July 21, 2011 

The boys...yes all 5 of them are eating us out of house and home.  I think it might just continue to get worse.  I make lots of food, big breakfasts, dinners and everything gets eaten up.  It is great to have a bunch of healthy boys around....and that is why I have no choice but to use coupons as much as I can.  Yikes!  Our food bill is huge!

The Social Lives of Teenagers... FUN!

July 21, 2011

The biggest change in our house this past year is SOCIAL LIFE.  Jonathan has a raging social life.  We regularly have boys AND girls to dinner or to hang out.  Right now, Jon, Joseph and Bode Pfau are whoopin it up.  That is not so un regular because Bode is another son from a different mother..but just to point out that we have friends over hanging out at our house all the time... In fact the social life of all my boys is going to wear me out.  Teenagers are super fun but tiring!  Other moms warned me and I understand now.  But, I LOVE IT!  Joseph has friends over, Jacob and Michael do too...it is very fun to share our life with so many good friends.

And They're Off!

Registration materials in- check

School Supplies bought-check

Summer Reading for English Honors classes done-check

A few new school clothes and new shoes bought-check

New School Year Pep Talk-check

Father's Blessings given-check

And they are off!!

Joseph... starting his senior year..! 

Jonathan starting High School!!! A Sophomore.... 

Michael starting 7th Grade!!!  This picture was taken on the day he left for 7th grade orientation...He is looking like he is not so sure about this whole thing....

But, here on the official first day of school..he is looking much happier!

And with that my heart goes ..... a flippity flop.  Happy Sad...all at the same time.  

The Summer was too short.  We got out late (June 12th and started early August 22nd)  So, I have never felt more unprepared to let my children go..  

Yesterday (Sunday) was about the best Sunday we have ever had.  We just so enjoyed being together.   It was like we knew we needed to enjoy  the quiet before the storm.... our time together as a family..just us...no demands, no rigid schedule..just us.  

We had a wonderful dinner and a relaxed afternoon, talking, laughing, sharing this and that.  Then in the evening, as we do every year, Steve gave everyone a blessing.   I will not forget the feeling of love, warmth and closeness we felt in our home that day.  There was a lot of love there and a feeling of support and strength...everyone encouraging each other on, ready to start a new year. 


And I will never take for granted what a wonderful husband I have...and how he blesses our family.  Sweetest day ever.  

End of the School Year Wrap Up

 Here's a quick summation of all those end of school year events...


First and foremost, Joseph auditioned for and made Vocal Ensemble!!   Hooray!  we are so thrilled for him...  
Counting our blessings....  The pictures show when he is kidnapped and taken away to the V.E. initiation breakfast.  Yahoo!  

Blind-folded and whisked away..

Jonathan won an academic award...  Hooray for Jon!  

If I could give out awards as his mom I would .  Jonathan has had an awesome awesome year.  We are so proud of him.   He has excelled in every way.  He pulled a 3.9 GPA, excelled in football, created great friendships, has a raging social life, had done very well in school, has loved seminary and just had been a wonderful wonderful Son...who is growing up.  It is a thrill to watch him.  He has just wonderful friends who support him in his goals and they are all headed in the right direction together.  We really feel blessed.  

Michael was awarded his Tenderfoot award in Scouts.  Can you see it?  Can you see that teenager in him just wanting to come out?  He finished up 6th grade and now prepares to go to Middle School.   The last couple of months have been big in his life.  He turned 12, joined Young Men's, officially joined the Boy Scouts of America, and was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood.  Whoa.   And to boot, he is pretty dang handsome.  

Michael finished up his year with almost all A's.  He has done so well.  Wow.  


My heart ached that last day I dropped him off at Elementary School.   ....   Ouch. 


We are proud of you Michael!  And we love you. 


Jacob performed in his play.  He was  almost the star of the show.  I know I am biased but he was truly funny and really played up his part.  

 He was the butler...you must say it like this... the "butlah."  He spoke in a very proper English accent.  And acted very serious in the face of hilarity.....

....and only broke out of character once to give me a quick smile... which I happened to catch somehow..  

This really was such a cute funny play.  I loved it.  

Good Job Kids!!  


Jacob also performed in his piano recital and played his pieces flawlessly!  (Where is that picture?!) 


Jacob finished up his year with a great report card!


Jacob is enjoying gymnastics!  He is a natural.  With Jacob I don't know which thing to focus on.  He is so good at everything.  


Too weird to think that Jacob will be our only elementary school student next year.  Surreal.  

