Merry Christmas!

This is a picture from Thanksgiving day at my Grandparents home in Emery. We don't get to visit as often as I would like to. I felt very blessed to be able to spend this Thanksgiving with my Grandparents. It is such a feeling of warmth and love in their home. It was fun to spend time with my aunts, uncles and cousins who were also there. This is when I realize that I am just a small town girl at heart and I absolutely love it!! About three years ago Matt convinced me to get a fake tree. I had always loved to have the smell of a fresh tree, and going together to pick out the perfect tree. It seems that I could never find the perfect tree and would drag the family for hours and hours to each Christmas tree lot. By the end of the night, we were all grouchy and tired.
So I finally agreed to a fake tree. Matt had no idea that his suggestion created a monster. I love my fake tree. It is quite the project to decorate, and I still need a few more ornaments to fully decorate it ( I only 3/4 decorate it.) But each year it gets better.I wish the photo would do it justice, but it is beautiful.
We also have two other trees WE decorate. I put WE because I really don't like anyone to touch my tree. The other two are fair game :)

The biggest reason that I love this time of year is that I think most of us really reflect on what is TRULY important in our lives. It seems that we make efforts to see family and friends and to express how much we love and appreciated them. I am also reminded that I need to try harder to carry this spirit throughout the whole year.
We have already had some great family outings this season.Matt and I vowed to get out more this year and do more things in the winter. I hate to be cold, and cold to me is 75 degrees.But we have ventured out a little more this year. This was an evening at Temple Square, the lights are always so beautiful there. Matt's family came up with us and we all went out for cocoa after, it was a great night!Here is my sweetie. We don't have too many pictures of us together, so it is always nice to get a new one. Can I just say that I love this guy. I am so lucky to have my best friend be my husband. I just fall in love more and more each day. I know how lucky I am to have Matt in my life. I LOVE YOU BABE!!

Now my kiddos, what can I say? Everyday I am so grateful for the blessing of being a mother and being entrusted with these two amazing souls. Sierra and Hunter bring so much inspiration, love and excitement to my life. I know that they have made me a kinder more compassionate woman. I LOVE YOU BERRA AND HEF!

I wish you all A Merry Christmas, full of love and peace. I hope that you feel the spirit of the Holiday Season and enjoy the times with friends and family.

HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY HUNTER!!!

Yesterday was Hunters 12th Birthday. I can hardly believe that my little man is 12. The years have just honestly flown by. Hunter wanted to have a few buddies over and play basketball and football. Boys are so easy that way, you give them a ball to throw around, and they are happy.

Here are the boys playing a little football in our backyard. The pictures are so dark because my flash was not cooperating at all last night. They also played a little B-Ball on our neighbors sport court.
Then we had a huge bon- fire and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. Luckily for us it wasn't terribly cold last night. I don't think boys get nearly as cold as older ladies like myself.
Then they had pie and rootbeer floats. Hunter does not like cake, so we have different desserts instead. After that they played some outside games, and watched a movie in our theater room. It was a fun night :) Happy Birthday Hunter we love you!!Also last night Sierra performed at Halftime for Basketball. She did an awesome job and looked amazing. Love you too baby girl!

October Just Flew By......

Okay, so first of all I obviously can't fix the date on my dang camera....... This month has been so busy because Hunters team made it to playoffs! He was on such a great team this year and has had so much fun and learned TONS!! His team went to the Championship game and ended up losing to Bingham. We can't be sad though because they had an awesome season and the experience of going to the championship was so amazing for Hunter ......WAY TO GO HUNTER!!

Hunter and his friend Nick.

My Two Guys.......LOVE THIS PICTURE!!

So Halloween at our house was so much fun. Although I had a really sad realization, this is my last Halloween party as a room mom. I am getting old, or I guess my kids are getting old. Hunters party was fun, we had a "mummy race" where the kids took toilet paper and made mummies out of each other. This is Hunter as a toilet paper mummy. So for Halloween costumes this year my kids had definite plans. Sierra wanted to be a dead person, like the ones who walk around at Thriller. She had several "dress rehearsals" to make sure she looked well, dead. She looked great, and it only cost me $6.00 at the DI ( not the usual $60.00). I think that is a new record for Halloween costumes at my house. On the other hand,Hunters plans were that he had no plans.....that's my Hunter. So, for school he was a tacky tourist, white socks, sandals..you get the idea. On Halloween night though, we ( meaning Sierra and I) turned him into a rocker chick. Yeah, he was stressed his dad or football coach would see him. Hunter had several people fooled, they thought he was a girl. Lane does this sound familiar?

Sierra and Hunter in all their Halloween glory :)

This is also the face I get when I do something to make her the least bit mad. The only time people tell her that she looks like me is when she makes this face. Yea, I am slightly offended...

