Hogle Zoo

As a final celebration for Hallie's birthday, we invited Brooke and Kimball to go to the zoo.

The weather was nice and the animals were very active. It was a great day!

And We Did It!

Take a lookie....this article was published in the Deseret News this morning and announces the winners of this years Itty Bitty Contest.

Contestants search high and low for Itty Bitty Salt Lake City clues
By Elaine JarvikDeseret News
Published: Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008 12:09 a.m. MDT

"Here I am again, a sucker for punishment!" wrote Anna Beth Mecham on her entry for our 16th annual Itty Bitty Salt Lake City contest.

She didn't find all the answers but says she had a good time trying — even though, as she wandered downtown streets in the rain, she was "mistaken for a homeless person; a homeless person's friend, Marjorie; and even offered money from kind (LDS) conferencegoers!"

As usual, the contest challenged participants to match our clues — photos of tiny fragments of architecture, signage and other landmarks — with the real thing in a 20-block area downtown.
Clue No. 12 proved to be the hardest: an etched smiley face above a mountain ridge, on a water meter cover on the south side of 300 South, in front of the Utah Department of Commerce.

Larry Biddle of Stansbury Park spent 40 hours and only found half of the answers but reports cheerfully that he got a lot of exercise and ran into a friend from New Mexico he hadn't seen in four years. Biddle is a novice Itty Bitty-er. Some entrants, including Daniel Stober and the Ron Case family, have been doing the contest for a decade or more.

This year's winners, chosen randomly from all 74 correct entries, are:

First prize (a night on the town, including a stay for two at the Hotel Monaco, a $100 gift certificate to Ruth's Chris Steak House, two tickets to "Noises Off" at Pioneer Theatre Company, a $30 Gastronomy gift certificate and a Megaplex gift package): Allen and Kristie Soward and their family of Salt Lake City.

Second prize (light pink and lavender pearl necklace with diamond clasp by David Yurman from O.C. Tanner): Leonard and Judi Jensen of Salt Lake City.

Third prize (two tickets to the University of Utah vs. TCU football game plus two hospitality passes and a $50 gift certificate to FANZZ from the Utah Jazz): the Shaun and Heather Stevenett family (including itty bitty Itty Bitty-er Hallie, 18 months) of South Jordan.

Fourth prize (two all-day mountain bike rentals from Canyon Sports and a $25 gift certificate to Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore): Robert E. Monson of West Jordan.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Who Wants a Pumpkin

School Days

Today was Chase's first day of kindergarten. He was so excited to go that he wanted me to drop him off at school when I took Brody this morning and he would just wait there for afternoon kindergarten. He thought I was an idiot when I told him he had to eat lunch at home and then come back for kindergarten...he said, "What do you think the lunchroom is for?"

When I picked him up he was eating a hostess cupcake with a note attached that said "My first day of kindergaten was a piece of cake" I read it out loud and Chase responded, "It really was."

He said he meet two new friends that he played with all day. I asked Chase their names and he said, "I havn't asked them that yet." Good thing I have Chase around to always make me smile.

Chandler started Junior High School last Monday August 25th and Brody started 4th grade also on that day. Chandler loves it! Brody not so much. When we ask Brody why do doesn't like it he said, "Its school mom, who likes school."

Chase at the carshow.

Last night the kids went to the antique car show with Grandma and Grandpa Atwood. In the middle of browsing at all the cool cars, Grandpa asked Chase, "What is your favorite car so far?" Chase answered, "The icecream truck."

Oh You Think So

Chase: I know what my name is in Hawaiin.

Me: What?

Chase: Sexy

The 4th of July!!

Oh ... we love the 4th of July! We headed up the canyon to partake in pancakes, bacon, eggs and orange juice. It was a great time! The kids found a treasure map and went on a Pirate Treasure Hunt. They loved it!

We headed over to the Gateway to run through the fountains to build up a apetite for "Sky Box" where we had a late lunch. We won't be eating there again. It was horrible.

Before fireworks, we cruzed over to Grandma and Grandpas' house to recharge. Some took naps (Shaun and Dad)

Little Fish

Swimmin' at Brookie's

Dippin' & Divin'

Splishin' & Splashin'

Mommy Tag

Chase has been tagged by his cousin Ella...



1. What is something mom always says to you? You're the best!

2. What makes mom happy? When I give her hugs.

3. What makes mom sad? If I ran away.

4. How does mom make you laugh? By telling funny jokes.

5. What was mom like as a child? She did fun stuff. Cute and smiley

6. How old is your mom? 22

7. How tall is your mom? 9 feet

8. What is your mommy's favorite thing to do? Have fun with our family.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Play with Hallie.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Cooking hamburgers

11. What is your mom really good at? Playing tennis

12. What is your mom not very good at? Driving a motorcycle and playing bowling on the wii

13. What does your mom do for her job? She doesn't have a job

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Cafe Rio salad

15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she plays with me everyday

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? I don't really know, but my favorite cartoon character is Sponge Bob, so I guess Sponge Bob.

17. What do you and your mom do together? Puzzles, games, go to the boats, and go swimming

18. How are you and your mom the same? We both have blond hair, we both like to play games, we are both wearing shorts, we both have Stevenett for our last name, we both love our family.

