Ballerina Brooklyn

While we were waiting for Brooklyn's tap class to arrive for their pictures, we had a little fun and took some extra pictures. Her teacher, Andrea, asked one of the older girls if we could borrow her points. I am so happy with this picture, we just had one made for her room.

Her original Ballet picture.

Tap, tap, tap. That is all Brooklyn does. On the tile at home, in the store, anywhere
there is a hard surface.

Just before her performance. She doesn't get a bit scared. She cant wait to get on the stage. This year she was in two dances. Daddy brought his ballerina a dozen roses.
Grandma Graham also gave her some roses.

After the performance, it was off to the Katwyk's for ice cream.Maddi dances at the same school so both families watch the recital. She was in four dances. We knew someone in most of the dances.

All Star Update

Braden's All Star team played in their first tournament over the weekend. It was a practice tournament so it didn't really count, hopefully it took care of their nerves. They tied the first game, due to a terrible call. We really won. We lost our second game, and kicked butt the third game. He had quite the fan club on Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa Hooton, Grandma Graham, Grandma and Grandpa Olsen, Chris, Summer, all of his Hooton cousins, and of coarse his biggest fans, his dad, mom, and Uncle JD.
If you look just above Troy's head you can see the ball.
Maybe I have finally figured out my camera.

Yes, that is rain. Which makes mud. And he slid (perfect form I might add) just for me. I cringed when I saw the white pants. I asked him not to slide unless he had to, well he does when ever he can. 1 tournament+1 bottle of spray-n-wash+oxy clean=white pants.

Look at our ALL-STAR!!!

After eight long years of playing his heart out, Braden made the All-Star team. He is so excited. Troy will be one of his coaches. Their first tournament starts next week. Here we thought baseball season was coming to a close, but we are only half way through. Way to go Braden!!! FYI-Troy has to were a full baseball uniform, watch for pictures.

Catching Up!

I have always thought that blogging was a fun way to keep you family and friends up on all of our adventures. A few weeks ago the hard drive on my laptop crashed. The ironic thing was, I had my external hard drive plugged in and ready to go (back up), I decided to remove an unneeded program and it crashed. I was sick. All of my pictures of the last two years were gone. After I finally calmed down, I remembered that most of my favorite pictures were on my blog. I started pulling them and saving them on another computer (and backed it up). Luckily, Geek Box Computers was able to recover everything, after five days of scanning. Yes, I'm scared to get the bill. But like Troy said, the pictures are priceless.

BACK UP YOUR PICTURES RIGHT NOW!!!!!

On May 26th, Braden played his last little league game. Of coarse his mom and dad were having the hardest time. Wasn't he just playing his first game? Isn't he still 4? We couldn't even find pants small enough for him. Troy was able to snag the game ball. We dated it and ordered a case for it. Off to the Big Leagues.

Cody has had an awesome year. He has progressed so much. He is one of the few kids on his team that can throw from first to third or from home to second with little effort, and actually hit the waiting mitt. He played all over, his favorite of coarse was pitcher and catcher. I was really impressed with his catching towards the end of the year and when his bat makes contact, watch out. He hit a double in his last at bat in his last game. Probably all those wiffle golf balls his dad makes him hit on Sunday afternoon. He has it in him to be a great player. I think he will do well moving up a year early to majors to Troy and JD's team.

Brooklyn finishes her season tonight. She is so serious when she is on the field. Since she has spent every spring of her life at the ball field, she is one of the few kids her age that know what to do when she gets the ball. She is a pretty good hitter too. Like I said earlier, those Sunday afternoon family practices. Dad would have her hit too.


On May 11th, Brooklyn went to the Doctor for her Kindergarten check up. She weighed 40 pounds and was 43 inches tall. The shots didn't sit to well with her. I'm sure the anticipation (Cody kindly told her what to expect) made it worse. She has great vision, and is healthy. Ready to go to school.

