Building Our Deck

It took about one month to build our new deck. I kept track. :)

April 2- Demolished waterfall and took out rocks.

April 4- poured concrete

April 10- moved sprinklers/drinking fountain

April 16- dropped off wood

April 18- built bottom part of deck

April 19-Stained wood

                Trex arrived

April 22-Built stairs

April 23- Put Trex on top of deck

May 1- Put in handrails

We love the deck and are excited to use it more as it cools down. The night times are nice to sit out there and talk or read.

We also grassed the right side of the house that used to be mostly weeds. It was meant for a garden but we tried a few times and got some carrots but mostly weeds. I like it a lot better with grass. Just a little more mowing.

Spring Soccer 2013

We had another fun season of soccer. Seth played on the Comets. His coach Dustin Brinkerhoff even built a deck for us. All of the coaches were positive which is nice.

 Max's team- The Wolf Pack

 Maddie's team- The Grapes of Wrath. Uncle Donovan and Aunt Paige couldn't resist Maddie when she asked them to coach her team or she wouldn't be able to play. It was a really fun year. Jon did all the emailing and scheduling and Dono and Paige did all of the technic so they actually learned something and improved. They were actually undefeated!

The Month of April

I usually blog by event, but since I'm getting behind, I decided to blog the month of April...

 Eater Egg Hunt at Grandma Sherry and Grandpa Buddy's house.  Thought the kids were getting too old for this but they say they aren't. Especially when Grandma puts money in some of the eggs.

 Gram (Barbara Pennington) turned 84 on April 1st.

Elliott laughing with Maddie, so cute!

 Jon's brother Michael, his wife Rachel and their three boys came for a visit- Caleb, Andrew, and Jacob. We went to Lowe's Xtreme air sports to jump on the trampolines.

 Even though the snow was a bit slushy, Max and Seth wanted to learn how to snowboard this winter. They did really well and will be ready for next year. Hopefully we'll go a few times with Seth's 5th grade pass.

Maddie got her permit and LOVES driving. "Can I drive?" is heard a lot around here.

 We took a trip to ID to watch General Conference with the family. The kids love road trips because they can listen to music and play on their iPods.

 Grandma Marilyn had two blow up beds for Maddie and Calli to sleep on. I'm glad they're good cousin friends.

 The men going to the Preisthood Session of conference. Ben, Quentin, Jeff, Tanner, Jon Michael, Caleb, PaPa (John Hulet), and Max.

 Seth and Mac went shopping and found these great t-shirts!

 Max's first year of track and Maddie's 3rd year of track. They had pretty fun. Max and James. Maddie and Hannah, Alyssa, Marissa, and Sara (those are all the friends names I know.)

 Max goes on a campout. He's getting ready for his week long camp out this summer. Randon, Josh, Eli, Bryce, Max, Talon, and David.

General Young Women's Broadcast

Maddie was fortunate to get the opportunity to sing in the Conference Center for the Young Women's Broadcast at the end of March. I don't even know how they pick which Stake gets to sing because Utah has A LOT of Stakes to choose from. Elaine Dalton the General YW President did speak to our Stake for a Fireside and they did sing for her so maybe that made an impression. So, two Stakes in our area were invited to sing in Salt Lake. They had to practice a lot but it was such a great spiritual experience for Maddie. She would come home crying because she didn't want it to end and shared stories about the things the music director shared with them. They practiced like 5 Sundays for 3 hours each and then had a Saturday Dress rehearsal in Salt Lake that families were invited to.

 Grandma Sherry, Maddie, and Kyla after the Broadcast.

Tanner's Jr. Prom

May 3, 2013

Tanner and Maren Quist

I don't know the first couple in their group, but they all had a lot of fun together. Spencer Bailey & Rachel Howden, Tanner & Maren Quist, Daniel Ballif and Lindsay Sabin.

 They had dinner at the Bailey's which is so nice and inexpensive. They ended up talking at the Bailey's house until 9:30. Then they had to drive to Salt Lake for the dance which lasted about another hour. Tanner said it was just right. I'm glad he has good friends to go with and everyone returned home safely since Tanner was driving.

Maddie's 15th birthday

Maddie's been into mustaches for quite some time. She decided she wanted a mustache cake for her birthday. She made it herself since she's creative, patient, and enjoys such projects more than me.

Maddie has a great group of friends. Brittany, Alyssa, Marissa, Sami, Sara, Maddie, McKell, Hailey, Hannah, Kelly, and Madi

Maddie decided to do a photo booth while the friends arrived. They actually probably could've done this the whole time. So many cute poses to think of!

 Maddie showing off all of her loot.

Since her rabbit ate her carpet (we found out quite a bit after the fact) Maddie and Jon put pergo in Maddie's room. It looks really good. She also painted her wall and dresser chevron and got a bed spread to match. That was her present from us.

 Before and after

Seth's Play

March 15-18

Seth tried out for Beauty and the Beast Jr. for school and got the role of the gargoyle. I thought he might be disappointed because he wouldn't do much since he was a statue but he was super excited. He got to guard the jail and throw people (Maurice and Belle) into the jail! He also got to dance and sing in "Human again." He even told me if he could have his choice of any part he would choose the gargoyle.  Great! I explained to him before he tried out that there would be lots of practices and he couldn't complain about them. I was surprised that he didn't complain even once. He enjoyed the practices for the most part. And the performances were super fun.

 Seth is Bottom Left

 Amazing costume

Seth's friend Isaac

 On his way to dress rehearsal

Tanner's 17

February 22, 2013

Looking at the title of this blog makes me think, "That's crazy!" Time is flying! Tanner went to a trampoline party place for his birthday and he drove himself so I didn't get any pictures. Kind of nice and kind of sad. I did get a picture of Grandpa and him having cake together since they share their birthday. The only thing he wanted was a punching bag, which takes up his whole room. Happy Birthday, Tanner.