The Greenwoods

Girls Camp, Baseball & Swim Meet

2009-07-01T17:11:00.018-06:00

So girls camp was last week. I had an amazing time.
I got to hang out with some of my favorite people & make some new friends!
Here I am with my ward members....so fun!

I have known Linda(to the right of me) for probably about 12 years...since we moved into this house; but didn't REALLY get to know her until this week. I think we laughed all week. Her & I have the same sense of humor and cracked each other up. We were always laughing about something! Namely my pole dancing routine(hehe) and the fire alarm incident at 1 in the morning.

At girls camp there is never a dull moment.

We started out with our 5 mile hike. Very fun!

Ok so I don't enjoy hiking that much...takes too long. I would much rather run it and get it over with. I know, I guess I'm not a stop-and-smell-the-roses kind of gal.

That night were the skits....yep, you guessed it, my pole dancing! No not really.....but Todd was hoping.

'Amazing Grace' will never sound the same to him after that. Thanks for being a good sport.

OK so this is the funny part.
I got to run the zip line, harnessing the girls and making sure they were secure. That was fun but exhausting all morning.
Later the next day the adults were trying it....very funny.
Watch the video and see for yourself.
Make sure you watch the left corner of the screen to see Darold Henry get whipped around!
It's pretty sad to see that we were laughing so hard no one asked him if he was ok!
It's on facebook for all to see!

Me, Annette & Dianna
These are my favorite ladies!
Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am to get to serve with these ladies...we have way too much fun for it to be work!

Me & Rachelle
(Ain't she cute!)

She's single in case anyone was wondering!

Annette, Me & Rachelle

Jenna, Lauren, Emily & Sam

Coming back form Testimony meeting Linda & I saw these girls trying to take their own pictures jumping in the air.....what funny girls!

Emily, Mckell & Lauren

Skits

I think they were being raptors..I'm really not sure

Here we are BEFORE the hike!!

So I felt like a yo-yo while I was there because Cullan & Nelson both had their playoff games in baseball. So each night I would take off down the mountain & head to their games. Nelson's team took 3rd in the city tournament and Cullan's took 1st!!! I'm glad camp was so close that I could do that.

Nelson pitching

Cullan's Championship Team

My brother Mark is staying with us for awhile to look for a job & house so he can move his family here from Ca. He got here while I was at girls camp so I saw him at Nelson's game.

Swim Meet time!!

Yes, the swim season has begun.

Look at this awesome picture of Austin diving.

He did great in his events; he shaved 5 seconds off of his 100m breaststroke!

Nelson doing the butterfly

Skinny little Cullan-yes we feed him!

We cleared out one of our 6 bedrooms so it can be used. Having an exchange student & my brother living here for awhile, we finally needed the room.

We got a futon for it and now I really want to use it as my 'reading' room!

I will update soon with info about our exchange student who comes tonight! Should be fun; Austin is just glad we finally get a boy!

Wasatch Back Relay & Ohio Trip

2009-06-22T08:44:00.009-06:00

Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay 2009

I ran the Wasatch Back relay this weekend(Logan to Park City-188 miles)
I had the best time!
I was in a van with 5 other girls that I did not know. They were awesome!
We laughed, we ate, we stunk, we drank(Redbull, my 1st time) and we DIDN'T sleep! Well maybe an hour or so.
I am so sore and so ready to do it again next year.

Ok so I can't figure out how to turn the picture, but here I am on my last leg. 1 mile up-then 6.3 straight down. My quads were shakin'!

Alesha's husband brought this trailer for us to sleep in. It was so nice! We were spoiled!

And again, no idea how to turn these....but here I am getting Gatorade all down me.

The hand off

My favorite picture.
Probably because I had just passed this high school kid and I was done with my 1st leg.

Our whole team!

Ohio Trip!!!

I had a great time in Ohio a week ago visiting my sister Angie & kids.
I loved taking the girls somewhere new everyday. I'm pretty sure we went to every park within a 20 mile radius! I especially liked getting to see my new nephew Cameron. He is so cute and I'm sure he is doing more things since I left that I am missing out on...BooHoo!

The girls in their matching bathing suits at the bunny fountains!

The girls the 1st night I got there showing off their room & toys

Me & Ang

Kelly is the master rope-jumper.

And McKenna learned while I was there too.

Cameron tackled me

After the girl's baths

At Kelly & McKenna's school

Cute baby Cameron

Another park

At the Columbus Zoo; now ranked #1 in the U.S.

At Friendly's

Camille is just adorable. I could have taken her home with me. Whenever I looked at her...she gave a big grin!

Sunday before church I took the girls to the Columbus, Ohio Temple to take some pictures.

The day I left.
It was so sad, I could have stayed forever.
I hope the girls don't forget me.....Maybe I'll go back in a few weeks...haha

2009-06-04T08:03:00.008-06:00

Cullan's 9th Birthday!!

Nelson, Lauren & Cullan

Cullan is so fun.
He never asks for much and is so polite that it makes me feel guilty sometimes. "Thanks Mom." when all I've done was get him a drink of water.

He said yesterday on his birthday...
"Thanks Mom for taking us to dinner, thanks Mom for taking us to the movies, thanks Mom for my new bike"......see I start feeling guilty like he has to say 'thank you' because he doesn't get much. If that makes sense?
Ron & Austin were gone so it was just the 4 of us to celebrate but we had a fun day.

My New Bright Shoes!

They really do glow in the dark. People on the canal can see me coming... Saucony sent these to me to wear-test so I guess I gotta wear them. They are super comfy though and now I have some shoes to wear on the Wasatch Back Relay!

Our 1st Eagle scout!!

Austin received his Eagle scout award on Sunday. We are really proud of all the work he did to achieve it.
He is such a happy kid and has such a cute smile!! I know he's gonna love that I said that!

Austin & his best friend Chase got their Eagle together.

Haha So funny. I made them do that!

Proud Parents

Yep, a true Eagle scout!

What a cute smile!

Austin gave his mentor pin to Lisa. She actually deserves the Eagle award!
Thanks Lisa for your endless hours of work!

Ron's parents got home from their 2 year mission to Thailand last week. It's so good to have them back. They are great examples to all of us!

Austin & Grandma

Austin & Grandpa!

Hanging out with Mom & Dad

Ruben just hanging around!

Lauren & Ruben

Dance Festival

Cullan

Nelson & his crazy hair......

2009-05-22T13:56:00.013-06:00

Hallelujah!!!

It's been almost 4 months since my last post.
I could say I've been too busy...but so has everyone, so no
excuses!

This post is not particularly in order of events.
It's mostly pictures of the events that have happened since February.
So enjoy!

Cullan got his appliance for his teeth a few days ago. I wanted to document how they look now to compare them with what they will look like when it's over.
Hopefully a lot better. Love you Cul, but your teeth are a disaster!

Braden & Kaylee

I got to watch these cute kiddies for a few hours. We made cupcakes and played outside.
They are a hoot.
Thanks Stacey for letting me have them.

What a heart stopper this one will be!

Kaylee helping stir the batter.

Braden then proceeded to take the camera and take some pictures of his own.

Thanks Braden!!

Our trip to Florida!!

Lauren, Cullan & Ron on the plane.

Behind us is our hotel the 1st night.

At the hotel...getting ready to go to the pool.

Ron chillin at the pool!

Isn't she cute!!

The Beach!!

Busch Gardens!!

The master bedroom at the Villa that we stayed at.

It was a 3 bedroom, 1600 sqft condo.

Seaworld!!!

The Orlando LDS Temple

My birthday dinner-Icecream cake!

The plane ride home. All tuckered out!!

Me & my 3 best friends!

We miss Judy, who got released a few weeks ago.

Conference weekend Kristin, Mike & family came to visit. We got together with our old friend Liz for dinner Saturday night. We had a blast!

Philippa came from Sweden to spend 10 days with us.

She & Lauren had a blast.

We took her to Temple Square in Salt Lake

Happy Birthday Nelson!

2009-02-05T10:00:00.010-07:00

Nelson turned 11 yesterday!

We had his Parent/Teacher conference yesterday also. He loves his teacher Mrs. Kaylor and loves being in a 5th/6th grade split class.

