May Is An Adventure

First of all, I just have to say, I love recital day!  Here is my beautiful dancer, Kate.  We have so much fun doing her hair and getting her sparkly for the show.  Seeing her dance reminds me of why I used to love dance so much.  Kate is my sweet little girl.

Our Memorial Day Weekend Adventure.  The Iversons discover Canyoneering in the Subway at Zions National Park.  It is so beautiful there, and we were so lucky to be 6 of the 80 people that visited there that day.  Chad got really lucky in scoring us a permit.  This was not only a highlight of our trip, and month, it is a highlight of my life.  My little hikers did amazing, and the view was worth it!



Here we are at the mouth of the subway.



The sweet curving canyon sides by the waterfalls.

Loving the slot canyons in here.

April Showers - Excited for the May Flowers

The flowers are growing in my window sill.  We only have a week or two left before they can move outside to the flower gardens.  I am thinking that the tomatoes we have grown from seed might even have a flower or two before they move outside.  Growing these plants and nurturing them through the winter is always a reminder that summer is on its way.

This month has been very fun.  Chad and I had a trip to San Diego for his school board conference.  We have had soccer start for the girls.  And, the most fun of all, Carson's birthday party! 
He had a very creative theme - again!  We did "Stuck in the Super Mario Brothers Video Game".  We had the boys do tasks and collect coins.  They had to manage their lives (decorated clothespins) so they didn't have to start over.  Oh, and by the way, each level gets harder and harder.  Very fun for us all.

I can't believe that he is 9 years old!  It has taken a bit to get used to that big number.  We love this sweet boy.

It's Beautiful Outside - March Brings New Beginnings

 It has been nice to finally have winter ending.  It seemed impossible at the beginning of March that nice weather was really on it's way.  But, we have had a few nice weekends and a beautiful spring break.  We are very fortunate. 

We took the kids skiing, one last time at the beginning of March, but our hearts were more into getting out and playing.  Here we are the following weekend playing capture the flag at Draper Park.

 Last weekend was had more snow, so we played volleyball indoors, which was great.  But then the warm up happened and we really enjoyed the last week.  It was our spring break.  We played outside, got the garden started, went on a 10 mile bike ride on the Jordan River Trail with the entire family, and visited Antelope Island with Grandma and Grandpa Iverson.  It has been fun.  Here are the kids playing at the beach.  It is so fun to watch them.  It is nice to be out!

 The Easter festivities were great this year.  We had Easter egg decorating, Easter crafts, Draper City egg hunt, Grandma's Easter Party (our family FAVORITE), and the annual Easter Bunny visit.  The kids get so excited.  It is so fun.  

But, more importantly, it has been fun to do the 12 days of Easter that Grandma made for us last year.  The kids have fun opening the egg, remembering about Jesus and reading the scripture together as a family.  I think it has been wonderful helping us remember the wonder of the Resurrection.  Kate also had a talk in church today about the Resurrection.  It was special to work with her in preparing.  I think she learned a lot, and was able to share her testimony with the primary. 

 

We are grateful to new beginnings.  New spring, warm weather.  The new beginnings we continually need, and receive through the atonement.  The new beginnings we will have when our loved ones are resurrected.  We are so blessed by our Savior.

Escaping to a little Red Rock Heaven

 

The cold weather and snow has taken it's toll on spirits in our household.  We have not been outside as much as usual, and the kids are becoming X-Box zombies.  Chad fondly remembers winter excursions to St. George, and planned our family a little respite.  We went over Presidents' Day Weekend, with most of Northern Utah.  The weather was amazing.  We hiked, biked, explored and were outside in sunny, warm weather for 4 straight days!  What a wonderful break from the snow that continues to descend on our home in Draper.  My favorite activity was mountain biking with the kids on red dirt trails for hours.  EVERYONE loved it!  Graham even put up with it in the baby trailer, eating dirt from Chad's bike.  It is so fun to look back on these pictures and see the brilliant red rock and remember the sunny warmth.

