Ending another year

( Las Vegas, Oct. 2009)
So, I am going to tell you something that will come as a huge surprise...(wait for it)...we have been crazy busy for the last few months. (hee hee) So here goes:

Twas the night before Christmas and all through our house,
All the Schultz's were stirring and rushing about;

There were stockings to hang and cookies to share,
And NORAD said Santa soon would be there;

The children were nestled in Grandma's soft beds,
While thoughts of new toys danced in their heads;

And Mom fell into bed
with nary a shirk,
While Dad settled down
for a long night at work

When somewhere near dawn
Dad arrived with no clatter,
He had finished his shift
and he couldn't be gladder.

Away from his work he
did go like a flash,
All of the officers were tired
and ready to crash.

The moon on the breast
of the new fallen snow
Did nothing for the temp
which was really quite low,

Some time during the night
what did appear,
but a miniature sleigh,
and eight tiny reindeer,

St. Nick filled the stockings
and under the tree,
There were presents for everyone,
including me,

The children did wake
and the presents were opened,
Time together we spent,
only kind words were spoken.

We reflect on a year
spent with family and friends,
Hard to believe
that the year's at its end.

To California for family,
Las Vegas-U2
So many people we're
missing. What do we do?

Send our hugs and our kisses
by phone and by mail,
Our thoughts and our prayers
should be of some avail.

Hear us exclaim
as you finish this readin',
May peace, love and joy
be with you this season!



( U2 concert, Oct 2009) (Damon playing shuffle board, Oct. 2009)


(Hiking Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas- Oct. 2009) (Madison Swimming, Oct. 2009)

(Damon's Class, recorder concert- Dec. 2009) (Madison's ballet review- Dec. 2009)



(Madi sharing her list with Santa) (Annual visit from Santa on the fire truck)

.
( Look at the stash of presents that we both got!)


(Showing off their snoopy, gingerbread house- they put it together by themselves)

One of Everything

So as the summer winds down, we would like to share what we have done this summer. We have done one of everything it seems, so here are some highlights...
One knights of freedom knighting ceremony:


One liberty girls retreat:


One trip to Logan:


One cub scout day camp:


One visit from Grandma Schultz and Uncle John:


One trip to kangaroo zoo:


One hiking/geocaching trip:


One camping trip:


One webelos award ceremony:



One littlest pet shop birthday cake:


One gaggle of girls on a treasure hunt:


One rock and roll birthday cake:


One herd of boys learning their moves from 007 James Bond:


One week of football tryouts:


One cheer leading performance to prepare for:

And one set of parents that are exhausted by the first of August! We can't wait to see what the school year has in store for us!

What a beautiful day!

So, as some of you know, this has not been a typical spring and start of summer for Utah. We had some seriously warm days in February and March and then had lots of snow late into april. Not that I am complaining, we definitely need the water. So the last month or so has had its ups and downs. It will be really nice and warm and then really rainy and cool. Today was great! We had the Pony Express Days parade for Madison. Her hula group had a float in the parade and so we went to watch it. The weather was perfect, warm but not hot. We had sun and the girls looked so cute on the float. Madison wore her tahitian costume and spent the entire parade standing on a bench waving and shaking her hips. Kim, the Hula teacher's mom, thought that Madison was great because she danced the whole time.

Damon loved the parade. He was catching candy that the people were throwing. He also saw the truck for the Utah Valley Thunder football team which is helping to sponsor the youth football and clinics for the Eagle Mountain football. He also high fived most of the new high school's football team. (They are the Westlake Thunder, and the new school opens in the fall) This will be the high school that Damon attends and he was way excited as they walked by and the cheerleaders that followed them. He also thought that it was really exciting that the youth football teams had a truck in the show and that they were blasting the song "thunderstruck" from the back of it. (I foresee my life involving a lot of pep rallies and highschool football games.)

Of course, the parade could not be complete without an injury. Madison was climing on the truck after they parked the float and slid off the bumper. She hit the trailer hitch and scraped her knee and leg. You will notice that in some of the pictures she is not very happy. Most of those were taken after the accident. A couple of the pictures of the float show Madison, but her back is to me. She has the light colored skirt on and is standing and waving.