His teacher told us that he is the perfect student; loves to learn, works hard, helps others in the class, is very smart in every subject and is nice to everyone.

Nelson has a great personality. He's not easily embarrassed, loves to joke around, likes to be the center of everything, but also likes to see everyone else do well.

He is playing indoor soccer and he's the goalie. He is awesome to watch. He can stop almost anything and is not afraid of the ball.

Monday night we took him bowling at Fat Cats.
Paul, Laura, Parker & Autumn met us there.
We ate Costa Vida and had a great time!

Parker was scared to bowl at first but after Paul showed him what to do, he quickly got the hang of it.

Nelson got 'The tale of Despereaux' from Paul & Laura for his birthday. He has been big into reading lately and always has a book in hand.

Yesterday on his Birthday I took him and his friends to lunch at 'Pizza Factory'.

What was I thinking???
8 boys!

They really were well behaved though. We even had an older lady stop on her way out and tell me what well behaved young men I had with me!
What a compliment.

A BUNNY!!!

Cullan has been wanting a bunny for awhile now. He was hoping for his birthday in June he could get one; so I have been looking.

Well I found one; and I had to get it right away...and the best part was, it was free!
So Nelson got a Bunny for his birthday...hehe

She is so cute and just loves to explore the house. Her favorite hiding spot is behind the TV.

The boys have not come up with a name yet though. They have spouted a few out like; freebird, thumper, jumper, fluffy...but nothing seems to stick yet.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I think we'll keep her though.....unless we decide we'd like some Rabbit stew!!! hehe

Christmas

2009-01-26T13:06:00.017-07:00

This is a really late post but I still wanted to give an update on Christmas.
We went to Ca. this year and had a blast. My whole family was there except Angie and John & families. We missed them!

We spent our time going caroling, making food, EATING food, going to the L.A. Zoo, Castle Park, having baby showers for Trena and Stella and playing the Helicopter game.

The Great Dalmuti became our new favorite game. Much to my chagrin, we stayed up late every night playing it. I love the game...just not staying up late!

If you didn't receive a Christmas card from us...here it is!

Christmas at the Greenwoods

Ron & his Brother Keith at the Greenwood family party.

I think this picture is great...they both have the same smile and if you know the Greenwood boys..all 9 of them look eerily similar.

Cullan on the start of our drive to Ca.

My niece Melyssa!

Andrew & Trena chillin at the house.

Ron, Paul, Andrew, Mark

& Michael.

Wednesday night the 'boys' went to play basketball at the church.

All the cousins were loving Isabella's new laptop.

Here we are getting ready to go out caroling; the kids favorite part.

Stella & Trena's baby shower at Olive Garden

Yep, The Great Dalmuti....here we are playing it.

And here is the internet Cafe.

There were 5 laptops and at any given time, they were ALL taken!

Hannah at the L.A. Zoo

Castle Park!

Isabella & Cullan

Austin & Lauren

Me & Lauren

We finally painted!

We have lived in our house for 12 years and finally painted the family room on Saturday!

We decided at about 3 in the afternoon and got it all cleaned, taped and painted by 9 that night...I was exhausted.

I think it looks great.
Now it will match our new clock from Keith & Tamara-which we LOVE!

Christmas Party!

2008-12-09T15:25:00.016-07:00

Ron's work Christmas party was Friday night at The Zermatt Resort in Midway.

We got there a little early so here we are checking out our hotel room.

Jacquie & I

Ron & Greg(Jacquie's husband) have worked at 2 different companies together and are in our ward. We figured out this was our 6th Christmas party together.

Devon, Ashlie, Angie, Gary, Me, Ron, Greg, Jacquie and our dealer Steve.

I have to admit this had to be my favorite work Christmas party. It was actually fun!
We gambled, we drank(lemonade) and we ate!
What more could you ask for?
I ate 7 cream puffs in about 5 minutes. YUM!!

Ron's group at work is a lot of fun. Here we are playing Blackjack. I think we took over that table all night.
Ron & I stayed overnight and went for a run together the next morning.
Then we drove into Park City and did some Christmas shopping.

Our Christmas photo!

I figured we couldn't get a good one so why not do a goofy one!

Lauren & I waiting to take our family photo

Thanksgiving

Lauren & Ash after eating!

The Cabin

The kids always come up with something funny at the cabin.
This time is was 'the fat people'.
They stuffed pillows in their clothes and tried to exercise.
Very funny!

Lauren & Ashley in their fatter days!

Lauren, Me & Ashley

The girls got together & went to the movies and dinner after the cabin.

Mem, Shaylyn, Lauren, Me and Ashley

Our annual tradition

Savior of the World

Run, Baby Run!

2008-11-21T14:38:00.007-07:00

Last night we had Stake Young Women in Excellence. I love my calling, until we have a big event like this...kind of stressful.

The young women had ward display tables with the things they had accomplished over the last year. As a Stake Young Women's Presidency we decided to have our own table and display our things. We all brought our Trek paraphernalia and then whatever else we wanted to display.

I brought my running shoes.

My husband was wandering the tables and came upon one.

He looked at the paper attached to some running shoes and said that he thought "Wow, 2047 miles? I've never run that many in 1 year..I wonder which Young Woman ran that many miles?....I'll find out and go talk to her" Then he looked at the table heading...it said 'Stake Young Women's Presidency'.

It was then he realized that the shoes were mine!

It's nice to know I can still impress my husband after 18 years.

So you think you can dance?

The high school had a competition for the fall clubs....at an assembly the teams danced for the school.
They had a guest judge...Chelsea Hightower who was on 'So you think you can dance' last season and made it to the top 5. She is in our stake and was on our youth committee 2 years ago.

The girls soccer team had a great time...here is their video. It's pretty fuzzy.

Lauren is the one on the right that does the cartwheel toward the end.

Halloween

2008-11-07T12:33:00.009-07:00

The Golden Broomstick Award!

About a month ago Ron & I got an invitation in the mail from the Grand Witches Council to participate in a quest for the Golden Broomstick. We were a little leery at first...ok the whole time. But we replied to the email address and said we would go.

First of all Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I love the candy and all but honestly if you know me, I have candy at my house every day of the year!

But this...this was my kind of Halloween party....no dressing up and it was sooo much fun.

Everyone who had been invited was to meet at the Stake center the night of the party and told to dress warm and bring a map and a flashlight.

Our team consisted of Darrin & Joy Henry and Ted & Joanna Meacham
What a HOOT!!

So basically it was an amazing race though out Utah county.

Our first clue led us to Maceys pumpkin patch where we had to find the pumpkin with our team color on it...red. We searched for at least 15 minutes through the pumpkins. We had random shoppers looking for our pumpkin too.

Thanks random shoppers, since one of you found our pumpkin.

The clue in the pumpkin led us next to Blockbuster and we had to find a particular movie whose phrase none of us knew.....so we used phone-a-friend and found out it was a 'Friday the 13th' movie.

When we found the correct movie the salesperson then gave us the next clue and off we were.

Darrin holding the bone from Blockbuster.

Joy & I at Costco

Our next clue took us to Costco in Lehi where we were told to buy a pizza and drinks for everyone (there was even money to buy it with).

Since it was Friday night Darrin called ahead and ordered a pizza so it would be ready when we got there. I have never eaten so fast in my life.

We couldn't get the next clue until we showed the membership desk our empty pizza box.

Here we are stuffing our faces!

Next we headed to the PG cemetery. There was elaborate decoding that had to be done at the Veteran's Memorial Plaque. That one took us awhile(good thing we had our flashlights).

On we went to Hart's to get a drink...no we weren't thirsty; that's what the next clue told us to do. The Clerk gave us the next clue(thanks Jen).

This had to be the funnest part.

All of us had to play DDR(Dance Dance Revolution) at the arcade in the University Mall. Once we had all passed the level we got our next clue. We ran into one of the other teams while we were there.

Joy & Darrin rippin' up the floor

Out final clue took us to Noah's Place back in Pleasant Grove.
We ran up the stairs to 'our' room, entered in the code and 'low and behold' we were the 1st ones back!

We had won the coveted Golden Broomstick!!!

