The Owen Family

Arizona- Fall Break

2011-11-29T12:54:00.001-08:00

This is only a month late, but better late than never! We went to Arizona to visit some great friends for Fall Break! We hit the Grand Canyon on the way down. Bryce and I loved it, but the kids weren't too impressed after the first lookout. They just wanted to get to the Allen's to swim!! We had such a blast with Travis, Michelle and their family! Thanks again!
Here are some pics of the trip.

Bryce must have taken this, I love how we are perfectly in step with our right foot raised!

Bryson at the first lookout

Bryce loved how this tree contrasted with the canyon

Ty enjoying the view before his MAJOR meltdown at the main visitors center

Alyssa- the Cactus Hugger???
My kids couldn't get over the cactus! The thought they were so cool!

Watch out McKay!

Enjoying the view and taking a break on a fun hike in Scottsdale!

Libby finally smiling! She threw a fit for half the hike and then decided she was okay and finished it off with a smile, running!

Bryce and Travis enjoying some time together!

Chicken Fights in the pool!

Halloween

2011-11-01T19:17:00.001-07:00

We had a great Halloween! Here are some pics from the day!

Carving pumpkins!

Our "Scary" Ladybug!

The Jedi Knight- Luke or Anakin, he couldn't decide!!!
The Vampire!
Elephaba- The Wicked Witch from Wicked
The Grimm Reaper! (Bryce)
The "Pumpkin Man"
My Mom and her friend JoAnn served Homemade Rootbeer on our porch!
It was a hit!
My sister Tamara and her "dead" husband Brad
All the gang at the end of Trick or Treating!

End of Summer/School begins!

2011-09-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

We had a great summer overall! Lot's of fun activities as a family! Here are some pictures of what we did!

Sweeney Family Reunion
We went to Starvation Reservoir.
It was super fun!
Brad gave the adults a ride on the water weenie!
Here is the result!

Our garden grew gigantic!
McKay, Jake, Ty, Jason, Brian, Libby
McKay's birthday party at Utah Lake!Happy 9th Birthday!We went to the Children's Museum at the Gateway
McKay rock climbing!

Checking out the Life Flight Helicopter
Libby, Alyssa, Bryson
Ty trying out the cow costume!First Day of School! Bryson must have been too cool for a picture cause I can't find one of him!
McKay, Ty, and Alyssa
Libby has been soooooooo excited for preschool! I only cried a little after dropping her off!

Labor Day- We took a drive up AF Canyon. It was a rough road, but the views were amazing!

Trek

2011-08-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

Bryce and I had the most amazing experiences on Trek. We had wonderful "children" that we were in charge of. We were an Aunt and Uncle to 20 kids-2 families. And, Bryce was a Captain over 40, or 4 families. Everything went really well. We came home physically and emotionally exhausted, but it was worth it!

Our first stop at a rest area in Lyman Wyoming, still looking fresh!

Day 1- We started at the Willie Center. Everyone was so excited to get going!

We went 4 miles and had 5 river crossings. It was so hot that they were refreshing.
We had to keep remembering that the pioneers in the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies did this in freezing temps with little or no food and sparse clothing.
It was humbling.

Beautiful Sunset

Day 2- Rocky Ridge- This is the actual Rocky Ridge

The whole trail was 15 miles, but this part was the hardest. I can only say that there had to have been angels pushing and pulling with those pioneers. There was a blizzard blowing and 12-18 inches of snow on the ground for them. Again, very humbling....

Our fearless leader! He got to give an impromptu speech at the marker for Rocky Ridge.
He did a great job!

There were quite a few mud bogs to cross! Bryce dug in and helped!

This cute boy helped his family and then a bunch more get across so not everyone had to get muddy. He was so happy and cheerful all the time!

Day 3- Martin's Cove

The actual cove was nothing like I expected. This is part of it. This is where the Martin Company hunkered down to wait out the storm. This was before they met the large rescue party, so there were quite a few deaths. They estimate around 56 people died here.

This is a few from farther out. The spirit was very strong in all of these places.

They have a few statues in honor of the rescuers that came and helped the companies across the Sweetwater. They truly saved many lives by carrying many across.

The Women's Pull. This is where only the girls are allowed to pull the handcart. It was a very sandy hill and very difficult. We had one of our families that only had 4 girls and one was sick so she had to be pulled. The one in front couldn't do it alone so halfway up a girl from another family jumped ahead and helped finish.
It was so hard to watch them struggle and not be able to help!

Near the end of Day 3. We don't look too bad I guess for all we had been through!

Family 1

Family 2

We are so grateful for all the experiences we were able to share with these amazing youth!

Summertime and the Living is Easy!!

2011-07-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

We have been having a Blast this summer! Time is passing too quickly however! I thought I would show a bit of the fun things we have been doing!

McKay got his Wolf!

Bryce's Summer Work Party was at Park City Mountain Resort. We had so much fun riding the Alpine Slide, Alpine Coaster, the Ski Lift to the top, the zipline, and doing tricks on the tramp!

Alyssa

McKay

Libby

Libby's Dance Recital

Our good friends the Binghams were in town from Arkansas and wanted to hike the Y. We haven't seen them in 4 years, so I agreed! I had never done it and didn't realize how steep it was. I ended up carrying Libby on my back for about 1 mile with about a 1000 ft. elevation gain! Needless to say I was sweating buckets by the time we made it to the top! I still can't believe I agreed to hike to the Y, but I had to let my true colors show with my finger U!! (Go Utes!)

We made it! My boys were SO excited to be sitting on the Y! They are such BYU fans, it isn't even funny!

This is all of us, minus husbands! Mine was at work and Scott was taking the picture! We met in a BYU ward before either of us had any kids! Crazy we now have 10 between us! There is an extra nephew in there somewhere! It is so great to have good friends that you can pick right back up with even with a 4 year span between visits!

Libby learned to ride a two wheeler! We don't do training wheels, so the stick is for us to help her steer and balance. She got it within about 20 minutes! She was so cute- she giggled and giggled all around the park!

Alyssa, McKay and Ty were in American Fork's Children's Choir Camp and got to walk and perform in the Steel Days Parade!

We have been enjoying the boat!

McKay Waterskiing!
Allison Wakeboarding!
Bryce Wakeboarding!
McKay got his Advanced Orange Belt in Karate!
Check out that kick!
Hopefully there are more good times to come in the last month of Summer!!!

Lake Powell

2011-06-29T12:59:00.001-07:00

I just realized I never posted about Lake Powell. It was so much fun! Here are some pictures!

Kids Enjoying the Sand and Water!

We took a drive up Moki Canyon

Moqui Steps- If you look closely you can see steps carved into the rock!

I loved this floating restroom! It was the weirdest feeling rocking while using it though!
McKay waterskiing!!

Poor Bryce spent hours in the boat driving everyone while they had fun! Luckily his brother Blake let him have a break occasionally!

The water was rising 1 foot a day! We had to move our tent after the 2nd night! I'm standing where it was right before we moved it.

Alyssa is representing where our tent was- this was the day after we moved it!

This was the morning we left!
Good thing we left when we did or we would have had to move it again!
The kids in the water are marking where our shoreline was each night!
Bryson is by the 1st night, Audrey by the 2nd night, and Alyssa the 3rd night and then you can see the shoreline for the 4th.
We had a HUGE windstorm pick up the last night. Sand was EVERYWHERE! It was hard to sleep with it grinding in your teeth!

It was such a fun trip! We all had a blast!

My 30 seconds of Fame!

2011-06-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

A picture I took down at Lake Powell made the KSL 10:00 news last night! I was so excited I started screaming! My picture was up with my name for 30 secs while he talked about the water levels in Lake Powell! He said my name twice during the 30 secs! I was so excited I couldn't believe it! Here is the picture!
If you go to this link http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=88 and click on Evening WxCast for June 13th you can watch it! (This will only work if you look at it today, they update it everyday). Anyway, my picture is also in KSL's gallery! It was fun to have the recognition!

