Happy Halloween '08

This year the girls all took the task of "costume finding" upon themselves! Which I was more than happy to let them do! It's no secret- Halloween has never been among my top holiday choices! I wouldn't necessarily say I "hate" it- but it comes pretty close to that extreme! Mostly because of the pressure to come up with a costume that is the cutest, or the scariest, or the most creative! UGH! Well- proud to say that this is what the girls chose- and I let them handle almost every single detail! Thanks to Amy M & Rach for the loan on the costumes- you're lifesavers!! The girls had a blast tho- they enjoyed the warm weather for trick-or-treating (as did I!) & practically ran from door to door the entire time! I'd put in pics of Drew & Colby- but both were off with friends at parties. Hard for Mom to handle, I must admit, that Drew got picked up in front of me by a car full of cute girl friends of his to go to a party & Colby was with his "girlfriend" as well watching scary movies with the rest of their friends! AHHH- growing up WAY too fast!! But I'm thankful for the wonderful weather we were blessed with that night & I'm thankful for the fact it's all over with- until next year! ;0}

Colby's Team Takes 1st in State Cup!!!

These posts are long overdue (getting ready to go on vacation & actually leaving for a week is pretty time-consuming!) but I thought- better late than never!! Just wanted to tell Colby how proud I am of him! His LaRoca team took 1st in State Cup! It was a hard road- but they dominated the other teams for the most part! Some games were closer than others- but they always came out victorious! I'm proud of Colby's hard work & determination to help his team be the very best team in the whole state of Utah- which we can now say they are!!! They've got the medal to prove it! Now we go to Regionals- which aren't until next June! But still- it'll be such a great experience for him to play against players who are among the very best in the country! His hard work & sacrifices have paid off & I couldn't be prouder of him! He does have the Nomads Tournament this Thanksgiving in San Diego & the President's Cup in Phoenix in Feb to look forward to as well! Good luck Colby- congrats again on taking State Cup- we couldn't be more proud! We love ya bud!! You're such a stud!

Davis Darts Dominate Syracuse Football

Wow- I know- LOTS of pictures! Sorry- you'll have to forgive me- didn't wanna take the time to do a slide show instead! Just wanted to show some pics of Drew's football game today against Syracuse. They won 28-14. It was a great game! Cam couldn't come because he had to go to Colby's State Cup semi-final game in Orem (divide & conquer days) & Asi had to work- but both were rooting him on in spirit!! He did awesome in the game- had an exceptionally great tackle in the 4th quarter that just hurt to watch! It was his last game of the season! He enjoyed it & the coaches & the team! But it was a great way to end the season! Jody kept playing around with the camera too- she just might make a terrific photographer one of these days! The girls are good sports to always come to all the games & support their big brothers! They got to play with the cute little puppy pictured that belonged to a friend whose big bro plays on the team too. The picture of the cute little girl with Sadie is her little friend whose name is also Sadie- she is the head coach's little girl! They have had fun playing together at all the games this season! Anyways- great job on a great season Drew! I'm proud of your hard work, your perserverance, and your positive attitude! I look forward to watching you play again next season! Love you bud!!

ReAl -vs- FC Dallas

So- even though we typically date our kids one-on-one, we decided to make an exception this past Saturday for Colby. Reason being- the date was a little more spendy than usual- so we made it a "double parent date" & all 3 of us went! It was so great! It was Real's last regular season game & was played in their new stadium- which is AWESOME by the way!! (Yes- that IS a picture of me holding a huge thing of icecream. What about it?!?) They had a few fireworks they set off during the singing of the national anthem which were cool. The fact that Real won the game 3 to 1 made the night even sweeter! By the way- the pizza we had there was sooo good!! It was a really fun date & I hope Colby knows how much we love him! He's a stud! Always helpful, loving, giving & thoughtful, & still kisses his momma, even in public! What more could you ask for in a son??