Here is our team before everyone else got back....

Joanna & Ted lounging waiting for the other teams...we were soooo far ahead!!

There was food, games and movies for us to enjoy afterwards with everyone.

So I just want to give a big SHOUT OUT to WENDY for planning such an awesome event!

Our team had a blast....you know with Darrin on your team it's going to be competitive and fun!

I think this should be a yearly tradition.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-10-27T14:39:00.023-06:00

Happy Anniversary!

18 Years!!

Oct. 25th

I know everyone is cracking up at this picture. I can't believe we ever looked like this. This was taken 6 months after we were married....18 years ago!
As Angie has mentioned....look at the BOW!!
Seriously, what was I thinking?

This was actually while we were dating. Back in the good old days of Liberty Square.

Here we are going on a double date with my roommate Angela and my home teacher Joe.

And here we are on our anniversary this year. We went to the BYU game...
Then we went to dinner later that night at our favorite Thai place.

Please tell me we look as young as we used to.
I am so lucky to be married to such an understanding, patient and not to mention good-looking man!

Lauren's Birthday Weekend

2008-10-24T15:14:00.009-06:00

At the airport

So when we flew into San Diego we got our rental car(a PT cruiser) and drove straight to Newport Beach(well we ate first-at my favorite Mexican restaurant)

The beach was beautiful. It was about 75 degrees and perfect...mostly because there weren't many people there.

We laid out for a few hours....with no towels, because we forgot to bring some.

There were birds though. We started feeding them goldfish crackers and then we instantly got attacked. I thought I was in the movie 'The Birds'.

Friday night we went and saw 'Eagle Eye'.

Here is Lauren waking up on the morning of her birthday.
Our hotel was nice...the Hilton in Costa Mesa.

We decided to go shopping on her birthday.
We went to the South Coast Plaza...

Later that night we met my family on the beach and had a hotdog roast and sang Happy Birthday to Lauren.

Hannah made perfect marshmallows for my s'mores.

My brother Paul and his daughter Haylee.

Mom, Sydney and Me.

Lauren

Sydney stole my camera and took some good photos. This was a self portrait.

After we left the beach Lauren & I drove around looking for a Dairy Queen because she really wanted an icecream cake for her birthday. We found one and brought it back to the hotel to eat. After we ate our fill we went down to the hot tub and hung out for an hour or so.

We put the cake in the fridge/freezer in the hotel room and the next morning it had melted all over. I had to clean the whole fridge!

We got ready for church and drove to Riverside for my families Stake Conference. It was good to see some old acquaintances.

We had dinner with my family and just hung out watching the Red Sox lose. Bummer!

On Monday we decided to go to Universal Studios. I haven't been there for 19 years.

Here is Lauren wearing her 4D glasses getting ready to go in the Shrek 4D movie.

These are the long escalators going from the upper and lower lots. There are 4 of them in a row and Lauren and I decided to run up the steps instead. There are over 400 of them. We did this 3 times throughout the course of the day. My thighs were BURNING!!!

Jaws!

Lauren and Dora! We did it!

You all know I secretly want to be a football star. So here was my chance.

We flew out Tuesday afternoon and got home that evening.
I know I had a good time, I hope Lauren did too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!

2008-10-15T12:38:00.005-06:00

Happy 17th Lauren!

Lauren got her present today. Yah, it's not really her Birthday until Saturday but we had to give it to her early.

She looks a little confused.
She kept reading the paper; not really knowing what it said.

Her & I are flying to Ca. for the weekend for her birthday and hanging out at the beach!
We got a hotel for a few nights and then we'll go stay with my parents for a couple nights.
We plan on going to Knotts(or Disneyland, we haven't decided)eating, shopping, laying out, eating some more and being lazy.
We'll definitely post pictures of all the fun things we do.

Baby Autumn is getting bigger. She is so adorable!

And big brother Parker likes to have his picture taken. He likes to TAKE the pictures even more.

Here is the snow we got on Sunday. I couldn't believe it!
Now you see why I'm going to the Beach?
Every year about this time I tell Ron I want to move. I absolutely hate the cold!

Andrew, Trena & Jordan were here with us for the weekend. Andrew & I went to the BYU game on Sat. while Trena visited with Laura and got to see Autumn.
We had a fun time with them and Jordan & Parker had a great time playing.

St. George weekend

2008-10-07T09:09:00.010-06:00

Another St George.......
14 consecutive and going strong.

Ron was 24th overall-out of 6,000 runners; that's pretty good!

Yah!! Lauren got to come with us this year. It's been 3 years since she came.....you can see she is thrilled.

Yep Spongebob!

He deserves a massage after that awful run. Rain and head wind the whole way.

Homecoming!

Lauren & BJ went to homecoming last weekend.
I love BJ's hot pink tie!(it goes perfectly with Lauren's shoes!)

Aren't they so cute??!!!

Cullan playing flag football.
He's the center....don't they normally have someone who weighs more than 40lbs be the center??!

It's Autumn Time!!

2008-09-18T14:38:00.003-06:00

Yeah Autumn is here!
My newest Niece was born this morning at 10:18. She weighed 7lbs 15oz. She is so cute!

Parker stayed over night with us since Laura was being induced at 6am. From the time the Dr. broke Laura's water to when Autumn was born it was only 2 1/2 hours. She was anxious!

We took Parker to the hospital to visit his new sister and he just kept kissing her. I guess he likes her!

Not even 2 hours old.

Mom, Dad, Laura, Autumn, Parker and me

The whole family!

Parker likes to copy Autumn

2008-09-10T16:12:00.003-06:00

Football, Football, Football!

I like all sports...well, with the exception of Golf.
But Football is my all-time favorite. Sadly I could watch it all day.
My brother Mark used to have all his friends over to play football in our front yard back in Ma.

Yep, you guessed it...I played too. I'm talking tackle football and I was 15 or 16......I loved it! I was the only girl.....see why I played????

Laura & I pride ourselves on being able to throw a perfect spiral.

My favorite time of the year.

Yep the days are getting shorter and its getting colder. As I write this it's 71. That's the high for the day. I love it!

So I got my BYU season tickets a few weeks ago in the mail and was so excited. I have 2 tickets so I get to take one of the kids each time I go. Austin usually wants the night game but there aren't any this year so he went to the one last week with me that was later in the afternoon. Thanks to Paul not being able to go, Laura had an extra seat so Nelson got to come too.

It was so fun to go with Laura & Parker and see Parker get so excited at everything around him. He knows the WHOLE cougar fight song! It is hilarious.

Max Hall (BYU quarterback- in case you didn't know)and Dennis Pitta(Tight End) were at our PG football game 2 weeks ago.

Nope, no picture, but it was kind of cool that they were there.

BYU/UCLA game this weekend.

Next week my sister Laura is having her baby so my parents and my brother Mark will be here in town. It will be fun to have them here and I'm so excited to see my new niece Autumn.

I'll probably take Mark to the BYU/Wyoming game with me...that will be fun.

We had a few soccer games this week (understatement)

Dinner with my Homeys

Dianna, Rachelle, Elena, Janice, Me & Annette

Last weekend was Stake Conference and we all got to see each other after weeks of being apart after Trek.
We decided that we all needed to get together for dinner.

These women are a blast! We had a great time laughing and catching up on each others lives at Pizza Factory last night.

Mindi came from a Volleyball game and joined us.

Kim's Troopers!

2008-08-25T13:52:00.008-06:00

Nelson's Webelos leader, Kim Shaw, passed away last week in a terrible car accident.

It was a shock to all and Nelson had a hard time with it. She was such an awesome leader and treated the boys like they were her own. Nelson loved going over to the Shaw's house every Tuesday night just to see what fun thing they would do next. He hated missing scouts. We are all going to miss her a lot.

This was at Kim's viewing.
I thought Nelson was doing ok until we went up to her casket. Then he started bawling. I think it finally hit him that it was real. Kim's sister came and put her arm around Nelson & Alex and said "You must be Kim's Pooper Trooper's. She talked about you guys all the time." This of course made them cry even more, but it was such a sweet thing for her sister to say to let them know that Kim loved them so much.