Spring Break in St. George

2011-04-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

Last year for spring break we joined all of Utah at Disneyland. This year it was all of our school district in St. George! Seriously we saw a ton of people we knew! We went and stayed with my amazing Aunt Stephanie! I love her so much! I went with my sister Tamara, so that made 2 adults and 10, yep 10, kids! Wow! We had a wonderful time! We didn't want to come home! The weather was warm and sunny and it was super relaxing! However, our husbands can't live without us! Here are some pictures of all the fun things we did!

We played at the sand dunes in Snow Canyon for hours! Bryson and all the other boys got buried to their necks!

Alyssa had fun digging a deep hole!

HELP!!!
We got to go swimming a couple of times! That was the kids favorite thing to do!
Pure joy!
Bryson going thru the crack at Pioneer Park. Tight space! The kids did it over and over! The moms weren't so brave!
We went and visited Bryce's grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Astle. The have a few horses and the kids loved petting them.
Grandma Owen was down visiting them so we got to see her too. She took us on a 4 wheeler trip up the road to see some petroglyphs. It was so cool to see them, plus they got a fun ride!
The Splash Park in downtown St. George is amazing! The kids had a great time!
We went and took some pictures of the temple. While there I saw a couple get engaged. I was crying and Bryce was laughing at me! It was super sweet!
We went to Sand Hollow Reservior! Wow was it beautiful! As people drove by on their boats we were totally jealous! We are ready for warm weather and boating!

Mexico

2011-03-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

For our 15th Anniversary, 3 months early, we went to Playa Del Carmen Mexico! It was amazing! We went with some friends in our ward and had a blast!

We took a ferry to Cozumel and rode these scooters around and snorkle

Kayaking! Look at the amazing water! And it was warm!!!

We went to Chichen Itza! It was amazing!
After Chichen Itza we were hot and sweaty so we went and jumped into this Cenote!
We all even jumped off a 20 foot cliff in! It was awesome!

We were serenaded at dinner one night!

Beautiful Mexico Sunrise

Sailing

Amazing views from our hotel rooms!
This was the view from our balcony!

This is how the trip ended! Sleeping in the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport! Happy Birthday to me!

I thought I would include a link to our Picasa album if you want to see more!
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=102277827956220932002&target=ALBUM&id=5583080754174196513&authkey=Gv1sRgCNbby6rU9oXq6AE&feat=email

Pinewood Derby

2011-02-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

McKay took 2nd place in our Pinewood Derby! He was so excited! He had such a great time building it with Bryce. He was very proud of all their hard work! Way to go McKay!

McKay and part of his fan club!

Christmas

2011-01-14T15:18:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post a few pictures of Christmas. We had a great time and especially loved the break from school and Bryce took a lot of time off. It was nice and relaxing and we loved spending time as a family!

Santa at the City Building!

This is what it looked like out our window the morning of December 24th. No snow!!!!

The kids were bouncing off the walls in anticipation for Christmas Eve, so we took a trip out to Thanksgiving Point. We went to the farm and the kids got to experience jail!

We also went to the Dinosaur Museum! It was a great time filler! I love our pass!

The Sweeney Family Nativity

Excited to go downstairs to see what Santa brought!!!

Bryson
Alyssa
McKay
Ty

Elysabeth
I'm not going to lie, the girl is spoiled, but most of the space is taken up by the Tinkerbell bedspread Santa brought her! She also got a ton of dress ups! Okay, okay, she's spoiled!

We had a great 2010 and are already doing great in 2011!

Done with Nursery

2010-12-29T07:47:00.000-08:00

We are officially done with nursery! I can't believe it! Libby is starting Sunbeams on Sunday! I thought I would include pictures of her first and last days in nursery!

First Day October 12, 2008

Last Day-- December 26, 2010

As I have been thinking back on our whole experience with all five kids and nursery, I have to say that the leaders make all the difference. Here is the breakdown--
Bryson- hated it, cried and cried, until Bro. S (something, I can't quite remember!) took him under his wing, let him cry and he finally got used to it!
Alyssa- she was fine since Bryce was her leader! Even after he left she was used to it and did great!
McKay- really hated it until an older couple took him, let him cry for a few weeks without bringing him to us, and then he was fine. He did have a little bit of a hard time when we moved, but he was much faster to get used to it!
Ty- WOW! This kid NEVER got used to it, and I will tell you why. We were in an overcrowded ward, not enough nursery leaders, and none of them let him cry, they would instantly bring him to me. The entire time he was in nursery Bryce was in the singles ward bishopric and not available. I had newborn Libby and it was Terrible!!!!! He struggled through 6 months of Sunbeams before he finally got it! His sunbeam teacher was great and would grab him as he would grab hold of me, she would help pry him off with him kicking and screaming, and take him outside if necessary!
Libby- didn't love it until Bryce got released and started taking her. I promise you, it was a joke everytime for me she would freak out and they would bring her to me. The very first Sunday Bryce was back he took her, came right to Sunday School and said, "I don't know what you are talking about!" I could have hurt him if we weren't in church!!!!!!!

I do have to say that nursery leaders have a huge impact on these kids and the happiness of their parents! So, if you ever get a call to nursery, please accept it and enjoy!

p.s. I served in the nursery for 4 months before getting called to my current calling as R.S. Secretary. I LOVED it! Libby was happy in nursery for the first time ever!!!!!

Warmed my heart!

2010-11-11T12:41:00.000-08:00

To some this may be an everyday occurrence. However, at our house you rarely see two brothers getting along and helping each other! Bryson has recently figured out how to solve the Rubik's Cube. He is totally obsessed with it! I myself was never able to solve the thing, unless you count taking the stickers off and putting them back on! (According to my brilliant 12 year old son, this ruins the cube and should NEVER be done! Well, duh!) Anyway, so McKay just got a new cube as his old one was thrown across the kitchen by his younger brother and was broken. See what I mean about brothers not getting along? Well, last night Bryson had barely finished eating dinner and he started teaching McKay how to solve the cube. I looked up to this scene and stared in wonder for a minute before I realized this must be documented for posterity! It truly warmed my heart!

Goblin Valley

2010-11-07T10:26:00.001-08:00

For Fall break we took a trip down south to Goblin Valley. We went with both sets of parents and Bryce's sister Julie and their family. We had a blast! The kids loved the "Goblins" and exploring them. We camped out in the desert, and the kids loved roaming and exploring! We also took a hike up Little Wild Horse Canyon. It was very cool! Even Libby was able to walk most of it! Here are some pictures of our adventures!

Goblin Valley

McKay the warrior!

Audrey and Alyssa

Cousins

Finding relief in the shade of a cave!

Jason, Ty, Jake and McKay

Cute Ty Ty

Libby

Taking a break from the rock climbing

Jake and McKay with a lizard they caught

Ty with "Goblin Weed" The kids discovered it makes loud sparking sounds when thrown in the fire. They were constantly gathering more!
Chuck got stuck in some mud! Bryce was able to help him out of it!
Some tricky maneuvering to get through the canyon.
Our cute family
Bryson loved giving his mom heart failure!
Mom and Dad were troopers! They were great at kepping up with the grandkids!

Firsts

2010-09-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

This has been a week of firsts around our house! Here they are!

Bryson started Junior High and loves it!
McKay started 2nd grade and Alyssa 5th!
Libby started dance. It had to be ballet, she was insistent!
Libby decided she wanted to cut her own hair! Hopefully this one is a first and last!
I know, you can hardly tell! Thank goodness for naturally curly hair!
We had our first Seminary Council Reunion, after 17 years! Eight of us were there and we had a blast catching up!
Ty played his first official soccer game! He did really good, and loves it!
Ty started Kindergarten! He is loving it and he is going happy! Hurray!
Bryson gave his first talk in Sacrament Meeting! He did great!
(I don't have a picture of course, so you will have to take my word for it!)