In January, Chad and I hosted the school spelling bee.  Our Children worked hard to be ready for the bee.  Audrey just missed being in the top three (4th place) of the 4 - 6th grades.  Carson had a repeat performance of 1st place of the 1 - 3rd grade.  It is fun to see them work hard for something.  We are proud of these amazing people.

Wow!!  Our little baby turned three.  I guess he is not a baby anymore.  We just love having this smart little guy in our family.  He keeps us smiling all day long.  He LOVES garbage and trucks.  He plays with trains and Play dough.  He follows me around and loves to help me fix things and clean things.  He plays well with his friends, and they are starting to be a very good thing for mom as well.

Anyway - we are welcoming March and hoping for more cheerful weather!

Celebrating the 2012 Holidays

 Our Thanksgiving this year was unexpectedly just our family.  Graham had the croup (for the second time, some of us missed the family Halloween party as well!).  We didn't want to spread germs to our cute cousin friends, so we stayed home and made do with just us.  It was actually pretty fun.  We had most of the usual fixings, but it felt like we were playing hookie from the chaos and elaborate affair that Thanksgiving usually is.  It was fun to spend time with our favorite small people, who might have gone a little un-noticed in a larger family crowd.

 I made a sudden trip to Texas the second week of December.  I got a phone call that my mom was dying and to hurry.  I got a flight and flew down with my sister and uncle, leaving the rest of the family behind.  It was really hard to leave my little kids (and Chad!), but I was so glad to be with my family - I don't spend enough time with them!  My mom was bleeding to death from stomach cancer she didn't know she had.  There wasn't anything the doctors were able to do to stop the bleeding, but it decreased on it's own until it was manageable.  Then she had the hard road of stabilizing her electrolytes and getting new blood.  Miracle after miracle, but she did stabilize, and now she is living to receive the radiation and chemotherapy which will keep her alive and with us for a little longer.  I have felt pretty confident that she will be with us for a while.  She just got the news that her stage 4 stomach cancer which we knew had already spread to her esophagus and liver, also has 4 bone cancer spots and enumerable lung cancer spots.  But, treatment is the same, and she is responding very well so far.

 Christmas was wonderful.  We have some very fun traditions, and it always includes a comical nativity rendition.  This year, the baby dragon was a cute touch.  Graham wanted a costume as well, and what story is complete without a dragon?  Anyway, the season is always special, and it is a joy to participate with our children in their excitement.

A little Christmas mayhem.  It is always the funnest time to open presents.  Some of the sweetest moments have been watching the children open presents from each other.  We are so blessed, I want to always remember these special years.

Love the Sunny Fall Days

I have a lot to catch up on.  We have been so busy with the campaigning, the blogging didn't get done.  However, important things still happened in our family's life, and it is fun to remember them and celebrate them. 

In September, Audrey turned 11 years old!  We can't believe how old she is getting.  We had a huge craft night/extravaganza at our house for 16 of her closest friends.  It was a blast, and they all were hyper and full of fun.  Audrey is so good at planning parties, it is fun to have a chance to plan her birthday party with her.  We are realizing that our little girl is growing up.  Her time with us seems more precious than ever now.

Here is Carson running hard.  I am always a big fan of this fundraiser for their school.  Each child runs/walks about 3/4 of a mile through the streets near their school.  There is a lead car with the school mascot and radio blaring.  But most of all, it is neat to see the kids work so hard to accomplish a hard feat.  Carson is running his heart out in this picture.  He is the first boy in the third grade to finish, and he is only a half a block behind the leaders.  The Audrey and Kate were focused on staying with their friends and helping them finish.  I was proud of their sweetness in being loyal to their friends.  And, the fundraiser was a success.  The kids all got unexpected free T-shirts with the extra money it generated.

With all the kids in school except Graham - this is what I have been up to.  I work hard most of the week on "mommy jobs", but on Thursdays (and sometimes Fridays), Graham and I play.  We have taken this bike trailer out a couple times.  We always try to include a friend for Graham, and we have been out enjoying the fall weather.  These are the good memories I will always cherish.  What a neat thing to be able to enjoy time with our youngest child.

