Chase playing soccer

Chase has played soccer with the Ranger's Academy this past fall and spring season. He's had a really good coach. We've seen a big improvement with his skills. He made several goals during the season. It's been a difficult situation because he didn't have any friends on his team and his team didn't win any games. But Chase never gave up. He stayed positive and tried his best. He loves to play soccer. We're so proud of his effort and positive attitude.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! The Easter bunny came to our house Saturday morning and brought the boys BYU shirts and some church sing-a-long DVD's. They were so excited. Sunday we had Stake Conference so after church we came home and decorated eggs. I always love decorating eggs. It reminds me of decorating eggs when I was a kid and how Dad would make speckled eggs. Right after we finished, I started to crack an egg for sandwiches. Matt said "can't we enjoy them a little before we eat them?" Nope, I was hungry. Even the boys ate egg salad sandwiches. Yummy!




We went up and had a wonderful Easter dinner with the Richins family. Mom and Dad organized a little Easter Egg hunt in the toy room. The boys loved hunting for candy. We also celebrated Matt and Chase's birthdays.


Later that night, we went over to the Adams for a little party. We also celebrated Matt and Chase's birthdays. Grandpa and Grandma gave Chase a set of scriptures and a bag. He was so excited to finally have his own scriptures. He acted like he had just discovered a treasure. I loved watching him look through his new scriptures.








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Fun at the Farm

Over the spring break, I met Shantelle and we went to Thanksgiving Point farm. When we pulled up, there were a few school buses and the parking lot was packed. So we debated if we should jut bag it. But Aliyah had fallen asleep in the car so we decided to have our picnic in the the car while she slept. It worked out great because by the time we were done eating, Aliyah woke up and the buses left. It wasn't crowded when we got inside. We had such a fun time looking at all the animals. At one point we saw a worker "walking" the horses. I had to take a picture because for some crazy reason it cracked me up seeing all those horses going for a walk (just like you walk your dog). Chase and Bridger went on a horse ride. Chase's horse wasn't very nice and nipped at him. Luckily it just got his hoodie. Chase was so excited to ride the biggest horse and Bridger chose the smallest one. Aliyah was so fun to watch. She got so excited with every animal we saw. She would start jumping up and down and say "hee, hee!!!" She definitely didn't like the chickens. She clung on to Shantelle like it was the end of the world.

When went on a wagon ride. Our horses were a little rebellious so it made the ride a little more exciting. At one point, I looked over and Bridger had his arm around Chase. It was so sweet. Bridger just loves to be right next to Chase. They are such good buddies.



The farm had three little black baby goats. Bridger was so excited! We watched those silly little goats for over a half hour. They were so cute. Everyone fed the animals, including Aliyah. She was very brave. She wasn't too sure about all the slobber on her hands after the food was gone. Bridger and Chase love to play in the "jail." That's one of their favorite things to do at the farm.
We had such a fun afternoon playing at the farm.

Man's Best Friend

Our sweet Bailey died on Wednesday, April 6th. She was 11 1/2 years old. The past couple of years she started growing some tumors. Then the last couple of months, she started loose weight. It was so weird to pet her and feel her bones. She was so skinny. She had not eaten for days and then on Monday she started throwing up water. She became progressively worse and by Wednesday she could barely walk. All she wanted to do was stay outside and hide in the bushes. It was like she knew she was dying. During breakfast, Bridger said "it feels like my heart is broken." Kip came over and called the veterinary for me. I came home around 3:00 from Bridger's soccer practice and Matt was laying on the floor crying while giving loves to Bailey. It was so sweet. We put Bailey's bed in the back of the van. Matt had to carry her out. Michael Cragun was staying with us and he came home just at that time. He just put his arm around me while we cried. Then Kip and Mckenna came over. Mckenna wanted to say goodbye to Bailey. We picked Chase up from school and went over to the Vet. In the car, Bridger kept saying "Bailey, you're going to die." It was so simple for him. I walked into the Vet and started to cry. The receptionist was the vet's wife and she was so understanding. She said "you don't need to say anything. We know who you are and what you're here for. Bailey lived a long, good life for a dog her size. The vet will be right out." We had asked if we could just keep Bailey in the back of the van. So Dr. Lamb came out and gave her a shot in her fur. The shot was to help her relax but she was already very calm. I think she was so depleted. Our sweet little family just sat around Bailey giving her loves. After 15 minutes, they put an IV in her leg. Then the vet came out and gave her propofol which stopped her breathing within seconds. Then he gave her another shot and that stopped her heart almost immediately. And just like that, it was over. I couldn't believe how quickly it went. I wasn't ready to leave her so when we drove away, I just stayed in the back and snuggled with her one last time. My heart hurt so bad. We told the boys that the reason this is so hard and our hearts hurt is because we loved Bailey so much. We drove up to Mom and Dad's and buried her in the back by Soleil. Ardell and Charlene came up to help Chase with his pine wood derby car while Matt and I dug the hole. Mom and Dad were on their Israel trip. It was horrible to give her one last love. We've had so many wonderful memories with Bailey. She was our first "baby." She loved to go for walks and play ball. She would get so excited playing ball that she would hop back an bark at you until you threw the ball. She loved to eat. She loved to snuggle. She hated baths. She always wanted to be with you whether it was just folding laundry or going for a ride. She hated being left home. She was great to let Bridger jump and lay all over her. She loved to eat peanut butter. She was the best dog. We're going to miss her!

