Baptism Day

Well, our day finally came for Ryan to be baptized. I have been so busy with my calling that I have taken only one day at a time. Of course we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off and I had trouble with the program, so I ended up being 10 minutes late. Lucky for me others were walking in as I entered the chapel.

Our baptismal service was very special. I could hardly control my emotions. It is one thing to have to speak to children on behalf of the Primary Presidency. It is another thing to speak to my own children. I am so very proud of Ryan for making the choice to be baptized. I know that he has a special spirit and that he wants to make good choices. We love him very much.



When Brett was 8-years old his grandfather confirmed him and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost. We decided that we would continue that tradition so Brett's dad did that for Ryan. It was a special experience.


After the baptism, we had family and friends come over for Navajo Tacos. It was fun to have everyone at our house. We did miss having Rob and Jami Martinsen for lunch. Jami was Ryan's 2nd grade teacher and has become a really good friend. They were able to make it to the baptism, but had to go home. Ben and Emily Williams and family were also there, but their kids were in the house and they were the ones taking the pictures...thanks to them. Here is the rest of the crew. We are so fortunate to have so many loving friends and family support us.

First Day of Kindergarten

Well, I am officially old. My baby is now in Kindergarten.

Sydney started Kindergarten today and she loves it! She is my VERY independent child and she did NOT want me to walk her to school. She said her brother Ryan could do it. So, I agreed. Well, DAD didn't like that idea, so he stayed home from work this morning to walk her to school, and then he drove the van.





It is hard to believe that by next year I will have a full day to myself. For now, I have 2 1/2 hours to exercise and do whatever I desire. Ahh, the life :).

Just in case you didn't know

Just in case you didn't know...

We're Gardeners - yes, we grew those onions, AND those peppers

The Berger's really aren't German. I'm pretty sure we're more Native American. Check out the tribal headdress here.

I turned around this morning in the kitchen to this sight. Yet more proof that we are Native American. We start them early by teaching them these calming rituals

First Day of School

Ryan had his first day of 3rd grade yesterday. It's hard to believe he is growing so fast. We are so very proud of him and all that he has done in his lifetime. He is a sweet boy with a tender heart. We love you Ryan. Good luck in 3rd grade!

Lego Star Wars

A few weeks ago I sent Brett to Wal-Mart to get some ant traps (we were having serious ant problems), and he found some great things on sale. We got a Lego Star Wars ship for $15 (regular retail $50). That's what Ryan got from us for his birthday and he was thrilled. It took us about 6 hours all together to put it together. It had 575 pieces. It was a fun thing to do together. Ryan isn't much of a puzzle person. He likes legos, but he would rather we put it together and let him play with it. Sydney on the other hand loves puzzles, so she was a great help. I don't have a picture of the finished project...hmm, guess that will come in another post.

Ryan's Party

I'm a little behind on my blog postings. For Ryan's birthday this year we took him and a few friends to Boondocks. It is a fun center about 45 minutes north of Spanish Fork. I have been purchasing gift certificates for quite a while when they go on sale so when Ryan's party came up we paid about 1/2 the price that it would normally have cost us. (still an expensive b-day party, but 8 years old is a pretty big feat) I think the kids had a fun day, and I'm glad that it is over with.

I went in ahead of the group to make sure we were all set up for the party. I came out to this...

Poor kids waited an hour to ride the go carts.

The '4' is how many shots it took him to get the ball in the hole


Just in case you didn't know, I'm a professional cake decorator. Ok, so not really, but this T-shirt has come in VERY handy. You can put any design on a T-shirt, and I feel so talented when I'm done. :)

Timpanogos Cave & The Dinosaur Museum

Our friends Chris and Jolayne Kline are in town and they graciously invited us to hike to Timpanogos Cave with them yesterday. The hike is 1 1/4 miles up a steep mountain trail.

There were several switchbacks and we heard our fair share of whining. I think Ryan learned a good lesson to listen to his mom. I told him not to drink all of the water in his Camelbak. Well, he didn't listen! We got almost to the top of the hill, and there was a restroom there. He went to the restroom and we continued on.

We had to wait an hour before going through the cave so during our wait he went to the restroom again. About 5 minutes before we got into the cave I asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom. He said NO. So, we went into the tour. MAYBE three minutes into the tour he started dancing around and asked if there was any way he could go to the restroom. So, I asked the ranger there and they let us out and he ran down the hill to use the restroom once again. Once we got caught back up to the group in the cave he enjoyed the scenery. We were in there all together about 45 minutes to an hour. As soon as we got out of the door of the back side of the cave, I looked down and he had his hands down his pants holding himself. I told him to get his hands out of his pants and he said - Mom, I can't I'll pee my pants if I let go. So, as quickly as we could, we made our way down the mountain a way, and then back up to the only rest stop that they have there. After descending to the bottom and getting into our cars, we met at Wendy's and had lunch. Ryan used the restroom TWICE while at Wendy's. I asked him what he would do next time when I told him to be careful about how much he drank. He quickly replied that he would listen.

