They grow up so fast.......

Lauren is winding down her career at West High School and in the process of deciding which college to choose.  So far, she has had offers at University of Portland, SMU, and St. Mary's. Oh, the places she will go. It's sad to realize that my baby girl is so grown up.  We are excited to see which direction Lauren takes in life. But, I must say, being a mother to an 18 yr old girl is one of the greatest challenges in my life.  And of course, the most rewarding.

                                                       Our beautiful "Lala"

 Lauren, Thomas, and mom

                                              

 

Thomas age 2

We went to St. George over President's day weekend for Andrew's soccer tournament. 

 

Finn 

Finn is 11. Crazy how grown up he is.  Finn is so intelligent and has such an amazing intuition and an amazing spirit. He is still the greatest X-box player in the 5th grade. He is excited to start playing baseball this spring.  He continues to be a great big brother to Bubb's, who loves every minute he get's with his brother Finn.  Finn's wisdom is beyond our understanding.  We are so lucky to have Finn.

 

Andrew

Andrew, aka "Roos", is still growing like a weed.  He is 14 and 6ft tall.  He is an amazing student and had discovered both a musical talent with his guitar and also started developing his artistic talent last year with two pieces in the school art show.  Andrew is so grateful for everything and is very content.  I'm lucky to have a teenage boy who is so amazing.  He is always willing to help out whenever I ask him (almost always) and is greatly loved by his little brother, Thomas. Bubb's call's him "Nunu".

 

Finn, Andrew, and Thomas

This was the day of Grandpa Mack's Birthday 2/9/2010. We took flowers and a happy birthday balloon to Grandpa's grave and bought a chocolate cake to honor him. 

 

Mom, Dad, and Bubbs.

While in St. George for Andrew's soccer tournament, we had the chance to visit with a friend, and hike up to Scout cave.  The weather was perfect.

One of my favorite pics of Andrew and I after his soccer game in St. George.

Love hiking with my Bubbs.......

Finn, Andrew, Lauren, and Thomas...... Bubbs 2nd Birthday!

I am so blessed with four amazing children.  They are so unique but do share many common attributes. They are all amazingly intelligent!

The adventure continues.... Belize Jan 2010 part II

The adventure continues........
After leaving Caye Caulker, we took the water taxi back to Belize City and hitched a ride down to Punta Gorda with Herman........ Ughhhh.... Least favorite part of the trip.  The drive was approx 4 hours! We stopped about half way in a town called Dangrigra and had a quick lunch with Dr. Espot. She is the chief of the hospital there.  We had a great conversation about life in her town.  Sadly, we had to get back on the road so that we could make it down to Punta Gorda before it got too late........

Bubbs in the Car!

                                                                    Back at the Ranch


Soooo, not such a great stay for mom at the Ranch.  Fortunately, one of our favorite places is a 2 hr drive north...... Placencia! Oh my...... I was so glad to get to Robert's Grove. It's an amazing hotel on the beach. We highly recommend it to anyone traveling to that area! The only downfall..... the weather was still yucky. But, we loved the big king bed, cable TV, great food, amazing views, great people...... and well...... everything!

Lobster..... so good!

A cooler day on the beach at Robert's Grove

Only family picture of the trip

such a beautiful place....waiting for the Sunshine

A banana smoothie at the "shack" in Placencia Village

Daddy and Thomas brave the beach.... I think they were the only ones who tested the water!

Mommy and Bubbs

View of Robert's from the dock

Bubbs loves to play in the water with his dad!

Despite the complications of our trip..... we always have a great time! Dad had to drive back down to Punta Gorda to take care of some stuff...... Bubbs and I had a great time hanging out at the hotel, testing the hot tub, and eating yummy food..... We missed dad, but he flew up from Punta Gorda the following morning. This gave us one more full day to hang out in Belize....... Sadly, the time came to leave this great place and begin our journey back home...........

Last moments on the beach......

Getting ready to leave Robert's Grove... butterflies in mommy's tummy..

(knowing the puddle jumper is waiting at the airport)

View from the plane flying up to Belize City

Beautiful Belize from the air.....

Which gave me a new appreciation for what an amazing place this is.  Daddy will continue to work as hard as he can so that we can spend many more amazing times in this amazing country. Hopefully, we will go back down at the end of February or early March when the medical supplies donated by the Swanson Family Foundation arrive. Also, I can't wait to take Andrew and Finn to this amazing place.  Despite the mosquitoes, giant spiders, snakes, howler monkeys, jaguars, and all other mysteries that come along when spending time in a third world country..... we will go back!