19. How are you and your mom different? Our eyes are different colors, I am a boy and she a girl, She has grown up teeth, I have baby teeth, She can drive, I can't.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? She gives me a hug and she whispers in my ear she loves me every day.

We tag Brock Blodgett. Have fun Brock we'll be looking for your answers.

The Ball!

Shaun & I went on a real date!!! We attended a benefit dinner sponsored by Envision Lending to raise money for Habitat of Humanity. A total of $65,000 was raised that will go towards a lucky family's new home! We had a great time!

Wasatch Back

We went and saw Phil finish the Wasatch Back race this past weekend...

Good times!

Say Cheese

Surprise Father's Day Photos...

Knocking on Doorknobs

Chase told my sister Brooke that...

"I like living in Daybreak because it is so crowded and there are so many kids here that just come up and knock on your doorknob!"

We love our crazy dad! Happy Fathers Day Dad!

Slippin' & Slidin'

Yeah!

It is finally hot enough outside to play in the water...today, the boys did slip and slide, played water baseball and then had a water fight with ten other boys (and one girl) in the neighborhood.

Day in Vegas

June 10th My 14 year anniversary

I am not a spontaneous person. I definately am a planner. But last night I decided to fly to Vegas this morning and meet Shaun, he drove up from California. We had so much fun! It was super hot (Like 105)!!! We went shopping and got some fun new things. We went to Blue Men Group which was incredible! I can't believe some of the thngs they can do. You think your eyes are playing tricks on you. After Blue Men we went to get one of my favorite dinners, spicy cashew chicken from Cheesecake Factory. I had a headache all day long and at dinner it just got to bad. We had to go back to the condo, without even walking the strip (Total Bummer). Shaun left me on the corner and ran to get the car. While I was waiting there, 3 different men came over to talk to me. Yea, it was a little scary and one of them was drunk and just wanted to know where a liquor store was, but the other two genuinely were hitting on me. One of them even sang me a rap song. The last line of the song indicated that "he wasn't gonna win, so he would go and find my twin. It was good to know that after 14 years of marriage....I still got it. LOL Anyway, it was a short time but so much fun!! I am ready to go again.

Playing catch up

I have seriously been neglecting my blog, so today I am playing catch up. We have been really busy since memorial day with birthdays, partys, Shaun coming home for the weekend, ordinations, and the end of school, so I have lots to blog about.



May 28th A Mid Summers Night Stream written by William Shakespeare performed by Chandlers sixth grade class. Chandler played the part of a narrator, he had to memorize 54 lines. He did great and doesn't he look awesome!

May 30th Shaun flew home! He missed his flight (anyone surprised?). So I took the kids to Indiana Jones without him. He caught the next flight that got him home at 7:00 pm (instead of 9:30am) on our way to the airport, our Tahoe's transmission went out. What a day! But at least Shaun did finally make it home so we were all happy.

May 31st was party day at our house. We celebrated Chandler's 12th birthday (actual birthday June 1st), Chase's 5th birthday (June 5th) and my niece Cali's 15th birthday (June 9th), with my whole family. We started at the Daybreak Lake and rented canoes. The highlight of the canoes was when I looked over at the lake from the shore, (Brooke, Cori, my day and I were sitting out with the 2 babies), and I noticed two canoes racing. Then I notice that all 4 adults Phil, Bill, Shaun and my mom, in those two canoes. My eyes raced to the third boat to find all the children in the boat with no adult supervision. Chandler(12) was the oldest one in the boat. Brock(6) and Chase(5) were hanging over the back and my niece Cassidy(9) was climbing over the seat to try to get to where she could help Chandler row. I funny thing is even in the kids in the boat were screaming ..."We need an adult". What were they thinking?



After the lake we had a barbecue at our house, followed by presents and making smores in our backyard. What a great party!

June 1st was a great day for our family. This was Chandler's real birthday. He turned 12 and was ordained a deacon. Wow!! I can't believe I have a 12 year old and what a perfect 12 year old he is. What a special day that we will all remember!

Because Shaun will be back in California on Chase's birthday, we gave both boys their present from us. Chan got an electric scooter and Chase got a power wheels jeep. (Brody hated that Chandler was getting a scooter so he spent all of his own money $175 and bought one for himself). They are all having a blast. We can hardly get them inside.

June 5th Chase's Birthday!!! We had so much fun---We always have fun but especially on birthdays--we kind of party them up!! While the kids were at school I took Chase and Brock my nephew to Chuckee Cheese. They had a ball.

After school we went swimming with different cousins. and after that we meet my mom and dad and sister at one of Chase's favorite restaurant's Geckos. He had a fun filled day and he is excited to be 5.

June 6th yesterday
Yesterday was all 3 of the boys last day of school. They were all ready to be done. Me too! Chase had a graduation program at school that was so great I loved every second of it. He is ready to go to kindergarten and would go today if he could. The other two boys are not that enthusiastic about school, but are really looking forward to summer.

All in all we have had a great week together and have celebrated lots. But mom is tired. Hopeful we can still have fun together but slow down a bit.

Memorial Day