The Scarlet Pimpernel!

Trying out for musical productions was the LAST thing I wanted to do last april. Everyone told me it would ve the best thing I ever did. So with much pushing from Bonnie, Andra, and everyone else and a downright shove from my parents I tried out. So now, though it pains me, I have to admit they were right!

Participating in the class and especially in the musical has been so rewarding for me. I had soooo much fun during our performace of The Scarlet Pimpernel! It was a lot of hard work and a lot of time but it was worth it.

Thanks to everyone who supported me! I can honestly say I had people from Africa, France, Missouri, and all over in Utah all come to see me in a little high school play. It meant the world to me, so thank you thank you thank you!

I put together a movie of the pictures I took backstage with all my new friends! Enjoy!

St. George Highlights

Happy Thanksgiving We have spent the last 5 days in sunny (well actually rainy) St. George, Utah. This area has such a unique beauty. We have had a FABULOUS time. The best part of it is that we have all been together with no distractions. We have spent every moment together (with the exception of Mom and Dad doing a little Christmas shopping. )
The top 10 highlights are:

10. Swimming in the fog

9. Pirate Pizza Island, (Disney could take some decorating advice from them, the place was
amazing.)

8. STAR WARS MARATHON

7. Tuachan live nativity, christmas lights and back lot tour.

6. Snow Canyon, Conquering the Lower Galoot!

5. Playing flip flop ping pong (they really make good paddles)

4. Sleeping in as late as we want

3. Thanksgiving dinner-Thanks to Grandma Gloria

2. Trying to figure out the oven in the condo-- 5 burnt offerings and counting!

And the number 1 reason we love St. George

1. Happy Hour at Sonic! (strawberry slushes are our FAV!)

St. George Highlights

Happy Birthday Chee Jay

(We do not know why he is wearing Shawn's bathrobe, but a lot of things TJ does is a mystery to us. )This is Taylor's model pose as he shows off his new best friend. Call of Duty TJ has decided that it is now his Call of Duty to play that game when ever he has a free second. He has been working very hard all summer, mowing lawns and doing landscape work (notice the tan.) But any time he is not working, he is playing hard on his new xbox 360 that he bought for him self with money he has earned this summer plus a little birthday money.

We celbrated in the traditional "Compound" way, minus the cake. He didn't want a cake so we had a nice cool sherbet slush-- perfect for a hot July birthday.
Happy Birthday TJ-- here's to a great year. WE LOVE YOU!!!

Modern Day Pioneers

Happy Pioneer Day. We are happy today to remember all of the wonderful pioneer's and ancestors who sacrifced so much to pave the way for us. We can't begin to imagine the trials and heartaches that they experinced. They endured it all because they had the truth and would not deny the truth. We owe them so much, the least of which is to defend and honor the truth that they gave up everything to follow.

On our way home from Mt.Rushmore in June we took a few hours and stopped at Martin's Cove in Wyoming. It was such a great experience to see the sacred area where the Martin Willey Handcart Company was stranded. We were not able to stay too long but we were all touched by the suffering and the many stories of survival and courage.

The kids were all excited to see that an ancestor James Ferguson was among the rescue party.

We are all pioneers in one way or another in our day. We have obstacles and trials that our ancestors never could have imagined. I hope we have what it takes to make it through our own "crossing the plains" experience.

Journey!

Hi this is Brooke again... I think it is high time we have another post! Must I do everything?!

So on Friday July 11 My parents, TJ, and I all made our way very slowly (traffic was awful) to the Usana amphitheater to see Cheap Trick, Heart and most of all JOURNEY in concert! It was great! Because parking was such a nightmare we missed just about all of cheap trick but we were there in time to see Heart. They were great! We were really surprised at how much we really enjoyed that band. My parents didn't remember how them being good but they loved it! My mom also thought it was funny that the age range of all the spectators at this concert went from the young teenagers (like me and TJ) to all the old foggies(like mom and dad- JK!!) and everyone in between! It was really interesting to see how much everyone enjoyed the music. Of course Journey was amazing! They played all of our favorite old songs and a bunch of new ones too. We couldn't bring a camera so we didn't' get any good pics just the blurry ones on our phones which is a big bummer!

