Spring and stuff

This spring has come and is still here.  Snow on May 24th. Ughhh.  Anyway, here are some of the things going on in our world:)

We went on a Family trip to Las Vegas over Easter weekend.  Blog and pics will be up soon!

Mom and La La in our room at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas.....

Lauren May 2010

Lauren is graduating from West High on June 9, 2010! Congratulations La La. We are so proud of all of her accomplishments.  She has been such an amazing student, athlete(golf), dancer(West High Dance Co and CDT), DECA, NHS, etc.  She has been working at the Salt Lake Country Club and has also been involved in many other activities.  Lauren has been involved in many community service activities and humanitarian projects.  She has chosen to attend SMU in Dallas. We are so proud of you! She is an amazing daughter, sister, friend, grand daughter, cousin, dancer, athlete, student.

andrew

Andrew has continued to be an inspiration to his brothers and a blessing to his parents.  I am so proud of Andrew.  He has worked hard to achieve academic excellence through out the school year.  His studies are very important to him.  He has great grades and takes school very seriously. Andrew has continued his interest in learning the guitar.  He has mastered the skills involved in being a serious Player of the game "ROCK BAND", and is such an amazing big brother to Thomas.  There is not a better babysitter in the world than "Nunu".  His kindness and patience towards his little brother is one of Andrew's greatest strengths.  I know it is a reflection of the great man that he is going to be.  Soccer try out's are in a few weeks.  Andrew has a couple of scout camps planned for the summer.  It's so crazy that he is almost 15! Sad too.

Finn

FInn! FInn is awesome.  He has been playing on a baseball team, the Blue Jay's.  He really has improved his game and takes it much more seriously now.  Finn is an amazing student.  Especially in mathematics and reading.  He also is a great influence on his little brother.  Thomas is always asking for Finn. Finn is the smartest 5th grader that we know.  He is wise beyond his years and always reminding us of how things in life really are.  I think he might have a photographic memory.  He loves to learn.  He can watch a show on the History Channel and remember every detail.  I love it when he comes over, pours a can of pepsi over ice, smiles and reminds me how great life is.  If only we could all see the world through Finn's eyes! We love you Finn.

Bubbs

Thomas "aka BUBBS". Our little bubbles is growing up too fast.  He is talking, walking, running, jumping, learning, laughing...... his favorite thing to do is ride his aero scooter.  And he like to ride it down the hills......going as fast as he can! It's scary.  He is all boy and loves to play sports and get dirty and pick his nose! His newest little thing is to rub mom's and dad's eyebrows before he goes to sleep, alternating with nose picking! LOL. He is always a joy in our world.  Thomas loves his brothers! He loves his dogs! He loves his family, cousins, and any kids that will play with him(especially his cousin Charlie).  He loves life! And we love him.......

View from our condo at The Alexandria 

Delta lost my luggage....so this is what I wore most of the trip!

Beautiful beach....

our cute condo.. grandma and i shared the king bed.

Clark got the sofa couch:)

Sunset on Grand Turk's.....

I had the great opportunity to travel with my brother Clark and Grandma Elaine to Grand Turk's in April.  It was a nice vacation.  It's a small island in the caribbean with one of the most beautiful beaches in the word, Grace Bay Beach.  We stayed at the Alexandria Resort and spent the whole time just doing nothing but relaxing on the beach and by the pool.  We had a nice condo and I'm grateful for the time I had to spend with my mom and brother.  Thank you Clark for helping us get there:)

Grandma Elaine had surgery on her parathyroid gland last week. We are looking forward to a fun summer! The boat will soon be ready to take out on the lake.  Hopefully we will get some fun trips in also. We have moved again are getting settled in our new(old) house.  We have a great yard with a great patio.  I have been planting our garden and pots, buying patio furniture, and just hoping that summer is full of fun and amazing times for our family and friends.

I am hoping that my health and grandma's health will be better than ever.  It would be great to start running again and continue with my yoga practice.   I've always wanted to hike Mt. Olympus.  Maybe this will be the year.  Hopefully the second half of 2010 will be awesome, considering the first have was very trying.

Lauren, Tom, and I after her senior dance concert at West High! 

Doesn't Tom look dashing;)

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........