Sherwood Family

Lots of exciting things that keep us hopping....

2010-09-01T11:02:00.011-06:00

Cody finally took first place at the pinewood derby!!!! I have discovered that I am a very competitive mom when it comes to my kids!

Morgan had an exciting 8th birthday! We let her get her EARS PIERCED! She was so excited! I took her to get it done right after school on her birthday. She was very brave and didn't flinch at all. She said it didn't hurt. I also took her "girl" shopping. It was lots of fun spending the afternoon with my sweet little girl. She had a fun friend party and we also went to classic skating with cousins.

I took eight kids to Lagoon by myself. I must be crazy! Tom had to stay home and put flooring in the new house. Morgan danced and the boys brought friends. We had a great day! Cole and his friends went on the skycoaster!

Morgan went on the Colossus for the first time and was on the front row! Yikes!! She had a blast! You can see her in this pictures with a blue shirt on.

Cody played soccer the same time as baseball. He was a very busy boy! He loves sports!

Cael graduated from pre-school with his friend Jerom! Cael loves school!

Cole loved his last year in elementary! He had Miss Albaugh for a teacher and she was amazing! He loved her and his class. They played all year long. They went swimming, to clear creek, on a space adventure, played kick ball, had parties and a couple of BBQ's. He was really sad to see it end, especially because he knew he wouldn't start junior high with all his friends. What a great 6th grade year!

Cole earned money being a referee for pre-school age soccer. He earned enough to buy a new skateboard. We bought it on the last day of school. He was thrilled! His friends in 6th grade were really into skateboarding and so thus Cole now loves to skate!

Morgan had a great season of dancing! Their team earned several 1st place awards! She also mastered her roundoff back handspring in tumbling. She was so excited to perform it at the recital.

Cody played baseball for Riverton again this year and had a blast! He got the chance to pitch and catch this year and loved it. Their team took 3rd place. I only enjoy a good baseball game if my child is playing. He was also chosen to play on the Allstar team at the end of the season. Their team took second place in one of the tournaments! They did great and had fun! He had some really great coaches this year.

Morgan's Baptism

2010-09-01T10:37:00.007-06:00

Morgan turned eight in May and her baptism was on June 5th. It was extra special because it was grandpa's birthday that day. There are so many kids Morgan's age in the Stake that they had three different times for baptism's. Our ward time was 1:00pm. I had to make some phone calls and get the time changed to 10:30 so grandpa and other family members were able to come to this special event. It worked out great because Morgan was able to see her friend Macklyn and they were both dressed in their white jumpsuits in the chapel together. After Morgan was baptized, we went in the dressing room and Macklyn and her mom were still in there. The girls had the same baptism dress with different shrugs. It was so fun for them to see each other. I am so grateful for all of the support of our amazing family! Morgan was so excited to be baptized. The day was very special! Dad gave her a special gift as well as an amazing blessing. We are so proud of Morgan!

Four generations.....

ITS ABOUT TIME.....

2010-05-03T14:52:00.007-06:00

I was trying to remember why I haven't been blogging. It took me a minute to remember because it has been so long. But it's all coming back to me now. When I look back on my blog from last year, it seems all to familiar. During holidays and seasons we are so traditional and do all the same things. The only difference in the pictures from this year are that the kids are a year older. So ditto everything from last year... hehe! Well actually there have been some big changes in our lives. Last Fall while Cael was playing soccer, we noticed that he had a limp in his run. When we asked him if his leg was hurting him, he couldn't pin point where the pain was coming from. He never really complained that it was hurting him. We took him in for x-rays and the result was a hip disease called "Perthes." The disease is where the ball of the hip joint breaks down and then rebuilds new bone. It basically has to run its course. You cannot speed up the process. This was all to familiar to me, I had the same disease as a child. I never thought I would have to worry about this disease ever again. I wore leg braces for three long years. I was six when I was diagnosed. I didn't let it slow me down for a minute. The only thing that I couldn't do was jump on the trampoline. I was very upset when we found out Cael had this disease. I did lots of research and thought for sure he would have to wear braces like I did. We made an appointment with orthopedic doctors at Primary Childrens Hospital and they told us to have him stay off his leg until the appointment. My mom had saved my crutches that I used and Cael learned how to use them so he could go to pre-school. After a couple of weeks we went to PCH and the doctor told us that they don't brace anymore. I couldn't believe it. They said that they still don't understand the disease, but that over the years their was no difference in the outcome with those children who wore a brace and those that didn't. He looked at the x-rays and told us to come back every four months and have it x-rayed again to see its progression. He is suppose to avoid jumping, but we can handle that. We left the office and I looked at Tom and said "are you telling me I didn't need to wear braces on my leggs for three years?" Crazy!!!! Anyway, we have been back to the doctor twice and this last time he told us that his hip looks ideal for perthes and he still has great range of motion. We have been very blessed! I have caught Cael on a trampoline now that it is spring, but overall he understands his limits. He never complains that it hurts.

We put our house up for sale the first of July and sold it in October. We didn't have to be out until mid-November. We actually moved into our home in Harvest Hills on Cole's 4th birthday and moved out of it the week of his 12th birthday. Exactly 8 years. It was sad to leave sell our home, but we are finally building a new home on Tom's family farm in Bluffdale. We moved just down the street still on Nectar Way renting the Pease's house for those of you who have moved far away. Our new home should be finished the end of June. It has been nice to be able to rent a home so close to our old one, finish out the school year, be back in our old ward and stay close to friends.

