Caleb's Chior Concert

Here's the proof! He actually preformed in a Chior Concert!

If you know my oldest son you will know that chior is the last class he wanted to take. It is a required class in 7th grade for a semester. I told him not to worry that it will be an easy A ... well little did I know! Chior is a pass or fail class...for about 3 weeks Caleb wasn't passing, he had an F in chior. They were learning some signals for the notes and he just wasn't remembering them. I will never forget the day he came home happy as could be saying that he finally passed them. The A was back. Well, he came home and told me that the concert was coming up...I got all excited. I remember being in chior all through junior high and I loved it! (Let's just say that the excitement stopped with me). Don't get me wrong Caleb has a great voice, it just isn't his "thing". Me being the mom that I am...(somewhat embarrassing when needed!) I got to the concert early, with camera in hand. Craig and Liberty went to Zach's game which was at the same time and Brit and I headed to the Jr. High. I walked into the auditorium and just got a huge smile on my face...there he was up on the stage practicing, I couldn't help but smile. They all looked so handsome up there (all boys chior) in their white shirts & ties. But what cracked me up was the lack of emotion of any kind. Every single 7th grade boy up on the stage had the blankest expression on thier face. I thought that maybe it was just for practice. Well I was wrong...while they sang their 5 songs it was almost funny how they acted. A man behind me was pointing out one boy who he thought was going to fall asleep. Seriously, no expression at all! They did great, and yes of course I took photos documenting this memorable occasion in Caleb's life. I don't think it will ever happen again. Brit started screaming right after the boys were done and the girls were starting. Let's just say that everyone knew we were there! I looked over at Caleb as I was walking out with my screaming boy and he gave me a quick look and then nothing...I don't think he would have claimed us at that moment!!! He looked good and did a great job!

Here they are...this was as excited as they got!

Can you tell he is relieved!

Just for Laughs!

Okay, I am not even sure what to say about this photo. The other night I was cutting Zach's hair on the deck and Brit started to cry so I ran inside. When I came back out I found this. Zach was laughing and said...

"hey look, I have a hairy chest!"

I couldn't help but laugh. After getting the laughing under control he started to itch because it was really sticking to him. He didn't like that part much. He then said...

"this hairy chest thing isn't so much fun!"

The kid cracks me up! He looks much better with his hair short and no hair on his chest. Sometimes I wonder how he comes up with stuff. I love his humor!

Mother's Day 2009

What a great day! I woke up before everyone else to get a head start before church and then was told to go back to bed so the kids could bring me breakfast in bed! I just had to laugh when I found myself getting back into bed pretending to be surprised when they all walked in. Breakfast in bed this year consisted of a bowl of granola with very little milk and a drink of water. I love how my children think! But it was fun to hang out in bed with the whole family surrounding me. A great way to start the day!

The kids and Craig gave me roses! Another surprise I ruined because late Saturday night I had to throw a small load of wash in and when I opened the door to the laundry room there they were. OOOPS! Again I acted surprised. But they were beautiful white, dark pink, and yellow roses. I loved it.

On our way home from church I asked the kids to stay in thier church clothes so we could take a quick photo. Well, this mostly worked...the boys all took off thier ties but that's okay! I don't know about your family but quick photos seem to take forever with mine! But this will have to do...not the best but hey I can't ask too much!

It was a great day! I was able to spend most of Saturday with my mom and we had a great time together. I couldn't have asked for a better mom, she is amazing! I love her so much! I have also been very blessed with a great mom in law. We went over to her house for dinner and a chance to talk to Craig's little brother on his mission. It was a great way to celebrate Mother's Day weekend.

I am lucky to have wonderful mom's. I have a great husband, and awesome children. I am very blessed!

Here is a cute note that Lib left me on the white board.

Brit wearing his "Mommy Rules" shirt, I love it!

Here it is...this was the best one I could get. I don't know what Caleb is doing. But this is us, we are one happy family!

This was one attempt at the family photo. Caleb was trying so hard to look taller than me so for this crazy one I am squatting down. What scares me is someday this may be reality!

