Woodruff construction update

This is amazing. They are not done with the school, but just looking at this, you can see that they have done a lot so far. Look at how our old front office is filled in on picture number one. The next picture is of our principal's old office, filled in too. They connected the old office and the principals office and the now use it as a copy room, I should say. The only reason I know this is I peeked through the window. I will keep you updated on whats going on. Hope everything is good with all of you. -Matt

Back To School!

Today was Matthew's first day of fourth grade! Fourth Grade??!!(Not quite sure how that happened... ) He was so excited to be headed back to school. We miss him when he's at school -Rachel was so happy to see him when he got home, but I sure welcome the re-introduction of a more structured schedule. This is an exciting time of year and we are looking forward to a wonderful school year.

Matt's school has been undergoing a major remodel. I do mean MAJOR remodel. Our whole street has been torn up and the school hardly looks the same. It's going to be beautiful when it's done. The inside of the school is done enough for school to begin today, but there is still a lot of work to be done. So, here's the official Before photo. Matthew will be posting soon with more up to date information and pictures. ...Did I mention that he's in fourth grade?...

Playing Hard

August -- can you believe it?? This time of year always brings mixed feelings. It's bitter-sweet. We're sad to see the summer coming to an end, but also excited for school to start again. So in the spirit of summer wrapping up, we have played hard the last few weeks. Here are some highlights.

We got to go to Boondocks with our Nana for her summer work party. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins who they adore. They rode go-carts and bumper boats. They played games and even played laser tag with the dads and Nana (Go, Nana!!). I wasn't able to get many pictures because we'd accidentally left the camera's memory card at the house. We had so much fun and are grateful that Nana let us tag along!

Matthew's very best friend had his birthday and we got to join his family at Classic Water Slides. Rachel played and swam until she literally dropped to sleep on her Daddy's lap.

The kids had a ball swimming, sliding, and eating pizza.

They played on giant inflatable bounce toys until they were roasting hot. Then they ran outside and jumped in the water.

Sweet Bailey watched from the sidelines.

Our ward had its end of summer swim party at the Aquatic Center. Rachel and her best friend kept Dad busy in the smaller pool.

Matthew is quite a swimmer and loved playing with his buddies at the pool.

This past Friday was our ward campout. Steve was working, so we hadn't planned on staying the night. Matt's best friend's family invited him to go with them, so he went and had a great time. The poor kid has had very limited camping experience due to the fact that his father's idea of camping is "anything less than 3 stars," so Matt ate it up. He came home Saturday very dirty, very tired, and very happy. Later that day he went upstairs to read. When I called him to dinner, he didn't respond. After a few tries, I went upstairs and found him sawing logs. :)

It's been a great summer. We are sad to see it ending, but are very excited about the beginning of a new school year.

Tagged - images about me

I got tagged. I've enjoyed reading and seeing images about other people so I decided it might be kinda cool to do it too. It's taken me a while because I have people at my house who think they need to eat and wear clean clothes...picky, picky. So here's the scoop. If you want to do this, you answer the questions and do a google image search of your answer. Pick an image on the first page of your search. Here goes -

How old I will be on my next birthday:

My LITTLE sister answered that she is as old as the stars... gee, what does that make me?? Older than dirt.

Month of my birthday:I love the fall and dig having my birthday in November. I just didn't enjoy that in elementary school all the calendars and bulletin boards were all decorated with fat, ugly turkeys.

Place I'd like to visit:

Just like my little sis, I'd love to visit Scotland. I'd love to see where my family came from and hear the pipes. Maybe we can go together. After Scotland, I'd skip over to Ireland and kiss the Blarney.

My favorite place:

Mmmm.... I know some of my answers are certainly not original, but mmmmm bed. It should probably embarrass me to admit how many times a day I gaze longingly at my bed - or at least think about it. Someday when I don't have small children who can't seem to all sleep at the same time, my answer may be different. For now....mmmmmm....bed.

One of my favorite things to do:

My perfect day would somehow include some quiet time cozied up with a good book.

My favorite color:

I love this picture because I love yellow roses.

One of my favorite foods:

Me encanta!! I love Mexican food. Just about all Mexican food. Tonight this picture of guacamole is making my stomach growl. I miss Cancun Cafe!




One of my LEAST favorite foods:

Anything that is artificially grape-flavored. Woof! This truly is deep-seated and psychological stemming back to early childhood and an incident involving my big sister's grape flavored lip gloss and some severe vomiting after consuming a disgusting amount. (shudder)

My favorite flower:

So many favorites. Daffodils are hopeful. I love spring flowers.

City in which I live:

Logan, Utah. Love Logan! I am a True Aggie!