The Belizian adventure continues.....part I Caye Caulker

Jan 6, 2010, Tom, Thomas and I took off for another adventure in Belize. As always, Bubbs was such an amazing traveler!

Thomas slept for most of the flight from Dallas to Belize City. It was a long day of travel, but well worth it.  We always enjoy going to Belize.  After leaving home around 6 am, we arrived in Belize around 4 pm.  After a short taxi ride to a very scary part of town, we arrived at the Caye Caulker water Taxi..... From here, it was a 45 min boat ride out to Caye Caulker. We found a wonderful place to visit.

The Water Taxi

Our Hotel......The Seaside Cabanas...

View from the top of the bar. It's a lovely pool but was too cold to swim...

Caye Caulker is a small Caye (island) NE of Belize City.  It's a great place to spend time and Slow down...... The locals are very nice. There are no paved streets.  No cars. Just bikes and kids and lot's of fresh fish. You can walk around the island (it's 1 mile wide by 3 miles long). The end of the island is called the "split". It was formed from a hurricane in 1961 that caused the island to split.  There is a bar (the lazy lizzard), a hotel, and a beautiful stretch of water to swim in.  I even saw a sting ray.........

 

        View from top of the Lazy Lizzard

                    

        

 

Bubbs swimming at the Split

Go Slow.....

Caribbean water......

Although it was the coldest weather in 30 years, it was still amazing..... Sweatshirts and rain jackets did come in handy!

The local kids love playing basketball. And of course, who better to show them some new skills than Tom!

 Drills....

Waiting for the rain to stop...

New basketballs for the kids....

Living the island life......

 Dogs are happy on CC

of course......

We had a great time on Caye Caulker....

 

2010...A New Year's Resolution.... keep up the blog.....

                                           HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It's 2010! Weird. Wow. What a great, difficult, fun, tragic, fulfilling, frustrating, fun year 2009 was....... Tom and I saw a movie for our New Year's Date while grandma Elaine watched Thomas. It was a very mellow night for us.  Andrew and Finn spent the night with the Kelly family and Lauren went "out". It was a great ending to a great year...... It was mellow..... and that's what I hope 2010 to be. 
One of my resolutions this year is to be more organized.  Tom laughed when I told him that. Seriously, I think that organization will be the key to keeping things together for me and it will help in so many areas of my life.
Other New Year's Resolutions......
* Run the Moab 1/2 marathon with Lauren (run on a regular basis)
* Do more yoga
* Travel somewhere amazing with Tom that I've never been to. (maybe Europe)
* Spend more time with my friends
* Become closer to my family
* Live life more calmly

* Ride a Century bike race
* Visit Maureen in Sacramento
* Take the boys on a trip
* Enjoy each day..... one at a time....

It's hard not to put too much expectation on a new year. I can only hope for the best and have faith that it will happen. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing husband and four awesome children........

CHristmas 2009

WOW

Belize it or not...... the adventure begins.......

View from airplane

Robert's Grove, Placencia

Tom, Lauren, Bubbs, and I had a great opportunity to visit Belize in June. What an amazing place. Tom has the opportunity to start some business ventures and humanitarian projects in Southern Belize. In June, we had a chance to go there and explore the beautiful country. Tom's friend has a ranch in outside of Punta Gorda. It's 500 acres in the jungle.

This is the ranch House!!!

The weather in Belize was very hot and humid. We flew into Belize City, rented a car, and drove South to Punta Gorda. It took about 5 hours. Crazy times, windy roads, and Thomas getting car sick! It was worth the journey. Tom showed us the ranch. We went into PG and hung out with some of the friends that Tom has made in his journey's. Lauren and I were so not liking the heat..... no ac at the ranch! We were excited to head North to Placencia, for the Lobster Festival. We loaded up the car and drove North. Tom joined us the following day!

Summer is here! What happened to spring???

Andrew and Finn on the beach in Kauai....

"Our beautiful House in Farr West, Utah"

Mom and Bubs in Maui

Wow! Here I am again......so much to catch up on.
Let's start with an outline.
1)January trip to Kauai with Andrew and Finn
2)Sweet grandpa Mack left us on February 12
3)March....basketball and other stuff
4)April-Mom and Bubs went to Maui (LOL) We were uninvited on the other's vacation, but we still had an amazing trip.
5)May...Bubs started walking, end of school year for Lauren, Andrew, and Finn....Tom started his new adventure in Belize. And we moved to 2541 Hillside circle (and sold the Farr West House)
6)June....Summer is starting. Kids out of school. Lauren is working at the CC. Andrew went on a river trip with his ward. Finn has scout camp. Tom and I are going back to Belize. Bubs is walking like crazy....