Hunter's First Date

If you're one of Hunter's many friends on Facebook, then you've no doubt been watching him count down the days since just about Thanksgiving.  Now most of you probably thought, knowing him as well as you do, that he was counting down the hours till rugby season officially starts.  WRONG!  He's been counting down the days till the high school Christmas dance.....his first date!  Yes, we know it's a little early before he's actually 16 (the officially "dating" age in our home), 17 days to be exact!  But being the loving, understanding, and giving parents that we are (are you reading this kids???) we decided to let him go to the dance.  His date was Kyra and she is absolutely adorable.  They met at youth conference over the summer and became good friends.  I can't believe he's (nearly) 16!!!  And on his first date to boot!  Where does the time go???!!!  I have to say it is fun to have teenagers (well, most of the time!) and I've loved watching them learn and grow.  I just wish it wouldn't have to happen so fast!  And, yes, it is making me feel pretty dang old tonight!  So I'm off to play with "Nerm"!  Good thing we still have him around to keep us young!

He's Coming Home! Let the countdown begin!!!

We just got the news........Elder "Bud" comes home March 7th!!!  Which means his homecoming will mostly likely be March 13th!  So the countdown begins....exactly 15 weeks from today and he'll be home!  I can't believe how quickly the timely has gone by.  I never would've thought that two years could go by so fast.  And the blessings.......I can't even count the blessings we've experienced, seen, and shared.  This will either make our holidays seem like they're lasting a little longer this year (which any other time would be fantastic!  haha) or else they're going to zoom by faster than usual (which in that case there's no way I'll get everything done!)  How thankful we are to have been able to enjoy having a missionary these last two years.  I will miss being a "missionary mom"!  But I think I'm pretty ready to have him home!

Go Vikings - Senior Year!!!

A shout out to "Rosie" for making the Varsity Girl's Basketball team!!!!  Whooooo Yaaaaa!  Talk about blood, sweat, and yes...even some tears (though I'm sure she won't admit that!!!)  I can't believe it's her senior year and this will probably be the last time we get to see her play.  It's going to be a great season!  Go Vikings and here's to #33!!!  Our favorite number!  See you at STATE!

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween to all our "Scoop" family and friends!  We had one of the best Halloween's ever (even with the wind and rain!).  Nerm looked awesome!  Not too shabby for a last minute costume if I do say so myself.  Ha Ha  Being that Halloween landed on a Sunday this year, our neighborhood (most of our state actually...just a perk to living in Utah!) celebrated on Saturday night.  Rosie dressed up as a nerdy basketball player.  She was hilarious!!!  She left for work before I could get her picture and was out of costume by the time she got home to throw her big bash, so I didn't get a picture...but trust me...it was a good one!

We hope you have/had a hauntingly happy Halloween no matter when you celebrate it!!!  And maybe next year we can celebrate it together!  Now THAT would be a party!!!!!!!!

The Heat Is On!

Sorry Honey, but it had to happen sooner or later!  Last night was an amazing storm.  The wind blew; the thunder rolled; lightening cracked; the rain pelted down and then turned to a slushy mess; and first thing this morning when I got up the heater went on!  I hate hate HATE to be cold (I'd make a horrible pioneer!) and I have really waited as long as I could before turning the heater on.  (Promise honey!)  We fought it long and hard but I think the cold season is finally among us.  Wish us luck!!!!!

Mrs. Porters Class Presents...."MAGELLAN"

"Nerm's" little 5th grade class presented a play to show us what they've learned about explorers this term.  What a fantastic way to teach history!  They had a great time and did an awesome job.  I didn't realize Tanner was such the actor!  He had enthusiasm, pizazz, and died on stage like a pro!  And I can't tell you how much we learned about Magellan that we'd never known before.  (Whoopy ti yi yo - strong brave Magellan.  You'll find the East Indies you just don't know where!  It was a catchy tune!!!!!)  Hats off to Mrs. Porter and her 5th grade class!  Despite what we heard over the summer from friends and neighbors (we were told she was way hard and both of us would CRY every day!....Sheeeesh people!  Scare us both to death for no reason....and you couldn't be further from the truth!  She IS tough, but I've never seen a teacher so dedicated, sympathetic, and devoted to her kids), Mrs. Porter is incredible and has been absolutely the best teacher Tanner has had in a very long time!!!  I wonder what it would take to move her up to sixth grade next year???!!!  And we can't wait to see what they present to us next term!!!

"Mommy-gram" Day!

