Softball, Baseball, Itty Bitty Ball and Alpine Slide

Scott, Britton, and Ashlyn at the Alpine Slide

We have had a fun week this last few weeks. The kids have been involved in a Park it Program where they go to a different park each day for activities. They go from10-2 and just have fun. This week they had a camp theme and painted t-shirts and roasted hotdogs over the fire. They also had movie day and went to Madagascar. They also had Track and Field Day and other days of just fun.

Britton waiting for his turn

We also had a busy day of Softball, Baseball and Itty Bitty Ball. Britton is loving Coach's Pitch this year. It's his first year playing it and he is sure getting better. Last year at T-Ball it was a little easier but he can now hit from the coach.

Ashlyn getting ready to hit

Ashlyn is playing her first year of softball. When I signed her up the page said 10 and under. So I signed her up for that. To find out for her age she wasn't supposed to be in this league. 7 and 8 year olds are suppossed to play Machine Pitch-not Softball with the girls pitching. So she was a little young for the team. But she did awesome. She is glad I messed up because she didn't want to be in Machine Pitch because they play with BOYS!!! YUCK!!!

Treyson had a fun week doing Itty Bitty Ball. It is for 3-4 year olds. Each day they do a different sport and have fun stations for each sport. The first day he played baseball, then Basketball then Soccer than Golf. He thought Golf and Soccer were cool.

Treyson at Itty Bitty Ball

On Wednesday afternoon we headed up to Parkcity to stay at a Condo for the night with Scott's family. We had a really fun time. We got up there and we decided to take the two oldest on the Alpine Slide. Here they are with Grandpa and Dad and I going up the chair lift to the top. Britton was worried about losing his shoes. Ashlyn was a little worried about doing the slide herself. But in the end we had a fabulous time. It was a lot of fun . I want to go back up and do the Zip Line down the Mountain. It was literally down the mountain. It looked like fun. After that we came back to the Condo and went swimming. The kids had fun with there cousin Carter. That night Jenny, Jason, Carter and Ryland left but Kevin, Chelsey, Hunter and Kenyon came up. We hadn't seen them for awhile so it was nice to see them. Unforunately the next morning we had to get up early to get back home for the activites of the day.

We went back up to the Granges on Friday afternoon so we could go to a movie. We went with Bob, Kevin and Chelsey to Superman. It was an entertaining movie mainly just action packed with an okay plot. The special effects were way cool. It's amazing what they can do in movies now.

Yesterday we spent the day working in the yard and in the basement. Fun for us.

That's what we've been up to this week.

It's been a LONG time

Brielle and her friend Cassidy


Well everyone it has been awhile since I last wrote. We have had so many fun things going on. I don't even know where to start. After school got done on Friday we just had a fun relaxing week. We went to the pool several times that week and just hung out. It was a lot of fun. We went to a family reunion for Scott's family, a baby blessing for Scott's sisters and just enjoyed each other.

The next week the kids participated in Soccer camp. They LOVED IT!!!! They played soccer and soccer games for 4 days for an hour and a half each day. We then spent some of those days at the pool. Oh how fun summer is!!!!

We also celebrated our city Pleasant Grove with going to the rodeo. The kids loved it. It is called Strawberry Days and they have the best desseret of Strawberries and Cream.




In fact the food at most functions like this is outrageous. Not this rodeo. I was able to get 5 strawberries and cream, two huge sugar cookies with frosting, and two waters all for 8 dollars. Wow I was impressed. It was a late night but it was sure enjoyable.







The boys then went to Father's and Sons and Ashlyn, Brielle and I had a girls night. The girls all went to dinner, watched a movie and scrapbooked. Okay, so Brielle just came along for the ride. The boys had a wonderful time at the Father's and Sons campground. They just went up the canyon near our home so it was pretty easy. They enjoyed the smores and just being with all the fun kids.






They got home Saturday morning and we packed up again to head to Manti. We had a blast. We stayed with some great friends that just moved there. We knew them in Colorado. We also had our other good friends drive out from Colorado too so it was a BIG party. We all headed there to see the Manti Pageant. It was awesome. They live about two blocks away from the temple so it was a short and easy walk after it ended. The Pageant doesn't start until 9:30 p.m. because they need it to be dark. But most of my kids stayed up for the whole thing. Britton was fascinated by it. He loved the fights between the Lamanites and Nephities, seeing Moroni on top of the actual temple, and seeing the volcano. If you haven't been to the Pageant lately or at all you should make the effort. We loved it.

