So pretty.... The Great Salt Lake....

Sunday Drive

We took our Sunday drive today out thru Eagle Mountain to Tooele (too-will-a)stopping at Saltair on The Great Salt Lake..... the water was warm and STINKY!!!!! It was funny to walk out to the water. The ground had so much salt on it, it was crunchy when we walked. It sounded like broken glass. I love our Sunday drives. I look forward all week to them! And we never know where we will end up. That's the part I like!
Last night we went and watched fireworks outside the BYU stadium. Carrie Underwood performed and we could hear her from time to time. I LOVE her. But not enough to sit for hours in that stadium. I did it years ago when Tay was a baby and it was the LONGEST time EVER!!!!! So I am more than happy to just watch the fireworks at the end of Stadium of Fire. The kids love going. Last night they kicked the soccer ball around and Taylor and Marc threw the football. I love to sit and people watch. It is a tradition we do every year. And I love July because the 24th is Pioneer Day and we always head to SLC and watch the parade. We go to the same spot every year.
I can't believe we are already into July. June flew by! Bryce did a great job at reading camp. He LOVED Scout Camp. Taylor went to girls camp (first year) and had so much fun. We missed her but knew she would have an amazing time.... and she did.
Other than that we are still plugging along with day to day summer stuff. I am still hitting the gym Mon. thru Fri. Tay babysits her brother and makes a little extra cash in the mornings. We bought a summer pass to the rec pool and have gone a few times. That is always fun. We are going camping in a few weeks with some of our in~laws and we can't wait. I am still trying to make it back home to Michigan with Taylor before she starts school... Looks like Aug. will be the month. I am teaching the 12 year olds Sunday School and absolutly adore my kids! Marc is in young mens and the boys LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him!!! He is also staying busy with work. And again, with so many out of work we are truely greatful and feel so blessed. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are!!!!

Basketball......

Ahhhhh Bryce.
Taylor listening to the coach after the game...
Shire, Taylor and Alexi
Taylor




Taylor played in a basketball tournament Thurs., Fri. and Sat. They won their first game and FOUGHT hard for the rest. I LOVE the girls on her team and they are becoming great friends as time goes on. They are playing so well together and it is so fun to see how far they have come from when they started. Next yer in Jr. High they will be all going to the same school so that will be fun. I am SOOO proud of Taylor.....

I love seeing the sprinklers on when you drive by farms....

Park City....

Bryce.....
Tay is PASSED OUT!!!!
Still asleep....
This can't be comfortable!!!!
I love these kids!!!



Well a day trip to Park City was had by our family. I love it there. Going thru the canyon to get there, windows down, county (yes I DID say country) music playing.... just being with my family. For me I love to look out the window and just think.... I think of when I was a single mom with just Taylor and how we struggled but had such an amazing bond that has gotten stronger over the years. I look back and am SO thankful for the few years I had with just her and I. Then I think about dating Marc and how exciting that time was. Staying up late every night and NOT being tired the next day (WHY is that soooo different when you are married??) the little moments that are so new and exciting and yes I will say it..... MAKING OUT FOR HOURS!!!!!!! Then I think of when Bryce joined our little family and how I LOVE that whole newborn baby phase. Nursing in parking lot's, women's lounges and even discretely in booths in resturants. Oh how I miss those times. Now my children are older and time seems to fly by. But new experiences.... and the bitter sweet that comes with watching them gain their independance from me.....warms my heart. I never knew I could love another human being SO much until I had children. There is just something different when it is your child.... I think I love Prove Canyon so much because I do so much thinking everytime we are in it. There is something about the beauty of that canyon that touches my soul EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!!!! It never ceases to amaze me of the gift that beauty.....

Bryce's big day...

So today is a special day for our family. Our youngest son was Baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is a big and important event in our lives. I can't believe my little boy is 8. WHERE has the time gone. We had family and good friends there to support Bryce. It was a really sweet day and you could feel the Spirit. I held my breath at times because I swear I NEVER know WHAT will pop out of his mouth at any given moment. After we had light refreshments and Bryce opened cards and gifts. His dad and I got him Scriptures (quad) with his name engraved. He also got a Journal, and a great Baptism book from our sweet neighbors. It was an awesome day!!! Now we have cousins over to play and are hanging out and just enjoying today.... I love my family SO much and am thankful we can be a family forever.

Memorial Day.....

