Jordyn Soccer

This year was Jordyn's second, and likely last year playing soccer. She had a lot of fun, but well.... When you have a co-ed team with mostly boys, guess who never gets the ball? There is a reason that little kid soccer is called "gather ball", it is because they all swarm around the ball and try to kick it at the same time. Not Jordyn. The mob of kids would all be running together, trying to kick the ball, and then about 10 yards behind them would be Jordyn, trotting along. She never even knew where the ball was, she would be following the crowd! Then, when she did get the ball, it was inevitably taken from her by one of her own team mates. Her coach tried really hard to actually teach them something about the game, but it just wasn't sinking in. I think we'll stick with dance. :)

Family Reunion in Arizona

Over Labor Day Weekend I was able to fly to Arizona to visit with some of my cousins and family there. First I went to visit with my Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Bob. Things have always been a little strained between Aunt Evelyn and the rest of the family, but my mom always tried to keep communication open with her, so I felt like I really needed to try and visit with her. I was pleased that she was willing to let me come and see her. I was hoping to be able to see her kids that still live in Mesa, but they weren't able to be there. We had a really good visit, and it was fun to see them and catch up. The thing that shocked me the most was how much she looked like my Grandma, it made my cry to look at her and think about Grandma.



I don't know why I didn't take more pictures, I guess I was just too busy visiting and enjoying the visit. I spent a lot of time with Carolyn, Craig and Kristin and their families. It was such a good weekend for me. Uncle Paul and Aunt Dema were there on Saturday night, and we had a ball listening to their stories. I only wish more of the family had been able to be there.

On Sunday, we drove by my Grandma and Grandpa's house in Mesa. I loved that house as a kid and have so many memories there. The house had a central vac, and we loved talking to each other through the tubes. The only room in the house with cooling was the family room with it's swamp cooler, so that's where the adults congregated. We kids loved Grandpa's enclosed patio in back. We would shut the doors and have our own world back there. It's a good thing we were good kids, the adults never even checked on us, we could have been up to all sorts of mischief and they never would have known. We'd play truth or dare or charades, we loved playing in Grandpa's huge shed in the enormous backyard. We'd climb the giant tree and play hide and go seek, we'd even climb the fence into the alley which was strictly forbidden. In my child's mind, everything was so much bigger than it is now. We'd go in and take the empty coke bottles from the grown ups and take them to the Circle K on the corner to trade them in for penny candy, but we were never allowed any coke of our own. It was a little sad to go see the house, I almost wish I hadn't. The neighborhood has really deteriorated, the tree in the backyard is gone, as well as the shed. The yard is much, much smaller than I remember, and the Circle K is gone, not to mention the fact that it wouldn't be safe to let kids walk down the street alone anymore. Maybe I should have just left my memories alone. At least there's still a pick up truck in the carport, we loved to play in the back of Grandpa's truck too. I guess it's true when they say you can never go back.



Next year, we're having the reunion at my house, hopefully I won't be the only one here! :)

Jordyn's Stitches

My poor baby!! In only the second week of school, on the day before school pictures, Jordyn fell and split her lip open at school. Four stitches, two fat lips and a skinned chin later, she was sitting at home with an ice pack on her face. I guess she was in the classroom before school started when she fell. The teacher was outside, so Jordyn just got a wet tissue and held it on her lip. The principal came in and found her and took her to the nurse who called us to come and get her. When I got there, she was just sitting in the nurses office with a book and wet towel on her face. We went to the insta care for stitches and came home for the rest of the day. Jordyn was so brave, I was so proud of her! She never cried and didn't even whimper while she got her stitches. Good thing kids heal fast!

Sod, Finally!!

After nearly a year and a half, we finally have sod in the front yard!! It's been lots of work, and taken much, much longer than we ever thought it would, but it looks great!! Here's my dad, supervising the work crew, doesn't he look great?



Scott, Scout and Bella came to help, and two of Ammon's friends stayed over the night before just so they could help us. I am so glad we had so much help, it made the job go much faster.




Now all we need to do is finish planting the hillside with shrubs, bark that area, build the sand volleyball court, put in the stepping stones and pathway down the hill, add on to the patio, build a block planter, refinish the deck floor, add a staircase down from the deck, plant trees along the back property line, put in the rest of the sprinklers, finish planting the "forest", concrete the pathway from the driveway to the patio and fire pit, put in the fire pit, plant more shrubs, bark that area, put in the basketball hoop and garden archways/gates, and grass the back yard, then we'll be done. Thank goodness we aren't still trying to have a wedding here! Maybe by the time Michael gets home next summer? Tell me why I thought an acre was a good idea?? It will be worth it in the end, and if the front is any indication, it will look great when it's done!! Love it!

