Can't Believe I Have a Teenager!

Where have the years gone?!  How did this happen?  My first born is a TEENAGER?  WOW!  I couldn't ask for a better child to come first.  I always tell Mason he has an old spirit.  I think he came here to earth to help his mom be a better person.  This year we just did a "family party".  I can't handle throwing a big party every year.  I'm learning that I must not like throwing big events because it takes a lot of PLANNING and MONEY.  I am a pretty spontaneous person.....I don't know if it's because there are less expectations that way, or what....

Mason's choice for his birthday dinner was RIBS.  YUM!  Can't go wrong with Ribs!

Gotta get a little messy, but that's what makes them good.....

Mason is 13 years old now!  So here are 13 things we love about Mason...

1.  Patient and Kind to everyone.  Has a real sense of FAIR and notices how people are feeling

2.   Smart.  He does very well in school!  

3.  Leader.  We all look up to him!

4.   Strong testimony.  Not afraid to live what he believes...

5.  Athletic...just like his dad, he is good at whatever he tries...

6.  "He's Buff"  is what Eli just said.  He has really grown up and has some big muscles!  Ü

7.  "He's the best BIGGEST  brother"  Eli and Abbie said.  He is a friend to them!  

8.  VERY helpful.  I can count on him to so whatever I need, and is very thorough...

9.  Great CLEANER.  Whatever I ask, he does a GREAT job!

10.  Abbie said "He's a good break dancer"

11.   David said "He's very tender hearted"  as far as people's feelings go

12.  Very determined once he puts his mind to it

13.  He loves to have a good time.  He's one for getting a group of friends together for a late night....

So glad you are in our family!  Happy Birthday Mason Jeffery!  

The Ragnar is for the crazy and insane! Ü

David is a LOVER of sports....anything active. He has never really been a "runner"....I mean, he runs a lot in soccer or other sports, but has never said "I want to run a marathon" or anything like that. Well, there just HAPPENS to be a crazy run called the Ragnar...I know, a weird name to go with a weird sport. haha...just kidding....I'm actually really proud of David for doing this....
Shelly and Jason Turner have run the Ragnar the last 3 years and invited David to participate. He wasn't sure what exactly he was getting into, but was up for the challenge.

 

David and his team left Friday morning at 4:30 am to drive to Wickenberg, AZ to start the race. Here they are at 6:00 in the morning getting ready to start their race.

 

The Ragnar consists of a team of 12 people. In 2 days, they will have run 200 mles as a team. They have 2 vans that carry 6 people each. Each person on the team will run 3 different legs totaling 12 to 17 miles in a 2 day period. David was in van 1, which was the first van to start. His first run was 5.5 miles, 2nd was 5.7 miles and the last was 7.7 miles. Apparently the last one was a lot of hills.

 

After all 6 members ran their leg of the race, they rested while the other van ran their legs of the race. Since the race goes for 2 days, it's really important to get a little rest!

 

Here they are trying to catch a little shut eye. David said it was hard to sleep. I'm sure they were all running on adrenaline. I can't imagine doing this. I mean, they all made it look really fun, but mercy, they are running 5-9 miles....get all sweaty, change their clothes, and try to rest until it's time to run again in a few hours.

Their team had a lot of fun. It's funny to see all the funny things they do to keep their spirits up. Maybe this is where they can let out their "real" selves.... hahaha

 

Take for example this bum picture. I guess one of them ran their 5 or 6 miles with this naked bum looking thing on the back of them. I think they had a cape flapping in the wind also. I wasn't there watching them, so I'm writing this off of what I see in the picture. We did have....I mean get to volunteer....so I had fun watching other teams act like a bunch of fools. Some teams were running in tutus....or there were guys in hot pink spandex. It was really entertaining! Like I said, it's a race of it's own kind.

 

While training David seemed to have trouble with his I-T bands. I think that's what they are called....he really had to work at stretching them out and conditioning himself to run the distance. He would get frustrated because he wasn't tired or winded...his outside of his legs just hurt....so he would have to stop. (not during the race) I'm talking about during the couple of months training leading up to the race.

 

I think Derek Wilcock named their team "Lacticacidaholics"...kind of a catchy name for being really sore huh? Ü

 

Van 1 finished running all 3 of their legs by about 6 or 7 in the morning. Now they just had to wait for van 2 to run their legs. So they went out to breakfast and then came to the finish line to wait for the last runner and then they would all run through together.

