Sadie's Birthday Photos

Sadie's Birthday party. This was so much fun having a pseudo-slumber party. All guests wore their pj's brought a pillow and made homemade pizzas, played the traditional slumber party games, truth or dare, spin the bottle, and made night masks. They had races on the lawn and pillow fights, oh, and can't for get dancing. This was definately the best party ever and man can those girls scream! Keaton had helped me by being the party organizer when the girls got here. What a blast!

Pillow fight in the front yard. Loud!

Dinner on birthday night . . .um why didn't anyone tell us about the quality of the Myan?

We took the everyone to Jump On It - definately had a great time there! Lots of sweat and fun!

Our Big Guns!

Family Tradition: BBB (Birthday Breakfast in Bed)

9 years of Baby Fat

You know what they say . . . "that last baby fat is hard to get rid of". For me, it has been nine years of baby fat, and I keep thinking that I just don't want to get rid of her soon! My baby is 9. It seems like yesterday ( I realize that I keep saying that) but really, I know I just posted her baptism photos from last year! Wow, Sadie, time is flying and I am worried that I'll forget so many things, and that I will not have all of the minutes in the day that I want to have with you by my side. Please slow down and stay the way you are for a minute. I love everything about you (except maybe the way you clean your room - but that makes you a lot like me). Here are some things I love about Sadie:

1. Sadie has a very clever sense of humor.

2. Sadie makes friends easily and loves to have her friends around her at all times.

3. Sadie is inclusive; she wants to bring everyone into the fold and do things all together.

4. Sadie is beautiful inside & out - simply put.

5. Sadie is determined and brave.

6. Sadie's favorite color is Purple.

7. Sadie helps those around her to feel good about themselves.

8. Sadie is a cuddle-bug.

9. Sadie remembers events and memories of long ago and reminds me when I forget.

There are so many more things, like Sadie's ability to take care of the big brothers when they are hungry - Keaton pointed out this one. And Alex says that "Sadie gives good hugs" - because he taught her how to give good hugs. And if I were honest, I think Dad would say that he loves EVERYTHING about Sadie too. You are very special to us and we love you to the stars and back LouLou.

Happy 9th Birthday Sadie Marie Proctor

Because Sadie's birthday is on a holiday weekend, we have to plan around the availability of friends for a party. So her party is planned for next weekend. Stay tuned for photos.

First Day of School

The summer has flown by and by the excitement in the house, you would've thought it was Christmas. Last night the kids laid out their new clothes, showered, reviewed their new clothes selection again, and then hit the sack . . . and pretty early too. They were all looking forward to school . . . AND school lunch. I don't know if I should take offense at that! Anyway, they have always enjoyed school so I can't complain about that right? I cannot believe that Sadie is almost 9 and in 3rd grade; Keaton is in 6th grade and 11 years old; and Alex is a big 9th grader at the ripe old age of 14. I am continually impressed with the kids and the good kids that they are too. I can only wish that they will stay this way for a little longer. There are so many good people, family, friends, teachers, and neighbors who have been a good influence in their lives, we are so blessed.

On the first day of school, we have a tradition of going to breakfast together. But since Alex leaves at 7 a.m. and that would be way to early to eat, let alone get everyone ready and out the door. We have recently selected to carry on the tradition in the evening of the first day by going to breakfast for dinner. So tonight we went to IHOP. The kids were tired after school - not used to waking up so early - and they ate well! GO KEATON! I love school, but they came home with assignments for me! I hate assignments for me. Off to the store for more supplies. What "free" education? AND I can't go without mentioning that mom didn't even cry this year!!! Go Mom!

Awwww. . . what a good brother.

Sadie and her friends.

Lake Powell 2009

Beautiful Lake Powell

Getting a boat full to go out onto the lake.

Alex, Keaton, Glen, & Sadie enjoying the boatride.

In July we headed down south for the annual Proctor family Lake Powell trip. The Proctors got a new houseboat this year and all I can say is WOW! It was so awesome, but then again, I would go to Lake Powell in a tent just to be there. I love Lake Powell. We went during a hot spell, and the first day registered 113 degrees - this was while we were unpacking the cars and packing into the boat. Which, actually, made the water perfect. We stopped periodically during the long trip down the channel to try out the new slide from atop the houseboat. It was awesome, we even got Grandma Susan down the slide! There were a lot of people with us and two ski boats to boot. We had another amazing trip travelling to the Indian Ruins, hiking around the campsite, good food, treats, and conversations, games, and even learned how to play watermelon basketball in the water! That was a highlight . . . thanks for teaching us Aunt Jana! With only a few problems with the potty, that were not pleasant, it was a very memorable trip for me. We were able to take Grandma Ruth with us this time and I think she had a very good time too. We also took along Grandma Susan and Shaylie. Shaylie was a very good sport with all of the "country hick" teasing that went on.

Hiking up to the Indian ruins . . . are these drawings really real?

