Madison's Campaign Skit

Madison recorded her skit yesterday in the school library. The kids have a one shot deal, if they mess up oh well that is what the student body will see. We were unable to see any of the skits which for us parents is disappointing so I was glad I was able to go and watch them yesterday. I would like to have been able to see all the candidates skits, I'm sure they all had fun doing them. They will air on the school T.V. system on Thursday which is also the day they vote. Friday will be she finds out if she is going to be a part of student government. There are 10 finalists left so hopefully she will do well! We are proud of her for trying out she is so more outgoing then I would have ever dreamed of being! Good Luck Maddy!!

Flashback Fridays

The upland game hunt"s" start at 6:50 a.m. tomorrow. The YOUTH duck hunt is here and Cole could not be more excited! Brett has always been an avid duck, pheasant, goose hunter. There was a time when he used to hunt in Idaho and would bring home tons of Geese each week and I thought I would be "Donna Domestic" and PLUCK each goose for the down. Yeah right- after actually accomplishing it with just one goose I told Brett I never wanted to do that again. We could just go and buy the down pillows I was NEVER doing that again!

This was often the scene in our backyard years ago. Brett would set up his blind in the back yard and "play" hunting.

Brett and Regis after a successful hunt . . . that was on good hunting dog!

Cole has generally gone hunting with his dad even when he wasn't able to shoot but the thing he loved the most was showing me all the ducks they would bring home

Madison would make them her pets. . . she loves them so much!

This one she played like it was her baby until it thawed out (it had frozen over night)

The boys out pheasant hunting
Cole's first "official duck hunt" 2006

Cole tells a good story about his first hunt . . . Brett was telling him to wait until the duck was closer and he was not going to wait any longer and shot . . . and made and awesome shot. He has a really good aim, he is always saying if he had to live off the land he could.

Adam and Josh went along with Cole on another occasion they happened to be freezing cold at this time.

Update on the campaign

Just a quick update to let you know Maddy has made it to the final elections. Yeah! Next week will be exciting! Thanks for all of your support for her!

**Who's Your Maddy?**

Today Madison's speech is played for the whole school to see so I thought I would post it.

Good Luck Maddy. . . .

Hello, fellow student body.

My name is Madison Ratcliffe and I am running for 7th Grade Class Office.

I’m sure most of you have heard the saying Who’s your daddy? Well, as you may have

noticed from my campaign posters, my campaign slogan is: WHO’S YOUR MADDY?

Fellow student body let me tell you WHO YOUR MADDY is and why you should vote

for me. I have a number of great attributes that make me an exceptional candidate for 7th

Grade Class Officer if I could just take a minute of your time to touch on these attributes.

LEADERSHIP! I possess excellent leadership skills and qualities. I promise to lead this

7th grade class to a great year with tons of great fun times here at Hunter Jr. High.

FRIENDLY! If you were to ask anyone who knows me, I’m sure they would tell you

about the genuine friendship relationships I work hard to maintain. I am your champion,

your leader for all students and staff here at Hunter Jr. High. Vote for me on today because WHO’S YOUR MADDY?

They will have the results at the end of school today so we will see if she moves on to the final elections tomorrow.

Kick off on the Campaign Trail

Madison is running for a 7th grade class officer. So we enlisted some neighbors to help us out with the posters. They are awesome we are so thankful to the Vea family for taking time out of their day to help Madison! They are the best looking posters at the school!

I am so impressed with how much her poster looks like the can. . . Very well done! See why we asked for help!

This one is like the show "Wizards of Waverly Place"

They are only allowed 2 posters, they have a ONE minute speach they give and then if they make it to the final round they have a 2 minute skit they have to do.
Way to support his sister. He says he is going to tell all the little 7th graders to vote for his sister. . . What a good kid!

Football

We are not die hard football fans but this weekend we spent time at football games. Cole headed out to the BYU game THANKS to Kamie and her soon to be brother-in-law Ray Feinga for getting him the tickets. He loves watching the Cougars! I asked Cole to get some good pictures since we do not have any. . . and this is what I got 2 pictures he took from the car. He was not happy with me I made him take a camera in the first place. . . apparently it isn't cool to carry a camera
In the car . . . notice none in the stadium?
Then we headed up to Hillcrest high to watch our friends play for Grantsville. They are in the 13-14 yr division. I just have to say the game was very one sided. Grantsville had 3 players injured with one of them needing a ride in the ambulance. Check our #75 he looks very large compared to some of the other kids. I now know why Cole only played one year of football. . . kids like #75 would just bump him and he would break a leg they are enormous compared to him! We were going to take a picture of Madison with one of their players but the outcome of the game was not good and sportsmanship was low so we decided it would not be a good idea!
Our friends the Staley's
Just one of the plays in the game. Madison wanted to know why the ref would wave his arms in the air and I told her he was trying to get her attention so she would wave to him :) Just our own football humor since we really do not understand the game but we really enjoyed people watching! There is a different crowd at sporting events which always makes things entertaining!

Flashback Fridays

Since I didn't post what Brett and I did last weekend that is going to be my flashback this week. We went away for the weekend and stayed in Park City (Brett called it a "Romantic Rendezvous" Ya- that's what he thought). The weather was so great however it did get a little chilly and I HAD to buy a new jacket. Thank goodness there were stores close by so I did not have to freeze to long! I had never ridden on the Alpine Slide so we hooked up with Charie and Trevor (the newlyweds), Tyson, Coby and Shantai and we went on some rides up there in the mountains. We went on a new one called the Coaster. . . What a blast! I would go on that one many times before I would ever go on the Alpine Slide (I was not that impressed with that ride we should have rode the zip line instead!) We had a great time with the nieces and nephews and we are glad they invited us old timers to hang with them! The leaves are starting to turn colors and the hillsides are gorgeous!