Our oldest son Cole turned 12 on November 17 and recieved the Aaronic Priesthood. We are so proud of him! WOW!!! It's fun to see him pass the sacrament. He was so happy to be out of primary. Yes, he did get a hair cut.

ANOTHER GREAT SUMMER!!!

2009-09-27T17:56:00.008-06:00

We had such a busy summer that now I am playing catch up. Morgan and I both had a wonderful birthday back in May(9th&10). We went and got glitter toes. Cody finished up another great season of baseball. His team took 3rd place. Cael played soccer for the first time this spring and loved it. May was so crazy with end of school year stuff. I was so happy when school ended. We went to the Sherwood family reunion that first weekend in June and had a great time visiting with extended family. We also spent time with my family at a cabin riding 4-wheelers. We went boating at Starvation Reservoir one cold weekend in mid-June. What is up with June and cold weather? We still had fun with our friends. Tom went to China for 10 days. The Chinese government paid for Principals to go to China and learn about their school system. It was a great opportunity! They kept him very busy, they were able to go and see the great wall of china and a few other big sites. It cost $5 a minute to talk on the phone so I had to learn how to text. With the time difference it was hard to stay in touch. While he was gone I worked 24/7 on getting the house ready to sell. It was a lot of work. I recruited some family members to help. We did it and it looks great. Tom flew in from China on June 30th and then on July 1st we headed to Oceanside, CA. We stayed in a beach house with Tom's family for a week. We spent most days on the beach and went to Knott's Berry Farm for one day. It wasn't crowded so we were able to go on all the rides 3 or 4 times. We had a great day! Except for Tom who dislikes amusement parks and lost his new phone on the log ride. Our trip was great and we wanted to stay longer. We all love the beach!!! We were home for one weekend and then Tom and I flew to Phoenix, AZ for a Principals conference. We stayed at the Marriott resort and it was amazing. We left the kids home with grandparents. I enjoy the heat so I was content on laying by the pool in 115 degree weather. We had a nice relaxing vacation without kids. It was the perfect vacation after a vacation. At the end of July Cole and Cody started tackle football practice and with that their is no time for anything else. It is 5 days a week 2 hour practice. We were able to take the boat out a couple more times on Saturdays. Before I knew it school was starting again. Cael turned 5 on August 27. I can't believe my baby is that old. We took his 2 cousins to the Kangaroo Zoo. They had a blast! We finally took off his bike training wheels a few weeks ago and it didn't take long for him to learn to ride. He got a new bike for his birthday. He loves to ride it! Cael also started pre-school and is loving it.

Fun, Fun, Fun... Busy, Busy, Busy...

2009-05-15T15:32:00.009-06:00

We have had a very eventful month. It stared off with a girls trip to St. George on April 3-5. Morgan and her cousin Bailey had a dance performance at Dixie High School. We went to St. George with grandma Jetta, Haley, Sammy, Mike, Angie, Taylor and Reece. The girls did very well on their performance and had a great time. We shopped, played, and went swimming. The weather was a little bit cold, but better than home. It snowed on the way down. Morgan's team took the overall high point trophy for lyrical - "I hope you dance." Very exciting!

The very next week (April 8-11) the family headed to Las Vegas with the JHS Baseball team. We stayed at the South Point Hotel. This hotel had an amazing swimming pool. The pool area covered about an acre. The hot tub was huge. The pool was actually shockingly cold. The weather was in the mid seventies, but some days were windy and overcast. Kids are crazy and will swim no matter how cold. It also had a movie theater, arcade and a bowling alley inside it. Fun, fun, and more fun. Basically I was a single parent on vacation with four kids. But that beats being a single parent at home. We went to the pool every day, saw Monsters v.s. Aliens, went bowling a couple of times and spent time at the arcade. Cael became a pro at skeeball. We went to the hot tub at night and watched movies in our hotel room. Dad had a free moment and took us to watch the water show at the Bellagio Hotel on the strip. My favorite part of the trip was laying by the pool reading a book and listening to 80's music. We all had a wonderful time and the kids can't wait to go back.

We came home Saturday night. The next day was Easter Sunday. We had a wonderful Easter! Here are a few pictures of the kids with their Easter baskets. We spent the afternoon with family and the kids had fun finding easter eggs with cousins.

SPRING BREAK!!! We were home for three days and then headed down to St. George for spring break. Tom had a conference at the Holiday Inn. My sister Lacey is in the Dental Hygiene program at Dixie College. We were able to spend some time with her. We did lots of swimming and went shopping for summer clothes. We met my friend Sue at the water park on Main Street and let the kids play while we caught up. Sue and I went to Dixie together and even lived next door to each other while we were pregnant with our oldest children. It was so good to see her and her kids. The kids warmed up to each other quickly and had a good time. I also was able to see my friend Shaquel. It was great to see her again. We went hiking up by the Dixie rock and spent some time in Snow Canyon.

First broken bone...

