A M E R I C A N I D O L ! ! ! ! !

Yes, we finally made it to American Idol. What a day that was! It all started out with the fact that I was suppose to have contacts before this event. Well I had my contacts for two days and the right one ripped. So they ordered me more with an eye appointment for the day of American Idol. I thought good! I will have them for the show. Well, they called me in the morning and told me that the contact didn't show up so we had to reschedule the appointment for a later day! Dang. Now I have to wear my glasses. So we head that day to run some errands up north and to go have lunch with my mom before we went. Well we got clear to Spanish Fork when I realized that I forgot the tickets. So we had to turn around and go back to Nephi and get the tickets. (but hey Kurtis, I remembered you change of clothes! And also the other tickets that we were desperately trying to sell). Any Hoo--- Then we got to my moms and went to lunch at the Art City Trolley in Springville. That was good. Then came time to go pick up Kurtis at work and head up to the E-center. Got him all changed and ready to go..so off we went. Ooooops, Jill, where are the tickets we need to sell.....ohe no there gone, I know they were here. We stop, we search the car, we panic...but hey at least we have ours to get it. Kurtis says "we'll just have to take that loss" when out of the blue the tickets are spotted way under my seat! Whew. Ok we can head on the road again. So we hit the exit for the E Center and get in the lane that the sign told us to. Well after about 10 min. or so we decide the line isn't moving, so we will go down around the block and back. Well everyone else had the same idea. So doing that wasn't any faster. When we finally get our chance to go through the light, low and behold we end up in the turning lane instead of the straight away lane. So Kurtis has a bright idea to turn into the businesses parking lot and get back on track. Well.......no turn off into the businesses so back onto the freeway we had to go. Needless to say, we took the long way around to the E-Center. Ok, so we finally get there. We wait in line. No one there to buy our extra tickets. I'm loaded up with my camera bag which had my gum, camera and two lenses, and our little (not to mention broken camera thanks to Mike) and the girls autograph books (just in case). Well we get to the door, they guy searches my bag and tells me I can't use my camera with removable lenses. So kurtis being a nice guy said he would take my bag back to the car and we could meet him inside. So me and the girls get inside, find our way to our seats and were wowed at how close we were to the stage. Took a few pictures, then it hits me, I DON'T HAVE MY GLASSES!!!!! So I call Kurtis to see if he was back inside yet....well he was. Luckily he had our unsold tickets with him to go back and get my glasses from the car and use it to get back in. Great plan. Then he calls me from the car....."I can't find your glasses" AHHHHHHHHHHHH! How will I see. I know I brought them. Well guess what, he found them ......Where? you ask.......well out of the blue my glasses appeared to him from under my seat! I must have a collection under there. So he got back in, we got all situated, seats were great......untill.........TALL PEOPLE! yes tall people had to be sitting right in front of us. Luckily Mike and Sams seats were still great. We still got a great glance every once in a while. I think the E-Center must be on a tight budget too, because i really believe they forgot to turn on some air....or even a vent for that matter. Stuffy stuffy and of course Steph was wearing her stinky feet shoes and yes we could surely smell them. But then the concert got started and all was well. Everyone was great. Even the ones that were not our favorite did well. But of course David and David did awesome. They were soooooo good. Mike bawled her head off when David A. came out. We took some pictures with that wonderful broken camera. The screen to view the pictures is broke. So we just had to hope were were actually getting a picture of something good. Wish I could have taken my good camera. I could have had some awesome shots. But these will have to do. But after all is said and done. It created some great memories for our family.
Thee girls at the stage before the show. They were so excited!

The girls during the show having a great time

David Cook

David Archuleta

Mike was crying while David A was singing.

Syesha Mercada

Jason Castro

Brooke White

Carly Smithson

Kristy Lee Cook

Michael Johns

Ramiele Malubay

Chikezie Eze

Carlie and Ramiele singing

Brooke, Ramiele, Carly, Kristy, singing. Chikeze is around there somewhere.

American Idol top 10 on stage.

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y S A M !

Our Ute Stampede Baby turned 12 today!
H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y S A M A N T H A
She always complains because her birthday falls on the Ute Stampede and her birthday gets a little overlooked. We surprisesd her this morning after her softball practice. We had balloons flowers, cake, music, and a gift ready for her when she got home. She actually thought we had forgot before she left for practice. We didn't. we had a plan...hahahahah. With Sam being 12 now she gets to go to Young Womens now. She's groing up!

Sams Softball Tournament

Sams team had a softball tournament on Monday in Beaver. Unfortunaley most of the teams dropped out leaving two teams to play each other. Sams team played beaver twice and won both games. Good job girls! Which left them the State Champs is the Babe Ruth Leauge which qualifies them for a tournament in California. It is still up in the air rather we will be going to this or not. The team needs to come up with the funds by th 17th. We'll see what happens with this.

Here is the opening ceremony of the tournament. The girls were a little shocked when they announced each player on the teams then sang the national anthem. They had never done this before at a tournament.

This is the team giving the high five to the Beaver team after they won both games.




Here are the girls ever so excited because there trophies were huge! Thats the only reason they wanted to win.







Even the coaches got trophies. So here is Kurtis and his! Now tell me, where am I going to put these two huge trophies?........The garage maybee.......

Temple

On Thursday I was able to go over to the Manti Temple to do photos for a couple who had just been married. While me and Michaela were there waiting for them, we walked around the temple and got some great photos for us. It's always nice to go to the temple and Manti Temple is so beautiful! Here are a few shots that I took.

Great Times!

My girls are all at such a great age right now. I have a teenager, preteen, and child. There is just so much variety with them right now. I have got to watch Mike become such a beautiful young women. I enjoyed going to youth conference with her and have enjoyed so much watching her dancing talents. Sam has now grown taller than Mike. She has become quite a softball player playing positions like short stop 1st and 2nd base and aslo pitcher. She does a great job at whatever she does including her piano. I have enjoyed so much watching her ballgames and learning more about it. Steph has been a great help in the yard. She is such a garden gal. She will help me pull weeds, work the garden and she even has her own flowers around the front yard to take care of. She is so much fun and full of energy. I love working in the yard with her. As much fun as these girls are though they are growing up so fast. I can't believe how time flys!

Stephs Softball Photos

Steph had a great year in softball. She is quite a slider! We did a photoshoot of her in her softball uniform. Here are a few of my favorites.

Sams Softball Photos

Sam has done so well in softball this year! She even made the girls All-Star Team. Good job Sam! We did a fun photoshoot of her in her softball uniform. Here are a few of my favorite photos.

Mikes Guitar Photos

We did a photo shoot with Mike and her guitars. She would make a cute little rocker! We had a lot of fun. Here are a few of my favorites.