And last of all my beautiful son :)

My Crazy Day

Today I went on a field trip with Hunters class to the Great Salt Lake. They collected brine shrimp, or Sea Monkeys. Hunter let everyone know that it is mating season for the brine shrimp. He collected several that were indeed mating.I love being able to go with Hunter on his field trips! It was fun, but imagine 50 wet 6th graders on the bus ride home....mmmm. Hunters Sea Monkeys
Also, Friday was Homecoming for Sierra. So I guess technically it was her first date....AHHH am I that old?! She went with some friends in our neighborhood and had a great time. Sierra looked beautiful! We have to thank Sarah for the beautiful dress and accessories :).Here is Sierra with Hunter before the dance.
Sierra and her Daddy:) Yes, Matt had some alone time with her date before she left, I am sure various threats were made, I wasn't allowed in the room.
Sierra and I , yes I am biting my lip...I really don't know why I was so nervous. Sierra is a great kid .( She made curfew woo hoo..) When I have the dance pics I will post them.

Happy 16th Anniversary Baby!

Yesterday was Matt and my 16th Wedding Anniversary. We both look way too young to be getting married ( that's because we probably were!). I obviously didn't pluck my eyebrows or own make up then.....scary! Our wedding day was full of so many stories, some funny some not so funny.It's amazing we still wanted to be married at the end of the night. But thankfully we did..ha ha.

Actually time really has just flown by so quickly.I love Matt so much more every day of my life and I cannot even imagine being married to anyone else. Honestly where I am weak, which is in several ares, Matt is so strong.. and vise verse. We make a pretty great couple if I do say so myself. Love ya Babe!

Yes I am still Blogging......sorta.

I haven't written for such a long time, mainly because life around the Birch house has been chaotic over the past two months. Both Sierra and Hunter have gone back to school. Sierra is a Sophomore in High School...( aah...am I that old?) and Hunter is in 6th grade. Hunter has started football again and is on a new team, he loves it. They are doing awesome this year, right now they are 3-0 . Hunter is playing linebacker again, and is improving every week.Sierra is so busy with dance, tennis, and school it is crazy. This is a picture of her and her doubles partner Meagan, they play great together.They think they are so tough....they do look kind of mean eh? Sierra has loved playing on the tennis team this year, and has improved so much.

I had a little accident a couple of weeks ago that I wish I had taken pictures of. I had been working the yard and went to put some limbs in the trash can. Somehow I fell and the garbage can flipped over and we collided. I had a huge gash across my forehead and had to get stitches in the ER. It looks so much better now, but as I said I should have gotten pictures.Matt and I are the same working hard and the best taxi cab two blonde kids ever had. I promise to start blogging more.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

This year for Sierras Birthday party, she had one with friends, and one with family. She decided,with a little help from me :)to have an 80's themed party. All the girls came in their best 80's costume. It was fun, they did an 80's themed scavenger hunt and Name That Tune. Then they watched 13 going on 30...yes I found Razzles. It's funny to think I dressed liked that, and liked it... a lot. I still love 80's music , and hopefully now some of Sierras friends do too.
Sierra wanted me to bake her cakes for the family party. I really don't bake well. But we found these cute star cake pans, Sierra loves stars and anything sparkly. Yes, she is 15. The cakes turned out cute and hopefully tasted okay.

Thanks fam for coming over to celebrate!! We love you all!! Happy Birthday Cute Girl!!

Summer Time!!

What a summer this has been. The kids both told us that they were a little burned out and just needed a relaxing summer. Last summer was full of basketball, football, and dance camps. Not that those are bad things, but I really over scheduled. Matt would say I always overschedule, not just in the summer.So this summer has been a lot of R& R, and it was much needed. SO the kids decided that they will do one camp this year , instead of 4 or 5. Hunter did go to one basketball camp, and had a blast. He is getting ready for a football camp this week. Sierra has a 2 week dance camp coming up in August.Last week we all had a week of vacation. Our first day was Sierras 15th Birthday, we went to her favorite Chinese restaurant and to a movie .I will post pics from her parties soon..they were great. The next day we spent at Lagoon, both of the kids brought friends and it was really fun!! Sierra also got her learners permit that day. Woo Hoo! For the rest of the week we went up to the Birch family cabin at Strawberry and just vegged out. The kids rode their dirt bikes, we took the raft out, and did a whole lot of nothing ( even Matt... sorta.) This is Hunter riding his motorcycle
Matt, Sierra and Hunter in the raft.
Sierra on her motorcycle.

Below are some pictures of some fun things that happened earlier this summer. Hunter doesn't have a ton of pics from his activities, because for some reason 11 and 12 year old boys don't like their moms following them around with cameras. This will change............

"Workin' at the car wash.." This is a picture from Sierra and some of her dance company friends at their fundraiser at the beginning of June. They did a great job washing cars to earn a little money for their trip next year.
A BIG SHOUT OUT TO BOSTON!!!!!! I have to say we were all pretty excited that Boston won. The kids all dressed in green for the big game. We are huge Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen fans. If it couldn't be the Jazz, Boston was a great team to cheer for this year!!!
Sierra and I trained to run our first race together, and possibly our last. I don't know that Sierra loved it enough to keep training for longer races. Sierra hates to run , but for me,she trained to run a little 5K with me. Sierra is fast, she kicks my trash every time we go running. This day she beat me too. I am SO proud of her for running with me.
You cant really tell in this picture, but she has pink streaks in her hair for the summer, it's cute.
Our whole family went to Lake Powell for a few days with some of the youth in our ward. It was such a great time. We went on the 3 man tube in the picture, and seriously laugh so hard the whole time. Sierra and 2 of her friends were maniacs on the tube. I had taken some great pictures on my old school disposable camera, which still needs to be developed, but here is a great one of the kids.

