Yup! Were going on another cruise in February (this time with the kids)! We were able to get an amazing last minute deal that we couldnt pass up. We will drive to San Diego on February 6th and be back home around February 14th. The cruise goes to Cabo San Lucas and Encinada. FYI... the weather in Cabo today is sunny and 80 degrees! Today in Utah the high will be 36 degrees with a chance of snow on Monday - we are out of here!
RoadHome Charity Project
spent the rest of our day shoveling over a foot of snow and helping out several of our neighbors try to keep up with it all. 
My Blogging Hiatus is Over!
Thanks boys! I love you! I have enjoyed the Christmas seaon this year, I have so much to be thankful for. I have enjoyed reflecting back to my childhood and when my kids were little. I love thinking about the memories and stories behind each ornament and decoration that fills our house. We have kept things simple this year and have been looking forward to taking our sleeping bags and other items to the Road Home on Monday (see Adam's Rants & Ramblings about more on that).
Here are some pictures of the boys boxing up some of the items. I will post more pictures soon as we load everything up and take our stuff to Salt Lake.
The X-Mas 1993 ornament I made our first Christmas together and I was also pregnant with AJ at the time. It seems just like yesterday!
9th Grade Conference Champions
Well, football season is finally coming to a close. Both of the boys did very well this season. Michaels last game ended in double overtime but unfortunately they lost by 1 point which disqualifed them from the playoffs. AJ's team accomplished a perfect season and so far they have won their first two playoff games which advances them to the championship game next week. I know the kids will have mixed feelings about no more football but personally, I will not miss having to run kids back & forth to practice everyday and am looking forward to being able to make & serve dinner to everyone all at thesame time rather than reheating dinner three different times every night. I found this article on the internet which expresses my exact feelings about the life lessons that can be learned from participating in football(or any team sport for that matter). Lessons such as perseverance, commitment, responsibility and learning that "life isn't fair" can all be effectively taught by participating in team sports. 
Valentines Day in September???
My desk girls are so cute! It's been "bubble week" and I'm sure decorating my office was funner than cleaning so I cant say I blame them. 
and Brittany gave me some "Loose"berry Jam - Yum, Yum. And I cant forget to mention the personalized notes from all the girls plastered all over my door! Thanks a ton everyone, I dont deserve your kindness! Now get back to work!
Football, Football & more Football!
Right now our lives completly revolve around football. The kids have practices 3-5 times a week (both at differnt fields and different times), we attend games 2 times a week, plus we plan our our weekends around all U of U & Patriots games. Both the boys are both doing very well.
AJ's team has played 3 games, winning all of them thus far. Last week their victory was 60-0 over Timpanogos -needless to say, AJ got a lot of playing time that game. He is still proud to say that he has still not missed, been late or left early from one practice since practices started in May! He is very dedicated and hopefully his hard work will pay off soon! It's been fun to watch his team play on the high school football fields this year. There is something about playing under the big lights and having each game announced. Another bonus is that the scoreboards work so we always know how much time is left in each quarter and what the score is. It adds a whole new dimension to the game, it's been very exciting to watch each game even if AJ doesnt get much playing time some games.
Mike has played 2 games thus far and they have won 1. He still continues to suprise us with his natural abilities at this game. He is a great asset to his team and it's not unusual for them the use him on offensive line, defensive line and special teams all in the same game. Mike is also proud to say that he has not missed, been late or left early from any of his practices either. His coaches are really positive and seem to keep it fun and enjoyable for the kids which is hard to find these days in competitive leagues.
Here are some short video clips of the boys. The first clip is Michael (wearing red #56 ). At the end of the play he is on the left hand side of the frame. The second clip is one of AJ (wearing red #69) he is in the center of the screen sacking the quarter back. AJ's clip is washed out so unfortunatly you cant see it very clearly. To help you find him, he is the one that hits his chest at the very end of the play with the black socks.
Good job boys, keep up the hard work!
Biking to Shaker Heights, Ohio
Every road is torn up and under construction for the pressurized irrigation project. (I have a feeling it will soon be the subject of "things that annoy me" on Adam's blog - just wait and see.) If you ask me, falling into a trench at 4:30 in the morning would not be a good way to start the day. Adam has admitted that there are some mornings that he sleeps through most of the route so there was a very good possibility that I could have been missing for hours before he ever noticed that I was gone. Well, enough on that... Anyway, one day I was curious about how many miles it was from our house to Ali & Kolby's. In case you are wondering, it is 1,763 miles. It gave me the idea that we should set a goal to "bike" to Ali & Kolby's house. So I made a chart and every morning we log our miles and track our progress to Shaker Heights, Ohio. Right now we are averaging about 17 miles a day combined. As soon as I get my "heart condition" figured out, I should be able to contribute more but until then, Adam has to work out extra hard to compensate for my minimal contributions. So far we have logged 168 miles... only 1,595 miles to go! Our goal is to bike all 1,763 by the end of the year. In order to achieve that, we are going to have to step up our game! Look out Ali & Kolby - here we come slowly but surely. 
