Megan's Rules

I will have to do a catch up post later.....But this newest sign on Megan's door is too funny not to share. I guess this is what happens when you have 2 pesky brothers who are always bothering you.

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Happy Birthday to the greatest Mom /Grandma in the world!!! Seriously, if anyone wants lessons on how to be a perfect mom or a perfect grandma, look no further than my mom. I'm not sure how I got so lucky to have her as MY mom...but I am very grateful that I did. Thank you for all you do for us Mom!!! We love you!!!
Love, Nat, Alan, Jake, Derek and Meg

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

Happy 65th Birthday Dad! You are now months away from retirement ...yipee!!! This year we also celebrated your year anniversary of the scariest Halloween I've ever had...that scary day your heart valve decided to come off. I remember very clearly sitting in the ICU waiting room on Halloween, waiting for news that you had come out of surgery OK. The thought of possibly losing you was heartbreaking! This will be a much happier Halloween!!!

Melanie made and decorated the cutest cake to celebrate his "heart" day. Jake and I were happy to get to deliver the cute cake.

Happy happy birthday to an awesome DAD/GRANDPA! With MUCH love from the Peterson clan!!!

Florida Fun

We got to spend a week in Florida hanging out on the beach. It was incredibly beautiful and relaxing!!! We stayed in a condo on Ormond Beach, 5 minutes away from Daytona Beach. All of the kids had a blast, especially Jake who is our family daredevil. He had a lot of fun catching the waves with his green inner tube. Megan and Derek didn't go out as far as Jake, but they caught their own waves with their boogie boards and Meg's pink inner tube. Overall, it was the greatest vacation!!!!

Jake's Cakes

Jake is one lucky kid! When he got to school, a cutie named Sadie gave him a cake that looked like a giant blue cupcake. By the time he walked around for a couple of hours with it at school, it was covered with finger marks and all of the cute decorations had been eaten. His Spanish teacher made Jake and his cake stand in front of the class while they sang Happy Birthday to him. One teacher even gave him a fork. At some point during the day, he received a balloon bouquet which (surprise) didn't last long. He then got to check out of school for lunch at Cafe Rio with mom and dad. After school was a trip to a cell phone accessory store at the mall. The lucky kid then received another cake from a cutie named Emily. She made him a cake shaped and decorated like a swimming suit. Seriously, can a 14th birthday get any better????

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE

HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY JACOB ALAN PETERSON! It was so fun to go back and look at the pictures of you growing up. You have always been the sweetest, kindest, happiest kid. You have always been an overachiever and the perfect student. My favorite thing to do is walk into a Parent Teacher Conference and tell the teacher that my son is Jacob Peterson. Teachers love my Jake! Apparently he is the perfect kid away from home. :) You are a great example to your brother and sister and a great example to your parents. It is an honor to have you as a son! Love, Mom and Dad

*Disclaimer...If you happen to see a scrapbook page, it is courtesy of my sister Melanie who was kind enough to put together many scrapbook pages for our family. Thanks Mel!

THE TOP 14 GREATEST THINGS ABOUT JAKE:
1) He has a big heart and would do anything for anybody.
2) He is a natural leader. We used to call him the Pied Piper when he was younger because he always had a group of kids following him around.
3) He is very disciplined at everything he does.
4) He is in better shape than anyone in our family. He swims an average of 6-8 hours a week.
5) He is an animal lover and takes great care of his guinea pigs.
6) He has had a 4.0 GPA since the beginning of 7th grade.
7) He is an entrapreneur...He once made $75 in a day running a neighborhood snack shack.
8) He can text really quickly and very accurately, even with his eyes shut.
9) He loves to build things out of legos, rocks, bricks, wood, snow, etc.....
10) His closet and drawers are immaculately organized. However, his room is usually a disaster.
11) He loves to be outside...trampoline, biking, walking with friends, hiking.
12) He and his cell phone are BFFs
13) He would rather spend time with his Aunt Melanie than anyone else.
14) He knows who he is and is very confident in who he is. He has never been one to cave into peer pressure or follow the crowd. He has always just done his own thing.

Backyard BBQ

Alan hosted an Elder's Quorum BBQ in our backyard last Saturday. It was a perfect night for a BBQ! It was fun for everyone in the neighborhood to get together. I didn't do an official count, but I think there were close to 50 kids there.... All of the people in these pictures are the reason why we are still live in our little starter house. We LOVE this neighborhood!!!!

Our newest little neighbor

Meet Ashley Turnbow. She was born September 8th (her dad was really really hoping for a 9/9/09 birthday...so close). She is the fourth of the Turnbow girls who live next door to us. We LOVE the Turnbow girls, and I especially love that BreeAnne let me hold little Ashley for almost 2 hours straight. It was so fun!

