Well, I know it goes without saying that this last year has been busy.  Thus the lack of posts between December and now.  We have had fun and some pain but managed to survive. First, the bad news:  Mike has decided that he no longer wants to be married and would like to pursue his life with someone else.  This has caused some almost unbearable heartache and pain, but if this makes him happy then it is what he must do.  Now, for all of you freaking out and reaching for the phone...the kids and I  are okay and just taking things one step at a time.
Second, the good news:  We have had a great year and look forward to more of the same.  We went to Washington DC as a family (Mike was still with us at this time) and saw one of my best friends, Britney, in New York and met Mike's mom in Washington for a few days.  The road trip across the country was crazy but fun.  We saw so many neat things that we may never get the chance to see again.  We saw everything from the world's largest Jackalope to the Washington Monument.  Our route took us from Utah to Mount Rushmore to Wall drug in Wall, South Dakota and then the Jolly Green Giant Statue.  Next was Madison, Wisconsin so Madison could say she had been to Madison and on to Chicago.  Breakfast at the American Girl store in Chicago and a visit to the Willis tower and it's sky deck, a stop in Kirtland, OH church history sites, and then we were off toward New York.  We stayed a couple of days in New York and saw as much as we possibly could including the 911 memorial and the Empire State building.  Here we visited with Britney and Matthew and had a fabulous time.  Thanks for entertaining us!  Were off again to Hershey, Pennsylvania and the Hershey factory and then to Washington DC where we spent a lot of time in the Smithsonian, saw some of the monuments, and the National archives.  We couldn't get tickets to the White House but walked my it and took some pictures.  We headed south west on the way home and stopped at the Corvette Plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky and then headed off to the St Louis Arch in St Louis, Missouri.  Unfortunately the line for the Arch was several hours long and so the kids and Mike were unable to go up in it but we did walk around it and go into the museum there.  From there we headed up to I-80 and back home.  Crazy couple of weeks but definitely worth it.

(Pictures from top to  bottom:  Wall Drug (Wall, SD), Madison, Wisconsin, Fiberglass molds from a factory in Wisconsin, breakfast at the American Girl store in Chicago, the kids on the sky deck of the Willis Tower in Chicago, New York skyline from the Empire State building, Video of the kids dancing at the Hard Rock Cafe in Washington D.C., Grandma and the kids in front of the White House, Damon eating the Washington Monument, the kids hanging out at the national zoo, and the museum at the St. Louis Arch.)

However, our fun has not stopped there.  Madison had soccer camp and then played soccer for the city rec team.  Her favorite position is still Goalie.  They are both doing well in school.  Damon is at the high school this year (9th grade is high school out by us) and is doing very well in all of his classes.  Madison is now attending the school where I teach and she is loving it.  She has made a lot of friends and likes the fact that she gets to play her violin at school in orchestra class, and not just at home.  She had a great time dressing up for red ribbon week and I included a picture of her in her rockstar outfit.    

We kicked the Halloween season off with a trip  to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins. The kids had a blast on Halloween.  Damon skipped trick or treating this year and sat in the coffin on the porch and scared kids.  He loved it.  He dressed as Vladmir Tod, a vampire from the book series Vladmir Tod.  Madison and her best friend dressed up as zombie hip hop dancers and went out in search of trick or treat candy.  They came home with a pillowcase full of candy.  

(Pictured below: Madison playing as Goalie in her soccer game, the kids at the pumpkin patch (yes, that is a sock monkey hat that Madison is wearing, Madison and two friends dressed for Rockstar day at school, Damon and Madison making Halloween cookies, carved pumpkins (mine is on top, damon's is in the middle with the A for aggies, and Madison's cat in the pumpkin is on the bottom), Damon and Madi ready for school (yes, Damon's eyes are red), Madi and Naomi just before trick or treating, Madison all zombified, Damon hanging out in the coffin and with his friend the talking skeleton (Yes, grandpa was up to it again this year.  The skeleton talked to the kids and Damon gave out candy.)

Well, it has been kind of a long episode so I will bring it to a close.  Hopefully we can stay current and then it won't take quite so long.  Love you all!

Michelle