Woo Hoo Summer Is Here

Since the last time I decided to actually blog, we have had a lot of fun things happen in our family. May 24th was Matt's 35th Birthday...Happy Birthday Babe!! I actually thought we were both turning 34 this year,I can't count apparently. We had a fun day. Matt and I went for massages first thing in the morning. We then went with the kiddo's to see Indiana Jones. We had family over in the evening for a family dinner, all over the campfire in our fire pit. It was a good day. Although this is an older picture of Matt and I, it's one of my fav's! It is from one of our cruises, we were in Belize about to go on a zip line through the rain forest.
Hunter just finished his baseball season last week Their team was awesome, he had great coaches and teammates. They ended up taking second place ( way to go!!). Hunter was invited to try out for the all star team. He was pretty excited, since this is only his second year playing baseball. Hunter is out of school now and excited for summer break with his buddies. They have already hung out everyday, it will be a fun summer for them! Hunter has a couple of basketball and football camps planned for the summer, he cannot wait for football to start.
Sierra had her year end dance recital last week. It was so much fun! She was able to perform both of her solos and she looked beautiful!! Sierra also finished school last week and will be starting high school in the fall. She is excited to spend time relaxing and hanging out with her great friends this summer. Although I tried every bribe known to mankind, Sierra told me she will not do a camp or any classes this summer.I think she is a little burned out and needs a little relaxation this summer. Maybe a pool pass would go over well :)
Besides all of that going on, we had some fun Birthday parties at our home for some of our family. Kenny celebrated his 60th, on May 19th. We had a fun party for him. We also had one for Brooke and my mom last night. Matt and I are looking forward to some fun family trips this summer and running a couple of 10K's with the kids.

The Ever Allusive "Queen"

Last weekend Sierra went to her last solo competition of the year. Sierra is doing 2 solos this year, one on pointe and a lyrical. Now Sierra has competed in solos for the past 4 years. Every year she has always been in a category with 6 girls and has never taken 1st. Well this time she broke her "curse" of always coming in second, in a big time way. Not only did she come in first, which is called "Queen", but she received what is called the high point award. That is for the dancer who receives the highest point total in her age group(13-15 year olds), and it includes all the styles of dance not just the one she was competing in. So it's a huge honor! That is the trophy she received for being the high point winner!! Way to go Sierra!!
Hunter's team is still on fire! This picture is from Saturdays game where the were ahead by so many runs the game was called early. Hunter also played last night and they won again. He has improved so much in baseball this year, this is only his second year playing. We are so proud of you bud!
Also, yesterday I went on a field trip with Hunters class to Timpanogoes cave. It was fun, but still a little cold for me. There were places where they had to remove several feet pf snow for the trail to be opened. But as always, what amazing views, and what a great hike. The only down fall, the kids sang the song that never ends all the way down the mountain........
This morning we went to Sierras middle school for a student of the month breakfast. What a great honor for her,Isn't she amazing? I tell you what, Matt and I are so lucky. We are so blessed with two great kids! Lastly, GO JAZZ, We went to the game on Sunday for Mothers Day, That was one of the best games I have ever seen in my life!

Is It May Already?!

So the past week has been really hectic....I always say that don't I? But here is my quick recap. On Friday Sierra made her high school dance company. There were 58 girls who tried out and 20 made it, so she was really happy!We are so proud of her! She has also been competing every weekend in dance competitions and has done awesome.
Hunter had his last spring super league game and their team did pretty good, they did end up winning two games..woo hoo! Hunters baseball team on the other hand, has been unstoppable. They have won their games with scores like 20-4, it's crazy. He is having so much fun. We have about the same schedule the next few weeks, lots of dance and baseball. We have also been going to and watching the Jazz games. I have hope, even after yesterday, that they will beat the Lakers! GO JAZZ!!!

I've Been a Slacker!!

So, I have been horrible about updating my blog. I used to do it weekly, and now it seems more like monthly. This month has been full of changes and lots of activities!
Hunter started a spring basketball league that has been a lot of fun for him and his friends. I don't think they have won a game yet, but it will happen soon.
This has been the season of dance competitions. This picture is from St. George. Sierra did really well, and the trip was a lot of fun. Lots of sun!!! We still have competitions until the end of May:)
This month Hunter also started baseball. This is from his first game last Saturday, it was COLD, but they won 11-2, so it was worth it to sit and freeze for 2 hours.....
We were lucky enough to meet quite a few players on the Jazz after the Denver game on Saturday. The game was so much fun, and they are truly nice people. I can't wait for playoffs!! Go Jazz!!!!
I also started back to work in the E.R. this week, so needless to say our lives are busy. But I guess it keeps all of us out of trouble....for the most part anyway :)!!