Painting Projects and the Christmas Rush

Wow, it's been a busy past couple of weeks getting ready for Christmas and getting the house ready, too. Vicki decided (much to her dismay) that the basement needed a fresh coat of paint--- in anticipation of a new flat screen TV.
So...out came the painting supplies and here are the results:

The "Theater Room" used to look like this.

With Katie's expertise and help it looked like this...

...and then this...

...and finally like this!

Zhi Wei's bedroom was a flat and boring white....

...got a fresh coat of primer..

...with Zhi's help it looked like this...

...and then this...

...and the final result (drum roll please!!!!) Zhi Wei's finished creation.
He LOVES IT!!

Wrigley was plumb tuckered out after all the painting projects!!! And Vicki is refusing to make any other suggestions on how the house should look :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA!

WE LOVE OUR GRANDMA!!
Grandma came up to spend the day with us and it gave us a chance to celebrate her birthday a few days early with her. We played games on the Wii, had some dinner and then birthday cake and ice cream...and played more games!
Grandma, you're the BEST!! We love it when you come stay with us.
Happy Birthday and we wish you many, many more...
(My goodness Grandma, how many candles are on that cake!?!?!?!)

Wrigley and the Tennis Ball

This is what he will do for hours on end. Maisy, as you will see, is completely uninterested in what he is doing.

Somebody Had A Birthday!!!

Little Wrigley has turned 2 and we had a fun Birthday Party for him. We played "chase the tennis ball" at the school, had spaghetti for dinner, opened presents and ate birthday cake.

Wriggy's cake reflected his favorite thing in the whole world--a tennis ball!!
Wriggy got a fancy new sweater and new winter coat to help him through the winter.
Isn't he handsome in his new duds?!?!

After a long day of birthday activities Wrigs was all tuckered out. It's hard to be 2!! Happy Birthday Wrigley...

My Beautiful Kids

At this time of year, like many people, I start to think of all the things that I am thankful for. My two greatest blessings are my kids. I sometimes step back and look at my life and how they both have enriched it so much that it is unbelievable to me.

Katie loves animals, is good with babies, great with fashion, can style her own hair and looks awesome, is a good friend, chooses the right, and is fun to snuggle with.
Zhi Wei is full of joy, is kind and thoughtful, makes people laugh, honors his priesthood, helps at home, and gives his mom lots of hugs and kisses.
They are both so terrific in their own way. I can't imagine what my life would be without them.

We're on COMCAST!!!

The long awaited On Demand show of "highlights from the High School Musical 3 Premier with stars from High School Musical 3" is now available for all Comcast subscribers. You can SEE US on the HSM3 Premier by going to (on your TV): On Demand>Utah On Demand>Utah Kids>HSM 3 Premier
Check it out now!!!

HSM3 DREAM COME TRUE!!!!

The day finally came for the Red Carpet Premier of High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Zhi Wei won the tickets (see previous post below) have all been anxiously awaiting the event held at Jordan Commons. It was so fun!!!! We arrived early to get our reserved seats, had some dinner at Spaghetti Mama's and then showed up for the red-carpet event. All the Disney Radio dancers were there and they recognized Katie and Zhi from the piano giveaway party. There was a film crew from Radio Disney there with an MC who grabbed up Zhi Wei and interviewed him for the cable special that will be coming soon on an "On Demand" Disney show soon!!
Katie striking a pose in front of the Radio Disney logo.
Katie and Zhi Wei on the actual "red carpet."

Then there was the Red Carpet Extravaganza. Lots of the dancers from the HSM3 movie were there. It was so much fun to see them and get all excited about seeing the premiere. We took a bunch of pictures...and then, to the movie!
Here's our official movie review: WE LOVED IT!!!!!
Katie thought it was so much better than the other two movies and Zhi loves the music. It is a definite "see it again" movie and we will be buying the DVD when it comes out.

I'M A WINNER!!!!

Saturday after my flag football game me, mom and Katie went to the High School Musical3 party at Summerhays Music in Murray. They were having a big HSM3 celebration with Radio Disney and lots of drawings for fun HSM items. Katie won the very first drawing they had and got a kit with HSM3 stuff, and I won the last one which was for the grand prize. The grand prize was THE ACTUAL PIANO THEY USED IN THE SHOW and 4 tickets to the early showing of HSM3-Senior Year on Wednesday, October 22nd. I was so excited to win!! I'm so glad we get to have that super cool piano in our house forever!!
This is the picture of me that mom took on her cell phone with the piano behind me and the voucher for the free movie tickets to movie in my hand. The Radio Disney people took lots of pictures too..I'M GOING TO BE FAMOUS!!!
I LOVE HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!!!