Name of a past pet:

Keesha. Yah, I again echo my sis - a Keeshond named Keesha - not an original idea. Our sweetie dog loved to play in the snow, too

A nickname that people call me:

I'm not so sure I love the allusion to a horse, but I've been called "Mare" forever.

My college major:


I lost the picture. Oops. Just imagine one. Special education.

My first job:

Technically my first job was babysitting. I try to be humble, but must admit that I was most likely the busiest most babysittingest gal in the Douglas Ward. My first job that didn't involve mac and cheese or diapers was at the Tower Theater. Oh for the days of a real dollar movie! I know all the inside secrets of movie popcorn. Woof again.

Hope for 2008:

Dare to dream.


I really don't know who to tag, so if you want to participate, just do it. Ü I just had to prove to Sarah that she has indeed accomplished something. Happy google-ing.

Ahhh, Sibling Rivalry...

Matthew and Rachel are six years apart. I really thought that having such a big gap between the two that I wouldn't see a lot of sibling rivalry. I didn't think I'd be the resident referee breaking up fights over who touched whom and who took what from the other whom. At this moment my mind is overflowing with memories of car rides & fighting over who got to sit by the window, crying a little harder than necessary so that Jeff would maybe get in a little more trouble for hitting me, and hours of "got you last." I truly thought that my kids would be in such different stages that we would avoid some of that. Yah-- I was wrong.
I have so quickly learned that personality plays so much more into these things than just age. I do have to say that Matt and Rachel really aren't too bad, but it's funny how these siblings will always find something to bicker over. Earlier today Matthew tried to write something to post. He had just started when Rachel decided to do headstands right next to him and somehow bumped him or the computer causing him to publish the totally unfinished post. He was not a happy camper.
Despite their moments of rivalry, they are great kids and actually have a very sweet bond. Matthew prayed for a little sister (or brother) for three years before Rachel joined us. He is a wonderful big brother and she absolutely adores him. Matt may like to talk (or write Ü) about his "naughty" and "pesky" little sister, but at the end of they day they snuggle on the recliner while he reads to her and all the day's troubles are forgotten.

Bear Lake

This past weekend we had the chance to spend a few days with some friends at their cabin in Bear Lake. I first have to say that the cabin was amazing! It was beautiful and had a breath-taking view of the lake. We spent two and a half days playing hard.

The day we planned to go to the Lake began dreary and rainy. We got the troops ready to go (there were three families -- and nine kids among the crew), but set out uncertain about why we were going in such weather. We got there and the rain stopped. The day was a bit overcast, but wonderful. The sun peeked out occasionally and the weather was great. The kids had so much fun swimming and playing in the sand.

We spent the whole day at the lake. By the time we finally convinced the kids to come out of the water, they were exhausted, water logged, caked with sand, and deliriously happy. We had dinner (during which three children fell asleep), and then went to LaBeau's for Bear Lake Raspberry shakes.

The big outing the next day was Minnetonka cave. It was really cool. Now here is a sidenote for anyone who is not familiar with Minnetonka cave... the tour is a treacherous workout! The cave was awesome, but the tour kicked my hind end. There is not one less than two bazillion stairs in that place. Yes, it's a cave. Yes, one would expect a bit of a decline and or incline. Honestly though, it was a hike! I had Bailey in the front pack and felt awkward trying to navigate the steep and slippery stairs. Steve carried Rachel who fell asleep on his shoulder. Yah, he wins bragging rights. By the time we reached the end, we had jelly legs, and poor Bailey was probably getting motion sick bobbing up and down as I was sucking air.

Our little trip to Bear Lake was wonderful! We are grateful to our friends for inviting us.

Car Wash

Matthew, besides being the budding writer and computer whiz, is and has always been quite an entrepreneur. The boy loves money. Now, he is not at all greedy -- he's planned far ahead to earn money to buy Rachel a birthday present for her birthday in September. He just loves money. I kid you not when I say that he started saving money as a preschooler and began to understand interest as a five year old. Matt went into Kindergarten able to count by fives, tens, and twenties. He could count to 100 backward and forward. This wasn't because we had spent a lot of time sitting down with him and working on numbers. It was merely because he loved money and loved to count money. His all-time favorite game is Monopoly and he has at least 4 versions of the game. He has asked for play money for Christmas every year since he was about four and has owned a wide assortment of banks, miniature atm machines, and cash registers. A few years ago he even became the very proud owner of a real, true, honest to goodness cash register.
Last week Matthew came running inside at full speed to make the glorious announcement that he and some friends were going to have a car wash. One of our very dear neighbors had been letting the boys earn money by helping her weed her garden. I'm not certain how the whole thing transpired, but this brave and wonderful friend offered to help the kids. They put up signs and even went door to door on our street. They had a blast and even made a little money -- thanks to kind and generous neighbors who didn't mind the wash job of 8,9,& 10 year olds and were good tippers.