2010 Celebrations!!

This year marks 10 wonderful and amazing years of marriage for the "Memphis Ballard's".

We thank Heavenly Father daily for the amazing gifts and blessings that we have frequently been given throughout these awesome years.

First of which, one another.

Steven's cute and thoughtful gifts delivered on our anniversary.

We also hit the town and tried P.F. Chang's for our very first time.

It was a perfect choice - delicious!

Our birthdays are just weeks apart so we often "share" the evening.

I planned a dinner with our favorite Indian food and wrapped on his plate a pint of lemon custard ice cream from Baskin Robbins.

My sweet husband knows me well too.

He made an angel food cake complete with whipped cream and berries.

Mmmmmm. My favorite!!

Last trip to Utah I was able to track down our first apartment.

I knew it was somewhere off the freeway - I just couldn't remember which exit.

9000 South turned out right.

I'm so glad I found it too.

We didn't have one picture from that time, most likely because we didn't own a camera. :)

We were the top apt. # 8637

"It Was Awesome"

Ryley and Kadyn both participated in the talent show this year.

Ryley played, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Star Wars Theme".

Kadyn decided to return to the very first song she learned and play "Twinkle".

They were awesome!

Every year Rivercrest Elementary holds a relay/play day.

It is two hours of non stop running and fun.

Thatch played at a friends house during Kadyn's because I didn't know he could join in.

When I brought him along to Ryley's her teacher added him into every one of her games.

I was nervous at first that Ryley might feel jipped.

No way.

She explained every game in detail and proudly ran with her brother to assist him in completing the various tasks.

They were all three awesome.

Ryley's class was asked to perform a half time show for all six of the relay blocks.

They worked for two weeks in learning choreography and perfecting their performance.

They were awesome.

With beautiful weather we have frequently utilized our ice cream ball maker as well.

It's been awesome.

(Or so the kids tell me. I'm on week 6 of my 8 week challenge and can't touch treats!)

Mother's Day.

With my hubby and these kiddo's.

What can I say?

It was awesome.

Spinach Can Soothe The Soul

Smoothie season is upon us and I have utilized this machine more than ever.

I am currently participating in an eight week challenge of health to better one's mind, body, and spirit. It has been an amazing experience for me and couldn't have come at a better moment in life as the stresses and trials of selling our home were about to overtake me. :)

I was in desperate need of drawing my attentions to more important and uplifting avenues and this challenge has brought all things back into their proper perspective - and I'm only on week four!

Don't let the color of the above smoothie fool you either.

It delicious in it's taste, and if you don't believe me we have four children under the age of eight who suck it down in all it's entirety and then proceed to beg for more. There are a number of great smoothie recipes too, all of which you can add a few handfuls of fresh spinach, and no kid will be the wiser.

Spinach Smoothie Recipe

Baby Spinach stacked to the top of the blender - just pile it in.

1/2 Can of Pineapple (*in pineapple juice, not syrup)

1 Banana

1 Cup Water/Pineapple Juice

1 Cup Ice (or you can freeze the banana/pineapple and skip the ice)

Sprinkle in a little Splenda

Enjoy!

Quick Update

Sun, Sprinklers, and Smiles.

What more could you ask for?

Ryley's class field trip to the Botanical Garden's.

We celebrated the 10th anniversary of Steven's 25th birthday!

I brought home Thai food and made creme brulee.

Yummy.

I also had the opportunity to attend a conference this past weekend.

It was amazing to say the least.

A big "thank you" to my wonderful husband for a weekend of major multitasking.

(His huge OKAP test is this Saturday too, and he still sent me off)

Lessons Learned

I recently made these "bees" to give our primary children, but the experience made me recognize so much more.

They have been short of teachers for the primary classes at church due to a large number of moves that have recently taken place. Due to this I have been filling in as an honorary sub to assist a girl who teaches a class of nine 3 year olds - known as sunbeams. The lessons are of course wonderfully simple and each Sunday our focus is to keep them in their chairs and, above all, teach them that their Heavenly Father knows and loves them.

The girl I am assisting (Suzie) is one of my greatest friends and their family has many roles that interact with ours. She is an amazing pianist and has taught Ryley for the last two years. Her teenaged girls are wonderful examples to our children and have been their regular babysitters. Her younger sons are around Ryley's age - but play with all of our children with great kindness and love. Suzie was recently released as Stake YW President - where you interact largely with girls ages 12 to 18. She is now teaching a rambunctious group of 3 year olds and her abilities to do so are an amazing thing to watch.

We focus all lessons around a large amount of music and Suzie has every item imaginable to keep them entertained. If the lesson is about rain - Suzie has cloth raindrops hooked to strings and each child gets one to sing songs about rain and earth. If the lesson is about insects she has spiders made of yarn, string, and eyes so that each child gets one to climb up their leg during songs. She has birds on sticks, frogs for their fingers, fish for the sea, bees in a "hive", and much more. We trade off lessons each week and she continually offers her talents and creative ideas.

I look back at these past (almost) three years and am truly amazed at the things that women in this area have taught me. It doesn't stop with my above example either - teaching me about music and creative ideas is just the beginning. Different women have taught me how to garden, keep food storage well, stay organized, do family history, cook even healthier, use coupons and shop smartly, and the list just goes from there. I am so very grateful for all of these women who have truly made an impact on my life during our short time here. Memphis will be missed!

Spring Break 2010

With the exception of Dad being away for the week of spring break, we had a wonderful time together and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful weather.

An entire day was spent at the zoo - which was so nice

after a long and uncommonly cold winter.

We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed seeing all of our

favorite animals.The best part was watching Haley experience the

animals for the very first time.

While she has been to the zoo a dozen times already, her current age is perfect to "spy" the animals and enjoy the excitement.

We went roller skating twice.

It was so fun to watch Ryley and Kadyn take off - and even hide from me at the end of the session just so they didn't have to stop.

Thatch loved the food and games and Haley loved running back and forth on the carpet.

One of the days was a birthday party.

In hopes of a picture I placed Haley on the bench near Ryley and asked her to set her arm behind Haley's back so that she wouldn't fall.

Ryley did just that and clever little Haley "spied" her cupcake and quickly helped herself to a chunk.

No hands!

Kite flying has become a favorite family activity.

Kadyn And King Arthur

Our elementary school hosted a children's traveling theatre company this past week. The company gives children the opportunity to be in a production complete with lights, sets, and costumes. Ryley and Kadyn were both very excited to audition. They only had forty parts to offer over a hundred children and when names were called, Kadyn was cast as "the raven" (a vital role in a play about King Arthur and his knights).

Ryley, on the other hand, experienced her first encounter with rejection. My heart broke for her. Although she was disappointed in the short term, her positive attitude completely blew me away. She went to every rehearsal to support her sister. While I entertained (i.e. chased) Thatch and Haley outside, she sat, watched, and clapped for every move her sister made.

Kadyn did a wonderful job with this new and exciting experience and we had a great time cheering her on when the curtains went up. As her reward for a job well done we returned home for an ice cream feast in her honor- everyone picked their own half-gallon, plus toppings, and cones.

When Steven was asked about the experience- he pointed to the kids jumping off the walls from their sugar high, gave a wry smile, and simply said:

"Quoth the raven- Nevermore!"

What they did was actually quite clever.

They wrote the play so that all parts had a "mini" character, or a double.

That way when King Arthur and his people (who were played by much older and bigger kids) went off to fight the giant and dragon, the "mini's" could come on in their place - thus making the giant and dragon appear very large in size.

This clip makes me laugh every time.

Kadyn looks out at the audience in hopes of spying our faces

and you can tell the exact moment that she does.

It's priceless.