A highlight of our fall was visiting the new Scheels store that opened up blocks from our house.  The kids have been watching it being built for so long, and now we got a chance to explore it.  Of course, the first thing to try was their Farris wheel, but we found enough to keep us busy there for 2 1/2 hours.  It was really fun!

 Of course, the witch festival at Gardner Village.  What fall is complete without the requisite pictures by witches?  And, of course a stop at the Christmas store and fudge as well.  We had a great time wandering around, and we got there before the rush, an hour before the village opened.  It made it really nice to not be stuck in traffic, like we usually are when we want to leave.

.The kids enjoyed Halloween.  We trick-or-treated at dad's work to start the holiday.  Employees had decorated the building and created a spook alley for the kids to come visit.  They are standing in front of a LED pumpkin at Chad's work in this picture.  Then, Saturday was the pumpkin party at Grandma's house.  Graham had croup, so just the older three got to go.  Next on Tuesday, the Primary had a Halloween party sponsored by the Young Women.  Super fun!  And, of course, the school had a parade and class parties Halloween morning.  Finally - it was Halloween night.  The warmest and best Halloween I have ever seen.  We trick-or-treated for a couple of hours, until Graham couldn't go on.  Everyone had a blast.  Audrey went with her friends, but we saw them a few times as our paths crossed.  Audrey was cookie monster, Carson was a werewolf, Kate was Cleopatra, and Graham was a dragon.

 

Both Kate and Audrey played soccer this fall.  Chad coached Audrey's team and I helped Kate's coach with her team.  It made for some pretty hectic Thursday nights, especially with the stake women's volleyball I help out with.  We had fun watching our girls improve.  Audrey's team had another undefeated season.  There have been so many rewards for Chad's (and his assistant coach's) consistent efforts with that team.  Somehow, despite the campaign and other conflicts, soccer was a real highlight of our fall.

And finally - Carson earned his purple belt in karate!  He has worked hard for this belt - and he did terrific earning it.  He had to show a little perseverance with this one.  He was ready for a break from karate about a month or two ago, but he already knew all the things for the purple belt, so we asked him to stay in until he tested for the belt.  He did it!  He is now very grateful for a break.  I think we will try rock climbing next . . .  It is fun to have a new adventure.

Election Crazy-ness

 Chad was a candidate for the school district this fall!  We have been working hard for a few months to campaign for him.  He spent 2 week nights and all day on Saturday going door-to-door trying to meet folks at all 6,500 homes in our precinct (Starting back in August!).  He would take anyone available with him and we literally placed about 1000 signs, mostly in people's yards.  We got involved because we didn't think the district was making wise choices for our children - and Chad became the voice for many district employees and parents who had been treated badly by the district.  He has been on several news shows, radio shows and attended many board meetings since we got involved.  Our entire neighborhood has been wonderful - they have really supported us and put in so many hours right along with us.  This was a grass roots movement of normal folks who saw the need for a change.

Anyway - after working so hard throughout Draper, the political establishment started to get a little worried they might loose the  race to a formerly little known parent.  After a automated telephone poll of the citizens of Draper, they found they were behind.  And then the race got really quite ugly.  There were three anonymous robo calls accusing Chad of things.  The next week, 10 anonymous signs showed up around Draper accusing him of not signing an ethics pledge (what ethics pledge????).  Anyway, we frantically responded to the accusations and did damage control.  Then the mailing campaign started.  We had noticed that our state house representative was paying for and helping the incumbent, but when our state senator sent out an attack postcard through his PAC, we realized the stakes were high to the good ole' boys club around here.  Our supporters were wonderful.  Luckily most people know when outrageous accusations are made - they are usually not true.   

It all came down to election night - and what a crazy night.  We were so worried.  The early voting results were posted "early", but it took a few hours to get the rest of the results all in.  And the verdict - Chad Won!!!!  And, every incumbent up for re-election lost, and there will be three new members on the board in January!!!  We are so pleased to see the voters are ready for a change.  We are also grateful that in America - at least at the local level, average people can make a difference.  We were out-spent, and attacked viciously, but the people still got to make the choice!