Violin Recital

Tragedy struck the night before this year's winter violin recital...Leilani jammed her right thumb, making her unable to play her violin. Boo! It was quite the disappointment as she worked for three months to perfect La Folia, a seven and a half minute piece. But fortunately all was not lost as our youngest maestro was able to perform. Aidyn played Lightly Row and looked like a princess in her fru-fru dress that left a glitter trail to mark her path. She did a great job and is determined to get a trophy! Whatever works to get the girl to practice, I guess! Good job, Ai and better luck next time Nan!

Happy Turkey Day

What would a Lawton family gathering be without some sort of sporting event?!? It wouldn't be a Lawton gathering without one! We greeted the cold Thanksgiving morning early with a Turkey Trot.

This group of kids participated in a kids race...


and the pictured adults did a 4-miler...

Then it was back to the house to finish the Thanksgiving Feast...ooh the spread was great and oh so tasty!

This is Halloween!

Oh how I love Halloween! Last week we went to pick out the girls costumes...of course, Leilani is going to be HARRY POTTER!!! I love this pic of Nani in her costume so I just had to do a pre-Halloween post...especially, as a Halloween post may never come to pass!

Happy Haunting, everyone!

Tour de Cure-September 19th, 2009

Sometimes there is a lot of pressure in life...a lot of times being married into a family of athletes is a lot of pressure. So instead of running away and hiding in a dark place, you join the pressure and end of up having a great time. Here we are at the Tour de Cure, the inagural ride for diabetes. Dad represented our group (Dad, Dave, Mark, and myself) by wearing this red jersey.

While Mark and Dad were away riding their 100 miles, Dave and I waited for our turn...our longest ride yet, 64 miles. Unfortunately the course was 7 miles short so we only rode 57 miles...we were both disappointed. I have to say thanks to Dave. I will ride with him again anytime. He was great to listen to me hack my lungs out for 3-1/2 hours, slow down for me when I was feeling it, and share good conversation!

Here we are at the end. All of us posing together. And yes, I really did ride, but my bike is on the bike rack already. Thanks to our awesome family who always support us (mostly dad and Mark) on our quest to push ourselves!

Mark and I sporting our TEAM LAWTON jerseys. Dave refused to wear his, but next year...

So in the end, the ride was great, the training was fun, and the time spent together was worth all the pressure I felt and feel to keep up with my hubby. Thanks, babe!

Oh, What a Week! We're EXHAUSTED!!!

It's been one of those non-stop weeks where we have early mornings and late nights and no time in between. Now it's Sunday evening, Mark has had a sore throat all week and now has a cough, and all three girls are running a fever...we are exhausted! But despite the exhaustion, we had such a FUN week! Here is a summary of what kept us busy this week...

Monday (June 29th) was tri-camp, errands, then music lessons...

Tuesday (June 30, 2009) we took lunch to the office to bid farewell to Jennifer, our sweet front desk employee, cleaned the house like crazy, ate dinner, then went shopping! The girls had a blast shopping, especially Aidyn as she got to spend a gift card that she recieved for her birthday. It was fun to stand back and watch the girls walk ahead of me at the mall, to see their purses swinging by their side and their faces smile excitedly as they walked past something that they liked.

Wednesday (July 1, 2009) we cleaned house...again, and took Aidyn to the pediatrician-middle ear infection. We went to swim lessons, then came home and got ready for Cub Scouts. I've been working with the Cub Scouts for about a year now.

It has been a fun experience to be a Den Leader and to have my girls experience all the fun that the boys get to experience. On this particular evening we made two claypot stoves, baked pigs in a blanket, and roasted smores in the backyard.

Thursday (July 2, 2009) we had some friends come over the play, then cleaned...again. We wanted to surprise dad by finishing his study. This required us to clean the guest room as it was covered in all the items that the study occupied. This took the majority of the day, but we got it cleaned just in time to go to swim lessons, then run to the church to set up for the July 4th Breakfast, run to Party City to buy the tableclothes and decor for the July 4th Breakfast, drop by Kroger to pick up lunch items for canoeing, order pizza, and stuff our faces right as our cousins pulled up in the driveway to stay the night before heading out at the crack of dawn the following morning to go canoeing. Unfortunaely, the one thing we were not able to accomplish was going to Sams to pick up the fruit for the July 4th Breakfast.

Friday (July 3, 2009) we (Dave and Ale's family and us) pulled out at 6:45 am to make the hour and a half drive to Sour Lake where we met Mom and Dad Lawton, and Aunt Lori so we could pick up the canoes and canoe! We had a blast on the river. This is the only picture I have as I forgot the camera at home and I chose to leave the phone in the car...just in case! We had a great time on the river, paddling where we could, getting high-centered on the sandbars and walking where we couldn't paddle. Had a nice lunch on the sandbar and came home burn-free!

We went back to Beaumont after canoeing and enjoyed the refreshing 94 degree water of grandma and grandpa's pool, ate a yummy BBQ then off we were to rush to the store before it closed. We made it to Sam's by 8:00 which gave me 30 minutes to pick up fruit to prepare for 150 people. Got home, put the kids in bed, then Mark and I washed fruit and got things together for the July 4th Breakfast. By 11:30 pm we were worthless so we went to bed...

