DC Trip

Wow....it has been a long time, I guess you could call me a blogger slacker! Sorry!! We have had so much going on and I have been sick so that is my excuse and I am sticking to it. Jeff and Colleen came to North Carolina to stay with us and we went to DC for a few days. We had never been and we had a really good time.

I can't believe that it is almost May and then we are almost back to Utah. This year has flown by. Alex is right in the middle of her high school soccer season and doing AWESOME!!! She is a little rock star and it has been fun watching her play. Kiara is in the middle of her soccer and she is playing softball for the first time. (Her first game is today) To say the least we are very busy, but what is new!!!

Hope all is well and I will get some more pics on soon!

I have not even posted about our Vegas trip yet...I know I am way behind. I came back and was overwhelmed with work and then I hurt my back and now I am here :0)

We had AAOS in Vegas (Orthopeadic meeting) and Kim & Alicia and Brody & Shayln drove down to spend some time with us!!!! We had so much fun and it was so good to see them. As well as, we were able to have dinner with Tori and Zach. We had been up for 20 hours so I was pretty spent, but it was still very good to see them!

All in all it was a fun whirl wind trip. Rhett and I had so much to do and not enough time to do it in. We got one night with everyone and so that is as good as it gets I quess.

family trip to the beach

My Mom, Cheri and Heather came to NC to help with the kids while Rhett and I went to Vegas for a work conference. We had a few days to sight see and play before we left. It was so good to see them and show them around our neck of the woods. Cheri worked her tail off taking care of the kids and keeping to our crazy schedule :) Thanks Cheri, Mom and Heather!!!

Well today is a great day for Alex, she got her drivers permit!!!! Very exciting....I just can't believe I have a daughter old enough to be driving! She drove herself to school in the rain and did really good....the first few times I had to remind her that she need to slow down a little earlier when coming to a stop, but all in all not to bad! Look out North Carolina :)

What's new :)

We are getting very excited....this week my Mom, Cheri & Heather are coming out to see us :) How lucky are we!!! Rhett and I are heading to Vegas for a Ortho conference and so my family is flying out to spend a few days with us and then help take care of the kids!
This past week has been crazy. Kiara started outdoor soccer as well as she lost her first indoor game 2 to 1 with her scoring the only goal. She has such a good little team and she is such a good player!!! (I know...i am bragging) Alex finished her driving and we went to get her license last week, but the first and second times were both a bust. You think the DMV is bad in Utah, you should try North Carolina. They are very nice and on a good note you get the actual license day of. We are going to go first thing tomorrow morning so they will have plenty of time to get us done before they close. (Alex will just have to miss some school :)) Alex also got 100% on her first geometry test, which is awesome especially because she has not had math for 7 months. (block schedule in NC) Alex has high school soccer tryouts this week and we went to the last 3o minutes last night and she looked really good. They conditioned at the end and no surprise she was the fastest girl winning every wind sprint and they did 10 :) It is fun to watch her when she actually applies herself. Rhett is busy filling out paper work for his job back in Utah and I am trying to make sure I am all caught up with work as next week I am on Vacation!!!!!!

Where to start ☺
For those of who are close to us know, we have always wanted to back in Salt Lake practicing so we are close to family and friends. We all flew out last week for Rhett to do his second interview with IHC and have been waiting to hear back from them. On Friday 1.30.09 at 4:50 Utah time (yes I am type A) we got the call that caused much celebration. Rhett was offered the Job that he has been eyeing for a few years. He has been communicating and talking back and forth with this group for two years so I guess my Granny was right...the squeaking wheel does get the grease. We received the official word and I am sure you can imagine how excited we all are. He will likely be working at LDS hospital, but may do some work at IMC as well until her gets busy.

What a week ☺
First off, it snowed on Monday in NC...not common and the whole place shut down. It was so funny to us, but nice to see the white stuff. Next it is true...we went to Utah and yes we all got back on the plane to head home to NC. It was hard and Kiara cried for at least 20 min because she was going to miss her cousins, friends and family but happy she got to see them all. The reason we flew to Utah was so Rhett could interview with a local group. It is the J.O.B. that he was wanted for a few years and things went really well so now we get to wait and see what happens.