2009-04-02T14:43:00.005-06:00

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. Cole and Cody got a rip stick for Christmas and Cole has been obsessed with it ever since. Grandma bought these for the boys and she was worried about the danger. We had to talk her into getting them. They have enough video games. We were unsure whether the kids would even ride these - they have skate boards and haven't ridden those much. Cole is on his rip stick 24 hours a day. He rides it in my house even though I have asked him not to. He takes it to school and rides it to scouts. He does quite well on it. I am glad that he is being an active boy. Anyway, a few weeks ago (Feb.25Th) he was on his way to a friends house and was going down a hill and hit a rock. He doesn't remember how he landed, but hurt his left wrist. His friend Patrick was with him and helped him get back to the park by the school. Patrick called his mom and she called me. I drove to the park and someone had helped put a make-shift splint on his wrist. Tom and I decided to hold off a couple day on going to the doctor. It seemed okay later that night, he was able to move it around. After a few day it was still hurting him, so I took him in and had it x-rayed. Sure enough, they called it a buckle fracture(it was actually broken-kids have strong bones). I am very glad we decided to take him in. Tom and I are not overly worried parents and tend to just figure they will be fine. They usually are. They put a splint on it for a week and then a cast on for three weeks. They put the cast on a couple days before we went to Disneyland. He was bummed out that he couldn't swim at the pool. The cast didn't slowed him down one bit. He still managed to write, draw (he is left handed), play football at recess and ride his rip stick. We went in on March 31st and had it x-rayed again and they told us it looked good. Cole told me that it was loose enough to take it off himself. I guess he took it off one time to wash him arm(itchy-can you blame him?). His arm must have still been pretty swollen when they put the cast on for it to be loose. It made the doctor's job easy as far as pulling it off instead of getting the old saw out. Since the cast was still intact, Cody wore it to school and used it as an April fools joke. Cole was happy to get that thing off!

GOOD DEALS!

2009-03-20T17:32:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to let my friends know about this great service I enjoy. It is dealstomeals.com and it saves me money on groceries and helps me keep up on my food storage. I have been doing it for about 6 months and love it. The mom who started it was just recently on Good Things Utah. She takes 5 grocery store adds and compares them with Costco and Walmart and lists the best deals (cheaper than Costco, etc.) She also tells you how much of each item you would need for your food storage. She has meal plans and grocery lists. I have loved this service and saved lots of money. She has a blog - myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com. There is a 2 week free trial and she replies almost instantly to emails. It costs about $5 a month, but I think it's worth it and you don't have to bother with coupons. Check it out!

"THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH"

2009-03-19T16:01:00.012-06:00

We just got back from Disneyland! We had a blast! With the exception of Tom who informed me when we got home, that he hates Disneyland. Who hates Disneyland? I think I enjoy it more than the kids. Anyway, it was a great trip. We went with the JHS drill team. We stayed in one of the Disney hotels. I was totally excited about staying so close. There is a special entrance through the California Grand Hotel that we got to use. We went back to the hotel every afternoon - the kids swam, we ate lunch for cheap, took naps. It was perfect! When you stay at one of the Disney hotels, you get to experience a "Magic Morning." On Tue, Thurs, Sat, Sun, guests get into Disneyland an hour before anyone else. They open Fantasyland and Tommorowland. We did Fantasyland in 30 minutes walking right onto all the rides. It was sweet! We did have to get there by 7:00am, but it was worth it. The kids were giving me a bad time. They said, "mom, you don't get up at 6:00am for anything!" I knew I would get a nap in the afternoon. We had 4 day park hoppers. They keep adding new rides and adventures so that people need to spend this many days in Disneyland. When I was a kid we did Disneyland in a day. What happened to those days? There were a few new attractions this year. Morgan wanted to go to Pixie Hollow and meet Tinkerbell and friends. We stood in line for about 45 minutes. It was fun! The Toy Story ride was a 45 minute wait also, but worth it. It was great! I hate lines, so we did a lot of fast passes. Early morning was best. Being in Disneyland before the gates opened got us on the big rides right as they opened. We saw lots of characters. I love the characters. At one point Cody told me I was a picture freak and wouldn't pose with some of the characters. He sure is photogenic when I do get him in a picture. A perfect smile. We came across Cinderella in California Adventure and waited only 10 minutes. This saved me from standing in the princess line later. We got pictures with Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Sully, Cinderella, Goofy, Chip and Dale. And we saw many more... My favorite rides are Space Mountain and Tower of Terror. My kids love Space Mountain and Soarin' over California. Cael was tall enough this year to go on almost everything. We made him go at least once on everything. He chose not to go again on a few. His very favorite ride was Sourin'. The weather was perfect (73)! I love fireworks and parades. I watched the fireworks show 3 nights. It was awesome! We happen to walk by as the parade was starting and since you can't really go anywhere, we stopped and watched. The Fantasmic show is amazing. All of the characters are in this night show with fireworks. I told Morgan I was glad she got to meet her favorite princesses last year and she said "mom, I saw them yesterday"(in the show). I was feeling bad that we didn't make time to meet all the princesses and she saw them from a distance and was happy. We did splash mountain at night right before we went back to the hotel. It was the perfect time to get wet and there was no line, so they let us stay on and go again. Morgan tried to duck her head way down behind the seat so she wouldn't get wet and got a big bruise on her forehead. So if look close in some of the pictures, you can see the goose egg on Morgan's head. Morgan got sick the last night and threw up in the restaurant. On our way home, Tom, Cody and I were all sick. Good thing we had a garbage bag in the van. It was the longest ride home ever. I am ready to go again next year! I just need to talk my husband into it. I'm sure one of the groups at JHS will be going next year.