They had the Webelos boys wear their uniforms and greet people. It was such a sad thing to see these 5 boys in the hallway crying.

At her funeral the next day the boys wore their uniforms again and greeted people going into the chapel.

I know those boys won't be the same for having known Kim. She was always happy and truly loved them and enjoyed her calling more than anyone I know.

Happier Days!

Some of the women in our ward went to the movies a few weeks ago. We saw Mamma Mia! It is hilarious. Or maybe just going with 7 women is hilarious.
I know you are all thinking...why are Wendy & Jill holding hands?
Here's the real and true story. Wendy was trying to hide from the camera so I was pushing her head forward so she couldn't hide. Then she grabbed my hand and pushed it down. 'Click'! That's when the guy took the picture. Wendy told me to erase it. After the movie Wendy turned to me and said "Ok now I REALLY want you to erase it!
You'll have to see the movie to know why she was so emphatic about it!

Even Happier Days!!

If you recognize this man then you know why I can't even look at him without laughing.

I bought tickets months ago to see Brian Regan at Thanksgiving point. We went last Friday night. I took Austin & Nelson. Austin can impersonate him perfectly.

We waited 2 hours for the show to start.
He is hilarious! If you ever get the chance to see Brian live, take it! The boys yell at each other from the sidelines at soccer games.
"What's the score?"
" FREE SNOW CONE!"
You can check it out on youtube to see what I'm talking about.

And Yes, school has started. Yipee!!

I'm pretty sure the summer was only a month long. This is the 1st summer I can honestly say was not long enough! I need more time with my kids. Where did it go?

Lauren made the high school soccer team again. This year Varsity.
Nelson & Cullan are both playing Competition soccer this year for the 1st time.
And Austin is on the high school swim team which will start meets soon. What are we thinking?

Lyle's Wedding & Marta's leaving

2008-08-08T14:46:00.004-06:00

Marta has left us.

A month sure went by quickly. Before Marta came we were worried that a month would be long. Now we know that it's not long enough!

Sunday morning we said goodbye to her & all the Spanish students. It was a sad day. We are going to miss her a lot. Driving home we felt like we were missing a child and it's kind of felt like that all week. I guess I never thought that we would feel so comfortable with someone we didn't know. She certainly changed that. When we asked her if she missed her family she said "a little; I will miss you more"

Lauren & Marta definitely hit it off. They went shopping numerous times and just hung out with Lauren's friends and even camped in the backyard. I'm sure Lauren was glad to finally have a 'sister'!

Here we are the morning she left.

The night before she left, her, BJ and Lauren hung out after our stake dance taking pictures and being goofy.

Lauren, Ally & Jenna were liking the spanish boys.

Here they are with Mario & Javier

Lyle's Wedding!

Yes, Lyle finally got married.

Zaret & Lyle coming out of the Temple

All 9 of the brothers. Don't they all look alike? Weird!

And all 8 of the sisters-in-law. Don't we all look alike? Haha

At the reception that night Nelson caught the Garter. 10 is kind of young to be getting married next right? Since Lyle waited to get married until he was 30 he has no single friends. The oldest single male waiting to catch the garter was 14.

Ok so when the Greenwood girls get together we can get a little goofy.

If you have the right music playing we all love to dance. And we make up actions to the words of songs. It actually gets quite hilarious. You can check out a video of us dancing on Ashleys blog.

More dancing pictures. Lauren & Ashley sure are belting away.

Trek!

2008-07-27T19:08:00.011-06:00

Well Trek has come and gone and it was so amazing! Here we are before we left that morning all pretty and clean.
Wait till you see the after pictures!

Lauren & Marta!

Some crazy kids from our ward!

Here are some of us all comfy in the car on the way up. The kids had to ride a bus and we got to take our car because they needed it as an 'ambulance'.

The first rest stop.
The Stake YW Presidency
Me, Annette, Judy & Dianna

Awww Lauren & BJ.
What cute pioneers!

Bishop & Russ discussing something very important I'm sure...like maybe what restaurant we are stopping at on the way up!

At Martin's Cove

I'm pretty sure the pioneers had sunglasses & earrings!

Marta at the Martin's Cove visitors center

Lauren & Trevor eating breakfast

Marta & her family crossing the Sweetwater river

Austin with the green hat!

Ron crossing the Sweetwater alone

Some of the Young men carried the Young Women across the Sweetwater.
Ron wanted to carry me but I refused. How mean am I?

After the river crossing there are these monuments to the 4 Young Men that helped carry the pioneers across in the ice and cold. They are beautiful!

Me, Annette & Dianna

One of the nights we had square dancing. All of the kids were tired from walking but that didn't stop them from having a good time.

Yep even BJ, Lauren & I danced!

Do-Sa-Do
Marta!

On the trail again!

Rachelle, Janice, Me & Alena

Lauren at a fireside

Austin relaxing in the cart with Jamie

Everyone from our ward that went on the Trek

Our whole Stake had 320 people go, 240 youth!

Yep, here's the after picture.
Notice the pants underneath my skirt.
The skirt came off shortly after the picture was taken

Taylor and Bishop enjoying the food the rescue party brought!

It was SOOO good!

The last night after the fireside.
I have completely ditched the pioneer attire

I am almost positive the pioneers rooted for the Cowboys back then!

Nate & Lauren at the Solo fireside the last morning

The Trek was such an amazing experience.
Even with all the hard work and planning I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Just give me a few years to recuperate.

Oh I almost forgot my lip! On the last morning I woke up with a huge bottom lip! (Sorry no pictures Wendy) I guess it was from the wind & Sun; about 20 other women had the same thing, but I have to say mine took the cake. It went away quick with a little ice & ibuprofen but Lisa nicknamed me Angelina Jolie. It was free collagen; I should have been happy but it was hideous!

Thanks so much to Laura & Paul, Mem and Amy for watching Nelson & Cullan while we were gone. It was a huge help!!

Anyone wanting to see more pictures can probably go to Annette's blog that is linked on mine.

Welcome to America!

2008-07-15T13:42:00.006-06:00

Marta our exchange student from Spain came last week.

I think we were all nervous to meet her because none of us speak Spanish. She speaks some English, way better than I would speak Spanish if I went to Spain. In the week that she has been here she has gotten even better. Ron is the funniest to see talk to her. He speaks REALLY loud....like she's deaf. He is doing better now and we all actually communicate really well. She is so fun and fits into our family perfectly.

She brought us gifts from Spain. The fan I am holding is one of them. It's beautiful and I'm getting better at opening it as fast as she does.

Nelson & Cullan really like Marta. She is great to play games with them. She brought them Hats from Spain...and they love them!

Here we are at the Opening Social for all 19 students. Nelson is wearing the shirt that Marta brought him.

Here is Victor showing Nelson on his shirt where the running of the bulls is. We never knew it was so far. Victor is staying with a family right around the corner from us. He is fun!

Some of the students from Spain

Our family with Marta

This was before church on Sunday. None of the students from Spain are LDS and she was a little nervous to go to church with us. But she had an awesome time; especially with Darrin Henry as her Sunday School teacher. What a Hoot!

After church we had Paul, Laura and Parker over to meet Marta and eat.

Swim Meet

On Saturday we had another swim meet. Ron got this cool picture of Austin diving off the blocks!

Here is Nelson getting ready to dive

Cullan swimming the breaststroke

Friday night we went with 2 other families in our ward that have exchange students to the canyon for dinner

Wow a spanish game -UNO!! Haha!

Marta told us on the way home that in Spain they never have picnics. She also played Ultimate frisbee, horseshoes and baseball....3 things she has never done before.

Austin climbing a tree in the canyon

Chuchee Cheese(thats what Parker calls him)

Parker had a blast at Chuck E. Cheese on Thursday. He just ran around like crazy finding all the pictures of Chuck E. Cheese and yelling "Chuchee Cheese"

July 4th!

2008-07-08T14:05:00.003-06:00

We had a fun busy weekend for the 4th. We started out Thursday having a swim meet in Spanish fork. It was sooo long. It started at 7am and we left at 12:30 and it still was not over. The boys did well; Nelson even shaved 3 seconds from his breaststroke time.

