Alex turns 15

Happy Birthday to my baby boy Alex Nelson Proctor! I cannot believe that he is really 15. It is okay that he is already taller than me, but I don't want him to grow older so fast, hairer legs and all. His birthday was on a busy Saturday. It started with the traditional breakfast in bed, then 3 football games, a mid-year piano recital and dodgeball game (a favorite not to be missed), a trip to WalMart for the monthly free Lego item (again, another favorite NOT to be missed), a trip to Game Stop because Alex wanted to spend ALL of his money on an XBOX 360 (much to my dismay), a brief lunch, an end of the year football party/picnic, a trip to the haunted corn maze and traditional corn maze with from good friends from the team, and then a treat afterwards at McDonalds. Wow, what a day, we celebrated everywhere we went and had the whole team sing happy birthday with a huge cake! It was a fun day, even though busy. Here are 15 great things I love about Alex:

1. He is a great big brother, sensitive to Sadie and Keaton, and kind . . .usually.

2. He loves my lasagna and minestrone soup.

3. His favorite color is RED.

4. He is fun to talk to on a deeper level as he is getting older.

5. He has a very funny, clever sense of humor.

6. He can reason very well, and keeps me on my toes.

6. He is not afraid to say "I Love You Mom", and mean it!

7. He has a great smile, and will be getting his braces off in 3 weeks!

8. He makes good decisions.

9. He is a good student and is taking difficult classes this year.

10. He plays Waterfall by Jon Schmidt like nobody's business

11. He manages a tight schedule with school, piano, sports, and church.

12. He said "I love seminary". . . wow is that our kid?

13. He is very talented artistically.

14. He loves hugs and has taught us the different kinds of hugs.

15. He is extremely handsome and still lets me do his hair each morning.

Flag Football

Flag football season was a great one! Both boys had great and winning teams this year. The games were early in the a.m. so with frost on our toes' and noses we bundled up. Both also had girls on their teams who, according to their parents, talked a lot about my darling boys . . . hum . . . are we getting to that age now? My only hope is that our boys stay handsome and kind to everyone, or else I'll give 'em a lick'in!

Cheap Team Photos

Grandpa and his horses

We went to Tremonton for the Anderson reunion recently. While there the kids were very excited to be riding Grandpa's horses for the first time, I know I am ashamed to admit that. After Grandpa saddled them all, with Ridge's help, they eagerly got on the horses and rode them around the pasture. Our big cousin Chase grabbed Sadie off of the fence and took her for her first ride. Reminded me of Tyler and Sadie on the surf board. She has been amazingly brave this year. All of the kids rode and had a great time, not really wanting to share their horse. We even had to ride again the next day. However, when Keaton got onto Chase's horse, the horse was spooked and took Keaton for a gallup and a scare back to the fence. Keaton was screaming, so I don't think that helped matters, probably scared the horse even more. So, what did I do? I talked to him for a minute through his tears and fears, and MADE him get back on another horse. He was fine after that, and then Grandpa put the horses into the round corral and with a lead rope walked them around with the kids. This was a super experience for them. They also got to shoot the real guns and pistol of Grandpa's up at the gravel pit. My ears and Keaton's are still ringing. I love that the kids are interested in learning about my life and what I did growing up in this little town in the country. They get bright eyed when Grandpa tells stories and wonder if any of it is truth. The kids decided that they would all sleep together at Grandma's, invited Ridge too, and they had a sleepover. I hope they don't forget all of these good memories, and hope that there are MANY more to come. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the good time, horse rides, laughter, stories, good food, shooting, and everything else. We love you very very much!

Pruning isn't for wimps.

We decided to take advantage of the great weather to do some cleaning in the front yard. We trimmed down all of the trees and made a huge mess. So the kids decided to take the mess and make a 'tree hut'. It looked like the creature from the swamp if you asked me. It became a neighborhood project, and the kids left it there for a long time. I was pretty impressed at their engineering skills as it endured rain and frost and wind during the following week.

Alex hiding in the tree hut. Alex: "If I can't see them, they can't find me!".

The messy yard and the neighbors building the hut with the kids.

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.