Happy Birthday Hailey!

Wow, how did my baby girl grow up this fast? It doesn't seem that long ago that she was a little, smiley toddler running around, dancing and playing. I cannot believe my sweet daughter is already 12. 12 is a huge, monumental birthday. Young Women's, preparations for junior high, baby-sitting other families, night games with friends, it's all so exciting, yet I wish I could slow down time just a little bit.

Hailey turned 12 on Tuesday, June 17th. For her birthday all she wanted was for Tom and I to take her to lunch and then to Ikea for a shopping spree. After lunching at her favorite restaurant, The Training Table, we spent the afternoon shopping Ikea. Hailey found a lot of great stuff for her room and we had a great time running around, matching this and that, and getting a few items for the house as well. After that, the family came over for a piece of cookie and ice cream.

Here are 12 things we love about Hailey for her 12th birthday:

1. Hailey has a great sense of humor. I can tease her and mess with her and she just laughs and gives it right back. She's a lot of fun. (Dad)
2. She is really smart. She picks up on things really quickly, especially this year with her pre-algebra. (Dad)
3. She has a really great laugh. It makes you want to laugh with her. (Dad)
4. Hailey is really friendly to everyone. (Gage)
5. Hailey helps me whenever I need help. (Gage)
6. I love Hailey and she loves me. (Gage)
7. I love Hailey because she plays outside with me. (Dax)
8. I love to play Rockband with Hailey. (Dax)
9. Hailey makes me yummy food. (Dax)
10. Hailey is incredibly strong. She has a strong sense of who she is and she doesn't let people tear her down. She sticks by her values and is unwavering. She knows what's right and is an example to others. (Mom)
11. Hailey is really, really, REALLY helpful. She makes sure that her chores aren't just done, but done well. She is very responsible and ALWAYS looks out for her brothers no matter what or who is around. (Mom)
12. Hailey is beautiful both inside and out. She has a way of drawing people to her and she is friends with everyone. She makes friends easily and is very loyal. She is a happy person and when you are around her you can feel her sincere, warm spirit. (Mom)

I could go on and on but there it is...12 things we love about our Hailey.

Here are 12 unknown facts about Hailey:

-We call her Hailey May
-When she was around 2 if she heard you talking she would ask "What are you saying about?"
-As a young child (and even now!) she could fall asleep anywhere, even standing up!
-Hailey starting walking at 9 months
-Hailey got all her teeth before she got hair!
-Hailey has naturally curly, thick hair
-Hailey was the shortest kid in 6th grade!
-During her early elementary school years, she didn't do mornings...at all!
-Hailey was only 7 lbs, and 18 inches long when she was born
-She rarely cried as a baby, she just smiled at everyone
-She cut her bangs off when she was 2 and when asked if it was Barbie hair she said, "No, Hailey hair!"
-Hailey won't eat meat

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Ah, Summer...warm weather, no school, and BASEBALL!

We are a baseball family. Tom coaches Dax and his team in Coach Pitch, and he is also the head coach for Gage's Little League team, the Twins. Oh, and Tom also plays on a city league with his brothers and cousins. So we have baseball games or practice every day of the week but Thursday. Dax just finished up his season...here are some pictures of him and his team.

Gage's team is currently playing in the city tournament, they won their game on Wednesday night quite dramatically at the end, it was a lot of fun to watch. Gage usually plays pitcher, shortstop, or third baseman because he has an arm on him and can throw hard and pretty accurately. Here are pics of Gage.

Tom's team is also in the middle of tournament play, unfortunately they lost their first game Wednesday night. (Yes, there are multiple nights we watch more than one game!) Here is Tom.
The boys all look so cute in their baseball get-ups! (I'm sure they love me saying that!) I am so grateful that Tom is the type of dad that is involved in the kids activities and supports all of them with anything they try. Tom is also a super coach, every year I have many parents tell me they have appreciated all that Tom's done in teaching their kids to play ball. He is patient with all the kids and teaches them the real rules of baseball which helps to prepare them to play better when they are older. We have met a lot of great families through coaching baseball through the past few years. I love that Tom is willing to sacrifice his time to volunteer to coach all the kids. He is amazing!

