FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL --- (OR SECOND)!

Well, I can tell my kids (and I) are getting older because I forgot first day of school pictures this year, - so we got second day of school pictures instead!
Derek is in big 4th grade now! Didn't he just start kindergarten?

Brett now rules the school in the 6th grade!

Danielle started HIGH SCHOOL this year. She loves it, I am sure because she is learning so much NOT because of social reasons!

Sadly, we were not there to take Jake's first day of college pictures, but we were there to get pictures of him dressing for his first football game.

He is the one in mid-throw warming up AND in red. Weird.

Here he is putting on his helmet and carrying his clipboard. He is number 18.

He did SO good at keeping the clipboard:)! He didn't get to see much of the game though. It was very fun to see him there on the sidelines working hard to pay for his education! Oh yeah and Dixie won!

Summer's Coming!

You know school is almost out when it is time for the (dreaded):) school carnival!
Brett and Derek were soo excited. AND adventurous!

Blake told me shortly after Jake was born that he knows just what labor feels like...a sprained ankle. Having never had a sprained ankle, I wouldn't know, but lets just say at the time I didn't appreciate the analagy!

We like to take pictures of Jake's injuries (forget special occasions) and this is his latest. To add insult to injury, he hurt his ankle on the last out of the last inning of his last high school baseball playoff game!:( He tore some ligaments and basically sprained his ankle but we are very glad it is not worse. (Even people in the stands at UVU heard it pop. oww!) Uncle Jimmer says Jake has always wanted to be carried off the field, but it was supposed to be on their shoulders, not like this! Oh well.

PLAY BALL!!

The Cruise

Blake and I celebrate 20 blissful :) years together this year. We wanted to go on a nice trip to celebrate. Thanks to Great Western, we won a cruise so we got our nice trip and didn't even have to pay which made all the better! We really enjoyed all the great Great Western company. Here we are saying Bon Voyage to San Diego.

One of the highlights of our trip was swimming with the dolphins in Puerta Vallarta. Those that know us and our thirst for high adventure aren't surprised by this!

The dolphins were awefully cute and friendly. Just like you see on tv!This may have been my initial reaction, but it is probably trick photography.
We got Kisses!!

This is Blake and Frank Anderson swimming on the dolphins. We layed on their tummies and held on the the fins.

Here is Robin Anderson and I. It was very cool. I would definitely recommend it.

Our next thrill was the zip line in the Sierra Madre mountains in Mazatlan. Here are Blake and I in all our gear.

This is me on one of the 9 zip lines. Blake made sure to get documentation for the kids. Notice the beautiful green mountains?? I guess it is winter there.

This is Blake and Fernando. We go this picture in honor of Danielle. She would've definately enjoyed the zip-line. I think this is where all the young, hot, hip Mazatlanians work. :)

The zip line ended at the Tequila factory where you got a shot (or two) of tequila, and learned how they make it. Needless to say, we gave ours away. The group on the way home was a little more relaxed than on the way there.

Our next big adventure was whale watching in Cabo San Lucas. This may have been more in our comfort zone. It is so beautiful there. You can see why it is the new hot spot for the stars. We went right around these rocks and saw tons (well maybe 12) whales!

This is two of them. I wish I could've gotten better pictures. They were too quick for the delay on my camera. It was way cool - right Kristy?

We also loved watching the dolphins swim along side our ship. They were jumping and flipping and playing. They were definately too fast for our camera.

We were laughing because by the end of the trip, without our kids there, we resorted to taking pictures of the towell kids our room steward made. I think we missed them more than we thought. 7 days was a long time to be away from them. Thank you Brooke and Bryce. Thanks Ted and Kristy for having them to dinner. It is great knowing we have so much great family we would feel comfortable leaving them with. BUT it was great to spend good quality time with Blake. He is still fun, and kind, and happy, and funny (though I may roll my eyes a little more than I used to) and... I could go on and on. After 20 years, he's still got it! Thanks
for picking me to go on your free cruise with you !:)

SURPRISE!!

It has been YEARS since Jake had a real birthday party. Since he was turning 18 we figured this was pretty much it for the "friend, kid parties." Plus, Blake and I left the day before his birthday for a cruise (We WON), so we wanted to do something fun for him.
This is the big "Surprise", although he doesn't look that surprised. I think he was a little suspicious.

The party was at a place called Noahs in South Jordan. You rent rooms and have them all to yourselves. It was a cool place. Way cooler than our house! My sister found it and took matters into her own hands and booked it. Our neice Kaley is having her wedding here in May!

Jake is lucky to have such a fun, nice group of friends.

Sammie was a big help because she invited the friends and got them all to be there on time. She hated that he kept asking her so many questions and she had to fib!

The pool table room joined with this raquet ball room. They loved this room. Jake said Tyson's raquet ball lessons really paid off. :) You could also plug in the Wii, and play life size Wii on the wall in there. They let you bring in your own food. AND it was reasonably priced! Sorry, I sound like a brochure for Noahs!
Jake and his new birthday guitar. He is taking it in school. He loves it. We 'get' to hear him often. He has the desire, but we question his talent! Anyways, I can't believe my baby is 18. I am in total denial. Believe everyone when they say it goes too fast. :(

update

Well, since I have been a slacker, here is an abbreviated update on our family for the past few months.