Dreams Do Come True!

Aubrey has always had a dream of going up on pointe.  She is very good at ballet, but her studio only lets the performing arts company take pointe classes.  She has no desire to be on the company so we thought this dream was done until she left the studio.  Well, she performs on a recreational team.  We are fine with that, but when she tries out we always put on her forms that she will not dance on Thursday nights because she has Young Women's that night at church.  This year they scheduled a ballet class she is required to take on Thursday night.  We went to the studio and told them that we let them know she would not dance on Thursday night from 7-8 because of church.  They said it wasn't a problem and they let her take another ballet class with the performing arts company.  I was a little worried about this.  I mean, they are good.  Really good!  I was worried she would be lost in that class.  The studio assured me she would be fine.  She was fine.  She did great and she loves the challenge.  Then one day I was informed they were going to do pointe in ballet.  What????  I was worried she wasn't ready, but her ballet teacher said she would be fine.  Aubrey was thrilled!  It was a dream come true.  I still have to sew on her ribbons (I know, more sewing!!!!  Stress!), but she loves her shoes.  She honestly feels like she is being blessed because she didn't give up Young Women's and church to dance.  She put that first and the Lord has blessed her.  Let's see how she feels next week when she starts pointe!

Flag Football Update - We Are On A Roll!

Ian's team is doing awesome!  Once again Ian was worried about this game.  Once again they won!  Austin put it perfectly when he said, "This is so weird!  I'm not used to them doing so well."  They still have some things to work on and the season has just begun, but so far so good.

The best part of the game is when Ian caught the ball and ran it in for a touchdown!!!!  Yep, he got a touchdown.  Then we realized that he did it without a shoe!  His shoe fell off.  Here is a picture:

Ian did a good job on defence too!  He is really doing good this year.

This is the score.  Now it really doesn't reflect the true score.  The guest got those points due to the mercy rule.  Ian wants to make sure everyone knows that.

Celebrating Our Summer Birthdays!

Aubrey, Don, and I have summer birthdays.  For our birthdays this year we wanted to go see Wicked at the Smith Center.  Yes we have all seen it before, but we love this musical.  We got our tickets at the beginning of summer.  Back then, who knew I would be having chemo this week.  I wasn't feeling good.  I was just tired.  For a moment I thought I would have Austin go in my place.  Austin said he really didn't want to see it, and after a nice long nap, I was ready to go.  Don took us out to our favorite restaurant, Maggianos.  We loved that.  Then we headed out to the show.

We love the Smith Center.  It is so nice to have a nice theater to go to instead of having to go to a casino to see a show!  The show was amazing.  The ladies that were Glinda and Elphaba were amazing.  When Aubrey and I saw this in New York the lady that played Elphaba seemed to have a hard time hitting the notes she was singing.  Maybe she was sick or something.  Well, the lady playing Elphaba last night was incredible!  When she finished singing "Defying Gravity" Aubrey just looked at me and said, "Wow!"  It was a great show.  I am so glad I made it!  Now I can say I have seen the show in L.A., New York, and Las Vegas!!!

Sunday Message

My son Zachery, who is serving a mission in Russia, asked me to listen to this talk.  He knows how much I love to hear Elder Holland speak, and I am sure he felt like this talk was perfect for me.  It is an amazing talk!  Perfect for anyone going through a trial at this time!!!  I loved it.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Flag Football Update!

Wow, it was a great game!  We won again!!!!  26-8. (I think.)  Ian did a good job today.  He really loves to play and is having fun.  They are a good little team this year.  Ian loves when his brother is at the game.  Austin always brings his vuvuzelas.  Even the ref was laughing about it!  He said it was awesome!  The team also got their jerseys.  They are the Eagles this year.  Oh we love saying, "Summon your Eagle powers!"  You all know what movie that is from!  It was a great day!

Cross Country Update and First Senior Moment!

Yesterday was Austin's last home meet.  We got to go to the meet and they introduced each senior.  It was the first Senior moment Austin had.  Yep, he is graduating.  We really didn't know what to do, but it was fun.  It was a nice moment for Austin.