Weekend Getaway

Over Father's Day weekend we went to St. George with Tom's brother Jared and his wife Ashley. We stayed at the Abbey Inn (as usual!) and went to Tuacahn Friday night. We saw The Sound of Music and it was amazing! They did such a great job, it was very, very good. We love Tuacahn, we have seen quite a few plays there and it is so beautiful and such a fun experience. I am always so shocked when people who live in Utah say they've never seen a play there!

How many different poses can we get in front of Tuacahn!!

On Saturday Tom and Jared played a round of golf - it was supposed to be 18 holes but it was 106 degrees and their tee time was 2:00 PM so it ended up only 9 holes! While they were gone Ashley and I swam with the kids all afternoon. We had a great time. After some outlet shopping we headed home on Sunday. What a fun quick getaway!

My ABC's

Kimber tagged me to do this so I will give it a shot...


A- Attached or single: attached
B- Best Friend: Tom
C- Cake or Pie: Only if Gluten Free :(
D- Day of choice: Saturday
E- Essential Item: Hand Sanitizer or Blistex
F- Favorite Color: Yellow
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Worms, yummy!
H- Hometown: Provo, UT
I- Indulgence(s): Pedicures, massages, and reading novels
J- January or July: January is our anniversary so I should say that but I hate being cold!
K- Kids: Hailey-12, Gage-9, Daxton-6
L- Life is Incomplete Without: Tom and the kids
M- Marriage Date: January 27th,1996
N- Number of Siblings: 4
O- Oranges or Apples: oranges
P- Phobias or Fears: Heights, something happening to Tom or the kids
Q- Quotes: "Whatev"
R- Reason To Smile: Life is good
S- Season: Fall
T- Tag Three: Tara, Erin, Brenna
U- Unknown Fact About Me: When I was a teenager I kissed a boy who is now gay!
V- Vegetarian or Meat Eater: MEAT
W- Worst Habit: Driving too close to the SLOW car in front of me!
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds (when pregnant!)
Y- Your Favorite Food: Chocolate covered cinnamon bears from Cache Valley
Z- Zodiac: Scorpio

Another Grade Complete

I can't believe another school year is behind us. This year was even more special as it was the ONLY year that all three of the kids will be in the same school together. It was fun having a 6th, 4th, and 1st grader all at once, we got to benefit from the entire spectrum of upper grade awards and extracurricular activities, to the younger grades fun programs and being able to volunteer in the classroom once a week. The kids had another great year, Gage earned his gold medal for reading 25 Newberry books, Hailey received an award for getting 4's on all her end-of-level tests throughout elementary, and Dax received an award for getting one of the highest scores on the end-of-level math and science sections. They again had wonderful teachers who the kids loved and I am so grateful for.

Now I have 10 weeks to wrap my brain around sending my sweet baby girl to junior high! I am mostly excited for her and all the new and fun opportunities junior high brings but I am also saddened by the fact that she is growing up so fast and there's not much I can do about it!

Here are pictures of the kids with their teachers this year.

Hailey with Mr. Sprunger

Dax with Mrs. Chrystler

Dax with Mrs. Cannon (He had team teachers this year)

Gage with Mrs. Larson

And Hailey with two of her good friends, Sydney Wall and Nancy Coca
It was so cute I had to add it!

Last Day of School

Okay, so I am a little late posting these!

On the last day of school at Provost, the kids have a dance festival where all the grades do a fun dance for the parents. It's a lot of fun and we always look forward to it. The sixth grade dance the Jive/Swing which was really cute, but I had sat on the wrong side of the field to get a good shot of Hailey dancing with her partner. That's Hailey way in the front with a white shirt and black skirt.

So I took a picture of her sitting with her class when she finished!

Dax was up next with the first graders. They did a dance to "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from Lion King. It was so, so cute! He was just beaming the entire time. He's in the red shirt.

The fourth graders always end the festival with their Boot Scootin Boogie. Gage was right in the front so I was thrilled to be able to get a few good shots of him. After the kids take their turn all the parents join in with the fourth graders on the field to dance.

Last Fall's Chicago Trip

I know this is totally random but I have had a number of people ask me for the link again to our Chicago/Green Bay trip that Tom journaled. Here is the link again if you haven't seen it. I have a hard time looking at it cause we had SO much fun that I wish we could do again!

http://travel.yahoo.com/trip-journal-1134484-trip_to_green_bay;_ylt=AthcObIBCEpLizOwAx10SdmbItAF