Morgan's Moments...

2009-03-06T17:59:00.007-07:00

Morgan has had a very eventful month. A couple of weeks ago we signed her up for a cheer leading clinic at JHS and she got to perform at halftime at a Basketball game. She did it with her friend Makayla and they both had a blast! I was a very shy child. She is not and doesn't get nervous performing in front of people. I am very glad she is like her father in that way.

Morgan is in the middle being silly...

Morgan is on a competition dance team with Ultimate Dance. She is on the Pewees team and they only practice an hour a week. Misty is amazing with the girls. They had their first competition last Saturday at Thanksgiving point in the Show Barn. THEY WERE AWESOME!!! They ended up taking 1st place on their Sea Cruise dance. They performed I hope you can dance and were amazing. They took 1st place again and then also had the Novice overall high points out of 62 teams. We were very pleased and excited! We are looking forward to the next competition. The dance company took overall best dance studio in two categories. Way to go Ultimate dance!

TAGGED!

2009-02-09T19:21:00.004-07:00

I've been picture tagged. I like this tag. It's easy and fun to look at old pictures. Anyway, this picture is of Cael and his cousin Drew playing in the sand at Bear Lake, July '07. I trained all my kids at a young age to look and smile big. My 11 year old(teenage attitude)is rebelling at smiling for pictures anymore.

I am going to tag Mikelle L., Christina T., Angela A., Kristin B., Misty A., Jamie A. Look at your 6th picture file, post the 6th picture and tag 6 people. Have fun!

PROMOTION!

2009-02-03T19:43:00.006-07:00

Tom received an awesome birthday present last week. Last Tuesday, he was appointed the new PRINCIPAL of Jordan High School. Way to go sweetheart - you have worked hard! With the school district split, his principal was appointed the new assistant Superintendent. Tom has been the "acting" principal since November. He went through an interview process and got the promotion. He has a great report with the faculty and the students at Jordan High. He loves his job! He loved high school when he was a teenager, I guess he can't let go! It must keep him young at heart! We love going to football and basketball games at "dads" work. He works hard and we enjoy the perks. We get to chaperon the drill team to Disneyland in March. Go Beetdiggers!!!

FABLEHAVEN

2009-01-27T21:53:00.003-07:00

We had an exciting morning on Monday. Brandon Mull, the author of the "Fablehaven" books came and talked to Harvest Elementary. He did a great job promoting reading and using your imagination. The students were able to get their books signed by him. My kids were all excited. Originally we were told the signing would happen before the assembly. I made sure that my kids were to school early and they were fourth in line. He was late and so the signing happened after he spoke. Of course I showed up and watched the assembly. Someone needed to take pictures of my kids getting their books signed. I will admit I am a little star struck. My boys got his first two books for Easter last year. Tom and I read the books during the summer and loved them. I am really excited for the fourth book to come out March 29th. They are really good books and I would recommend them to everyone(young and old). Anyway, I had an exciting Monday. Brandon Mull looks really young. I would guess he is younger than me, which freaks me out because I'm not that old.

CHRISTMAS PICTURES!!!

2009-01-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas!!!

2009-01-15T21:26:00.003-07:00

Christmas was wonderful! The kids are all spoiled rotten. Tom is home during the holiday break. It is really nice having him home with the kids. It becomes a two week party. Tom's sister and family live in Missouri and they come for about three weeks during the holidays. We do a lot of fun stuff with them. This year we went and saw two movies (The Tale of Despereaux and Bedtime Stories). Bedtime Stories was my favorite of the two. We had game night, a WII party night and went sledding. I read a book and took baths. The kids and Tom played video games and watched movies. We stayed up late and slept in late. It was a very enjoyable two weeks. I was a little depressed on New Year's Day knowing that our vacation was coming to an end. I stayed in bed the Monday the kids went back to school(denial). It didn't take long to get back into the routine. Now I can't believe that January is half over.

TOO BUSY TO BLOG!

2008-12-24T00:25:00.012-07:00

I can't believe it has been a month since I've posted. Here is an update of our month.

-Twilight... I loved it! I am easy to please.

-We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for! I love black Friday and had a great time shopping all night. I went with my sisters and brother-in-law. We went to Park City at midnight and then hit Kohl's, Walmart and Target. It was wild and I got some great deals.

-Tom's work Christmas party at Tuscany.

-Made Christmas candy for friends and neighbors.

-Got strep throat - took a week to get back to normal.

-Sent out Christmas cards.

-More shopping.

-Celebrated Cody's 9th Birthday. On Cody's birthday, December 11th, we took a couple of his friends bowling. My sister and her kids came too. We all had a great time! We had a family party that Sunday.

-Family Christmas party - got to see Santa.

-Took my mom to see Niel Diamond for her Christmas present. It was awesome! We had a great time. She was so excited! This was her fourth time seeing him in concert, but she said it had been 20 years and was funner going with me than my dad.

