TaVasi concert, D.A.R.E Graduation,Piano Recitals, Pre School Graduation

Again, it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted. I hope I will be better in the summer. Anyway, so much has been happening and this time of year is always crazy but I am so glad that I have taken pictures and video of these things so that I can document the awesome things that my kids are involved in. It is so fun to see there confidence grow each year and try new things. Two weeks ago was Hannah's TaVasi concert, it is a singing and dancing show which Nanette Cutler does an awesome job at. Hannah is a very good singer. It was a fun night and this year was a bit different because her Dad was part of the show. It was great!!! The theme this year was "One for All" and one of the numbers was a Annie song which five Dads ran on stage whith there daughters and did a little song and dance with them. They were all very good sports about it and I know Hannah will not be forgetting it soon and neither will the town of Green River who were in attendance. Torrey was given so many compliments on his singing and dancing. It was a hoot! I wish that I could figure out how to put video footage on here and I would give you a taste of it. This one is with her wig from the "Hairspray" number that they performed. It was all very cute and Hannah did an amazing job.

D.A.R.E Graduation-Drug Abuse Resistance Education
This is a program that is taught through the school system by Officer Futia. Wyoming has such a high drug rate but they are finding that the numbers are starting to go down. I am sure that this program has a lot to do with that. 16 out of every 100 8th grade students drink alcohol. I found that to be a very high number. Hattie has made a personal commitment to Avoid Drugs and Violence. She had to write a report about the things that Drugs can do to your mind and body and how it affects the things around you. It was very well written. She did win a DARE bag for having the highest score in a game that they played as a class. Way to go Hattie!! She also was able to meet the Mayor of Green River and some other very Key people


Way to go Hattie!!!
Another very proud moment! This Tuesday we were able to go to Hattie and Riley's piano recital. It was so exciting and they both played awesome. I was not able to take apicture of Hattie at the beautiful Grand Piano but I did video all of her recital. Sorry Hattie. Riley played three songs which one of them he had written and composed by himself. I couldn't believe it. They both have incredible talents and brought tears to my eyes.
My Pre Scool Graduate
Yesterday was Graci's big day. We went to her teacher's house Mrs. Kari which Graci just loves and had a graduation party with games, songs, and really good cake. I did not get much of a concert from Graci while we were there but man has she been singing away since. It was a really fun day for her and she is so excited that next year she gets to go to three days of pre school. This is a picture of Torrey and her feeding eachother banana's while being blind folded. I think they eventually got the banana in eachothers mouths.

Layton had a band concert last night and Torrey said that it was awesome. Layton said that he has decided to play band next year which I am excited about. Sorry Layton that I don't have any pictures of you but I know that you did great. He also had a baseball game at the same time so we weren't able to go to that. We had to prioritize last night. Layton is working on a 4.0 this quarter and he knew that if he went and played ball then he wouldn't get that A in band that he is working for. Way to go Bud!!!
Yesterday, I also took Hattie and Hannah down to Rock Springs to Audition for "Seusical the Musical" It is a summer Theatre program through the Western Wyoming College. Funded by BOCES. They have such an awesome, energetic staff. The girls will have a blast!! I am looking forward to this production. They will be going to Rock Springs Monday through Friday 9:00 to 1:00 June 8th - June 24 and then they will perform all that they have learned. They are way excited.
One more week of school and then we can party!!!

What a Wonderful Mother's Day!!!

