99 and counting

Meet Steve's Grandma Nora. Tomorrow (December 12) she turns 99! This amazing lady was born in 1911. Imagine the things she has witnessed in this world.

And she's still going strong.

We had a wonderful afternoon visiting with her and hearing her stories of Indians trying to break into her home when her father was gone, a cow falling into their new well, having her twins in her kitchen (steve's dad is one of those twins), how crazy doctors are--so she never listens to them--- and on and on and on. I hope I am as healthy and happy as she is if I get to live that old. She says she didn't really plan to live this long, but she just goes with it anyway.....

We forgot to get a picture today, but here's one from a family reunion two summers ago. She hasn't changed much (but we have a little)--you can see those powerful Mickelson tallness genes coming through



Happy Birthday Grandma!

New Pictures

I'm sure you are all surprised to see another post so soon. I'm a little shocked myself. We took advantage of great weather on Saturday and got some pictures done. Since Steve was at the BYU game, the family shots will have to come later. I think I might actually be getting better at this photography thing. I didn't have to do nearly as much editing as I usually do. It also helps that they are older and therefore more cooperative (when properly bribed). Here is everyone one year older:

Who Knew.......

OK. This has been, hands down, the hardest post EVER!!!! I now officially hate putting videos in a blog. What? you say, but it's so easy--just click the icon and upload. If only life were that simple for me. However, I am a proud mom right now so it is probably worth all the hours I have spent staring at a computer screen this past week to get this done (maybe).

ADVICE: don't try to upload a video when using a computer that is much to old and slow to handle this kind of workload, and don't try edit down certain videos that are too long for blogger to handle while using a version of movie maker that is older than your video camera and therefore not compatible--you'll just end up staring at your computer screen for a very long time while nothing happens.

That said, here is the original post that I wrote a week ago. The video clips had to be published as their own blog entries because....well, I'm not really sure, but it worked to do it that way when just about everything else didn't, so I went with it. So....don't forget to look at the next two posts as well!! Also, my blog template cuts off the left side of the video (again-not sure why) so if you want to see the full screen just click on the video once to start it, then click it again and it will switch you to YouTube and you will be able to see the full screen.


Lehi High School does a Dancing With the Athletes competition--their version of the TV show. All the coaches nominate a few of the athletes on their teams and then the student body votes for their top 10 favorites. The top 10 athletes get paired up with a ballroom dance team member and they learn two dances. Then they perform the dances for judges. The audience participates by texting in their votes.

Tia has spent the last three weeks practicing and practicing and practicing (and doing homework and all those great end of term projects, taking the ACT, working, etc). But she also had a lot of fun and made some new friends.

The big night happened last Thursday. Tia was so nervous. Tia hasn't done much with dance, so we didn't really know what to expect. It was such a fun show to watch. Grandma and Grandpa Griffiths came, and Bree brought Abby and Liv. Paul was our designated texter at home with Eva. (thanks Paul-you were awesome)

Of course we all thought Tia was the best....and then....SHE WON!! Can you believe it?!

So I really wanted to post the videos of her dances so everyone can see them, and it was much harder than anticipated. If they don't work, please let me know (even though I really don't want to hear that right now) and I'll send you a link for YouTube.

ENJOY

cha cha video

waltz video

Homecoming

I just sent Tia off to the Homecoming dance. I'm still a little overwhelmed that I am this old!! We spent all of last weekend looking for the perfect dress. After hunting every bridal shop and mall I could think of we finally found IT in the kids section. Sadly, since it was the Nordstrom kids section, this didn't save us any money......But we are pretty sure nobody else will have her dress. There is a very limited selection of dresses in her size (that are also modest) around here. Bree was kind enough to come over and help design the perfect hair and make-up. I am absolutely lacking in these areas. And now off she goes--a nervous ball of energy ready for her perfect evening. Here's the pics:

Finally Victorious

Kobe and I spent our birthday weekend in Salt Lake. I was watching and Kobe was playing in the Addidas Cup. Kobe was amazing and the team won the championship game...by one point in double overtime. It was one intense game. I tell you--there is nothing better than sitting on the sidelines melting in 100 degree weather while watching your son get heat stroke and loving every minute of it. They have gotten second place in this tournament for the last 2 years, so this win was "sweeeeet". (direct quote from Kobe and Chase)

And being 37 isn't so bad.....because now I have a new rice cooker and a hand mixer that has two working beaters.


(notice that my child is not the shortest anymore)

It's A Boy!!