Kiara and Alex had a very busy couple of days….Kiara spent a day with her best friend Sloane (thanks guys) Alex had a non-stop agenda and I think she did everything she wanted. I was able to go in to work and work in the office ….YES ☺ Rhett was able to get a day of skiing in and we all got to see our family and close friends. What more can you ask for???

It was so good to so good see everyone, very hard to fit everything in and of course we wanted to spend more time with everyone, but all in all a success. We had a surprise party for Kara’s 30th birthday and even Grandma Buddy, Papa Dean and Heather got to come. It was awesome. I love my sisters and it is so good to be best friends with them. (Thanks mom) As for our friends…it was so good to see everyone! We really miss you all! We are very lucky to have such amazing people in our lives!!!!!

Oh my…..I have been the world’s worst blogger ever. ☹ Sorry I have taken a little sabbatical for blogging, I don’t even have a good excuse. We have had a very good month and the top comment I can make is “WE ARE HALF WAY DONE.” Oh yea baby 6 months down and 6 to go. This week we are heading to Utah….oh yes it is true and what can I say except we are all very excited. My sisters and family are all coming up and I cannot wait to see my family and Rhett’s parents. We are very blessed. To top it off I think we get to see all of our friends as well. For only being able to spend 4 days it worked out very well. We fly in Wednesday night and leave on Sunday, but who is counting the days….I get to go home ☺

Rhett is doing a second interview with a group he really wants to join, I get to work…..IN THE OFFICE, (a plus), the girls get to have a night with there friends, it just all worked out. Speaking of friends…my girls are very lucky. They both have the best little group of friends. We feel like they are part of our extended family. Sloane, Kiara best little friend and her family are awesome…they still talk every week and send letters/packages back and forth with each other and it just makes Kiara’s day. Alex has so many…Gabby, Kelsey, Ellen & many others. It is amazing what Alex comes home and tells us about what girls her age are doing here in NC and I am sure there are girls in Utah that do the same thing, but we don’t have to worry about it with who she hangs out with and I can’t even express how great that is for parents of a teenager.

My girls started back in full swing with soccer. They both have been doing this program called Hat Trick Futbol and the coach is awesome. He is from England and the girls have both learned a ton. It has been fun to watch them develop and get confidence with the ball. Alex started indoor last night and her team won. It was so exciting. Her coach (whom I think is way to young to have this team…and I disagree with him on so many levels) but he split the teams up…um NOT FAIR!!! He put Alex on the not so strong team. He then asked me to coach her team which I was super excited about. Long story short….we played the other half of the team and kicked butt. Alex had I think 5 goals and the score was 9 to 6. Oh yea…I have really missed coaching! (her High school team tryouts are Feb 16th) As for Kiara’s soccer…her team is very good and they got moved up to the top division. So she is already playing up a year and now she is in the top division. ☺ She has had a very positive experience with soccer in NC.

I will leave you with this information…..in North Carolina if the temp drops below 30 School is delayed 2 hours because it is to cold and if there is a possibility of snow….the whole town runs to the grocery store and bunkers down. It has been so funny….can you imagine cold weather and possibly snow, that is just the worst thing ever.

Christmas 2008

What a month…
I must say that December has been the good month so far in North Carolina. It started with a care package from a friend back home Heather, then came the 12 days of Christmas from Grandma Colleen, then packages, from Grandma Buddy, Kara & Cheri & Sloane. The girls love to get packages so this was very exciting. Alex had her dance concert and it has been a few years since Alex has been on the stage dancing and she did really good. She is a very good dance and looked so beautiful. Kiara also had had chores concert and she was a hit as well. She knew all the words and actions and looked beautiful. If any of you have seen Kiara in a program you know what a big deal it is for her and she came through with flying colors ☺ Rhett and I were very proud. Then came the much-dreaded Christmas day itself with no family around. However, despite the fact I had a horrible head cold and all our family was back in Utah, we survived and actually had a very good day. The girls got a Wii and I am not sure who was more excited….my girls or MY HUSBAND. We have been playing Guitar Hero, Mario Cart and Wii games none stop. The girls favorite game is Sing it (thanks Dwany) followed by Mario Cart. Rhett loves them all but Guitar Hero takes the cake. I am getting better I don’t even get booed off the stage and I don’t take last in Mario cart so what do you know. Rhett and I had to wake the girls up at about 7:15 and by 9:00 we were all done cleaned up and eating breakfast. The rest of the day was filled with Wii followed by a get together at the Bolo’s that night. All in all we had a very good day.
However the winner of all gifts were that Rhett is going back to Utah for an interview and we decided to take the girls with us. Well, let me just tell you that I am pretty sure you could hear them clear down the road screaming. It was closely followed by many phone calls to all of there friends back home. It was a big hit. ☺
We hope all of our friends and family had a very Merry Christmas and we are wishing them all a Happy New Years!!!!!!

