Samantha's Summer of Gymnastics, Soccer, and Swimming

After swimming lessons at the College.
Sam floating on her back.

Playing Soccer. This is her 3rd year and she did very well.

This was the first year they played with a goalie (S.P.?) She loved having that challenge and more structure to the game.

This was a busy summer. Sam got to do gymnastics and she really enjoyed it. She has a broad range of things she is interested in. I like exposing the girls to lots of activities in hopes that they will find something that they are talented at and passionate about. So far I think Sam loves ballet the best, but she is enjoying doing all sorts of sports. Soccer, this summer, was fun because they started playing a few positions. I think it made it more interesting for Sam. She likes order and structure. She also took swimming lessons and is dang close to being able to swim fully on her own. She can make it pretty far by herself. I think with more practice it will all come together for her. The problem lies in the fact that we have NO POOL in our town. Pathetic. Maybe someday we will have one again.

McKenzie's Summer of Swimming, Soccer, and Golf

Kenz on the blue water noodle.
Swimming lessons at the College

Cute Kenz

Look at her against all those boys! You Go Girl!
So Cute. So little.

This year Kenz played soccer. She loved it! She was the littlest one on her team. Not the youngest, just the littlest. We got her the smallest shirt they had a it was HUGE on her. She was really enthusiastic and would run for the ball. She was not very aggressive, but got a few good kicks in anyway! She was really fun to watch. She enjoys anything she does and has such a happy attitude. She also played golf this summer (no pictures) She loved it as well. After her first class she told me that her teacher said, " You'd be really great at hockey!" She thought this was the best compliment and she said, " And I don't even play Hockey!" It was super cute. I am sure she was hacking up the grass a bit, hence the Hockey comment-- She was so excited to play and be involved. She also took swimming lessons, it was a first. It was much over due. None of my girls can swim and I was just realizing that if they fell in water somewhere, they would drowned. So she took a week of swimming. She can not fully swim, but learned some skills and maybe with some more practice she will get it.

Catching up. Butler Family Reunion in St. George

We got to go to Zions National Park. We are trying to cool down in the water. It was a very hot day.
We hiked up to weeping rock.

Kenz.

Sam in her "grown-up" sun glasses.

Whit. You can tell how hot she is, her little cheeks are all red.

This is Tuacahn, an outdoor theater in St. George. It was the most gorgeous setting . . . big red Mt. all around us . . .

Me and Scotty after the show was over.

We saw "Footloose" and the guy that played the main guy, I recognized from "So you think can Dance" It was awesome!

Me and Dad at Tuacahn before the show started. It was of course blasted HOT.

Scotty at Tuacahn.

This summer we had the Butler Family Reunion in a neutral/central location that way no one had to host and it was not that far for anyone to travel. We stayed in really nice condos with lots of swimming pools!! It was a blast. The girls loved getting to swim every day. It was way hot down there, 110 most days. I could hardly stand it. I am an Idaho girl, we are thick blooded and ready for the COLD. I enjoyed seeing my cousins and their little kids. Our girls had lots of 2nd cousins to play with, it made it very fun. All of us with little kids went to a big "Jump House" where there were all these big blow-up jump castles and slides. The girls loved it and played for hours there. We also got to see our friends Matt and Kristi from chiropractic college, they live down there.

Catching-up. 4th of July

Macie's Parents came up for the 4th and brought their really nice dog, Mookie with them. Kenzie and Whit are in love with him. Especially Whit. She calls him Moody, and says that she loves him and wants Dodger to be nice like Moody.
Grandpa and Grandma Robison at the Parade with us!

Me and the girls. Notice No Scott. He seems to weasel out of going to the parade every year. I love the parade and so do the girls. This year I did let him off easy, because Macie's dad was up and Scott took him golfing. So I relented for Gordon's sake. You won't be so lucky next year Scott. . . you owe us a good old 4th of July Parade.

Girls waving for candy. I liked the flag going by.

Nick and Becca also came up for the 4th!! We love it when they come up!! The girls are all over Nick. He is so sweet to them.

We has a fun cook out in the back yard with steak, fruit, scones, salads . . . all the good stuff!! It was a beautiful day. Then that night we went to a Chuckers game with Scott's family and got to watch the fireworks in I.F. it was really neat.

The First Day Of School

Sam ready for 2nd Grade!! Her teacher is Mrs. Sherman. Sam is giving us her Aunt Becca pose.
I went school clothes shopping with the girls and I just let them pick out the clothes they liked. They did a really good job, I think they have great taste! It was a fun way to do things and plus now I know they like everything they got . . . they picked it.