All of us on the "Coaster"

this was our second time on it, the first time we had slow people in front of us so we got a "free" ride which was fast with both of us in the car!

The best part of the weekend came in the early hours of the morning when we were awakened to the trumpeting sound of the fire alarm going off in the hotel. Everyone was standing outside the hotel . . . some in their BVD's and other's with not much more on. This is where the new jacket came in handy since it was very chilly standing out there . . . I call it inspiration that I had made the purchase the evening before I was so prepared for the worst the next morning. I would have liked taking pictures of the fire trucks but that was just not possible.

It was a nice get away for us but I thought it was interesting how much we talked about the kids . . . Oh- the kids would love this. . . we should bring the kids here and do this. . . do you think Madison would like this for Christmas?. . . and so on and so forth the whole time.

Easiest Cookies Ever!!

Next week with the Young Women we are going to the Road Home to serve dinner and we were given the assignment of making these cookies. Here is a recipe for the fastest and easiest cookies I have ever made!

Pumpkin Chocolate-chip
cookies

1 box Spice cake mix
1 15 0z can pumpkin
chocolate chips (to taste)

Mix all ingredients, bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes


Just in time for Fall!

"Annual Steak Fry"

When I was little we would go up to my grandparents house in Logan on Labor Day and have a Steak Fry. Now mind you my grandfather was a chef and could fry up a mean steak. . .OK so I was little and don't really know if it was a mean steak I just remember having steak and scones. After my grandfather passed away my family kept the tradition going with my siblings. So every Labor Day (in this case we waited for Steve to be here so it was later this year) we get together. I love it, of course we eat but we spend time as a family which is really the best part!Steve and Cole throwing the football. . . what is wrong with Cole's hat? Oh-it's that darn blue blood that runs through his body!Hanging out visiting and eating
MY SIBLINGS. . . we think we are so funny! Our mother really doesn't share our humor she always wants the perfect picture.
All of us with our mom. . . I really think she is shrinking :) Siblings and Spouses and Mom
Unfortunately Kirsty (Steve's wife) wasn't able to be here, she is back home holding down the fort. I wish she could have been here also!


A portion of the grandchildren and their spouses (even the newlyweds came)

(9 grand kids are missing)

Flashback Fridays

In honor of my little brother being in town I thought I would flashback to some times with him. I have a funny story about a time we went to 7-11 for a big gulp, Steve had offered to buy me a drink (he was a very good saver and did not spend HIS money at all so this was a big deal) as we were there I saw a laffy taffy and picked it up for him to buy it for me also, he argued with me about buying it (I believe it was only about .25 extra so I didn't think it was a big deal) he was not happy with me that I was trying to waste all of his money and then he called me a "damn hoodlum" I laughed so hard, it still makes me laugh now. I did end up with the candy but I am pretty sure he wasn't happy with me on the way home. But hey I am sure I was paying for the gas in the car so I deserved a treat!
There are very few pictures of just the two of us. . . as much time as we spent together we never took pictures together. this is a really attractive one on memorial day up in Logan One of my favorite things to do was watch Steve "play" tractors in the front room. He would have that carpet with PERFECT lines for his "grain" or whatever he was preparing his harvest for. Now he has a son that loves tractors also which I think is pretty cool!
Steve w/Dad and Mom at MTC
Steve and I at the MTC. . . Not an easy place to leave (for me)
Steve just getting home from his mission. . . this is the first time Steve saw Cole I was very excited to see how Cole would be. . . he loved Steve! I was also about 5 months pregnant when he came home but I was also about the same when he left so he thought I was somewhat chubby :)
I am grateful for Steve's wife . . . for helping him to be the man he is today! Thanks Kirsty! This was last night. Steve and I went to dinner and had a nice evening just visiting. I am so grateful for such a wonderful brother I miss him so much and wished they lived closer but I am also so proud of all the accomplishments he has achieved. Moving out east has been good for him just not me!

Very Inspirational!

I just finished "The Last Lecture" over the weekend. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it. This guy is amazing, what an inpiration!

Charie's Wedding

The day was wonderful for Charie and Trever! They had the cutest and funniest sealer in the temple I love to listen to the advise they had for the couple, for one it always applies to all of us every day of our lives. We all need the reminders! I only took a couple at the temple and then I had to get back to work

The reception was at the "Gathering Place" at Gardiner Village it was gorgeous!

Grandma and Cole

Grandma and Madison
Mishay, Madison and Sydney "the 3 musketeers"
Cole, Adam, Chase and Josh aren't they handsome. Adam just got his drivers license, CRAZY these kids are not old enough for this sort of stuff!
We went and fed the ducks with Chase, Krystyn and Julie. Chase was fascinated by the ducks. We did however cause some contention between some of the ducks Boy-are they ever mean to each other!
Madison and the beautiful bride :)
Charie and her dad dancing to "Stealing Cinderella"
Brett and Cole hanging out with the nieces/nephews

Tiffany, Shantai, Coby & Tyson

"Great" Uncle Brett and Chase.

He was all smiles out on the dance floor. When they did the "boot scoot" Brett would raise Chase's arm to do the lasso, it was so cute. Brett is so dang cute with the little kids! It will be fun with the rest of the nieces/nephews start having more babies! Dancing the night away! Everyone had fun! My dad always liked when they do the "macarena" but he called it the "margarita" so now we like to call it that but especially love dancing to it.

I just threw a few pictures together here. I loved their cake, their flowers were beautiful along with the centerpieces. Their car got trashed! This is not a tradition I think much of especially when it was this bad it will take forever to get the glitter and oatmeal out of the car. And also the proud parents this is thier last one.