Merry Christmas

 

Happy Birthday Whitney

17 Things We Love About Whitney

 
1. She is the nicest girl I know.

2. She never talks bad about anyone.

3. She is a great role model and always has time for her little sisters. 

4. She is a wonderful musician on the piano, flute, organ or singing.

5. She has bright sparkly blue eyes.
6. She can be the prettiest girl all fixed up but still looks amazing in a ponytail when we are camping.

7. For being a blonde she's really smart with a 4.1 GPA.

8. She is always willing to try even when it's hard.

9. Being in the popular circle is not her goal.

10. As busy as she is with friends, homework, piano, MYAC she always finds time for her family.

11. She is a great listener.

12. She has always been respectful to her parents.

13. She fills our home with beautiful piano music.

14. She is helpful around the house. If she sees a task she'll do it without being asked.

15. She desires to dress modest for a teenage girl. Buying immodest clothing has never been a battle.

16. She loves to learn and amazes me how quick she can learn whether it's calculus, piano, or a dance.

17. She is a good sport and can be wild and crazy as you can tell with her school pictures this year.

No this isn't photoshopped. Whitney was not looking forward to getting school pictures.   So Brielle said just where some glasses and nobody will be able to see your face. These are 3D glasses from the movie UP with the lenses punched out. The photographer had a fit when she had the glasses on. I had to support her and tell him he would take the picture with the glasses because I was paying for them.  I paid for these? What was I thinking?

Annual Gingerbread Houses

We had our 3rd annual gingerbread house contest at Amy and Alans again. Thanks for making it so much fun. Amy is the queen of gingerbread houses. We did more socializing this year then in the past. The kids did more playing then decorating because we went home with bare houses. We had more fun chilling on the couch catching up with everyone while Victor and Brianna kept the competitive spirit going for all of us. This was my favorite spot sitting with Spencer.

Whitney 1st Place at EIMTA Sonata Competition

We spent the day at piano recitals.  It was quite the fiasco to get everyone to there judges appointments since they all overlapped and were at three different locations  around the city. We had to divide and conquer. This was Brielle's first year performing. She was a little intimidated by a male judge but she did well for her first year. Yeah Brielle!

Brinley performed at University place and took 1st alternate honorable mention playing La Caroline and Whitney took 1st place playing Beethoven's Tempest. Brinley and Whitney swapped places from last year. We were amazed at how well they all did.  Way to go girls were proud of you! Glad it's over we are so ready to hear some new sounds coming out of the piano. I guess it will be Christmas and festival pieces.

Parents Weekend at Utah State Logan Utah

Last Dunes Trip of The Year

Spencer came home from college so they could have one more ride at the  dunes. The skies were beautiful the weather was great. They had the dunes to themselves. The trip was a success because no one had to be pulled out and no one broke anything. That's a first!

Volleypops End On Top

Brinley played her second year of volleyball with the Volleypops.  Brinley didn't enjoy having to learn how to serve over handed but eventually she got the hang of it. We stayed busy with practices every Thursday after school and games every Saturday for about eight weeks. They were a little rusty the first game of the season but that just gave them the motivation to win every game after. To win all six games on a Saturday is pretty impressive.  Kristin was assistant coach and had to coach one Saturday with out the other coach. Coaching was a piece of cake these girls knew what they were doing and performed amazingly. We had one server that scored 16 points in one serve and she gave the last serve at gamepoint so the other team could have a turn to serve. We had a pizza party to celebrate at the end of the season and I was too busy chatting that I forgot to take pictures of all these cute girls. We had a great season and looking forward to spring season.

Brielle Gets Her Ears Pierced

Brielle has been asking for years to have her ears pierced. I got my ears pierced when I was 8 and I let Brinley and Whitney do the same. It was hard for me to say yes to Brielle. She had such tiny ears I didn't think her ears were big enough to hold an earring. I said she could get them done for her 9th birthday and then she changed her mind and I was glad. She said she was going to wait till she was in junior high. It didn't last. When you think about it piercings are kinda gross. The prophet had great wisdom against multiple piercings because I am amazed at the grotesqueness piercings have become. So here I am kinda sad that I gave in. My sweet little girl looks grown up.

Marking the ears with the purple pen was probably the most scary for Brielle.

Alcohol the ears down and get ready for the ouch.

They were nice and gave her the Claires Bear to hold for comfort.

1st ear not even a flinch.

Putting on the earring backs.

All done I survived.

Pretty earrings!

All smiles she's a big girl now.