-Went to the movies and saw The Tale of Desperaux. It was a cute movie!

-Another family Christmas party.

Cody and friends

Cody and his cousin Bailey

Cody bowling

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Excited for a holiday!!!

2008-11-25T23:29:00.006-07:00

We have been very busy over the last couple of weeks. That is a huge reason I am excited for the holiday break. Here is a quick recap:

-prepare for Cole's birthday (three parties)
-finish up cub scouts for Cole and Cody so they could earn their awards
-Cody's book report
-Cole's state report
-help Morgan disguise a turkey
-reflections
-take dinner to a friend who just had a baby
-normal life craziness: volunteering at the school, dinner, laundry, homework, exercise, Young Women's, etc.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLE! He turned 11 on November 17th. I can't believe he is that old. Next year will be a big one. I have been staring at him closely lately and I can sometimes catch a glimpse of his two year old self. It makes me laugh when I see it. We watch alot of home videos of Cole when he was younger. They are the only home movies on tape that are easy to watch. All of the kids have them memorized. They are quite hilarious. I need to send some of them in to Funniest Home Videos. The other kids will have to wait years before they see themselves on home video.

We let Cole take a few friends to the movies for his birthday party. They went and saw the "Dark Knight." Parties are alot easier when they get older. They entertain themselves. Tom was wonderful to take them to the movies. Luckily the movie went to the dollar theater on the day we had the party. They all had a great time!

On Sunday we celebrated Cole's birthday with his cousin Reece who's birthday is on the 19th.

On his actual birthday the whole family went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Cole wanted shrimp(spoiled) and Tom suggested Chinese(inexpensive). Cole shares his birthday with his Grandpa Willie(Tom's dad). So we always celebrate them together on the actual day. Our families birthdays turn into weekend long celebrations. It's wonderful to have so much family that live close. Cole got a bit of everything clothes, a video game, movie and money.

Cole, Morgan and Cody all entered the Reflections contest at the school and they all received a medal and some gift cards for entering. We are very proud!

Cole received his Arrow of Light award in cub scouts. Last month he received his Webelos badge. I still can't believe he will be in Young Men's next year. Pack meeting was held on Friday, Nov. 21st and I gave up my ticket to see Twilight so I could see my sons receive their awards. Tom was planning to go to the High School state Football championship game this night also. The things we sacrifice for our kids! Their definitely worth it!

I am a very proud mom! Cub scouts is alot of work for moms.(he,he) We actually have really awesome scout leaders in this ward and I didn't have to help with much. My boys are awesome!

Cody received his wolf badge. Good job Cody!

I made rolls for a family party and they turned out delicious. I let the dough rise longer than needed and this is what I found in the kitchen.

Cody and his friend Gage in the 3rd Grade Thanksgiving program. It was a cute program. Cody had a part in the skit and he was adorable!

Cole is sitting on his desk at school showing his report on Hawaii. He loves it when his mom comes into his class and takes pictures.(ha,ha)

I've been tagged again...

2008-11-19T13:01:00.003-07:00

My friend LaNae has tagged me. I enjoyed learning more about her. It's a great way to learn interesting facts and get to know others better. So here goes...

Here are the rules:

1.Post who tagged you with a link to their blog(http://sixcallsthatsall.blogspot.com)
2.Post these rules
3.Write 10 random things about yourself
4.Tag some friends

1. I love, love, love staying up late. I dread, dread, dread getting out of bed in the morning. I enjoy having "quiet" time late at night. Midnight is bedtime for me on average. Sometimes I'll stay up until 1:00 or 2:00am. Some of you might have noticed that is when I am blogging. I usually can't get myself going until noon. It's a vicious cycle. I have really tried to turn it around. It's hard for me to go to bed at 10:00. I always have things I want to do. If I go to bed early, I still can't get out of bed in the morning. So I give that up and enjoy the late hours.

2. Soda pop and hot tamales....love them!!!!

3. I have an all or nothing personality. When I am in the habit of something, I am almost obsesses with it. I exercise faithfully or not at all. I eat healthy or binge.

4. I love organization. I always have 10 projects that need to get done. I am never bored at home. I get lazy but never bored. I drive myself crazy filling every single minute of my day. There is not enough time in the day for me to get everything I want done. I want to be perfect!

5. I am a perfectionist! That is probably why I can't get everything done in a timely manner.

6. I love to scrapbook! Perfectionist's should not scrapbook.

7. I love my digital camera! I never leave home without it. I take pictures of everything and everybody. At the end of the year I make a CD for family members of the years happenings. Some of them count on me having my camera when they have forgotten theirs. I am hoping to get a nicer camera for Christmas!

8. I am only competitive when it comes to my children. I want them to win and be the best! I get mad at Tom for not helping the kids make the winning car at the pinewood derby. His dad always made him the winning car. At sports I want my kids to win. Like I said before, I get obsessed.

9. I love concerts. I mostly listen to country music anymore. Tom hates concerts and he asked me the other day why I like them so much. This is what I told him: I like the excitement, I am fascinated by famous people, and I like to be goofy and carefree.

10. I get really annoyed by flaky people. I can't stand it when others don't follow through with things. I think I get a little obsessive when it comes to following through. Don't say it if you don't mean it.

