June 15, 2010

Hello dear friends. We went to Liberty Park with Aunt Pat (Kathy's sister) and made wishes as we threw our pine cones over the bridge again (the kids like this). The following are our wishes! Stuart wished that he could hang out with Beau on the weekends. Pat wished Kate a Happy Birthday. Beau wished for a real tattoo. Chad wished that he could go 4 wheeling with his Dad. Kate wished that she could hang out with her friends. Ashley wished that she could watch Harry Potter. August wished that he could see Stacy. (she was at a golf tournament). Katrice wished to see her friends Natalie and Robin on the weekend. Cameron wished he would have fun at Disney Land next week. Jacque wished she could sleep in. Andy wished that he could see Jessica his sister (and baby James!) Kathy wished that Katie would have a happy birthday also.
Congratulations to Katrice and Cameron for graduating from South Valley this past week. We are excited to have them join us at the Center now.
Our bowlers are getting so great. We had 9 of them last Tuesday and there were 24 strikes from the group. Everyone got at least 2. It was really something. Lots of cheering and clapping going on!
Swimming at Andy's was a treat once again. Thank you Andy and Colleen. All the flowers you planted (100's!) looked beautiful, a mini Thanksgiving point!
Once again the Front Runner Train ride to Ogden to look at the museum was a happy thing. Too bad about the sprinkles on our picnic.
June has been peanut butter baking month. It's been fun.

May 27, 2010

So Many wonderful things have been happening here. We were able to let our butterflies go free...that was fun. We tried to fly our kites at Sugarhouse park again...failed again :) but we gathered pine cones while we were there and the next week walked to our bridge just west of us and threw them into the water. As we did, we each made a wish. The following are our wishes:Ashley wished to watch Harry Potter with her mom, Kate wished for spending time with her friends, Beau wished for money, Chad wished for his brother Travis to have a happy birthday in Chicago, Stu wished that beau could be his brother, August wished for pizza, Stacy wished for all UTA issues to go away, and Kathy wished for simplicity and order.
We made creamy Lemon Lovelies and oh my goodness they were so good. Everyone loved them (Stacy named them!)
We went to Thanksgiving point for our annual roll down the gigantic hill and also looked at the beautiful flowers. The kids love the Coy Fish pond and we were able to feed them fish food.
A really awesome event was watching the Bee's baseball game in a box suite. We were inside where it was warm and had a hot dog lunch brought into us. We all loved it and want to thank Mark and Nancy again for a memorable day. Andy, Ashley, August, April, Beau, Chad, Cameron, Jacque, Kate, Katrice, Nate, Sara, Stuart and Tawna all got to go.
Each person painted a pot, planted a flower in it then took it to their moms/grandmas for Mother's Day. These kids love their families and get so excited to do things like that.
June looks like it is going to be another great month!

April 30, 2010

Our caterpillars have changed to butterflies! It was amazing watching them wiggle from their tight little sleeping bags and stand there with full sized wings. They have monarch butterfly colored wings on top...very pretty. They drink sugar water. We are waiting now for the temperatures to be 55 or more 24 hours a day before we can set them free. (we don't think we will ever be able to let them go!) Thank you Andy and Colleen for bringing this science experiment to our Center. We have really enjoyed checking on them every few hours.
We went to the movie "Oceans" last Friday in celebration of Earth Day. Everyone was entranced by it, very beautiful!

April 22, 2010






We had a very special day yesterday!! Our beautiful students were honored for volunteering at the Utah Food bank!! We were fed a catered lunch. There was a program where different organizations and individuals were recognized for their service at the Bank and our kids got "Group of the Year". They received a beautiful plaque/keepsake (pictured) and got to stand at the front of a nice banquet room and have their picture taken. There were approximately 100 people in attendance, they clapped, our kids smiled...a lot. Over the last year and a half they have volunteered 600 hours sorting and boxing food for those who are less fortunate. Good Job guys!! Thank you Utah Food Bank friends!!!
Our caterpillars are sleeping tightly in their "Chrysalide" stage. We check them 10 times a day to see how they are coming...so interesting!! they started out about the size of a piece of long grain rice and then grew to about 2 inches and are now in a "cacoon" type encasing. Can't wait to see them start flying around in their little habitat. (pictures) We have them being guarded day and night by our brave collection of Power rangers!
UPDATE!!! We just had lunch and cleaned up and then took another peak at the butterflies and one of them is moving and trying to get out! COOL! The kids are so excited.
Last Friday we went to the Canyon school district Tech Center where students are learning cosmetology skills. Kate, Sara, Tawna & Nate all got Manicures. Chad & August got Shaves & August got a haircut too. Stuart, Ashley, & Andy all got pedicures. What a fun thing. We will do it again for certain.
We baked fruit turnovers, cake balls & Sara a birthday cake the last few weeks.



April 07, 2010

We have more pictures on the blog and some of them are from our fun trip to Clark Planetarium. Also there were some pictures of us with new head phones that were donated by Skull Candy! We took a picture of the kids wearing them and then made a thank you poster for the company and put pictures on it. Also one day we went to Sugar House park to fly our new kites and it was the one and only day in March that didn't blow! It was a beautiful day though and we had a ball on the playground stuff and running the bases at the baseball diamond.
There are also some pictures of Stephanie, Stacy's niece who has been doing her internship with us the past few months. We have been so lucky to have her. The kids love her and she has helped out so much...thank you Stephanie!!
Today for walking we went to the bridge over the Jordan River just west of us here and everyone participated nicely. We went to the park on the other side of the river and swung on the swings. The wind was not too hard or cold...we lucked out.
Our Caterpillars are still in the creepy crawly form, maybe tomorrow they will be ready to become chrysalides. They are at least 10 times the size they were when Andy & Colleen first brought them in. It's very amazing to see them grow so much over night!.

April 02, 2010

We went on Front Runner Train to Ogden today...so fun. The trip flies by way too fast.
Our little caterpillars that we are waiting to have turn into butterflies have tripled in size! It is fun to look at them each morning and see them change. Next step will be the "chrysalid" stage...probably next Monday.
Our good old Daniel came back this past week!! it was so good to see him again. He has had a wonderful stay down south in the warmth.

March 31, 2010

Hello Everybody. It's Wednesday/Food Bank/walking day. It's SNOWING :( (it is March) so we are not going out to walk today but will be doing a little "warehouse walking" We make a "follow the leader" train with obstacles and loop-de-loops and before you know it a half hour has snuck by! Yesterday was our annual bunny cake day. The kids love decorating their cakes and do so with great focus.
Colleen , Andy's mom gave the Center a "Live Butterfly Garden". It includes a little jar of worm like creatures which are getting larger every day.They are still in the "larvae" form but we are patiently watching for them to change to the "chrysalid" form after which they will eventually become butterflies! We love them and want to say thank you for giving us this fun thing to watch!! (thank you also for another fun day of swimming & sandwiches at your house last Friday) We will take pictures and post them.