5K Run
AJ ran his first 5k race last Saturday as a part of his football conditioning. He ran it in 37 minutes - pretty good for a lineman! He is proud to say that he has not missed one practice since workouts began the first week of summer. He is very dedicated and has a lot of heart. Right now he is fighting for 1st string defensive tackle position. They have been doing two-a-days all week from 7-9am and then again from 5-7pm in preparation for their first game which is August 28th at 7pm. Needless to say, he cant seem to get enough sleep or enough to eat! AJ will be wearing #69 this season. 
Michael is also doing extremely well. He practices 5 days a week from 6-8pm each night. He loves going to practice and just weighed in at 125lbs! He is the biggest kid on the team and will be following his older brother by playing a defensive tackle position. Today, instead of his traditional football workout they hiked up to the "Y". Michael will be wearing #56 this season. 
We are still awaiting schedules for both kids. As soon as we get those schedules we will post them on the "Calendar of Events" link located on the right side of this blog. This will hopefully be an easy way to communicate eveything that will be going on during this busy fall season!
A peek into some of my conversations with the boys...
Conversation #1
AJ calls: "Mom, dad says that we can walk to the bowling alley"
Mom: "OK, be careful and watch for cars"
Mike calls: "Can I go with AJ?"
Mom: "Ok, but dont be annoying and cause problems. Oh and make sure you watch for cars"
30 minutes later...
AJ calls: "Mom, I think we are lost"
Mom: (Laugh) "Where are you at, do you recognize any buildings or anything?"
AJ: "We are sitting on the lawn of a church"
Mom: "Thats really helpful considering that there is a church on every corner in American Fork"
Mom: "Go the corner and tell me what the address is"
AJ: "Mike! Hurry and run down to that corner and tell me what the sign says"
Mike: (in the background) "No, you do it!"
(I found out later that night that Adam never told them they could walk to the bowling alley in the first place)
Conversation #2
Mom: "AJ, I made some spagetti so hurry and eat before you go to practice"
AJ: (after filling up his plate he said very seriously) "Are you going to make more for everyone else?"
Football Season is officially upon us.
Last week Mike had tryouts for the 6th grade football team. He did incredibly well and exceeded our expectations. We have always known that Mike had the agressivness for football but up until now he has been kind of timid on the field. I believe the timing is good to have him move away from flag football to tackle football this year. He is one of the tallest kids on the team and will most likely play Defensive Tackle. We charted his heighth the other day and he has officially passed me up as far a heighth goes! He is also taller than AJ was at his age which he feels is quite the accomplishment. 
Beginning tomorrow, Mike will start his first week of football practice. Both him & AJ will be practicing 2 hours a day, 5 days a week until school starts. As soon as we get game schedules we will make sure to pass them along to everyone. We are trying to prepare ourselves for a very busy fall.
On Wednesday we left before checkout and enjoyed the ride back home. Our entire day after that was consumed with the park strip project. We made 2-3 trips to Springville to get dirt & rocks. It was hard work and we were all very tired at the end of the day. I cant believe how much we were able accomplish! On Friday we left early for Moab. 
The highlights of that trip were shopping in downtown Moab, exploring some new trails, and a night boat ride down the Colorado River.Schools out! our first week of summer...
Its hard to believe that school has only been out 1 week. Our summer has already been jam packed with activities.
Moab - White Rim Trail... 
School got out of Friday, Ma y 30th and the next morning we woke up early and drove 3 hours to Moab. We had a campsite reserved several months in advance and had been looking forward to our first off road Jeep'n experience in Moab. As many of you know, we have had an unusually wet, cold and windy spring but we were very fourtunate to have perfect weather the entire trip. The pictures posted here dont do the actual landscape justice. You literally drive within feet of massive canyons that drop of thousands of feet below. Being the whimp that I am, there were a few scary spots that I dont really like to think about but the beauty and the amazment of what we got to see was well worth it by far! Our campsite was literally on top of the world and we could see for hundereds of miles it seemed. It was definatly a trip worth taking and am glad we had the opportunity to go!
