Yeah it's been six months.
I can't believe it myself.
I have missed blogging but just can't seem to find the time.
But I had to share this little gem from our recent Relief Society party.
The theme was "Fifth Ward Idol". There were several "real" acts and several "make you giggle" acts performed by women in the ward.
The final act was a secret put together by a sister in the ward. Not even the people in charge knew what she was up too, only that she would be doing a "skit". She gathered together several men in the ward to do the skit. Their wives had NO IDEA.... they had told them they were at priesthood meetings during practice time. Yeah that is so wrong....
Luckily for me my spouse can't lie so I knew what was up.
ANYWAY.... their routine was the final act of the night. It was a lot of fun and I really appreciate Mandy's amazing dedication and sense of humor. It will be talked about for a long time. Sorry you have to hear me laughing through the whole thing....
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Hiking Hickman
Here are some pics from our family hike to Hickman Bridge in Capitol Reef.
Good times were had by all.
Good times were had by all.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
It is EASTER!
Darren took the kids to an Easter Egg hunt at the swimming pool Monday. So much fun! E2 hauled it in as she was one of the few kids that could swim well enough to get all the eggs in the deep end.
There were candy and prize slips in the eggs... they'd tried to tape the eggs shut so the candy would stay dry but most eggs have holes drilled in them now in case kids suck them into their throats (it happens.... ask Don and Sharon). So the candy was kind of a loss. But the kids had a blast. So grateful to live in such a great community.
Go Pepper GO!
Love this picture.... I need to photoshop out the blur on the side but just wanted to share it in all its' raw glory. Look at that form!!!! Go Pepper!
Click on it to make it larger
Click on it to make it larger
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
I will translate for you:
1) I climbed a tree
2) I fell down
3) I got up
My favorite... the guy crashing head-first on the second picture.
Plus what a good message, especially for me right now. Sometimes we fall. But we just need to get back up. Thanks buddy. For only being six you sure teach your mom a lot!
Monday, March 30, 2009
E1 has texting now.
She is so happy she can hardly stand it.
Grandma T told her the texting would start on Sunday. So Saturday night at midnight she was curled up with me watching a movie (but really watching her phone). It was like she thought she was going to have a magic cinderella moment at midnight or something. It was hilarious. Then, at midnight, NOTHING HAPPENED. She was totally bummed out. Like who was she going to text at midnight? (no really... I want to know.....).
Well the next day it did turn on, and she has been making full use of it. The top of my daughters head is now very familiar.
I even caught her in the following picture:
She is so happy she can hardly stand it.
Grandma T told her the texting would start on Sunday. So Saturday night at midnight she was curled up with me watching a movie (but really watching her phone). It was like she thought she was going to have a magic cinderella moment at midnight or something. It was hilarious. Then, at midnight, NOTHING HAPPENED. She was totally bummed out. Like who was she going to text at midnight? (no really... I want to know.....).
Well the next day it did turn on, and she has been making full use of it. The top of my daughters head is now very familiar.
I even caught her in the following picture:
All said and done, it really has been nice to be able to communicate with her at school and etc. I am SO SLOW at it though. She is paying for her texting herself so I can't say too much. Although I have to laugh cuz she has unlimited in-plan texting but only 500 texts for those not on verizon. She had texting for four days and had already burned through more than 300 of those. Go Pepper!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
N the SUPER READER!
Sometimes in a story, a character will not know how to read. A mentor will come along and quickly teach the skill to that person (for example Brom teaching Eragon in the book "Eragon"). I admit I've always scoffed at that.... thinking that reading simply cannot be learned in a short amount of time.
Well I've had to rethink my position. N yesterday asked me what the word was that had the letters V.I.P. I asked him why. He proceeded to read the entire Kraft macacaroni and cheese box to me. Apparently Kraft is having a contest where you can win a trip for one VIP and friends to take an all expense paid trip to Hollywood to see Jordan Pruitt. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open.
This is the kid that hasn't passed off his site words and is still on the lowest level of the reading books offered by his teacher. Go figure..... maybe learning to read really can happen quickly. Of course I'm of the opinion that it is a skill that must be perfected and practiced DAILY :)
Well I've had to rethink my position. N yesterday asked me what the word was that had the letters V.I.P. I asked him why. He proceeded to read the entire Kraft macacaroni and cheese box to me. Apparently Kraft is having a contest where you can win a trip for one VIP and friends to take an all expense paid trip to Hollywood to see Jordan Pruitt. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open.
This is the kid that hasn't passed off his site words and is still on the lowest level of the reading books offered by his teacher. Go figure..... maybe learning to read really can happen quickly. Of course I'm of the opinion that it is a skill that must be perfected and practiced DAILY :)
Sunday, March 15, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Aunt Kellee!! She turns 26 today!
