School projects

In Katie's English class they have been given the assignment to write a poem about something they have lost.

Here is Katie's poem:

Once I lost something attached to my thumb
When I couldn't find it my mind just went numb
It wasn't a glove or a thimble or such
It had a screen and some buttons I'd touch
It was pink all over and no bigger than a mouse
I probably lost it somewhere in my house
I searched high, I searched low
I searched fast, I searched slow
I searched everywhere I went
I searched everywhere I go
Without my companion I felt so alone
I don't know what I will do if I can't find my phone!

By Katie Jones

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Courtney's Animal Cell

I was pretty impressed. They used a styrofoam ball cut it in half, covered it in clay and then decorated it with Skittles, pom poms and foam shapes.

Courtney and Mackenzie hard at work.



Courtney's fake smile.



Courtney getting really tired of me taking pictures.



Enough mom!



A funny picture I found after the project was done!

Christmas Day

So I'm a few days late - 18 to be exact, I've been busy!

Christmas this year was a blast.

Tyler got a (very badly needed) new phone.



Courtney got one of her most favorite things in the whole world - a mirror! (Her big present was a new coat and shoes, bought earlier in the week.)



Katie got a new camera, she is pretty rough on them.



Sean got a soldering iron and spice rack (for his lentils) and I got a nice warm blanket and a heart monitor. We also got a Kindle for both of us, but I use it 90% of the time, so I can't really count it towards one of Sean's gifts.

After unwrapping presents, we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's to exchange gifts and play with cousins.



Jessica, Tyler, Courtney and Andrew.



Jessica and Katie dancing.



Tyler calling all his friends and telling them about his new phone!



Tyler loves playing grandma's piano.



On the way home we started playing "I'm going on a trip", the game ended at "F" when Courtney said she was going to take a fart. Sean hates that word and does not allow it in our home. Apparently Courtney thought it was okay to say it in the car. Tyler and Katie thought it was hilarious. I should have taken a picture of Sean's face. He did NOT think it was funny!



We usually go up to Heber to my brother's house, but with the storm coming in, we decided to have Christmas dinner at our house.









It was a long day, but filled with tons of fun. Thank goodness it only comes around once a year!

Christmas Eve

The day before Christmas, my mom took us up to see my Aunt Laverne who is in a care center. (Laverne fell down the stairs when she was a child and hit the back of her head on a coal-burning stove -- she has been living at the center since she was 16.)



As you can tell by her face, she is very animated. She loves to tell us stories about her childhood. Her long term memory is unbelievable. She can tell you where she grew up, the names of all the children in her school class, and the exact year that something happened. Unfortunately, her short term memory is not very good. She couldn't remember any of our names no matter how many times they were repeated.

While we were there, Santa stopped by for a visit. Laverne wasn't very excited to see him.



However, she was excited to see Wilson...



Laverne loves men. Every time we go to visit she has a new boyfriend. This is her latest. She insisted that he come over and talk to her. She repeatedly asked him to get a little closer and give her a kiss, but he pointed out the security cameras and told her that he could lose his job if he was found kissing any girls at work.



We all brought gifts for her. She was the most excited about Michelle's gift - 3 King size bars of chocolate.

It was sad to leave, Laverne started crying when we told her it was time to go. The nurses took over and consoled her as we left. We are so grateful for the loving care she has received over the years. We are not sure how much longer she will be with us, but we know she will have a special place up in heaven when it is her time to go.

After leaving the care center, we decided to stop at Subway for some lunch.



Katie and Courtney love their Aunt Trish!





Oldest to youngest. Trish, Me and Michelle.

We had such a fun time, it has been a long time since we have been able to get together, just us girls.
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We like to spend Christmas Eve together as a family, since Christmas Day is usually spent traveling to our grandparents and other relatives. We always try to go out to dinner, this year we decided on one of my favorites - Chinese!







It was delicious!

After dinner it was home to unwrap pajamas and then up to bed, the long awaited day was almost here.

Batmantopia

Katie has a school project due tomorrow in Mr. Saltas' U.S. History class. Their assignment is, "Make your own colony".

Katie has spent the last few weeks working on it with three other classmates.

The first item on their agenda was to come up with a name. Katie, being the outspoken member of the group (and having a fascination with Batman), came up with Batmantopia.

The next item on the agenda was to come up with a founder. Katie quickly decided on Bruce Wayne.

This is how the story goes:

In 1650, a sailor named Bruce Wayne was on his way to South America when his ship was blown off course. They were shipwrecked on an island that was sunny and pleasant. When they dug into the soil they struck gold. (Imagine that.) Bruce Wayne was so happy that he claimed the land and called it Batmantopia.

