The Baby Shower....

Pictures From Brittnee's Shower....

Kacie Decorated These letter and they were soooo cute! she did a great Job with everything!

Thanks Kacie!

She put up this cute little clothes line with Brittnee's blessing dress

(which we HOPE will fit Brynlee)


We played a few games...this is the one where you measure the moms belly and see who got the closest measurement to the real thing...


Brittnee opening the bags to a "guess what baby item is in the bag" game

Liz dominated and is the QUEEN of shower games!!! lol

Brittnee sitting with Sandi (our neighbor)

and Stephanie (Brittnee's good friend from high school! )

Thanks for coming girls!


A few of her many gifts....now she is officially all set and ready to have this baby!

Brynlee...its time to come out and play!!

A hand made quit from her Grandma Jones

every girl has to have a bathtub for soaking!

Some of our guests.....

Grandma and Kacie

Tammy and Jamie

Kelsie, Kathy, Sherrie, Lisa and Sherice

Wendy and Madison....

Aunt Lynn, Liz and Gerri

and a sleeping baby Jessie
Here are the cute letters that we put up on Brynlee's wall after the shower

here is the link to Kacie's crafty website where you can buy some letters of your very own

http://ldbuglane.blogspot.com/

OHHH Quade....

What would a holiday weekend be like around here without ending in a trip to the ER?

as you read above...Quade cut his hand this morning and needed some stitches

3 in each cut...it will be a bear getting him to leave that bandage on for 2 or 3 days and then we have to hope he does not pick at the stitches over the next 14 days!

Quade's lovely new accessory!

Award recipient's

With the end of the school year comes Awards Ceremony's, banquets and Assembly's...

we had the pleasure of attending the Track banquet last night where Hayden was given the awards for Most Improved and Hardest worker.

being the proud parent that i am i made Hayden take a picture this morning, after he had been up all of 10 minutes before he walked out the door...as you can see, he was not totally thrilled with the idea! LOL

Our next recipient is non other then QUADE!!! he had an assembly on Friday where he received the most improved student at his school! way to go QUADER-BEAR! (much much kudos's go out to his full time aide Feliz! without her he would be no where near where he is today!!)

Final track update....

The State track meet is over and here are where things stand....

Hayden competed in the 4x800 on Friday and his relay team took 7th in the state in this event.

On Saturday he competed in the 1 mile and took 11th place with a time of 4:42 which is 12 seconds faster then he has ever run it.

After that he ran the 800 ...there were two heats. in his heat he took 4th but the 2nd heat blew out the first heat and all 9 guys were faster then the fastest 2nd heat guy(still following along? LOL)..so Hayden ended up with 13th place in the 800. His time was 2:07. We were hoping that he could have taken a few seconds off his best time of 2:06 but it still would not have mattered because everyone in the 2nd heat did it in 2:00 or less.

Still not too shabby for a kid who just started running in February of this year.

and even though it was 11th and 13th....it was 11th and 13th overall at STATE!

The big news came at the end of the meet when they announced the overall 3A Boys and 3A Girls State Championship teams.....

Blue Ridge Swept it with both our boys and girls taking state!

WAY TO GO BR!

Running the mile....
Team Champ trophies!

Finally....after 4 years and several sports, he proudly holds a State Championship trophy!

He has worked hard to have this in his hands....

Nothing like a last minute win to finally clinch a State Championship!

ohhh, and winning comes with benefits! lol

Hayden with his 4 favorite coaches!

A little video of the trophy presentation....

Track so far...

Hayden's 4x800 team took 7th in the state. Not too shabby. They give medals to the top 8 teams. He has the individual 800 and 1 mile events tonight. SO GOOD LUCK Hayden...

No baby news yet...Brittnee is in the valley with us and so far everything is A-ok....hopefully she is one of those lucky ones that walks around dilated to 2 or 3 for several weeks LOL

Will update with more track news after tonights events.

Taylor's Concert...

Taylor had her final band concert on Tuesday night

She did a GREAT JOB!!

Super Senior.....

Austin had his Super Senior Ceremony on Tuesday...it was wonderful as usual. Only two more of these before he graduates "FOR REAL"

Mr. Ball had some really nice things to say about him.....
Here he is with his best friend JOSH
Way to go AUSTiN!

Front page of the Albuquerque Journal today.....

~James & Brittnee~

Good Bye~for a while
Click to view full screen

Oh what a weekend (month!)