Return To Virtue

Our Stake Young Womens Presidency invited all women young and old to hike up "our" mountain (our houses are just at the base of this mountain, so it's ours, right?) early Saturday morning and participate in something I will never forget.

Recently the General Young Women's presidency announced that Virtue would be added to the other 7 Young Women's Values. After being in Young Women's for the past 3 years and just recently being released I was so happy to hear this. All of the values are important in their own way and I have grown to live by them. I think Virtue is a perfect addition. When the General YW Presidency was first called they hiked up to Ensign Peak in SLC, they waved a yellow scarf which they tied to a stick and made a commitment to help the YW of the church return to virtue.

Saturday morning, Craig had taken the older boys camping and I had Liberty and Brit at home with me...this didn't stop me, we woke up early, put a few snacks and a bottle in a baby backpack and I strapped Brit on my back and with Liberty by my side we took off heading right up our street to the mouth of the canyon. (about a 1/2 a mile). I must have looked a bit crazy with a baby strapped to my back and a young girl with me, but this was something I didnt' want to miss. We started up the trail and I will admit this out of shape body was encountering major difficulties. I wondered if I should turn around and just forget about it. The hike was steep and rocky and harder than I had expected. But I decided to push along and make it, Liberty was a trooper, Brit just sort of bounced around in the back pack taking little cat naps along the way. Kindly enough a few friends from the ward offered to take a load off my back (literally!) they offered to carry Brit for a while. What a help that was. I really appreciated it.

Here we are...Lib, Brit and I on "our" mountain.

We made it to a spot on our mountain that we could overlook the valley and see our homes, schools, & churches. It was a great site. Once everyone made it up we all gathered together and our wonderful Stake President asked all of us to sit, he talked about a committment we need to make today to be virtuous. We were going to make a promise or a covenant today, which would make this spot of the mountain hollowed ground. He asked us to remove our shoes, kneel down and pray that we would be virtuous. He gave a beautiful prayer asking for help and strength for those who were there making this covenant to remain virtuous always. He told us that every time we look up to this mountain (which for most would be everyday) it should be a reminder of our covenant we had made with the Lord. After the prayer we put our shoes back on and moved down to the edge of a cliff and waved our gold flags, fabric, ribbons, and other bright yellow or gold things while yelling "return to virtue" and cheering after. I got emotional. I have such a special place in my heart for the young women in our ward...I was surrounded by not only them but with Liberty right at my side, all I could think about was them. I am so glad that Lib was with me. I hope this is something that she will always remember and that she will always be a virtuous lady.

Our Stake President talking to the girls. He is a very powerful speaker, I think the girls really felt what he was trying to say to them. I know I did.

A photographer was down the mountain at a home in our ward watching for us to wave our flags and yell, and he took photos of us up the mountain. A friend of mine was with him and she said that it was an awesome sight. She could hear us and see our faces (through the zoom lens). I can't wait to see those photos.

It is a day I will never forget! I took some photos, and I plan on putting one in Liberty's room so she won't forget. I am so glad that I was able to be a part of this being surrounded by so many women young and old that I have grown to love so much. Seriously this is one of those moments I hope to never forget.

Here we are on the edge of a cliff waving our gold and yellow flags

Liberty getting ready to yell and wave

Here she is waving...having a great time.

Brit taking one of his many cat naps along the way.

Life at the Veenker Home

Well this past week has been busy as usual. We just keep going day in and day out. Nothing major but lots of fun stuff has been happening. I had to share some of the photos I snapped to give you an idea of what life is like for our family.

I had to take a picture of Brit wearing his bib overalls for the first time....I love overalls.

While cleaning up and vacumming the basement one afternoon, I left Brit in with Liberty in her bedroom. I could hear her laughing but didn't think much of it, she called for me to come in her room and when I did this is what I found.
I didn't get a good shot of the flower foam sticker in his hair like a clip, and the feather wrist band, and of course the baby doll.

The next time I was called in it got better, nice pink guitar, and sequenced scarf, still wearing the feathers on his arm and clip in hair.