Jake's million dollar smile

Well that smile didn't actually cost a million dollars...it has just seemed like it! Jake was pretty excited to get his braces off today. He couldn't stop smiling all day. He has a permanent retainer that you can't even see without really looking for it. Times have changed! Permanent retainers weren't invented in our day. At least we don't have to worry about accidentally throwing it away at McDonald's...remember that little incident Mom????

Zoo Day

Megan's birthday celebration continues on and on. Grandpa Guy and Grandma Janet took Megan and all of us to the zoo for her birthday. It was a perfect day to visit the zoo! Megan always chooses Derek when we tell her to go and hold someone's hand. Derek is a pretty good sport about it!

August Catch Up

Megan's new hair. 5 inches taken off the length.










Young Derek was recently dumped by his girlfriend (who by the way he never talked to anyway). He took his frustrations out at a ball game that night and has since decided he is a much better baseball player without a girlfriend. I do have to admit he has played amazingly well the last 2 games since he has been "single." Maybe this is how we can keep him away from the girls...by pointing out what a better athlete he is without them!


Jake started 8th grade at West Jordan Middle. So far, so good. WJ Middle does not have air conditioning, so the poor kids roast all day. But Jake is just happy to be back with his friends. He also started back on his swim team after a couple of weeks off. And his beloved cell phone was stolen out of his swim locker. He is now saving for another one and using my phone for most of his texting needs.

Our furry friend Taco survived a scary fall onto the cement driveway outside. She got to hang out in our Guinea Pig Rehab Center (laundry basket with lots of towels for comfort) for a couple of nights. She has now moved back to her cage and has made a full recovery.










Meg chose to have a family birthday party at Lagoon. Lucky for us it was 2 for 1 days...and even luckier, it was 100 degrees most of the day. We had a good time (even Derek who normally hates Lagoon had a good time). Derek found a pitching booth where he was clocked at 53 miles per hour...earning him a special plastic batting helmet and blow up bat. He was pretty excited!

Happy Birthday Aunt Mel

Happy Birthday to my very favorite sister Melanie!!!! She is thirty something today...we stopped counting at 30, right? She is absolutely my best friend in the world. She has been a second mom to my kids...There are definitely some days I would have crumbled without her. She is incredibly kind, extremely talented at everything she does, super funny and witty, and just an all around perfect person. Here are some comments from her biggest fans:

Jake: She is a rollercoaster lover and goes on every frickin ride. She is WAY nice! She always takes us to great places. She has a great attitude! Happy Birthday Aunt Mel.

Derek: She is the best aunt ever! She's always nice, never mean. And she is always positive. Happy Birthday!

Megan: Happy happy birthday Mel. I hope you have an awesome birthday. Thank you for being nice to me. You are an AWESOME aunt!!!

Birthday party at Wendy's

Look at how cute that cake is! Jake's friend Emily and her mom Julie and sister Abby made this flip flop cake for Megan. They even crushed up graham crackers for the sand.



Megan chose to eat at Wendy's for dinner. We told her she could choose anywhere...and that is what she chose.


Aunt Melanie snuck in early this morning to deliver a gigantic balloon bouquet in Megan's room. She was pretty excited to wake up to that. Who wouldn't be???

Happy Birthday Megan!!!

Happy Birthday Miss Megan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!!!! Our baby is 7 years old. Crazy, crazy, crazy. It seems like she was just born. Megan was born unexpectedly 3 weeks early. The doctor and several nurses all told me that it was a miracle she was born alive. She has been feisty and spunky and a fighter from day one.

Here are the TOP 7 AWESOME things about Megan:
1) Super social!!!
2) She always points out she is the tannest in the family.
3) She is the kindest person I know
4) She will be friends with ANYONE
5) She can mess up her room in 5 minutes flat
6) She loves to read and sing to her guinea pigs
7) She is very affectionate and loving

There are many, many, many other great things about Megan...but I don't want to go on and on. She is the perfect daughter, granddaughter, niece, sister and friend!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS MEGAN!!!

Happy Birthday Alan

Happy Birthday Alan! You are the GREATEST husband, the GREATEST dad, the GREATEST at everything you do. We LOVE you!!!

Happy Birthday Dad! You are an awesome dad. So awesome. I hope you have a great birthday. Love, Megan

Alan's favorite thing to do...chillax

Random July Pictures

First Day of School for Derek and Megan. Derek wearing his favorite Browns jersey of course!

First day of 6th grade for Derek and friends Matt and Hunter

Aunt Mel came over to plant some flowers and add some spice to our yard. Thanks Mel!!!















Picture of our car before heading to the car wash





Derek and our cute neighbor Katie
















Megan on her first day of second grade.

Megan and her friends

Megan wanted to be acknowledged on the car too!

Jake hanging out with his favorite friend Emily (on the left). She has a pool in her backyard where they love to hang out. This day Megan was invited for a swim.