McKay started Cub Scouts! I think he is adorable!!!

Wow, what a week! More good times to come this weekend too!

Flaming Gorge

2010-08-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun last weekend at our Sweeney Family camp out. We took the boat and went to Flaming Gorge. It was a perfect campsite and great views. We did have a scary event. We got off the lake one night when the wind was kind of blowing. As we were eating dinner it picked up and Bryce went to check on the boat that we had tied to the dock so we could go out later. Well, the waves kept getting bigger to the point it took 3 of us pushing on the boat to keep it from crashing into the dock. We wanted to get it off the lake, but didn't want anyone getting hurt helping us. As Bryce, Gregg, and Brad were using all their strength to hold it back, I ran to get the Tahoe. All of a sudden the dock came loose and was pushed, along with the boat, and all the guys, against the shore. It went from being perpendicular to the shore to parallel. When I got back with the car, Tiff and my Dad were there, as well as about 6 men from the Youth Conference in the next campground were there to help. It was crazy. We couldn't decide what to do. We decided it was too dangerous to get on the trailer so we tried to beach it. It was terrible, the waves were crashing over our heads as we stood in 1 foot deep water! We had a bunch of ropes to try and anchor it. We went back and forth a few times deciding what to do, but as the waves continued to go without letting up, we decided to get it off the lake. With all of us working and many ropes we were able to guide it onto the trailer and got it off the lake. It was amazing, there were only a few scratches on the bottom, and the broken speedometer got snapped off. Bryce and Gregg had only minor injuries, but the circumstances were such that it could have been a lot worse. I know prayers are answered! Anyway, the next day was amazing and we had a great rest of the trip! The only downside was the fishing was terrible, but the boys had fun with Grandpa anyway!

These two melt my heart!

Wow!

The water was pretty chilly, but the kids wanted to play the first night!

The kids LOVED the water weenie!
Cute Grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa!

Parents and all the girls but Summer!

This picture cracks me up! Look at my face! I am disgusted she would get in my way!
But this shot shows mine and Tiff's relationship! We are cracking up! We have a blast together! We are the pros at laughing so hard we cry! Without fail!

It is a beautiful place!

Red Castle

2010-07-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Bryce, Allison and Bryson hiked to Red Castle in the High Uintah's. It was amazing! The hike was hard 12 miles up, about 8 counting the hikes to the lake and back and then 12 back down. Wow! 32 miles! It was an amazing experience. We are so glad to have shared it with Tiff and Gregg and Gregg's family and friends! Thanks for letting us go! As a side note, Bryson was the first one down, and got too excited, started running when he saw the parking lot, his foot slipped off a log and he broke it! Of course we didn't know for two days that it was broken. We thought his arches were hurting, and later, when he couldn't walk, that maybe he sprained his ankle. Nope, broken. It is even a really hard bone to break. Leave it to one of my kids to do it! He is doing better, in a boot, and hobbling around. Oh well, still a fun trip and very worth it!

The Boat is back!

2010-06-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

We took our boat out for the second time and I had to post about it because it was so fun! We took Tiff and Gregg and their darling kids! We were out for 5 hours and everyone had a great time! McKay got up on skis, but promptly got pulled over, but he tried! We are so proud of him! Tiff got right up on the skis, Wahoo!!!! I got up on the wakeboard for my first time. I lasted about 5 secs but I am counting it!!!! The biggest deal was that we had Chole in front of Libby in one half of the tube and Ty in the other half. We were just going slow and they were loving it, when all of a sudden a huge wave came up and hit them. We laughed cause they got soaked, until we noticed that Libby had washed overboard!!!! Bryce jumped in and swam to her and I drove the boat around! She was a little concerned, but mostly fine. She even got in again later. We learned she needs to be in front of the bigger person and holding onto the handles!!!! Anyway, we sure love our boat!

McKay getting ready!

I thought this picture was hilarious! It is me letting go and crashing!!!

Go Tiff!!!!!!

Tiff and Gregg having fun!

Bryce took them for quite a ride!!

Landen got tired! Cute boy!

New do!

2010-06-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Alyssa took a huge leap and had her hair chopped! The stylist cut about 8-9 inches! It is so cute, and is all natural wave. She can wash and go! It looks so cute on her!

Before:
Actually this was a couple of months ago, we didn't take a good before shot!

After:

She has so much hair! It is crazy! I love her hair! The color is gorgeous! She is too cute!

Memorial Day

2010-06-01T12:53:00.001-07:00

We had a great day! We stayed over at a cabin and got to do a little fishing and hiking in the morning and then came home to take our boat out for the first time this summer!

Boating

This picture cracked us up. It looks like Libby was trying to be all cool like, "What's up!!!" or "Word" But I think I just snapped the picture at a weird moment.
Alyssa had to reenact it with Libby in the hole!

Birthday Girl

2010-05-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

Libby had such a great day! She is at such a fun age! She went to bed singing "Happy Birthday to you". She is very into Disney Princesses and loved her new Cinderella dress!

Our Saturday

2010-04-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

For years, literally, our boys have been begging for a sandbox. We have put them off until I can't take it anymore! We are finally doing it this year! We are also putting in a small garden. Anyway, we finally decided to break ground on Saturday. It was quite a project, but it is amazing that our kids, and a couple of friends, hung in there for 3 hours! We of course used bribery, Costco hot dogs for lunch, and a candy bar after we were done! It was a lot of work, but the hole is dug! We now need to figure out how to get the edging we want and some sand! The kids are beyond themselves. They even go out and play in the hole! Here are some pics.

Libby even helped!

That's a lot of dirt!

That's a lot of work!

Almost done!

Tilling the garden

California

2010-04-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun time in California! The highlight of the trip was Disneyland. We hadn't been for 6 years. Bryson barely remembers that trip! We all loved it! We got lucky and it was raining the first day, which kept the crowds down. We also utilized the Fast Pass system and hardly had any wait time that day. The second day was a joke. It was Spring Break in Utah and California and the place was packed! It was hard to maneuver the stroller. We still managed okay with the Fast Passes, and had a great day. The highlight for Libby was meeting her idols, the Princesses. We only got pictures with two, but she saw others from a distance. Sleeping Beauty even waved, winked, and blew a kiss!

It was a magical two days. We also were able to spend some time with family and friends. We went to Huntington Beach where we were literally attacked by Lady Bugs. Libby was NOT amused. There was also a ton of tar/asphalt on the beach that got all over everyone and wouldn't come off! It was annoying! Oh well, we still had a great time! Here are some other pictures!

Owen Happenings

2010-03-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot going on around here! Bryson and Alyssa have had birthdays and we celebrated Easter a week early since we will be in California next week! Here are some pictures-

I thought I would let you all know that Bryson actually ended up getting quite spoiled and received a few things on his list! The highlights were of course a library card and an email account! Just kidding, he got an Itouch. He helped pay for it, but didn't know if he was getting if for sure- long story! Anyway, he is thrilled!

Birthday List!

2010-03-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

Bryson is having a birthday soon and Bryce and I asked him to make us a list. It is hilarious! Here it is-

1- War Craft BC Games
2- Wii games- Indian Jones Legos, Wii Resort
3- Airzooka
4- Gum
5- Beads
6- Mechanical Pencils
7-Pens
8- $
9- Movies
10- Books- Fablehaven 5
11- Ripstick wheels
12- I-Touch
13- Playstation
14- MT bike
15- Fishing lures and bait
16- Zoo Tycoon, P.C.
17- Go see Avatar
18- New desk- bigger
19- New clothes, shirts
20- Wii pin
21-Wii $
22- New nunchuck
23-Rock band
24- Band Hero
25- Dish TV
26- Age of the Empire 2 and 3
27- Lamp
28- Facebook account
29- Email account
30- Library Card

I just had to laugh at some of these things. I mean third on the list is gum? Really, gum? Dish TV is a no go, as well as most of them! I just thought it was funny to see what is important to him. Obviously video games are a little too much on his mind! And, a library card? I mean, he can have that anytime, he just has to ask me!!!! Oh well, hopefully he is okay on his birthday when he gets one thing on this list!!!!!!