I thought it would be harder to think of 10 things. Once I started thinking it was quite fun. Anyway, I am going to tag Mikelle L., Susan S., Robin W.

MORE FUN HALLOWEEN PICTURES...

2008-11-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY - HALLOWEEN!!!!

2008-11-05T14:40:00.008-07:00

Tom might kill me for adding this picture. I love to dress up and the costumes I had planned didn't work out in time for our Halloween parties. I had the mullet wig and so we went with it from there. We have seven family members with birthdays in October. This year we had three Halloween/Birthday parties!

I bought this Power Ranger costume two days before Halloween! This is what he went as trick or treating. It was fairly warm, but not warm enough for a wrestling suit.

Most of my hand-me-down costumes require face painting and Cael wasn't about to let us do that. He said he would be afraid to look at himself in the mirror. I found this old wrestling suit and thought it would go well with Morgan being a cheerleader. He agreed so we went with it.

Morgan is our cheerleader. Go Cavemen! Morgan is taking a tumbling class right now and loves it. She is always asking me to watch her do a front hand spring and other tricks.

Cody was Captain Jack Sparrow - he hated this costume and having his face painted. My sister bought this costume on clearance with Cody in mind. I think he looks great! After the costume parade at school, he took most of his costume off and washed his face make-up.

What a good sport! Cole is willing to do most anything when it comes to dressing up. I think he looks awesome as the Joker! I let him keep his hair long for this costume. Tom always does the make-up. Tom actually went into work late so he could paint the kids faces before school. I think it would put me over the edge. What a good husband!

I absolutely love Halloween. It is my favorite holiday! I love to be scared. I remember begging my mom as a kid to rent me scary movies. My mom let me have parties all the time. When I was twelve I had a Halloween party and begged her to rent the first Friday the 13th movie(it was rated PG-13). What was she thinking? I discovered haunted houses in High School and I can't get enough of them. I just love the thrill of the scare. My mom and I go to a haunted house every year(Like mother, like daughter). After I watch something scaring, it doesn't stay with me. I don't usually get freaked out later. I love finding the perfect costumes for my kids. And of course I like to dress up too. When the kids were younger, we usually had them dress up as Halloween characters(vampire, frankie, mummy, skeleton, etc.). Tom is a great artist with the face paint. Anyway, we had another great year! The kids all got way too much candy. Cody was able to trick or treat with his friend Gage. Then he caught up later with Cole and his friends and they were out until about 9:00pm. They only hit half of Harvest Hills(garbage sack full). Morgan went around with her friend Emily and had a great time. I followed Cael and the kids around until Cael was done. He went strong for about an hour. I was surprised how well he kept up with the big kids. When he was done he wouldn't walk another step. I carried him home. Tom was at JHS football game. He didn't get home until about 8:00. When I went trick or treating with the kids, I left the bowl of candy on the porch. It was fun going around and visiting with all my friends. What a great neighborhood we live in! Some friends invited us over for chili after trick or treating. We had a great night!

Food storage shelves stocked for the winter...

2008-11-04T01:04:00.009-07:00

Our own apple tree...

Cael helping pick fruit

Grape juice...

I have been doing alot of canning this year. I am glad to see canning season coming to an end. I love it, but it is alot of work. I hate for any fruit or vegetable to go to waste. Tom's family has a big farm with lots of tomatoes. I did salsa this year for the first time. I must say it turned out great. My parents own an acre of concord(purple) grapes. They planted them when we were young so we could learn to work. We pruned, picked and helped sell them as kids. I love the smell when they are ripe. They make the best grape juice. Cael is addicted to it and his teeth are proof of it(he had alot of dental work last year). Last year we ran out of juice, so this year I bottled 90 quarts. My parents also have fruit trees. They had a good crop of peaches and pears this year. I was really excited about that. I wasn't planning on doing applesauce this year, but my younger sister wanted to learn. We actually had 24 apples on our tiny, "Charley Brown" apple tree. Cael was my little helper this year.

Picture tag!

2008-11-03T21:36:00.003-07:00

I just realized I have been picture tagged. I think this is a fun idea! Well the picture just happens to be of my four kids. Imagine that! I honestly cannot remember the reason I took this picture. I am a little bit obsessed with pictures. I never leave the house without my camera and take 45 pictures of every event.lol Maybe the reason was that Morgan's hair was curled that day. It could of been last day of school. It might have been pre-haircut for Cole. We let Cole keep his hair long until school ended. So now I need to tag 4 people... I am going to tag Alison W., Christy J., Shelley D. and Kami G. Have fun! (post 4th file, 4th picture)

FALL SPORTS

2008-10-16T22:06:00.005-06:00

Okay, I am wishing things were about to slow down in life. But who am I kidding. Here come the holidays!!! And we have two birthdays coming up. September has been as crazy as May was. It's the sports! I love watching my kids play sports. I never miss a game. But it is always nice to have our Saturday's back. Cole played his 2nd year of tackle football(#92). He loves it... he was made for football! Cody's favorite sport is soccer. He loves defense! He's always more worried that they are going to score a goal. They both did really well this season and improved their skills. Football is a huge time commitment. Cole had practice 3 days a week for 2 hours each. I was really sick of driving him to practice(10min). At least I only had to drive one way. The nice thing about living in Harvest Hills is there is always a neighbor kid on the same team. Besides the boys playing sports, Tom was in a weekly softball league. He was the pitcher. They did really well and ended up taking 4th place this year. Tom loved every minute of it! Fall and Summer are my two favorite seasons, but I secretly love Winter. My reason for it, is that I love the kids being in the house early and things can settle down sooner. I love weekends when we don't have to be anywhere and can cuddle up and watch movies and play games. Don't get me wrong, I love being active and having the kids be outside. But after the Summer we had, I think I'm ready for Winter. I hate the cold! I guess what I'm saying is that I love living in a place with four seasons. Imagine that! Here are some pics of the sports...

