The Little Mermaid MCT

On Monday (which happened to be Victoria's birthday) after school, all my girls decided to go to Open Auditions for the Missoula Children's Theater production of The Little Mermaid. All of them got a part!! Way to go, girls!

The rest of the week was a crazy blur of rehearsals and memorizing and more rehearsals. We figured that Liberty (she got one of the main roles and had to be to most of the practices) put in about 21 hours this week after school and all day Saturday! That is some crazy days and lots of dedication!

But all their hardwork paid off and they did a fabulous job! We got to go to their performance(s) on Saturday afternoon. Wow! They were amazing!

Here's all the girls (and a few extras) backstage with their Directors, Blaire and Rachel.

Here's Glory as one of the adorable Seahorses. They marched, danced, sang and looked pretty darn cute! In between performance, Glory & Quinn Fife hung out and ate a snack. After the performance, most of the cute actresses got flowers. Glory found her friend TayTay and enjoyed a moment together with their beautiful flowers and rosey cheeks. Too cute!

Victoria was super brave! She played a Seasider and even had a solo part. She played the "Nerdy" girl trying to win the Prince. It made her extremely nervous (and a bit embarrassed) but even with her shakey voice- she braved it and did a great job! She memorized all her lines and di them perfectly. She got tons of laughs and that was the point.  In the 2nd performance, she pinched herself with her glasses backstage right before she came out to do her part. It made her extra emotional but she made it through. So proud of her! A friend in her class, Kate was hilarious! They all did such a great job!

Liberty got one of the lead roles. She played Amelia- one of the Little Mermaid's twin sisters. She always amazes me how she can memorize all those lines & songs. {and in a week this time. WOW!} She had a blast! She made some new friends. Liberty and her friend Cara were the only 8th graders. They were happy to have each other!

Here's an overview of the whole play. It was amazing!!! Way to go, Kiddos!

Applause! Applause! Bravo!

Hunter Safety Graduate

Justice spent over 12 hours in this last week attending a Hunter's Safety Course. He is so seriously stoked to be able to hunt "for reals" this year! Way to go, Justice! We are proud of you for passing the course. Bring us home some meat this year, Buddy!

Glory-us Date with Mom & Dad

Glory got a special date with Mom & Dad while all the other kids were at their things tonight. She had 2 requests. 1- She wanted a place to play & have fun!
2- Ice Cream!!!!

AND We delivered, Baby! ;)

Ahoy Mates! New Beginnings

We dragged Liberty away early from rehearsals to attend New Beginnings, Liberty got to conduct the songs we sang. They even highlighted her because she is new to the Ward since last year. What a cute group of Beehives they have! Love these girls!

Clovers & Gold & Rainbows, Oh My!

The house seems so bare compared to the last several months. But we do feel very LUCKY to have such a beautiful place to live & celebrate life!

AWESOME 9th Birthday!

We got to celebrate Victoria all weekend. While Shauna was up, we made a special Egg Sandwich breakfast for Sunshine!

Today, we had another special breakfast and sang to her before school.

After school, Victoria had an audition for a part in a play. (More about that this weekend) Then we opened presents! It was super cute because last night Victoria made a bunch of Birthday signs to hang up all over the house. She's such an artsy kiddo!

We had a fabulous dinner with BBQ ribs, garlic herb potatoes, cooked broccoli and crab & avocado salad. {Forgot a picture} For dessert, we each got to make our own Fruit Pizza. Yum!!!

We are so grateful for this awesome, beautiful girl. Happy Birthday Victoria! XOXO HiYah!

What an 8 Year Old Remembers?