The Wedding Reception

The reception hall had been booked and paid for, but we were a little nervous as to what we were getting. The owner/manager was not the best communicator/business person to deal with, but we were getting a bargain. Fortunately for me, my good friends arrived before I did, and were getting things handled. The tablecloths were on the tables, but several of them were stained. The serving table skirt had chocolate dripped on it from a chocolate fountain, and the floor was filthy. None of the serving pieces I had asked for were out, so we had to scrounge in the kitchen and back room for them. We also had to wash them all before they could be used. Apparently all we had rented was the hall, tables, chairs and linens. The owner was under the impression that we were doing everything else ourselves, and she was doing us a favor by 'letting' us use her dishes. Thank goodness for friends that had my back! Wedding days are stressful and emotional enough without adding any unnecessary drama!! In fairness, the owner did fix the problems and make things right, and by the time we returned for the reception, everything was beautiful.

The guest book table

The food table. We kept it simple, chocolate covered strawberries, cupcakes, and dole whip! The dole whip was definitely the biggest hit!

Centerpieces

Who are these good looking guys?

Practicing with the bubbles for the big send off!

In the end it was a beautiful evening. We felt loved and supported by our family and some of our dearest friends. We couldn't have done it without their help. We ended the festivities with the traditional things: cutting the cake, throwing the bouquet and garter, father/daughter, mother/son dance, and the couples first dance. Then they left through an archway of bubbles to begin their "happily ever after."

As a mom, it's hard to turn your daughters over to someone else to take care of. As any parent, it's hard to let your children go. I feel so fortunate and blessed that both of my daughters have chosen such wonderful men as their eternal mates. Even though it's hard for me, I know that they have wonderful lives ahead of them, and that all of our lives will be blessed by the choices they have made. We are glad to have Cassidy join our family and know that we have many more special times ahead of us. This is only the beginning for their family, and we look forward to see what great things the future will bring!

Jayme and Cassidy's Wedding!!!

It was a fairy tale come true!! But first a little background. Jayme and Cassidy met about five years ago while they were both attending SUU in Cedar City. They were crazy about each other, but both very young. Cassidy left to serve an LDS mission in Hong Kong, Jayme went to work for Disney in Orlando. Cassidy returned from his mission in the spring of 2010, and they renewed their friendship. By the time he went back to school that fall, they were still "just friends". At Christmas, he introduced her to his family as his 'girlfriend', and the first of April he asked Dennis and Jordyn and me if he could marry her. We warned him and grilled him pretty well, but he was determined. We even took him to Disneyland with us, and even that wasn't enough to scare him off.

The wedding was originally scheduled for August, and Jayme wanted the reception in our backyard. That was great, it gave us a deadline for getting the yard finished! We made plans and ordered the dress, but then.... Cassidy was offered a great job, but it required him to be down in Cedar City to work much earlier than anyone had anticipated. The wedding was moved to Monday, July 18. There was no way we would have the yard done that soon, and so other arrangements were made, and we crossed our fingers that the wedding dress would arrive in time.


The dress did arrive, and we drove up the canyon to the beautiful Sundance area to take Jayme's bridal pictures. They were beautiful!


The wedding day arrived very quickly, and it was a beautiful day. The sister assigned to Jayme in the temple turned out to be Dennis' third grade teacher, and she knew all of the Stone's in Lehi. The sealer was wonderful He spoke slowly and emphasized all the important parts of the covenant, and he didn't ramble on and on like some of them do. It was perfect!


Here are a few of my favorite pictures at the temple, the professional ones will follow soon.

"The Cousins" always so supportive!!

Don't they just look so in love?

Even Elder Stone made an appearance or two!

Such cute sisters!

Daddy and his baby girl.

Who's got the most 'tude?

Sassy!

After taking pictures, we all went to a delicious luncheon at Em's Restaurant in Salt Lake. It was nice to just sit and relax for awhile. Next up: The Reception!

Western Regional Wrestling

Ammon's coaches have always wanted him to do some summer wrestling, but we have always felt that it was just too much. This year, Ammon was pretty excited about the possibility and worked hard to qualify for Nationals and Western Regionals. After seeing how much time and money would be involved for three more tournaments, he decided to only go to Western Regionals in Pocatello, Idaho. The week of June 20, he and I headed up to Pocatello for the tournament. USA wrestling goes by birthdate rather than school grade, so Ammon has always felt we cheated him by having him born in December '95 rather than January '96, but dang-- we didn't really think about wrestling then, we were more concerned with the tax credit! Anyway, those 5 days make a difference. Cadets this year were born in '95-'96, so he was smack in the middle. Ammon hadn't wrestled since the end of the state club season in April, and was a little out of shape, but we told him to just have fun and do his best. We knew what competition he had from Utah, but we had no idea what he was facing from the other nine states, plus his weight was up from 189 and he didn't want to cut so he wrestled 215 and was by far the smallest in his group.


There were some pretty tough kids there, but Ammon was able to win all but one of his matches in each style. He took second in freestyle and third in greco. He felt great about his performance, and I got excited for the high school season to see what great things he can accomplish this year! Way to go Ammon!