We then spent Sunday with our friends visiting. We made yummy breakfast for the dads and had a wonderful lasagna, salad, and bread for dinner. Our kids surely didn't want to leave when it was time. They just keep talking about their friends. They played the entire time and we did very little entertaining of them. They did it all on their own.

Dance Festival at School and Teachers

The Grange Kids at the Dance Festival

Well the year is coming to an end. The end of the school year that is. At Manila Elementary our kids do a fun dance festival every year. The parents all come and each grade does a fun dance. Sometimes they have shirts or different themes. It has been a fun tradition at this school for years. They also announce the top 6th graders and the Student Council for next year. Of course the Dance Festival is always warm. But it is fun.

ASHLYN AND BRITTON'S TEACHERS DANCING
This year the kids teachers all did a dance. I must say that both Mrs. Barton and Mrs. Long have a lot of talent in the dance realm. The kids all thought it was funny.

Britton's Kindergarten class did it to Bearnecessities from the Jungle Book. He was a tiger. Here he is doing a dance move.

Here is also a picture of Britton and his teacher Mrs. Barton

He sure enjoyed having her as a teacher this year. She sure loves the kids

and he loved her.

Here is Ashlyn and her teacher Mrs. Long. Ashlyn thought she was

a great teacher. She loved Third Grade and all the stuff she learned.

Ashlyn's dance was to Grease. They looked like little fifties kids.

Dance Recital

Ashlyn had her Spring Spectacular Dance Recital tonight. It was at a park here in a nearby town. It has a stage and the audience all sits on the hill of grass overlooking the stage. There is a river running between the stage and the audience. It was pretty. I really like it because your other kids can still be loud and it doesn't bother the other people. It was a fun recital.

What a way to celebrate the end of the clogging year. Ashlyn's group performed twice.

She did a great job. She sure loves dancing. At the end they have an awards ceremony. Each year her trophy will get bigger. She was excited to get her trophy this year. She will be taking a few classes this summer and then a new year in the fall.

Ashlyn is in the middle circle on the left side

Tomorrow is the kids dance festival. So we will show you tomorrow how that went.

Hope everyone has a good night. Ashlyn wants to thanks her Grandma and Grandpa's for coming and the rest of the family that came.

Just a normal week

Well it has been a typical week at our house. We have had fun things to do all week. Unfortunately I forgot the camera for some of them. On Monday we had our typical Family Home Evening. The kids actualy still enjoy it. We sang songs, had a lesson and of course had a treat. When we lived in Colorado our Stake Presidency recommeneded that no matter what we should always have a treat at FHE. For one it will always get the kids there. So that's what we always have -a yummy treat.

On Tuesday we had a busy day at clogging. Ashlyn has a dance performance next Tuesday and they are getting ready for that. We then left a little early to head to Softball pictures. Then ran home to eat something fast and went to her softball game. She was walked both times up to bat. But she sure had fun. She is enjoying the social aspects of the sport more than actually playing. But she is doing well.

On Wednesday my in-laws came down to go with us to visit Grandma and Grandpa Granges graves. I didn't know Scott's grandparents but knew Grandpa Grange well. When we were at BYU we went over weekly to visit him. Scott would do the yard work and I would help him cook dinner. It was always a nice time to visit and he told me lots of good stories. It was hard for us when he died. But we will always have special memories of him.

On Wednesday my in-laws came a little earlier so I could attend a Mother Daughter Achievement Days Party with Ashlyn. It was a nice little program and Ashlyn made me a cool oil lamp out of salt dough. I will treasure it. She is getting so big. I just realized how fast the year has gone when I realized she has only 4 months until she is 9. WOW the time flies.

Thursday I went to a women's night out. We had my neighbor a few doors down talk to us about motherhood. She is a mother of 12 and has written several books. I even owned one and didn't realize that she was the author. She was excellent and we enjoyed her. Her name is Jaroldeen Edwards. The book that I own is "Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner." She has written 10 books and some of them were through Deseret Book. She is a good neighbor. We take her little treats quite often. Her husband passed away just a few months after moving into their home. But she is a very gracious women who lets us use her basketball court to play with our kids. It was a fun night and we all were able to socialize too.