So if you haven't heard yet, it's Breast Cancer Awareness month.  We take this pretty seriously in our family after having a few friends and family brave the battle, losing my Aunt Lila, and going through my own little scare with a lumpectomy a few years ago (happy 40th birthday to me).  Lucky me now gets to have a Mammogram every year!  Yeah!  Nicki came up with the term "Mommy-gram" (among many other phrases and jokes which we won't go into right now.  Let's just say between both our sense of humors and quick wit we took this topic on for days!)

So here's a gentle nudge for all you mommies and non-mommies alike....no matter what your age.....to get those "girls" checked out.  If you're not over 40, get a breast exam.  If you ARE over 40 then get your hiney in there and get your mommy-gram!  If I can do it, so can you.  And it's not half as bad as you think it is.  AND you can take yourself out for a little treat or for a happy present afterward!  With that said, off I go for my appointment.  And I'll be thinking the whole time what my reward should be when I'm all done!  Hmmm.....food or shoes....food or shoes???

All in the name of ice cream (and teenagers)!

I guess I need to preface this little story by telling you that earlier in the week "Bruce" had a little surgery on his big toe for an ingrown toenail.  He's doing great and things seemed to be going just fine.  He had to fore go participating on the cross country team this week, but he REALLY didn't seem to mind.  So....we're all sitting there watching a little T.V. after the dinner/homework routine when all of a sudden......DING DONG....the doorbell rings.  Bruce literally JUMPS out of his chair and with a huge very red smile on his face says, "Oh, that's for me" and practically runs to the door.  We hear a cute little high pitched "Hi!" from outside as the door proceeds to practically slam shut.  Then we just hear "Nerm" YELLING, "She's HOT!!!".  LOL...hilarious!  Apparently someone had a little sympathy for the Bruce-meister and was bringing him ice cream.  It was sweet.  It was cute.  It was funny.  And yes, it made me feel old to know that our middle little guy is actually old enough to have little events like this in his life!!!  And frankly it just plain scared me to know that Nerm is THAT into girls already to actually yell she was "hot"!!!  Oh, and by the way, when it was time for family prayer "Rosie" came downstairs and let us know she was upstairs in her room studying with the window wide open and could hear everything, which made Bruce turn even MORE red if that was at all possible.  We didn't tell him we were sitting on the couch right next to the window in the front room and could hear everything as well!  (Giggle) Too cute!  Although he didn't even share his ice cream!

Mrs. Porter's Awesome Explorers!

No!  It's not quite Halloween just yet.  And no, this isn't Robin Hood.  Meet Jaques Cartier the famous French explorer who claimed the land of Canada for France!  Tanner's class is studying famous explorers and they were all assigned an explorer to research and give an oral report on.  He did an awesome job and even went as far as to do a little "ad-libbing" (he's such a ham!)  He was a little nervous (mostly about wearing tights to school - ha ha) but he did a great job!  I wish I had a video camera!!!

Happy Big 20!

Happy Birthday Kido!  Jordan is 20 years old today!  We can't believe it.  We are now officially the parents of two young adults.  Yikes!!!  And after we pick ourselves up off the floor we will help you celebrate your big day!!!

Hope it's one of the best birthdays yet!!!  We love you!!!!