My baby sister has such a big heart. She is a loyal friend. She has a killer sense of fashion. I covet her shoes. She is creative and unique. She is outspoken and wears her heart on her sleeve (the combination of which sometimes gets her in trouble but I wouldn't change that for anything). I love you Kellee!!!
My baby sister has such a big heart. She is a loyal friend. She has a killer sense of fashion. I covet her shoes. She is creative and unique. She is outspoken and wears her heart on her sleeve (the combination of which sometimes gets her in trouble but I wouldn't change that for anything). I love you Kellee!!!
Just a quick update on the Sheffers.
E1 is getting ready for her first track meet on Wednesday. She is going to do the hurdles. Both Darren and I will be out of town and will miss her first meet. I took her down to buy her cleats Friday and she picked some snazzy silver ones. She has been threatened about the horrible things that will happen to her if she ever ever ever even THINKS about wearing her spikes into the house.
Her Young Women's group attended the Draper Temple Open House yesterday. She thought that was pretty cool.
Poor E2 got six teeth pulled Friday by order of the orthodontist. Oh the price we pay for beauty.
The only bright spot was that she scored a haul from the tooth fairy!
E3 passed off an important milestone this week - her times tables! Each child has the chance to earn a special award if they pass off their multiplication facts to the principal by a certain date. Her visit to the principal's office was last Tuesday. She about threw up before school she was so nervous. But now she is full of pride. She said she only missed one. She was nervous because Principal Terry told her that she had saved the hardest fact for last. It ended up being 0 times 0.
N had a fun Friday because Darren attended school with him for part of the day. It was the annual "Daddy/Donut" day. The dads come and read with their kids and the school buys snacks. This tradition may come to an end at our school as there have been some issues such as not all kids have dads, and donuts really are not the most healthy thing to be feeding our overweight American children. However "Caregivers/Carrotsticks" day just doesn't evoke the same feeling of excitement now does it?
E1 is getting ready for her first track meet on Wednesday. She is going to do the hurdles. Both Darren and I will be out of town and will miss her first meet. I took her down to buy her cleats Friday and she picked some snazzy silver ones. She has been threatened about the horrible things that will happen to her if she ever ever ever even THINKS about wearing her spikes into the house.
Her Young Women's group attended the Draper Temple Open House yesterday. She thought that was pretty cool.
Poor E2 got six teeth pulled Friday by order of the orthodontist. Oh the price we pay for beauty.
The only bright spot was that she scored a haul from the tooth fairy!
E3 passed off an important milestone this week - her times tables! Each child has the chance to earn a special award if they pass off their multiplication facts to the principal by a certain date. Her visit to the principal's office was last Tuesday. She about threw up before school she was so nervous. But now she is full of pride. She said she only missed one. She was nervous because Principal Terry told her that she had saved the hardest fact for last. It ended up being 0 times 0.
N had a fun Friday because Darren attended school with him for part of the day. It was the annual "Daddy/Donut" day. The dads come and read with their kids and the school buys snacks. This tradition may come to an end at our school as there have been some issues such as not all kids have dads, and donuts really are not the most healthy thing to be feeding our overweight American children. However "Caregivers/Carrotsticks" day just doesn't evoke the same feeling of excitement now does it?
Friday, March 6, 2009
E1
We raced home from California yesterday as E1 had an awards ceremony / final Swim Team social at 7:00. She whipped us pretty hard to get home... protesting every bathroom and food break. She can be pretty formidable when she wants something. Which is probably one of the reasons she is such a competitive swimmer.
At the awards ceremony she received her Swim team letter, awards for breaking four school records, and an award for her wins at Region and State. The most exciting award she received was for the girls "High Point Swimmer". In other words, she scored the most points for the team. So proud of her. Both coaches have told us that even though E1 is just a freshman, she inspired her team to work harder and achieve more. We are pretty proud of her accomplishments. Way to go Pepper! E1 was pretty embarrassed/mortified by the whole thing... as you can see by the look on her face in the picture below :)
At the awards ceremony she received her Swim team letter, awards for breaking four school records, and an award for her wins at Region and State. The most exciting award she received was for the girls "High Point Swimmer". In other words, she scored the most points for the team. So proud of her. Both coaches have told us that even though E1 is just a freshman, she inspired her team to work harder and achieve more. We are pretty proud of her accomplishments. Way to go Pepper! E1 was pretty embarrassed/mortified by the whole thing... as you can see by the look on her face in the picture below :)
Got home from Disneyland last night. Had such a good time. My sister and her family are avid Disney-goers and have graciously shared their knowledge of how to "do Disney" with us.