Victoria had a fabulous time being EIGHT years old. Here's some memories:

When Victoria was 8...
*still loved the color PINK
*loves to create anything artsy!
*quite the perfectionist
*joined F.I.G.G.S (Faith in God girls)
*got her ears pierced
*visited her friend, Halie in ID
*got baptized!!!!
*loves the Davis family
*went to the Ogden Temple Open House
*went to 1st Women's Broadcast with Mom & Liberty
*visited Glacier National Park
*loved Mrs. Hauer in 2nd Grade
*participated in the Montana Mucker
*learned to kayak
*made new friends at Montana City School- Sophie, McKenzie, Aspynn, Jadyn
*loves to swim & visit Fairmont Hot Springs
*got lice for the 1st time (sort of- only 3 were found)
*discovered that she is talented in acting- Harriet Tubman, Thanksgiving play)
*likes to be silly!
*loves Aunt Shauna
*likes to back massage family members
*continues to be a peacemaker

Luv you, Sis! XOXO

Cold Wieners & Frozen Buns

We decided to treat Shauna to a Fire-pit dinner on a cold Montana night. Oh boy was it COLD!!! Freezing actually! We had to stand directly next to the fire to have even some kind of semblance of warmth. Justice actually got tiny holes all over his pants from standing so close to the fire. By the time you got your cooked hot dog into the bun, it felt like it had just came out of the fridge. LOL We even braved cold s'mores just for the experience! Some of us wimped out & went in as fast as possible. Other crazy people stayed out to enjoy the crisp mountain air filled with smoke! ;)

P.S. The cold must have frozen the smoke stench into all our clothes. I washed everything TWICE and it still smells like smoke. Gross!!!!

Batman Marathon

Liberty & her friends decided to plan a BATMAN MARATHON this weekend. (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) With Shauna in town, Liberty only joined them for 1 and 1/2 of the shows. BUT they love being together! Love these girls!

To the Top of Rattlesnake Hill

While Shauna was visiting, we decided to climb to the top of Rattlesnake Hill. It was a little chilly but a way fun walk/hike. It got pretty step right at the top but it was so worth the work.

Ethan & Justice celebrated being the first ones to the top! Woot! Woot! {Justice & Ethan wanted to hang out so he came with us while Liberty hung out at their house with Mikal}

There was awesome views from the top! How gorgeous!!!

To the other direction, you could see George, the sleeping Giant and our cute little home

Shay & the kiddos saw a herd of antelope down the other side so we headed that way. At the bottom of the hill, you can walk under the freeway and end up in Ethan's backyard. We made Shadow Monsters with the setting sun.

What a fun activity! Here's a view of Rattlesnake Hill from our back porch. Love the memories!

Sunshine's Special Guest

Victoria (aka Sunshine to Aunt Shauna) had a special guest come visit her for her birthday weekend. We alll had a blast with our visitor!

Shauna LOVES the cold! So they spent some time out on the back deck by the fireplace.

On Saturday, we all went to the Movie Theater together. And nobody DIED! (at least in our family!! LOL)

Late that night, we watched a movie together at home and everybody DIED! LOL Does anybody need a hug???

We snuggled, backrubbed, laughed and group hugged Shauna all weekend. And she didn't disappoint with her contagious, beautiful voice that makes the Seamons' kids sick! Bummer that that happens. They LOVE her singing to them! ;)

And what would a Shauna weekend be without playing games. We played all sorts of games. The kids were in heaven! Thanks Shauna for visiting. We love you, lady! XOXO

got milk?

Brett & I LOVE milk! {It's not always been that way for me but guess he rubbed off on me. ;)} Our family goes through A LOT of milk each week. I mean A LOT!!!!!! Like... "we should buy a cow" A LOT!
The kids used to drink tons more but have cut back quite a bit over the last year or so. But since we are huge whole milk advocates- we are always looking for ways to keep them drinking it.
I have no idea how this happened but each morning I make 4 individual kinds of milk for my children. LOL Liberty drinks chocolate milk. Justice's milk is plain. (that's my boy!)Victoria drinks it with Soy Protein powder. Glory is my "pink" milk girl in a sippy! (don't tell anyone because she doesn't want anyone to think she's little. LOL)
Oh the lengths and craziness we endure to raise healthy children! Gotta love milk!

Chresher Hunt for 19th Engagement Anniversary

Can I just say how absolutely lucky I feel to be married to Brett?!! He is one in a million or bazillion, maybe. He is kind, fun, thoughtful and way more romantic than any girl deserves. AND he has taught these traits to our children.
This morning, there was a crockpot on the counter slow cooking some dinner. Plus several "secret" whispering sessions going on between Brett and the kids. I hate to admit it but it didn't even occur to me that it was a "special" day. [A downfall of having a man that makes every day with him special ;)]
So, after I picked up Liberty from the library, I was surprised that all the secretiveness and dinner and home-made decorated table had a purpose. Oops!
To celebrate our 19th Anniversary of our Engagement- everyone got in on the night's festivities.