Homecoming Dance

This summer we were on the hunt for a cheap short dress that Whitney could wear to Homecoming. The dance was scheduled to be outside at the Snake River Landing and with the weather being warm a short dress was the best choice. We found a dress for $75 on the internet that was worn for twenty minutes and we thought all we needed to do was put sleeves on it.

Wrong! There were no sequins on the back and the dress had been altered and poorly done may I add. I am no seamstress but I guess I'm going to learn.

The torso was altered and the black belt made the dress look short-waisted. Plus we needed to add something to the back. So we went to the store and was on the search for fabric that would match the dress for sleeves. We decided to change the entire look of the dress by getting rid of the black and adding a brighter color to jazz up the white. Brinley found a bolt of pailletes (oversized sequins) 80% off so we bought 4 yards for under $3.00. The little girls unraveled and separated the sequins so they would be loose and then we started to cut, sew, cut and sew and let me just mention sew.

Nothing is ever easy! We added little sequins all over the dress to give it shimmer. They were the opalescent that can give off a pink shimmer. We were lucky to purchase those on a day when they were 50% off. Whitney used this dress as one of her Young Women projects. Divine nature learn a homemaking skill from your mother. Why didn't she pick to learn how to shop. I have great skills there. Whitney helped with the dress till school started and then she had no time so I finished it. We ended up cutting the length and adding fishing line around the hem to give the curly affect. I had four layers to sew fishline around and each one I had to cut out and redo twice the dress got shorter and shorter as I was learning how to use the rolled hem foot and and the tension on the thread. Sewing on the sequins was fun but it was a test to use clear monofilament thread when your loosing your eye sight. I ended up using Rick's headlamp flashlight to give me more light even during the day and bought a pair of magnifying glasses to see. Sorry Alan I need to come in and see you again my contacts couldn't cut it. With 10 minutes to spare she was able to wear the dress. She used the bridesmaid shoes from Brianna's wedding that matched perfectly. So with taffeta, satin, tulle, 4 yards of pailletes, three packages of clear sequins and three spools of thread we spent under $100. I was so worried it wouldn't look good and then I was worried that she would be embarrassed to wear it or say that it was sewn. She actually was a little apprehensive a month ago But then as it was coming together she was more excited and then in Acapella she was talking with another girl and she said she bought her dress off the internet for cheap and they were beading it. Guess what? At the dance they saw each other and it was the exact same dress. Kelsey ended up sewing a halter top made of black material, left the belt because it wasn't altered, left the length and added more black sequins. It was cute.

The final result I thought she looked like a million bucks!

Her friends say her trademark on her dresses are huge bows in the back. The last two dresses had large bows as well.

Weston asked Whitney to the dance by dressing in a Scream costume. I answered the door and he didn't say anything then he held up a sign that said Whitney. I hollered for Whitney to come down and he gave her a poster that said "I'd scream if you'd go to Homecoming with me. He gave her two containers of Dryers ice cream and his name was under the lid of one of them. The best part about it was that 5 minutes earlier she was complaining that we had no ice cream in the house and that this was a first and she wanted ice cream so she was thrilled to get to eat ice cream.

Whitney answered with a Halloween bag of candy that said Scream Mix on it and then gave him a Halloween trophy for Best Costume that had a severed hand. She wrote a note that said "I gotta give you a Hand that was the Best way to ask a girl out. It will be a Scream to go to Homecoming with you." We wanted to borrow our friends headless Annie costume and say I was so so excited I lost my head. But we were going out of town for four days. And couldn't round it up quick enough.

They went rock climbing for there day date and then they went to the school and had a food fight in the field with pancake powder, eggs, and syrup then they went and jumped into the canal and swam and washed off. I wish I had pictures of the food fight it sounded hilarious.

Weston was voted Prince of the Junior class and the princess left for a volleyball tournament. Weston asked Whitney to escort him on the field during half time. She called Friday morning panicked I need a dress tonight and I know you won't have my dress done what should I wear? Thankfully we asked Amy and borrowed Brianna's gorgeous coral dress. She looked amazing out there. The dress was amazing. Thanks Amy! She had to change in the parking lot because we didn't want to get it dirty in the bathroom and you can't drive in it. That dress was a crowd stopper. Everyone came up to her and complimented her. When she was walking down the street people were jumping out of the way and making such a big deal about the dress. It was comical to see the reaction of people.

1st Annual Big Air Competition

So the men wanted to show off their skills and catch some air. Preston and Spencer built up a jump across the road. We had to watch for traffic and we had a few on lookers stop and watch as the guys battled it out for the 1st Annual Big Air Competition. You get to be the judge of who we thought won.