One of those moments

2010-03-02T18:16:00.001-08:00

I just had one of those parenting moments that makes it all worthwhile! Last night, Bryson finished reading the entire Book of Mormon by himself. He came and told Bryce and I and we talked to him about Moroni's promise and encouraged him to do it. Well, tonight for FHE, yes we had it a day late, long story, anyway, he taught the lesson on scripture study. He read a portion of Elder Hollands talk from Conference that bears a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. We then asked him to bear his testimony of the Book of Mormon. He couldn't even talk because he was so choked up! He got teary and looked at me and said, "I don't want to". We explained to everyone that sometimes when you feel the spirit it makes you cry and it is hard to talk. He finally did it, although short it was sweet. It was such a wonderful teaching moment. For those that don't know Bryson well, this was VERY unusual. He never cries, or even admits to feeling the spirit. I hope it is something he always remembers!!!

Growing up!

2010-02-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Wow how time flies! I swear it was just yesterday I held my first little girl in my arms. And, now she has holes in her ears! She just got them pierced. We decided to do it 6 weeks before her 10th birthday so she could take them out on her birthday! She was so excited but when the moment came, she was so nervous! She was breathing very deeply to calm down and I noticed her pupils were super dilated! After the first one she was fine. She said it didn't hurt bad at all! What a cutie! I love her so much!

Before

During!

After!

Sledding Fun!

2010-01-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

The kids were so excited when fresh snow fell, that we had to take advantage of it! We went sledding on the hill near our house! Good times!Libby

McKay, snowboarding!

Cute Ty

Bryson Snowboarding!

The Race!

The trek home!

Vegas Baby!

2010-01-11T13:07:00.001-08:00

Last weekend was our annual trip to Las Vegas! We go down with my sister Tamara and her husband to CES. This is the Consumer Electronics Show. The guys get their fill of the latest and greatest electronics and we get not quite our fill of shopping the outlets!! It is so much fun! We stay in a really nice time share on the south end of the "strip". Well, Tamara and I did so well this year that we weren't sure we were going to be able to make it home with all of it! I wish we would have taken a picture of the trunk, but I forgot!! Here is what we came home with-
Thanks to the amazing packing abilities of our husbands we made it in our small car, with only minimal packing around us in the back seat!

Tamara and I actually went into CES for a couple of hours, but we prefer the shopping!

The funniest part about all of this is that I normal don't shop much. I don't really like it, but get me to Vegas and something changes!!!

I need to send a shout out "Thank You" to my Aunt Stephanie for letting us stay at her house on the way down, even though she wasn't there! We missed being able to see her, but felt right at home! She is amazing and we love her!

Christmas Fun!

2009-12-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

Well, we have had a busy month! We had a great Christmas season, and stayed very busy! The ten days leading up to Christmas we had something every night! It was exhausting, and we are taking this week to recover! Christmas itself was very nice.

Bryson got a Wacom, Bamboo tablet from Santa. This allows him to draw on the computer. He is quite artistic and loves it! He received TONS of books including the entire Harry Potter and Olympians series! He loves to read!

Alyssa got a Pink Magic 8 ball from Santa. We gave her a camera, which she loves! She also got Hannah Montana the Movie and soundtrack among other things!
McKay got a Rip Stick from Santa. He is already practicing in our garage, he is quite good already! His favorite gift was the Big Bad Bow we gave all three boys! It is a hit!
Ty has wanted a Glo Doodle for a long time and Santa brought it to him! We gave him Bendaroos, but again, the Big Bad Bow was the hit!
Elysabeth got a darling unicorn stuffed animal, but all she wanted was Barbies! Luckily Santa threw in a couple of those as well! She got a lot of dolls, big and little, and her favorite princess Cinderella!
Bryce and I were very blessed and received some nice things. Some of our presents were "used" because we couldn't wait till Christmas to use them: a new TV, camera, and Blu-Ray player! Yes, we spoiled ourselves!
We truly do feel blessed this holiday season, and are excited to begin a new year!

Ambulance, not Life-Flight this time!

2009-11-10T15:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, a freaky thing happened in regards to my last post. Today, just as the kids got home from school, I looked out a back window and saw a fire truck with flashing lights pulling into the cul-de-sac just next to ours! I was shocked! I pointed it out to my kids and they took off to check it out. I realized after they were out of sight that it probably wasn't the best thing for them to do, but oh well. Turns out a man was taken, by ambulance, not Life-Flight. We don't know why. My kids described him as a dad. I was sure glad it wasn't a kid this time, but still slightly freaked out! What is going on in my neighborhood!!!!!!!!!

Cute Kid!

2009-11-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

I had to share a cute kid story. So, about 2 months ago a neighbor boy got hurt and Life-Light landed in the park across the street from our house. It was sad, but cool at the same time. BTW the boy is fine. Anyway, a month ago, maybe a little more, another Life-Flight helicopter landed at the school right down our street. Turns out a little league football player was injured in a game. Of course we went running down the street to see it. The first time McKay and Ty were asleep and Bryce had tried to wake them up, but they couldn't remember any of it. So, we all went down to the school to see the helicopter. Again, sad, but cool at the same time. I am pretty sure I heard that boy is okay too. So, on to my story. This afternoon, wouldn't you know it, we hear the Life-Flight helicopter again! McKay, Ty and I go running to see it. I mean, it isn't everyday you see a helicopter that close! (Well, actually, for us it is about monthly!) Okay, so we were watching it circle around the neighborhood and I said, "Not again!" Then Ty said, "Remember that boy that got hurt playing football? I bet they are bringing him home!" He was dead serious. I busted up laughing, but tried to cover it up, so I wouldn't hurt his feelings! How cute was that though? He is too dang cute! (The neighbor kids that went down to see what happened said some kid went off a jump on his bike and crashed and split his head open on a tree stump.) The thing that gets me is, I don't think they call Life-Flight unless it is really serious right? Well, maybe we should move with all the luck around here!!!!!

A House divided on Halloween!

2009-11-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

We were carving pumpkins and Libby didn't want to do it, so I took over her pumpkin for her! Of course I had to carve U of U to counteract Ty's BYU. Well, when Bryson realized what I was doing he kept saying, "A house divided can not stand! Join our side!" I just laughed until he said it for about the tenth time. Then I had to explain to him that he will never be able to get me to come to the other side! I am a true Ute through and through! I thought I would include a picture of me and Ty and our divided pumpkins!

We had a great Halloween as usual! My family came over for dinner and then we trick-or-treated! Good times were had by all! Elysabeth especially loved it when she realized that tons of people were giving her candy! It was cute! The picture is pre-trick-or-treating, so no smiles yet!

Libby-Snow White

Alyssa- Miss America

McKay- A Bionicle

Bryson- A Ghost

Ty- A Hershey's Kiss
Most of the Cousins

Ty

2009-09-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Ty! He is now 5! He had a great birthday! I thought I would post some pictures!

Friends at his party. It was a lizard party, and we launched rockets!

Football cake for birthday party! BYU v. Utah!

Cake for family party! I have now done this cake 3 times now! Once for all my boys!

And.....Great news, Ty got his cast off! About 3 weeks ago he was doing the monkey bars on our playset and fell and broke his elbow! He had a splint for 5 days and then a hard cast for two weeks! He was so excited to get it off today!

His cousin Ryan came to play at our house the day Ty got his hard cast on. He was swinging on our playset and decided to jump off and landed on his arm and broke it! He started screaming and came running in and his forearm was in a U shape. I told him his arm was broken and we were taking him right home! Yikes! His is quite bad, but he is doing great so far!

Para sailing!

