Denver Temple

Brett spent the week in Denver for work. But he also got to take some time and go to the Denver Temple. I'm glad he can do those things when he travels. 

Sliver Porcupine

Glory came home looking like a porcupine today. After school, she was playing with her friends with some wood chips. When I picked her up she was super sad sitting by the front office with about 500 slivers in her two little hands. OUCH!!! It was quite the procedure to take care of this Sliver Porcupine at home! ;)

I Packed a Suitcase to UTAH

Victoria recently did a project for school.
She had to pack a suitcase to one of the Western states.
She choice UTAH.

It was fun to highlight some of the places that people could visit if they went there. And especially fun that we had actual things we got in UT. She had a fun time showing her class her suitcase.






She highlighted--

The Olympic Park:
She was able to take an Olympic logo hat that we actually got when we lived there during the 2002 Olympics. She took a picture of her older sister and Dad standing by State Street in Salt Lake watching the torch run by on it's way to light the flame. Plus she took her ski boots with her so she'd be prepared if they visited.

The Utah Olympic Park is a winter sports park built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and is located 28 miles east of Salt Lake City near Park City, Utah. During the 2002 games the park hosted the bobsleigh, skeleton, luge, ski jumping, and Nordic combined events. It still serves a training center for Olympic and development level athletes. Other facilities in addition to the ski jumps and bobsled track located on site include a 2002 Winter Olympics and Ski Museum, day lodge, summer aerial training splash pool, zip lines, and a mountain coaster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Olympic_Park

Arches National Park:

For Arches, she took a quarter from her collection that highlights the Delicate Arch. She also took some hiking boots because you would need those.

Arches National Park is a US National Park in eastern Utah. The park is located on the Colorado River 4 miles of Moab, Utah. It is known for containing over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including the very famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations. The park is located just outside Moab, Utah, and is 76,679 acres in area. Its highest elevation is 5,653 feet at Elephant Butte, and its lowest elevation is 4,085 feet at the visitor center. Forty-three arches are known to have collapsed since 1977. The park receives 10 inches of rain a year on average.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arches_National_Park

Mormon Tabernacle Choir:

Victoria was able to take a Christmas CD from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and play a part of a song for her class. Plus she took the replica that we have of the doorknob from the Salt Lake Temple.

Called "America's Choir" by U.S. President Ronald Reagan,^[4] the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is made up of 360 men and women; Choir members are not paid for their participation or performances.

 The choir was founded in August 1847. Since July 15, 1929, the choir has performed a weekly radio broadcast called Music and the Spoken Word, which is one of the longest-running continuous radio network broadcasts in the world.^[5]  The show has been televised since the early 1960s and is now broadcast worldwide through approximately 1,500radio and television stations.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's sound is often said to be world-famous, and instantly recognizable. When recording, the choir is usually accompanied by the Orchestra at Temple Square, the Salt Lake Tabernacle's pipe organ, or both. With the completion of the church's Conference Center, a larger auditorium directly adjacent to Temple Square, the choir now has two halls available for performance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_Tabernacle_Choir

Plus she showed just a few other places they could visit after they listened to the Choir. Places like: Temple Square and the Capital Building.

Lots of fun places to see in UTAH! 

Seminary Conference

Liberty & Brett had the opportunity to go to great Falls today for their Seminary Conference. Liberty was the only girl from our ward that went. But she was brave and had a good time catching up with people from past times. She spent a lot of the day with the other Liberty. How fun is that? I also heard she was a Dancing Machine at the Dance. We gotta watch this girl!! Beat the boys off with a stick!! ;)

She also won 8th place in the Scripture Chase Competition. She's pretty amazing!

MBU Chess Champion

Justice had the chance to go to another MBU (Merit Badge University) at Carroll College with his Scout Troop. It was a long day but he had a great time. He came home with his Chemistry Badge and one in Chess. He also happened to be the Chess Champion. Way to go!

Goofy boy in his closeup:

Birthday Parties Galore!

Happy Birthday to Everyone!

Glory at Brooklyn's party

 Victoria spent the day for Kaylee's Bday

Donuts with Dads

Brett made it to Donuts with Dads with the kids at Montana City School. They were so glad!! (He teaches early morning Seminary but figured out how to get out a few minutes early to make it.) What a good Dad!

District Band Festival with Sightreading!

Liberty had her District Band Festival this evening. She did a great job! She said they didn't do very well on the 2nd song but it sounded good to me. ;) I was really impressed with their their last song. Can you see those 2 judges seated in the front the band? Well, they presented Mr. Loveridge with sheet music. The freshman had about 2 minutes to look it over and then performed it together for the 1st time. It's a sight-reading judging. They did amazing!!! If I can figure out how to do a small blurb from it on video- I'll get it posted. Way to go, Sis!

Birthday of Remembrance

The Wannabe Time Lord's 15th Birthday Celebrations

(WARNING: Half the time- we don't understand the things that come out of this Fangirl's mouth. It's like she speaks a different language with all the "cosplay, fandom, O.C." things she talks about. So if you are confused by this post---- join the club!! LOL And know that she had a fabulous day! ;)

Liberty took her "Personal Day" to spend her birthday with her mommy. We let her sleep in until we had made her a special birthday breakfast. She requested waffles, blackberries, turkey bacon and choco milk. The kids were excited to help make it for her before they left for school. We presented her with her "Doctor Who" (Leonardo DaVinci painting inspired) bouquet of flowers as well as special bonus of the Flower of Remembrance in the middle. It's a native golden Gallifrey flower that the Tardis turned into during the time of the Third Doctor. She thought it was pretty awesome!

