Rodney's Visit

The kids had a blast with Rodney, the sandwich guy (Thaddeus cousin) who came to visit us from Illinois. The kids think he is the best! Troy was always laughing and Sydney is a big admirer. We went up to Park City on Saturday and the kids rode the Alpine Slide and the boys rode the zip line. Sydney described it as one of her best days ever!

We also celebrated Rodney's birthday while he was here. The kids planned and carried out their first ever surprise party!

We can't wait to see him again. He is one of the kids favorites....how cool is that.

Sydney's Winning Story!

Sydney was awarded the Talented Young Writer Award and was Published in a book put out by the school district featuring talented young writers. She is in first grade. She loves writing fictional stories, but for this book she had to write a narrative. This was a new concept for her. The teachers gave them the instructions that it had to be a narrative and an hour in class to write it. The rough draft was the final draft. I hope you enjoy it.

It's All In My Dreams

I was born in 2001. I had an animal cradle when I was one. On my first birthday I got a blanket with a teddy bear head and arms. I still have it. When I was two I got my two front teeth. I then finally had my first cupcake!

Throughout the years I have been known to love animals. Danny and I still sleep with them. Now in these years my brother Troy who's six, is bigger than me! I'm seven, one age above.

Now, when I was four we went to Belize. Aunt Charisma had a wedding. I was the flower girl.

When I was six our cousins Andrew and Nicki came to visit. They live in Arizona. We sat in Ethan's room. Ethan is ten and use to be in Mrs. Lloyd's class. Andrew was suppose to be born on January 4th, not 2nd. It appears he was kicking in his mom's stomach!

I really want to travel the world and start a new life. My dad's going to buy me a horse. At least I can explore the neighborhood!

There are flowers on the board that remind me of the Pink Rose Valley. I went there with Lola. The Lola who is my grandma. I wrote a biography about her. I really like family vacations. Like I wrote about earlier, my life is traveling the world.

It's all in my dreams. I've been visiting China, Yellowstone, Chicago and the Underground World.

It's all in my dreams, all in my dreams.

Troy had to present a report on a doctor's job. He looked so cute! He was ever so Troy, having a great time being the center of attention. He showed several tools that a doctor uses for their job. When he pulled out the shot, he said "you all know what this is for, oww, oww!". He starts laughing and gets the whole class going. He says he wants to be a doctor when he grows up, but he doesn't want "blood to get squirted on him".

Sydney's a WINNER!

Today Sydney found out she was the winner of the school writing contest. She wrote about her life and experiences. She is so excited. She is a great writer, the best first grade story writer I've ever read.

A RECAP OF 2007

Tad, Ethan and Wendy went to
Yellowstone National Park with Grandpa and Grandma Richards. This is one of the most awesome places on Earth, from the animals to the land, to the water there are so many sight to see and question. We have hundereds of amazing photos.


We went to Laguna Beach to
Visit our Aunt Charisma and
Uncle Eric who just had their
first baby Makenna. She is
so cute!
Captial Reef National Parks is one of our favorite
places to visit. Even the kids comment on how amazing the scenery is. It is so relaxing. The perfect place to spend the whole day doing nothing or simply reflecting on how amazing life and the earth are.




The older boys have their bb guns and the two younger ones have their air soft guns. Watching them aim and shoot is so entertaining. Don't they look cute!


These are photos from U-Dig Fossils in Delta, Utah about 5 hours from us. You can dig all day for fossils. We found a bucket full of trilobytes. It was such a neat experience for the kids.

In the summer we go to downtown Salt Lake and play in a large foutain at the mall. The foutain sprays out in time with the music. The kids love to cool off this way and mom gets to shop. No wonder everyone is so happy.

These are some of our favorite photos from 2007! The Adventure Continues!

We went to Logan and Bear Lake in March. We found this park along the way that was so amazing. It was a thick forest with trees covered in shimmering snow, something you would see in a movie.

The kids had a great time climbing the trees and collecting sticks. It was a wonderful winter day!

School Spelling Bee

Troy and Ethan's school had their annual spelling bee last week.
What a surpsise it was when we where told Troy was a finalist in
his class spelling bee and going on to the school spelling bee. We are so proud of Troy! He missed the word "where" forgetting to put in the "h", but he made it through multiple rounds with
words like "orange" and "like".

Ethan won not only his class spelling bee, but also the school spelling bee, taking first place! His list had beginner words such as millionaire, then intermediate words like "farcically"...(yeah I couldn't pronounce it or tell you the meaning), and also had spanish words (they are learning Spanish at school). We are so proud of Ethan. He told me he was confident he would win and he did!