More Memories......

I was able to download some more photo's and create some more collage memories of 2010. Better late than never I say.! My Sis came up from St George to celebrate her birthday September 2010 at the Sky Bar with some close friends. She invited us to come join which we did and also invited Mike and Julie "Dear Friends" of ours... It was a "BLAST"....

Happy Birthday Sista! A little poem for you:

I'll always be here through thick and thin,

You can come to me, I'll listen.

I'm your friend, I won't push you away

When you need a hug, my arms are wide open.

When you need to talk, I have an open ear,

Your growing older each year,

Know that I'm always here, I'm not going anywhere!

Wherever you are, I'm there with you

You're in my heart and my prayers

Just know I'm here, because I truly care.

You're my sister, you mean so much,

Don't want to see you hurt or cry,

I'll wipe the tears, I'll get rid of your fears

Whant to see you grow and achieve.

Just believe, have faith

You can do anything

You're beautiful inside and out

You're smart and very talented

You're many things, but most of all, you're my sister

I believe in you and know that I'll never stop loving you.......

Red Butte Garden.....

A bit behind posting, lots has happened in our busy bubble of the Wood Clan.. Had some spare time and thought I would catch up the blog. I do have lots of projects started and working in between all this crazy ness' lol

September 2010.. Had a "Fantastic" day up at the Red Butte Garden with our great friends! This garden is gorgeous! The girls loved all the flowers and colors of the gardens. This was their first time going. The kids had such a blast especially at the Children's Garden. They played in the water, fed the fish, played on the rocks, tagged each other etc. It was such a warm beautiful day! We love hanging out! Thanks for such an awesome day you guys.....

Pine View Fun........ July 2010

As you can't tell already our summer weekends consist of Lake, Lake and more LAKE!!! We would go every Sunday, sometimes Saturdays - It's too bad that Salt Lake doesn't have longer summer months! It's definitely been an adjustment for us moving back from St George and having 6 -7 months of Lake time supposed to 3-4 months in SL, we take full advantage of it and our priorities are Lake on Sunday! LOL =) This Sunday we had a bigger crowd and my camera died so I couldn't take pictures of Jackie and her crew there! Good times for sure....

The girls had such a great time playing on the beach......... They found a HUGE caterpiller (which I couldn't take a picture of due to my camera being dead) UG! They made a home for it, had leaves, rocks, dug a huge hole in the shade plus made a hole for a pool.. Super cute! What a great day it turned out to be! Weather was fabulous, great fun on the wakeboard and tube, listened and relaxed to music on the beach while suntanning! Couldn't ask for a better day with some awesome friends........

Kassidee turns 10 & Maddison turns 7... OMG!!

Ooppsie...... I am a little behind in posting! July 9th I can't believe it.. Kassidee now 10 years old, she's a "Tween", before I know it she'll be a Teen .... Yikes! We know what happens after a Teen, but we'll just stop right there I need to age slowly! (Hee Hee) Kassidee is growing up so fast, I just remember her being a baby learning her first words trying to crawl, now look at her turning into a little lady with such a beautiful smile! 5th grade already, she's super duper smart! Mitch and I are so proud of Kassidee, she has such a drive and motivation to learn in school. She's such a perfectionist, so independent, has a passion for ART, and of course she has such a sweet personality! Kassidee has lots of nice friends and I know Kassidee will be so successful in whatever she decides to do! But for now, she's enjoying being a kid! Happy Birthday honey, glad you had a wonderful day!

July 19th, my baby Maddison turned 7 years old.. Wow, how times is just a flying!! Maddison was two weeks early, she didn't waste anytime she wanted to be in this world... She's still has that I want it don't waste time just get it attitude! Very dominate personality, with a sweet little smile to go along with it! 2nd grade, and loving every minute of school. She' has lots of friends, but I don't worry about her, she's a social butterfly! Mitch and I are super proud of you Maddi girl.... We know Maddison will do well in anything she decides to do, she loves animals and cooking and every chance she gets to make pancakes for breakfast.. :) Happy Birthday sweetie, glad you had fun on your birthday!

