Weekend cabin trip

I am going to warn you all that this is a longer slideshow. All I can say is I got slightly carried away with the picture taking. We were able to go to the cabin with the Littles. It was a great trip with a campfire, tree climbing, lake exploration and canoing fun. It was great to spend time at the cabin with friends and we look forward to many more trips this summer. I have to go to sleep...so tired. I'll write more in the am.

Tennis starts again!

We got up nice and early this morning and Em and Ry hit the tennis clinic. I was excited because I got a new camera and wanted to take some pictures. I have a lot to learn about taking pictures with this camera, but at least this is a start. This will be their 2nd year of tennis. Emily was already signed up for a team. Now, Ry has decided that he wants to give it another year too. They did a great job this morning.

King of Kong

Ok.........I got to see the King of Kong documentary. I was reading about it on Amy's blog and thought, "oh I should watch that." The next day Robert and Tiffany started talking about this same movie. We went over to their house. Game night turned into movie night. It is hilarious. I have to say I enjoy a good Donkey Kong game, but I think that I could be a contender for Demon Attack world champion title. If you don't believe me I will send you the tape of my high score. I hit the million mark on that game.........or was it 3 million? (Thanks Amy for the image. I took it from your blog.)

Tagged!

I love the whole tagging thing on the blogs. Actually, I love the whole blog idea in general. I love peeking into my friends lives and seeing what they are up to. I also love having people see what we are doing around here. I am sorry I have not been very good at being tagged by people but today is the day!

I have been tagged by Stacey so hear it goes ; )

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago
1. Big fat and pregnant...My personal theory was pregnancy=free ticket to eat anything anytime.
2. Teaching at Sunset View Elementary School
3. Living at and loving Wyview

5 Things on your to do list
1. laundry..has to be top, but for sure won't get to
2. Find a book for book club so my hands can stop sweating
3. Get an oil change and kill dandelions in my yard..things I wish Erik would do because I don't want to
4. Go to Let's Dish..so I don't have to think about dinner for a while
5. Go to movies with friends when I should probably be doing one of the top 4 on the list.

5 snacks I enjoy
1. Chocolate Hershey Kisses..I can't eat one though has to be at least 2 at a time
2. I'm a pretzel girl
3. Hot chocolate..not really a snack but I drink it all the time.
4. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies from Great Harvest...add "go to Great Harvest" on my to do list.
5. Cookie dough, brownie dough, cake batter..now do you know why I like to bake?

What would I do if I were suddenly make a billionaire?
Well, after I wet my pants and change clothes, I would want to finish all my projects on home..including my great add on project that Erik only rolls his eyes at when I mention it. Pay off home. Secretly pay off friends homes and then pay someone to kill off my dandelions.

5 places I have lived.
1. Apple Valley, Mn
2. Eagan, MN
3. Provo, Utah
4. Moscow, Russia (six months, but I was living so it counts right?)
5. Edina, MN

5 Jobs I have had
1. MOM
2. YMCA kids stuff
3. Paper Carrier
4. Special Ed room at Sunset View El.
5. Sr. MTC cafeteria

3 favorite books (why is this one so hard? These are 3 that come to mind..there are tons that I have loved reading!)
1. Hiding Place...(I try to revisit it at least once a year)
2. Papa Married a Mormon. (I want to read that one again..it has been along time)
3. Fine Old High Priests...so cute.

I tag
Amy, Aryn and I am going to say Cynthia-hey it can be your first post on your blog that I want you to start.

Why here?

I thought it would be fun to every now and then have a blog about why I live here in good old Apple Valley. Its main purpose might be for ME to read during those February and March months when I continually ask myself, "why I am here in this frozen wonderland?" So bare with me for this self discovery. If along the way, you want to also live here and be my neighbor I would be happy.

I have to start simple. Five years ago, we were expecting Andrew and decided that we needed another bedroom and some extra room. It is that third child that makes you move and get the mini-van. We found this home here in Apple Valley and decided to take a look. I will say right now that I really did NOT want to move to Apple Valley. I liked my old stomping grounds in Eagan..but I agreed to at least look at this home. The home itself was old and needed LOTS of work. But when I walked around and saw the great park across the street and the trees, I knew it was the best place for us to be.

Last Monday we decided to go to the park. It is something we do a lot. (If you look up the path you can see part of our humble abode)
We searched for rocks and threw them into the water. There has been lots of construction, so the grass is gone around the path and pond right now. We then hit the playground.

Andrew has always loved this handle scoot across thingy...you know what I am talking about.
One day Ry and Em will find that buried treasure..or China. Whichever comes first.
This is Courtney. She spends most Monday evenings with our family and my dear neighbor Becky. This Monday she came to the park with us and had a blast. I think I did traumatize her on the swings though. Sorry Stacey! I am a crazy swing pusher : )


Here are fun neighbors Becky and McKenzie. They live around the corner from us. Whenever Emily says she wants a baby sister I tell her she has a McKenzie instead.
So that is one reason we live where we live. I guess I could have just said, "the park across the street." But, this was so much more fun right?

The flower girl

Last fall, Emily was invited to be the flower girl at my cousin Lisa Shock's wedding. Right away I knew that Emily would be all about that job. The girl loves to dress up, and this is the perfect excuse to get a new fancy dress. She will get to walk down the aisle and drop the petals..the whole sha-bang. The wedding is now coming up in six weeks (time has really gone fast-yikes!) We are planning our trip down to Georgia for this exciting event. Emily got to go with Grandma to pick up her dress. It was at David's Bridal. She got to try it on and stand up on the stand with all the mirrors. She LOVED it. I think that Emily will share this day with the bride..no guarantees though. We are leaving almost immediately after school gets out. Andrew is going to be the ring bearer and will wear a tux. I cannot wait for all the photo opportunities : )

Back to school

Living near Minneapolis means that we live near the U of M. This is very convenient when one is looking for the perfect grad school. A few months ago, I decided it would be a good time to go back to school. This is something I have always planned to do and now is the time. It turns out that the U of M has an amazing Masters of Education program. I am super excited about it. I am getting my application together this summer and hopefully will start in January. Of course, I will be keeping you all posted on the whole process. Yes, 10 years ago I was slightly scared of the U of M campus. I was still fresh off the Y campus and easily scared of all that was non-BYU. ( These students definitely had not signed an honor code, can you believe such a place could exist? I mean some BOYS even had long hair!) Now fast forward 10 years, and you will find me walking the campus and loving the buildings, bookstores and the whole idea of the U.