was your standard carny with lots of loud music and people with no teeth, startling tattoos and unusual underwear. We enjoyed the animals and a nice picnic in the shade. The highlight, really, was the rodeo. There is something so American and moving about cowboys and cowgirls and a Sheriff's posse at dusk listening to the National Anthem. Griffin was one of ten kids selected for the mutton bustin'! Of course they didn't have a helmet that would adequately fit his head, but we perched one on top. He stayed on his sheep for about 3 seconds, and earned a belt buckle. Griffin thought it was "too fast!" but what great, delightful fun!

School starts!

Zachary and Anna started school last week. Zachary is in 4th grade, has Mrs. Jarman, a teacher new to Sandy Elementary, who is getting two thumbs up from our 9 year old. Anna is in 2nd grade, has Miss Ellison, who just got her gifted certification, and who is awesome (Zachary had her two years ago)!

Griffin started Kindergarten today. His teacher, Mrs. Smith, is super great with loads of energy. Griffin started today half day, but thinks he might want to try full day starting next week (Sandy Elementary went to full day K last year and it was very successful). This is going to be an adjustment for Jane--she did well today, but was a little lonely.

Soccer

We've started fall soccer! This is Anna playing goalie, one of her favorite positions.








Conversation at Griffin's game last week, 1st quarter, he's sitting on our blanket cheering for his team:
G: Mommy, it looks like my team isn't doing so good.
M: Yep.
G: I better go in there and score a goal.
M: Great, buddy, run hard!
Griffin went right in and scored a goal. And then scored another one.

Labor Day weekend

We spent Labor Day weekend at the cabin--a few days with Bart, Shonnie & kids and a few with our friends, the Smiths and the Morrills. The kids 4wheeled a bit, we rode horses, ate good food, hiked until it poured, and roasted marshmallows over the fire inside the cabin. It was a fun weekend.

Jeremy and Griffin riding Patches.

Lagoon

Target Lagoon day was Monday. We got in for a great price (and thanks to our Stake for the two free tickets we got (we missed Stake Lagoon Day, but yeah for Jeremy's calling and connections)) and had a tasty hamburger and hot dog lunch compliments of Target.

David and Hollie and their girls met us there (this is Anna and Rissy on the white roller coaster) as well as Suzy and LeiLani. We spent a few hours at Lagoon-a-Beach and then rode rides well into the night. It was great fun!

welcome Jack

Cousin Jack was blessed on August 17. He has a sweet disposition and seems to always be happy. I love baby blessings because it brings the extended family together (Jack is pictured with Aunt Barbara). Welcome, Jack. :)

Girls Camp

My new calling is Camp Director. This is a picture of me with my awesome girls and leaders at girls camp. We spent four great days together at our cabin. The theme was Steadfast in the Stars. We went on an evening hike to Lookout Point and stargazed, hiked the Little South Fork trail, learned about compasses and went on an orienteering course (thanks Suzy & Brannon), learned to tie knots, built different kinds of fires, prepared and ate good food, and worked on some projects. Jeremy and the kids came up for the Bishopric and Family Night (it was nice to have them!). It was a productive week and I think the girls learned a lot and had good experiences. It's amazing how much you can love a group of people after spending four days with them.

sleepover

We got to have a fun sleepover with cousins Naya, Fisher, and Cori. We ate hot dogs and then watched The Waterhorse on the trampoline outside (and projected the movie onto a sheet) when it got dark enough. It's great to have cousins!

Red Fish Lake

The Wright camping trip was at Red Fish Lake this year near the breathtaking Sawtooth Mountains in Stanley, Idaho. This is a picture of the leaving-at-5-a.m. group at Stanley Lake. We had a fantastic group camp site where we had the entire site to ourselves (we even had our own dumpster and our own outhouse) complete with a stream just past the fence and down the hill. Great spot.

