Lakeview Open Champs!

Yesterday Val, Travis, Wade and Dan (team Steed) participated in our annual ward golf tournament, the Lakeview Open. They have come so close to winning several times and this year were out to take home the top prize. Apparently they were on their game and golfing out of their heads because they beat several good teams and were victorious. Congratulations to our guys! We are proud of you. They are already looking to defending their title next year! This is Dan's awesome tee shot. Look how close he is to the pin!

Too bad it wasn't a hole in one!

Disneyland

For Spring Break Val, Kelsey, Travis, Liz, Baylee and I all went to Disneyland. Once we got our car trouble fixed (see earlier post) we arrived in California and were ready to see Mickey. It was Baylee's first trip and we couldn't wait to see her reaction. On the shuttle ride to and from the hotel, all she could say was "Mickey - Donald - Pluto - Daisy - Minnie" as she would see pictures of the characters along the way. At one point, she grabbed Travis's face, got as close as she could, and yelled "Mickey Mickey Mickey" right at him. It was the cutest thing ever! We had a great time at the park. Baylee has a new love - Nemo! Only she calls him "Meno". He is a close second to Ariel. Why is it she likes fish so much ? . ? . ?

Kelsey and I on Dumbo.

Can you believe this is my first

time ever to ride this ride?

The lines were always so long before .

With Mickey in his house

Baylee wasn't too sure about Pluto.
After this, she saw Goofy and
punched him in the nose. Too
bad we don't have a picture
of that!

Sunglasses and a sucker.
Can't beat that!

Baylee loves Buzz. She rode the

Buzz Lightyear ride with Papa

about five times.

We had dinner at the Blue Bayou. The

idiot who took this picture cut Baylee

out. She is in her stroller at the bottom.

Goodbye for now. . .

We'll be back!



After our two days at the park, we went to Angel Stadium to see a Red Sox Angels game.
Travis says that is HIS Disneyland. We had a great time at the game. The Red Sox won, it was a sunny day, and Baylee slept from the 5th inning on.

The girls before the game.

After the game Travis and Baylee went

swimming. The rest of us were in

the hot tub!

On the way home. The trip was a success.

Everyone was pooped!

CAR TROUBLE !!!!

In April, we took a fun Spring Break trip to California to visit Disneyland with Baylee for the first time and to see the Red Sox play the Angels. We planned to drive because there were six of us going - Val, me, Kelsey, Travis, Liz and Baylee. We prepared for the trip as usual, with Val going over the Suburban with a fine tooth comb. He had it serviced, checked everything out. I even drove it to Tremonton the day before and everything seemed fine.

Well, we got on the road and things were going great for 200 miles until we were just outside of Beaver. Then the car started making a terrible noise and the engine started losing power. We pulled over and Val checked things out and decided we needed to be towed into Beaver. He pulled out his AAA auto card and made the call. Now I have had a AAA auto card for years but never once have carried it in my wallet. Boy was I glad he carried his!

The man (Rick) and his flatbed tow truck arrived quickly and Rick (who is also a skilled AAA mechanic) listened to our engine and determined that it was shot and we needed a total engine replacement. He told us that he could do the repairs while we were in California and have the car ready for us to pick up on our way home. Yay, Rick! He loaded the car onto the flatbed and because of space, Val rode in the cab with him and the rest of us rode in the suburban on the flatbed, securely buckled in, of course.

While being towed, Val got on the phone and made arrangements for a rental car. We were towed 100 miles, all the way to St. George where we picked up our lovely new suburban. Our car was then taken back to Beaver to be repaired.

We enjoyed a wonderful trip (more about that in a future post) and then made our way back to St. George, where Rick had driven our car and left it at the airport for us to pick up. We dropped off the rental picked up our car and drove home. Rick is now my new best friend. We only had a 2 hour delay on the way down and a very brief delay on the way home. The only drawback was the rather large expense of PUTTING A NEW ENGINE IN OUR SUBURBAN.

We feel so fortunate, though, to have had the entire situation turn out so well. I can tell you one thing - I came right home and put my AAA auto card in my wallet. Those people are lifesavers. They will tow you from anywhere! Below are some lovely photos of our great adventure.

Kelsey is a Wolverine . . .

On Saturday, April 18, Kelsey auditioned for the UVU Dance Team and won a position as one of their nine rookies for next year! She is really excited about this new opportunity. Val and I are excited to start paying tuition to yet another Utah school of higher learning. We have already been affiliated with Utah State University, Weber State University, the University of Utah (north to south). Now we will begin our tenure with the southernmost school to date. Great job Kelsey! We are proud of you!

March Madness

On March 19-22 we had our annual March Madness party! Wow, four days of basketball, scrapbooking and FOOD. I spend most of my time cooking for everyone. This year, Tara and I took some time out on Friday morning to go to the Scrapbook Expo. It was so fun and we got lots of great stuff. I think Tara was a little frightened by all the hard-core scrapbookers, though. Here we are shopping till we dropped!

Dan and Wade approved this year's menu. We ate pretty well. Here I am cooking away. Our dear friends Mike and Kathryn Nyborg always join us for the games and food. We always have such a great time together.

Mike, Kathryn, Val and I at dinner

Tara Shayla and Liz in scrapbook heaven!

Travis, JB, Dan and Wade had a great time eating, watching the games, and playing basketball in the driveway during the breaks.



Happy Birthday Mike! Mike celebrated his ?? birthday on Saturday. We all had a great time, but four days of basketball and eating is enough. Thanks goodness it's over until next year!

THE GLAD GAME

One of my favorite movies is the Disney film, "Pollyanna" with Hayley Mills. In the movie, she talks about taking a situation or set of circumstances and, instead of being gloomy about it, trying to find something to be GLAD about. She calls it "The Glad Game". Since our family has experienced an unusual amount of trials and challenges during the past six months, Val and I have decided that we need to make "The Glad Game" a part of our daily routine.

Val's mother has experienced a dramatic decline in her health and now requires 24 hour live-in care. My darling niece and her wonderful husband are able to live with Grandma and care for her, but of course, they need time off. Our extended family has been able to join together and provide care for this dear lady, and in addition, give her caregivers a much-needed break. We are GLAD that we have been able to spend this time with Grandma and grow closer together as a family as we provide care for this sweet mother. We are GLAD for the sweet moments we have shared with one another and with her as we listen to and laugh about the funny things she says. We are GLAD that we have learned that we can do things we never thought we could and that it's not really that bad.

As we experience other challenges and difficulties, we are GLAD that we have family members to support and sustain and help us. The Lord definitely knew what he was doing when he put us on the earth in families.

Try to implement "The Glad Game" in your life. When you face difficult times, try to find something in the situation to be GLAD about. You will be surprised at how easy it is!

Peek-A-Boo Barn

Okay, I tried to get these pictures to rotate but I can't so you'll just have to look at them sideways. Val got a game on his iphone called "Peek-A-Boo Barn" that Baylee absolutely loves. It show the animal, makes the sound and says the animal name in Spanish (or English). She loves it! This sideways picture on the left shows her reaction when it starts.

At the end the animals go to sleep and the game says "estan dormiendo" (they are sleeping) "shhhhh". Here is Baylee going "shhhhh". She can play this game over and over with her Papa. They both love it.