POOL PARTY!!!! Both Kassidee and Maddison absolutely love the water.. They've always been my little fishes.. So I asked them what they wanted to do for their birthday party this year and of course they said "Hello Mom" we want to swim in the pool..... LOL - so we had a BBQ, invited all our family and friends to join us celebrate them being another year older.!!

I am truly blessed to have such "Phenominal" people in my life ~~ I do say this allot but I do want all my family and friends in our life to know that I have so much love and joy for all of you! I greatly appreciate all you do for me and my family! My graditude doesn't go unnoticed, and I learn each day what it truly means to have what's in front of me............. Thanks everyone that did make the girls birthday parties, it was allot of fun hanging out with you and the girls absolutely loved every minute of it.... If you can't tell in these pictures :)

Happy Birthday Kassidee and Maddison!

2010 Johnson Family Reunion - Ridgeway Colorado

This year was my Uncle Ray (Mom's side) planned the Johnson reunion up at the Rideway Lake... Which was really cool because my Grandma Marie (Dad's mom) actually lives up in Ridgeway Colorado! Double Wammy!!! We went up a night earlier to spend that extra day with my Grandma. My Uncle Bill and Aunt Debbie (Dad's side) came up as well to spend the weekend with all of us.... It's so amazing up at her house! Deer in her back yard, ponds, waterfalls, mountains all around you, cooler weather..... I miss my sweet little Grandma - she is super duper special to me and my family! We don't get too see her often so the quality time we got to spend with her was very cherished... I've always been so close with my Grandma Marie, so funny she is, and she makes the BEST breakfast EVER!!!! She is my only living grandparent so we try and call her once to twice a week to keep that close connection! She absolutely loves when we call.. You can hear the excitement in her voice :) We love and miss you Grandma and so glad we got to see and spend all that time with you....

Our Campsites were awesome! It was so beautiful up there... The only thing that was tough was the walk to get to the lake/boat.. It was a hike, some had to drive to the docks to get on, but it was totally fine for us to pick them up! We had so much fun hanging out with everyone, catching up telling our stories throughout the year - kids roasted marshmellows for Smores! All the food was delicious, but anytime your camping it always tastes so yummy!!!! The lake was gorgeous, water wasn't too cold, wakeboarding in the morning with glass water, then afternoon was tubing due to the wind and other boats kicked up the waves....

I love our family reunions, even better when we get to bring our boat...... Mitch and I love to take everyone out and let them enjoy the fun, and of course get beat up on the tube - hee hee My cousin Lance pulled out the gripping gloves, he was not getting thrown off ( we showed him).. LOL - good times for sure! I can't wait for next years! Yahoo..

We could not for nothing get our nephew Nathaniel off the tube!!! I was asking my brother if he was working out because he was definitely showing off his guns... LOL - Love ya Nano, You totally ROCKED the tube! I love the picture of you and your sister... Kassidee is starting to be a little brave one, she'll stand up and do it with no hands.. GO girl..

So Stoked.......

You'll hear allot about this sweet lake,.. I'm telling you we love pineview, more and more when friends can enjoy it with us like the Stokes!!!!! Ross and Linzi joined Mitch and I one Sunday in July!!! It was so cool to catch up with the two of them especially Linzi. I've known this "Phenominal" women since the 4th grade! WOW! Love it...... Many many years and lots and lots of memories, stories to tell our kids! and of course we will have more to come... Since we moved back from Southern Utah we've been able to get our families together more, let our kids play with each other! It's so awesome to know just watching them play and get that feeling of I've known Linzi that long! So freaking cool..... Linzi I absolutely love and adore you and your amazing family..

Even though we don't talk everyday or see each other allot we still have an unbreakable bond and will always keep a close communication on how our families are doing! Thanks to Facebook, Blogger, text, or just leaving a quick voicemail to say hello we can stay connected. We both understand that life gets super busy with work, school, sports, house duties, vacations, etc.... we always try to make an effort to get our families together to cherish those special moments! I know my girls will find those friends they can grow up with and have them in their lives forever!