Here is a slide show of summer water activities...

2008-10-05T21:20:00.001-06:00

EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTED!!!

2008-10-04T21:23:00.003-06:00

Today I went with my parents and 4 siblings down to Fairview to visit my brother who is in a drug addiction rehabilitation center. After years of drug addiction, my brother finally got to the point where he wanted help and decided to check himself into this rehab. We were all thrilled that he finally wanted professional help. He called and invited each one of us to this "family group therapy" day. It is always enjoyable being with the family you grew up with. (Nothing against spouses and kids, but it's nice). Anyway, we were walking into the unknown and I was very nervous and anxious. It was good to see my brother doing well. When we got there we sat in a class for a couple of hours and learned about addictions, relapse, etc. It was very informative. We had lunch and then had group therapy. Talk about scary. I only know what I've seen in the Movies. Anyway, there were four addicts and their families in our group. Of course we were the largest group. (I am the oldest of 7 kids and only 1 sister wasn't there.) We each took a turn telling what emotion we were feeling at the moment. Then each family group took turns having group therapy in a middle circle that we formed. There was a therapist involved in the discussion. We each let my brother know how we felt about him and his addiction and his wrong doings. He then appologized to each of us for different things and situations. Of course there were three big boxes of tissue in the circle with us. It was a very good experience! That may sound crazy, but it was for the situation. I am very glad I was able to go and I wish the best for my brother. But, needless to say I am very exhausted! Both physically and mentally. We were there for 6 hours and travel time was about 3 hours. I should be in bed instead of writing this blog...

HAPPY ANNIVERSAY!!!

2008-09-20T17:21:00.005-06:00

Tom and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary on September 16th. Tom said he should of taken the thousand dollars his uncle offered and ran.(ha,ha) I can't believe we have been married this long. We went to dinner at the Roof in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City. It was very romantic and we had a great evening. It was a Tuesday night and we got a great table right by the window and had a great view of Angel Moroni on top of the Salt Lake Temple. The sun set while we were there. It was gorgeous! I started thinking while we were there about some of my favorite things. The things on this list our all from our evening in no particular order.

1-sunset

2-Salt Lake Temple(married)

3-Lion House dinner rolls with honey butter(I had two)

4-spending time with my Tommy

5-romance

6-great music

7-key lime pie
8-chocolate covered strawberries

9-carrot cake

10-eclair's

11-butter dinner mints

I know half the list was related to food, but they have alot of my favorite treats at the Roof. Anyway, we wanted to see a movie after dinner and went to Walmart instead. That's what happens when you've been married for 14 years! We missed the 8:00 show and it was a school/work night and I didn't want to take the kids to Walmart the next day. All in all it was a wonderful evening filled with favorites!

HELP!!

2008-09-14T23:07:00.004-06:00

I need help blogging. I want a cute new background and I am inpatient to figure it out. Any tips would be wonderful. All of your blogs look so great! Thank you!!

2008-09-04T23:59:00.004-06:00

Well my baby is now four years old and I'm freaking out. Cael's birthday was on August 27th. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said, "a Lightning McQueen bat". At least it was a better answer than "I dunno know". Who knows if there is such a thing. I don't have time to search store after store. I knew he would be happy with anything to do with the Cars movie. I found him a little Lightning McQueen portable computer with fun games and a keyboard that he can learn on. I thought it would be the perfect present for him. He rarely plays with toys and is always asking if he can play a game. He knows how to play Sorry and Yahtzee and will finish a whole game. He loves it. Usually at that age they get sidetracked easily. Anyway the present was a hit and all of his siblings have been fighting over it. I'm sure the novelty of it will wear off soon as with everything. I decided to go with the whole "Cars" theme for his party. It is the first time I have ever bought a specialty cake. I thought what the heck it's my baby. We usually buy the big Costco cakes that are pre-decorated. It turned out really cute with Lightning McQueen (of course). Cael actually got two parties. One for each side of the family. He got new clothes, a "cars" flashlight, motorized cars, candy, ball and a plain black bat. He never said a word about it not being a Lightning McQueen bat. I knew he would be happy with anything. He had a fun birthday celebrating with all his cousins. He got to share one party with his cousin Tanner whose birthday is a few days after his. He really does look and act older. I think there is something about turning four. I'm ready for a new baby!

2008-08-25T22:47:00.004-06:00

In August, we went to a cabin with my family and rode fourwheelers. The kids had lots of fun with cousins on this side of the family too. They are lucky to have cousins close to their ages on both sides of the family.

