Dancing with Daddy

Troy sometimes gets in these Latin dancing moods and will put on Freddy Fender music and usually grabs Maya, picks her up, and dances around with her in his arms or on his shoulders. This is one of those times.

Sports

Zane just wrapped up his first official season of hockey (with games and travel to places like Bountiful, Logan & Park City). We aren't too sad to see it end because it was a lot of work for us as well as him, but he sure loves hockey. Zack and Zane posed with the Utah Grizzlies (Utah's hockey team) mascot "Grizzbee" at Zane's post-season party - all the family got to skate for free so we all got out on the ice and at least gave it a shot. Troy and I are still pretty hesitant but all three of the kids are naturals on the ice. In fact, Maya was taking turns pulling Troy & I around on the ice. I'm proud to say that neither of us fell once...it pays to stick close to the sides. Maya has started playing soccer which she is really a natural at. She has scored a goal every game she has played so far! She is the fastest one on her team, so that helps too. We are so proud of her.

Zack's 17th B-day

Zack turned 17 on February 4th. His main present was a new cell phone - his old one was very old; he was still using the basic one we got him when he first got a cell phone like 3 years ago. We made Zack go on a treasure hunt for his gifts too, but he wasn't quite as excited about it as Maya was. I think he still had a good time though. I can't believe he is 17 already...he is taller than his dad now but still as sweet and mild-mannered as ever.

Maya's 7th Birthday

Maya turned 7 on January 24th. We played it pretty low-key this year but we've started a new tradition with birthdays...we make the kids go on a scavenger hunt to find their gifts. They start with a clue and the have to follow the clues to find each present. Maya LOVED it. It made it so much more fun and memorable! Her big gift was a new bike, which she really needed as she had definitely outgrown her old one. I am attaching a couple of pictures of the hunt and celebration. Maya's second favorite part of her birthday was her dad's very sweet idea. We told Maya that she could pick any game she wanted to play and we would all play it as a family. She told me that what she really wanted was to play school with her being the teacher, but she kind of said she knew that was probably not going to happen, so she said we could just play a board game instead. When I told Troy about this conversation he arranged for all of us to be in Maya's school class, but surprised her by setting up desks for each of us in Maya's room and having the boys seated at their "desks" when she came in her room. She was so excited! Actually at first she was embarrassed and was being all shy, but it didn't take more than a minute for her to get into it and start teaching class. It was so cute! We even had P.E. - we went downstairs and Maya made everyone dance to the end of Mamma Mia - for anyone that has seen that movie, they sing and dance to a couple of songs at the very end of the movie - anyway, Troy even gave the teacher an apple... brown-noser.

Priorities

Okay so Troy helped me remember what Maya misunderstood a while back. We were all in the car going somewhere and I think Troy was talking to the boys, telling them how they needed to get their priorities in order, or get their priorities straight. Something to that affect... well, he then asked, "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Maya said "Yes, you said they need to get their panties straight." Oh my goodness, we all had a good laugh over that one. Yes Maya, that's exactly what dad was telling the boys. That's awesome.

Kid-speak

Sometimes it is so funny what kids hear. For example, when Troy says the blessing on the food he always says "please bless this food and the hands that prepared it"... Maya caught on to this but instead says "the hands that repaired it". I guess it's kind of similar... I just thought it was kind of cute and haven't had the heart to correct her yet. I need to share these things when they happen because she said the absolute funniest thing -well, misunderstood the funniest thing - a few months ago but of course now I can't remember what it was, just that it was hilarious. If I remember, I'll post it, but it's just so fun sometimes how kids hear things as opposed to what is actually said.

Today

So for some reason today I am able to post something on my blog from my computer at work. Sweet! I also tried to make some changes to the layout of my blog since eventually even I tire of bright pink. I've gotta think I'm not the only one out there. My new template is boring, but as I am still a babe in the woods with this whole blogging thing it's what you get. I know there are super cute borders and whatnot you can find somewhere but who has time for that? Seriously. I'm probably just being bitter because I'm not cute and clever like so many other bloggers out there, so if you're one of them, just ignore me, I'm just jealous.
If you're not one of them... seriously people, right?
Anyway, I'm afraid I have no exciting news to tell you. Things are pretty much the same as they have been. No fun plans coming up to look forward to...just hoping I still have a job next month in this fantastic economy. I have been teaching Maya how to play the piano and she really enjoys it, so that has been fun. Zane has been working on his multiplication facts for a while now, and I think he has finally memorized all of them, so that is definitely cause to celebrate. Zack is currently struggling with his Japanese class and since his parents don't speak any Japanese, he's kind of on his own with that one. That's one of those life lessons where you learn that just because something sounds fun, doesn't mean it always is. Live and learn, that's why we're here, right? Troy and I are very fortunate that Zack's mom is so great in working with us to help Zack and do what's best for HIM rather than what's best for HER. I cannot tell you what a huge difference that makes in a divorce situation! It is so much better for the kids when they can see that their parents are all working together as a team to help them and support them. It's not always easy, but in a situation like that sometimes you just have to put your own personal feelings aside and work together for the sake of the kids. Anyway, I'm off my soap box now... sorry... momentary relapse.
I thought I'd look through some older pics and post a couple from this summer. One is from our first camping trip with our new trailer up at Strawberry Reservoir, but it was taken at the end of our trip so we are looking a bit haggard... the other is from Troy's b-day in June - I just thought it was a cute pic. See ya!

Thanksgiving

Okay so I just read my sister's comment about posting some pics from Thanksgiving so here are a few. We had a great time together and it was so nice to spend that day with at least some of my family!

Christmas 08

I just wanted to post a few pictures from Christmas. We had a great time together this year... we were able to have all 3 of the kids with us quite a bit, which was really nice. Now we are just trying to recover from all of the business and get back to life as usual. It was really great to have a some time off from work though. I am pretty boring right now - I have a headache from a stressful day at work and my eyes are tired of looking at a computer monitor so please enjoy the pictures! :o)