Spencer jumping with the CR 85



Preston jumping with the KX 85



Preston jumping with his CR 250



Rick jumping with the KX 85

You get to write your own ending for this video. We will tell you that Rick won the big air competition based on style. His landing was classic! Sorry I cut the video I want to keep this blog rated G. Whitney awarded Rick with the broken brake lever as the trophy! Oh the joys of working on motorcycles after a fun ride.

Labor Day Camping Trip

It was great to have the long weekend with all our kids. We miss Spencer. We thought we were being so smart by taking the trailer up on Thursday and leaving it. Boy were we surprised when we got the last spot. It was nice to know we didn't have to rush up there and that all we had to do was climb in to the trailer and go to bed if we wanted. So we didn't get up there until midnight. A neighbor came over and we told them we were leaving tonight to go camping and he kind of looked at us funny that we weren't in a rush. Rick drove to Logan to pick up Spencer and his dirt bike and Preston had football practice. Whitney wanted to go to the IF vs. Hillcrest game and Brinley and Brielle had a late night with friends. It was good because Rick was as usual working on someones motorcycle getting it ready to ride.

Indian Creek up by Palisades Reservoir

Rick doing what he likes best lounging in the chair.

Brinley our future entomologist caught everything that flew by here or crawled by her.

Preston being swung by Brielle. They don't use it to lay in they use it as a swing.

Brielle wishing she could touch so she could rip it up like the big boys.

Had to take a picture of Spencer actually doing homework it's a first in 18 years!

Whitney in her favorite spot. At girls camp she got the award for always sleeping thus known as Princess Snooze-alot.

We made friendship ice cream in ziploc bags. I thought the boys would think this was stupid but they were really into it. We made these up at girls camp and rolled it in newspaper to make a ball but you have to use a roll of duct tape and I forgot the duct tape. We wrapped them in brown bags and then plastic grocery bags, they were kind of slick but it worked. We had to throw them around for about fifteen to twenty minutes. There were several people driving by I think they thought we were weird throwing trash around in the dark. Next time the boys have requested we triple the recipe and throw trash bag sizes so they can have more ice cream. I don't know if I will be able to catch that heavy of a bag these were heavy enough it gave me a work out.

Brielle Turns 9

Happy Birthday Brielle. Why is it that the last child never gets pictures of her. I had a birthday party for Brielle and we invited 4 boys and 6 girls. I had my camera out but I never took a picture, I guess I was too busy.

We played the candy bar game with 15 candy bars. You roll the dice and if you get a 2 or 4 you grab a candy bar and put it in your brown bag before someone sees. Then after all the candy is gone you roll the dice again and if you get a 3 you can steal a candy bar from someone but you have to remember what they have and name it. Brielle won but we gave the kids a choice of a candy bar in their treat bags before they left. We also played the detective and the frog. Everyone sits in a circle someone is the detective in the middle and one person is secretly the frog and everyone else is a fly. The frog discretely sticks their tongue out and kills the flies and if they stick there tongue out at you you dramatically die. If you kill everyone before being found you win. This is a great game for this age. The detective had a hard time.

Nine Things I Love About Brielle

1. She always has a smile on her face and is always happy.

2. She loves to laugh at funny stories or shows. I love the sound of her laugh. She said this summer I probably won't live very long. I asked how come. She said because I don't laugh very much and they say laughing extends your life. I told her she is always laughing and then we watched some Sponge Bob together and she felt better.

3. She is all girl with wanting to dress and act like a girl.

4. She is amazing with peoples names and faces. She can remember a face, name or event and you can ask her and she can tell you all about it. Even if it didn't happen at her school. She  can visualize a person by how someone talks about them and she can pick them out in a crowd. It happened last year about a guy who liked Whitney and we were shopping at Christmas time and I know Brielle had never seen him. She said she saw him and then she pointed him out to me and it really was him.

5. She has great ambitions and is open about her feelings and things she wants to accomplish and do in her life. I hope she will always keep her hopes high so she will be able to attain anything she wants to do.

6. She can read a persons nature if they are good or not. And she has since she was 2. She didn't like her dance teacher from the first day because she was nice to Brielle but not nice to her own daughter.

7. She is concerned for others feelings and hates when someone has been treated unfair or poorly. She will stand up for them.
8. I love her petite body, big blue eyes, round face and cute little pointy chin. She is my only child that looks like this. She reminds me of what Grandma Wood probably looked like when she was little.

9. I love Brielle Mary Wood because she is excited about life and has been since the day she was born. She wants to be here and experience it all. She knows my life wasn't complete until I had her. She was born with the attitude I'm here now so lets have some fun. Let's do it all!