2009-08-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

Bryce and I were lucky and got to go para sailing last week! Bryce's boss has a couple of parasails and we took our boat and did it. We launched off the shore and away we went! I was totally nervous to do it, but once I saw someone do it, I was better. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life! I loved it! It is so amazingly quiet up there! We were at Deer Creek Reservoir near sunset. The view was gorgeous! I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Bryce

Bryce "walking on water!"

Allison, leaning back enjoying it!

This shows how long the rope is!

Seven!

2009-08-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

McKay is 7! I can't believe it! He had a great birthday weekend! We had his party Friday after school, Saturday we went boating with my sister Tiffany and her kids. And, Sunday we had extended family over for cake! Here are some pictures from the weekend!

Wizard Hat Cake! He had a Wizard Birthday Party! Grandpa Sweeney came and did a magic show! The kids loved it!

The second day of school and they celebrated his birthday!

Cake for family party!

Okay, I had to include these pictures. When we went boating Tiff and Bryson got a "$20 ride" in the tube! That is what Bryce calls it when he gives a wild ride! They were hilarious! Tiffany swears she has whiplash from it. I don't doubt her.

Bryce swears he wasn't trying to flip them, but they hit a wave and went flying! This is Bryson parallel with the water!!!! I love it!!

They were fine, although they landed about 20 yards away from each other! They climbed back in for more!

Battle Creek Falls

2009-08-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have been wanting to do this hike all summer and we finally did it! It was way cool! We went for family night and invited my friend Sara and her 2 kids. All the kids but the 1 and 2 year old hiked the whole way! It was very pretty! If anyone is interested it is up a canyon in Pleasant Grove. It is the site of the first battle between the Indians and pioneers in Utah Valley! Anyway, here are some pics.

OOPS!

2009-08-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, parents beware this blog entry is not for children to read! At least those who still believe in the Tooth Fairy! So, the other night we were all watching a movie in the theater and Alyssa pulls a tooth out! Cool, so about 30 minutes later Bryson also pulls a tooth out! Wow! What are the odds! To add to the craziness McKay had lost a tooth the day before. Well, for some reason we have no quarters in the house. Except for the kids banks. The tooth fairy had to raid McKay and Ty's banks to pay McKay the 3 quarters he gets for losing a tooth. I have to add that I did trade them nickels and dimes for the quarters, and they didn't even notice. Yet! Anyway, so back to Alyssa and Bryson's turn. So, the same night they lost their teeth we had an emergency in the ward that I had to help with, and didn't get home until late, and needless to say, the Tooth Fairy forgot to deliver. So, the next morning was Sunday and I was relaxing in bed with all the kids but Alyssa who was still asleep when for some reason it hit me that I had forgotten! Of course I have no quarters and how is the Tooth Fairy going to sneak into Alyssa's room at 7:30 without her waking up? So, the kids upstairs were distracted so I snuck down to Bryson's bank and found only 3 quarters and larger bills. I have to add that I didn't even have a dollar bill! Yikes! So, I snuck a dollar bill and put it in Bryson's pillow. His was a molar so they deserve more anyway right? So, then the tricky part. Alyssa was still asleep and her tooth fairy pillow was on the side of the bed closest to me. However, we had gone camping the day before and 3 camp pad were laid out on her floor yet to be pushed under her bed. So, I had to "quietly" move one a little to slide by. She didn't wake up! I made it to the pillow, retrieved the lost tooth and put in the money, all undetected! At 7:30 in the morning! I couldn't believe it! Awhile later, luckily while I was in the shower, McKay told me under the door that the tooth fairy had brought Bryson his money AFTER he woke up! As I was in the shower he didn't really wait for a response! Whew! Alyssa was none the wiser. Now, I am sure you are all wondering why I went to such trouble for my 11 and 9 year olds regarding the Tooth Fairy. I don't know why! Except that I am such a great mom!!! Just teasing! I know Bryson knows, but I really don't think Alyssa does. Oh well! Any advice on at what point I tell Bryson, sorry you are out of luck? I guess I could just hang in there, he is nearing the end of his tooth losing career? Anyway, I just had to share!

Meet Duma!

2009-08-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Bryson had his dream come true after years of waiting for it! He finally owns a lizard! It is a Leopard Gecko, named Duma. That is Swahili for Cheetah. He is actually pretty cool looking. The pictures don't do him justice, he is pretty yellow with hints of blue, especially on his tail!
He paid for him and the cage and everything with his own money. Thanks to KSL.com it wasn't as much as brand new in a pet store! So, we now have dormant mealworms living in the fridge! The things you do for your kids!

The BIG One

2009-07-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

My parents took Bryson fishing at Strawberry Reservoir yesterday. My mom caught a big one first and they were talking about how big it was. It ended up being 18 inches and 7 lbs. Well, then Bryson pulled one in. It was even bigger! It ended up being 21 inches 8 lbs 3 oz. The thing was huge! Bryson was so excited! We had a BBQ and ate it last night! I had one bite to say I tried it, but it is not for me! But, Bryson ate a ton! He loves fish! Good job Bryson!

Change!

2009-07-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Libby is hilari ous! She LOVES her swimsuits, and because of hand-me-downs, she has 4! All day long she wants to change which one she is wearing. Most of the time we aren't even swimming or playing in the water but she has to be in one. I decided yesterday to document one day in the life of Libby and her many changes. I forgot to take a picture of her in her PJ's so that would add one change. Here she is!

I have to remind you all that none of these changes were my idea except the pink dress and that was because we were going to the park and I wanted her clothed!

Arches

2009-06-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, I thought I'd better show some pictures of our Sweeney Reunion to Arches. We had the best time! It was super windy, but still beautiful! The kids had a blast rock scrambling! Although it scared the parents and grandparents a little! Even Grandpa got up there! Go Grandpa!

Bryson caught a lizard! It was pretty big and bit him right away, but he still hung on till I could get the camera! The kid LOVES reptiles!

I was getting in the car one time and moved something on my seat and there was a lizard! In the car! I screamed so loud the entire campground had to have heard it!
Bryson got it out and kept it as a pet for awhile! It just hung onto his shirt!
We found a fun 4 wheel drive road to jeep out to. It was rough, but fun! Tiff did it in her Tahoe right behind us! She has no fear!
Here we are at the Arch that you have to hike to or we got to drive to with our 4 wheel drive vehicles! It is called Tunnel Arch, and is right over McKay's head!

Balance Rock, one of the coolest things to see! How does it balance?
Here is a slide show of the rest. We had too much fun!

An Adventure!

2009-06-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, we just had an adventure! Bryce and I and my sister Tamara and her husband Brad decided to hike up to Horse Tail Falls. It is up Corner Canyon in Alpine. Well, we worried about the rain, but it had stopped so we decided to do it! It is 2 miles straight up! And, I mean straight up! We made it up in 1 hour and 5 minutes. It is an amazing site!

View from below the falls.
It is called Horse Tail Falls because in one spot the water sprays out just like a horses tail! There was so much water going over that it is hard to tell.
Enjoying the view!
A little better view of the "horse tail" just to the right of Bryce's elbow.

Now, for the adventure part! About 5 minutes after we started down it started raining. We had been jogging slowly, but that changed to an all out sprint! We were headed down very steep, rocky and now wet terrain! We were even joined with a stream running down the path that hadn't been there on the way up! To add to that fun, it was lightening and thundering! We even had a little hail! I had a "windbreaker" on that I thought naively was waterproof. Not so much! I was drenched to the bone! Everyone else had plastic ponchos, but I had thought we had two and we only had one, so since I was already soaked Bryce got it! Oh well, they all ended up pretty wet as well. As we ran water and mud splashed up and all over us! We were screaming when the lightening got close, but I was laughing too! It was fun! We made it down in 30 minutes! It was such a relief to sit in a car, semi safe from the lightening! As soon as we made it down to the car, Alyssa who was at Grandma's called and the first thing she said was, "Are you okay?" It was sweet. They couldn't see the mountains at all from where they were and they were worried! Well, here is our after picture!