One Exciting 15th Birthday Celebration....

Jonathan's life is pretty exciting right now.  His birthday was too.  The day before his birthday he played a football game and completely utterly stomped on the other team (Olympus 27-0)   By winning that game, his team was moved on to play the next day at the Rio Tinto Stadium...on his birthday!

So, he got to play in this stadium......  

Exciting game!  Exciting location.   Final score 19 to 18.  They lost by one measly point.    But, what a fun night! 

The picture above is not  a picture taken during his game because I did not get a good picture of his game at the stadium.

We had a alot of crazy fun this night.  Steve and I took turns waiting in line for the midnight showing of Harry Potter 7 and then 

Joseph took over until the movie started.  

Joe and I both got to play card games with a group of complete strangers and had quite the adventure while waiting in line.         

After the game, Jon rushed home and showered just in time for his party to start.    

This was our first Girl/Boy party.  Call me crazy, but I sort of suggested this..and Jonathan jumped all over the idea.  

You see, I wanted to see who he seems to be texting all the time ........

.... and I was happy with what I saw... what a cute group of kids.... and good kids too.  

For this late night party that began at 10:30 pm, we served some of Jon's favorite food, crepes with all kinds of toppings, mini Quiches, veggies and dip and a yummy drink. 

It was really fun to have three cute girls at our house!

Left to Right:  Zack, Wyatt, Trevor and Dani.

Yum Jon!  Crepes with Nutella and Banana!  He has loved this since he was 3.

His friends wanted to sing him Happy Birthday so they put together this crepe cake.  

Then we were off to Harry Potter 7... !   I think Jon and his friends had a great time!  They made a great memory together at this Midnight movie.  They all got home at 3 am  eek!  Luckily, the next day was late start day, meaning school started at 9:30 am and it was also the last day of school before Thanksgiving break.  So we thought it would be ok.  And it was.  

Later...... We had a second Celebration....  

We have a tradition of taking our kids out to dinner on their 15th birthday. 

We ate at the Joy Luck Club, a Chinese restaurant.    

Jon opening his fortune cookie...oh what will it say?  

His birthday fortune was awesome.

At home to sing Happy Birthday and have birthday cake.

With the Bro's.....

He cut the cake and gave anyone who wanted it a very generous piece......

And here is the famous birthday sign and money from Grandma and Grandpa Crowley.  He also opened a card and money from Grandma Knudsen and others and other presents.  He got a bunch of clothes and a coat for his birthday .  Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Last but not least 15 of the top reasons why I adore this Boy: 

1. Jon is passionate about life.  Whatever he is interested in, he is all over it, works hard strives to do his best.  
2. Jon is a good friend.  He has had the same three best friends since he was 5 (since we moved in to the neighborhood)  He also has lots of other friends and has great people skills.  It is just plain fun to watch him when he is with his friends.  
3. Jon is a take charge kind of guy.  He gets in, takes control of the situation, solves any problems and moves on.
4. Jon takes things in stride.  He rarely lets things get him down.  He has always been like this.... and I could tell you some great stories.  He smiles in the midst of opposition and came to the world this way.
5. Jon is a great blessing in our family.  He makes things happen.  He is often the one that starts the board game or encourages everyone to play a basketball game.
6. Jon is creative.  He gets busy and makes things from stuff laying around the house.  We have a plethora of weapons, shields etc made from foam tubes, camping mats etc.  I am amazed at what he comes up with.
7. Jon has a great imagination and is an excellent writer.  He is currently writing a novel (and I am not kidding)  It is quite good and I wouldn't be surprised if I see him sitting in Costco someday signing copies of his newly published book.  
8. Jon knows what is right and does it...almost all of the time.   
9. He has always had eyes bigger than his stomach and takes more than he can eat ..most of the time.  
10. He is one  handsome guy.... 
11. Jon is a cook!   He is confident in the kitchen and has prepared many yummy things since he was about 3 (when he made crepes regularly)
12. Jon has an eye for style and has good ideas.
13. Jon knows how to make good decisions.  We gave him the choice of staying at Churchill Jr High or going to Albion Middle(our school) I watched him ponder and pray about this choice and ultimately he made the absolute correct decision and is having the most wonderful year at Albion Middle.  
14. I respect his thoughts and ideas... 
15. He is a great brother and friend.  He is the kind of brother that will pull in a foam pad into Eric's room when he is home visiting from college just so he can sleep in the same room with Eric and talk.  I love that he spends time with his younger brothers by playing board games with them.  I love that he can mess around, laugh and joke with Joseph.  