College Road Trip

Am I really that old? Sending my first born off to college. It seems like last year when he was rocking in his swing and laughing at Rick saying Boo! Then it was just last month that he was watching Barney and learned how to say Go to da doct- er. Then he advanced to bigger words like air -condish -a- refrator, Fridge-refrator and the woo-die-her and pacifier-dat. Translation Air conditioner, refrigerator, blow dryer and pacifier. He was 15 months old.

Then I remember taking him to preschool and being told he knew who the President of the United States was. I was so proud. A boy said George Washington and Spencer confidently said no he's not, he's dead! Who is it then asked the teacher? It's President Gordon B. Hinckley! Wow he was so proud of himself. His baptist teachers were quite impressed as well. They had to ask me who this Gordon B. Hinckley was with the middle initial. So Spencer brought the Ensign tthe next day that had a story about President Hinckley and also the latest release of the Proclamation of the Family. It was a great example of the church for these ladies and they were very impressed. Yeah my sons a missionary.

Then it was early mornings going to all day kindergarten where he was the only blonde in a class of curly black hair. He was the glowing angel in the crowd of color. His teacher loved his hair. I loved his hair. The two of us would wake up early and I dressed him, fed him, brushed his teeth and styled his beautiful perfect hair. Then I'd open the front door that was never used by us except to greet our favorite friends. I never imagined that I would be opening it to let one of my children go out into the big world on there own. Bye mom love you! As he'd skip down the driveway carrying his Spiderman backpack eager to meet the world and ride the great big yellow bus. Spiderman winks at me and says he'll be okay. Everyday I'd ask myself have I taught him everything. Well here we are 13 years later we have managed to still smile through grade school, science projects, cuts and bruises, junior high and braces. Skateboards, Nintendos, Haro bikes ipods and cell phones. Soccer, basketball, football, hockey, lacrosse, skiing, snowboarding, cub scouts to earning his Eagle Scout. Learning to drive to jumping vans and motorcycles. May I suggest that motorcycles handle the impact a little better then mini vans and steering wheels never reattach the same after an airbag is deployed. Gorilla tape never looks pretty around a steering wheel. So today we took Spencer to Logan for college. We loaded everything into our car and rode with his roommate. Our first struggle was getting out of town. We wanted to leave by 10am and didn't get out of town till 1pm. Computer technical problems. Rick was downloading the last bit of software and things to Spencer's laptop. Yeah we are finally on the road!

Not for long Dillon's truck got a flat and he doesn't have a jack or a spare.

Who wouldn't have a jack in their car? Um we don't! We ruined ours first trip out with the trailer and we haven't replaced it. Oops, we're a lot of help. We had to wait for Dillon's brother to bring him a spare from his truck and then we went back to Pocatello to find a tire. No luck it needs to be special ordered. Off we go to Logan on a prayer with a spare not meant for his truck.

Whitney found the beauty in the moment.

Home sweet home for a year. The Student Living Learning Center or LLC.

Covered parking? How would it be? Only $140 a semester.

Outside view of LLC lounge.

Whitney made Spencer's bed, I put away his clothes and Rick helped set up the computer.

It's clean and it will probably be the last time it looks this way. Till check out!

Filled the kitchen with food.

Cool stairs. But where are the talking portraits like at Hogwarts.

Common room not as fancy as the Gryffindor Common room. But they do have a fireplace.
Have fun Spencer we love you! We are looking forward to family weekend in October.

Brinley and Clothes

Brinley has never been a shopper. This year that changed when I took her shopping with Preston thinking I wouldn't buy her anything I just wanted her to come along so she wouldn't be the only one left home.

That changed after we went into the first store. I asked her to get an idea for clothes and look around and see if she might be able to find something.

I use to have to force her to try clothes on. It was actually enjoyable to shop with her. After we went shopping Amy brought over a ton of Bethany's clothes and they were all perfect for Brinley. She was in heaven. Whitney cleaned out her closet and gave her belts, shoes and accessories and Brinley has been able to make up some cute combinations.

She decided on her own that she would learn how to curl her hair. After a week on her own she was able to make hundreds of barrel curls throughout her hair. Now she is using two sizes of curling irons for her hair. Because of the morning crunch in the bathroom she moved into her bedroom and has a wonderful mirror and glass top dresser. I went to the supply house and bought a metal curling iron holder that plugs in and holds two curling irons. She doesn't have to crawl under to unplug and they hold the hot curling irons safely. Mornings are more peaceful now that Whitney has the whole bathroom to herself.