The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Where do I begin with the wonderful blonde daughter of mine that is a senior in high school....she is driving me crazy and I think she enjoys it! Let's start with the bad. If you know Cortnie, you know she loves to act and be in plays. She really loves the musicals. The school this year is doing the play "Annie" and she was the Mrs. Hannigan - the evil one. She practiced and practiced her audition recitation and solo and she nailed it. Everyone knew she was going to get the role - everyone but her drama teachers. She was so certain the part was hers. She called me from school the day the list was posted and said she did not get the part. Instead she was the butlers "woman" but it was okay cause it was a major role and a villian too. However, after reading the script, she released this version of the play was not that way. She has only twelve lines in the play and has no solos. Her heart was crushed again as she watched her best friend get the part she wanted (and she can not even reach the notes in the song to sing it). The bad.

Okay..the ugly. If you read my earlier post in December, you will recall reading about the car accident that Cortnie was in. We finally got everything worked out with the insurance company and recieved a pretty good settlement for the damage. The check came and I stuck it in my purse to deposit it. I get a phone call from Cortnie THE VERY NEXT DAY, saying she has just been called to the principals office cause her car has been hit in the parking lot. Apparently, some older man was unconscious, rear ended a car at a stop light; drifted over into the oncoming traffic lane; narrowly missed three city workers in field; cascaded down a small slope into one palm tree; sped forward to hit another one causing the car to stop and hitting a metal fence. The blow sent a pole from the fence 56 feet across the parking lot into the door and window of car smashing the window into thousands of pieces and jamming the door. We just had to laugh. Cortnie's comment was if she keeps going, she can get enough money for a new car. The car is so old, we will not fix the dents but let her drive it until it dies. It will be interesting to see what we get this time around....the ugly.

The good...the best for last. We recieved notification this week that Cortnie was accepted into Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. This has been her dream school since she was ten and it is so hard to get into. I had her read her letter at the dinner table and she could not even make it through the first line before she was in tears. She has said the full ride four year scholarship at SUU is very nice and tempting, but this is her dream and she does not want to give it up. Hopefully she will get a scholarship or two to BYU also. She deserves it and I am way proud of her. Now if we can only get to graduation :-). The good....

The College One

I can honestly say that I don't think there is much going on in the college one's life. She is doing better this semester in her classes and is excited for her scuba class to start. She wants to go diving with her dad at Catalina Island.....but might have to settle for beautiful Lake Mohave in Bullhead City, Arizona. She loves her little car that she gets to drive around and loves to come home. She even went to a dance at the institute on Friday night. I wish she would do that more or go find a job. I hate the fact that she sits around all day and does nothing. She did tell me though that she is thinking about doing pediatric nutrition - and I think it is a wonderful idea. She has always been great with little kids and loves babies. At least she is making decisions...finally!!

The Boys

I am not sure which is easier to raise....boys or girls. Someone always told me that boys were way easier, but I am not sure. They seem to quarrel more and love to tease each other. Before long, one of them is crying and trying to get sympathy. The stupid thing is, it is usually over a video game!! Sometimes I really hate the person that invented those things.

Skyler keeps us hopping....anywhere from basketball games and practice to phone calls from his teacher. He is a great student, but unfortunately gets bored really easy in his classes. I wish there was some way to get them to give him harder work, but it never seems to happen. So, when I get those dreaded phone calls, I talk to him and tell him he is wrong, but in my heart I can't blame him for acting up. He is so enjoying basketball this year. In fact, he made his first basket of a game and went jumping up and down the length of the court. It is too bad his dad did not see it since he was giving horsey rides to all the little kids who play with him every week. He will make a great grandpa someday.

Boyd has decided he is going to try out for the school baseball team. I strongly encourage him to try out for whatever he wants, but it breaks my heart when he does not get on. Maybe this time will be different. Right now he is in the middle of doing his eagle project for scouts. He is working with a group called Project Linus to make blankets used in hospitals and safe houses - or whever the company thinks they need to be. He has made arrangements for his blankets to be sent to Haiti to help the victims there. His goal is to make at least 50 blankets and they have to be done by the middle of March. He has organized a huge blanket making party for the ward for March 6th....and how fun it will be. I am excited to watch him do it and am so proud of him. It will be a long month until he is done though. Way to go sons!!

Great Memories

Another year has come and gone.....2010 is here. It is hard to believe how quicky time flies. We had such a great holiday season and enjoyed so much time with family. I hated to see it come to an end with the new year starting and back to work and school. This week has been very hectic and tiresome, but it has been nice to spend the weekend with a dear friend relaxing while Rob has been away in California doing what he loves to do....be a kid and play with planes.

We were so blessed to have Brittnie come home for three weeks. The house is so quiet when she is not here...she loves to tease her littliest brother and make his scream. They played games every day and stayed up late every night. It was hard to leave her in Cedar again when we came home. I did not cry - at least in front of hear, but the silent tears rolled down my cheeks as we drove away. The were big alligator tears too....and it hurt. I wonder if that will ever go away. The worst part is...next year I will have two of them gone. I will be crying all the time.

Our Christmas was wonderful. The kids are always so excited...but the teenage girls are the worse. They actually set an alarm clark to wake up the boys on Christmas morning to get us out of bed. We were ready and waiting for them though....with Rob playing like he was asleep under the covers and scaring the pants off of Boyd when he peaked under them as he screamed at him. It was pretty funny. Santa was good to us again. The kids got anything from ipods to car stereos to ninetendo ds to games to clothers.....funny though, it sure does not look like much as they get older, but it sures costs more.