Here they are in all of their glory....they did really well. I think they were like number 30 in over 200 teams. They really seemed to have a lot of fun. I'm really proud of them.

 

Look! They are all still smiling! 2 days of running, no sleeping, going to the bathroom in a porta potty, and trying to stay hydrated, but in the end....it's all worth it. David said about the Ragnar "Challenging, crazy, awesome, tiring, and rewarding."

 

Davids parents were visiting that week. Linda stayed home to watch Abbie while Bob and I went to "volunteer" at the run. I guess each team needs 3 volunteers to help at the run or it will cost them even more to run. The initial cost is $100 per team member, so they wanted to make sure they didn't get charged any more than that!

 

Saturday morning at 5am we went to Scottsdale to help direct runners coming in and out and the vans coming in and out. Kind of a crazy thing keeping it all straight. It's a good thing...keeps everyone safe. I was entertained watching all of the decorated vans coming in and out. They had Christmas lights on them, lots of writing all over the windows, and some had funny things on top or on the sides....Talk about team spirit!

 

The race ended in Tempe AZ at Tempe Town Lake. Don't know if David will do it again, but he is really glad he did it for the experience!

Flag Football for ALL!

We have such a great neighborhood and ward. I'm sure I have mentioned Matt Peterson before. He used to be in our ward...he got tired of paying lots of money for his kids to play ball. We are too....apparently there are a lot of other families that feel the same way. What started with a few families has now grown into a big thing. It has become a big party and reunion for a bunch of us. All we have to do is pay for the shirts. WE LOVE IT!!!!

 

Mason and Eli were able to play on the same team. That was really fun for them too! They did really well this season.

 

 

The nice thing about having a sport being so cheap is that Abbie was able to play. I thought I would humor her and let her play. She actually has a lot of fire in her! She did a GREAT job! You can see her running with all her might! She gave them all a run for their money. We enjoyed seeing her play.

 

The Colts did really well this season too! Ü Hopefully this will continue for a few more years. We are having a lot of fun with this P. R. Sports stuff!

Happy Birthday Eli! Where did the years go?

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELI BOY!

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE 11 YEARS OLD!

HERE ARE 11 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT YOU...

1. YOUR BIG BLUE EYES AND YOUR LONG EYELASHES!

2. YOUR HUGS EVERYDAY, SOMETIMES EVEN SEVERAL TIMES A DAY

3. YOUR FUNNY PERSONALITY

4. YOUR LOVE OF LIFE AND ESPECIALLY SPORTS....YOU ARE ALWAYS PRACTICING SOMETHING OR KICKING A BALL, OR RIDING A BIKE OR RIP STICK.

5. YOUR KIND HEART.

6. YOUR SMART BRAIN. YOU DO SO WELL AT SCHOOL, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO IT!

7. YOUR OBEDIENCE. I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS PAST SUPERBOWL SUNDAY WHEN YOUR TEAM WAS PLAYING...AND SINCE THE BISHOP CHALLENGED US NOT TO WATCH IT, YOU CHOSE TO BE OBEDIENT. THAT MUST HAVE BEEN SOOOO HARD! THE SUPER BOWL IS A BIG DEAL, BUT THEN WHEN YOUR TEAM IS PLAYING IT'S EVEN A BIGGER DEAL!

8. YOUR TESTIMONY. YOU SHARE IT IN QUIET WAYS AND EVEN SOMETIMES WITH WORDS. YOU ARE A GREAT EXAMPLE TO MANY FRIENDS!

9. YOUR FRECKLES. YOU ARE SUCH A HANDSOME BOY. WE LOVE YOU AND YOUR FRECKLES.

10. YOUR STRONG SENSE OF SELF. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND AREN'T AFRAID TO SHOW IT.

11. YOUR IMAGINATION. YOU ALWAYS FIND FUN THINGS TO DO....

We love you Eli Paull....you are such a great addition to the family! This year we decided to just have a family party. Eli wanted to invite one friend and go to "AMAZING JAKES". Next year when he turns 12, we thought we do a big party.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!!!

Our community usually puts on some kind of festivities for the holidays. Usually for Halloween there is a chili cook off, a costume contest, and some fun activities.

 

Apparently, Mason and Eli weren't too intersted in dressing up. It's kind of funny to see them growing up and being "too cool" for stuff.