Celebrating all week

We began our celebrating on Sunday of this week. We had a BBQ with my parents to celebrate Memorial Day. The food was wonderful and we had fun visiting. Monday started off right! I was put on call for work and so I was able to hang out with Mike and the kids for the day. Late that afternoon, we met at a park for a picnic with some friends. Carrie & Ben, Wade & Jenny, Brenda & James, are all people that I went to highschool with and that will still claim me. We had baked potatoes at the park and the kids ran around like maniacs while we sat and visited. It was great fun. We really need to try to get together more often (unfortunately, it takes at least three months of planning before we actually get schedules coordinated). The kids celebrated this week because they were done with school and excited to start the summer. Wednesday night we brought the fire pit out and had a fire and roasted marshmallows. (I'm not sure why Madi is wearing a sun dress and a winter coat?! She is quite the fashion Diva!)

We then celebrated today, Saturday, with Madison's dance recital. She was so cute and their dance was perfect. Nothing like little girls with attitude shakin' it to the song "Fabulous" from the High School Musical movie.

Quick Rundown

So, it has only been two months since I last posted. Not like much has happened. (ha ha). Here is a quick rundown (actually, it is quite long) of the Schultz family for the last couple of months. I have included some pictures.

First, we went to California for Mike's Grandmother's funeral. (Yes, of course we snuck to Disneyland for a couple of days. I can't believe that you even had to ask.) We had a wonderful time. We were able to visit a little with Pat and Sherrie but would like to go out a visit a little longer next time. The funeral was beautiful and the cemetery is an old mission that overlooks the ocean. (Definitely a peaceful and serene place.)

We had a good Easter. The Easter bunny did not disappoint. We had an Easter Egg hunt with our friends the Thuesons. We also went to Baby Animal days at the Jensen Historical Farm in Logan, Utah. Madison loved petting all of the cute animals and holding them. Damon liked petting the animals (although he probably won't admit it). He also liked the blacksmith shop and the hatchet throwing.

Mike and I each had a birthday. I can't believe I am married to such an old man. ( You know that I am 21 and holding while Mike gets older every year.) We each had a good birthday and kept things relatively mellow. We were able to celebrate both birthday with my parents and Chris and Alicia. We were in California close to my birthday and Chris and Alicia were here close to Mike's birthday.
Madison managed to finally lose her two top, front teeth. They were loose forever and eventually were sticking straight out of her mouth. Yes, she looked like some hillbilly. She was quite excited about the two dollar profit that she made out of the deal. She has still been dancing, doing hula, and just started cheer leading. She is in a class with the older girls, and this has added to her delusion that she is already a teenager. She will be having her spring dance recital, hula performance, and a parade performance in the next couple of weeks. I promise to post pictures when I have them.

Damon has been busy as well. He just had his pinewood derby and did well in the races. His car did not place in the top three but was in fourth place. He designed his car to look like one of the star wars ships, complete with battle damage/wearing and guns. He has been "relaxing" because he has a busy summer coming up with sports. (I'm not sure when video games became relaxing)

The kids have been busy with school and just finished up with school. They finished a little earlier than the traditional school. I am glad that they are done; they need a break. Next year they will not do the online school because they were both drawn for the Charter school. They are very excited and have several friends that already attend.

Mike tested for Lieutenant and placed fourth on the list. He is excited and hoping that he will be able to promote in the next year. We are all proud of him. He also received a commendation from the Sheriff for creating a training class for the kitchen employees, who are from an outside agency that the office contracts with, and we were able to go to staff meeting and see him receive his award.

We have been working in the yard. We spent last weekend spreading 15 tons of gravel by hand. We aren't quite done yet, but we both went back to work and haven't had time this week. We still need to get the garden, the dog run built, the bark down in the flower beds, the backyard cleaned up, and the house cleaned and organized. (You can see that I don't have much on my "to do" list.

Through it all, we have kept our sanity...well, most of us have.

Love ya!!