Grandma Susan, Aunt Colleen, & Glen enjoying some shade on the beach.

Several of us, INCLUDING ME & the boys, were able to get up the guts to actually jump off of one of the cliffs. I jumped twice, and for me that is a big deal. I certainly felt my age. After much coaching to jump, Shaylie just couldn't bring herself to jump. Meanwile, the rest of us were in the boat baking in the sun. Sadie said "I'll get her down", and proceeded to jump into the lake, swim over to the cliff, climb up to Shaylie and tried to encourage her from there. When that wasn't working, Sadie just jumped off! WOW! Don't worry, we'll get you down the easy way next time Shaylie!

Alex takes on the cliff.

Several of the big highlights were behind the ski boats. Alex, Keaton, AND Shaylie were able to successfully surf behind the boat. This was a huge hit for them and they never turned back. Then Sadie again said "I can do that", and guess what . . . SHE DID!! Cousin Tyler and I had planned to plop Sadie into the water with him, and without her having a minute to protest, Tyler had her up in front of him on the surf board! The smile of success was worth more than a million dollars! I am so proud of all of them. Can't wait until next year!!!

Thanks Uncle Craig and Aunt Jana, we had a blast!

Keaton and the surfboard - Go Keat! Alex surfs like a pro! What a natural. Sadie & Tyler on the surfboard.

The million dollar smile of success. Way to go 8 year old brave Sadie!!!

Next year you will be on your own!

Father's Day

Okay, so Father's Day was in June right? After Sunday dinner (I can't recall, but maybe we went to Chuch -a- Rama). We took Glen up to the mountains of Snowbird where he loves to be. We took a long stroll on one of the trails together. It was very nice, a little chilly, and saw some wildlife, even some snow (dirty snow). Here are some highlights. My family is growing up . . .sniff sniff.

Excuse my tardiness . . .

It feels that I have taken most of the summer off of blogging. Since I know that so many of you want to catch up on the lives of the Proctor's I will attempt to put some new photos up this week and turn over a new leaf in blogging about the regular and usual things that happen in our family. Stay tuned for some updates from Summer 2009.

Fridge Fun

Imagine how fun cleaning out the refridgerator is. Sadie and Keaton had an absolute blast last week helping me clean out the fridge - a job not for the weak - and not a job I pursue very often. As I took out all of the food - they took all of the shelving and scrubbed till their hearts' delight. Getting wet was half the fun. Sadie said "mom this is so fun we could do it every two years!" . . . and she was serious! They both have asked me since "when do we get to do the freezer?" . . . maybe in a couple of years . . . I love my kids!!! I wish they would ask "when can we do the oven?"

Utah Summer Games Champions

Keaton and Alex's basketball teams were both entered to compete in the Utah Summer Games last week. Alex's team, TAZERS, coached by Glen, went 5-1. Check out the Tazers blog at http://www.tazersbball.blogspot.com/ for the play-by.

In the individual competitions, Alex received a bronze medal for 3-point shoot-out.

Keaton's CRASH team went undefeated, almost surrendering to the silver medal, however, in the final seconds of the game took home the gold medal also.

Sadie, well, she went to all 12 games, enjoyed some basketball friends, some pool time, and also made a name for herself as the CRASH team cheerleaders along with other sisters from the team. This is Sadie at about game #10. What a good sport!

We had a fabulous, basketball filled 3 days. Now, onto summer.

Sadie vs Scooter

Cutting to the chase . . . Sadie lost the battle verses the scooter. She was riding down the hill on her way to school and CRASH . . . she doesn't remember much after that. Already on my way to work, Glen called me and told me he would meet me at the emergency room because Sadie had an accident. When I got there, Sadie was already in CT scanning for a head injury, and x-rays for a banged up arm, and then returned to CT for a facial review. She now has road rash on most of her face, elbow, hand and knee. She has a broken - but not displaced (like that is any consolation) nose, and 4 broken perminent teeth - which is the big kicker, along with a contusion on her head that makes her pretty dizzy - not the usually dizziness of a 2nd grade girl. After over 3 hours in the ER, we took her home where she was able to rest a little bit, and then off to see Craig to have her teeth looked at because the inside was exposed and could be painful. She was such a brave but scared little girl, who was and still is in a lot of pain . . . they wouldn't allow us to take morphine home . . . but today she is doing much better and after the blood was cleaned up, she is looking better and better. Road rash really hurts, but so does a broken nose and lip that is so swollen that she practically needs to turn her head to see around it. Thanks for all of the kind notes and well wishes for her, her spirits have been lifted today, except that she is missing out on all of the fun - last week of school-activities! We love you Sadie!

And no, she wasn't wearing a helmet.

Alex's Choir Concert

Alex is changing from a tenor to a baratone - did I spell that right? He has had a good time in his singing groups and spends two nights each week practicing with the performance group. Along with travelling throughout the year for performances, he has made a lot of good friends. Awesome Alex!

Alex is next to the girl on the bottom row.