And because my mother wouldn't do this and I have to, Im going to comment on all the great sound and lighting equipment! It was soooo cool! I would have loved to get a closer look and play with it! It was tied in first with the conference center on the most advanced technical equipment Ive ever seen! I just had to throw that it there for all my nerd like stage crew junkies!

My Rockstar List

So today I(Brooke again cos my mom isn't doing this) found out that I only passed one of my three AP tests. Anyone that knows me knows how seriously I take school and how hard I worked to pass these tests. So you can probably guess that I wasn't very happy with my self and I've been beating my self up all day. But now that im done with my pity party I have decided that the world is not going to end and that somehow everything will work out no matter what I choose to do now. I am making my own list of what I like about my self!

I work super hard at anything and everything I do!
Im really short and I really love it!
I'm a good friend
I got a 5 (the highest you can get) on my AP Psych test)
I passed AP Euro last year(prolly the hardest Ap test)
I get good grades
I auditioned for the school musical- prolly the scariest thing I've ever done
I made the school musical!
I have a testimony
I love being around my family! (even if my friends think its weird)

Since your not doing this mom...

Mom your being a slacker! I keep looking at our blog hoping to catch up on what the family has been up to and its still stuck on the copper mine! This calls for drastic measures- I hacked into the blog so I can show you what I've been doing while at the RitterB's! Kiera took me shopping yesterday while Marc watched their friends kids at home! I wore this cute new dress to church today(and don't tell Phill but I also went to relief society underage today- underage attendance is quite a crime I hear.)I miss you guys! Love you!! Keep blogging!!
Love, Brooke

Kennecott Copper Mine

I have lived in Utah all my life and it takes my out of state relatives coming to visit before I go and see this amazing site. It took forever to get there... way South and WAY West... but it was worth it. The mine itself is so huge, it is hard to describe. The presentation said that the Empire State Bilding would only come up half way in the hole. The trucks that haul away the dirt were equally amazing. The tires are 12 and a half feet tall and cost $25,000 each. HOLY COW! Anyway we all had a good time, I will try and get some of our pics to put on. I had no idea the process of mining copper was so complicated, it was a good science lesson, but if I were tested on it, I would fail.

Mothers Day 2008

This year I (Brooke) was in my high schools internship program. For our 4th term project we were to make a mothers day video. The grade was given based on how much your mother cried- I got an "A!" She cried on the second slide. It was a pain to put togeher because I had to do it in one day and there are some mistakes which bug me but it was worth it to see moms reaction! Check it out!

Okay... Here Goes...

This is really my first true, blog, all of the previous stuff, Kiera helped me do. She has been bugging me to get going on this for months, my excuse couldn't be that I was never on my computer, because everyone in the family would know that would be a lie... and mom's can't lie. This is a picture of the fam, at our January vacation. We had such a great time on the cruise but the best part was surprising the kids by meeting up with the Ritterb's at Disneyland. None of them had any idea. It was so fun!! But it was really hard to keep it a surprise especially from Brooke. I almost let it slip to her a few times. Taylor figured it out ahead of time, but promised not to spill the beans. He was in Africa with Grandma and Grandpa during that time.We tried to include him in as many pictures as we could, with his cardboard face on a stick. We had fun with that, but got lots of strange looks every time we held him up in our pictures. We are now on our summer vacation, with the Ritterb's. I guess I need to start taking pictures with my camera so I can start posting them.

I am his biggest supporter... HIS FAVORITE AUNT

This has been my fun. That is my finger! His dad made this cereal... His mom told him it was too runny. I thought so too but I was not going to say it... This was his mother place. (That was Kiera Talking... she is all talk you know)

He now has the hang of it.. he likes it a bit beefier. His cheeks are almost as much as CheeJay's were. We are a half of an inch from hanging below the chin line.

I love baby Noah

I AM A BLOGGER FROM INSIDE MY NOGGER

I am a learner of posting.... I love to look at blogs... It is my secret.. please keep it!