Finding the Balance

I never ever thought I'd be saying this, and I'll probably never say it again, but I  kind of miss teaching Gospel Doctrine.  LOL...that took a lot to say!    But I am growing to love my new calling as nursery leader.  Let me share what I've learned these last couple months.  I have to admit when I was first called I really thought it was one of those callings made by 95% desperation and very little inspiration.  The first thing I learned about nursery was they really need to have some sort of basic training course first!  Raising 5 kids just isn't enough! Had I not learned any patience in the last 22 years?  Was this why I was called?  I came home in tears the first two weeks of nursery.  I thought to myself, "there has to be something more to this than babysitting for two hours."  I think I had been on such a learning high when I was teaching Gospel Doctrine that I just missed what I personally was gaining.  Selfish...I know.  The next week I had this thought, "Okay, so some callings you receive, and some callings you give." I thought this new call to nursery was definitely a calling where I gave much more than I received...and that was totally okay.  I could do that.  Although I was still feeling a little "bummed", with a new attitude I knew I could do better.  We attended a youth fireside that evening where we watched the amazing adventure the kids in the stake had at their Moroni's Quest youth conference where they got to re-enact the Book of Mormon for 4 days out in the wilderness.  As I was sitting there listening to this amazing presentation and still feeling a little overwhelmed with nursery, one of my little nursery "friends" came up with her mom and wanted to say hello....Audrey.  Adorable, shy, quiet little Audrey.  Talk about an attitude adjustment on the spot.  I noticed over the next couple weeks following this that every where I went, no matter where, whether it was the store, miniature golfing, the library....EVERYWHERE I went little children, most of whom I'd never met or seen before,  would come up to me and want to talk or just smile or just say hi.  I thought it was really funny but didn't put a whole lot of thought into it.  Then we had the opportunity to attend the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference (always my favorite meeting) where Pres. Spjute spoke on service (Pres. Spjute is one of my all time favorite people!)  One of the things that stood out to me was a comment he made on service.  He said that in every calling we serve in...every act of service we offer...there is ALWAYS a balance of giving and receiving.  He said that we need to look for that balance.  That was like lightening from above!!!!  I had been viewing this entirely all wrong!  The next morning we were sitting in conference and as I looked around the auditorium, no matter which way I turned there was a small child either waving, smiling, or even holding out their arms to me to come hold them (one of them was hilarious..she absolutely wanted away from her Grandma).  Again, children I didn't even know and had never seen before.  Dennis even leaned over to me and said, "This is kind of like that Santa Clause movie where the kids all know he's Santa.  They must KNOW your nursery leader!"  Humbling.....There is no greater call than teaching those most tender in the Gospel.  And who could be more tender than these little ones.  There is NOTHING more precious than the love and trust of a small child, which is exactly what I was receiving.  And I found my balance.

Just a few of my favorite friends

Future Missionary

Jesus loves me soooooo much!

For Missionary Moms

In The Wink of an Eye
~Michael McClean~

With the wink of an eye I'll be home,

Just you wait..it won't take all that long.

Though I'm not really sure what's behind this new door,

I'll cling to your love while I'm gone.

With the wink of an eye  I'll be home,

And I'll show you the treasures I've found.

And I hope that you'll see that these changes in me,

Are ones that will make you proud.

As am I'm leaving I feel sure,

We've all gone through leaving home before.

 With the wink of an eye I'll be home,
And we'll laugh, and we'll hold, and we'll cry.
For this veil of tears isn't measured in years,
It's all with the wink of an eye.
The wink of a heavenly eye.

Elder Ririe Hits His 18 Month Mark!!!

***********B R E A K I N G    N E W S***********

September 4th marked Elder "Bud's" 18 months.  Only 6 more months to go!  And we had a surprise Sunday morning.  We woke up to an email from Sis. Lewis and family (the family that he's staying with this transfer) AND a video!!!  It was a video of Elder "Bud" burning a pair of pants to mark his momentous 18 months out in the mission field!  It was great to see him.  They were having a great time!  I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see his smile and hear his laugh.  How I miss that laugh!!!  Sis. Lewis also sent me a second email this morning to assure me that the blazing pants actually belonged to an elder that had left them behind.  She didn't want me to be in the dark and think that they actually belonged to Elder "Bud".  Thanks Sis. Lewis!!!  LOL...it must be a mom thing.  How did she know I was worried he was burning one of his suits!

So, only 6 more months to go!  I have mixed feelings, as I'm sure Lance does as well.  It's been such a fantastic experience to have a missionary out in the field and I hate to see it end, but there's days like today that I'm just ready for him to be home.  I'm sure it has something to do with seeing that smile and hearing that laugh. 

Keep up the good work Bud!  And as always....
Be Safe....Be Good....Be Strong!!!!  We love you!

His awesome apron from the 18th Ward Primary!

Mom's "Me" Time

LDS Bountiful Temple

With a hectic week of getting the kids back to school (and a few unexpected stresses that have come with that) and getting our home back into somewhat of a daily routine, I felt I needed a little "me" time.  Then came the question, "what, exactly, to do with this "me" time?"  Some options that came to mind were start my new book, pedicure (yes, sad to admit but its the end of summer and I've yet to get my tootsies sandal wear ready), lunch with a friend, or a little "happy present" shopping (that idea was short lived when I reminded myself just how costly it was to get the kids all in school...no "happy presents" for mom this month!)  As I was laying in bed contemplating the organization of the new day that would soon be rising, I had an overwhelming desire to go to the temple.  A desire to feel the peace, comfort, and tranquility that only the temple can bring.  And at the same time to feel that rejuvination of life that I feel after attending the temple.  There is something about walking out those temple doors and feeling like you can accomplish any task put before you.  It makes me feel that no matter what trials are placed before me, what worries and concerns I have, what personal limitations and flaws I feel, it all will be a little better and easier to cope with.  So, it was pretty much decided, that's how I wanted to spend my "me" time.  And I wasn't at all disappointed.  It was made even more special by being able to attend with a friend (thanks Coleen!) and seeing some of our neighbors there as well.  It seems I wasn't the only mom that needed a little something extra special that day.