Happy 4th of July!!! Our day began at 4:00 am to prepare the fruit (it had to be freshly cut) that was our table centerpiece. We had 22 tables, 12 melons, 7 3-lb cartons of strawberries and 5 3-lb cartons of black grapes. It was a crazy morning but we made it to the church by 6:30 am to finish setting the tables and getting thing ready for people to arrive at 8:00 am. We had about 85 people show up. Richard Smith put on a wonderful breakfast, cooking 120 breakfast burritoes and 140 pancakes. He had a great crew. Thank you to all who helped! You are all lifesavers! All in all I think it was a success.

Afterwards we came home and crashed. We slept for a couple of hours then took the girls to Nestle. We'd been planning on taking them since Thursday and it just never happened so we were determined to take them after the breakfast. They had been such good sports waking up so early, helping to set the tables, and helping to clean up afterwards.

We headed to the Kartchners at 5:00 pm for a yummy BBQ dinner and a game of Blockus, then off to Tom and Holly's at 9:00 pm for fireworks.

It was a crazy busy week, we are all exhausted, but had a great time! Even though we had a great time, we are hoping for a quieter week this week!

Kiwanis Kids Triathlon Series

The girls joined a triathlon club through the YMCA this summer. It has been fun for them to "train" and log their workouts. Basically, it's been a lot of fun riding our bikes, running and spending time at the pool. Their first triathlon was in Langham Creek at the end of May (30th) before the tri-camp started. These photos are from the most recent race that was on Saturday, June 27th, in Pearland, TX.

Warmed up and waiting for the race to begin...

See Mia swim,

Transition...

See Mia bike,See Mia run and run so fast that the fan club missed her cross the finish line!

Good job, Mia!

See Leilani swim,

Transition...

See Leilani bike,

See Leilani run,

Congratulations, Leilani!

And, of course, thank you to our wonderful fan club! While the girls were in Austin enjoying a day out watching Mamma Mia! Grandpa, Uncle Daniel, Kolby and Olivia were there cheering the girls on. Thanks for your support and for a fun day in the sun...beach pictures to come later...

We are so proud of our girls. It has been fun to see how they improve each time they go for a run, get on the bike, or swim laps. We love watching their confidence boost as the task gets easier as they get stronger. All their hard work is paying off! Keep having fun girls!

Mamma Mia!

What a fun Saturday I had with the ladies in the family. Mom Lawton, Sabrina and I met Holly and Ale in Austin to watch Mamma Mia (as soon as I get pics emailed to me, I'll post the pics)! Sabrina surprised us with these fuzzy boas and then we got in trouble for taking pictures of ourselves in the theatre.



The performance was wonderful. Hilarious and inspirational. I am definitely investing in some outfits like the ones they wore! Afterwards we ate dinner at Sandra Bullock's restraunt called BESS. It was good. Here we are (mom's taking the pic) enjoying our private little booth (it had curtains that we could draw for privacy) while we waited for our "green" grub.

And finally a little note to Ale. I am lucky to share a birthday a day apart with such a wonderful sister. Ale, you are amazing and I love you forever and always! I have been blessed with such a great family away from home. I couldn't have hand picked all my sisters and mom better. Kathy, Ale, Sabrina, and Holly-you are the bomb.com! I love you and thanks for a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday, Miss A!

My baby girl has turned 5 years old...she can tap my shoulder while standing on her tip toes, she does not fit comfortably on my lap anymore, and she has lost all her baby fat. When and how did this transformation occur? I know not, but it's gone by quickly and my baby is starting kindergarten in the fall. Aidyn, we love you for all of your spunk, your independence, your strongwill, your love of monster trucks, your love for riding your bike, your cute bottom that we are no longer allowed to pinch, and the sweet and sensitive girl that you are. Though you are growing and will someday go out on your own, you will always be my baby girl! I love you!

Omaha

It's been a while since I've done a post. So many trips have been taken since Spring Break in March and yet no post of anything. Our most recent trip was to Omaha/Council Bluffs where we visited with Grandpa Hansen and a load of Lawtons...1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc cousins...We flew in Wednesday night, stayed at the luxerious Western Inn in Council Bluffs and slept as best we could...

Thursday we woke up early and went to Great-Grandpa Hansen's house...

...to build a fence with friends and family,

...feed the horses,

...spend time with the cousins,

...and enjoy a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Friday was our day at the zoo. The Omaha Zoo was AMAZING and HUGE! We had a good bunch of us tromping the zoo grounds- Grandpa and Grandma Lawton, the McDougals, the Kennedy's and us.

Later that night we got together with everyone (I think it was over 50 people) for dinner at the Pizza King. The portions were out of control...HUGE, HUGE, HUGE!

Saturday was the "official" Lawton family reunion day. Started out the morning with a visit with Grandpa Hansen before heading out to the reunion.

The girls enjoyed every moment and inch of Grandpa's property and were sad to have to leave. BUT...they had a blast at the park with all the Lawton side and the Furnell Family, especially with the twins.

We played a game of softball with the cousins, took a trip down memory lane visiting old homes and schools of mom and dad, vistited the Kanesville Tabernacle and had a huge fried chicken dinner with the Lawton side.

Sunday was Father's Day (Happy Father's Day, Mark), church, a visit to Grandma Hansens grave, a look at the Omaha temple, then back on the plane to come home. All in all, good times were had, much more than anticipated, and we are so glad we were able to go.