My new best friend Maddie. I'm not sure why but she likes hanging out with me. It's probably only because my purse is always full of candy. She's so cute though, who cares.

Nelson

On the 4th Cullan had a 3v3 soccer tournament in Provo. Ron was so nice to take him down there and stay for all 3 games.

Cullan & his coach

The boys trying to stay cool in the shade.

That night we had a BBQ at our house with family & friends.

Kristin, BJ, Lauren & Nathan

Huddled around the fireworks

We usually watch the fireworks from our neighbors house around the corner, but this year the fireworks were moved because of construction at the high school and we thought that we might be able to see them from our house....wrong!

At least the boys got to enjoy their own.

Family Reunion

The Greenwood family reunion was held Saturday in Alpine. It's good to see cousins and get reacquainted with everyone.

Ron's cousin's wife Heather is trying to recruit me to run the Wasatch Back Relay next year; but as you can see I'd rather eat icecream!

Marci, Austin & Tamara

Loungin' in Keith & Tamara's backyard after the reunion.

Busy making plans for Lyle's wedding.

2008-06-30T14:55:00.015-06:00

Cullan's Baptism!

Cullan was Baptized yesterday June 29th by his Dad.

We wish more family could have been with us but we know everyone lives so far away. We were thinking of you all though.

Isn't he a handsome boy?

Mom, Cullan & Dad

Cullan and his Dad

Cullan & Mom

Cullan and his friend Brooks were born on the same day; they also got to be baptized on the same day. They thought this was pretty cool!

After the Baptism we visited with family & friends. This is Laura & Paul visiting with our Bishop. His parents were their Mission Presidents in Ohio. It looks like he's telling them to take a hike.......

Cullan with his assortment of treats

We were so happy to have Roger & Marci come for the baptism from Ohio/Colorado. These are their girls...April, Sydney & Kelsey. Caleb came too but we didn't get a picture of him.

Lauren, Ashley, Kristin & Marci

The 3 Musketeers! (and Nelson's eyeball in the right corner...he kept trying to get in their pictures).

Tada! Yes that is Austin! We bleached his hair on Friday and no one knew who he was all weekend......people were wondering who that kid with blond hair was passing the sacrament or sitting next to me at the Baptism.....we call him Goldilocks.

Parker likes to copy the boys; I had to run & grab my camera when he got down on the floor like this....too cute!

Martin's Cove

Ron, President Henry, President Walker & Steve Johnson went up to Martin's Cove Friday & Saturday to scout out the logistics for the Trek in 3 weeks. Ron and Steve rode their mountain bikes along the trail about 30 miles. Looking at this picture reminds me of what we did 4 years ago. It's almost worse doing it again because now I know what I'm getting myself into! Look how desolate and LONG it looks behind him!

Ron setting up camp Friday night.

President Walker & President Henry our fearless leaders!

2008-06-28T11:01:00.004-06:00

77 out of 200! Pathetic

Copy the list below and bold all of the ones you have done.

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby’s diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said “I love you” and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don’t
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check ...but it wasn't my fault!!
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph (160 on a motorcycle)
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name...when I got married
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one...does miniature golf count?
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter

The Past Week and a half

2008-06-23T10:43:00.012-06:00

Nelson's baseball team got invited to the Orem Owlz season opener. When the Owlz player was called out to the field our team player who played that same position got to run out with him. Nelson played 2nd base and was excited because he and the 2nd base Owlz player, Ivan Contreras, were the same number; # 1!

The Mariner Team(Nelson is 4th from the right)

I confess, I did not stay for the whole game, that was the night of the Celtics/Lakers game. The final game! Glad I didn't miss it!

Here are Nelson and I watching the game on Sunday. Sweet Beanie from Michael! Check out the Celtics earrings!

The next week was spent doing Strawberry Days activities. Here we are at the pool! All we do is eat!

The neighborhood boys in their jammers!

Yes and on Wednesday we went to the Carnival. What an experience. I just like to eat the Strawberries & Cream...Yum!

Austin is in the middle in the blue shirt- His friend Chase is to the left and Riley to the right.
Those carnival rides freak me out! I am convinced that if I went on them, I would be the one you hear about in the papers that died because the ride broke!

Parker came over to hang out on Thursday. He is so funny to watch run around.

He was really studying this I Spy book intently.

That night we got to work at the Hamburger stand at the rodeo. Some people cringe when I tell them I am doing that, but I LOVE it! First of all, I get all the hamburgers, hotdogs, nachos and strawberries & cream that I can eat. 2nd, I get to people-watch;
which is my favorite activity.

Here is Ron & Cullan working a window(my window). I always get there early so I can get a window. I do NOT want to be stuck flipping burgers on the grill!

CLOVER POWER

2008-06-13T11:25:00.008-06:00

CELTICS ALL THE WAY!

Bird & Magic

Last night's Celtics/Lakers game was awesome! I have converted all of my children and we had a crowd at our house watching the game. Ron's brother Eldon and my nephew Andrew stopped by and stayed and watched the 4th quarter with us. Lauren got home from work at halftime and her friend BJ came and watched the game with us. Good thing he likes the Celtics. Nelson's friend Clain was also here. Yep, he's a Celtics fan too.

I have to admit, in the beginning I was getting nervous. Down by 24 points and it didn't get any better until the end of the 3rd quarter when the Celtics slowly made their way back. I am a bit superstitious and have to wear Celtics gear when I watch. Last night I had my Bird jersey on and I'm pretty sure thats what did it...haha :)

I used to love to watch Larry Bird play back in the 80's. His behind-the-back passes were amazing. I have to admit though that I had a huge crush on Danny Ainge back then. I met him at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield(where I lived) when I was 16 and he signed my K-swiss sneaker. I even named one of my stuffed animal Frogs 'Ainge' back in the day. I still have it but I can't find the sneakers...what a bummer!

Now days my favorite player is Ray Allen. The 3 point man.

So anyway, it was a good game.....what a comeback.

Cullan

2008-06-06T11:20:00.011-06:00

My Baby is 8!

Cullan turned 8 on Tuesday!

How did he get to be 8 without me realizing it? I swear this is what he looked like yesterday! (Yes the kids liked to dress him up in a doo-rag)

See the carpet he is on? I have Cullan to thank for new carpet. When he was a baby he spit up, well threw up, on everything. In huge amounts! The carpet did not survive. I would try to put blankets down so he wouldn't get it on the carpet but he was a mover and a shaker and never stayed in one place. Once he started walking the reflux stopped thank goodness. He always likes to hear stories of how he threw up on people.

This is when Cullan was 7 months old. He gave us quite a scare. I woke up early to go running and as I walked past his room I heard this horrible wheezing sound. I went in to check on him and he could barely breathe. He was swollen and had these red bumps all over him. We called our neighbor and good friend Bel who is a nurse and she told us to get him to the hospital right away. Come to find out he is allergic to Penicillin.

Our children get to have friend birthday parties when they are 5, 8, 12 and 16 so this was a big year for Cullan. Here are the friends he invited to his party.

Parker came too!

We had pizza and cake before we took off to Boondocks to play all day.

Trying to keep track of 9 young boys(all wanting to go different directions) was a challenge. I'm glad Ron decided to come with us at the last minute.

Cullan with his good friend Brooks. They were born on the same day!

Here they are ready to race!

Here's Ron being competitive, which usually only happens with his brothers. He loved trying to pass everyone on the track.

A quick family party!

Later that night Cullan & Nelson both had baseball games. Nelson got the game ball(he's holding it). He made a double play at 2nd base and also chased a guy down and tagged him out. After that I heard a kid on the team ask the coach if he could play 2nd base. The coach said "No way. Nelson just made 2 awesome plays at 2nd, no way am I taking him out." Nelson was pretty excited to get the game ball.

Last Day of School!!

2008-05-30T10:38:00.004-06:00

The last day of school!

Nelson and his Teacher Mrs N. She was so awesome! We are really going to miss her.

Tomorrow is her Birthday so we brought a cake and celebrated with her.

Nelson's class.

His class had so much fun together. They all got along really well. Of course Nelson had a new girlfriend every month.

I think right now it's Ally who lives right down the street-convenient!

