Brinley Graduates From 6th Grade

Brinlely graduated from 6th grade and received the Presidential Academic Excellence Award and then received her three track ribbons for 1st in the 4x200 relay, 2nd for 200 meter race and 3rd for the standing broad jump.

Commencement

Commencement was a lot of with Jeremy. They rented segways and had an amazing time at dinner and the dance.

Hillcrest Commencement

Whitney was set up on a blind date from a friend she made through Jr. Miss. She had a lot of fun making new friends from another school.

Brielle Is Truly A Munchkin

Brielle's nickname is munchkin and how fitting that she would try out for the Wizard of Oz and become one of the munchkins. It was a nice production and the dances and songs were cute. Three shows were a lot but she loved every minute of it. She wants to be an actress for sure.

Preston Runs For Student Body President

With some coaxing from his mom Preston decided to run for student body president. He had a pretty cute speech that we borrowed and tweaked from a friend. Unfortunately he didn't make it. The popular vote which counted for 40% of the score and 60% of the score was if the advisor liked you, (campaign, interview and speech.) His speech was over 2 minutes and we were told to shorten it and we actually lengthened it after the first practice with the advisor. I guess when she says two minutes she means two minutes.

Brinley DARE Graduate

Brinley graduated from DARE and accomplished all 6 of the dare challenges. We are so proud of her. It was amazing to see her walk across the stage it seems like yesterday she was born. We bedazzled her shirt and made the headband and then she made flip flops with matching ribbon pieces. It was all her idea. She is so creative and artistic.

Preston New Member of Mayor's Youth Advisory Council

Whitney Senior Class President

 

Whitney ran for Student Body Vice President. She didn't make it but then she ran for Senior class president a week later. She used  2 legit 2 quit for her slogan and speech from Hot Rod. It was fitting for her willingness to try again. She had a lot of supportive teachers and students that were glad to see her run again. Persistence pays off!

Bonneville County Jr Miss

Whitney won $3,250 in scholarship money in the Bonneville County Jr Miss Program. As 1st Alternate she won $1,500.

She won $450 for Talent with her 90 second piece of Edvard Grieg's Concerto in A minor.

$350 for Self Expression, 

 

$450 for Interview 

 

 $150 for Be Your Best Self, $350 for fitness and a gift basket of prizes and gift certificates for most sponsors. Here's a cool connection between these two girls they are a year a part in school. They both won 1st alternate and both lost student body elections their junior year and then won senior class president. Kind of a weird coincidence!

This was the best part hanging out together and becoming good friends.

Senior Ball

We got a kick out of how Whitney was asked to Senior Ball this year. Her date Alex is not only cute but pretty clever I may add. We had no idea but our Stake President calls up Sunday afternoon and asks if he could meet with Rick and I to talk with Whitney. We thought oh my goodness what is up? So we feel pretty special that he would actually come to our house. He is all dressed up and breaks the ice and talks to all of us in his wonderful calm manner and then he asks Whitney if she would speak in stake conference on the ten lepers. I was about sick for her and so was Rick. And she without even a hesitation said "Sure!".  Then he said well that was pretty easy how about I give you a choice you can speak in stake conference on the ten lepers or you could go to the dance with my nephew Alex.  Then he pulled out a tin of mint gum that said "Chews" Wisely. She immediately said yes I would much rather go to the dance. We started to laugh grateful that she didn't have to speak and excited that she would get asked by such a neat guy. I was shocked that our stake president would take time out of his busy schedule and do that for Alex. We totally got punked. That was awesome! To respond she used her scriptures and left him a note and a bunch of gum that said "As I was preparing my talk for Stake Conference on the 10 Lepers I came across this scripture I wanted to share with you. D&C 130:5 she highlighted the beginning of the scripture that said "And I answer Yes....".  and added I Chews to go with You! 

Preparing for the dance was quite the fiasco. I hate to say that she went through four dress choices. Every week it was a different color. Poor Alex didn't have a clue what he was going to get to wear. I'm sure Alex and his family think we are so lame. Then she found out that they might not even be able to go to the dance because he had basketball tournaments scheduled for that week and depending on if they lost he would have a game that same night out of town.  Sad that they lost but happy they got to go to the dance together. 