I had Katie lay all the papers out on the counter so I could take a picture.



Courtney saw that we were taking pictures, so she had to get in on the action. (She is a very needy child.) Katie is not flipping her off, she is holding her fingers in the shape of an "L", which stands for "Courtney" -- I mean "loser".



This is my favorite ...money. On Batmantopia, their money is in the shape of the batman symbol. The caption at the top of the page says, "The bigger the batman symbol is, the larger amount it is worth."



Here is Katie holding up a picture of their weather. The caption at the top reads, "Climate is sunny, pleasant with average rain fall. The winters and summers are average length." (Once again, Courtney needs to be included.)



I love projects like this. I also love teachers that give the kids in their classrooms the opportunity to use their imagination. I hope Mr. Saltas is ready.

James

Courtney has a boyfriend.

She has had a boyfriend for a few months now. I guess I was hoping that it was just a phase that she was going through... It's not.

Isn't it illegal for a 15 1/2 year old girl to have a boyfriend? No? Well...it should be!

Not that I don't like James. He is very nice and handsome and very, very, very tall.





I just don't think I am ready for my Courts to grow up yet.

But if she is going to do it anyway, I don't think she could have picked a nicer guy.

The first time he came over he brought me flowers. He really is a sweetheart.



James is a sophmore (no... seriously, he is!) and plays varsity football and basketball. His parents are super-nice, too. In fact Courtney is with his mom right now at a "girls night out".

Hopefully having a boyfriend means that she will start keeping her room clean. I'm not sure how, but wouldn't it be cool.

Thanksgiving Weekend

This year we had Thanksgiving at my sister Michelle's house.





It was delicious. My mom makes the best stuffing in the whole world!

We didn't have a whole lot of time to visit because we had to leave for a soccer tournament in St. George



Emily getting hugs from Nana.



Sean and Ryan were able to squeeze in a little football watching.



This is my little sister Michelle and her family.



Here is my brother Steve and his family, the tall one is Landon. His older brother, Justin, is standing next to him with his girlfriend.



We had a few minutes to relax...



and then we hit the road.

We got rained on a little while driving down, but the next day the weather was beautiful and sunny. The girls played really well.





We went to a sports bar called "Players" for dinner Friday night. Here is Sean with his team.





Here is Tyler sitting on the sidelines. He kept bugging Pam by pretending to bite her ear. Everytime he did it, she would turn and try to bite his chin. She got him a few times.



Courtney's team ended up losing in the semi-finals, but Katie's team took second.





It's always a little crazy around the holidays and this makes it even more so, but I wouldn't change a thing. I love spending time with my kids and watching them play sports. I am thankful for every minute I have with them.

The Denver Broncos

Saturday morning, Sean and I flew with Matt and Aimee to Colorado to see the Denver Broncos play the Oakland Raiders. It was the first time Sean had been to a real live NFL football game, so you can imagine how excited he was.

Here we are at the airport waiting for the bus to take us to the Marriott.



That night, Sean and Matt wanted to watch the BYU/Utah football game, so they went and stood in line at ESPN Zone while Aimee and I went shopping.

We found some really great deals. Denver has a walking mall on 16th street that covers 16 blocks, and there are buses that take you up and down the whole length of it.



We only spent an hour, but we sure had a fun time. By the time we got back to ESPN Zone, the boys had just been seated in a booth with their very own TV screen. Aimee and I chatted for the next 2 1/2 hours while they watched their little game.

The big day finally arrived. Matt surprised Sean with a Broncos hat right before the game! He's such a nice guy!

What cute boys.



It was finally time to go, so we piled on our warm clothes and headed for the stadium.



We got to the game 2 hours early, just so we wouldn't miss anything (like the cheerleaders running out on the field).

Here is Sean at a small museum that they have inside Invesco Field.



I had Sean pose for me, even his shoes have the Bronco's colors.



Sean and I before the game started.



These two looked happier than a kid in a candy store.





I have to admit, I am not a huge football fan, but it was pretty exciting to be there with a kajillion Broncos fans, cheering the players on.



It was a beautiful day and the weather was pretty nice until the sun went down, then it got downright cold! Aimee and I had to run down to the sports apparel store to get warmed up.

The Broncos didn't play as well as Sean and Matt had hoped they would. Here is the final score.



We promised the boys that if they were good, we would buy them some cheesecake after the game. That cheered them up a little.







All in all it was a fabulous weekend. Good food, good friends, a little alone time... Maybe the next time we go, the Broncos can pull out a win!!