Fifth Grade

Fifth grade has been a fun year for Mariah. She seems to have grown up overnight and I love hanging out with her. She is responsible, fun, and a social butterfly. These are some of our BFF's from her class. They are a great group of girls and I am happy for Mariah that she has found such good friends.

Lagoon 2008

I finally downloaded pictures that had been on my iphone for a while. I found these cute pictures of Shane, Jalyn, and cousin Korbin at Lagoon from this last summer. The kids had a blast and it was a really fun day.

Shane and Korbin were holding hands while they were standing in line. It was cute to see the little buddies staying together and safe while patiently waiting for their turn on the ride.

Mariah's recital

Mariah had a school orchestra recital tonight where everyone played solos. This is Mariah doing her performance of Paganini Theme. She did a fabulous job. Jalyn is the one doing the video so you may just want to close your eyes and listen. If you get nauseous, don't say I didn't warn you. There also was a judge there and at the end of the recital there were awards given out. My Mariah received Winner in Advanced Orchestra Division! Yay, Mariah! She has been playing for two years and really has an ear for music. I am so proud of her.

Me on a motorcycle!

I love riding motorcycles and I want one real bad! Since Darren died in a motorcycle accident last summer, it hasn't been a real desire for any of us to get back on a bike. However, this weekend, being in California, Don rolled out his bike and let me get on. It was so fun. We miss you Darren!

Girl's Night Out

I miss my Texas friends! Juli Downs came down from Burley, Tammy Cook came out from Texas, and Andrea Alexander is my new friend from Texas that I didn't know before. We all went out Saturday night while the men went to the Priesthood Session. It was so nice to have a night out and we laughed and laughed! That is what I miss. Those late night talk sessions while watching the Bachelor or hanging out at Baskin Robbins telling secrets that do not go beyond that room! Good friends, good times!

Temple Square

The Cook's and Downs' came to Salt Lake for General Conference and we all met on Temple Square. We had a great time together and enjoyed touring the area. I actually got my kids to sit together for a picture and look like they enjoy each other. Jackson got to go to the Priesthood session and Mariah and I went to the Sunday morning session.

Winter Fun!

Spring just can't decide if it wants to come or not- here are the kids enjoying a day out with Dad.

I don't cut hair but Jackson was looking pretty raggedy and he was getting ready to turn 12 and be ordained a deacon so I thought I would give it a shot. As you can see, he hated it. In the end it didn't look so bad but Jackson said it was the worst haircut he had ever had. I guess that is the end of my hairstylist career!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I finally downloaded the pictures from my camera and this is what I found! The kids got all decked out in green for St. Patrick's Day and did some jigs for us! Mariah wanted to really make sure she didn't get pinched and so put on as much green as she could. They had a fun day!

With great sadness, Ralph Benjamin Bytheway passed away this week. He was 85. This is Matt's grandpa and a wonderful man. I met Grandpa when Matt and I were freshmen at BYU and Matt would bring different girls up to his Grandparent's house on the weekends to hang out in Salt Lake City. I got to be one of those girls and loved his grandparents from the start. Grandpa loved to be outside. He had the most amazing garden and when they moved to Leeds, he added chickens. My kids loved visiting Great Grandpa's chickens and feeding them when they could. We will all miss him very much but we are grateful for the time that we had him and the memories that we have of him now. Rest in peace, Grandpa, and we will see you soon!

My friend Lauri was in town this week and we had a great time. Now I am behind in my school work and studies, sleep deprived, and worn out from giggling so much. We don't get to hang out nearly enough. I hear she is coming back next month too so I better get ahead on my school work!

Girl's Night Out!

I had the best date Thursday night with Megin. She got two tickets from her husband for Valentine's Day to Rascal Flatts and he didn't want to go. So I got to be the lucky friend. It was GREAT! He not only got her tickets, he got her good tickets. We sat on the floor only 7 rows from the stage. The stage came out onto the floor too so when they walked up the sides, they were only three people away from us. We didn't rush up and grab any of their hands, but I did encourage Megin to have the main singer rub her pregnant belly. It didn't happen. Oh well. So thank you Megin. You are a great date.