This has been such a crazy, crazy, busy month! My days on my calendar are so full that i had to get a planner just for the month! Everyday is full of things to do, places to go and people to see!

This last weekend was really full, hence the late mothers day post ....

but today there is something i really need to mention....

Things have really been up in the air with James Deployment...first he was going, then maybe he wasn't (this happened more then once), then maybe he was staying behind in the rear detachment and then.....yesterday Brittnee called with the news that he would not be staying home and he would in fact be deploying tomorrow. This has all been a very emotional roller coaster for them. She is, as i write this, at his "Yellow Ribbon Ceremony" this is the final ceremony for the soldiers and their families before sending them off to the war. As i said...this is a very emotional time for her, without the fact that she will be delivering a baby within the next 3 weeks. So as you can see James will not be here for the arrival of his baby girl and that makes me very sad for him and especially for Brittnee. Every wife wants their husband when they are going through something like this, ya its nice to have your mom with you but ultimately you want your husband. I cant imagine, having delivered 7 babies...not having my husband there for each one. So please, please keep this little family in your thoughts and prayers...especially today but through the next several weeks and months. We are learning the hard way how unpredictable being a soldier can be. We all go to work grudgingly everyday but we have no idea how hard we could have it.

Time to go home....

The Exchange year is almost over for our students who have been here this year with the exchange program. Last night we had a really wonderful closing get together with our kids here in this area and their families...it was very emotional. i love these kids and as always am sorry to see them go, but they WiLL be back...they always come back! A great big shout out to all their host families for being such fun, kind, caring, step up to the plate, people! you guys are the BEST!

Congrats to you guys for making this a great year and being great kids!

Becca, Anna, Oda, Monika, ida, Hilde and Philipp

Mother' Day

i (i will just appologize up front as my capital i is not working lol) spent Mother's day alittle differently this year.....

Because i was in Payson for the track meet on Friday and Saturday i decided just to stay over with my mom...and as long as i was half way to Prescott i decided to go ahead and head over for Jason and Kristi's baby's baptism on Sunday....which was Mothers day...

soooo long story short....i was able to spend mothers day with MY mother this year, which was a great treat!

i know this is late but i wanted to mention a few (a very small few) of my favorite mothers

Kristi and Keeley after Keeley's baptism...Kristi is a fantastic mother and makes REALLY beautiful babies!

My mother in law who is a shining example to me. i want to let her know that i truly admire her for the women that she is! She has done such a great job raising 4 fantastic kids (i am the beneficiary of her hard work!) thank you so much for loaning your son to me indefinitely~

To my sister in law, Gerri....i thought about you alot on mother's day and wanted to wish you a happy happy 1st ever mothers day to you! Gerri is the same age as me (sorry for revealing that Ger! LOL) and she just received the opportunity to experience being a mother for the first time this year! im SOOO happy this beautiful little one came to you and you are an exceptional mother! oh and you make super cute babies too!

This one is hard for me.....to my 1st baby and Daughter, i wish you a very happy 1st (almost) mother's day! what an experience to have your first child expecting a child. I don't know where the time has gone. Brittnee, i know you will be a beautiful, loving mother and i look forward to watching you take on this new roll.

and i'm pretty sure you made a beautiful baby!

and last but most important....
to my mother,
words can not describe how i feel about you
i am such a lucky lucky girl to have had such a wonderful, loving mother through out my life
one who shares her time, talents and grace with all of her children and grandchildren equally.
who strives to keep peace and harmony in her family
you are the most EXCELLENT mother a girl could have!
i love you with all my heart!

oh, and i know you make beautiful babies!!! LOL

also wishing a happy mothers day to all the other really important ladies in my life....from grandma's to sisters to good friends! i hope you all had a super fantastic day and i hope you know that you are special to me!

Regional Track....

Friday was the first day of Regional Track in Payaon....Hayden was in the 4x800 relay first and his relay team took 2nd in the Region. They shaved 10 seconds off their previous best time and Qualified for state~
Later in the day he ran the 3200 (2 mile) which was the first time he had ever run this race
He came in 5th out of 14 boys with a time of 11:15
He missed Qualifying for state by just a few seconds as they only take the top 4 to state in this event. Not too shabby for his first time running this race

The second half of the meet was on Saturday...
First he ran the 1600 (1 mile)
Taking 4th in this event with a time of 4:52 this was only his second time running the 1 mile and he shaved 2 seconds off the first time he ran it
He did qualify for state in this event.