I have been blessed with five awesome children which amaze me every day! The very best tribute one can pay to your mother is the way you conduct your life out in a world where she is not present. I have received many phone calls from teachers of my children thanking me for them and their attitudes and personalities. That is the best payback one can receive. The other night Riley and a group of friends rented a movie and sat it up outside on the trampoline and watched it, the awesome thing was is that he included all of his brother and sisters and even took them to get the movie. What an awesome big brother you all have. It was so much fun for me to watch them all having a great time together and know that Riley could do this even among his friends.
Baseball is in full swing and we are spending each night down at the field and it has been very relaxing except for that dang wind. It brings such a chill to the air so we have spent many nights in the car watching the baseball game but has still been fun. Layton is an amazing defensive player. I just love the cool way he plays. He is always a very solid first baseman. He is a ROCK!!! There are not to many balls that have gotten by him.
To start my wonderful day out, I received a phone call from my own mother. She beat me to it. I was planning on calling her Sunday night and she beat me. It was good to talk to her and her phone call was very appreciated. Thank you Mom and I hope you know how much I love you.
Hattie was Torrey's number one girl this mother's Day. She helped him so much to make this day special for me. I can just picture her when she is grown to be the one to help me gather our family together during Holidays and special Moments in our lives after our kids are grown and have families of their own. I had a meeting after church and so Torrey beat me home which is so unusual but it was awesome because the table was set with beautiful dandelions picked by Graci and Hannah and the steaks were on the grill. It was so much fun to just sit and relax while the steaks were cooking so I had time to play. We were enjoying the nice day and the tramp. I even got on there and did not wet my pants. I wasn't brave enough to do my front and back flips that I used to do about fifteen years ago. I just kept picturing me with a big neck brace on or with some sort of cast so no acrobatics were done by me but Torrey on the other hand was a bit scary. Even more so for me. I didn't want our disability insurance to have to kick in at this stage in our lives. Anyway it was a great time.
Graci was so incredible on keeping a secret with her Mother's Day gift that she had made at school. Thursday she came home with her gift and was so excited and went and hid her gift in her closet and wouldn't let me come in and then asked me when Mother's Day was and I couldn't even trick her. I told her that it was today and there was no way I was going to get that gift. So then I told her that we had to go to bed two times and then wake up and get ready for church and then that was the special day. So Excited!! Everyday she would remind me of my gift and just dangle it out there enough but would not break in and give it to me. Amazing! She definately did not get that gene from her father because Torrey cannot keep a secret to save his life and you can always get it out of him. She was so fun though to watch. She made me the cutest basket decorated with homemade flowers in there and we used it to decorate our table with.Everybody gave me a packet full of coupons which were the greatest because then it seems like Mother's day can last a few days longer. It was full of Massage coupons, babysitting coupons, cleaning coupons, car washes, a homemade necklace mad by Hannah with beautiful beads on it. It was the best guys. Thank you so much for the incredible day! I did not tell you of another awesome part of the day. My boys had to speak in Sacrement meeting and they did such a great job. What a tribute to your mother. I was compared to the righteous woman who told King Solomon that the baby was not hers just to save the life of her child and then was given the child because King Solomon new that the real mother would not let her own child get cut in half. Riley said that he knew that I would do anything for him and everything I do is for him. He wished that other kids around him had the loving family that he had and he knew that his parents loved eachother and he was so thankful for everything. A mother's dream!! Layton compared me to Hannah which tried to raise a righteous young man that she could turn over to the Lord and that is one of my most desireable goals. He did not get to personal in his talk because he is just like me. He did not want to be seen crying and so just stuck very much to his talk and did not veer away from that in anyway. I had to laugh. He did an aweome job though and afterwards gave me a big hug. I knew that he loved me! Another huge surprise but really not a surprise because my Father in Law is amazing and is so thoughtful. I know that he was such a huge example to Torrey and therefore, I was blessed with an incredible thoughtful husband in which I am so thankful for. I received in the mail, M. Russell Ballards new book, "Daughters of God" and the inside read, "I hope you have a great Mother's Day and know that you are loved and appreciated." Thank You so much Veldon for that gift. It made my day. I was blessed with amazing in-laws that are such examples to me. You are awesome. I am so grateful to be a mother and for the responsibility that it brings. Everything that I do is for each one of you. I love you all very much and thank you for letting me be your Mom.

Uncle Tad's Funeral

This was the last time I seen and talked with my Uncle Tad. This picture was taken when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Graci at my little brother, Rhett's wedding reception. March 19th, 2005. Thank you Arlene for making us pose for this picture. I think that it really is the only photo I have of him. I don't remember much but I do remember going to their house in Idaho falls, riding my skate board and playing with John, my cousin, Tad's son and having a great time. I believe that my Uncle has been sick for along time and his heart and lungs finally gave out on him.

This is my parents. My Dad looks a lot like my Uncle Tad but he has taken much better care of himself and it definitely show. My dad looks the same as I can remember. He does not age!! He is amazing. Unfortunately at these times in our lives, we are reminded that we are all getting older and we do not have as much time on this earth as we think that we have so we must definitely make good use of every day and not let our loved ones go very long without letting them know how much we love them and what they mean in our lives. This is one that I am not very good at but this past year have been trying to do better at. Sometimes I think that they will always be there and that disagreement can go for a time without taking care of them however we waste so much time and energy, when really they are very minuscule to what this life is truly about so let us not waste the time that we have, bottom line.

"Total Relaxation"

