Megan is 18!!

Megan is 18 today.  I can't believe it.  I remember going to the hospital around 6 a.m. to have her and enjoying the big Christmas tree made of lights on the outside hospital wall and each year after that, when I saw that same lit tree at the hospital, I would remember having Megan.  Even though I was dilated to a 6 when I got there, she wasn't ready to come out and made us wait for a bit (which really isn't normal for my kids).  We walked the hospital floors and even tried the PIT, but all they needed to do was break my water and as soon as they realized that, out she game at 10:25 a.m.  She was beautiful of course and healthy--which is always most important.

A few facts about Megan:

• She was nicknamed "screecher" by her aunt at about 6 months because as soon as she could enjoy table food, if she didn't have something to eat in front of her she would screech this blood curtling scream until she was given some.
• Although I tried harder with her than any of my other children to give her healthy snacks as a small child, she is a candy fein (I'm not sure that's spelled right, but I can't think of a better word to describe it).  She LOVES candy.  We actually offered to pay her $200 if she would not eat candy for a year and she did it unbelieveably enough.  Most people who do something like that end up losing their taste for it, but not Megan.  When we're at a store together she still begs me to get her some purple Skittles, giant Smarties or Sweethearts.
• If there is anything she likes better than candy it's clothes and shoes.  Her tastes have changed over the years, but she has always been a clothes horse.  She knows how to find bargains and doesn't insist on spending a fortune for what she wears, luckily, but she has been known to be extravigant once in a while ($100 skirt that she paid for herself because she had to have it).
• We have always called her a Drama Queen.  She doesn't perform on stage (which has always baffled us because she would be great), just everything about her is dramatic.  She enters a room with a dramatic flare, the conversations you have with her are filled with drama, and she dresses in a dramatic fashion.  Life would be so boring without her around.
• She has the biggest blue eyes (see picture below).
• Megan loves children--nieces, nephews, ward members, friends--and she is so good with them.  She was a nanny to triplets for a while and they became like her own kids and they still love her.
• She'll be your best friend and do anything for you if you treat her right.  But if you cross her, watch out!  She is one tough cookie and can be ruthless!!

She loves to take pictures of herself and have her picture taken (I would too if I was as photogenic as she is).  The weird thing is, I think she has just as many pictures of herself making horrible faces as she does the beautiful posing ones.  Once again--she is just crazy!  Here are few examples:

 

Happy Birthday Meg!!!!  We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cruisin' the Caribbean

The kids have been begging us to take them on a cruise so we decided to take everyone to the Western Caribbean as an early Christmas family vacation.  We visited Key West, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica.  We cruised on the Carnival Freedom ship.

In Key West we walked to the beach and spent some time there and then went back to town for some shopping.

We spent the next day at sea getting some sun, reading and relaxing.

Then we arrived in Georgetown, Grand Cayman where we swam with stingrays and did some snorkeling.  It was awesome!

Candice giving a stingray a kiss

A stingray backrub!



Our next stop was Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  Mike and the kids walked up Dunn's River Falls and we all rode the Sky Explorer up to Mystic Mountain where we rode a Jamaican Bobsled mon.

Then we spent another day at sea to get back to Florida.  We played a lot of cards on the boat and ate a lot of ice cream (Tyler probably ate about 8-10 cones a day but didn't gain an ounce of weight, of course).

It was a great trip!!!

Volleyball senior night

Well we've come to the end of Megan's volleyball career.  She's been playing since she was about 11 yrs old, so it's hard to imagine not watching her compete anymore.  They had senior night at Logan High on Tuesday, October 26 (not really the last home game, but they were doing a breast cancer awareness benefit game for the last home game).  There were six seniors this year.

She got flowers from her dad and from her younger teammates and she also got a blanket that her teammates made (a tradition since Lacie Johns has been the head coach). 

I'll be sad not to see her play, but not sad to leave the Logan High Volleyball drama behind.  There have been few things in my life rile me more than the LHS volleyball program.  This year wasn't too bad, but the coaching is a far cry from great, unfortunately, and it has been frustrating to see them struggle.  It is a miracle Megan got through all four years with the number of injuries she's had.  We're just glad she's had something to keep her active and involved and it is something she can play with her sister, Candice, until they decide their bodies just can't take it anymore.

This is an expression we've seen several times when she plays, warms up, etc.  It's her "whoops" look.

Aggie Auction craziness

Many of you have heard me say, "The auction is coming up, so I'm a little crazy."  I'm sure you are thinking, "What's the big deal?"  Well, the organization of the event is up to one person, me, and with close to 300 people in attendance, 125 silent auction items, and 10 live auction items, it takes quite a bit of time to pull it all together.  I won't bore you with all the details.  The major problem is I can't do most of the stuff I need to do until the last week because I have to have all of the reservations in and items cataloged before I can prepare all the materials for the evening and of course everyone waits until the last minute to register and finalize their donations, so I work about 12 hours a day during the week before getting all of that done.  I'm not posting this so you think I'm neat--I just want everyone to know there is a reason for ignoring everything else but my family (and they still had to fend for themselves quite a bit during the week) and work.  So, I'm sorry for being out of touch and introverted for a while.  Here are a few pictures so you can see what the event looks like.

Live Auction items and stage set up

My boss, Tom Hale, and Amanda Butterfield (former USU student-athlete, soccer), our master of ceremonies for the event.  She is great!!

Dinner

Our great student-athletes helping with raffle prize distribution

By the way, it was a success as we raised over $90,000 for USU student-athlete scholarships.  I've decided I hate the auction--all the work and worry--and don't want to ever do it again, but like childbirth, when it comes time to do it again I will probably have forgoten how bad it really was.

Fall Sports

Every time I go watch my kids participate in their sports, I am amazed because I have absolutely no athletic ability.  They obviously got it all from their father.  Here are a few pics of the kids participating in their fall sports. 

Heather played powderpuff football at the middle school last week.  She was the quarterback on her team.  She called the plays, cheered on her team and played defense.

Run, Heather, run!

Can't you just feel her intensity?

What a throw!!

Tyler has just finished his second season on the Logan High Golf Team.  He played in several JV tournaments this year, but qualified for the last Varsity tournament to be able to letter this year which made him very happy.  He's gotten pretty good, scoring in the low to mid 40's for 9 holes consistently.

What form!

Trudging on to the next hole

Megan has played volleyball since she was 12.  She is in her senior year at Logan High and is doing very well as the setter and leader of the team.  She'd do much better if she could get some good passes from her teammates.  When I watch her, and get frustrated with the passing, I wish Candice could be in there playing  with her because she was an amazing passer/libero.  Megan started the year doing a jump serve that went out about 90% of the time, so she decided to just serve the ball (with much encouragement from her older sister) and has gotten five serve "aces" in her last two matches.

A backwards set

Serving for an "ACE"

She has to get the second ball no matter where it goes!

I'm glad they all like to be active and involved in sports.  It's good for their bodies (for the most part--Megan has more bruises on her body than Carter has pills) and it is a great social thing as well.