 

Here are a few of our friends in their costumes. The way we voted was screaming the loudest for the one we liked the most. Abbie felt very confident going into the contest.....

 

But, was VERY disappointed when she didn't win. You're still so cute to us Abbie! What do they know anyway? Ü Actually, I think it's good for her not to win everything. A little humility never hurt anyone.

 

We love our friends in this neighborhood. Audra volunteered to make cotton candy. YUMMY! Good work Audra! Laura is always a good sport about dressing up. She looks cute, huh? And Kiersten is one of Abbie's best friends. They are so close that they either LOVE each other and can hardly stand to be apart or are totally fighting.

 

Halloween in La Fortina is becoming quite a tradition. We started out just being our family on the drive way with our friends the Petersons. We would bar b que shish-ka-bobs and hang out together. Now, 6 years later, we end up having several families on our drive way. We have a pot luck and eat lots of yummy stuff. THe kids and dads go trick or treating and ride on a hay ride while the moms stay on the drive way passing out candy.

Also: A little side note, Notice that Mason went and put on a WWWAAAAYYYYY too small Power Ranger Costume to go and get himself a little candy! He is funny cuz this year he has really gotten into the show Power Rangers. So, when he saw this old costume up in our costume box, he couldn't help himself....he HAD to go put it on! It gave him a MAJOR SNUGGIE and look how high up the leg it goes! YOU ARE A HOOT MASON!

 

Then all the kids get back and dump out all of their candy and start to exchange for their favorites. I totally remember doing this as a kid with my brothers and sisters! How fun to do it with the neighborhood, huh?

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!!!!

Summer of 2011 in Utah

Oak is my youngest brother and always has the "cool stuff". Probably cuz he's spoiled. haha...just kidding. The guy can "sell and Eskimo ice". He always seems to have anything he wants and puts his mind to. We all get a little envious cuz it seems like life is "easy" for him.....but all the same, we just LOVE him! We all had to take a turn in his jeep and then some of us even drove it. THis is his "fun" jeep. He actually drives a zippy little car, which is nice, but this is just for kicks.

 

Everyone that sees these 2 together say they look so alike! It's funny when someone from my past sees Eli and they say "oh my goodness! He is a total JEfferies!" Or when we went to visit Oak in Ca....when they saw Eli they would say "WOW! He is a mini Oak!" Ü We love it when Oak comes to town to visit. He lives up in Vernal right now, but comes down to see us when we are there.

 

We have no family here in Arizona, so we try to go to Utah and California a couple of times a year to see everyone and keep our bonds strong. THe kids are really good sports, but from time to time they say "do we HAVE to drive this time?" "Can't we just take an airplane?" I let them know I have more time than money and then they say "Ok".....The drive is pretty long. About 12 hours to Utah and 14 hours to CA....but they seem to keep busy with their music or video games. I've got a bunch of great kids....

 

Grandma is always playing games or having a craft for the kids to do when they come up to visit. OR she likes to bake with them. I'm glad they are able to get to know her even though we live so many miles away.
THis summer Abbie also lost her first front tooth. It's funny, it seems like my kids lose teeth on trips. I guess that just keeps things exciting!

 

When I lived in Utah, I think I took for granted all the things there were to do there. Especially taking advantage of church sites. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has a broadcast every Sunday up at the Conference Center. It televised every week. THere are huge buses of people dropped off all the time. Well, I wanted my kids to experience the Conference Center. To see where the Prophet and his apostles speak from and to hear the MOTAB choir in person. It was a truly wonderful experience. Now when the kids watch conference every 6 months, they can picture exactly where it is and know they have been there. I think it's so important to give the kids experiences like that.

 

On the way home, we stopped again at Cove Fort cuz they mentioned there would be free hot dogs on that day. How cheap am I? I can't even remember why they were doing it. Maybe it was their anniversary or something. Hahaha....but we stopped to eat a free lunch and then noticed a guy making pottery. I told the kids that's why my dad does is throw pottery on a wheel. We started watching him and found out that he and my dad are friends from college. I had to call my dad to tell him I met Andy Watson, the guy that I heard about growing up.

 

I love being with my family. I guess I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I did. I look forward to hanging out with my sisters and being with the cousins. I guess we just get so busy having fun that I forget to take pictures! Next time.