Egg Hunt at Grandma Margo's

Aunt Sue's Easter Party

Marlie's Pet Day!

Marlie's 3rd grade class had Pet Day this year!  Mar thought it would be "totally boring" to bring our only pet (our fish Princess) and so she had me call our friend Danielle who has a Shih tzu dog named Izzy.  Marlie told all about the dog and let her walk around and show off in front of the group.  Lucie thought it would have been great to take it home after...  I was nervous about Marlie pronouncing "Shih tzu" correctly...  It all turned out fine in the end!

Bells Canyon Reservoir

We finally made it up hiking with the girls this year!  We went on a trail right here in Draper that both Kevin and I have passed by the trailhead while biking many times.  We really had no idea where it led, and when it got to a gorgeous lake at the end, it was a nice surprise!  The girls were really excited about our new discovery.  It is so fun to have them finally at the age where we can go and enjoy these types of things.  

Soccer 2009

Both Marlie and Lucie were on a soccer team for Spring season.  Somehow they got the same color jersey and shorts for each of their teams!  We were lucky that their games were both on Tuesday nights, although Kevin usually ended up doing it because I had class that night at the U.  Marlie has been on the same team since we moved here with Coach Kelley (who is amazing and continues to spoil the girls with a team party and a Webkin each season) and Lucie was so lucky to get her friend Alyssa's mom Susan as her coach.  Lucie was an "okay" player until she watched "She's the Man" movie.  It was fun to see her catch on to being aggressive and making goals.  She was scoring 3-4 goals a game after that!  Marlie plays a great goalie and mid-fielder   Good job girls!  Go "Lavendar Lions" and "Purple Dragonflies!"

My Graduation!

I finally graduated with my master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Utah! I had started it about 9 years ago while I was teaching at Hunter High School through Granite District.  Then we moved to Reno when I only had 2 or 3 classes left to take.  After moving back to Utah, I finally got it together to go back up to the linguistics office. Lucky for me, my teacher was serving as the chair over the department.  She helped me get things together and sign up for my remaining classes.  Through some miracle, I passed my final comprehensive exam (after hours and hours of studying with my new friend Hazel) and got through my 50 page paper.  I memorized every grammar rule known to man, memorized statistical analysis computations, and research testing all while I was taking my two final classes where in one I had to design a whole entire ESL class curriculum.  Through a lot of praying I finally made it!  The kids were so happy...  We went to donuts the morning of my graduation at our favorite donut store, Banbury Cross.  Yum!  They even had "U" donuts to eat!  To top it all, I ended up with a perfect 4.0 cumulative for my degree.  Miracles happen every day!

New York City!

I got to go to New York City for my birthday and graduation trip.  My friend Suzanne (best friends since 4th grade) lives in New Jersey, right by the train station into New York.  It was three much needed fun-filled days.  We went to "9 to 5" the new broadway play, to American Girl store, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Canal Street (Shopping!), the outlets in Jersey, and to Alan's work at the American Express building (right next door to the Twin Towers construction).  I went running every morning, ate birthday cake, and went out for a fun Cinco de Mayo lunch at the American Express "mall" where Alan works.  We had tons of rain but we didn't let that get us down.  We laughed a lot and we even found the time to watch our favorite teen movie, "Sooner or Later!"

Happy Father's Day Kevin!

A few of our favorite things about Dad:  

He loves to bike, drink Mountain Dew, eat donuts and icecream, be outside, go on hikes, give loves, eat Reeses p'nutbutter cups, tell jokes, and most of all he loves his girls...