True Love

I have been down and out quite a bit this last week.  I had some tissue grafting surgery done in my  mouth followed quickly by the flu and bronchitis.  I was actually on my back for a day- and I haven't taken a day off since before I was married.  It just doesn't happen as a mom- you have to tough it out.  But I laid on the floor and changed diapers while the kids crawled over and around me doing their thing.  It was miserable.  BUT...... every second my sweet husband was home- he was in charge.  He would take the kids and insist that I climb into bed and take a nap, he took care of meals, the kids and me.  One day he came home with my favorite French Onion soup from Fridays.  It was so good and comforting and thoughtful.  I am sooooo grateful for this good man and what an amazing "help meet" he is to me.  I pray that I meet his needs as well as he meets mine.  He is constantly showing me what TRUE LOVE looks and feels like.  I am so glad he is MINE!

Chinese New Year- The Year of The Rabbit

We all LOVE Chinese food so every year we celebrate the Chinese New Year!  This year we invited this cute family over to join us.  In this picture they are missing their cute little 8 year old.  I am just kicking myself for not getting a picture of our feast.  Use your imagination and picture.....

our table with two hot griddles in the middle surrounded by bowls of food.  We had egg rolls and mandu (potstickers), and Butter Yaki.  We had bowls of cabbage, onions, carrots, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, chicken, beef , shrimp, rice and butter yaki sauce.  Everyone cooks their own food in butter right in front of them.  It is so much fun.  For dessert we had a big platter full of pineapple, grapes oranges and fortune cookies.    We played our traditional game of making up proverbs.  We ought to collect them and make a book.  So hilarious.  Good food, great friends, fantastic memories!

Baby- It's Cold Outside

Yaowza!!!Two Degrees!!!!  Two degrees seperated us from the "haves and the have nots."  We were so close to getting out of school- two days in a row!!!

It was -21 degrees outside- and we needed -23 degrees to get school cancelled.  The other school district cancelled though.  With the windchill it was -31.  Thankfully, we have a nice warm home and the four of us can snuggle up ALL day long!

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories.

Plowing

I came home from shopping to find the kids out plowing and playing.

Kai wanted to ride his scooter but the snow was in the way.

Kaleb saw what he wanted to do and quickly grabbed a shovel to clear a path for him.

Brothers!

New Beginnings 2011- Candyland

The girls came up with a Candyland theme for New Beginnings.  It was awesome!  They did all the decorations, invites, programs, and ran the program.

Our new Beehives this year- 7 of them- were introduced by their older sisters and then they were taken around our Candyland game board (colored squares on the ground).  Each of the different stops coordinated with the game and the personal progress values.  For example- up above you see Queen Frostine- Faith and Grandma Nut-Divine Nature.

At each stop the girls shared the value, scripture, and something they learned from a value experience or project.

Plumpy- Knowledge up above and Princess Lolly- Virtue below.  The final destination was the temple.  We had Sundaes with all kinds of toppings for dessert.

It was a great night with great Young Women.

Update

Katry and an 8th grade girls team were in our same U14 bracket, but they never played against our OJ team.  They were also in the tournament and played a very strong team of 14 year old boys.  Unfortunately, they were very off that night and ended up losing 9 to 2.  Katry had a great game though.

Our OJ team then faced them in the Championship round.  They were amazing.  Let me remind you that this is a U14 team where only 4 of the players belong in that age group.  There is a five year age gap  between their oldest player and our youngest player (Seth).  Nevertheless, we took them on with the hearts of champions.  It was a mighty battle.  I loved watching our little players take on kids twice their size in heighth and totally "juking" them.  It was nice to give them a mighty humbling.  We fought until the end and came up short handed losing 4-6, but our players walked off the pitch with their heads held high, because they had just played an AWESOME game.  They were A.MA.ZING!!!  Katry and Seth both punched in some incredible goals.  Oh and of course- Brigham wins for most Best Looking Coach EVER!   We love watching them play this "Beautiful" sport. 

Brig has really missed playing indoor soccer this year- but he has kept busy playing on the Freshman Basketball team.  He is Lucky #13.  He has had a great season and we love watching him play with his heart as well.  I love that all of our kids have the Heart of an Athlete.  It's awesome and rare.

I can't find any pictures of Kaleb and his soccer team, but here he is wearing his jersey  He is carrying on the Redd tradition.  He was a lead scorer and an awesome defender.  Brigham coached his team as well.

Lucky little boy!

The Little Team that Can

I LOVE this team!  They play in the U14 league of indoor soccer.  Only three of them are 12 and the rest are all under age.  Despite that they have won all of their games but one. ( The team they lost to is 8th and 9th graders- all boys and they are just bigger and stronger- but their skills weren't any better.)  They play with their hearts and I love to watch them play.  They all look a little worn out cause they just had a battle in their semi-final game.  It came out at 3-2 with Katry and Seth scoring.  Every kiddo gives it  everything they have- they leave it all out on the pitch.  We move on to the finals Saturday.  Good luck OJ!