Kenzie on her first day of Kindergarten. Her teacher is Mrs. Parker. Kenzie is ready and excited for school. She was calm and happy to get on the bus. Just taking it all in stride.

Kenz with her cute back-pack. Looking so grown-up.

School girls. (With little sis in the back-ground). I had fun shopping with them for their school clothes, another perk of having girls. They would try on their clothes and I could tell if they really liked it on, because they would start dancing in the mirror. I also LOVE doing their hair!! I have so much fun doing different styles and using big hair bows. (Perk for having girls.) We got up nice and early this morning and had plenty of time to get ready, eat breakfast, and even read scriptures . . . I hope we can do that well for the rest of the year. . . Last night we weighed and measured the girls. We mark it on the back of the door in the kitchen, it is always interesting to see how much they have grown over the year. Scott was able to give them all a Father's Blessing for the new school year. I know the girls appreciated the extra help of a blessing. It was a wonderful way to start the new year. I am so glad that school has started, the girls are great friends, but they were really needing a break from each other. Now the house is pretty quiet with just me, Whit, and Dodger here. Whitney actually plays really well by herself, in fact prefers it that way. So I am looking forward to some extra time to get organized and maybe find sometime to do a few things that I enjoy.

A long time coming.

As many of you have gathered from my somewhat subtle post, I am pregnant! Yes pregnant!! This is our 4th (and maybe final) baby!! If life could always go according to our own plans this baby would have come last summer and not a year and 1/2 later, but as I am learning (with difficulty) the Lord sometimes has other plans for us. Also Scott's timetable was a bit different than mine for timing our 4th baby . . . and as you know it really does have to be a "group" decision . . . can't really just work on it by myself! (Ha Ha). I feel like I have waged a battle to get this baby here. The others seemed to easily fall into place, but for this special baby, I have waited. And Waited. I am so deeply happy to be pregnant. My official due date is February 14, 2010. A wonderful date. Valentine's Day! I am 15 weeks along and I have felt great! Seriously my easiest pregnancy! Which is odd, considering for the past 3--each one I was more sick and more tired--than the one before---So naturally I thought I would be D.O.A. for this baby. Not the Case!! I have felt so wonderful the whole time!! Hardly nauseous and Hardly tired. I was actually kind-of worried before my first doctor's appointment . . . I kept thinking that I was going to mis-carry because I was not sick. But we went into the Doctor and saw the little peanut with a strong heartbeat!! I was so relieved. I have since had my 2nd appointment and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat. Also wonderful. I have already gained 5 pounds, not too shabby. I am almost wearing my maternity clothes, I am still in that very much awkward stage of, " Is she chubby? Or pregnant?" I can't wait until I really just POP out and everyone can tell I am pregnant. This in-between-stage is a self esteem killer. I don't feel like I look good in anything. OH well, I am just too vain. But thrilled. I am honestly just planning on another girl. I can't really wrap my mind around a boy. Either way I am going to be so excited!

My Last Birthday. 29.

So this picture was not taken on my birthday, but it is close enough. This is what I look like turning 29. This was a hard age to swallow. The closer I get to 30 the more old I feel/sound. I really only planned my life up to 30 . . . graduate High School, go to college College, get married, buy a house, have all my kids by the time I am 30 . . . And that my friends, are my life's goals. So apparently life is over at 30. I really need to set some more goals for my life. Because I am really feeling like---NOW WHAT? I need to evaluate what I want in my life. What I want to accomplish. So I took sometime and wrote out some goals for myself. This time I am not putting a time limit on them. I am just going to keep working on them. And when I finish them I will set some more and probably change some along the way.

1. Finish my degree

2. Sew/ tie a quilt all on my own

3. Run another 5k

4. Run on a rely team

5. Get braces again

6. Vacation in Hawaii

7. See Paris from the Eiffel Tower

8. Go to the top of the Statue of Liberty

9. Serve in a soup kitchen

10. Forgive-Forget-and Love

11. Try not to be judgemental

12. Don't criticize others/myself

13. Ride in a hot air balloon

14. Read the Bible

15. Climb the Teton Mt.'s

16. Eat a lobster

17. Swim in the ocean

18. Take a painting class

19. Serve a mission

20. Ride a motorbike cross country

21. Teach my daughters how to be virtuous. Help them understand how valuable, talented, beautiful, intelligent, and capable they are.