Overall a great adventure!

Bear Lake

2009-06-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

The day school got out we headed to Bear Lake with Bryce's family. We were able to bring the boat and had a blast! We had to leave a few days early to head to my families reunion in Arches National Park. Busy week! It is a shame all the vacations were lumped together in the first week of summer, but if couldn't be helped. I am sure we will manage a few weekend trips. Anyway, here are some pictures of Bear Lake. I will post about Arches next time!

McKay, Ty and Jake having a blast on the boat!

Bryce water skiing!

Me water skiing for the first time since I was a teenager! It took a few tries but I did it!
Beautiful scenery!
Libby saw me taking scenery pictures and said, "Smile, Smile". Which meant take my picture! What a cutie!

Fun with the tube. Dallin and Bryson
Audrey and Alyssa
Blake, Jake and McKay
Bryce and Blake learned how to "rip stick" while we were there! They still need practice!
Miniature Golfing- Ty and Alyssa. Look closely and you will see a red ball stuck in the teeth of the todem pole!
Nice Shot Alyssa!

Libby had fun climbing everywhere!
What a sweetie!
We had a great time! Thanks Mom and Dad Owen!

New Addition!

2009-05-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

We got a boat! It was a deal we couldn't pass up, and thought it would be good for the family so we did it!
We took it out for the first time on Saturday. The kids loved it! Even Libby had a blast!

The kids were brave and jumped in!

Bryce even tried knee boarding and wake boarding! That meant I had to drive! Scary!

Libby got her feet wet and then wanted to be bundled up! Grandma Owen held her!
We are taking it to Bear Lake with Bryce's family this weekend. Brrrrrrrr, but hopefully we have fun!

Happenings

2009-05-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

I have a few things to catch up on! First of all my baby is 2! I can't believe it! She is so much fun and is a little chatter box! We all love her so much!(ie. She is SPOILED!) She can get any of her siblings to do whatever she wants! It is great to see her and Bryson together. He is great with her and she chooses him over me sometimes! Here are a couple of pictures from her special day!

She loved opening her gifts! She really got into this year!

She loves shoes as many of you know, so of course we had to have flip flop cakes!

What a lucky girl!

Also, we had a great jeep trip over spring break and I thought I would share some of the pictures! We went with both sets of parents and Bryce's brother Blake's family.

There were amazing caves! Everyone is King of the Hill!

The muscle men moving rocks so we don't scratch my parents truck!

Jake, McKay and Ty
The kids had a blast climbing rocks at every stop!Alyssa "holding up" a cabin!

Bryson caught a lizard on our first stop!

Absolutely stunning views!
Ty posing in front of a mine! There were tons of these all over!

This is the view from our camp spot! We just pulled off the road and set up camp!
Amazing!
Cold, but still a wonderful trip!

Easter

2009-04-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

I'm a week late, but here are pictures of my cute kids in their Easter Outfits! It was a little cold, but I still made them go outside for pictures!

They love decorating eggs!

We had a great Egg Hunt on Saturday, but because of the rain it was in a church! Good times!

Libby really got into it! "You actually want me to get as much candy as I want? Okay!"

Ty was a pro!

Bryson got red eyes from looking so hard for eggs!

Libby loves showing us her food! If you ask her what she is eating she instantly opens her mouth and shows you! Yummy egg!

Florida

2009-03-22T07:39:00.001-07:00

So we have been home almost 2 weeks, but I thought I would finally sit down and update our blog! Bryce and I went to the Florida Keys for a week! It was amazing and wonderful! We rented a two bedroom apartment right by the beach and a nice park. It was a really nice place to be. The people lived upstairs and let us use their canoe. You walk a block and launch it into an inlet that leads through Mangrove Trees! Gorgeous. It was shallow water and clear, so just like taking a glass bottom boat ride! There were cool fish to see. After awhile we hit the ocean! That scared us a little so we turned around and headed back! The trip was spent exploring beaches and relaxing. We read a ton! I read 3 books and Bryce read 2, which is HIGHLY unusual for Bryce. We were also able to see and do some cool things. We drove up and down the Keys a lot, and the water color is incredible! You have the Gulf on one side and the Atlantic on the other! One day we drove up to the mainland and saw the Everglades! There were a ton of alligators and beautiful birds! The highlight was snorkeling at John Pennekamp State Park. They take you five miles off shore to a reef and drop you off to snorkel for 1 1/2 hours. The only other snorkeling we have done together was in Hanauma Bay in Hawaii. This is so much better. The reef was so close to the surface and alive and swaying to the ocean currents. The fish were so colorful and such a variety! There were a TON of Barracuda! At first we were freaked out that they would attack, but soon realized they weren't. We even saw an eel! That was creepy! Some others in the group saw a nurse shark resting on the ocean floor. I am VERY glad we didn't see that! I would have freaked out! It was just a wonderful time to be together and remember why we fell in love!

Sick boy!

2009-02-21T13:59:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile so I will try and update on a few of the kids. First of all Ty. He has been sick all week, sore throat, cough etc. I just thought it was a cold. He never got a fever and never even really acted that sick. But, when you looked at his eyes you could tell he didn't feel good. I debated for a couple of days whether or not to take him to the doctor. Finally Friday I found out my neice Abby had strep throat, and they had played together last weekend. Well, I called the nurse and she let me decide whether or not to bring him in. Thank goodness I decided to! He was diagnosed with Strep throat, a strep inf in his nose, an ear infection, broncitits, and asthma! Yikes, as the doctor kept listing the stuff I was in shock! I said, "I almost didn't bring him in!" We got him $87.00 worth of prescriptions and he is on the mend. I felt horrible! Why didn't I take him in sooner?! What if I had waited out the weekend?! He is such a sweet kid, and I love him!

On to Libby. I had to take this picture of her hair, it is soooooo curly. I tried to get one of her face, but that was a no go! She freaked out! Anyway here is my curly locks!

Last kid to update for now, sorry Alyssa and McKay. Bryson had to make a cake for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. He helped quite a bit! The theme was Cub Scout Excellence and Martial Arts.
It is funny, on the tables at the banquet they had signs that told which boy made which cake. Of course it said, "Made by Bryson Owen". Bryce looked at that and said, "More like, made by Allison Owen with a little help by Bryson Owen." I guess that may be true, but oh well, he helped with the fondant!He is earning his Arrow of Light next month and then we will be done with Cub Scouts for 18 months! Yipee! I am finally out of Cub Scouts myself after 3 years, so this is great! Once McKay starts though we will be in it for 5 years between him and Ty! You gotta love it!

Bryson the artist!

2009-01-25T18:52:00.000-08:00

So, back in November Bryson won the reflections contest at his school for visual art. He then moved on to the next level. I guess that level was the Lehi Council. He competed against kids in 10 elementary schools. He ended up winning an award of merit. That is quite an accomplishment! He got another trophy! We are so proud of him! Go Bryson!

Here is his picture again!

December

2009-01-06T13:24:00.000-08:00

Well, what a month we had! It was full of lot's of fun and family! We are so blessed to live by both families, but it makes for a crazy month! The slide show of pictures tell how it went!