Glory started out the evening with a "Chresher Hunt". LOL How sweet is this girl??? She did all the clues by herself written on napkins. [having been mentored by some pretty amazing other family members in the past]

Justice & Victoria had made the table "perfect" by setting it fancy, decorating the napkins and making special placetags for everyone. Justice helped Brett cook us dinner. Man, I love these people!

Next, Liberty gave me a pop quiz. She asked me questions and I had to answer them as if it was 19 years ago. Then she asked me for the answers to the questions for 2015. It was a tricky test! ;) Supposedly, Liberty had a sheet with the "right" answers on it. I was a little perturbed that Brett insisted on the fact that he knew all the correct answers. Who the heck can remember back that far???? LOL BUT---It turned out that Brett had made a copy of a page from my journal from 1996 and typed it up. That tricky boy!! {And look at me... a professional documentor even back then. LOL}Pretty much none of Brett's changed at all in the past 19 years. Mine changed quite a bit. However, that actually is pretty fitting since Brett is pretty much the same man I married 19 years ago. ME----- pretty much a totally different person. Hopefully a little improved at least in some areas. ;) LOL

Finally, Brett shared our engagement story with the kids. He read them all the clues he had written to send me on a Scavenger Hunt to find him waiting to propose to me at the Salt Lake Temple. We had a good laugh at Cheri's holdup of the night and the fact that Jill cried because Brett didn't include her in the planning. LOL It was fun for the kids to hear details and ask questions. We couldn't find any pictures of us on the Hunt. Bummer! But we did remember that my dad had taken a picture of me when I walked in the door to his house. I might have to ask him if he knows where that picture is. Oh the memories!!
Here's the Scrapbook page of our engagement night after we went back to Brett's parents house for ice cream. Don't barf at the plainness and dorkiness of my scraping back then. ;)

Here's his hand written clues when he was making up the poems. And YES- I do have the original typed ones in the original envelopes in my journal. Man! I'm an awesome documentor! ;)

What a special night to share with my cute little family. 

I am so blessed to have them in my life because of

 a question Brett asked me 19 years ago. 

Love you, Honey! XOXO

Hijacked Blog---It happened again.

Yes, this is Brett.  I am not as eloquent as Shay, but this MT Partay Called Life has been hijacked again.

February 23, 1996
19 years ago on this date, I asked a beautiful young woman to marry me.  She had dazzling eyes and a smile that could melt an iceberg.  Sympathy, love, my 1980-something Chrysler LeBaron…I don’t care what it was, I’m glad she said yes.  In August we will celebrate 19 years of marriage.  I had no idea where life’s roller coaster would take us.  The ride has been super fun and exciting, even if there was the occasional headache from the ride or just the faint smell of puke from the amusement park;)  If I could do it all over again, the only thing I would change is that I would have knelt on both knees instead of just one.  Shay, I think you are more beautiful now than 19 years ago.  You are GORGEOUS and I still love the eyes and the smile.  Along with your increasing physical beauty (hard to beat, I know), your inner beauty is yet more impressive.  You are a beautiful, talented, loving, serviceable, caring, wonderfully amazing lady.  I’m a better man for being with you and am grateful you said yes.

Minecraft Club

The Guymons let us know about an opportunity for Liberty & Katelyn to hang out together. So.... we dropped them off tonight at the Helena Library for a...

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When I picked them up, they went on & on & on about something that I totally didn't understand. Which in "Libelyn" or "Katerty" language means they had a fantastic time! LOL

Regional Science Fair

Justice went to Butte today for the Regional Science Fair. They left on a bus early this morning and got back in time for dinner. He was super brave to go by himself, speak to the judges and hang out with people he doesn't know that well. We were very proud of him!
He even took some of his actual bean pods and beans that he grew.
After the morning of judging (they got a free t-shirt), they got to go to the Mineral Museum for a tour. Justice picked himself up a spectacular Geode. It's pretty cool!