22. Find God again

23. Find me again

24. Take my family to Disneyland

25. Croquet a baby blanket

26. Learn to snowboard

27. Plant a garden

28. Build our own home. Our dream home.

29. Be humble, be teachable. Listen.

30. Write a book of poetry. Just for me. Not to publish.

31. Cook a turkey and host Thanksgiving dinner.

32. Visit my Grandparents more often.

33. Read "Gone with the Wind"

34. Read "Lord of the Rings"

35. Be a cheer coach

36. Coach Gymnastics

37. Learn how to bottle fruit and veggies.

38. Help my girls navigate through puberty, make-up, piercings, bras, periods, boys, deodorant, shaving, and peer pressure.

39. Be someone my girls trust and can talk with.

40. Be a better friend.

41. Be a builder-not a destroyer. Nurture.

42. Housebreak the DOG

43. Go to Australia--See the Kangaroos

44. See our Nation's Capitol--tour the White House.

45. Go para-sailing

46. -----Is For my Eyes Only (HA! HA! :o )------

47. Get a facial

48. Organize my house.

49. Simplify.

50. Give birth to a healthy baby in Feb. 2010.

So I guess I do have a little more to live for. A little more to learn. A little more to see. A little more to accomplish before life is over. 30 better not be the end. I am hoping to make a beginning ---now ---this year. Here's to 29. Eternal youth.

NOT REALLY M.I.A.--Journalling--

Though it seems we, the White's, have fallen off the face of the earth-it is simply not true. We are all still here. Quite alive and well. Busy. But now slowing down. I have been taking great strides to calm the chaos of our lives. I have recently been released from being Young Women's President. It is bitter/sweet. I love the Y.W. so very much. But my life was so crazy busy, that I was losing the peace and joy I should be feeling. I am feeling calmer now. Like I can breath. Like I can now figure out who I am again. I felt lost in the shuffle. This is our last week of summer rec. programs. And I question the wisdom of getting the girls so involved in things this summer. Sam---Gymnastics, soccer, and swimming and Kenz---Golf, soccer, and swimming ---that is a lot of running here and there. When do the kids get to play? When do they get a free day? The girls have loved being involved in these sports, but what about just being a KID? I may have to re-think this for next summer? Between trips and family reunions, we have hardly had a moment to enjoy summer. But now, with about 3 weeks left, I am feeling relief. I just want to be a "stay-at-home-Mom." Maybe this year, that can happen. I am not teaching TaVaCi this year either. This also is a bit bitter/sweet I really did enjoy teaching the kids and I love to sing and dance, but I just need TIME and SPACE. So, I am reining it in. I want to feel like I am LIVING my life and not that it is RUNNING me. So here I am. I am happy. Ready. Calm. Excited to live. Breathing again. :) It feels good.

Trip to Portland

We went to Multnomah Falls.

Tried Crawfish for the first time. Scott seemed to enjoy it. I was not very impressed. The fish looked too alive for my liking.

Kelly, Carrie, and their kids--Scott and our kids eating at "My Brother's Crawdad"

The Crawfish.

Cousin Love!

Kaitlyn, Kenzie, Jasmine, Sammy, Tyler, and Whit

Cute Cousins!


We got to go to Portland in June for Scott to have a Chiropractic Seminar. While we were there we visited with his Brother Kelly and his wife Carrie and their 3 kids (they were still expecting #4---Caroline born in July). We had lots of fun! The girls and I got to spend some good time at their house just visiting and letting them play together. We went to play at a pizza-eating joint somewhat like chucky cheese. We also got to go to Multnomah Falls--it was beautiful. And we all went to "My Brother's Crawfish" for some really good seafood! Scott's seminar was great he learned some useful things. It was a great trip. We don't get to see Kelly and Carrie very much and we sure miss them. Our kids have a great time with their kids--they are all very close in age.

Spring Ballet--Cinderella

Whitney trying to be like Sam

Late posting this . . . but still important! This spring Sammy had her ballet recital, she was a "lady in waiting" for the ballet Cinderella! She has done very well in ballet and wants to continue taking again this fall! This summer she did gymnastics, soccer, and swimming lessons! She has excelled and enjoyed them all! But sometimes I wonder if I am seriously over-scheduling my kids? . . . I NEVER did any summer sports. I just keep thinking back to my summer vacations and all the FREEDOM that they held. Of course, I can't handle a ball to save my life, I eventually did learn to swim, and gymnastics was like breathing to me, but I only did that during the school year . . . Am I helping my children or cluttering their childhood. I sometimes wonder with ALL the running around we do . . . . which is best?