Cullan and his teacher Mrs. Perry. He was embarassed to be hugging his teacher!

Summer vacation is never long enough for me. We have so much to do and not enough time to do it all.

Lauren and Austin are working at the pool-teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding.

We have soccer, swim team, EFY, girls camp, scout camp, Pioneer trek, Cullan's Baptism, an exchange student coming from spain for a month, Lyle's wedding, the triathlon, a few races thrown in there and in between I would actually like to relax at the pool.

Ahhhhh Summer Vacation!

MORP

2008-05-21T12:56:00.004-06:00

Lauren went to Morp this past weekend. She asked her friend Tyler.

These 'day-dates' are new to me. I think it must be a Utah thing because I went to dances in both Ma. & Ca. and I had never heard of this until I moved here. They definitely had a great time though.

Early Saturday morning the girls kidnapped the boys and took them to Kneaders. They have this awesome all-you-can-eat french toast. What boy could resist that? After that they went to a park and had paint wars(as evidenced by the paint covered clothes.) Lauren came home covered in paint. It was in her hair, all over her face and on her feet. Thank goodness she remembered to put towels down in the car so the paint didn't get all over it. She said it was so much fun. Later that night they took the boys out to dinner and then went to the dance. I'm glad this dance was casual. Her outfit only cost 10 bucks!

Here's the whole group!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T11:18:00.021-06:00

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

My mother had 9 children! We were a handful growing up; I don't know how she survived. We are all grown now and the thing I most appreciate about my Mom is that she gave me 8 brothers and sisters who are my best friends. I'm sure when we were little she wondered if we'd ever stop punching and chasing each other.
Let me list a few of the things that I can remember we did to either hurt each other or ourselves.(sometimes we didn't need any help).

Kristin- Her jar of caterpillars fell and broke and she rushed to catch them and had to get stitches in her wrist.
Jill- I fell and hit my head on the coffee table(stitches right above my left eye)
Mark-Stitches in the head, courtesy of me and the sprinkler head that I swung at him.
Angie-I can't remember anything happening to her.(well maybe that Kindergarten/bathroom incident)
John-Getting hit by a car while running back across the street(by far the worst)
Paul-Almost cutting off his finger with the pruning shears.
Laura-Hospital stay for a weird white blood cell count thing.
Andrew & Michael-Too many to count: Burning their hands on the oven door at the same time, falling down the stairs in their walkers at the same time or being born 2 months early and being rushed back to the hospital because they stopped breathing.
These are just the ones I can remember...I'm sure there are things I never even knew about.
I remember a friend of mine when I was about 12 saying: "Wow if you were an only child, you'd be rich!" I'm so glad we weren't 'rich' and that I wasn't an only child. I would have missed out on so much.
Thanks Mom!

Here are all 9 children!

Here is the whole family-minus 3.

My mom's birthday last year at Newport Beach!

My mom's favorite restaurant(mine too)!

THE Beach House!

At the Newport Temple!

Catching my mom to take her picture is hard so I have to do it when she's busy.

Somethings I've learned from my mom:

Patience
Always dance in the rain
Serve others
It never rains in California
My love of reading
My love of the sun

Happy Mothers Day Mom! I love you!

A week at the Greenwoods

2008-05-05T13:20:00.015-06:00

I keep thinking of all these things I need to post and never do. Then by the time I'm ready to do it, 10 other things have happened that I need to post. I never feel caught up. So I'm just going to post a bunch of things we did this past week. Soccer, baseball, field trip, trek planning and more soccer.

Nelson has started baseball again. He loves it. He is especially excited because this year his coach is letting him pitch. He also tried catcher.
Cullan's favorite sport is soccer. He is quick and energetic and really plays his position well. He has a great kick and completely enjoys himself when he is playing. This is the 1st Saturday that I can remember that we had good weather out in Alpine for his game. There wasn't any wind! (Alpine is the Chicago of Utah) .

Nelson's class went on a fieldtrip to 'This is the Place' heritage park in Salt Lake on Friday. I got to go with them. It's really a neat place. We were there all day and it seemed to go by in a flash.(That's saying a lot for a 4 th grade fieldtrip!)

They got to experience what it was like back in the 1860's. Here you see Nelson with his nose on the wall and his arms held as high as he could get them behind him. This is what they had to do if they were acting up in class.
I think I will try this at home.

And here is Nelson with his favorite animal! A pig! Well Piglets. He would love to have one as a pet but he would love it more if he could eat it! He loves everything that comes from a pig. Bacon is his favorite food.
Lauren had soccer games Friday night and Saturday. Saturday's game they were 2 people short and had no subs. They were exhausted! They played really well and the other team was really frustrated that they couldn't score on them with less players. With about 5 minutes left in the game the other team did finally score, but Lauren's team did an awesome job of holding them for so long.

On Thursday the 'Family Committee' for our Pioneer Trek this summer met to organize the youth into families. It was a long day. We fasted and went to the Temple in the morning and then spent all afternoon putting the families together. It was so fun to see the families come together. I love the women I get to serve with. They are a blast!

Ok so this is me after all of that!

Oh and in between we watched the playoffs. Go Celtics, Go Jazz! That would be awesome if they were in the finals together! I would be torn.

California Dreamin'

2008-04-23T15:24:00.029-06:00

The start of all the fun!!

So on Monday we went to the beach. It was a little windy but everyone managed to get sunburned except me. It's taken 2 1/2 years but I've learned my lesson. Remicade+Me+Sun=really bad. Don't get me wrong..I still go sunbathing...but I've learned I need to use lots of sunscreen and tan gradually. The kids went boogy boarding and and saw seals and dolphins.

Look closely...a seal!

On Wednesday we went to Kembly's pool...thanks Kembly! The kids had a great time. They love to make up strange games and having Uncle Michael and Henry there made the games even more fun!

Disneyland!

On the tram into Disneyland!

Cullan & Nelson in their respective 'Letters'

Lauren & Ally- They called it 'Mormon night' at Disneyland(anyone remember when they used to have that?) The first person they saw when they got out of the car was their seminary teacher from highschool! Then we all randomly saw so many people from Utah it was scarey. Ally said " This is the most modest Disneyland I have ever seen!"

I hung with the little guys. I think we went on every possible ride we wanted to. The longest line we waited in was 20 minutes. This was the least crowded I have EVER seen Disneyland I think!

Another day in the sun! On Friday the kids wanted to go back to Disneyland but I was all Goofyed out so Michael so willingly took them. Cullan wanted to stay with me; so Laura, Parker, Cullan and I went shopping, visited Brandi and then laid out in the sun.

I love this picture of Parker. He would have slept outside at night if Laura had let him. He never wanted to be inside.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep I celebrated my
Birthday in Cali. One year older...not any wiser. Ron sent a card to my parents house since he couldn't be with us. Cute! It is also my nephew Adam's Birthday too! We had a big party together.

Nelson got me my favorite treat! Creme Horns!

Isabella

The trip home on Sunday was LONG!

Cullan got sick and we stopped twice on the side of the road because he thought he was going to lose it. I think he might have just been car sick. I know I was sick of the car!!!

It's always nice to get home safe and sound. Everytime I vow I will not make that drive again...next time I'm flying.

Loving the weather!

2008-04-12T20:07:00.003-06:00

We are in the land of orange groves and sunny skies! Yesterday morning when I went running(in Utah) it was 32 degrees and snowing; this morning it was 73! I was boiling!

We had quite a car full as we drove here to Ca yesterday. Lauren brought her friend Aly and Laura & Parker came with us also.

The first thing I love to do when we get off the freeway in Riverside is roll down my window and smell the Orange groves. It's actually a mixture of oranges and the beach. At least in my head it is.

We are spending the week here for Spring Break. We'll let you know all the exciting things we enjoy! Most especially the warm weather!

Grandpa Nielsen

2008-04-07T13:56:00.002-06:00

Ron's Grandpa Nielsen passed away 2 weeks ago.

We miss him but we are glad he was finally able to pass from this life and be reunited with his wife. He would have been 95 on April 11th. He had 46 grandchildren, 109 great-grandchildren and 1 great, great-grandson. He had an awesome memory and I can't believe that out of 109 great-grandchildren he could remember my children's names. He encouraged my children to prepare to go on a mission everytime he saw them.

