Avery gets baptized!

What a wonderful day! It was perfect!

It's the End of Another School Year!!

The time has flown by! Not only is another school year done, but elementary school is a thing of the past for our oldest, Maddie! I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she will be starting 7th grade in the fall. Crazy! But what are you goin' to do?! It's going to be a fun, new adventure!! And Savannah is super excited that school is done, because that means she will get to start kindergarten in the fall! I am going to be an empty-nester! What am I going to do with myself all day long...well, half the day at least!!?? (hehe) Anywho, here are some pictures of the kids with their teachers. xoxo (Morgan's teacher is actually that tall...or short. :)

Avery is 8!!

Happy Birthday to Avery! She turned 8 years old on May 25th. It was such a fun day! Especially since Avery finally got the pet bunny she has been begging for! Yeah...for her! Mom and Dad I think have lost their marbles! ;) We love Avery and are so happy that she is a part of our family! It wouldn't be the same without her. So, Happy Birthday to you, sweet girl! We love you so much!!

pictured top-bottom: Angel girl with mom & dad, with her new purple scriptures made by Grandpa Rasmussen, & with her new bunny, Bella.

13 Years of Wedded Bliss!!!

Danny and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on May 2. It's hard to believe that we have been together 13 years already. It feels more like 5, except we have 5 beautiful children that tell us its been longer! :) The time has flown. I can't wait to see what the next 13 years bring. Life with Danny is so much fun and full of color and exciting possibilities! I love him so much! (mushy, I know)

Our anniversary is made even more special because we get to share it with two of our favorite people in the world, Matt and Rachel!! Love you guys!

Happy Mother's Day to all of my loving, selfless, wise and beautiful family & friends that show the world how wonderful it is to be a Woman!!

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with perfectly manicured nails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking the kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing my neighbors lawn.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with the children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know that I was really here and that I really lived."

~Sister Marjorie Pay Hinkley

Maddie is 12!!!!!

Holy Cow, my baby is 12 years old and going into Young Women's and Junior High and cheerleading!! We love that Madison is such a beautiful and talented young lady. Despite the fact that I don't feel old enough to have a young women, we are so excited for this new phase in our lives. And Maddie is thrilled to be out of primary and "moving on" with her life.
Happy Birthday, sweetheart! We love you!

Avery's Farm Field Day!

I had the fun opportunity to go with Avery on a field trip to the high school to learn about, see, touch, hold and smell a bunch of farm animals. Avery also got to bring home a marigold from the school's greenhouse. Unfortunately...it has renewed Avery's desire to have a pet bunny! :) Oh well. I guess we asked for it when we got Maddie and Morgan their own pets....oops.

Our Visit to Michelle & Shane's!!

So, I didn't take very many pictures, but I wanted to post these and aknowledge the fun time that we had with Shane and Michelle and their awesome kids! We had so much fun just relaxing and being with them. We got to see Brittany in her gorgeous prom dress and we saw Zack win his tennis match. We met their cute puppy, Sadie and Josh's pet snake, Rosie (pictured ....eeewww!!) It was a much needed change of scenery and so relaxing to not have anything to do for a few days except have fun!! We loved it! Thanks guys!

Happy Easter!

After the Easter hunt at Grandpa & Grandma Rasmussen's... I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday. Yes it's fun to find candy and all kinds of goodies :) but I love being able to focus on the miracle of our Savior. The gift he gave all of us is so precious and I am forever grateful for Him and for the gift of my beautiful, wonderful, remarkable, funny, talented and fabulous family!!! I love you all!

Maddie in the Jungle Book Kids!

Madison was in her 2nd play, but this time she had a lead role! She played the panther Bagheera in the "Jungle Book Kids"! She was fabulous and looked so good in her genie-panther costume! ;) It looks like she is going to follow in her Daddy's footsteps as an awesome performer! Way to go, Maddie Sue!

In the pictures are Maddie with her best friend, Abby. There were two casts because so many kids tried out, so Abby was Bagheera in the other cast.

The other pictures are Maddie on set and then with Baloo and Mowgli.

MORGAN'S 10TH BIRTHDAY!!

Pictures: Morgan the Goofball! Best Buds...l-r: Colton, Porter, Morgan, Ryan and Jacob. And Morgan with his favorite gift...he was soooo happy! ;)

MORGAN IS 10!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? They grow up too fast! We had so much fun celebrating this huge milestone in Morgan's life! I mean, double-digits is a BIG step! We had a family party at home and then took Morgan and 4 of his best buds to the new Jack n' Jills Bowling in Lehi! It was a blast and Morgan was the only one of his friends to get a strike. AWESOME! :)

Maddie's 6th Grade Valentine's Dance

Maddie is so gorgeous! That's all I have to say. And it was so much fun to watch her and her friends as they did line dances and played games. Brought back some fond memories of my own 6th grade Valentine's Dance. Good times! Pictured with Maddie are two of her best friends, Emi and Abby.