Brooklyn has a new little friend named Regan. She just lives up around the corner from us. We didn't know this until Troy drafted her older brother on his baseball team. We have gotten to know the family and have had a few get togethers. In fact her older brother, Curtis is coming to spend the weekend with us while his parents are out of town.

Reagan came to play one day so we made and decorated

cupcakes. What a mess they made, but it was fun.

While Cody was off track we went and spent a few days in Fairview at Grandma in the Mountains house (Grandma Nelson). We went through pictures and scanned over a

thousand pictures into my computer. And yes, they were backed up before we left. It was so fun to see all of the old pictures and learn about them. When we got them all out I was honestly disappointed. There weren't may old ones. I went upstairs to get a frame off the wall that had some pictures in it I wanted to scan and had a feeling to go into a bedroom that we rarely go in . I was then drawn to a cabinet and opened the doors. There they were. All of the old pictures. My Grandpa's Navy pictures were all neatly in a book and labeled. There were so many pictures of my Grandpa as a young man. I cried, I was so happy. That is when Cody walked in. He was worried about me until he found out I was just happy. He came in just in time to help carry them all down stairs. So many of our relatives think that there are ghosts upstairs at my Grandma's house, well I have to say I think I was led to those pictures. Thanks Grandpa, you can visit me anytime. I'm not afraid. Speaking of, Cody has been one of the scardy cats until this last visit. He conquered his fear and goes upstairs all by himself. My Grandma's house is really old. But no need to be afraid, only good spirits.

Cody got to go work on the farm with Uncle Jay for the day. He loved it. Jay lets him drive tractors. He even made sure to squirt Uncle Jay while while fixing the sprinklers. He helped feed the pigs and sheep and fix the sprinklers.


Grandma Nelson and Brooklyn



The last day Cody was off track, we went to the zoo. I offered to take Kennadi and Braxton so that Summer could have a break, but she decided to go with.


I have decided that when you are a Mom you miss a lot. Even when you are there all the time. You are so worried about if your kids are safe, clean, healthy and all that stuff you seem to miss magical moments. I stood by Braxton on the carousel and was taken in by his reaction. When your not worried about all the other stuff you notice so much more. His face just lit up when we started to go. I wish I could remember those moments of my kids lives. I think I understand why Grandma's have so much fun.

Start Practicing!!!

Troy just recieved an email this morning to inform him that Braden had drawn out for a State Wide Bull Elk Tag. There is a youth program with tags set aside just for youth to help get them excited about hunting. Hopefully in a few months I can post some pictures of Braden and a big dead elk. I think we will be spending quite a bit of time at the bow shop, practicing.

Hoppy Easter!

Come On Blue!

Can you believe Braden has his first job. He is umpiring the younger kids games. He seems to be enjoying it while making pretty good money. The league officials have been impressed with how well he is going and want to keep him busy. He's his fathers son and hears cha-ching every time he walks onto the field. He has loved the game since he was four and knows every rule. I'm glad he pursued this opportunity.

Put Me In Coach!

Cody's first baseball game was tonight. He didn't play

last year due to hockey. He played both second and

catcher. He's off to a good start, especially since he is

wearing Uncle JD's number 5.

City Bowling Tournament Awards

Back in February the kids bowled in the City Tournament. I was hesitant to put Brooklyn in, but she did awesome. Her average at the time was 17. She bowled a 63. Every game she bowled that day was at least double her average. This picture makes me laugh. She was the youngest bowler in the tournament and she cleaned up.

Brooklyn took first place All-A-Round in her division. Her team placed, and she placed in singles.

Cody's team placed and received his patches for past high games.

Braden's team took first place in their division, he placed inAll-A-Round, and also placed in singles.

The first place team. Grandma and Grandpa Hooton came to see their grand kids receive their awards.

Buffalo Bill Cody

Cody had to do a biography book report. They had to read the book, then give an oral report dressed like the person that they read about. My Cody and I read about Buffalo Bill Cody. He loved reading together about the wild west and know hopes for a trip to

Yellowstone and Cody, Wyoming this year to visit the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum. He is also interested in the Pony Express. We better read more about that.