Ron with his Grandpa

Lauren and I with some cousins. I love being with Ron's family. They are so fun. It was a big family reunion at the funeral. The Relief Society that prepared the meal after the funeral said that this was the biggest group, by far, that they had ever had.

The Pallbearers.

What a good looking family. Grandpa Nielsen had good genes!

Nelson & Cullan in front of the hearse.

Nelson

Cruisin'

2008-03-18T15:38:00.004-06:00

This is how we started our trip.

Our flight from Salt Lake was delayed almost 3 hours. An omen of things to come.

We got to JFK at 9 the next morning and spent all day trying to get on a flight. There had been cancellations the night before so all those people had to get their flights first. Needless to say we were the bottom of the totem pole and spent the night in the airport. I felt like a homeless person sleeping on the chairs. It was almost hilarious if we hadn't been so worried about getting to Tampa and missing our ship. We got to Tampa at 10am the next morning and went to the hotel(which we never got to sleep at) and they let us shower(after we went for a run). We immediately went to the port and boarded the ship.

This is me calling Michael trying to get info about standby's for our flight.

Our Cruise begins!!

Here we are in line to board the ship.

Here is our room!

The top deck with miniature golf and the track

Me eating! This is pretty much what I did the whole cruise. I'm not kidding!

Formal night!

Dave & Deby, Karyn and Brent

Us with our dinner table buddies. We got so lucky and had awesome people to eat with every night.

Chocolate melting cake!

This is by far my new favorite dessert. I had it every night! I now even have the recipe.

After formal night we went up on deck and just watched the water. The weather was so nice, we couldn't have asked for better!

Me waiting to go snorkeling

Our first day in Port was Grand Caymen. We went snorkeling. It was awesome. So many cool fish and blue water! Our guide picked up a stingray and had us touch it. They were all around us. After we got back in the boat we saw a shark. It went right in front of the boat. Good thing we didn't see it on the way out or I would NOT have snorkeled!

This is us after snorkeling. Ron calls himself whitey every time he sees this picture. Haha!

COZUMEL MEXICO

This is how blue the water was! It's amazing! It looks like a swimming pool!

Guy painted with metallic paint. He looked like a statue.

From the top of the ship into Cozumel

Our boat on the right; Bigger boat on left.......crazy!

Getting on the boat after a long day in Cozumel.
Ron went scuba diving and I went shopping. We are both certified, but I am chicken! I know, I know I should have gone. He said it was awesome.

Before dinner one of the nights.

Our head waiter Dio was from India. He was so fun. On the last night he teased me and told me they were out of Chocolate melting cake. He is in the middle in this picture.

Here are all the fun animals we had in our stateroom when we came back every night. They used my sunglasses the first night for the walrus, so I left them out every night so they could use them for a prop.

My favorite was the swans!

Here we are at our last breakfast. We were going to take a picture of me with an icecream cone but the machine was turned off that morning because everyone was leaving. I think I had 4 or 5 everyday!

Waiting for the shuttle to go get our car. Since we had such good luck getting to Tampa, we weren't going to be stuck waiting in the airport for a flight back to Salt Lake. The flights were all full on Sunday so we couldn't leave until Monday. We booked a hotel for 2 nights and tried getting to see my friend Kathie but it never worked out.

This is shot of us with our hotel in the background. It was right on Tampa Bay.

And right behind us in the water was this little turtle. How cute!

Sunday we went to Church in Tampa and then hung out at the hotel and the beach all day. What a beautiful sunset. What a way to end a vacation!

We walked on the beach at sunset. The weather was beautiful; if not for our kids I wouldn't want to go home.

A special thank you to Laura, Paul & Parker for taking care of our kids; especially since we had to stay a day long

2008-03-04T09:09:00.003-07:00

We haven't taken ANY pictures since Nelson's birthday last month. And I know we've been busy I just can't think of what we were doing. I look back over my calendar and there is the usual; piano, snowboarding, parent/teacher conferences, school storytelling contest, basketball, running, soccer, snow, snow and more snow! Oh and Valentines Day was in there too. But I have no pictures of any of it. So my excuse is that I have been getting ready for our trip. Trip you say? Yes, thanks to my brother Michael, who gave us buddy passes, and my sister Laura(and Paul) for watching our kids while we go, Ron and I are going on a cruise! We are really excited and counting down the days. Lauren is mad she can't go and says she hopes the boat sinks. Rude!

We also hope to visit my friend Kathie who lives in Florida.

So following the cruise I hope to have many wonderful pictures to show all of you. And I also hope to be tan!

Nelson's Birthday!

2008-02-11T17:02:00.001-07:00

Kelly tells me I need to blog more so I'm doing my best to make her happy.

Nelson turned 10 last week. He's such an easy going kid. He likes most anything so he is easy to buy for. He does have a few favorites though. He got a Dallas Cowboys football and watch.

Doesn't Lauren looked excited to have her brother Austin's arm around her?!!!

Our Sunday snowstorm!

I know you won't believe it but church was cancelled for us last Sunday because of the snow. Yes it was SuperBowl Sunday! The kids had an awesome time making their snowboard ramp bigger.

Everyone was out snowblowing!! What happened to snowshovels?? Seriously, we only got 7 inches!

They finally decided to make the ramp into a cave.

The Dress

2008-02-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here is Lauren ready for her date to Sweethearts!

This lavendar color looks so good with her hair color.

The fake smile picture

And here she is with her date Steve.

They had dinner at Tucanos and after the dance they went to one of the other dates' house and watched a movie. I think she had a good time.

Sweethearts!

2008-01-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Lauren was asked to 'Sweethearts' this week.

She found this on the doorstep Monday night.

Very pretty flowers Steve!

So she responded with a pizza sized cookie that said YES on it.

We had a fun time trying on dresses. We actually agreed on all of them! She picked out a really cute one but we aren't going to let you see the 'one' until the night of the dance.

She looks really good in yellow, we just couldn't find a style she liked.

We hope she has a good time with Steve!

Celtics Game!

2008-01-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

For Christmas I got Ron Jazz/Celtics tickets. I know you are all laughing because I'M the one who wants to see the Celtics, but Ron so graciously went along with my scheme. Of course the Celtics won, you had to ask? 104-98. It was a great game though; close all the way to the end!

Here we all are before the game at our house. From left to right; Garrett(Michael's friend; ok ours too!), my twin brothers Michael and Andrew, Trena(Andrew's wife), Jordan their son and me & Ron.

If you look closely you can see Paul Pierce at center court.

Andrew, Trena and Jordan all decked out in Celtics attire!

Andrew and his favorite sister! Haha

Our Christmas Activities!

2008-01-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas Everybody!!

Here are our children on Christmas eve in their new PJ's(well the bottoms for the boys)

Lauren and her new cell phone; it's such a bummer when you sit on your old one and crack it!

The boys and their Guitar Hero!!

Ok so I like the Guitar Hero too!

Cullan just had to take a bath to use his new Spiderman towel from Grandma & Grandpa Nelson

CHRISTMAS WITH THE GREENWOOD FAMILY!!!

This year was the Greenwood Christmas. Since Grandma & Grandpa Greenwood are on their mission in Thailand we got together at our house this year a few days after Christmas to exchange gifts, play games and eat.

Kristin, Ashley and Lauren

The 3 Musketeers!

We also got together and went to the cabin! The snow was perfect for sledding.

Ashley and Lauren singing and being goofy!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!!

2007-12-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

BIRTHDAY BOYS!!!

Michael celebrated his 25th Birthday here with us in Utah. The kids made a poster for him and we decorated the house. It's been fun having him live with us for a few months. Now he is off to greener pastures(and cuter girls) at BYU.
On Sunday we had dinner and cake & icecream for his birthday. Paul, Laura and Parker came. Man is he getting old....someone find him a wife!! haha

Ron celebrated the big '40' last week. He doesn't look that old. He says he feels that old though. We went to the movies in the afternoon and then out to dinner that night. I guess old age is getting to us, we are not that exciting.
Once again, here we have the kids at a hotel. Can you guess what they are doing? Hint, it starts with 'SpongeBob'! Ron's work party was at the Zermatt Resort in Midway this year and we decided to take the kids this time and stay overnight. They stayed in the room while we had a fun time downstairs at the party. We took them snowboarding the next day since we were so close to Park City.