I'm thankful for the temple and the blessings it brings to my life.  I'm thankful for the comfort that attending the temple brings and for the spirit that is felt there.  I'm thankful for a loving Heavenly Father that loves me, and knows me, and knows just what I need and when I need it.

So, if you need a little extra pick me up this week and you have a little "free" time, I can't recommend a better way to spend it than a visit to the temple.  Even if you just walk around the temple grounds for a little while, I promise you you'll go away with a little skip in your step, a smile on your face, and a peace in your heart.  And who can't use that every once in a while!

First Day of School 2010!

Okay, so we were all just being happy little monkeys swinging in our tree and teasing Mr. Alligator, when suddenly.... S N A P!  No more monkey's swinging in the tree.  Think I've already spent way too many weeks in nursery?  Gee....how can you tell?!!!  But that's what this morning felt like.  We were all just happily doing our thing and enjoying the summer; knowing the entire time that this "alligator"..aka...the school year was quietly lurking behind us but never admitting it was dangerously close.  And it literally seems like it just popped up out of no where and caught us by surprise.  But this first morning back to school went off without a hitch and it almost seemed like we had never left our morning routine.  There were a few minor adjustments here and there, but all in all I have to say it wasn't a bad first day back to school.  There was even a kiss of fall in the air which was almost a welcome feeling.  Notice I said ALMOST!

Rosie and Bruce got off to a good start this morning, even though Mom had to practically tie them down to get their annual first day of school picture.  The idea was met with swarms of "Really Mom?...Really!!!  But afterward I swear I saw Rosie skipping to the car (in her skinny jeans and flats no less, which she looks absolutely ADORABLE in!).  And don't tell her I told you!  Bruce was nervously excited and boy did he ever look handsome.  I had to think to myself, "When did he get so tall and WHERE did he get those broad shoulders?"  Then Nerm and I had an hour or so together by ourselves.  The cutest 5th grader lil man ever.  I'm sure you'll agree!  He was probably the most nervous out of all of them.  His teacher seemed very nice and his classroom looked great.  It was just sad to see him sooooo nervous.  It actually brought tears to my eyes and I had to tell him my allergies were acting up (which was actually half the problem - I'm pretty positive!)  I also got a little sad thinking I only have one more year of dropping a wee one off in their classroom for their first day of school.  The time really does fly by!  It feels like just last week I was dropping Lance off for his first day of Kindergarten.  So for all you moms out there who dropped off their little ones today for their first day of school, wipe away the little tear, open a can of diet Pepsi, and jot something down about your first day of back to school morning.  Because happy or sad, you'll want to remember it exactly just like it was for the rest of your life.  And I promise it really is one of the sweetest memories you'll have -  Even if it means closing the doors to another great summer!

P.S.  And don't forget to take those height measurements of the kids inside the pantry door today!  Another memory that will literally last a lifetime!

Last Lazy Days of Summer! (Pineview)

If summer has to absolutely come to an end, I can't think of a better way to spend the last few days of it than relaxing at the lake soaking up the sun and being together as a family.  (Love the view from our deck?  And Lance and Jordan we MISSED YOU!!!)  We played, we ate, we relaxed, we ate, we soaked up some rays, ate some more, sat in the hot tub, swam in the pool, watched hot air balloons float by from our deck, played on the "beach, and had one heck of a "Hit the Deck" tournament (sorry Nerm!), and watched movies. Oh...and did I mention we ate!!!  Nobody wanted to leave our little condo haven on the lake and we can't wait to get back there.  I think we're recharged and roarin to go for the new school year.  Well, everyone except for Mom - she would be in heaven if it were summer vacation every day of the year!  But for now, she'll take a deep breath, close her eyes, think happy thoughts, and get ready for homework heck, parent projects, and last minute "but Mom its due in the morning" moments.  And she'll do it with a smile (at least when she knows someone is looking) knowing that it will seem at any minute they will all be graduating and out of the house and these "precious" hectic days of scholastic chaos will all be over.  So lets all enjoy it while we can.  Another school year is just around the corner.....ready or not they shall be taught!

Hope you enjoy the pictures of our Schofield Family Retreat Week!!!

Maybe next year you can join us!

They have the same gorgeous blue eyes!!!