Katie's Bedroom Painting Project

Moving into the new house has been a lot of work. With all the activities the kids have, my job, and just trying to keep up with the mountains of laundry, house cleaning and just the day-to-day things---well, we're staying ahead, but just barely!
It's been an adjustment for all of us. In an effort to get settled in we decided to paint Katie's room. Well, really we decided to let Vicki paint Katie's room! After much thought on the design and color we decided on something blue with some stripes. So, we went from a totally white room, to a partially blue room...













...and finally to the finished project--



It looks beautiful and the stripes add a touch of texture and class. Now Grandma can start in with the decorating, curtains and those little finishing touches that will make it all Katie.
Next on the agenda --Zhi Wei's room...
(maybe we'll let Vicki rest for a week or two before we start that project!!)

Deep Thoughts from Zhi

I talked Sunday in sacrament meeting. It was scary at first, but then it wasn't so scary after all. It was on friendship in the priesthood quorum. After I was done it felt so good. All the people told me that I did a good job.
I am doing a science project on the spectrum of light. I have a prism but can't really figure out how to meke it work right. I'd better get going on it because it is due on October 10th.

Sunday Drive

Sunday evening we took a ride up Big Cottonwood Canyon just to see the beautiful scenery. The plan was to walk around the boardwalk at Silver Lake, but it was much chillier than we expected so we posed for a picture with the mountains of Brighton Ski resort behind us and headed back home. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place surrounded by the gorgeous Wasatch mountains.

Another Golf Day

Another happy day on the golf course. This time we went to Fore Lakes and tried our our luck on the executive 9 side of the course. There were moments of greatness and defeat, but we had a good time.

















This little pink ball, one of Katie's favorites (can you guess why??) took a dive in the water hazard on hole #4. After that she pulled out her Utah ball and after taking dead aim on the"U" she was able to smack the ball really hard and had some good shots. Seems like she just needed a target to take out some frustrations.

















Katie's favorite part of golf is the cart...not riding in it DRIVING it! She has had only a couple of close calls, and one slight bump with a trash can, but she is getting to be a responsible driver. Watch out when she get on the real streets in 5 years!!

















After a few good shots, some not so good shots and bets won and lost on boths sides, we declared it a good day on the golf course and went home to make "chubba burgers" for dinner.

THE SHOT OF THE DAY!!!

The worst game ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, that's what we thought. This is Katie, btw. Vicki and I went golfing at Mountain View Golf Course in West Jordan a couple of weeks ago. For some reason we were both playing terrible. We decided the golf course was against us, so after about 4 holes we started playing a scramble. For those of you who don't know what a scramble is, that's when we both would hit out ball and then who ever had the best shot the other person would pick up their ball and play from that spot. So we had more fun that way because we didn't care about our scores anymore.
This picture is my tee shot on hole #8--a par 3. If you look carefully you can see the ball in the air right above the bridge. It was a great shot and even went on the green...well a little bit over the green, but it was still good. I even parred the hole.
We had a guy take our picture when we were done as our golf memory for that day.

THE BIG MOVE --July 11-12, 2008

Me and the pups as we pulled up to the new house for the first time as the new owners!

The puppies were excited to have a new deck and backyard to play in...and to escape from!

The POD arrived with all of our belongings in it. The POD-ZILLA got it off the truck and settled onto our driveway for unloading.

Our new kitchen!

The big day finally arrived and we were able to move into our new home.
The dogs, the POD and I arrived on Friday afternoon ready to move all of our belongings into our new home in Murray. The kitchen, which was so empty on Friday became "Moving Box Central" on Saturday morning.

We had lots of help from Mama, Papa Dean, Jessica, Karen & Randy, and Michael & Melanie. Vicki and the kids were a big help, too.

Jessie and the kids found the perfect climbing tree in the backyard and couldn't help but take a break for a photo op!

How many people does it take to make a queensized bed???

After a long exhausting day of hauling our stuff in the house we took a break to rest and get something to eat.


Saturday evening the kids couldn't wait to go out exploring the neighborhood, scouting for new friends. They hopped on their bikes (something they couldn't do at our old house) and rode around the block a few times. We found out the Mayor of Murray lives a few houses away from us and Katie and Zhi went right up to his door and introduced themselves to him. They reported that he was really nice and welcomed them to the neighborhood. They also both found some new friends that are in our new ward so they were excited to get up and go to church on Sunday.
We still have a long way to go to get settled in, but we've had several new neighbors drop by (with treats!) to welcome us into the neighborhood.
Zhi Wei will be going to scout camp in a couple of weeks with the ward, and Katie is already getting invited to Activity Days and to play with her new friends, as well.
We feel really blessed and happy to be here in this new area. We hope you will all come visit us often!!!