MOTHER'S DAY

A few weeks ago Brittani and I were asked to speak in church on Mother's Day (what a treat!).  I asked my mom if she wanted to come down and go to church with us and Rick asked Leslie if she wanted to come go church with us, so we had an audience!  It worked out so nicely when we realized that Nathan would be ordained a Teacher in church also, so both grandmas were able to be there for that.  It's crazy to me how quickly Nathan is growing up.  He is such a handsome, kind, loving boy.  He tries so hard to make good choices and be a good person.  One thing I admire so much about Nathan is that he NEVER talks bad about anyone.  He is about 6'2" and is still growing!!!  I'm so proud of the man he is becoming.

After church Cory, Spring, Jaxon and Brenna came to our house to give my mom her gifts before they went to dinner with Spring's family.  Cory is doing a reality show on the Discovery Channel about small airplanes and has been gone for the past couple of weeks filming for that.  It was fun to have them over and spend some time with them.  Later, Teague, Jen and their family, Nolan, Amanda and their family, Ashlie and Will and Leslie all came over for dinner.  We ate, played games and had a nice evening.

                                               The Mother's Day gift my sweet children gave to me.

                                                                            Cute Brenna

                                                        Sweet Connor and Sweet Jaxon

It was a lot different this year with my dad not being with us.  It still is so hard for me to really believe that he is gone.  Teague graduated from college on Saturday, and when he walked in and was waving at us, it broke my heart that my dad wasn't there to see him.  Kirk leaned over and asked if I thought it would ever get any easier (we were both crying at this point), but I honestly don't know if it ever will.  He will be so missed at graduations, ordinations, weddings, parties, holidays, and every other day of the year...

PROM #2!

2 proms in a row!  Brittani was asked to Pleasant Grove's prom by her good friend Jordan Bramhall.  She had SOOO much fun and looked SOOO beautiful.  I'm glad we are done with proms for a year!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Nathan (14 years old) - "Dad, Connor just called me a tattle tail!"
Gotta love it!!!

EASTER - April 24, 2011

We had two Easter Celebrations this year, one with the Bengtzens on Saturday, and then on Sunday we partied with the Finlaysons!!!

                                                        BENGTZEN EASTER PARTY
Grandma Raynee talked to the kids about Easter and how thankful we were for the resurrection because we know that we will be able to see Grandpa Gary again.  I think that it is still a little fresh for all of us, so there were some tears, but we got through it.

After the Easter lesson we all went out for the Easter Egg Hunt

                                                                            Dawson

                                                                             Jaxon

                                                                          Nathan

                                                                                Zak

Tyson, Braydan and Dawson

THE FINLAYSON PARTY

                                                              All the boys playing basketball

                                                                          

                                                                      Brittani and Will

 Josh

                                                                 Andrea and Kenna

LONE PEAK PROM - 2011

                                                Beautiful Brittani with her prom date Nolan Dodge.

Two days before prom I got a phone call from Brittani telling me to think about a question before I say no.  She goes on to ask if she can stay out on the night of prom until 2 or 3 am!!!  After Rick and I talk a lot about it, we (well mostly me...Rick never agreed) decide that she could stay out until 2.  Britt had an amazing time at prom but said when she got home that she will NEVER stay out till 2 again, it was way too late!  Hopefully she will remember that next year!

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES... COME ON!

The Lone Peak Swim Team Banquet was on Wednesday night, and Brittani was the main event!!! She received the Lezask Award, the High Point Swimmer Award, she lettered (for the 3rd time) and was named one of the captains for the 2011-2012 school year. I had to leave early, but it was so fun for me to listen to Rick talk about how proud he was of her. Brittani is such a beautiful girl, inside and out. She works so hard at swimming and at life, and yet it always seems like she is having a party - she makes it look easy. She has started getting recruiting letters from many different colleges and it scares me to think that in just one short year she will be leaving us. I love you Brittani!

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

In the Finlayson family, we swim, ride bikes, play basketball and play football - we do not play baseball! BUT...... one of Rick's good friends, Jason Turley, asked if Connor would come and play for his baseball team, and so we decided to give it a shot. Connor's first game was on Tuesday, and on the way there he was so nervous because he has never even seen a baseball game, and most of the boys on his team have been playing for years. I was SO proud of him as he hopped out of the car and went and played his very best.

Every day I learn so much from my sweet children, and over the past few days I have thought about how much this little baseball game is so much like the big game of life. Sometimes we are doing what is comfortable, what we have been doing for years or generations, and then a kink gets thrown into our life, and we have to learn a new game. We can either sit in the car and not even try, or hop out of the car and give it our very best. Thank you Connor for showing me how it is done.