Boy Scout Camp

Devon pulled two trailers on the trail





Hi Everybody!


My mother-in-law had written in an email that she had wanted to see pictures of Devon's 175-mile bike hike with the scouts this past June. I thought that I would display them here in my blog. He and the boys spent five days riding bikes to camps and doing service. They saw wildlife, visited cool places and worked really hard. Harder than they had ever worked before, or so they've said in their retelling of their summer camp adventure. Our family, including Devon's sister Tiffiny joined them for the last 30 miles back home. It was a hot day, but having good company was a plus.






Love, Sonia XXOO

Rainy Day Dancing

This morning the kids and I woke up to drizzle and drear. So we decided to smoke our eyes and take fashion photos and dance ourselves into a frenzy. It was a blast. Andrew made himself useful by pouring cereal into a bowl and onto the table, chair and floor. While that wasn't really fun, dancing to Hilary Duff and Hannah Montana was. Faye is enamoured with Hilary Duff's song, "Stranger" and wishes to dance and dress like Hilary in her music video. I think she likes the fact that the song has a good beat and she looks like a gypsy with all the jewels on her face and flowing outfit. Faye has asked me to sew her a costume like Hilary's. I consented as long as she realized I must modify it a bit to be modest. Luckily she's fine with that!

Well, I would add Faye's music video, but I don't know how to yet. So for now you'll just have to view the girl's fashion photos. Hope you like them. They had fun with hair and make-up. They're both natural posers.



Sonia XXOO

Country Road in Front of me

Last week, late in the night our road was paved over with tar and then pelted with gravel. Now I'm not sure why they did such a thing-perhaps they were trying to save money, or they wanted to fix the road quickly-I don't know why. All I know is that for a week now during the peak hours of traffic (we happen to live on a very busy street across from Freodert (Fray-dirt) Hospital) we get this dust cloud that hides our views and covers our car, home and lungs with a dirty, gritty residue. And when it gets too hot, and the gravel is all driven off the road, the tar splashes onto our cars and smells like hot burning rubber. It is worse than construction. You know why? Because at least there's some hope of the project finishing (except for maybe NYC and Boston). But for us? I think this is going to stay!

All I can say is LuAnn...I understand exactly how you feel now. (You'll know what I mean)

I never thought I'd be looking at a country road in the middle of a city.

Sonia XXOO

Saturday Morning

So many of you noticed that I write my entries pretty early in the morning. Even on today on Saturday I'm up early writing to you. I have never really been a morning person, yet lately I've had to wake up early to bring Devon to the hospital. He gets up around 4:30 am to walk the dog and get ready. I get up somewhere in the 5-ish hour, depending how my night's sleep was. Driving him there and back although it only takes about 10 minutes total gets me up and alert. If it were up to me, I'd go back to sleep right when I get home, but guess what? I come home and there are no running, loud children disturbing my peace! It is a beautiful, quite, calm time and I can't get enough of it! I have usually two-and a half hours from the time I get home until the time the kids wake up to do whatever I please. Lately I've been reading the New Testament and walking for 30 minutes. I feel really good in the mornings and I enjoy the time to myself. I must prepare mentally for the the day ahead, and that includes what I'll be doing, what I'll be eating, and how to handle myself when the kids get challenging.. The kids get pretty roudy around dinner time and that's usually when they are pretty tired and cranky, and so am I.
I try to have a treat or so for us to look forward to at night so that we can all wind down and prepare for sleep. The kids are eating like teenagers lately and they can't get enough to eat! So I let them have a second snack after we read our nighttime stories. Tonight it will be hot chocolate and graham crackers. I look forward to that because I put a little chocolate spread on my crackers. It is so yummy!
And you know, Andrew and Grace are morning people too. When they were babies, it doesn't matter what time you'd put them to bed, they were always up at 6 the next morning. Thank goodness they are sleeping in now. What a treat! Faye would sleep until noon if I let her. She reminds me alot of my sister, Melanie. She is a night owl. She will stay up late and sleep in late. Poor Faye, she is going to have a hard time when School starts again! It takes time to adjust to a new, early schedule. I know, I've had to do it...

First Attempt

Okay, so I had written this lengthy and detailed message about my family, and then I closed my browser and lost it all! So I won't be so careless this time around.
I wanted to introduce you to my family since this is my first time blogging and wasn't sure who all would be viewing this. So here it goes again:
Devon is my husband and I am Sonia. We have been married for eight years. We were married in the Logan LDS Temple in Logan, Utah. We met at BYU-Provo.
We have three children. Faye is six and a half years old and Andrew and Grace are four years old.
Faye was born in Provo, Utah. She loves to draw and swim. Her favorite thing is mermaids. She will start first grade in the Fall.
Andrew is five minutes older than his sister, Grace. He was born in Sandy, Utah on St. Patrick's Day. He loves to hang out with Dad and he is my #1 helper. He loves swords and swimming.
Grace is the second of the twins. She loves to perform, mainly dancing. She makes friends easily and is kind to animals and children. She loves anything to do with fashion. She and Andrew will start Junior Kindergarten in the Fall.
Our family has been living in Milwaukee WI for the last three years. We moved from West Valley City, Utah for medical school. This is Devon's third year. I am a stay-at-home mom and have been busy with lots of different things. I love to cook. I have been dabbling in sewing and scrapbooking. I LOVE to organize and clean. In the Fall I look forward to helping in the children's school and doing some volunteering. It will be fun.
Well, I hope this is the first of many postings. I hope you enjoy reading it from time to time. With all this technology it is a blessing that we can reach so many of our family members and friends throughout the land. We are thinking of you often. Much Love and God Bless,

Sonia, Devon, Faye Grace and Andrew XXOO