His last event was the 800. This is His race...He came in 2nd (to Cody Wells from Snowflake who is pretty much super human!) his time was 2:06 which was a personal best for him
he will compete in state in this event as well.
Our Boys team and our Girls team both took 1st in the Region so we were very happy about that!
State Meet is this coming Friday and Saturday Evening at Mesa High school

A little video from the 800

Check it out...

Check out the new song by Taylor Swift on my playlist

(scroll down on the right)

its called

best day

and its a great tribute for mothers day!

(here is a link to the video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIx02KnpZEw

Austin's still......

Making the rounds as Blue Ridges #1 fan!!

He called from the bus to tell me he was in the paper today...

Andy Staten - The Independent

The Blue Ridge Yellow Jackets, along with a couple of their greatest fans, celebrate the team's clinching of the East Region Championship following their 11-1 win against Round Valley Friday night.

Regional track meet...

This Friday in Payson......

Hayden will be doing the 2 mile run (which he has never done) and the 4x800 relay on Friday

and the 1 mile and 800 on Saturday

GOOD LUCK HAYDEN!

My Dad....

This is my dad.....I love my dad...My dad passed away nearly 6 years ago...

today...was my Dad's Birthday and I just wanted to say....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my DAD

Here is a poem Rich wrote for my dad's funeral.....

I think it would be a good day to share it....

it may not make alot of sense to those who read it but it made absolutly perfect sense to all of us!

William George Miller
By Rich Jones

He Wasn't one to stay too long
And he wasn't there to be social
His visits were short, what tremendous support
To drive for the hours he did.
We could not conceive why he'd always leave
But if needed, he's there for his kid's

He silently watched
From the back of the stage
As his family progressed through their lives
Though nary a thing could slip past his gaze
As he carefully concealed his pride.

I want to talk! Was the phrase that he said
As we gathered and wondered what's up
But the things that were said
Is where love replaced dread
And we learned that his heart was filled up.

His Grandkids he teased
As he joked and he pleased
A circus for no one but him.
It was never a lot
Maybe sticks in a box
But it came from the kid inside him.

Now he's finally done
And he'll stick out his tongue
To the pain and the illness that bound him.
Now he'll patiently wait
Till we reach that gate
to again throw our arms around him.

I love you dad....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

BOYS will be BOYS.....

Ok...so i have a son with a very weird hobby....his hobby netted him 5 stitches below his lip today....

go figure!

Don't ask me how he got a hole in his lip with that big ol' helmet on but somehow he did!

Thanks to Dr Belnap's nimble hands and sewing ability, he will still have a pretty face!

Sawyer's got talent...

Long ago....in a galaxy far far away(ok not really, but any time you start a sentance with long ago you have to follow it with the rest right??) there was a little boy named Richard....and he learned this little song....and many many years later after he grew into a great big daddy he would fill the hours on our road trips singing this song to his children, In hopes that they would one day learn the song so they could then pass it on to their children some day....well....ONE of those children did learn the song....

and here he is performing it for you now...enjoy!!!

(you will want to scroll down and pause the music on the right side before starting the video)

This week we had the pleasure of attending not one....but TWO super cool 2nd grade programs....

Since the boys are in separate classes for the first time ever we did not have the luxury of catching both performances in one day...so we made two trips to watch this super cute program that each of the boys participated in separately....

it had a cowboy theme and lots of fun cowboy music...even a super cute melodrama in the middle!

here is my super cute cowboy!

Alittle video of one of the songs Sawyer and his class preformed....

(you will want to scroll down and pause the music on the right side before you start the video)

Noah's 2nd grade program....

These are alittle backwards as Noah's program was the day before Sawyers but you get the idea anyway.....

this is Noah performing his famous cartwheel at the opening of the program....

and alittle swing your partner round and round...

He just grew up so fast.....LOL

golly ghee....seems like just yesterday that was peach fuzz on that sweet little face!!

Here is Video from Noah's Performance.....

Track today....

Spent the entire day at the Winslow track meet...they had Hayden run the mile which he has never run in a meet up till this point. His personal goal was to beat 5:00...he did it in 4:54 so he was pretty happy with that. He then had to run the 4x800 and their team pretty much stunk it up. And then he had to run the 800 after that! He was pretty beat by that point and came in in the middle of the pack with a time of about 2:10 from best we could tell....we will see what next week brings...regionals in Payson....