Happy Birthday Abby!!!

My baby turned 7 on September 8th! I can't believe how fast time flies by! This year was a little bit different for her. I left to go out of town to Virginia for two week to participate in my Mother's memorial service and to help go through her things, so on Friday we celebrated her birthday. She got her new clothes and a new bike. Then she said she wanted to go to Olive Garden to eat dinner. Then after I left Pug took Abby, Kenzie, Cameron and Abby's friend Brynlee swimming. The following Sunday was her actual birthday. I couldn't have asked for a funnier kid! She loves to make people laugh, and has the amazing gift of being able to laugh at herself. Her natural talent at gymnastics just blows my mind. I am so glad that she is a part of our family. I love you "Little Lou!"

Cynthia Skeen McCullough

On the morning of August 25th 2013 my beautiful and amazing mother was called to serve a mission on the other side of the veil. I miss her more than words can say, but I have had so many amazing experiences that I know it was my mom's time to go. I don't know why and probably never will know while here on earth, but I know Mom lives on. I know she working hard teaching people about our Savior. I also know that she will never be far. She will be there when I need her, and she will help me in ways I will not know until I am with her again. Hopefully someday I will be able to blog more about her. Right now, it is still too hard. I love you and miss you Mom!

Cynthia Skeen McCullough
10-02-1957 to 08-25-2013

First Day of School 2013!

School started on the 19th for McKenzie and the 20th for Abby and Cameron. Because McKenzie is now in middle school, they had the 7th graders start one day before all the others so they could find all their classes, learn how to open their lockers, and just figure out how this all works before the 8th and 9th graders got there. Cameron started 5th grade and is in the A.L.L. program (the accelerated learning lab class) this has been a huge help for Cameron. He is no longer bored at school! Abby is now in 1st grade. School all day, lunch at school! She was thrilled to finally eat lunch at school!
I am so proud of my kids! They are all just so smart it kind of scares me!! Here is to another amazing year of learning and having fun!

A little town called OPHIR!

If you drive west of my house for about 40 minutes you will come upon a turnoff to a little mining town called Ophir. And if you drive up that turnoff to the cute little mining town of Ophir you will find old mining stuff everywhere! Old shanteys, mining carts, buildings. It is really neat! The kids had a great time exploring the "ghost town" and seeing all the stuff there is to see. And if you drive through that cute town you come into a beautiful wooded area. Perfect for camping or just having a fun time with friends, roasting hotdogs and swinging in a tree. Thanks for the invite Robinson's and Johnson's. It was a blast!!

Soccer!

This year Cameron's soccer team (Utah Surf) played in two tournaments. They played hard and had to fight for each win, but they ended up taking second place in both tournaments. I am so proud of Cameron and Jeff for all the hard work, time and dedication they both put in to make this team a success. (And just so you know, I don't count a winning team as a necessarily successful team!) Way to go SURF!

Battle Creek Falls

Because our summers are filled with cheer, soccer, and gymnastics, there are very few opportunities to go on vacations or do anything fun. We decided that we needed to get out and do something fun. So, Pug canceled soccer practice for a Saturday morning and we headed up to a neat little place and hike called Battle Creek Falls. It was a nice short, easy hike to some great looking waterfalls. On the way back home the kids had asked about how it got the name Battle Creek Falls. So I looked it up on google on my phone and found out that was the sight of the first battle the pioneers had with the indians. The pioneers had guns and won the battle, but not without significant loss of life to the indians. A sad bit of history at a beautiful place. This is somewhere I think we will need to go again!

Golden Spike

I decided that we needed to get out and have a fun adventure, so I called up my good friend Melissa and we hopped into the car and drove, and drove out to the middle of nowhere in 100+ degree temperatures. BUT we had a BLAST! The older kids had learned about Promontory Point in school. So they were pretty excited to see where the East railroad met the West. They had a replica of the Golden Spike in the Visitor's Center and we were able to watch a movie (Charlie Brown of course!!) about the building of the railroad. They even ran one of the trains for us to watch. Super fun and super educational! The perfect combination.

PARADE TIME!

Every year I have at least one kid in the Eagle Mountain Pony Express Day's parade. This year it was just McKenzie. I love our city's parade. They do such a good job and it still feels like a small town event.

A Lot Of Catching Up To Do

I know it has been a LONG time, a REALLY, REALLY long time since my last post. Life kind of got away from me. I will try to do a few brief posts about what has been going on in the Stoddart household. Bear with the many posts that need to be done. (this is my journal/ scrapbook so I need to have it down!)