Friday was FIELD DAY at the school. The kids were so excited. Britton went to the park and had pizza. Ashlyn had lots of fun with outside games. Thursday she had a read a thon at school and had lots of junk food. The kids then played outside all day.

This memorial day weekend I have thought a lot about my Grandfather who passed away a bout a year ago. I sure miss him. He was a special guy and I admired him greatly. So Grandpa I LOVE YOU!!!

On Saturday we went and hit the Soap sell that my sister in law Heather told me about. We also took the kids to dinner. THey were so GOOD!!! We had yummy food and then went to the mall.

On Sunday we went to visit my Grandma. She is always fun to visit with. Hope all of you had a fun weekend.

Yard Work, visit from a aunt, Mother's Day and Cereal

Well our weekend started out with a day in the yard. Saturday morning we awoke and Scott headed right out to work in the yard. He worked out there all day. I first cleaned the entire house and then headed to the garage to clean it. After that I took the seats out of the van and cleaned the van. A few weeks ago Treyson and his little friend Spencer took buckets of dirt and rock and emptied them into our van. There was about an inch of dirt on the floor. So I did a fast clean up that day but needed to take the seats out to finish the job.

That evening our sister in law Anna, Kristin and my mother in law came for a short visit. Anna was visiting from out of state and she brought her baby Spencer to come and meet baby Brielle. We hadn't seen him since the wedding in December. He has sure gotten big and is such a cutie. It was nice to visit with her. But we sure wish she could have brought her other two kids. My kids were upset that Mackay and Sophie weren't coming.


Mother's Day was wonderful. I got up at about 7:00 to feed Brielle. But she must have known it was Mother's day because she fell back to sleep. I then slept until 8:30 when Scott made me yummy waffles, strawberries and whipcream for breakfast in bed. Here our my sweet kids on Mother's Day.

That evening we had Scott's mother and his Grandma, my mom and dad and my Grandmother for Mother's Day Dinner. Scotts dad is currently out of the country on business. We had a yummy marinated Turkey on the grill, rice, two salads and strawberry shortcake. It was delicous. Scott did almost all of it. What a great guy.

We finished the evening with Brielle eating cereal for the first time. Here is a cute picture of Ashlyn helping her eat. Treyson keeps saying "But she doesn't have any teeth." She didn't necessarily love the cereal but she did eat some of it.

Well that's the past few days at the Grange house.

He's coming home today

Well the past few days have been busy for our family. Scott went out of town on Monday morning and is coming home late tonight. I wouldn't be a very good single mom. So we will be grateful to have him home.

Yesterday Brielle turned 4 months old. I can't believe how fast the four months have flown by. It just seems like she was born and here she is smiling and laughing. Yesterday unfortunatley also meant SHOTS!!! She was a brave little girl. Barely even cried. The nurses were fast and they must not have hurt as bad (or it is because she has CHUNKY legs). She is 15 lbs, yep that's right 15 pounds. She was 93 % on weight 50 % on height and a little 10% on head size. I guess you could say she takes after the rest of my kids minus Treyson. Everything else looks good. She is growing up so fast and the Doctor says everything looks good.

We spent the rest of the morning at Target and Kohls. Bought some household items and some things we just needed. Went to Kohls to look for a grill and ended up buying a shirt. Isn't that how life is.

Tonight our ward is going to have a Service Auction and dinner. Of course Scott's not going to be home so I think I am going to have to take them to the sitters at the church. Will see how that works.

Other than that we are bus with the end of the school events. But I am happy to say that Treyson hasn't had an accident for 1 1/2 weeks now!!!! YEAH TREYSON. I don't even worry about him.

Cloggin and Fun at Lagoon

Well our family has been busy this weekend. But we sure had a great time. Ashlyn had her piano recital on Friday evening. Both Grandparents came down to see her perform. We also had our sister in law Chelsey and her two boys there. We had gone out to dinner earlier. Let's just say it wasn't the best service or food. Won't be going back there.

After the recital we decided to go to Centerville to spend the night. Ashlyn had a clogging competition at Lagoon (the local amusement park) the next morning. Her first performance was early that morning. We had to be there by 7:40. So with Brielle and her feedings and getting makeup and hair all done we decided to stay up there. Ashlyn did WONDERFUL at her clogging competition. She got 1st places in EVERYTHING-her two individual events and her two dances.