One final shot...Brit wearing Liberty's tiara. These photos are going to be serious blackmale if I ever need it. Liberty had a great time...who needs a sister when you can just dress your baby brother like a girl?

We spent many nights at the baseball fields. Brit was a great sport, with the occasional cry, but overall he did great.

I decided it was time to get the walker out for Brit. He hasn't really enjoyed the swing and I needed something to hold him while I tried to get things done. He loves it. It makes him look so big.

Wednesday I had to go help in Zach's class and I took Brit. Zach got to finally show his baby brother to his class. It was so cute to watch him tell the class about Brit. They asked all sorts of questions and Zach answered them all. He was a proud big brother.

After sitting in the walker for a while I came into the room and found this. Liberty turned on a movie for him to watch. Hello! I had to laugh and what was the funniest part is he LOVED it! Not a good thing to start.

He was seriously mezmerized by the movie. I must put a stop to this, I don't want a couch potato at age 2 months!

There you have it...nothing really exciting just day to day stuff! It has been a good week with lots of little moments that make me laugh.

Special Family Home Evening

Friday afternoon Craig called me on his way home from work and told me he wanted to do a special Family Home Evening on Sunday (because we now have games on Monday night). He asked me to print out the talk given in General Conference given by Elder Stevenson titled "Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples". If you haven't read this talk it is a great one. After church Sunday after church we packed up the car and headed to the Mt. Timpanogas Temple.

As we walked around the grounds of the temple we discussed this talk. Craig asked the younger kids what they thought the Temple was like inside. Answers varied from, quiet, clean, white and like church. He had Caleb tell them about the baptistry and what it was like. Craig then asked, "how do you think people act towards each other in the temple? Is there any arguing or yelling? In the temple are the room dirty, is there clothes laying all over the floor?" After he asked many questions like this he waited for comments from them. Liberty's comment was classic, yet profound. She said, "if it were like that it would be just like our house." Sometimes the words that come from children sort of shock you, and put you in your spot.

We made our way to the back side of the grounds and sat down and went discussed all of Elder Stevenson's talk and talked about ways to make our house more like the temple. We discussed that this was something that everyone had to help with. We need to be more kind, help around the house, watch and listen to things that would invite the spirit.

I thought this was so cute...Zach and Liberty were looking in the front doors of the temple. They really wanted to see for themselves.

Here's the family!!! Minus me, which is okay and nice man came and took one of all of us and when I saw it I wanted to cry...still feeling huge! So here is the one that I took.

We had a great time sitting there on the temple grounds talking about how we could make our home a "sacred home". I have noticed that my children are trying to be kinder, happier about helping and doing their jobs. It was a wonderful Family Home Evening, one that I hope the children will always remember. I am so happy that Craig was prompted to do this, it was wonderful.

I just had to add this one, Brit loved being in his stroller as we walked around the temple. I snapped this photo and thought it was so cute.

My cute kids...man the boys really need haircuts...add it too the list!

We Want A Pitcher!

This weeks baseball kicks off here in Pleasant Grove. Well, we are so busy during the season. Craig plays on Monday nights, Caleb plays/practices any day Mon-Fri same with Zach. As it turns out after transfering all the schedules to the calendar from now until mid June we will be at the ball park every night of the week with exception of a couple of weeks when the boys games overlap! Thank Heavens. Liberty and Brit are going to have to be troopers...or we will be watching many games from the car. Thankfully we have a DVD player in the car.

This season both boys are pitching for their teams. It is fun to watch them out on the mound. They both have done pretty well so far (it is only the first week, I know). It will be fun to see them progress throughout the season.

Here they are...

Zach pitching in his opening game...he even struck out a few. Way to go Zach!

Caleb on the mound...he also struck out a few. Nice Job!

If you look closely at the photos of both boys, you can see that they make the same face when the pitch. I love it. I am proud of both of them, they are both very athletic and enjoy playing the game.

So if you are trying to reach us over the next few months and you aren't able to...chances are we are at the ball park! Go Braves (Caleb's team) and White Sox (Zach's team).