Here we are in a little archway before we got to the top

Below is the most beautiful view from the rest area, we were almost to the top

We made it!

Here we are inside the cave. It is fascinating. There are several different types of rock that have formed here. The inside of the cave stays at 45 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is a bit chilly inside.

After Wendy's we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. They have $2 admission on Tuesdays through August. I don't think I would pay full price to get in there ($10 each), but I think the kids had a great time. I am fascinated with history, and museums and such, so I very much enjoyed being there. The kids got to draw a picture to help build a mural, and they got to play with sand and water and watch how erosion works. They also got to go into a huge sand box that allowed them to dig in the sand and find dinosaur bones. I was a bit of a germaphobe yesterday. There were so many kids there that I could hardly stand it. I am not normally that way, but yesterday it all was over the top for me. I did get some fun pictures however.

I guess they didn't have enough 'cave' for one day

Here they are at the erosion exhibit

Ryan found a dinosaur in the mix that was headless. Poor dinosaur. Maybe that's how they became extinct...one heat at a time.

We woke up with sore muscles this morning. Sydney was yelling from the basement to have me come down there so I went down to greet her for the morning and she was crawling on the floor saying she was so sore she couldn't walk. Of course I did what every good mother would do and I laughed! Now the kids understand what it feels like to exercise hard. Ryan said he never wants to feel that way again, so I told him we needed to exercise more so that he didn't have to feel that way. I think it is important for my kids to grow up understanding how important it is to exercise and take care of our bodies.

Thanks Chris and Jo for a GREAT day!

Here Kitty Kitty

I've been doing some yard work the past couple of days and today I went out to find one of my favorite things. CAT POOP in MY yard! Uggghhh. I hate cats. Sure, little kittens are cute to hold for a while, but they all grow up and eventually they roam the neighborhood as if they own it, dropping their trash in other people's yards. Of course the sand box it the best place to dispose of their digested food. I've threatened before that I might just get a trap and take the little buggers where they rightly belong. (That's anywhere my house isn't). I guess I need to call my good ol' friend, the DHL man to come pick up a package again. So, here's for my list of To Do's

1. Go buy cat trap
2. Put some yummy tuna in cat trap - Catch CAT
3. Call DHL - Have them come and pick up a package and oh yeah, take the extra cat too.
4. Can't find a package to mail through DHL? No worries -- Go on a LONG ride with cat in tow.
5. Drop off cat, and come home hoping it doesn't find its way home

OR

6. Take cat to pound and pay a little extra to have it go to Heaven.

Repeat as necessary

Just the Sharp tooth and me

Well, I'm all alone, just the Sharp tooth and me. Ok, there aren't really any dinosaurs in this house, (Land Before Time if you didn't know) although, I do consider a few things that I own from that era. Like my wheat grinder for example. It's pretty old and dinosaur-ish.

Brett is at a week long scout camp. It's amazing how much quieter things can be when just one person is out of the house. The kids even set the table for him tonight, forgetting that he wasn't coming home. I didn't realize what time it was either because I wasn't expecting to have to make sure dinner was ready when he walked in the door, so needless to say we had dinner a little later than usual.

We went to the grocery store after FHE tonight. Sometimes it's just nice to get out of the house, even if it means going to the grocery store. Ryan wanted to see if Wal-Mart still had Lego Star Wars stuff on clearance. Well, they didn't and MAN is he ever going to be excited on his birthday. He has no idea what we have already purchased. Good thing I sent Brett to Wal-Mart to purchase ant traps. They had lots of clearance items and we cashed in on their loss.

Not much else to report. If any of you would like to move to our neighborhood, there are plenty of homes for sale. Heck, you can even rent one if you want to. I'm in desperate need of Primary teachers and Cub Scout leaders, so please purchase at your own risk!

Burley, ID Spudman

Brett and I competed in the Burley, ID Spudman on Saturday. Both of us improved our times. My run time was the same as last year, but I didn't run the entire route. I very much enjoyed the race this year, and it only makes me want to improve for next year.

A man died in the swim this year, and it breaks my heart. My condolences to the family of Donald Morehouse of Provo, UT. I am sure it is a huge loss to his family and friends. I know it affects all of us who raced that day in one way or another.

Here I am before the swim. To the left of me is Denise Berger (Brett's cousin's wife) and to the right is a good friend Erin Gregerson)

Here I am after the swim. My swim time was 18:44 (much better than last year)

My bike time this year was 117:04

My run time was 1:07:36 - not my best run time, but I was pleased overall. I didn't play the mind game that well during this race. I hope to do even better next year.