My new bike and I will be hanging out alot this summer....
Memorial Day was also my husbands birthday. So what else to do than go to the ZOO!!!! With 2 extra 12 year olds. And we had a BLAST!!!!!! Of course I forgot my camera, dang it. But the new pic on here was taken via cell phone. Gotta love modern technology. We then went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse for dinner and ate and ate and ate! It was yummy for sure.
The kids are out of school and we are just waiting for some summer weather. I am not going to complain because before I know it.... it will be 97 degrees. But I AM ready. Summer pool pass is bought, sunblock is waiting and I hear my bikini begging to come out and play... I MUST have patience. Bryce is taking a reading camp for the month of June and he will also be going to Scout Camp AND get Baptized June 12th. I am so proud of him. Tonight we walked around the neighborhood picking up trash and he was telling us how it is important to respect our planet. (for Scouts) It was really cute to hear him explain. Taylor will also be going to girls camp this year in June (her first girls camp in YW). Time is moving WAY too fast! So June is going to be a busy moth for us! I am trying to make a trip home this summer..girls trip with Tay and I. So we are aiming for July. I hope you all have a wonderful summer!

How cute are they???
Ready for Field Day.
Today is Field Day at school for the kids. Bryce's grade will be doing a dance to Monster Mash and Taylor's will be doing We Go Together from Grease. I may shed a tear because the words to that song are perfect for my little 6th grader moving into Jr. High next year. And sad because I think little things like next year they won't be in the same school building any more, or they won't ride bikes to school together anymore... What can I say??? I am a BIG mushy ball of sap when it comes to my kids!!!!

Better late than never, right?

Last May we all flew out to Michigan to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary. My brother and his family were able to come from Chicago and we had such a fun trip. The BIG highlight for Bryce (he STILL talks about it) was going to 12 Oaks Mall and playing on the play place. He said the other day "Remember 12 Oaks Mall in Detroit, Mom? THAT is the best mall EVER... I wish we could go back there forever." Ha ha We are always sad to leave. We are spoiled by my parents every trip and my kids just love and adore them! I loved going to the zoo and going downtown. I forget I have been gone 17 years until I go home and see all the changes. It seems like yesterday I was eating at Senate Coney Island (My FAV.) for my 3 hour lunches from the Endodontist office. I have so many good memories of growing up in Michigan. The trees, the amazing thunderstorms (they are WEAK here), Frankenmuth, hearing the locust in the evenings and the lightening bugs. I often wonder if I had stayed what my life would have turned out as. Many of you know my past of an abusive marriage and that is why I came to Utah so many years ago. To start over. If I had stayed I would have ALWAYS been looking over my shoulder in fear and that is NOT a good feeling or a way to live your life. I KNOW without a doubt my ex would have made my life hell if I had stayed. When I moved here he came out and landed his butt in jail for beating me in my apartment. I remember I had these sweet, innocent sisters as roommates at the time and I think they were more shaken up than I was because they had come from a small town in Idaho and had never seen anything like that before. And I got prank calls up until 2 years ago and I called him out on it and I never got another one again... (it had gone on for months at that point). Now I have not always made the best choices in my life over the years, but I am so thankful for EVERY trial. It has made me stronger and I love the person I have become today. My life is full of joy and peace. And I am married to the most amazing man who is so completely in love with me and our life that I sometimes need to pinch myself to make sure it is real. OR he is so competely insane to put up with my madness!!!!! Ha ha ha ha Either way I am so thankful EVERY single day for the guts Marc had to walk over to my house in the middle of mowing his lawn (he lived accross the street from me) to find out my story. Funny thing about that is 3 hours earlier I was talking to my mom on the phone and she said "I keep praying the right man will knock on your door". And sure enough knock, knock and there is Marc standing on my porch....
Now... many years later every trip to Michgan I still go and see my ex's father and brother. My mom does not understand why I do it.... but growing into the woman I am now I have learned to forgive. And I have forgiven my ex... do I see him? Nope. HOWEVER if I did run into him there is no more fear there. He has no impact on me. And his brother Thomas I will love forever. He gives the best hugs in this world (other than my kids) and never ceases to crack me up!!!! And he still calls me his "dister~in~law" (can't say s) and calls my daughter his neice. He has a heart that is pure. A love that is unjudging and never ending when the family ties are severed. I think if more were like him this world would be a better place.... And that is why I go see him every trip. It will be a sad day in my life when Tom is no longer here to visit.
So this sounds more like a journal entry today! Going thru these pic's made me nostelgic and a little homesick!!!!! So Tay and I are going to try to visit ASAP!!!!

My parents and my kids at Rotery Park...
My biological grandparents Bill and Shirley
My dear friend Paula and I. LOVE this girl!!!!! We go WAY back!
Marc and I... True love!!!
Bryce and Taylor at the Detroit Zoo.. My fav. fountain..

Thomas (Coleman) will ALWAYS be my brother. Rick, Thomas, Tay and I at the Coleman's.
After all these years I STILL love this man... Rick Coleman
Bryce
Taylor and I
My family all together last May in Michigan

Catch up again!!!!

Okay.. many pic's to follow of Vegas...