Meg on the slide at Emily's house

Our Beautiful Yard

Our yard has been a little unkempt this summer. Our weeds are taller than our daughter!

Baseball ends with a Bang!

West Jordan vs. West Jordan. Picture of our neighbors/friends we played against. Derek is not in the picture because he had to play another game immediately after this one. Derek's team ended up placing third in the state tournament. We lost to our rivals who have the worst sportsmanship I have ever seen...South Davis. If you live in the South Davis area, do not let your child join their baseball program. Just a suggestion!










Can you see why we call Megan "Miss Sassy Pants."

Just some cool pictures of Derek and friends. You gotta love his dirty bum!

Megan and her baseball friends making their own fun during the game.

Still In it to Win it

Isn't this the greatest picture??? It was taken by a professional sports photographer at one of Derek's games. We think he is stealing third in this picture. We are still playing in the State Tournament in Kaysville. Today we had a game at 3: 30 and another game at 8:00PM. We left our house at 1:30 and got home at 11:00. At least it wasn't 102 degrees like Saturday.

Tomorrow we play Game 4 against the West Jordan "B" team (a REALLY good team). It's pretty cool that 2 West Jordan Mustang teams have made it this far. It will be an intense game to say the least. The winner goes on to the Semi-Final game and the loser goes home. More importantly, the winner gets the bragging rights. The worst part is Derek has a lot of friends playing on the "B" team. Hopefully we can all still be friends after the game. :) It is just a game, right?

Alan and Jake took off for Scout Camp this morning. They will be gone until Saturday. I miss them already!!!

Second Place is the Best!!!

Alan having some fun at Wendy's. We have been living on fast food for a month. Notice Jake isn't in any pictures. He has mostly opted to hang out at home unsupervised and run wild through the neighborhood while we are at games.

West Jordan Sluggers took 2nd place in the District Championship. That's ok...we didn't want to win anyway:)
We are heading to the State Tournament on Saturday!!!

Derek and Meg in between double header games. Derek looks exhausted.

Derek and Hunter with their cute necklace medals.

We are back online!

Our stupid Internet has been down forever!!! I think the problem has finally been resolved. It had something to do with everything in our house falling apart all at once. I never realized how much I rely on the Internet (e-mail especially) until our stinkin @$#&!$ Internet went down. Anyway, we are glad to be back online!!!!

Non-Baseball Events

Our house is falling apart. I like to call it the Money Pit because I have a negative attitude. Alan likes to call it "Well, the house is 15 years old...it could be a lot worse" We caught some bubbles forming in our living room. It turned out to be a leak from our roof that slowly had been turning into a moldy mess. Alan is installing new insulation into our attic as I type. We are hoping to get this mess finally cleaned up by the end of the week. These kind of situations always bring out the best in Alan and the worst in me. He is seriously the most patient problem solver I have ever known!

Here's what Jake caught in our backyard. Yikes!

A lunch out with my BFF Marci, Michele and Tammy

One of our many trips to our favorite hangout, Gene Fullmer outdoor pool.

Dinner with Grandma Nedra and Grandpa Al. And Derek's friend Hunter :)

Meg LOVES to hang out at the pool.

End of the School Year

Jake with Mrs. Gentry who was his kindergarten teacher.
I did get to pass out yearbooks at Jake's last day of 7th grade...but he made it very clear I was not to take any pictures of him...or talk to him...or look at him...etc.

Megan with her first grade teacher this year, Mrs. Gentry

Derek and friends at the End of the Year Assembly. Derek in his favorite Browns jersey of course!

4th of July

Derek's team was in the West Jordan parade. I got this picture from a Deseret News article. The kids were so excited to see their picture in the paper. You have to look really close to see Derek in the back in the middle.






4th of July at the West Jordan Carnival!!!

We are not big parade lovers...unless someone we know is in one. So we fought the crowds and dragged ourselves to the parade. I can report that Megan loved every minute of it!

Mr. All Star

Derek on his Tigers team. He had 5 really great coaches, including one former West Jordan High School baseball coach and 2 Juan Diego baseball players. They have been so great to Derek and have taught him a lot!

Derek played catcher and/or pitcher during the regular season.

Derek (on the left in the back) at an All Star swim party.

Derek was so excited to make the All Star team.. He was even more excited to find out his best friend Hunter made the team too. Their team has been playing really well. They are trying to make it to the State Tournament. We will know this week if they make it (They still have to win 3 more games). Derek has had a great time playing on this team. It has been a fun month for him to play or practice for hours and hours each day. We all have really attractive farmer's tans!!!

Derek and Hunter with cookies with their numbers it. Thanks to Dallin's parents!

Derek next the the Mangome's van. Conner Mangome's family decorated their van with all of the kids names and numbers.