Scary Hill '08

Cam & I love the dates we have with our kids! We try to do them often (sometimes schedules get in the way)! However- there is really nothing like that one-on-one time you get to spend with your kids individually! We like to rotate between the kids and between Cam & I so we all get to know each other better! There's the little rules/guidelines involved with the dates: no radio in the car, no phone calls that aren't emergencies, and no negative topics. Just good 'ol fashioned fun together where we enjoy each other's company! Tonight was Jessie & I's date. They all get to choose their date destination. It was a hard choice between Olive Garden & minitature golfing for Jessie. Golfing won since she'd never been before! We chose Cherry Hill- now known as "Scary Hill" right now with their whole Halloween theme- which I personally think is very cute! Jessie thought so as well! Castles all draped in cobwebs, jack-o-lanterns & skeletons & vampires, etc! Very cute! Or shall I say "spooky"? Anyways- it was awesome to be with Jess! It was absolutely heart-warming to spend time laughing with her, smalk talking a little (nothing wrong with a little competiveness ;0), and encouragement!! We cheered each other on & gave each other big high 5's when we did well- which I must admit- we did!!! Granted- I've only been miniature golfing a few times in my life & this was Jess's 1st time- but we ROCKED! It was fun & of course, the night involved Frosty's from Wendy's! I may not be humble when it comes to gloating about how well we did- but I sure am humble when I think for 2 seconds how lucky I am to be blessed with Jessie as a daughter- as well as my other 4 kids! Wow- I love them!!! (Please forgive the not-so-great pics- they're from my Blackberry seeing as how the camera took 1 pic before running out of batteries!! - But at least I did a new post!! Took me long enough, huh?!?!)

Seasons

Can't remember exactly which day it was- but I know it was in this past week- but I recall the weatherwoman remarking about it being the first day of fall. YEA! I love fall! Love the color of the fall leaves on the mountain, love the little bit of "crispness" in the air, and love the fact I can start to wear jeans & hoodies again! Now as much as I love the change of seasons, I've gotten to thinking a little bit deeper about "seasons". (Forgive me- been a little more "reflective" as of late) I have sat & thought endlessly about the seasons of my life. When I look back on my 32 years of life, I think of all the different seasons I've been through. Some have seemed more enjoyable, some more exciting, some definitely harder w/more struggles, and some much, much more relaxing! Some of the seasons I've been through when I was a young teenager where I was more concerned about having a "good time" than anything else or when I was a young mom of only 2 boys & I was busy figuring out where I wanted my life to go- seem sooo long ago. Like a different lifetime. I feel like I'm now in the season of raising my children. Doing my very best to make sure they are well-fed, clothed, happy, healthy, smart, well-mannered, kind, & prepared for what life may have in store for them. But what's hard for me is this: I feel like I also have other seasons that also overlap this one. I am also in a season of trying to establish a new business while managing another, of being a huge support business-wise for my husband, trying to be there in many capacities for my extended family, trying to fulfill my callings to the best of my ability, trying to be the best kind of friend I know how to be and of being constantly busy! I never feel like I get to just sit still. I find that life has thrown things my way that I've overcome & they seemed so big- yet looking back now- I see they were so small. Many of my seasons have overlapped & continue to do so. I remember reading a devotional message on the topic of seasons & there was a phrase of being "seasoned to perfection". I just have one sincere hope & desire in relation to that: I hope that I can continue faithfully & diligently through this season of my life & all the seasons to come- until one day I am "seasoned to perfection". I hope I can gain understanding, empathy, compassion, faith, perspective, patience, insight, & many, many happy memories from all of them! I want to get all that I can out of each of my seasons- which means I might need to slow down enough to enjoy each of them for what they offer, instead of wishing the next one to come along sooner! So- here's to sitting back & enjoying my season!!!

Work, work, and more work!

The last couple months have been full of me trying to catch up on the mountains of paperwork that I had previously been avoiding! I set a goal to get caught up on all the Autoboss paperwork, Btfl condos paperwork, & get the pawn shop on an accounting system- all by the time we go to Hawaii at the beginning of November. I'm happy to say that I've done 2 of the 3. The pawnshop paperwork & accounting is a BEAST! It's new & confusing & I'm struggling to figure out the best way to track everything. I'm offering up some sure signs to support my conclusion that I'm working way too much lately!-
First: Cam's office chair has a permanent imprint of my buttocks! No joke!
Second: I've found that the paperwork follows me into my dreams! Seriously, who dreams about paperwork???
Third: Have you seen the state of chaos that my house is in at the moment? For those of you that have witnessed the aftermath of the Winquist children cyclone- I apologize!
Lastly: I'm soo unable to focus & do well at anything else! Can't get up in the morning for workouts (sorry again for sleeping in today Tami), can't be a good friend to all of you & do all the "neighborly" things I'd like to do, & can't perform well in the mothering department (yep, sent Sadie all dressed in orange w/her orange show-n-tell on RED day! oops- orange is next week!)And the worst part of it is this- I'm blogging about it due to the sad truth that I'm too exhausted to walk the 3 feet it would require to get the camera so I'd be able to blog about something somewhat interesting to all of you! Instead- you get this! By the way- it's 1:36 AM & I'm so exhausted, I can't sleep! Too much on my mind & can't shut it down. I think this will go down in history as one of the most pointless blog posts ever! Sorry- I love you all & thank you for your patience as I attempt to slay the paperwork dragon so I can come out & play again soon!