Spring Break

For spring break, we packed our overnight bags and headed for Little America. Since we couldn't go to Bear Lake for Spring Break (the weather was too bad), we planned with Brandon, Mylissa, Mares, and Shantelle (and their families) to spend the night at the hotel, eat dinner, and swim, swim, swim. (Mom and Dad are still in Isreal). When we arrived, Shantelle presented Madeline with a birthday banner and crown. Madeline wore it proudly through the hotel and to dinner. Little America's dinner is one our family favorites with the good fish, delicious rolls, and ice cream. We had 17 of us at dinner and out of that number, nine were children. The kids did great, and the dinner staff at Little America were wonderful with us. After dinner, we all swam. The kids had such an amazing time. Even Aliyah, Lindsey, Julianna, and Emily loved playing the water. They were all little fish. All of the adults swam. I was so thankful for Mares because the kids all wanted to swim with her. After swimming, everyone came back to Mylissa's room for cake. Madeline opened her presents. Chase opened his birthday gifts from the Wegers. The cousins had a great time playing together.

The next morning we went down to breakfast. Then Matt took the boys swimming and the rest of the family was already swimming. I went and had a quick workout. Around noon we checked out of the hotel. Bud and Jill went home, and the rest of us headed for Gateway.
When we arrived at the Museum, I signed the kids up for classes. They first took a class on wind and understanding how the wind works and how to measure the amount of wind. They made a device to measure wind. After that class, we watched folk dancers from the Ukraine area. The grown-ups liked it more than the kids. Madeline and Chase were a tad bored, they said. It totally got Julianna's attention when some dancers in costume with masks and long stringy paper hair came out to scare the ghosts away. Her eyes were as big a saucers.
Everyone enjoyed the Children's Museum. Shantelle and Aliyah came and joined us. Aliyah liked driving the little cars and wearing the fireman's clothes (just like her daddy). Julianna found a "baby" that she refused to let go. She busied herself finding food for that baby. Later in the afternoon, the kids took a class where they made bags out of recycled vinyl. Once again, the project was a little mature for the smaller kids, but they all loved the finished product. It was a great overnight mini vacation. We were all tired, but had a wonderful time.

The Beginning of a New World

So Chase turned 8 on March 28. He is so excited to be a scout. I had put it in the back of my mind and had forgotten about it. His cub leader came over a couple of weeks ago and welcomed him to the den. As she was talking, I felt like I was listening to a foreign language. I picked him up his scouting uniform and it feel surreal. I can't believe he is old enough to be a scout. He had his first activity on his birthday. On April 7th, he participated in his first pine wood derby race. Matt and Chase worked on his car Tuesday night. Wednesday night they applied the paint. Chase really wanted to do a slug bug. He had a great time racing his car. It was a really fun night.

Matt's 40th Birthday

Matt's birthday was a little anticlimatic following his surprise party over the weekend. We went out to dinner to Texas Roadhouse. We invited Robby and Shantelle to come with us. Plus Michael C. was staying with us so it was fun to have him come too. I told our waitress that it was Matt's birthday while he was taking Bridger to the bathroom. When he came back, he said to me "don't tell them it's my birthday cause I don't want to sit on the saddle." Oops, too late. When we were finished with our food, our waitress came out with the saddle and announced to everyone that it was Matt's 40th birthday. Matt was a good sport and sat on the saddle while everyone say "ye ha!" I was so bummed that I forgot to bring the camera. After dinner we came home and opened presents. He really wanted a new computer but it wasn't available on his birthday so he had to wait a couple of months. So when the computer finally came, he was so happy! He loves his new mac.

Matt's 40th Surprise Party

On April 1st, I threw Matt a surprise 40th birthday party. Some people thought that it was a joke but I told them it was for real. I made an invitation that had a high school picture on it and sent it to our neighbors, family, and friends. Ardell and Charlene came down earlier in the day and helped me things up. Shantelle came over too and then she ran a couple of errands for me. I had Cathy and Dan ask Matt it we wanted to double date Friday night. We dropped the boys off at their house to "eat pizza" but really Hayleigh took them down to the stake center so they could be at the party. The boys were amazing at keeping the party a secret. When we got to the restaurant there was no wait. Then they brought our food out really quick. I was planning on it taking longer. Cathy and I went and hung out in the bathroom to waste some time. During dinner, Dan set things up. He said he needed to stop by the stake center to pick up some computer wire. At first, Matt was questioning who it was for and why, etc... But then he dropped it. He just seemed disappointed that we were going to miss our movie. When we pulled into the parking lot there were lots of cars. Matt said "I wonder what's going on at the church?" Cathy and I responded, "probably some family fun stuff." There were people from our ward pulling into the parking lot at the same time but Matt didn't seem to notice. Dan asked if we wanted to come in with him. We said "sure." When we walked into the church I realized that Matt truly had no idea about the party. He had a toothpick in his mouth and he was checking some stuff on his phone. We kind of waiting by the door to the cultural hall. Matt walked up to it and opened it. The room was almost dark and people yelled out surprise. Matt quickly shut the door and said "Oh my gosh, I think I just walked in on someone's surprise party!" That's when I started to laugh and I told him that it was HIS surprise party. When we walked in we couldn't believe how many people were there. We had wonderful support from our friends and family. We had lots of people from the ward. Matt gave a little speech after the shock wore off. Then we sang Matt Happy Birthday. People enjoyed looking at lots of old pictures of Matt. Charlene did a great job of putting together pages of old pictures. Towards the end of the night, our sweet Minnesota friends showed up. They had been in Salt Lake having a birthday dinner with Kirk. It meant so much to us that they would drive all the way down for such a short time. It was wonderful to have their support. They're part of our family. We loved having them there. It ended up being a great night!