It has been a couple of weeks since I last posted but a lot has been going on. Torrey and I had the opportunity to fly to Las Vegas and stay at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Henderson Nevada. Torrey had met all of his numbers that he is accounted for at Smiths so Torrey was in for winning the grand prize that Smith's was giving away. 32 store Directors met their goal out of 150 Store Directors. So way to go Torrey!!!! What a beautiful place! It sits just off of Lake Las Vegas so it was just relaxing and the weather was just perfect. Not to hot but not to cool either. April is a great month to visit Las Vegas if you would ever like to go unless you like intense heat. We flew in at about 1:00 p.m. and was shuttled to our destination. We had the afternoon to ourselves so we went and had lunch at a yummy Mexican Restaurant and then walked around the hotel a bit and checked out the surroundings. It was a great chance to reconnect for a bit. Later that night, we met at the little beach and had dinner with the group and played beach games which was a lot of fun. Torrey won a $400.00 golf driver that night which cost him $20.00 but was very comical and will have to tell the story sometime on how he won. Smith's people will not be forgetting that anytime soon. Saturday was a very relaxing day for me because Torrey went and played golf all day with the group of Directors. His new driver served him well. They played "Best Ball" which he said that they used a lot of his drives but he ended up being 4 over par. He had alot of fun! I went for a walk around Lake Las Vegas and looked at all of the beautiful homes around the golf course. I came back and started reading a book and sitting by the swimming pool catching a few sun rays which these white legs are definitely in need for. I was able to take a nap and then when Torrey came back we relaxed by the pool with some other people we knew. We then got ready for the big night. Torrey was feeling pretty confident about winning the grand prize of either $15,000,two jet ski's (which we were wanting),two snowmobiles, or two, four wheelers. After a delicious salmon dinner was the prize giveaway. Needless to say we did not win but had a great time trying. The winner walked away with $15,000. We flew out early Sunday morning and were able to get back to Green River in good time. Thank you so much Julie and Sara for taking the girls. They had so much fun!!! It was very nice to get away with Torrey and know that the kids were in good hands. We appreciate it more than you know.

Spring Break and Easter Weekend

Our Spring Break started out with the "Hannah Montana Movie" We loved it! I even was able to talk the boys into coming with us and even if they would not admit it, I know that they liked it. Saturday, we colored Easter eggs and they turned out so good.
Then we headed for Salt Lake after Torrey and Riley got home from work. We were going to spend Easter with some of Torrey's family in Utah. We had so much fun. We hadn't seen them since Christmas I think so it was fun just hanging out and playing with cousins. Sunday morning started out with an Easter Egg hunt done by Aunt Julie at Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Sara's house.
Too much fun. The kids found so many eggs filled with candy and some of the kids got eggs filled with money. After the hunt, we went back to the Chambers and the kids found their Easter Baskets which were hidden.Then we went down stairs and had an awesome Easter lesson given by Uncle Randy. Everyone loved it and I know the little ones understand Easter a little better and understand the Resurrection of our Savior more and what Easter is really about. It definitely gave us all a special feeling inside and we were able to totally enjoy the Sabbath Day.
After Church, we had an amazing dinner and just enjoyed each others company. The kids watched Bedtime Stories and played pool and had a great time. Thank You Uncle Randy and Aunt Julie for the awesome Spring Break and Easter Sunday. We had such a great time being with you all. Our hotel accomadations were beyond any five star hotel. Thank you Julie. You are truley amazing!

Graci's first trip to the Dentist

Graci just hopped right up in the Dentist chair!! We had talked about what to expect at the dentist and so I guess she felt like she was prepared and all and she has such great examples to watch so going to the Dentist seemed like no big deal until the Hygenist put the paper napkin around her neck just before cleaning her teeth and all of a sudden Graci has this big tear rolling down her face but the funny thing was is that she was trying so hard to be big and pretending that she wasn't crying. I could not believe how big she was being. I asked her if the tear was from pain or just being scared and nervous and she she she was scared and a little nervous, but was she ever so big. She did not like the Flouride which I can't blame her. That is the worst part of going to the Dentist in my mind. She was so excited to get her a new princess toothbrush which she chose Airel, the Little Mermaid. I was so proud of her!!

My Baby turned 4!

Yesterday was Graci's big day. She made the comment half way through the day that she didn't feel any different. She still feels like she is three. How profound for a three year old, oops, i mean four year old. That one is a tough one to explain. I still feel like I am twenty most days but occassionaly do have days that I feel my age and they are getting more frequent. Graci was very specific as to what she wanted on her Birthday cake. Princesses and Bubble Gum. Thanks Layton for making such an awesome cake! Graci received a princess blanket, a light bright, some TinkerBell toys and the cutest outfit from Grandma. Thank You Grandma! You are awesome. We had a fun party. Graci was very happy.
Four years ago at this time was a very crazy time. We were making the decision to move to Green River. The day after Torrey brought Graci and I home from the hospital, He left to come to Green River. He stayed at the Oak Tree Inn for three months and would come home on weekends. I had to stay and finish the kids in school and sell the house and that meant trying to keep it clean during this process. I remember everytime I would go to lay down and try to get some rest, the phone would ring and someone would want to come and look at the house in 30 minutes and that meant cleaning and also getting out of the house so we got really good at. We definately had to have a strategy. I believe that Graci spent most of her first few months in her car seat. We finally sold the house the middle of June and then lived in a hotel for a few weeks in Rock Springs and then finally found a trailor to live in. We were so thankful for that. We were all ready for some home cooked meals. I never thought that I would ever want to eat out again. Graci has definately kept life exciting since the day she was born. She has been my buddy over the last four years and I know that it will be so hard to let her go off to school all day every day. I seriously will be lost for a time. I just love the way she thinks. She is so much fun and just keeps me smiling. Happy Birthday Graci!! We love you.