Pinewood Derby

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!