Lost

2008-12-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I lost my wedding ring. We were going to dinner with Bryson and Alyssa at Chili's. I had taken my ring off and set it on my lap while I put lotion on. I guess I forgot to put it back on and when I got out of the car it fell out in the parking lot. Actually, Bryce dropped us close to the door by the To Go parking, so it was visible for anyone entering or leaving Chili's. Well, it took me about 30 mins to realize it was gone, before we frantically started looking. We notified the manager and he said he had told all the workers. We finally left without it. At 10:30 we called the AF police and reported it lost. At 11:00 we called Chili's and they said someone had called them and said they had found a wedding ring in the parking lot and would bring it in that night. We finally had hope! We slept fitfully, but woke up expecting a call anytime. Well, Sunday passed with no word. We kept checking with Chili's but they hadn't heard anything else. Monday I decided they were keeping it and considered it stolen. I was told by the police I had to wait another day. So, yesterday, Tuesday, I went in, took them a picture and reported it stolen. The only consolation I got from this was the information that it was now on a national database and if it was taken to a pawn shop, they should check with that database and I could get it back. However, if the pawn shop people weren't doing what they should, then no hope. So, here I am Wednesday, still no word, and I am devastated. I guess it is gone and I need to move on, but it sure is hard. I am writing this hoping for some extra prayers. We are praying that whoever has it will have a change of heart and return it!

Broken!

2008-12-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

We have horrible bar stools! I hate them. They were really cheap three years ago, and now they are rickety. Well, Libby fell off one Friday night and broke her collar bone! We didn't know it of course until the next day, when she would SCREAM if you picked her up. Think about it, when you pick up a baby you grab them under the arm pits and put pressure with your thumbs on their collar bones. We were hurting her bad! We finally figured it out and took her in. Yep, broken. Poor little baby! The doctor said there isn't anything to do for her. We could get her a splint, but she probably wouldn't keep it on. He was right there, can you imagine????? Anyway, so we just have to keep her medicated with Ibuprofen, and she will be better in about 3 weeks. She has done amazingly well. She actually naturally splints it, by holding her arm to her chest when she runs or does other things. She is still a cute bundle of energy. As my Dad put it, "I am guessing this won't be her last break!" If know Libby you would have to agree! Anyone know any great deals on bar stools?

What a Week!

2008-11-24T09:52:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy week around the Owen house! First of all Bryson won the Reflections contest for his category Visual Arts! He is moving on to the next level! It is his first time entering! We are so proud of him!

Here is a picture of the picture he drew with Oil Pastels.
And here is him and his trophy!

Next, I made a wedding cake last week! It was for Bryce's cousin Evan and his wife Ann. I was super stressed about it because I hadn't done the draped fondant before. I think it turned out nice though!

Here is the finished product! The flowers weren't quite what I was expecting, a little overbearing, but still nice.

Here is my part of it!

I had to include this close up, these flowers looked so nice, that was more of what I was expecting for the rest of the cake. But, I wasn't incharge of the flowers, so oh well!

Lastly, Elysabeth just had her first haircut this morning! It wasn't on purpose though! Ty was mad at me for not folding a paper properly for cutting a snowflake. Of course, I was on the phone and distracted, but he was so mad he took the scissors and cut off a lock of Elysabeth's hair, right in front of me! Good thing I was talking to my mom because I screamed and had to hang up! Luckily she has crazy curly hair and I think it will blend it, but here is the picture!

The cut part sticks out funny from just to the left of her flower!
This is what she thinks about the whole thing!
What!!!!!!!

Snow Fun!

2008-11-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

We had a fun snow storm last week! The kids had a blast playing in it!

We built a fort, but never got to the second layer! The balls were so heavy, I was too tired! How lame is that?

McKay and Ty's snowman!

Libby could barely walk in her warm suit, but she had fun! She kept falling down face first in the snow, but never cried!

Happy Halloween

2008-11-03T09:37:00.000-08:00

We had a fun halloween! We carved pumpkins Monday night, and it was so warm Alyssa was worried they were going to rot by Friday, but they made it!

We had Indiana Jones!

Bryson

A darling witch!

Alyssa

A cute cowboy! (Bryce wore this costume when he was little)

McKay

A scary dragon!!

A sweet lady bug!
Okay, she is so the last child! We didn't get a picture of just her in her costume! Lame! So here she is with her little cousins! I guess I will throw it on her today and snap one for the scrapbook!

For those who know the family, here are the Sweeney cousins, minus Summer's kids! We are so happy to have Tiffany and her family back for good!
Bryson, Landen, Ty, Abby, McKay, Elysabeth, Alyssa, Ryan, Becca, Makayla, Chloe, Ashlyn, Kiegen

My Baby is in Nursery!

2008-10-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this day has come! Elysabeth went to nursery for the first time today! It is 2 weeks early so I stayed with her. She loved it! They played with blocks first which she really loved, until she got bored and started eating them. I know, I am anticipating all the illness that comes with nursery! Next, they had snacks, fruit snacks and goldfish! Yum! It was funny to watch her. One time she looked around and I swear she was thinking, "Where has this place been all my life!!!" She didn't love singing too much, and the lesson was more than she could handle. But, then came coloring time! She even joined the group in eating their crayons, Yum, Yum! Toy time was next, and she headed straight for the dolls! She just sat and played and played! It was darling! With about 30 mins left she just wanted to sit on my lap, but I thought it was great for her first time!

Here is a picture of her picture she colored!

Hopefully next week goes as well, and the next I can even leave!

Fall is here!

2008-10-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday, we decided to get out and enjoy nature! We took the kids up the canyon and went on a hike! It was great! We invited my whole family, but only the Bells and my parents joined us! We hiked from the summit of AF canyon down to a place called Salamander Flats. It was easy, yet beautiful! Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

Shoes, Minor Concussion, and a Soccer Star!

2008-09-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

So it has been awhile! It has been a crazy first month of school around here! We have adjusted well, it has just taken me forever to actually sit down and do this! So I will play catch up! Here are a few things that have been going on around here:

Shoes
Elysabeth loves shoes! It is really cute. She loves to wear everyone's and walk all over the house! (Nicole Bingham- Libby and Tyler are destined for each other!) Anyway, the past couple of weeks the obsession has changed. She now insists on wearing her shoes ALL THE TIME! I even mean to sleep! She used to wake up, look around the room and say "GO" That meant, where are my shoes, please put them on. Now, however, she freaks out if we take them off. She loves these pink plastic clogsand now her feet stink whenever we do manage to get them off! Yikes, what to do! But, it gets better.... She now insists we all wear our shoes also! Seriously, if she sees you without shoes on, she goes to your closet and gets some for you. Then she holds them and screams, "GO, GO" till you put them on! It is really annoying when you are relaxing on the couch and she insists you have shoes on! Oh well, I finally went and bought her some new shoes so we have more options. Here they are-

Aren't they darling! They are fuzzy soft! I wish I had a pair!

Minor Concussion
Last Friday Ty was riding his bike and crashed and hit his head really hard on the asphalt of the track behind our house. To make matters worse another boy ran into him with his bike while he was lying there. So, he is bawling and bawling. Well, I wasn't home, I know horrible mom. I was actually at a Room Mother's meeting at the school, so I had left Bryson in charge. I get the phone call, can hear Ty screaming, but only know he fell off his bike. I tell Bryson to give him loves and make sure he is okay. When I got back he was asleep on the couch. Well, he slept for about an hour and a half and then woke up. I fed him dinner and he seemed fine. So, Bryce and I ran to dinner. We left Bryson in charge again. (It is great having a sitter around!) We were eating and get a call from Bryce's mom who had stopped by to get something from our house saying Ty had thrown up all over the couch. Yikes, we hurried to get home. I started worrying about a concussion with the head wound and vomiting. So, I called the nurse and she said to bring him right in! I found out the whole story then, from the neighbor kid who ran into him and how Ty had hit the asphalt really hard. Before this I just thought he fell and then the kid ran into him. So I was glad we were going in. Of course it was after hours and a different doctor so I had a ton of paper work to fill out. I was holding Ty on my lap and all of a sudden I knew he was going to throw up, so I tell the nurse, right as he throws up all over the floor. The nurse says, here is the bathroom so I run, but of course he is throwing up as we go! I couldn't believe the mess! Why didn't they have a garbage can or something? Why didn't I think to bring a bowl in? We had one in the car. I really won't be winning Mother of the Year anytime soon! Anway, we got him checked and he had a minor concussion. We had to wake him up every 2 hours all night and shine a light in his eyes and ask him basic questions. And he promised the doctor to always wear his helmet!
Well. that lasted all of one day! It is something that we are working on! It was scary and I am glad he is okay!