Linzi, you are a true gem! A few quotes I absolutely love!!

The best kind of friend that I can sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation we've had.

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.

Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things.

Everyone has a "best friend" during each stage of life-only a precious few have the same one.

Lake time w/Grandpa

Pine View has been an awesome lake to take family and friends up and enjoy the beautiful water, views, weather etc... June is also a great time to begin the summer especially on the water, we invited Dave (Grandpa) to come up and spend the day with us! It was such a fantastic day!! Girls had such a blast hanging out and it was nice to have a one on one. The water was calm all day, the sky was clear and we had lots of laughs catching up on life.... I also love the drive to get to the lake, the canyon is so beautiful - lots of curves, waterfalls, colors, cabins, hiking, mountain climbing which I want to try someday! Kassidee is really into rock climbing, she wants to learn on the BIG rocks so we're looking into the classes for that. I absolutely love being with my family and being on our boat, it's fun and so relaxing!

Soaring Eagle Award 2010..!!

We are SUPER proud of our Shining examples of Excellence!! They worked so hard to achieve this wonderful award. They've only been in this school year 1/3 of the time. Since our move back from St George and it being a track school, they only really had 16 weeks left of this school year. Soaring Eagle award is an optional thing students can do if they choose. The teachers choose 20 extra Curriculum activities (which 15 had to be passed off). The students get to choose and it's a sense of self-worth through a variety of learning experiences. These students go above and beyond and get recogized for their accomplishments! I am more proud of Kassidee and Maddison getting 15 out of the 20 done in the amount of time they had. Most these students had all year to complete! Kassidee and Maddison both had such a dedication and fun time doing them! Mitch and I also had fun helping them with their projects! I also want to thank everyone else that helped with their accomplishments! They had this ceremony for all the soaring eagle award student! - we have framed them both and hung up in their rooms! WAY TO GO GIRLS... You both are amazing and your dad and I are honored to be your parents! We love that you both have a drive and a passion for school and many other things, and know it will take you far!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

2009-2010 School Pic's ------

Outstanding Achievements........

Another Principal pride for our little miss' Kassidee... Mitch attended this with her, she was super surprised getting not only one, but another certificate! They had another lunch with the principal May 19th and I just want to express to Kassidee how proud of her we are! She is doing so amazing in Spelling, in the top group and always going out of her way to learn, do extra credit and practice her words every night. GOOD JOB LIL' LADY!!!! We love you! Kassidee has told us she would love to enter in a Spelling B, so hopefully this year we can achieve that goal with her!

Maddison not having a full year and the time she's been attending has achieved an awesome recognition! She has worked really hard in reading, and turned in weekly reports of her minutes reached the 3200 club! Maddison has grown so much in her reading, above grade level - and has so much patience in learning new words etc... We are super duper proud of you Maddi girl, Keep up the great work! Me and daddy love you!

My Birthday Gig.......

I wanted to thank everyone for another"WONDERFUL" birthday!

Another year older, another year wiser :) They say that age is all in your mind. The trick is keeping it from creeping down into your body. True statement, because I don't feel it's creeped up on me yet!. Ha Ha - I feel amazing for 32, I love to workout, running especially! I love to be physical whether it's wakeboarding, bike riding, hiking, dancing, which I totally danced but hynie off this night :) I had a "fantastic" time hanging out with amazing family and friends! There were many that couldn't make this evening, and I understand! We always have next year :)

You know the saying "We know we're getting old when the only thing we want for our birthday is not to be reminded of it." Well I am the complete opposite, grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made.

More to come...... I promise!

I am working on some collages and putting more posts together! I do have allot coming and it'll take me some time to get caught up! I will get there dangit! Ha Ha
I have some other projects that I would like to get started soon too -maybe then I'll stay caught up so I don't feel so overwhelmed....

