We never get snow like this!!!

It was looking a lot like spring and Amy I am so jealous of your tulips!! I think we have gotten more snow this last week than we ever got during the winter. I should get used to this Wyoming weather but I haven't. If we do get snow like this, it is way to cold to play in it because of the wind so yesterday was a very unusual day for us because we got that great snowman snow and it was a beautiful day to play in it. Thanks Jeanna for the snowman kit that you gave us for Christmas. We were finally able to use it and the kids had a ball. They played for a couple of hours after school in it and even got the tubes out and found a snow hill. These are the kind of days I used to live for as a little girl and sadly we do not ever get them here. I have never thought more about the pioneers as I have since we have lived here because from October to sometimes even June, the cold mixed with the wind is a bitter cold that you can't describe. It goes right through you.


Speaking of the pioneers, Torrey and I were asked to meet with the Bishop this past Sunday, and this always makes me a bit nervous especially when my husband is asked to meet with me. We were called to be Ma & Pa for a group of youth going on the Trek this summer. This will be so exciting. I hope that I will be able to make the long walk day after day. What an experience though! They say that we are going on the Ultimate Trek which is different then some groups in the past so it should be memorable. I believe that we start at the Rocky Ridge and end at Martin's Cove. I am excited that my husband will be able to be there and experience this. Our Youth are amazing! Have a great week.

Our Extreme Home Makeover

We have come so far and our rooms are ready for visitors now. So come on over! How exciting it is to go down stairs and see that our blood, sweat, and tears have finally paid off. The bedrooms turned out so incredible!! I am way impressed with my husbands abilities. I know that it doesn't look like I did much because I was taking the pictures but I was his right hand lady. I don't know if he would say that but I would like to think so. We only argued a few times so I really think we are a pretty good team wouldn't you say so Torrey? He is not answering but anyway it has been a challenge to say the least trying to live our lives during the day and wear our construction hats at night. Many early mornings also. They really start to wear on you after awhile but very much worth the hard work. This room is Riley's. It is a beautiful Bennington Grey and Army Green. It turned out awesome.




This is Layton's room. It is painted Bennington Grey also and Red Rim Rock









This is Hattie's room just in case you missed the previous blog painted a light green called Pale Vista
We still have a little finishing touchups to do but for the most part we are thankful that this project is finished. Now how to continue the motivation to finish the rest of the basement? That is the question. Slowly but surely, we will pull the motivation from somewhere I am sure.
We also had Parent Teachers Conferences for the girls and man, All I can say is, "Way to go girls." Hattie had all A's but one B+ in Math and Hannah had all 3's and one 4 on her report card. You girls have worked hard and it has definately paid off. They both love school and are very good readers and work real hard. You girls are awesome. We went for shakes after each conference and they were so tasty.
Layton and Riley both had a band concert together and the whole night was so good. The 7th and 8th grade band played and then the High School and they sounded fantastic. I was not prepared for the night and had taken my camera to take pictures of the boys with their instruments and after my first picture, my camera's battery was dead and had not brought another. But none the less, it was an awesome night. Here is a picture of Layton with his Saxaphone.Sorry Riley that I didn't get yours with your Tuba.
Layton will be headed to Lagoon at the end of the month to perform in a band Festival and then they get to play the rest of the day. How exciting is that. Both boys have been getting up at 5:00 in the morning and going to speed training and weight lifting. I am impressed with their dedication and discipline. They are exhausted by the end of the night.
Last night we attended Riley's Basketball Banquet. It was an exciting night because Riley lettered in Varsity Basketball. We really were not expecting that because he hadn't even played a Varsity game but had moved up at the end of the season and practiced with the team and went to State with them but did not play but ended up lettering. The Varsity Coach was impressed with his hard work and wanted to reward him for it. Way to go Riley! Next year will definately be exciting to watch. This is a picture of Riley with the Sophmore team.
This is Riley with the J.V. team
This is Riley with the Varsity team
It has been a long season but an exciting one!
Riley also started working at Smith's a couple nights a week and he really enjoys it. He says that it is pretty fun so I am grateful for his attitude. Well it sure has been a busy couple of weeks and I am so ready to get everyone organized and back into their own rooms. No more sleeping on the couch!! Have a great week. I can't believe that it is half way over.

My baby girl turns 11!!!

Happy Birthday Hattie!!

Hattie, I can't believe that you turned 11. It seems like yesterday when we brought our first baby girl home. What a joy you were then and are now. Your cousins coundn't say Hattie, she would call you Happy and it stuck. You are definately our Happy Hattie. You are a special girl and we love you so very much. Continue doing your best in all that you do. You are amazing! Happy, Happy Birthday.

