Happy 14th Maddie!

Where in the world has the time gone? Madeleine turned 14 years old on Friday.

Our sweet, fuzzy haired girl has grown to be a beautiful young woman. She still speaks often and in long sentences, just like she did when she was small!

She desperately wanted a new cell phone again this year - last year's model lost it's shine for her when it took the trip down the elevator shaft. She was thrilled to get exactly what she wanted.

Reading her birthday letter from Grandma Ziter

Celebrating with Nikki

Happy birthday Maddie!

Spring Soccer

This Spring has brought unusually cool and wet weather to Utah but we've still survived the Spring Soccer season. Olivia returned to playing soccer and has played really well. Her team has two games remaining and they are undefeated. She plays defense and forward. The girl has some good kicks and is incredibly accurate with her throw-ins. We went to see Sawyer Nelson play yesterday. Tami coaches the team so we helped to keep Thatcher distracted as much as possible. He still managed to run to mom twice!

Keira is on her first soccer team and we've made it to a couple of her games. She is darling - not all that interested in the actual game but has fun with her cousin Alex! She wears the uniform well and is always sweet to spectators.

Anniversary Get-Away

We celebrated our 15th anniversary Thursday by taking some time off work and spending the day together. Ed surprised me with lunch at Al Fornos ... a place we used to frequent when we were dating. We had a fabulous meal and enjoyed an unexpected reunion with a man I worked with 15 years ago who just happened to be having a business lunch at the restaurant! We spent the night at Stein Erickson Lodge in Deer Valley. We had a lovely room with a private hot tub on the deck. We had a wonderful dinner at the lodge and just wish we could have spent another day there.

15 Years into Our Shared Adventure

Happy 15th wedding anniversary to my loving husband - thank you for focusing on the areas where we are compatible rather than those where we differ, thank you for stopping when there are still a few words you'd like to get in your say and thank you for trusting that when there are moments of "for worse" there are moments of "for better" just around the corner. I see your dedication to work, fitness and hobbies and I admire your tenacity. I appreciate your willingness to try new things, to embrace change and to share this adventure with me. It's not easy to figure out how to dance a duet while both are doing solo performances at the same time. You make me laugh. You inspire me to want to climb mountains. I feel blessed to have the life that we have and to raise our children together. Thank you for loving me, thank you for walking this road with me, thank you for anticipating the next 15 years with me. I love you ~ happy anniversary.

Ed's Adventures in Cooking

Ed has a newly discovered love for cooking. He has always been good about helping out if dinner was being prepared on the grill. He's good with a microwave. He has the Thursday shift for dinner preparation since he has the day off. It's nice to have a night that I can come home after working all day and not have to think about what to prepare! Ed has started to look for recipes to try and he has served up some scrumptious meals. Seriously, it always tastes better when I don't have to fix it myself, but he really can cook! This was a margherita pizza recipe that he found in my cooking magazine from his mom. He made it all by himself, other than me helping to crush the fennel and cut the fresh basil. Fabulous.Last Thursday's meal was his most daring yet - a duplication of Alice Springs Chicken from the Outback Restaurant. I dug right in so I didn't get my own photo of his creation, but this gives you an idea of the massive caloric/fat intake it entailed, and it was delicious!

We're still working on the "clean up as you go" theory of cooking. This was the aftermath of his culinary prowess. Unfortunately, I get clean up duty when he cooks! I did manage to get all of the bacon grease off of my stove top and oven controls. I have a recipe for glazed salmon that I'm hinting for him to try next. I really am a lucky girl.

9 Years Old!!!

We have somehow managed to spread the 9th birthday festivities over several days. Harrison opened his gifts from Grandpa and Grandma on Easter Sunday. We had birthday cake last night and his birthday dinner tonight. His actual birthday is tomorrow! His birthday dinner request - salmon, shrimp, couscous and broccoli. Cranberry juice to drink. I love this smile!

Happy birthday Bubbas! I can't imagine a sweeter boy.

Real Salt Lake Home Opener

Last night was a family night to see the Real Salt Lake season opening at home. The team received their 2009 MLS Championship rings in a ceremony before the game started.

The girls were in a punk-ish sort of mood

My sweet boysDavid Archuletta made a surprise appearance at the Half. He had spent the previous day with this little boy for Make A Wish - hanging out with the Real team and touring the facility and then surprised him at the game to sing together. I went to school with this little boy's mom. Seeing his excitement and hearing him sing with his idol brought me to tears.

The game was tied 1-1 at the half

This guy has seats by our friends. Ed and Maddie had gone to say hi at the half so Olivia had to get a photo of "Spike" - Liv and I designated him as Maddie's boyfriend.

Seattle went up 2-1 and it looked like Salt Lake was surely going to lose. With less than 45 seconds left to play, a corner kick was headed in to the net. A tie has never felt so good!