Mission Flashback!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

I can't believe it has been 12 years since you came into our family. I think the birth of the first child holds a special place in a parent's heart and you are no exception. You were a fabulous baby; patient, curious, and talkative as a toddler; bright, smart, and helpful as you grew older; and now you are a handsome, funny, caring, and responsible young man. We love you and are so grateful you are a part of our family!

Mission Flashback

This is for you Lauriann- "nice matting!"

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Sixth Challenge

1. Go to the photo folder in your computer

2. Go to the 6th folder of photos.

3. Go to the sixth picture.

4. Put the picture on your blog and description of it.

5. Invite six friends to join the challenge.

I was tagged by Lauriann - thanks Lauriann! This is when our friends from Texas came to visit. We hadn't seen them for a few years but our kids acted like we had just seen them last week. It was great fun to have them hang out. This is Jalyn and Nathan's head. They had a great time together.

I tag- Kori, Heather, Ashley, Mom, Julie, and Saundra

Friday the 13th

Yesterday was a bad day. It was Friday the 13th. I could tell the day was going to be rough from the minute I woke up. I didn't sleep well because all I kept thinking about was r-square, scatterplots, and other statistical nonsense that I can't quite figure out. I woke up exhausted and took it out on the kids. They couldn't move fast enough, get ready fast enough, hurry up and eat your breakfast, hurry up and get your shoes on, hurry up, hurry up. I had gotten Jalyn up a few minutes earlier than everyone else so she could work on her math facts and get her times-7's passed off. But that little girl couldn't drag her feet any heavier than she did. She dawdled, she whined, she laid around, until finally it was too late to do them before the rest of the kids got up. Well, it was stuck in my head that we were going to sign off those darned 7's. So minutes before it was time to walk out the door, I got Jalyn to sit at the table and do her timed test. She couldn't focus. The kids were running around trying to finish getting their snow stuff on. Jalyn kept looking at them instead of her 7's and the seconds were ticking by. By the third try, I was so frustrated I shoved them all out the door. Instantly, I felt horrible because I only made her feel bad. Guilt of an over-tired, over-stressed, can't do it all mother washed over me. I got ready quickly and ran a few errands. While at the grocery store, I picked up a peace offering for Jalyn and her class. I am sorry Jalyn for being so mean and grouchy. Her class was at recess when I dropped it off and her teacher had me in tears when she asked why I brought in the treat. What a day. I was exhausted and I still had two dinners to make for families in the ward who needed that service. I was in no mood to serve but it lifted my spirits when they were so grateful for the meals.We had tickets to the Draper Temple Open House but I was in no mood to go. Mariah called from her friend's house asking if her friend could come along. I guess we have to go now. It was a long wait, I think everyone thought it would be a great Valentine's activity to go see the temple. Mariah met more friends there and thankfully we ended up having a wonderful time. The temple is beautiful. The spirit there is refreshing. I felt much better on the drive home than when the day started. I am grateful for forgiving children. They still like me, even after a day like today.

BYU Basketball Game

We went to the BYU/Wyoming basketball game on Saturday and had a ball. We were way up in the nosebleeds but the tickets were cheap. I think the kids had a great time and Mariah made great use of her new megaphone to cheer on the Cougars. (Darren would have been proud!) We had lunch at The Brick Oven and then walked around campus. How cool is it to have a bowling alley on campus? Who says college is so hard when you can bowl for a class? It was a fun day!

Shane's reading

This is Shane in his nightly ritual. I think that kid runs and runs all day long and then when it is time to go to bed and read, he is instantly out. He is loving the Magic Treehouse Series right now. He is improving every day in his reading. His teacher is Mrs. Stayner and she has been absolutely amazing and I know he wouldn't be doing as well as he is without her help. I watched her do the same thing with Jalyn. I love good teachers!