Here we are with some friends from our ward at the party.

Starting Christmas out right!

2007-11-28T16:43:00.001-07:00

I know I just blogged yesterday but I just had to comment on our evening last night. If you have never been to the production of 'Savior of the World' put on by the Church, it is worth being put on hold for a half an hour to get tickets the 1st day they are sold. I saw it 3 years ago and have wanted to go back and take my family ever since. It is held in The Conference Center in Salt Lake and is such a wonderful play.

The play is about The Saviors Birth and His Ressurection. It's 2 hours long and the kids did a great job sitting for that long. They really paid attention and even Cullan understood it.

It made me remember what not just this 'season' is about, but what this life is about. It was a Great way to start out the Christmas Season!

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the theater so here we are waiting out in the lobby.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

2007-11-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Our family had such a good time this past week. We drove to California and spent Thanksgiving with my family. Everyone was there! It was amazing. We were constantly busy and all the kids had fun getting reaquainted with their cousins. Monday we took the kids to the park and then to Chuck E. Cheese for Family Home Evening.

Cousins at the park.

Cousins keeping cool!!

Trying to get Isaiah to hug me!!!

Parker on his 1st horsey ride. Giddyup!!

Laura choreographed a dance for the kids to perform on Thanksgiving. They danced to a song from High School Musical. They were so proud of themselves. This was only 8 of the 22 grandkids.

On Saturday night we all went to downtown Riverside to see the lights on the Mission Inn. It was crazy trying to keep everyone together.

On Sunday John & Emily blessed baby Kaylee. It was nice to be able to be there for that.

The whole crew minus Trena, Jordan, Cory, Jamal and Michael.

Cullan and his cousins Isaiah and Adam

Nelson and his twin seperated at birth, Hannah

Our Family!!

Mom's 60th Birthday!!

2007-11-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

I don't have anything new to blog right now so I decided to tell about my mom's 60th birthday last May. It definitely deserves some blogging.

All 8 daughters(sisters and sisters-in-law) plus my daughter Lauren, surprised my Mom and took her to her favorite Beach House for her Birthday. It was so fun. The best part of it was how suprised she was. Dad did a good job of keeping the secret and packing Mom's things for the weekend.

Here's how it played out. Lauren and I & Laura and Parker drove down from Utah(everyone else was already there). The next day my Dad brought my Mom down to the beach for dinner for her birthday. We were all waiting in the restaurant. She was so surprised; as you can see from the pictures.

After dinner we decided to go for a walk on the boardwalk. We walked her past the beachhouse and started kidding around about trying to see who was staying in the house. I snuck through the gate and started for the front door and my Mom was saying "Get away from there, what are you doing?; someone is going to see you". Meanwhile my sister Angie had gone around the back of the house and gone in. When I got up to the front door Angie opened it from inside and we all yelled "Surprise!"

Here she is opening her presents. Cute hat Mom!

We all stayed at the beach for 2 days and just shopped and stayed up late and watched movies. We had such a fun time. Oh and we ATE!!

Okay so the weather wasn't great for tanning but we had to at least try.

OH MY GALLBLADDER!!!

2007-11-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, I had my gallbladder removed friday and anyone who tells you it doesn't hurt is lying! I'm pretty sure in about a week when the pain is gone I will say the same thing so I am documenting that it really does hurt at this moment. I am trying to get through this with out pain medication but I guess I'm not that tough. Tonight I will be taking some hard narcotics so I can sleep! There are pictures of my gallbladder I could blog but that is just too frightening. So here is a picture of the beautiful flowers my sister Laura brought me in the hospital. Aren't they gorgeous?!!

Here's the real kicker....they found NO gallstones when they removed it!

Oh wait here is a picture of me with Parker after the surgery.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-01T13:26:00.000-06:00

Here are our 2 little IPODS!! Nelson and Cullan had a candy filled day! 1st parties at school, then Ron's work party, then off to the church where we had trunk-or-treat and finally the actual Trick-or-Treating!!

Laura, Paul and Parker came Trick-or-Treating to our house. What a cute Lion! I think they should have dressed up Otis to look like Toto and taken him with them..haha

This is Nelson's class at school. He loves his teacher Mrs. N.

And this is Nelson's teacher from last year. He wants his Uncle Michael to go out with her!!

Party, Party, Party!!!

2007-10-28T15:49:00.001-06:00

Have you ever been to a 16th Birthday Party? Can you say Awkward? Boys on one side, girls on the other.

It was quite entertaining; although not something I would ever want to have to repeat for myself. It was a nice day for the end of October; mid 60's; so we had it in the backyard. Paul (Lauren's Uncle) got a big blow up ball from BYU and the kids had fun throwing it at each other or running each other over with it.

I think everyone had fun. Who knows with a bunch of teenagers??? Afterwards some of them went over to the Highschool for the Stomp(dance).

Andrew & Trena came and visited after they were done looking for a house to buy in Pocatello. The kids were glad to have Jordan to play with. He's such a cutie. The boys can't wait to be able to visit him more often now that he will be closer and to go to his birthday party in January.

Yes we were also watching the Red Sox game!!
Go Sox!!!

Lauren's 16th Birthday!!!!

2007-10-19T13:55:00.000-06:00

Well Lauren thought the day would never come but it did. She turned 16 yesterday. After a homemade breakfast of cinnamon rolls(pillsbury) and Poptarts(Kelloggs) she was amazed when her Dad told her that her present was a car! She thought he was kidding and then ran to the garage(followed by the boys of course) to find a shiny red(what were we thinking) Honda Accord. It's not new but she doesn't care. At lunchtime I surprised her at the school and took her and her friends to lunch and then we all went to the DMV together to get her License. They had a great time goofing off at the DMV. She is the 1st one of her friends to get her license.

Here she is showing off her car to her friends.

Lauren and her friends at the DMV!!

If you look closely you can see the sign I made and put up across from the highschool for all to see. It has her school picture on one side and her baby picture on the other. Real embarassing!!

More pictures at the DMV!!

This man thought the girls were being funny at the DMV so he had his picture taken with Lauren.

St. George Marathon

2007-10-08T09:21:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we went to St. George Utah for the annual event I call torture. I did not run this year as I have finally concluded that races that long are very hard on my body. I will stick to shorter races like half-marathons and such. Ron ran the marathon again this year. This was his 13th year running it. He said he didn't train as much as he usually does and he has an injured hamstring so with those things in mind I still think his time was awesome. He did it in 2:40. Not bad for an old injured man.

Ron is the one closest to the fence.

The kids have a great time in St. George. Just being at the hotel where they have CABLE is a treat for them. As evidenced by the picture of them watching SpongeBob which you can see in the reflection in the picture behind them.

Lauren playing soccer

2007-10-08T09:06:00.000-06:00

Well I figure we ought to let you see a few pictures of Lauren playing soccer. They had their last game up in Salt Lake on Saturday at Rice Eccles Stadium where the Real Salt Lake soccer team plays. Their game was right before the Real game so it was pretty cool. They won 3-0 against Copper Hills Highschool.

Also here is Lauren's cousin Parker with Austin at her last game at the highschool. He had a good time eating popcorn off the ground.

The Greenwoods

2007-10-01T13:51:00.000-06:00

Well I guess it's about time for us to blog too. Everyone's doing it. We are loving it here in Utah. We have been in this house for almost 11 years now. We will probably stay here forever.

Ron is running the St. George Marathon this weekend so I will have to post some pictures of that after. Here we are on our Family vacation to Ohio/Illinois to visit family. This is at the Arch in St. Louis.

Here is Lauren and I in Ohio. She is turning 16 in 2 weeks. I can't believe it. I can't wait until she can drive. SHE can't wait until she can date!! She is playing Soccer for the Highschool right now and was a lifeguard at the P.G. Pool this past summer.

Austin, Nelson and Cullan are all busy with sports; soccer, flag football and basketball. We are not ready for the cold weather that has already started to come our way.