We spent a day at Red Fish Lake playing in the water and building sand castles. The next day most of the group rafted (we had two large rafts) and kayaked down Swirly Canyon. Griffin bravely and without hesitation jumped into the very cold river to Aunt Molly, the river guide, Jane was happy as long as she didn't get splashed, Anna was glad to ride in the same raft as her cousins, Zachary had his first experience kayaking down a river (and loved it!), and Jeremy floated down in the ducky. Fun!

We went on a long hike in search of a waterfall (this is the group having a snack and water break) and we were able to see it at a distance.

We missed the cousins who weren't there, but so enjoyed spending time with those who were able to come.

more camping, hiking, and playing

So we got home from Atlanta late Tuesday and spent Wednesday unpacking, doing laundry, sorting the mail, returning phone calls, working on JWD, grocery shopping, and repacking for our Techmeyer camping trip at Stateline Lake. The turn around time wasn't quite enough. I had packed the tent in the trailer and the tent poles in the van, but forgot where I had put the tent poles, thought I must've left them home, so we put up our screen tent to sleep in (thanks to David for having some extra blankets to make walls), unpacked the van with the sleeping stuff, and found the tent poles. Needless to say, we had spent enough time putting up the screen tent that we opted to just sleep in that rather than putting up our real tent.

We played on the lake quite a bit, even though it was pretty chilly. David brought a paddle boat and Michael brought a rubber raft so we had some fun toys. We learned that mosquitoes don't like mouthwash--when chairs and people are spritzed with mouthwash the mosquitoes stay away. Nice to know. It was a fun trip.

We celebrated Pioneer Day with our good friends: Sam, Rachelle & Seven Smith, Cash the dog, and Santiago, their foreign exchange student. We hiked to Dog Lake at the top of Millcreek Canyon. It was a gorgeous afternoon and a pretty steep hike. We love that our kids enjoy hiking and look forward to next season when Jane will be packing herself.

A few days later we saw cousins at the Duane & Effie Wright family reunion. We did lots of fun things including making and launching rockets. This is a super cool picture of Anna launching hers.

Atlanta

Jeremy and I went to Atlanta for five days to the International Giftware and Home Furnishings Market where we met with manufacturers who produce product with licensed artwork. We made some great contacts and look forward to good things happening with the company. This is a picture of Jeremy standing in one of the walkways between the buildings that house the Market. It was an immense show and a good experience. To understand more about licensing artwork, check out our website at www.jwdlicensing.com.

The kids had a great time while we were gone. The boys stayed with Suzy and Brannon for a few days and camped at Trial Lake. The highlight was that Brannon and Griffin caught a fish and then ate it! Then the boys spent a few days with Neil and Sarah and did fun stuff including going up the backside of the Kennecott Copper Mines in a Jeep.

The girls spent a few days with David and Hollie swimming and playing and a few days with Michael and Colette. They got to go out to lunch and play, play, play.

It was nicest when we were all back together at home.

red, white, and blue

We had a first this year: nobody to spend the 4th of July with. Our extended family was busy (or out of town) and our friends all had plans. So, we went on a bike ride and then back to our house where we lit off our own fireworks, then watched some fireworks that the neighbors were setting off.

stitches

While Jeremy and I were at a wedding for Jeremy's cousin, the kids were playing hide and seek in the house. Somehow Griffin knocked over a table, breaking everything on the table, and cutting his finger quite badly. When it was all said and done, Griffin got 5 stitches in his left middle finger (thanks to his uncles for teaching him how to "show" people his finger). We even made it to the wedding reception that night!

cabin trip

Cousin Andrew was baptized in Orem with his cousin, Lexi, on Sunday evening. After the festivities, we caravaned to the cabin for a few days of camping. We went 4-wheeling, shot guns, including Jeremy and Zachary's potato cannon (thanks Becky & Glade for making a special stop to buy the right size of potatoes), hiked, and enjoyed good company.

Here is a picture of Neil and Mom. :) Also, a fun ride for the kids and picture of the group hiking the Little South Fork trail (the kids did great--it was about a 2.5 mile hike).

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day!