Michael - Clear Creek Camp
The day after we got bac k from Moab, Michael left for 5 days to Clear Creek which is located in Scofield, Utah which is about 3 hours from home and an elevation of 8,400 feet! There were about 100 kids from all over Utah County that went. He had a great time and met lot of new kids. His favorite part of camp was on the ropes course wher
e they had to do a team building excercise and were not allowed to talk at all. They had to make sure everyone crossed the rope to the other side without talking to each other. Michael was one of the tallest kids so he helped grab the rope for everyone. He met a kid whose nickname was "Scooby" and they became good friends while down there. Scooby nicknamed Mike "
Lightning". Scooby and Mike shared the same cabin together and Scooby was voted Mr. Clear Creek. Due to our crazy spring weather, one morning it snowed on them and they had to spend most of their day inside due to cold and wet weather but they had fun anyway. While inside avoiding the bad weather, they showed the kids funny commercials and video clips which Mike really enjoyed. His favorite funny commercial was called the "ipod flea". He found the link when he got home and wanted to share it with everyone. Here it is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBwM2U77F2c
AJ
AJ started early morning football practices last week from 5:45am-8am! He is getting into shape quickly and is already starting to lose his winter weight.
AJ learned what payback means the hard way. About a month ago AJ and a friend toilet papered a kids house who had just moved into the neighborhood. AJ spent one m
orning picking up toilet paper, forks & spoons off our wonderfully decorated house, trees, bushed and lawn. Payback is so sweet, especially when its your kids!
AJ made the "A" team!
Yesteday, AJ & 72 other boys completed tryouts for the 9th grade football team. AJ was one of 37 boys to make the "A" team. Even more impresssive, he advanced from last years "B" team to this years "A" team. From what we can tell from the rosters, he and only two other boys were able to accomplish an advancment from the "B" team to the "A" team. We are very proud of him and he is very excited. Workouts begin on Monday and will continue all summer long. Some of the training includes weight training, a road trip to snow college, participating in a 5k run and a three week team camp with the AF high school football team. Congratulations AJ, we're proud of you!
Celebrating 15 years of marriage...
"A good marriage is not something your find, its something you work for. It takes stuggle. You must crucify your selfishness. You must at times confront and at other times confess. The practice of forgivness is essential." Quote from Sacred Marriage
"One of the best wedding gifts God gave you was a full length mirror called your spouse. Had there been a card attached, it would have said "Here's to helping you discover what you're really like!" Quote from Sacred Marriage
What we have learned...
15 years of marriage seems like the perfect time to reflect back on how much we have learned in the past 15 years together. I can't believe how fast 15 years has gone and how differently we view life now compared to 15 years ago. I would like to share a few things that we have learned along the way so far...
At a young age, Adam & I learned how to juggle full time jobs, marriage and being parents. We have learned (and are still learning) that blending different backgrounds, parenting styles, personalities and opinions is an often difficult process to master. Compromise, patience, forgivness and unconditional love is essential in all areas of parenting and marriage.
Being a parent has taught me that with each new phase that my kids enter, it seems like I have to relearn parenthood all over again. Kids are constantly changing and the techniques that worked great last month don't always work this month. I have learned that you have to be constantly learning and growing right along side your children. Getting ideas and advise from books has helped me immensly as both a parent and a wife over the years. I have learned that both Parenting & Marriage is an educational experience that you never get a diploma for. It's an education that will take a lifetime to accomplish and unfortunatly, trial & error is usually the only way to determine what works what does'nt. Sometimes I feel like we make more mistakes than we do progress but that's all part of the process that shapes and molds us into who we are and who we are becoming.
Adam & I have recently learned that our marriage is so much healthier & happier when rooted in a relationship with God. Prayer is an essential tool in marriage and is essential when raising children. Having an active realationship with our Savior has deepened our relationship with one another and has brought a peace into our home that only God can be given credit for. We have learned how to recognize and compensate for each others weaknesses and how to rely on each others strenghths. Although we have gone through difficult times, I would'nt trade them for anything. God has used each and every circumstance in our lives, both the good and the bad, to grow our faith. We have grown to trust Him and know that whatever our circumstances are, we can fully trust that God will use those circumstances to mature us and accomplish His plan for our lives.
Happy Anniversary Adam, I love you!
RAMBO’S DIARY
8:00am -Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – Playing with Stanley! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Get rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm – Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Play in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm – Chase the mailman! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm – Treats! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm – Sleeping in my bed! My favorite thing!