Beck Christmas Bash 2009!!

We had so much fun partying with the Beck's this year! Well, last year...since I'm way behind on my blogging. :) Anywho, we went to the Peak's skating arena and did a little ice-skating, played some games, filled up on hot chocolate and skated some more. It was a blast! And big surprise for me...my kids loved it. Especially the girls. They took to it like they were born to do it. Savannah really started having fun after she got a "walker". It was off to the races after that... :) We all landed on the ice at least once...okay for some of us it was several times because we kept trying to do tricks...uh-hum, Danny! ;) So fun!

Christmas 2009!!!

This was the most magical Christmas yet! We had so much fun with each other and with our families. We were all filled with warm fuzzies and laughter and we made so many fun memories! Some of which we will show you right here! We followed tradition and had the kids all sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning they had to wait on the stairs for Mom and Dad to take pictures of all the presents. Christmas Eve was spent with Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen where we got a special visit from Mr. and Mrs. C. and and listened while Grandpa told the story of the Savior's birth. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year and I hope everyone's holidays were the best they could be!! Loves to you all!

Award Winning Poem!!

Maddie wrote a poem for the Reflections contest this year and won the award of excellence for it!! Along with a snazzy little trophy!! The theme was "Beauty is..." Here's a picture and the poem!!






Beauty is...Life
by:Madison Beck

Beauty is the wind that you feel on your cheek,
Taking your breath away so that you can hardly speak.
Beauty is the rain that makes water colors in Spring,
That makes the colors on a butterfly's delicate wing.
The leaves in the Autumn falling to the ground~
Yellow, orange, green and brown.
There are many things of beauty,
Like a newborn baby, "Oh what a cutie!"
Or a masterpiece painting, a drawing with a pencil,
A dainty hand using a silver utensil.
And now you can see with clearer eyes,
The simple beauty of earth and skies.
So even through tough trials and strife,
You can still find happiness in the beauty of...Life!

Maddie's Cheerleading Competitions

Maddie has been cheerleading since this past spring cheering at the 6th grade boys football games, parades and stuff. She has had a ton of fun and learned so much, but it had to end some time. It all came to a an end this last week as her squad competed in two local competitions. The Mountain State Cheerleading Competition at Lehi High School and then a week later at the Caveman Classic at A.F. High. She had a lot of fun, but some disappointment as well as her squad didn't place at the Lehi comp. They did take 3rd place at American Fork and all the girls spirits were lifted. They did such a good job. I'm so proud of Maddie and how far she has come since she first tried out for cheer. She was the best flyer on the squad (not just my opinion, her coach thought so too) and the best dancer! (again, not just my opinion...anyone who has seen Maddie dance would agree with me! She has a natural talent for it.) :) Although, she didn't get to do any of her stunts after she broke her arm, she still came out on top as one of the best. She didn't let a little thing like a broken wing stop her from doing her best and she made her mom and dad proud as she competed for the first time. Way to go, Mad Skills! Keep it up!

Savannah is 5 years old!!

Happy Birthday, Savannah!! We had so much fun on Vannah's birthday this year! Since she turned 5 we gave her a friends party. And what happens when you get 9 sweet little "fairies" in the same house with each other...crazy chaos, lots of mess and one great party! Daesha, Sidney, Tessa, Tatem, Erin, Abbie, Mia and Savannah J. made it so much fun. They threw themselves into the games (and pinata) with great enthusiasm. And when it was all over, Savannah said it was the best party ever!! Aaaah! That's exactly what every parent wants to hear! We love that Vannah-Banana is a part of our family. We would not be the same without her!! Happy 5th Birthday, sweetheart! We can't wait for the next one! :)

Halloween 2009!!

Happy Halloween!! Here are some fun pix of my cute kids on Halloween night. Maddie was the cutest "nerd" ever! Morgan was our resident Mad-Scientist and played the part to perfection! Avery was Hannah Montana...only cuter, and Savannah was our adorable Thumblelina!! Danny even got into the action by borrowing his brothers Elvis costume...can you say mmmmmm!! He looked yummy! :) And I tried to match him by going with a 50's mom look. We had a great time, got a little too much candy and made some awesome memories! Thanks to Ash and Staven for the fun costume party and to our neighbors for making the best haunted graveyard on Allred Park Drive!! The kids loved it and are hoping that they do it again next year...only better! Especially since their mom doesn't really get into the gory part of the holiday! :)