Lots of Love to everyone!...

Bonding with Art....

Since I was a little girl, I remember my dad always do his art drawings, paintings etc... which I do need to take some photo's of his work! He taught me how to color in the lines at 1 years old. Taught me to be creative! Since my girls were born he's always had that bond with them through coloring, he would sit down with them and just color and color for hours and hours and taught them so much...They would giggle and laugh. Kassidee and Maddison are really into art, coloring, painting, scrapbooking, fashion, etc..... Kassidee started doing this which really made my dad feel amazing! Her and Maddison mailed him a picture of what they were working on. I didn't think to take a picture till after I got the one's back from my dad in the mail, but I can certainly take it when I see my dad next! But below is what my dad sent them back. He made the frames and all. Mailed it directly to their names in a package! Maddison's is the first one, her picture was a four leaf clover, that's why you see it on hers. They are currently working on another picture to send back to him, and they are excited to keep this going! My dad was so excited to work on these art projects and looks forward to the next ones....I love the bond between grandparents and grandkids.... Thanks dad for being so patient and loving!

Off Track Vacation....

Kassidee and Maddison went down to Colorado to spend a week with My Uncle Bill and Aunt Debbie for a week in April. They had such a blast. My Aunt Debbie gave me a CD of all their pictures of their vacation, but I am still in the process of finding that CD... When packing, I've not un-packed some boxes just yet that have all my pictures, cd's etc.. So I will for sure post all those pictures of their fun filled week. They went to How to train your dragon in 3D. They made some soaps, scrapbooks, went to the dinosaur museum, grocery shopping with their own lists that they made :) They played with Mackenzie's barbi dolls that she's had since a little girl, they played dress up, beauty parlor, they got playdoe and made a whole store with it. Had homemade Spaghetti that they helped Uncle Bill make. They took a day trip to Ridgeway to see Great Grandma Marie. She was so excited to see them! She gave them both $10.00 each and my super sweet daughters that I have, took me out on a date to see the movie "The last song" and bought all the drinks and popcorn.... We all had an amazing time. What a phenominal movie! We all cried!

Where to begin.......

My first post since April 13th.. almost 2 months later (never have I slacked this much), but I have to say life has been super duper crazy for us! Lots has gone on in these past two months and I am excited to post on every bit of it.... April 18, 2010 weekend my mom, sister and nieces came up! It was allot of fun to see and spend this time with them... That Sunday we went to my brothers grave and hung out, the girls decorated it with umbrella's, flowers etc. It was such a calm and beautiful day! We all miss Ryan so very much, and we all love to go visit him as much as possible.... he is always in our thoughts and know that he watching over us every second! Kassidee and Maddison went back to St George with them since they were on their off track vacation. They were super excited to get in the heat down south! They had such a wonderful time with everyone. My mom and dad took them on some one on ones'. They went to lunch and shopping together. They went to movies, swimming, Brush Fire and did some pottery! They also went to art gallery's, musuems, and playgrounds! It was so cute how they explained how much fun they were having. Half the time I had to call them to see how it was all going due to they were having so much fun, they forgot about Mom and Dad.. LOL

We headed down that following weekend to pick them up and of course hang out again! My friend April was supposed to have her baby that weekend, but unfortunetely Kai never came :( I was totally looking forward to meeting little guy but better yet she had him that Monday and we went back down to get our stuff out of Storage a week later because we finally got into our own place.... yeah! We only got to see him a few hours since it was a fast up and back trip, but I wasn't complaining!! He was so handsome, and Kera was so dang cute! She is going to be the best big sister ever.... Congrats guys!

We are renting a 3 bedroom town home in the same area that the girls are going to school. It's nice and cozy! it'll work for now, we are really focusing ourselves on paying everything off so when we decide to build all we have is a house payment! Good goal to have hey'... Girls are pretty stoked about the amenities! Clubhouse has a gym, pool and a few other cool things and we've been taking them over there to work out and of course spend time swimming. We'll definitely take advantage while we're here.