You need to meet out new addition--this is Rhino. (He is named after the coolest hamster we know--the one in the Bolt movie) He's the cutest dwarf hamster in the pet store. And Brooklyn can't stand to be away from him. I had to start a "no bothering him when he's asleep or in his house" rule, but otherwise he enjoys more love than he can take. Yes, I know you are all jealous that your parents and older sibling didn't get you a hamster for your 10th birthday, but you can come enjoy ours anytime you feel that need. Brooklyn also had a fun party with her friends. Bree and I taught them some basic cake decorating and let them design their own cakes. Thanks for keeping me sane Bree. Here's the pictures:
(this might be an all time record for postings in one month...)

I Needed A Good Laugh Today

My friend Lori told me about this blog. If you have a few minutes, it's guaranteed to bring a few laughs. It is the story of Elaine and Gary. They live in our magazines. So this lady has taken the time to cut out the pictures and give a glimpse of the dialog going on in the magazine that we can't hear.

Enjoy!

http://catalogliving.tumblr.com/

Summer Update (as of July)

I actually started this entry way back in the middle of July, but there were technical difficulties--and then I didn't get back to it. So here goes take two.
Tia is loving her job as a lifeguard at the Lehi Legacy Center. She loves driving "her" truck--stick shift turned out to be fun once she got the hang of it. And she has a cell phone. And the boys are starting to notice she is 16. And, And, And,....Her life is pretty good these days.

Alex has completed his Eagle project, so we are now working on the endless paperwork to get it passed. Hopefully you'll be hearing about his court of honor this fall. He has also joined the cross country team and loves having people to push him to faster times. (running with mom will never be as exciting again)

♠
Kobe fills his days with soccer, swimming, and running. He is enjoying all the sun he can get. He is hoping we have a family team for the bone race next year because that was the funnest thing he's ever done. I was so surprised at how well he and Alex did. They ran their legs in 33 and 34 minutes! Kobe was so full of adrenalin--I think he could have kept right on going and beat Kelly up the next leg. They were both pretty sore the next day. I also ran a personal best time which I am pretty proud of, but it wasn't nearly as good as my boys did. It was fun to ride up with my dad and Trace and Amber and cut Lincoln. A fun weekend all around!

Brooklyn is please to announce that she has moved up to level 5 in gymnastics. She had a great level 4 season. Her favorite meet was the Utah Summer Games. She got a bronze in the all around and on the bars. She got 4th place finishes in the other individual events. She is also doing swim team, but that isn't nearly as exciting.


We had a fun party here for the 4th of July. Thanks to everyone who came. We had a BBQ, water party, roasted marshmallows int he fire pit for s'mores, and did some fireworks. It was great.
Now we jump into a few family reunions, scout camps, and trying to get ready for school. again.

Large Happenings

WHEW!!! As some of you may know--I was in charge of the Lincoln Academy spring fundraiser. We did a 5K/1 mile Fun Run last Saturday. This was my second try at this and I think things went much smoother this year. We had about 230 runners, great food, fun prizes for our drawing, and a really good timing company. I think it came off pretty smoothly. Thanks again for the music Jill!! Alex, Tia, Brooklyn, and my dad all won their age categories. Kobe was the first student to cross the finish line. There is a great story behind this win. At about mile 2 he got sick of tying his shoes (and more importantly this was causing Alex to pull away) so he just took them off and ran the last mile in his socks. No, it didn't put holes in them. (if anyone needs to know this awesome brand of socks let me know!)

So now this week I am enjoying a little more free time. No lists of vendors to contact. No lists of possible volunteers to get a hold of. No phone calls to return and answer questions. No registration headaches to deal with (you would be amazed at how many people can't properly fill out a registration form). No money deposits to make or receipts to process. NO planning meetings. Yes, LIFE IS GOOD today. Now I just need some good whether so I can spend some quality time with my bike. I think it has missed me this winter....

This me with me amazing helper, Kathy. We are both trying to talk the other into standing up with the bullhorn and conducting the pre-race meeting. I lost...and probably made an idiot of myself.


All the family runners. Kobe's good friend Conner is on the right.



Tia wants me to make it perfectly clear that she has been training to do 100m and 200m sprints and was not in shape for this race (so it's not her fault that she didn't win her age division!!!)

Steve ran with Brooklyn (so it's not his fault he didn't win his age division either)

Alex finished right behind the top female.


Kobe won an I Pod Suffle for being the first male student to cross the line.



It was fun to have my dad come and support the race. Of course he finished in the top 10 overall, and won his age category. Way to go Dad!!