We were able get out of Bullhead for awhile too...my most favorite part of the holidays. We spent a couple of days in Panaca then headed to Orem. I am pleased to say the weather man was nice to us and all the snow came on non travel days. I hate to drive the mountain passes in the snow. We spent time playing games, eating, shopping, eating, going to movies, eating, telling stories, eating, going to the temple, eating, and playing in the snow. My kids look forward to going sledding every year. We weren't sure we would be able to this year due to lack of snow, but once again the weather man was good to us and it snowed for two days straight. We bundled the kids the best we could in our "Arizona" cold weather clothing and took off for the hills. I do have to say it was hillarious to watch Rob slip into his ski pants that he used to wear in college....he could not wear pants underneath them and really had to suck it in, but he got them on. I told him not to fall cause he might not make it up. We went sledding for about 3 hours until we could not feel our toes or fingers anymore. It was so fun to watch everyone fall, bump into each other, and slide all over. I love listening to all the laughter as they have fun. It was just an awesome trip all together. I hated to come home.

The night before we left, our nephew, Devin, reminded us that he would not see us for two years. He leaves on his mission the first part of February. He is a great kid (just like his brother who is serving now). Good luck Devin...we will miss you. Enjoy the weather in Boston. Maybe you need to take Rob's ski pants :-). Thanks to all for making it another memorable holiday season. We miss you all so much and cherish the times we can spend with family and friends. Here is to a great new year.....2010, here we come. (enjoy the pictures)

Cortnie Cries"

I have to start off by saying how much I love my blonde daughter. She is so sweet and yet so stubborn. Today I am very grateful for her and for seatbelts. I got the phone call all mothers dread this morning with her telling me she was in a car accident. I asked where she was and ran out the door from work. After calling Rob, I realized I did not even ask her if she was okay - so I called her back. No one was hurt but she was really shaken up. Apparently the other driver decided he wanted the lane Cortnie was driving in. She tried to stop, but he still clipped the front of her car. It hit her hard enough it drove her up over the curb causing the car tire to burst and bent the frame. She cried hard for a few minutes in my arms when I got there. I told her nothing mattered about the car and that we were glad she was okay. Now we wait and see what the other insurance pays as one more dent is added to the purple machine.

Last night she cried too.....We were sitting at the table when she got a phone call from SUU. She applied at the college as a back up to BYU in case she does not get in. The counselor on the other lane was congratulating her for something and asking her lots of questions. When she got off, she proceded to tell us that she had recieved a scholarship in the mail the day before but had hid it because she was afraid we would make her go there. Her scholarship was a full time, four year scholarship worth $48,000. We tried to explain to her that it is not our choice where she goes and she needed to be proud of her accomplishments. Her heart is still set on BYU - and I hope she gets there. However, if she does not, what a wonderful gift for her to be able to go to school tuition free!!

I love you my blonde headed, blue eyed daughter....

Life is Crazy!!

Wow...a month has gone by and life is bizarre here in Bullhead. It seems like we run from place to place every night after work and school. As a mother though, I love it! I enjoy watching my children play, listening to their concerts and hearing them laugh. I literally fall in to bed every night, but it is so worth it. My poor husband seems to always take the back plate - but he never complains about anything.

I am very happy to say that soccer is finally OVER. I so enjoyed our soccer season this year though. I think it was the best one yet. We did have some issues with Skyler's coach, but he managed to make it through the season and his team took second place. They advanced to the divisional playoffs, but Skyler choose not to play. He had had enough and was done. We did not fight him at all but I would have liked to see him play. He got a trophy and a medal for second place.

Boyd's team was awesome. He had the best coach I have ever seen (well, besides Rob). He was so positive with his team and fun to be around. He made Boyd work hard and did not let him slide at all. "Cruz Azul" took first place in the season. We were so excited they beat the best place team in the last two games. They too advanced to divisionals, but did not do as well as we would have liked. The won all of their games, but it is based off of a point system, and did not have enough points to go to the final game. Oh well, I can not be more proud of my boys for being good sports and being a team player. Now for basketball...

Besides all the soccer practices and games (did I mention we were at the soccer fields for 10 out of the last 14 days - and one of those days for 7 hours), there were concerts, ward parties, work and a daughter coming home from college. I am so glad to have the ward party over - they are much more enjoyable when I am not in charge of them :-). We had about 180 people at our party which is the most we have ever had. Many have said it was the best ward party they have been too. Cortnie has been busy performing all over town with her choir group and she sang in church on Sunday. Her Christmas concert was wonderful - even though I missed the first half of it watching a soccer game; but I ran from the field when it was over and made it just in time to see her go on stage.

Yes, I love being a mom. For Christmas...I would love to have my children small again and get the chance to do even more with them. Many people say they can 't wait for their children to leave - but I wish mine were still small. They are my pride and joy. Of course, on the top of my list would be more hours in the day to spend with my best, eternal friend. Rob, I love you from the bottom of my heart. You make the person I am today and you make me smile.

In case I don't get back before then...Have a Merry Christmas!!

Happy Halloween!

Just a couple of pics of the boys from Halloween. They decided I needed to make costumes again this year. Skyler is a vampirate (we forgot the eye patch) and Boyd is a viking. Rob painted the helmet for him...what a dad!