Soccer Star
McKay is finally playing soccer! He is so excited! Bryce is his coach, which has been fun! Well, he had a great game last week! He scored 7 goals! It actually got a little embarrassing The other parents were making jokes about him being the All Star! He is definitely the biggest on the team! He also really is talented at it. He has a natural knack for it! It is fun to watch! It is the stage where all the kids crowd around the ball, it is hilarious! But, if McKay gets it and gets away from everyone look out! I guess I am bragging, but oh well! Here is a picture of the soccer star!

7 fingers for 7 goals!

Summer is over!

2008-08-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well, how fast time flies! I can't believe summer is over. We had a great time. I really relaxed this summer and enjoyed having my kids around. We had some fun vacations and the kids got to play with friends a lot! Fall is in the air and I am ready. It is funny, the week before school started I wasn't ready for school to be starting but last week cured me of those feelings. I was tired of the extra people my kids brought around, (about 2-3 friends each in our house!) One day I counted 13 kids in or around the house. Yikes! It just wears on the nerves! So, now that school has started it it much calmer!

Bryson and Alyssa off to school!

McKay starts Kindergarten on Monday and is super excited! He also starts soccer this week! Bryce is coaching and McKay is so excited! Well, off to keep enjoying the relative calmness of my house! ( We only have 1 extra friend here right now!)

LakeTahoe/Carson City Trip!

2008-07-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

We had a blast visiting my sister Tiffany and her family in Carson City! It is just 30 mins from Lake Tahoe. Really you can see the lake in 20 minutes and it is beautiful!!! We had too much fun! We went to the beach everyday, but we also went bowling, to the Children's Museum, and fishing at a Trout Farm! It was so relaxing and amazingly beautiful! Thanks again Tiff and Gregg for letting us stay with you! Here are some pictures from the week!

City of Rocks

2008-07-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

We have spent the past 3 weekends camping! First was the Mohler reunion, the next Bryce and I went with his singles ward on a river rafting trip to Green River, total blast! And then we had a little Owen family reunion at the City of Rocks. Needless to say, we are sick of camping for the time being! We have nothing planned this weekend and couldn't be happier! We have had a blast at all we have done though! It is just hard to pack for 7 people! Tent, tarp, 7 sleeping bags, 7 pillows, 7 clothing bags, blankets, 5 chairs, flashlights, etc. Not to mention food! Oh well, it has been fun and I thought I would show some pictures!

The kids had a blast climbing all the rocks for the first day and a half, until we realized they were hanging out in a cougars territory. There was scat everywhere, but when we discovered the deer leg in a crevice, we called the rocks off limits and were glad we were leaving the next day! Yikes!

Fun Run

2008-06-24T15:09:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had a family reunion with Bryce's very extended family! Saturday morning they had a Fun Run. It was a mile run on a gently rolling dirt road. The entire family participated! Ty and McKay did 1/2 a mile, the rest finished it! Bryce even took 3rd place in the Men's category and Allison took 1st place in the women's! It was super fun!
We also got to play lot's of games! Alyssa was brave and endured cold hose water being pored on her to fill up this garbage can that had holes in it! She did the best of all the teams!

Elysabeth really enjoyed her popsicle!

My kids can work!

2008-06-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

We are having a fabulous summer! I make my kids work! We do regular chores and then about an hour to an hour and a half of "extra chores". So far we have washed all the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen inside and out, cleaned with soap and water all the indoor garbage cans, scrubbed the laundry room walls, etc. We then do worksheets and flash cards. Am I the meanest mom ever? My kids sure think so! I think it is great! They are learning to work and I am getting a very clean house! Here is a picture of them hard at work this morning!

Notice even Elysabeth is helping?

She did this all on her own! What a cutie!

End of School Year Activities!

2008-06-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the kids in their end of year stuff! We had a dance recital, dance festival and McKay's preschool graduation!

Boy are we all glad it is summer!

12 years and a fish story!

2008-05-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

So Friday May 23rd we celebrated 12 years of marriage! It was a fun day. Bryce's mom took the kids and we went to lunch, went and saw the new Indiana Jones, went shopping, went to dinner, got ice cream and came home and watched another movie in our theater! What a day! It was so nice to not have the kids around and just be with each other! I have to say I am way more in love with him now than 12 years ago! We were babies when we got married! Five kids later and we rely on each other a lot more!

2 Dozen Roses from Bryce!

So the fish story goes like this, so Alyssa was changing her fishes water and she had the whole tank in the sink. As she was lifting it out, it slipped and she dropped it back in the sink and the whole thing spilled. Well, I hear a big bang and then Alyssa is screaming. Bryson asks, "Where is Goldie?" The fish. Well, Alyssa screams louder. Turns out the fish is down the garbage disposal. So, I can't bring myself to stick my hand in there to get it out. I am having flashbacks to when this happened years ago, and Bryce went to turn the light on to see to get it out, and "accidentally", turned on the disposal. Yeah, you can imagine the sound that made. It still makes me cringe! Anyway, Bryson is brave and he reached in and was trying to grab the fish. You could hear it flopping around, and all I could think about were the steel blades and how gross it was going to be when he got it. Well, he finally got it out and we had a bowl of water ready. He put the fish in the water and it was fine! I warned Alyssa that it might not make it, but it is going strong 4 days later! What a fish! Needless to say she is not allowed to put the fish in the tank until it is safely on the counter from now on!

Yuck!

2008-05-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you turn your back on a 1 year old!

Actually it was my sister Tamara who turned her back! Her and her husband had 9 kids while we were at the temple! Yikes! Anyway, Elysabeth got into the bucket of frogs that the kids had just caught at a pond. Yep, frog mud! Yuck Yuck Yuck! The frogs got away, we hope anyway! Otherwise she swallowed them! She sure looks pleased with herself! What a cutie! She really is into everything and we have to watch her constantly!

Tulips as far as the eye can see!

2008-05-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

We went to Thanksgiving Point to see the tulips on Saturday. They were gorgeous! I love tulips and daffodils so I was in heaven! Here are a few for you to enjoy!

My Baby is One!

2008-05-01T13:13:00.001-07:00

I can't believe Elysabeth is already one! Time sure flies when you have a newborn! She is so fun, just started really walking and is all over the place! She is loved by everyone. On Monday Alyssa was holding her and then had to go to dance. She tried to hand her to me and Libby freaked out and started screaming! She went to Bryson fine, but when he got tired of her the same thing happened. She did not want mom! I have to say, I love it! They all love to haul her around and play with her!

Elysabeth and her cake! She wasn't so sure!

When we gave her the cake she looked at us like we were crazy!
She took dainty pokes at it with her fingers!

This is the messiest she ever got! Our other kids all made huge messes! Not Libby!

I guess I had better show a picture of McKay and Ty. I can't show favoritism to the girls. I don't have a good one of Bryson so he will have to wait! This was the boys trying to imitate Alvin and the Chipmunks. Well, really Simon on the Chipmunks.

Do you love the mic/headset! It is a wonder what you can do with pipe cleaners!

Alyssa's Baptism

2008-04-30T08:36:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of Alyssa's Baptism!

Here we are!

2008-04-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

So I think I might have figured this out! I have been telling myself for a long time that I need to get into this blog thing. So, here we are! Life has been good! We had a great spring break last week and are now into school and activities again. Only 6 more weeks of school! Yeah! Elysabeth started walking and I had to include a picture of her getting into mischief already! She sure is a cutie! She is 1 on Saturday! I can't believe how time flies!

Here we are in front of Cameron Falls, in Waterton Park, Alberta, Canada. We were up for my Grandma's funeral. It was beautiful with all the snow, but cold!

Under Construction

2008-04-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

I am still trying to figure it out!