My overall time was 2:49:55 - 8 Minutes faster than last year. Improvement is improvement.

Hill Air Force Museum

On Thursday (7/24/08) while most of Utah was celebrating Pioneer Day, we were at the Hill Air Force Museum. We have driven by it MANY times, so we decided we would stop this time. The place is fascinating. They have all types of different planes that have been used in combat, and restored. I felt very humbled to be among these planes. I know that many men and women have lost their lives for our freedoms. I don't know that we fully understand it all. At least many of us don't because we haven't been there. I could have stayed there another hour just reading about all of the artifacts there. When we first walked into the museum, there was a somewhat dark room that had the different uniforms that have been used over the years. I tried imagining actual people wearing these uniforms. I felt like I as walking on hallowed ground.

You can't really tell from the picture because of the dark nature of it, but I am standing in front of a plane similar to the one that my Grandpa Bowers most likely jumped out of. He was a paratrooper in WWII. He was a part of the 101st Airborne Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I have the utmost respect for him.

Here is a replica of the atomic bomb that was dropped at Hiroshima. It is huge for a bomb, yet small, and amazing that it could do so much damage.

Lagoon

Wednesday (7/23/08) our family went to Lagoon. Novell pays for us to go nearly every year and it is something the kids look forward to. I don't think we would actually pay the $39.99 per person to get into a park. It's amazing how much things have skyrocketed in price. We had a great time as a family. At the end of the night we rode a ride called the Odysea. It is a cute little kids ride that puts you in a sea creature of some sort and squirts water. You can move your sea creature up and down to try and get away from the water, so really you can choose to get wet, or stay dry if you figure out what my kids call the 'pattern'. Ryan and Brett made a deal that whoever came out of the ride dry won. Brett and I rode together and the kids rode together. We played Paper, Rock, Scissors to see who got to sit on the inside (the inside hardly gets wet). I LOST! With losing, Brett decided that his victory also included being able to steer the sea creature we were sitting in. Well, I LOST again! I ended up SOAKING wet. The kids were thrilled that they won, and I was laughing so hard I couldn't help it.

Here are some pictures from the day

While walking through the Pioneer Village, I came across this cabin. It belonged to Jacob Bigler - A 'great' something grandfather. Kinda cool.

And last, but not least, what is Lagoon without a Carousel Ride???

Life in abstract

I've got a lot of catching up to do.

First things first - Sydney managed to wreck on her scooter that she got on her birthday, pulling the muscle away from the bone on her left foot. Of course it had to happen just before her party, so she spent most of the party on a chair. Bless her heart, she tried to play, but it hurt too bad. So, after the party we ate dinner and then took her to the Dr for an X-Ray. We came home with a walking boot that she refused to try and walk on.

On Tuesday I went to my sister-in-law Teresa's house and helped put together some freezer meals. I got there later than everyone else because I wanted to let Sydney sleep in. I don't know that I did too much, but we put together over 30 meals to freeze for a later time. I think that will really help her.

Shortly after dinner we were outside working on the yard and Sydney was walking on her foot - WHOO HOO! She wanted to ride her scooter so we told her she could if she was careful. Well, Ryan had ridden it around the block earlier, and we couldn't find the scooter ANYWHERE. So, needless to say, we looked for a couple of hours for the scooter, and it is gone. I hate to blame someone for stealing it, but it is gone, and I'm not sure how it escaped other than the inevitable.

Happy Birthday Sydney

Today is one of those days that on one hand I'm thrilled, and on the other I could use another 5 years to get used to. My baby is 5!!! It's crazy to think Sydney has been with us for 5 years already. With Sydney, there is never a dull moment. She is sweet, and caring, yet stubborn and very independent. I'm pretty sure she takes after her father . Ok, so she is very little like her father, and very much like me. Here's to the past 5 years.

We love you Syd.

Sydney came into this world on July 21, 2003. During my pregnancy I think I worried more than any mom has ever worried before. When she got here I was so emotional. Here we had a beautiful baby girl, perfect in every way.

I don't think there has ever been a more proud Big Brother. Ryan was so thrilled to have Sydney come into our home. He had a little bit of adjusting to do, and at the time I didn't think it would ever end. Looking back though, his adjustments were very minimal.

This is what happens when you have a lot of sleepless nights

Sydney has brought us so much joy. Even as a baby she was always smiling and doing things to make us laugh.

And of course getting into mischief.

She also does random things that are definitely picture worthy. Luckily for me, I have a husband that takes his camera everywhere just like his dad.

Sydney also loves playing with her family

And what is a little girl without her Princess clothing

Happy Birthday Sydney - We sure love you