Everything went so well we were just amazed. A lot of our success was because there simply were not many people there.
We went Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We only used the fast pass system once the first day after which we realized it took us longer to get the fast pass than it would have to just wait in line. We walked on nearly every ride. We were able to ride our favorites multiple times and rode nearly every ride in both parks in just two days. The last day we repeated several of our favorites. The new Toy Story Midway Mania ride in California Adventure was totally awesome.
As you can tell we are Space Mountain junkies
This pic is for Aunt Ashlee
Everything went so well we were just amazed. A lot of our success was because there simply were not many people there.
We went Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We only used the fast pass system once the first day after which we realized it took us longer to get the fast pass than it would have to just wait in line. We walked on nearly every ride. We were able to ride our favorites multiple times and rode nearly every ride in both parks in just two days. The last day we repeated several of our favorites. The new Toy Story Midway Mania ride in California Adventure was totally awesome.
Our favorites this time around:
Darren: Soarin' over California, California Screamin', and the new Toy Story Midway Mania ride. Also love the BBQ chicken sandwich at "Taste of Pilots" grill.
Sonja: Space Mountain. Rode it about ten times. Loved it every time. Also enjoyed the Tower of Terror, California Screamin', and the new Toy Story ride.
E1: Space Mountain and Churros.
E2: Space Mountain and Innoventions
E3: Space Mountain, Innoventions, and California Screamin'
N: Space Mountain. He was happy he was now tall enough for Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones .... but still too short for California Screamin'.
As you can tell we are Space Mountain junkies
This pic is for Aunt Ashlee
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Reading back through this blog, it makes it sound like E1 is the only member of the family....
Sounds like it is time to brag up the rest of the Sheffer Clan.
E2 is our resident baby genius. She is getting straight A's with what appears to be little effort. However at her Parent Teacher Conference this week she did get an unsatisfactory citizenship score. The problem??? Reading books in class. Gee I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard a teacher say THAT about her! Actually I wish I had a dollar for every time I've been told that MYSELF!!!!
See Darren. See Darren take E3 to the eye doc. See the eye doc tell us E3 can't see. See Sonja. See Sonja get ready to take E3 in to select her new eyeglass frames. See Darren tell Sonja that HE already picked them out. See Sonja looking worried......
N is busy busy learning to read and living life to the fullest. He is such a joy.
He does say weird stuff though... the other night he told my sister (who is trained to treat traumatic brain injuries) that he quote, "Used to know a whole whole whole lots but then I bumped my head and I can't remember ANYTHING". I really have no idea what he is talking about.
Sounds like it is time to brag up the rest of the Sheffer Clan.
E2 is our resident baby genius. She is getting straight A's with what appears to be little effort. However at her Parent Teacher Conference this week she did get an unsatisfactory citizenship score. The problem??? Reading books in class. Gee I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard a teacher say THAT about her! Actually I wish I had a dollar for every time I've been told that MYSELF!!!!
See Darren. See Darren take E3 to the eye doc. See the eye doc tell us E3 can't see. See Sonja. See Sonja get ready to take E3 in to select her new eyeglass frames. See Darren tell Sonja that HE already picked them out. See Sonja looking worried......
N is busy busy learning to read and living life to the fullest. He is such a joy.
He does say weird stuff though... the other night he told my sister (who is trained to treat traumatic brain injuries) that he quote, "Used to know a whole whole whole lots but then I bumped my head and I can't remember ANYTHING". I really have no idea what he is talking about.
Burke and Pegs
I love my Uncle Burke and Aunt Peggy. They have supported me throughout my entire life and have helped me understand the value of family. It has been gratifying to see how they have spread their love to my children as well. I don't deserve them.
My gruff Uncle Burke sent E1 a card after State Swim (along with a rather large monetary congratulatory gift....). He told her that he was proud of her. He also said, "Sure glad we didn't unplug you....".
E1 didn't know what he meant.
I did.
It is one of the greatest blessings of my life that my tiny baby girl that had such a rough start in life is so amazingly healthy and happy 14 and a half years later. So grateful....
My gruff Uncle Burke sent E1 a card after State Swim (along with a rather large monetary congratulatory gift....). He told her that he was proud of her. He also said, "Sure glad we didn't unplug you....".
E1 didn't know what he meant.
I did.
It is one of the greatest blessings of my life that my tiny baby girl that had such a rough start in life is so amazingly healthy and happy 14 and a half years later. So grateful....
It was a fun surprise to see E1's pic on the Salt Lake Tribune photo gallery. We are so proud of her and all her hard work.