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”

Our Charley Brown Christmas tree ☺
So…when we left Utah we didn’t bring much with us. As a matter of fact I have been kicking myself almost everyday that I forgot something that I really need. However, that being said…I really can get by without it, it would just make things easier ☺

Including things I left behind would include all Holiday decorations. This put a little damper for our plans to get a Christmas tree and to decorate that tree. We did buy some bulbs, lights and a star to go on top of our tree, but that is about it. The tree is cute in a way and the girls had a fun time just the same. This is the first year in six years that we had a real tree and the smell is fantastic. The day we bought the tree it was 70 degrees and warm. We all commented on the fact that it just did not feel like Christmas despite the fact that Rhett woke up and turned on Christmas music because he knows I LOVE IT ☺ However, the following day the temperature dropped 25 degrees and today it is raining like crazy and we even got to use our fire place which is Rhett’s favorite so….in the end “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”

Turkey bowl is a tradition that was featured on the NFL network a few years back and a tradition that Bolo & his friends started 23 years ago. Why you ask am I saying this….well Rhett played in this famous game on Thanksgiving Day this year. It started with a draft party…oh yes they are very serious about this game and continued to a two hour full field, three referees type of a game the following day. Now just to brag a bit…Rhett was the first one chosen for the draft and would have been the NVP, but the one rule is that the NVP needs to return the next year with the trophy thus it went to someone else. His team won 32 to 12 ☺ It was a lot of fun and I am sure Rhett will not be able to walk in a few days!!!! (age…gets ya every time)

For actual dinner we were invited to some friends we have met through Bolo and Kelly, the Mehok’s. They are a lot of fun and we had an excellent time.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Tomorrow I get to listen to Christmas music ☺

***Disclaimer…Kiara was in-charge of the Turkey bowl pics :o

UPDATE!!!!
OK…so we had a pretty good week!!! It was nice because neither Kiara nor Alex had soccer for the first time in (well because I am counting 17 weeks). So we had some great family time at night without running all over town!!! Next it was the much anticipated Twilight movie on Friday night! The movie was very good…Alex cried, Kiara loved it and has already begged us to go again. It was a bit much for Rhett, but he was a good sport and went. I liked it, I really did, it just can’t compare to the book. There were a few things that they could have done (i.e.: kiss before leaving to Phoenix, wear a blue shirt while dress shopping being saved in Port Angeles, wearing a green sweater day after, she never said she was going to Jacksonville as an excuse it was Seattle and…why did Jasper have to look like a retard???) just to name a few, but all in all I really like it and would see it again I just wanted the movie I guess to be 4 hours so they could show the world what an awesome book Twilight it. Ok I know I am hooked and I love it, but what can I say…..it’s the best book ever!

On Saturday Rhett and I racked all the leaves in our yard. Now in Utah we have a lot of leaves and it is a job!!! However, in North Carolina they are never ending!!!!! It took us both working together 6 hours and we didn’t even bag them. I can’t even explain, but trust me…….leaves galore and then some more.

On Sunday Alex has a DATE!!! Oh yea I was freaking out all weekend. They meet at the movies and had lunch. When we went to pick her up he did come over to introduce himself to us which was very nice and he seems like a good/nice kid. However, Alex said she is not sure about him (maybe to clingy) It is so hard to watch your kids grow up…I want her to be happy and protect her from being hurt. Which, you can’t do, but I soooooooo want to.

This week is Thanksgiving and I must say I am having a really hard time not being close to my family. I talk to Heidi, Kara and Cheri almost every day, but it is not the same. It is just one year but I really miss family and friends back home!

Fall in NC

We took advantage of our neighborhood :) All of these were taken at or around our house. It is very beautiful here. The bridge is right by our house...the funny thing is until Kiara meet the neighbor boys they would not even go down by it because of the spiders and bugs However, now Kiara plays there all the time!!!