And One last thing!  We love watching Jon in any sporting event.  He is a great athlete. 

Happy Birthday Jonathan!  We love you!!

Thank You Jon for Another Great Football Season!!

I loved every minute of football season this year.  Seriously, every minute.  

Everything about football is good, at least for Jonathan.  I love how football teaches teamwork, commitment, discipline, mental and physical toughness, punctuality, and on and on.  Jon is so focused during football season and that turns into focus in the other areas of his life.  What Mom wouldn't love that?   He is also so happy...because he loves to play and is absolutely passionate about this game.  

This year's team had a shaky start.  But, after a couple of disappointing  losses, the coach pulled this team together.  They had extra practices and  practiced longer and harder than any other Brighton team and in the end, they were the only team that went to the playoffs!   

Every year we have been so lucky to be with the most supportive bunch of parents ..and GREAT coaches who coach more than just football.  They become the "third voice" in teaching the boys to be exceptional people,  work hard in school, be good members of the family, do their household jobs, go the extra mile, eat right, get enough sleep, be on time, be committed.  What parent doesn't appreciate that?  

Jon plays offense and defense and therefore plays the entire game.  Which he loves!

This team had more tricks up their sleeves.  It was so much fun to watch the action.  Jon had some great plays every game..which ofcourse just makes his Mom and Dad so proud of him.

He is fast.... and with some help from T.O.S.H. he will get even faster.  They want him to be running back next year. 

And here's what we do best.  Scream, yell and cheer on the Bengals!!!!!!!  

Welcome to the Jungle!!!   That is one crazy fun song.  One Mom would bring her stereo and blast this song and others and it was such fun to see the boys stomp the other team.  They had a few losses ..can't remember the exact number but won most of their games.  What a blast!

After a disappointing loss in the playoffs..... Jonathan went on to play in Border Wars and got to play one of his games in this stadium!!  Rio Tinto!  He also played at Cottonwood High's Football field.  It was fun as well and ended just before Thanksgiving.  

Pretty Cool Stadium.  Pretty exciting!  Jonathan played his game here the night of his birthday!  How is that for cool!  And after his game he went home to a party....more on that later..... But I would say his birthday was pretty darn near perfect.  

The parents of the players had a really good time together watching the games.  So many of those parents have become dear friends.  There is just nothing like cheering on your boys together!  What great enthusiastic supportive parents!  What a fun group of people to be around.  

We have a whole CD with video and pictures of Jonathan's games that a parent put together that is just awesome.  I wish I knew how to upload some here....because we didn't get enough photos.  

This was the last year of Jr. league.  Next year is Sophomore Football!  

And all good things must come to an end.... and so on to the banquet. 

Brighton Bengal Football Banquet 2010 

 The cool Team Moms used the banners from the games to decorate the room with.  The banners were amazing this year. 

Jon hanging with his buddies.

A really cute dessert.  Each cookie had the boys' football jersey numbers on them.   

Here's a picture of that winning team...

Doesn't Jon look so big..?  

Like I said, this is a loved coach.  And many of these boys have worked with him for the past three years.  Next year they move on to the Brighton Sophomore team.  

Coach Jensen has coached Jonathan for the past three years.  Coach Jensen has had quite an impact on Jonathan. 

We will miss working with Coach Jensen next year.  Both he and his wife have become good friends.  I think we need to get together and go to dinner.  I really love that Jensen family!  

This is coach Pat....He was head coach this year.  He is one EXCEPTIONAL coach!  The parents all stood up and spontaneously gave him a standing ovation at the banquet.  He was new this year and has a gift for pulling a team together and bringing the best out in each  player.   I give credit to him for a great football season.  He was just so great!  

The Coaches all received very cool jackets with Bengals and their names embroidered on them, cool bags, and beautiful lap quilts!  We love and appreciate these coaches.

Here is a picture of all three coaches.  I didnt' get a good picture of Coach Travis on the left.  He was in charge of the defensive line.  He did a great job!  And Coach Lyman on the right in the plaid shirt was in charge of coaching receivers and running backs (I think)  They all did a great job!  We are so thankful.

Just a few more pictures of the outstanding young men Jonathan played with. 

It will be fun to see what next year brings!  

So as you can see I just loved every minute of football season 2010. And I will miss it. I didn't even mind all the taxi driving I had to do this year.  It was fun to chat with my son sitting there in the car in his football uniform.  I just loved it all.