It is strange to think that he is graduating this year.  It is strange to think that I won't have another runner for a while.  Maybe Ian will run.

It was another hot run.  Dang, when September comes I am ready for the cold weather!!!!  Bring it!  I am sure these guys are ready too.  It was another win for the guys!  They are having a great season.

Austin's great finish!

Flag Football Begins

Yes, it is time for flag football again.  Everyone knows the story of Ian's flag football team.  Last spring they did pretty good.  We were excited for them to win a few games.  Well, this fall they lost their quarterback.  He was too old for their team.  So we have some new members of our team, and kids are playing new positions.  Ian changes positions every practise!!!  When the team went to their first game, we really didn't know how they were going to do.  Well they did awesome!!!!

 

Ian grabbed some flags!!!!

He caught a few balls and made some plays!

In the end, they won!!!!  Yep, they won thier first game!

The cutest thing was when Ian asked me if Austin was going to bring his horn!  Yes, we haven't been banned from flag football.....yet!

Here is Austin showing us his sweet skills!

I don't know if you can see Ian make this pass!

I Do Have Ups And Downs!

Everyone always says I am so positive and strong.  There are times I am, and then there are times I am not!  This week was one of those weeks.  Negative thoughts just kept creeping into my brain.  It was driving me crazy.  It was a rough week.  I just kept on praying and reading my scriptures.  I even went to the temple.  I couldn't understand my negative thoughts, because I had just seen my oncologist and she told me I was almost finished with chemo and on to the next phrase of my recovery!  I should be happy, right?  Then one of my friends that I haven't talked to in a long time stopped by and brought me some flowers.  They were the prettiest flowers.  It was so wonderful to sit and talk with her, even if it was for just a bit.  While talking to her I remembered my blessings and I suddenly felt calm.  Suzanne has that affect on people!  Then today I checked my facebook and this is what I found:

This is one of Austin's good friends.  She is up at BYU now.  We just love her and we totally miss her.  I couldn't believe she did this.  This is the nicest thing!  I was so moved, and even a little emotional.  Thank you Brindisi!  This meant so much to me!!!! 

The funny thing is, Austin and I were just talking about this race.  He wants me to look into it and see if I might be up to running it in February.  Maybe!

Aubrey's Room Is Done!

This summer Aubrey informed us that she felt that it was time to update her room.  She was going to be a Freshman and felt that her bedroom was too "little girl" like.  Daddy agreed and so he took on her room as one of his many summer projects.  He was a little worried about the colors, but he was willing to give it a try!

These are the before shots:

Aubrey wanted a magnetic wall.  Before she left for girl's camp she helped Daddy out by painting that wall first.

These are the after pictures.  She loves the grey and yellow colors.  Dad love it too!

Everyone knows I can't sew to save my life!  We couldn't find any window treatments we liked!  Then I saw on Pinterest about making curtains out of sheets.  Then one day we were in Target and found these sheets on clearance.  (Honestly, we couldn't find anything we liked.  That is why it took so long to post these pictures!)  Well, I sat down and figured it out!  I sewed Aubrey's curtains!  They came out perfect!  Well, kind of!  Perfect for me and Aubrey!!! O.k, yeah, there are days I just go in her room and look at her curtains!  I am that proud of them! 

We also got a new quote for her room.  Rachel R. did for me!

Here is her magnetic wall.  We need more magnets!  She loves this wall!

She is very pleased with her more mature room.  The bedding came from Urban Outfitters and the frames came from Rod Works!  There is still more we want to do, but at least we got this done!

Cross Country Update - Las Vegas Invitational

This Saturday Don and Ian went to the Las Vegas Invitational that is held at Veteran's Memorial Park in Boulder City, NV.  Once again it was a hot day, and by the time the guys ran at 10:30 am, the sun was heating up!  Austin felt really good about this race.  He did really good, improving on his time once again!  Every race he gets better and better!

Ian wanted to film today, so Don gave him the camera.  He did pretty good.  He wanted me to include his work in this post!