During the day she got to open presents. A majority of them being from her Fandoms so she was elated! Her mommy made her several doctor who buttons, magnets and charms for a necklace. We also made her a vinyl to hang over her closet door. Her closet is now an official Police Box entrance. Alons-y!!!

We had lunch together and watched a show before the other kids came home.

After she finished Karate- We made her birthday dinner of Zuppa Toscana and "that yummy bread".

We had donuts for her while we sang and almost burned the house down with her fire she had to blow out. 

Happy Birthday girlie from your family and....

Lydia's Adoption

Our cute neighbors have been foster parents for a year and a half. They are such an amazing family. We adore them! Well, today they were finally able to adopt that sweet girl. We are so excited for them!! I had the opportunity to be at the court house this morning as their adoption was finalized. How special!  It was so amazing to be a part of their special day. Congratulations! Lydia is so lucky to be a n official part of your family.

We also joined them for a little celebration at their home tonight. Lydia LOVES "Tori"!! They have quite the bond. By this evening, Lydia was too tired to share any smiles but she wanted Victoria to hold her. Love this girl!

(P.S. My other good friends- the Fifes- had their adoption go through while we were in UT for Zach's wedding. Bummer that we missed it but so excited for them too!)

Sooooo..... That Happened!

The last year has been full of growth and haircuts and dnces and fandoms and changes and pushing limits. We are so very grateful to have Liberty in our lives. Love you, Sis! XO

14 Year old Favorites

Color: From Aqua Marine to Purple to Grey to Tardis Blue

Friends: Shannon, Ann, KatLo, Marz, Jarren (oh- he's a boy!! ;)

Food: Zuppa Toscana soup, Herbal Tea, Coconut Greek Yogurt, Spicy V8

Show (aka Fandoms): Fairytale, Pirates of the Caribbean, Avengers, SuperNatural, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who- just to name a few

Hobbies: Watching movies, Skiing, hanging (napping) with friends

*Passed her Mom in height right about the time she turned 14.

*Participated in BelAVisEx at school (a program to help out younger kids)

*Went Sapphire Mining

*Graduated from Montana City School

*Donated her hair to Locks of Love

*Participated in Trek

*Went to Hawaii and Seattle

*Started High School

*Loves to go to Youth Dances

*Loves Swimming

*Still so talented at the Piano

*Loves to dress up in cosplay outfits

*Loves late night movies and sleeping in

*Bought an iPod and is connected socially by Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Wattpad, ???

186th General Conference

Grateful for the opportunity we had to listen to the Church's Conference this weekend. It's a special time to hear what God wants us to hear. It challenges us to make better choices, grow closer as families, reach out to others and follow the Savior more meaningfully.
I love that my kids got out our Conference Bingo. Even before I got any candy out as an incentive. Love those kids! They spent the weekend listening for words to fill their boards. If nothing else, they filled their minds with uplifting, God-like words. ;)

 Saturday:

Sunday:

Neighborhood Bikers

Glory is one lucky kid to have so many friends in our neighborhood. Quite the Bikers Crew!

Fashion Show with a Runway (plus Answered Prayers)

Victoria's friend situation has been tricky this school year. There was some circumstances that changed friend dynamics at the end of last year. And it's been hard! Girls can be unforgiving and dramatic so it's been kind of a lonely for my sweet girl. We have prayed many hours for her to be able to find a solid group of friends that will help her be kind, including and the best person she can be. It's been a slow process but I can finally see some of our prayers being answered. I volunteer every Wednesday and have the opportunity to eat lunch with my girls. I see the interactions they have and the people they associate with. Sometimes I wish I could just stick my head in the sand and ignore the info I see. But it's been special to see the transformation happening in her friend situation. Slowly, she has been sitting with a group of new, cute girls. She has been part of a "texting" group that makes me giggle because it never makes sense. LOL It's just a bunch of emojis and a whole lot of "Hey"s but it's cute to see them reach out to each other. Recently this sweet mom of one of the girls reached out to get to know us so we could get the girls together. Can I just say- I adore this mom!! She's is so darling and kind and including. We were chatting after a playdate the girls had together and it sort of seems like God brought us together. I told her we had been praying this whole year for Victoria to make some new friends and she actually said- "I think I felt it." (She's also been looking for ways to expand Clara's group of friends.) How special is that? I love it!
The girls had a great time putting together a super fabulous Fashion Show with their dolls including a runway and music. Pretty creative! Love these girls! I'm so excited for Victoria and this new groupd of friends she has. Thank Heavens for answered prayers!

Couch Potato Family

Our family loves watching shows together on Netflix & Hulu. Like.... LOVES them! We watch one of them almost every night. Our favorites lately are...

Super girl

Flash

Chuck

P.S. We had to stop watching this because Chuck's girlfriend keeps wearing skimpy outfits. Crazy! How as adults we get desensitized to the crap. Shoot! Thanks heavens for my sweet kiddos that feel comfortable enough to point it out and having us CTR.

Silly Rabbit...

We put our Easter decorations up last minute before our hunt on Saturday but we plan on enjoying them for all of April. And yes! We know Easter is over!! ;) LOL

Even with all the fun Easter decor and eggs and bunnies and Peeps and candy- we do want to bear witness that we know that Easter is about the Savior. We know He is not dead but that He lives!! That He died and came back to life on the 3rd day! We are so very blessed to know Him!