I can't believe a month has gone by since I last posted. So much has happened. I have tried desperately to download a video of Riley playing the piano but I have been unsuccessful. Torrey had to speak at a Stake Priesthood Meeting and then Riley was called and asked if he would play a piano solo "If you could hie to Kolob" at the same meeting, so I couldn't miss this. I thought I will just sit back in the corner and listen and then I would leave. Riley was first and Torrey was last so I had to stay but every speaker would say. Good Evening Bretheren and sister and then they would laugh. It was quite embarrasing but something I had to endure to listen to my boys. I was so proud of them. What an awesome job!!
Valentine's Day
We decided to just stay at home this Valentine's Night and have a candle light dinner with the Family, excluding Riley because he was having his own night. Torrey and I made a yummy New York steak and had shrimp and garlic potatoes and green beans and then I had dipped strawberries into chocolate and they were so yummy!! The kids loved eating dinner with candle light and want to do it every night. We finished the night off with the movie "No Reservations." We were also heart attacked and found some delicious frosted sugar cookies outside our door. That was so much fun.
Riley had been asked to dinner after getting his car attacked with love notes by one of the sweetest girls. He had such a fantastic Valentine's everRiley also attended his first school dance! Snowball Riley and his friend Keenan double dated and came to our house for dinner. It was so much fun! My pictures didn't turn out very well which made me mad. My night shot on my camera was on and I didn't know that until I had downloaded the pictures and the night was over. They looked so awesome and the candle light dinner turned out very nice. I had a green salad for them when they first arrived and then pork medallions with sourcream and herb mashed potatoes and green beans and then topped it off with a chocalate filled cake with raspberries and topped with ice cream. It was delicious!
Does it sound like our lives revolve around Riley? It does!!! We thought that basketball was over last weekend but then Riley was asked to practice with the Varsity team. How exciting!!! He has worked very hard this year. This weekend they are in Casper for regionals. Our Varsity picked off the number one seed going into the tournament and ended their undefeated season the last game of the season so it was so awesome. Riley isn't dressing down with the team this weekend but we will see if he does for state next weekend. Layton and I will be going to Casper to watch the state tournament so that will be exciting. You just can't get enough Basketball!!
We have started working on the basement and have gotten two rooms textured and ready to paint. So exciting!! Our goal is to have the third room painted and ready for Hattie's birthday on the 14th of this month. We will have our own little home makeover. The rooms turned out so nice. I can't wait to finish the rest of the basement. Slowly but surely! The dust is killing us off though. I think Riley and I have bronchitis. The last couple of nights we have been coughing our lungs out. I am starting to feel a little bit better and Riley said that he was. The fresh air in Casper might do him some good.
Layton just signed up for baseball last night so on to other exciting things. He is excited. He has started working on his scouts again which excites me and will be receiving his star award and is working on his communications and personal fitness merit badge. Way to go Layton!! He is such a trooper. Torrey and I could not have done the basement without him. He has helped us so much. Some nights him and Hattie have made dinner or I have come upstairs and my kitchen is totally cleaned. He is amazing. Thank You so much Layton!! He is also quite the taper and texture guru. Hattie has been working hard at whatever Hattie is doing. She is a straight A student and just brought the paper home for the opportunity to go to key camp which is at the University of Wyoming this summer. She is excited for that. Hannah just keeps getting caught for being good and today she was given her monthly reward and they were able to wear their pajamas to school and she took her DS so way exciting. What ever keeps them going right!! Last Friday she had her special lunch with her principal and they had PIZZA! She is doing so good and loves school. She is a good girl and I am thankful for that. Graci is also loving school. Her world revolves around Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday when she gets to see her teachers and her friends. Torrey and I just try to keep up! This might be a monthly update. One can never tell what is instore.

Happy Birthday Layton!! Our Ground Hog Baby

Happy Birthday Layton!!
I can't believe that you turned 14 years old. Wow!!! It seems like yesterday when you were born. What an incredible time that was in my life. You were such a good baby. I know that we have had our struggles but man, what an incredible young man you have turned out to be. I received an awesome phone call at the beginning of this school year from one of your teachers and he told me that I should be proud of you and the boy that you are at school. He told me that you are a leader and many boys look up to you. He shared with me some of your answers on a school project that you were working on and could not believe that you answered the questions with such maturity. Those kindof phone calls bring tears to my eyes! I am so proud of you son and who you are. Here are a few photos of Layton that I scanned in and some that I have on my computer. Happy 14th Birthday Layton!

Way to go Hannah!

Obviously updating my blog was not one of my New Year Resolutions. I have not done very good at this but I am still trying. I guess that is all that matters, right? Anyway, I received a phone call from an unknown caller. This usually means that the school is calling and one of the kids are sick and has just thrown up all over the desk, (which actually has happened) or it is the principal calling because someone has gotten hurt, or somebody left their homework home, or they didn't bring lunch money or it is a solicitor calling me but today it was the school Secretary, Marene, calling for the principal, Ms. Covey. I am still a little nervous at this time but she told me that this was a good call. I love those calls!!! Hannah was nominated for an award that not to many children receive. She said that only one boy and one girl from every class receive this award and at this time I was so excited for Hannah because I knew which award she was talking about as Hattie had received it last year. Hannah was given the "Citizen of the Quarter" award which means that Hannah has been very Respectful to her Teachers and to other students, she has been very Responsible and comes to class everyday prepared, very Kind to everyone, which Hannah has been caught being good and kind at many different occasions. I was to keep this a secret because Hannah did not know that she was getting this award. When Hannah walked into the gym for the assembly and seen us there, she was so excited because she new something big was about to happen. We were so proud of her. It is pretty awesome when the school calls you and tells you that you have pretty awesome kids. It is every parents dream. Congratulations Hannah. We love you. Congratulations to everyone, that is a pretty awesome award to receive.

Happy New Year!!!

O.K.! I think that I am finally caught up from Christmas and getting organized and back into the swing of things and then I realize that IT IS ALREADY THE 20TH!!! Where in the world does the time go. No, I really didn't just realize that. I am more with it than that but seriously, where does it go. The last couple weeks have been nice because it hasn't been to busy. We have done a bit of traveling to Riley's games in Mountain View and we went to Laramie this last week and then Rock Springs tonight but we love it.
Today was an amazing Day with the Inaguration of the new President of the United States of America, Borack Obama. This is an amazing country that we live in and definately one that all of our hopes and dreams can come true. I pray that our Heavenly Father will be with the Obama Family to lead and guide this nation.
I am off to the Basketball Game! I hope you all have a great night.