Boy, he sure does take after his mom at school. Listening to over 25 reports grew a little tiresome.

Cody At Work!

While Cody was off-track last time, he went to work with his dad a couple of times. He doesn't spend much time in the office with him though. Cody walks in, finds his glasses and gloves and goes out to the shop to find Roggie. He is a family friend that we've know for years, and yes I trust that he will watch out for Cody. He lets Cody drill holes, tighten bolts, and get his hands dirty. The highlight of the day is when the lunch truck comes. Troy always gives him a few bucks to spend. He then sits around with the guys and eats. He cries when I show up to take him home. He loves it!

St. Paddy's Day

We woke up to treats from the leprechaun. This year he left a shamrock trail from the front door to the kitchen table, where he left the treats.
Our favorite tradition is to have a green dinner. This years menu was;
Chicken Alfredo (green sauce)
Garlic Bread
Green Beans
Green Apple Soda
and Green Cupcakes for dessert

Twins

Two of a kind. Cody had this hockey jersey, and while I was shopping one day I found the same one in Braxton's size. Cody was so excited to have matching shirts. These two kids are so much alike. Braxton reminds me so much of Cody at that age. Cody loves Braxton, and he idolizes Cody.

Grizzlies Game

The kids and I were able to go to the Grizzlie's game and sit behind the visitors bench. Cody was in heaven, but me on the other hand didn't enjoy the stinky players. It smelled like Cody's locker room X3. Yuck. Other than the smells it was a lot of fun

A New School

We got some great news this week. We were able to enroll the kids in to a new charter school. The school is still being built in Daybreak. It will be fun for the kids to watch it go up. Not to far from our house. It was a big decision for Braden. We had many talks with him, he weighed the pros and cons, and decided that there were more pros than cons. The schools charter is history. Perfect for Braden. Cody also shows interest in this area. Because of sibling priority, both Cody and Brooklyn were admitted when we enrolled Braden. We did not tell him that his decision would effect this brother and sister. Now if only we could hurry and adopt our niece, Kennadi, who also would like to attend. Braden doesn't mind the idea of wearing uniforms, but Cody is a whole other story. Brooklyn is starting kindergarten, so she will not know any different.

We excited for our kids to get a great education. Smaller class sizes, and a curriculum that works around them, not the other way around.

Well the baseball season is upon us. I don't know if I an ready for this. We will have three kids on three different teams. Yikes! We are going to be

living at the field. Better find me a nice comfy chair.
Braden got some exciting news yesterday morning. Troy told him that he was going to be his head coach. We hadn't told him about Troy volunteering, just in case it didn't work out. Troy hasn't ever been Braden's coach. He has been an assistant coach but not the boss. Even more exciting, Braden's Uncle JD is going to help out. They are going to be the Cincinnati Reds. Braden has always been on a blue team, Dodgers, Braves, Royals & Padres. We probably have ten pair of blue socks. So I guess my job will be manager (of everything).
Cody and Brooklyn both got to move up a division. Cody is a minor and Brooklyn is a Rookie (coach pitched). We don"t know what teams they are on yet, but when we find out we will let you all know.

Governor Huntsman Visits Tesco

Governor John Huntsman visited Tesco on Monday, February 2nd. Braden was able to spend the morning at work with his dad and share the experience.

Tesco's new flag pole. The bottom flag is the Air Force flag. Williamsen Manufacturing is doing a lot of work for the Air Force right now.

Everyone worked extra hard to clean the office and the shop for the visit. I was so blown away I had to take a few pictures.

This is a picture of some of the missile transport trailers that they are building for the Air Force

They finished the visit with pizza for everyone. Thirty five pizzas in all.

Our Baby is 5!

Brooklyn turned 5 on January 12th. Can you believe it? Time flies.

She had a fun day at Boondock's with out family and a few friends.