spring break in st. george

outside of judd's general store, a favorite stop for old fashioned soda and treats.

in the visitor's center.  the st. george temple is also a family favorite- for reasons none of us really know.  we just all really like it there. 

swimming at the rec center.

zion's national park.  it was a first for us.  we were impressed, and will's found a new hike he wants to try.  (the narrows?)  ugh. 



2 hours of my day

i have to make bread today.  it's a long process.  sometimes i get tired of it.  but i made a goal awhile back to not buy any store bread.  it's been a few months.  sometimes i miss store bread.  i've broken my deal twice to buy squaw bread, from costco.  if you haven't tried it- it's good.  like, deal-breaking good.  but i also like my homemade bread.  i get six loaves out of my recipe, and that usually lasts us a week, or close to it.  the boys usually eat one right out of the oven.  then i'm left with five for the week.

a pain- yes.  worth it- i think so.

one year away from young mens

clayton had a birthday in march.  it was small.  we went to dinner to his favorite place (thai food) and saw the movie gnomeo and juliet.  (which i thought was lame.)  he had fun though.  this time next year we'll have yet ANOTHER boy in the young men's program.  craziness.  i think half our money goes to scouts. 

i love this boy.  he is a lot of fun to have around.  clayton is either hot or cold.  no in between.  he's changing so much as he gets older, mostly for the good.  but i just want to freeze time and keep him this age forever. 

solo and ensemble

back in march, preston auditioned for solo and ensemble at the school.  he went into it feeling a little out of his league, but he had practiced and had just performed it for the first time the week before in his voice recital.  (photos)  he did so well that his voice instructor gave him flowers and made a big deal out of him being the biggest shock of the recital because he'd only been in voice lessons two months and had never sung in front of an audience before.  he really did sound nice.  his song, "loch lomand" which is an irish folksong, was perfect for his range.  (he's a bass.)

so back to solo and ensemble.  he did awesome.  he scored a 1.  (you had to have a 1- or above to progress on.)  he was so shocked.  he beat out several other guys that were in a'cappella and chamber choir.  it really surpised him.  but the judges gave him lots of praise.  so that meant he was onto the next level, regionals.  he was so excited.

the week before regionals he got sick.  really sick.  it didn't occur to me that you can't sing when you're sick, until about the day before.  he went to meet with his voice instructor and she suggested he get a blessing and perhaps not even compete.  he got the blessing.  he still felt like he couldn't sing.  we went to the doctor the morning of regionals and got him on meds.  he took them all day.  he called me right before he performed and told me he didn't think he could sing it.  he did it anyway.  spencer said he sounded like he was struggling while he sang it.  he called me much later that night to tell me he had been scored a 1-.  (this time you had to have a 1 to progress to state.)  he was so excited that he had done so well.  he thought for sure his score would be below a 2-.  he didn't get bummed until later that night when he realized how close he had come to going to state. 

all of the praise he received from that whole experience has changed him!  he has a confidence with his singing that he never had before.  he auditioned in late march for the school a'cappella choir and made it.  auditions for chamber are next week.  both he and spencer are auditioning.  it's the highest choir you can achieve in high school.  they are both very nervous.  preston says spencer is a given- he'll make it with no problem.  spencer feels otherwise.  i hope they both make it.  preston has put so much into it.  i'm nervous for them!

a winner and a loser

so today, in the south valley journal, there was a paper about brig's winning basketball team at his school.  northstar academy took home the championship for jv, varsity, and girl's basketball.  the article talked about brigham being a team captain and what a good example he set for the team.  (we were a little baffled and kind of laughed about that, including brig.) 

he was also all over fox news about two weeks ago for being an s.b.o. (vice-pres.) for northstar.  'big buddha' did his cool school segment on northstar.  brig was on there several times.  that's his big hollywood moment.  it's all down hill from here. 

i woke up this morning with a migraine, again.  it's happening about every other week now.  super depressing.  sometimes i genuinely feel like i'm losing this battle against health.  i try so hard to implement everything i can.  and for reasons i can't figure out- i still seem to be getting my butt kicked. 

shady oaks retirement home

so my good friend lisa just turned 40.  i had a little gathering with our closest friends for dinner.  she and her husband knew we were getting together for dinner for her birthday- but she didn't know what we had planned for her.  :)

 we had 'retirement home' music playing and we were all posed around the room when she walked in.

 some of our friends got really into it.  carlos, the man in the front left, was hysterical.  he so looked the part.  the picture doesn't do it justice. 

 my bra was a 42 DD.  it hung more around my belly area.  i had bags of rice and quinoa stuffed in it. 

 serious fire hazard!  i can't believe i'll be there in 5 1/2 years!

those clothes were seriously uncomfortable.  and we couldn't see a dang thing through those glasses.  we changed shortly after, but our hair was nasty (crusty) and white all night long.  i never got a shot of will's shoes, but he had on my dad's teva type sandals with white socks.  all throughout the night i kept looking at him through the corner of my eye and thinking- "he looks like my dad!"  scary. 

seriously, has it been this long?

i've neglected my blog.  big time.  and not that it matters much to the 3? of you who (have) read this, but i'm going to try to do better- mostly because these entries liven up my regular journal when i add them.  life isn't boring- for any of us.  having 6 kids makes it a little insane most of the time, but journaling has always been important to me.  plus, next time i give abby garbage about not blogging- she won't be able to give it back.  :)     

so will's job has involved a lot of travel over the past three months.  it seems he is gone a lot!  but really it's only a few days every other week or so.  it was bad in january and february- but that was abnormal.  he had a bunch of training to deal with.  a positive about that (if you ask will) is that he's racking up frequent flier miles with delta.  he's saving for a trip to maui or italy- whichever he can talk me into. 

life is always so full and hectic.  will and i both still serve in the youth.  that is busy.  preston has a job at i.f.a.  he works 18-24 hours a week.  it's much more of a time commitment than we realized it would be.  the boys always seem to have something somewhere that they need a ride to.  it's a struggle getting them to all of the places they need to be, while trying to do all of the things i need to do.  but i remind myself often that i love it.  i love the 'life' we have with the boys.  busy or not.  i know in a couple of years (2, literally) life will be different and i'll miss the interaction (even if it's minimal) that we have with preston.  i'm excited for next year, having all three boys in high school.  we decided to go forward with the exchange student- so we'll have a girl living with us for all of next year.  (we think.)  i know it will add to the chaos, and i may seriously regret it, but i want to give the boys as much of the experience they want out of this time in their lives as i can.  someday i'll look back and miss this craziness.  i need to do as much as i can, while i can.  (and i need to be journaling it- because i'll forget.)

i'll close with some pictures of.... prom. 

spencer was heart-broken that he couldn't go.  it was bad.

preston and brianna.  this girl is wonderful.  i'm having a hard time pushing him to date others.

their limo was the best!  will and i were so worried it was going to be disappointing.  not at all!

preston and most of the guys he went with.  they had matching shirts to wear for the 'after-dance' part of the date.  seriously.  two of those boys will be leaving on their missions in 6-8 months!!

this was the whole group.  16 of them fit in that limo!  between those boys, they go to four different high schools.  but they're all priests in our ward.