We also went to Bear Lake with Tom's dad, sisters and steps. Bear Lake is such a beautiful lake. The place we stay has minature golfing, a swimming pool/hot tub and a playground. The kids think it is the best. They would almost rather do other things than hang out at the lake all day. They love being pulled on the tube with cousins. It's just not as fun with the siblings as it is with their cousins.

Needless to say, we had the best summer ever!!!! We also squeezed in SevenPeaks and Lagoon. Tom thinks I'm crazy. But I love to travel and play hard. If it were up to him we would of only done 1/3 of what we did. Oh well, I guess it's not up to him. He's voted out 5-1. Thank goodness we got a stimulus check from the government to support our fun.

ONE HECK OF A SUMMER!!!!!

2008-08-25T22:18:00.007-06:00

In June, Tom and I went on a cruise to Key West, Cozumel and Belize. We had an awesome time. It was quite the experience. We went scuba diving four times and it was wonderful. I had a couple of panic moments descending into the water, but I worked through my fears and I am glad that I did it. We saw a turtle, lobster, sponges, a barracuda, sting ray and lots of coral and bright colored fish. In Cozumel we were in a 7 man boat and had to flip into the water backwards with all our gear on. I felt like I was in the movies. In Belize we were on a 30 man boat and stepped off the side. Two totally different experiences. The food on the cruise ship was amazing. I wore a motion sickness patch behind my ear. There was only one night that the sea was rough and I noticed. We enjoyed the cruise, but decided that we would rather stay at an all inclusive resort instead of another cruise.

Tom's sister got married on June 21st. She was absolutely gorgeous! It was a perfect day! Everything thing went smooth. Morgan was a flower girl and Cole and Cody helped clear tables. They all had fun dancing.

In July, we went to Starvation Reservoir with friends boating and had an awesome time. Cole might think otherwise. He stepped on a big fish hook and Tom got it out. Cole was very brave letting his Dad get the fish hook out of his foot. Tom broke off the lure, poked another hole and pushed the hook all the way through. What a great Dad!

We also went to Oceanside for a week and stayed in a condo by the beach. We went with Tom's mom and three sisters and their families. On our way down, we stayed at Buffalo Bills and went on the roller coaster. What a blast! We all had alot of fun playing in the Ocean and on the beach. We went to Sea World a couple of days and loved that. Morgan and Cael are at a good age where they show excitement for new things. The older boys had fun, but I don't get the same reaction from them. My favorite thing at sea world was touching the rays and star fish. Cole and Cody loved the Sea Otter show and Morgan and Cael loved Shamu and the dolphins. The kids all loved spending time with cousins. We also were able to go and see the Anaheim Angels play the Indians. It was really fun going to a baseball game. The kids really enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy spending $4.00 for a hot dog. One day we went and saw some tide pools in La Jolla. The kids thought that was neat. The kids had fun building sand castles and waterways in the sand. They loved finding sand crabs and boogie boarding. I wish we could go to the ocean every year.

CRAZY SPRING!

2008-05-04T20:20:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone! Tom started this blog 3 months ago and we haven't updated it since. I figured I would give it whirl. We have been so busy these past few months, I figured I better share some of the things that we have been up to.

Tom and I had the opportunity again this year to go to New York with the Jordan High School Drill Team. They did awesome and won Nationals! We had a great time. We went to the Metropolotan Museum and loved it. We only had about 3 hours and were racing through it to see everything. We also saw Hairspray on Broadway. It was very entertaining for me. Tom didn't love it.

We took the family to Disneyland over Spring Break. We had a wonderful time. We spent 3 days in both Disneyland and California Adventure. We still didn't do everything. I can't believe how much stuff their is to do in these theme parks. Cael was only a 1/2 inch too short for most of the big rides. He didn't care though, Splash Mountain scared him. He loved doing the little kid stuff. His favorite was the Winnie the Pooh ride and Disney's Playhouse Live. He also loved meeting Pluto. Morgan loved everything. She has no fear. She went on the Tower of Terror 3 times. She also got to meet Princess Belle and Ariel. Cole and Cody had a great time as well. Their favorites rides were Space Mountain, Screamin and Sourin' over California. Mine was definately the Tower of Terror (awesome)! Tom's favorite was standing in line so he could rest medicine. We were all thoroughly worn out by the end of the 3 days.

Cole and Cody have started baseball and it is keeping us all extremely busy. Four games a week is crazy! They are both doing very well and having fun. Tom and I are taking a scuba diving class which just adds to our busy schedule. We are going on a cruise with some friends in June and want to go diving. I was a little hesitant to do it at first, but love it. Tom's end of the year schedule is busy as ever with Prom, Senior Dinner Dance, etc. I am ready for school to be out for everyone. The homework and schedules(Kindergarten) are tiring. Morgan is loving her dance class. She is on the competition team this year and has done very well. Her team took 3 first places, 2 second and 1 third. They also got a big trophy for 3rd place overall 17 dances. It has been fun for me! Tom has 3 boys.

2008-02-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I don't know JACK about Blogging but I'm going to give it a whirl. All of the Sherwood's are alive and well and we are enduring this long cold winter by doing a whole lot of nothing. Once in a while we get out and play in the snow but for the most part it's been TV, movies and video games while Misti tries to keep herself busy scrap-booking or yelling at us for not doing anything but watching TV and playing video games. It's a good life if you can get it.