I know this sounds awful but, we are so relieved that State swim is over. It was kind of stressful. Both Grandpa and Sonja were not sleeping or eating. We are all proud of Pepper and wanted this to be a good experience for her either way. While she was disappointed she didn't win, she still feels pretty good about her success. She is the first girl in Richfield High School Swimming History to ever medal at state. She has said that she knows some day some "punk kid" will come along and erase her school records off the books (she now holds 4 of them), but this is one piece of history that will always be hers.
Way to go Pepper! We are proud of you!
This is the link to the photo above:
http://extras.sltrib.com/tribphoto/gallery.asp?ID=116867&GID=3AGSW_02072009&Pubdate=&sort=Gallery
Saturday, February 7, 2009
State Swim
We are at the hotel getting ready to head over for the second day of the State Swim meet. It is being held at the BYU pool. It started yesterday with about a 1/3 of the events held last night and the rest this morning.
Each athlete can only qualify for two individual events and two relay events. Only the top 24 can swim in each event individual event, and the top 16 relay teams.
Emily was able to qualify for the 200 Individual Medley event which was held yesterday. In this event each swimmer swims 50 yards each of the 4 strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle). She was in the 23rd seed out of 24 and I think she took 23rd but I could be wrong on that. It was pretty exciting to hear them call her name at the block. There were only 4 Freshman that qualified so we were pretty proud of her.
She also swam in the 200 yard medley relay. She swam the breast stroke leg of the event. Their team took 10th in this event.
Today she is swimming another relay but I'm not sure if it is the 200 freestyle relay or the 400 freestyle relay. Her other individual event is the 100 breast stroke. This is the one that she will swim as the region 8 champion and with the top qualifying time in 3A for this event.
We are all so nervous for her. While she won region easily, her time was about a second slower than her best. The other qualifiers in her heat for the 100 breast are only fractions of a second behind her. She is the only freshman in the top 16. No one on the Richfield High Girls Swim team has EVER medaled at state. You have to be in the top six to medal.
Anyway we honestly don't care if she wins, we just want her to feel like she did her best. We have all been sick with the flu. What a time to get sick.
Each athlete can only qualify for two individual events and two relay events. Only the top 24 can swim in each event individual event, and the top 16 relay teams.
Emily was able to qualify for the 200 Individual Medley event which was held yesterday. In this event each swimmer swims 50 yards each of the 4 strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle). She was in the 23rd seed out of 24 and I think she took 23rd but I could be wrong on that. It was pretty exciting to hear them call her name at the block. There were only 4 Freshman that qualified so we were pretty proud of her.
She also swam in the 200 yard medley relay. She swam the breast stroke leg of the event. Their team took 10th in this event.
Today she is swimming another relay but I'm not sure if it is the 200 freestyle relay or the 400 freestyle relay. Her other individual event is the 100 breast stroke. This is the one that she will swim as the region 8 champion and with the top qualifying time in 3A for this event.
We are all so nervous for her. While she won region easily, her time was about a second slower than her best. The other qualifiers in her heat for the 100 breast are only fractions of a second behind her. She is the only freshman in the top 16. No one on the Richfield High Girls Swim team has EVER medaled at state. You have to be in the top six to medal.
Anyway we honestly don't care if she wins, we just want her to feel like she did her best. We have all been sick with the flu. What a time to get sick.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Christmas
I keep avoiding posting to this site because I keep thinking I can't add anything until I record something about the holidays.
But the holidays are just so .... big.... and overwhelming..... and I took over 200 pictures.... so it just feels like too much to try to narrow it down and post it and talk about it and...... SIGH. It makes me want to take a nap.
Don't get me wrong. If you know me, you know I love the holidays. But by the time I took the last tree down (it took a lot longer than it should have) I was ready to move on.
And so I am.
So there.
We're getting back into the swing of things. E1 continues to appear to be growing gills. She has the top time for the 100 yd breast stroke in the state for 3A girls. She is so fast that Grandpa had to disqualify her relay team as she took off too early on her leg. I think he felt worse about it than she did....
E2 finished the quarter today with straight A's - again. Not fair to have both beauty AND brains.
We are proud of the people they are becoming.
But the holidays are just so .... big.... and overwhelming..... and I took over 200 pictures.... so it just feels like too much to try to narrow it down and post it and talk about it and...... SIGH. It makes me want to take a nap.
Don't get me wrong. If you know me, you know I love the holidays. But by the time I took the last tree down (it took a lot longer than it should have) I was ready to move on.
And so I am.
So there.
We're getting back into the swing of things. E1 continues to appear to be growing gills. She has the top time for the 100 yd breast stroke in the state for 3A girls. She is so fast that Grandpa had to disqualify her relay team as she took off too early on her leg. I think he felt worse about it than she did....
E2 finished the quarter today with straight A's - again. Not fair to have both beauty AND brains.
We are proud of the people they are becoming.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)