Wathcing the fountain show at The Bellagio
The Johnson's and The Larsen's
Taylor.... this is the life
Ready to go to the pool
I only got into the pool 1 time!!! TOO COLD!!!!!

FREEZING at the pool
Bryce LOVES the lights on the strip
Me and Bryce being silly at the Rainforest Cafe
Me and Taylor at the M&M store
Marc being a goof with Taylor

Spring break...

Spring break has come and gone too fast! We were able to go to Vegas for 3 days and stay at The Mandalay Bay again (we went 2 years ago and stayed there and my kids LOVED it). It has such a fun pool for the kids. This year we rented chairs right in front of the pool so the kids could play and we stayed and lounged and watched. The weather was chilly but when the wind died down it warmed up a bit. Marc and Taylor got a little, um... burnt and Bryce and I got a pretty good tan. It was a fast trip (we wanted to stay longer but there were no open rooms later in that week)and we had a BLAST!!! And we ended up seeing people from our ward there too. Such a small world when you are Mormon!! So yummy food was eaten, miles were walked on the strip, and I was spoiled because my husband bought me a Louis Vuitton purse (I have wanted one for many years). He is soooo good to me! My kids love going to Vegas and are asking when we can go back again.
School will be out in about 24 days, and I will be the mother of a 3rd grader and a (gulp) 7th grade Jr. High girl. I am not going to lie... my heart is breaking a tiny bit! Taylor has changed so fast since turning 12. Contacts have replaced her cute, innocent looking glasses, she now wears a shoe size bigger than I do and I actually put on a pair of her jeans that fit (tightly) me. She is still playing basketball and makes me so proud daily.
Bryce is a TOTAL crack up still. He has been blessed with the gift of making friends everywhere! He LOVES our neighbors (Brent and Sonya) that live next to us and sits with them every Sunday in church (we have adopted them as grandparents)and colors and practices writing with Sonya. He will be taking a reading camp for the month of June at his school and is really excited to do it! He will be turning 8 in about 2 weeks and will be getting Baptized June 12th. Then Cub Scouts! Life is fun for a soon to be 8 year old boy!
I am still hitting the gym hard and daily and just loving being a mom. We are trying to have another baby so if it is meant to be it will happen. I am truely blessed in my life with all that I have been given and I LOVE my family SOOOOOOOOO much!!!!! I also teach the 12 year olds in Sunday School and am soooo humbled by their strength and how GOOD they are. THEY are such strong exmples to me.
Marc is BUSY with the work season starting up. He has already landed a few big jobs and is almost daily landing more work. We feel so blessed and I am so proud of what a hard worker Marc is. We know how lucky we are to be so busy when others are are struggling to find work.
I hope you all are well and life is good for you also... Love, Sarah

Okay... I FINALLY downloaded pic's to my new computer so this week I will update with a SLEW of pic's..... hang in there Dad and Mom! Xoxo

Well, Taylor turned 12 a week ago. Oh WHERE did the time go? She has been such a joy in my life. She was the CUTEST baby when she was born with an AMAZING amount of hair! And such fair skin that people used to stop us and say she looked like a china doll. She has always had the best little personality. When she was little she was VERY somber and quiet but soooooo good! I can still remember how she smelled as a baby. I was a single mom with her when she was 18 months to 3. It was a hard, hard time. But I look back and have so many wonderful memories of just Taylor and I. I would take her running everyday rain, snow or shine (except Sunday's). I would just bundle her up in the Baby Jogger and off we would go. Then in the summer we would hit the trail in Provo Canyon, her in the jogger and me with my roller blades. When she met Marc, she loved him the second she met him. He was so good with her (made me fall for him even faster) and loved spending time with us both. When we got married he NEVER treated her any differently than if she were his flesh and blood.She never went to preschool (she was soooooo smart.) And I am so glad she didn't because I was able to spend all my time with her. When I was pregnant with Bryce, she was so excited to come to all my appointments with me. And her and I would go to Red Robin after every appointment. She would always slid in the booth and we would both sit side by side and eat lunch. As she has grown, she has become an amazing athlete. Basketball is her talent for sure. She loves to play football, played baseball (on an all boys league) and she is a snowboarder. I tried dance when she was 3 but her heart was not in it. I was not sure what to do with the little tomboy I had because I was and still am a girlie girl! Lol BUT, Tay and I have very simular personalities and sometimes it is like looking in a mirror. She has brought such joy and love into my life and into our family. So now begins a new phase of Young Womans, Jr. High (next year) and boys! Ha ha She has her first boyfriend and the puppy love is so cute. And I would normally be a little put off because, after all, she is ONLY 12. But Justus is a really good kid. Respectful and kind and will hang out with our family, not too cool to do that! She has picked a good group of friends and I love them all. I am so blessed to have Taylor as my daughter....