Hey Brace Face

Two kids in braces killer on the HCRA account. Preston finished with his appliance and then got his braces put back on for another year. He is not as thrilled as Brinley was. Maybe it will help discourage some of those girls. I tell him everyday girls are evil.  Can I brainwash him till he's 21? Probably not.

Another Boarder Chick In The Family

The baby of the family finally crossed over from skiing to boarding. Woo hoo! She's so dainty and girlie I didn't think she had it in her but she's pretty tough. The worst part is getting off the chairlift and she can do that with ease. I love how little kids don't put limits on them. She likes Shaun White and Torah Bright and claims she's going to be as good as them. I hope she is. I think the thing she likes best about Torah is sponsored by Roxy. Brielle would love to be a fashionista for a company.

Snowboarding Family Reunion

Another great family reunion chilling at Targhee. The snow was so amazing and the weather was perfect! We had blue skies every day. The hot tub was working this year so it was great to soak  our tired legs at the end of the day. 

Of course the powder hounds had to hike Mary's in search of the best snow. I don't think Blake and Jared enjoyed the experience of getting caught waist deep in powder.

The secret is to wheelie the whole way down and don't stop or you will be stuck forever. I know I learned the hard way. It's exhausting. I didn't go on that one thank goodness or I would still be there till spring!

 

One of my favorite things about hanging on the Shoshone lift is explaining to my younger girls the bra tree. Not! What are we teaching these kids on Shoshone? I forget about it every year and then I have to laugh when I am reminded by my first glance of the year. The Mardi Gras beads are pretty awesome though I need to try that before the season ends.

Dinner was such a welcome retreat every night. Thank you to all who cooked. Kayla I want your cake recipe. I think the kids had a blast with the bingo game. I don't think anyone walked away empty handed.  I know my kids came back with armfuls of goodies. One of my favorite  nights was watching the X-Games with everyone back at the room. We were awe struck by Shaun White. We are all wannabes along with half the world. I guess every night was my favorite I enjoyed celebrating Spencer's 19th Birthday. We ran down to Broulims Saturday night and bought dinner and cake and ice cream.   

Thanks to all of you who traveled so far to come be with us. I hope we can do it again next year. It just gets better and better.

19 Things We Love About Spencer

1. He's not confrontational.
2. When you go anywhere with him you are guaranteed to run into somebody who knows him.
3. How he used to try to use big words as a little kid and slaughter the English language.
4. He has a tender heart and feels for the underdog.
5. He loves motorcycles and knows how to fix them.
6. He loves snowboarding.
7. When he's interested in something he learns about it with a passion.
8. He's not perfect but he's not a hypocrite to save face.
9. I love his subtle laugh! It's contagious.
10. He can tell a good joke or story. I loved how he use to tell us Chuck Norris jokes
11. He is a hard worker and not afraid of work.
12. He's a good scout, he is always prepared. His grandpa and dad taught him well.
13. He is reliable.
14. He is a loyal friend.
15. He's charitable. He is always helping someone out in need.
16. I like his taste in music. He always likes something before it becomes popular.
17. How he can cook good burgers and steaks.
18. I like his sense of humor to stir away anger.
19. We love him because he is who is. No one is going to change him. Except for maybe the girl he falls in love with.

Brinley Gets Braces

January didn't come quick enough for Brinley to get her braces. She was begging for braces back last fall  but we had to wait for a new year. I have to say she looks pretty cute in them and has been a great patient. I haven't heard any complaining and she has been great about turning her expander and brushing. Let's see if the enthusiasm will continue for three more years!

Welcome 2010

We rang in the new year with two of the prettiest and sweetest party hosts ever. Brinley and Brielle know how to throw a great party. Our favorite game we played on Wi Fit was the snowball fight. Our arms were so tired by the end of the night. Kristin was the snowball champion.   We look forward to a new year and are equally excited for the opportunities we have to improve. Whats your new years resolution?