After the competition we headed back to the Granges for some lunch and to get the kids for the fun day at Lagoon. We got discount tickets and decided to stay for the day. My mother in law watched Brielle for a good section of the day so we were really able to enjoy the rides. The Kids had a BLAST!!! Ashlyn loved the Colossus and Britton loved the Spider. Treyson really enjoyed the little kids roller coaster. We just enjoyed their happy faces.

A Sick Day

Brielle Sucking her thumb

Well it has been a long day today. The family falls apart when the mommy is the one who is sick. Yep, I think I have the flu or something. Last night right before bed I COULD NOT GET WARM. Yep, 5 blankets later still not warm. I finally just put on pants and took some Advil and finally got warm. Woke up this morning feeling yucky again. I was able to take a good long nap this afternoon. YEAH!!! It was heavenly. Even Brielle slept well. Hopefully she won't get sick

Here's the pile of rocks we need to move tonight. Last night we had a pile of dirt that big that we had to move. We have almost a 1/2 acre and at the time were excited for the land. Not so excited now. If we could afford to have someone else come in and do it all that would be one story. But alas we don't. Some of the neighbors have spent 40,000-60,000 dollars on their yards. WOW!!! That's a lot of money.

Well I asked Ashlyn to hold Brielle for awhile while I did a little project. Here she is holding Brielle. Brielle is sucking her thumb. What cutness!!!

Stitches and family

Well the Granges have had a good weekend. After working in the yard all morning and early afternoon on Saturday we went to the Granges for dinner.

Kevin and Chesley (Scott's Brother) and their two kids-Hunter and Kenyon were visiting from California. So we headed down there to see them. We had a yummy Barbeque and lots of good food. Great Grandma Patterson also came over for the day. Here she is with Flat Mackay.


GRANDMA PATTERSON

Well we decided to spend the night and then go home early Sunday before our church. We go to church around 1:30 so thought we would have plenty of time. But of course right before we left Treyson slipped on his chair and hit the table on his chin. We had lots of blood and could tell we needed to take him in for Stitches.

So Scott took him to Urgent Care while I got the rest of us ready. It was a horrible experience for Treyson. They tied him up in a blanket to restrain him and then they put on a little mask to keep the light out of his eyes. He hated it. He kept screaming and yelling. So it took a little longer than it should of. By the time Scott came home there was NO WAY we were going to make it to church on time. So we ended up staying the day and having a great Roast Beef dinner with the entire family.


Treyson showing his bandaid

That evening right before leaving the Granges neighbors had a friend come overwith a horse. He let the kids ride their horse. Ashlyn was so excited that she rode it three times. The pictures of course our on my sister in laws camera. So an update to follow.

Today we are back into the school stuff. The kids are doing well. Ashlyn passed off her 8 times tables, Britton already did his school project so he has no homework and Treyson has been playing all day. Brielle is just a cute baby.

I was able to sign the kids up for swimming lessons today. So we are all ready for summer. Here are a few pictures of Brielle and the boys. Britton and Treyson wanted a few with their sister.

Today I found a few moments to capture my little girl. She's getting so big. I love this one with her mouth open. It truly captures her personality.
Here is our little "Elle" (what her nickname has become) She has already rolled over a few times but is actually enjoying her stomach more.


I love this pictures because if you look at the bottom you will see her little feet. BABIES FEET!!! Gotta love them.

Yesterday Ashlyn wanted her picture taken with her sister. Here's a cute one of the two of them.

Scott is out of town for the next few days. Of course those days seem extra long. He will come home Thursday evening. Over the next few days Ashlyn has a lot of homework. We need to write 2 more book reports. It would be easier if she didn't read such difficult books. But she is a great reader and is enjoying reading. I went to Target today which is a place I can easily spend our money. I can always find some cute clothes for the kids and just enjoy looking at all the stuff. I then kept telling myself NOT TO GO TO OLD NAVY!!! But I did it. But they had all their Easter Dresses on sale. So I bought Brielle one for next summer.

Britton and Treyson have been outside all day playing. We turned our drinking fountain on (we have one outside) and all the kids in the neighborhood are coming over for drinks. I am sure the excitement will wear off in a few days.