Our Westridge Idol

Zach has been preparing for this moment for two years and he finally did it...Westridge Idol Winner 2008! 

Two years ago Zach placed runner up in a duet he sang with his friend Holly Orton but this year was his year to shine all alone. 

 

He was determined to do well in his last year at Westridge...and perform well he did!  He blew us all away singing "Life Is A Highway" by Rascal Flats.  

Zach sent in his audition video via email last Spring while we were in England and became one of the 6 finalists from his school chosen to perform at the school carnival on August 25th. 

Zach's best friend Tyler Dial was also one of the finalists and placed 2nd runner up.  

Congrats guys!  

Back Home and Back To School

Don't you just love when summer wraps up and you get back into the swing of a school schedule again?

Our kids were especially excited to get back this week after a longer time away from school friends this summer. 

Zach is entering 6th grade and has a new teacher at Westridge, Jennifer Cannon. 

Sadie is in 4th grade and has the fantastic Mrs. Frandsen (Zach's beloved 4th grade teacher.) 

McKay is in 2nd grade and has Miss Giles with only 18 students this year...YES!  

Lucy is in her second year at Learning Dynamics Preschool in Orem.  I can't believe next year she'll be in kindergarten.

Lucy's teacher Mrs. Linford at Learning Dynamics Preschool

Cheers England!

We thought it very fitting it rained on the morning we left England.  We were all excited to get home but sad to leave such a peaceful and wonderful experience.   England isn't really England without the rain right?  The rain is what what makes England so beautiful and green.

We left home early on the morning of 8/8/08 for the airport.  Our friends the Kleins offered to take all our luggage in the back of their truck to the airport.  It took two hired cars to drive the rest of us.  The kids were exhausted because of course they couldn't fall asleep the night before.

 At this point in the trip Sadie and McKay were still awake. 

By the time we arrived at the airport they were all out.

Our piles of luggage again.  Note that most of the bags are behind us!

We arrived at Gatwick in plenty of time.  We checked 13 bags and then having an hour and a half to spare decided to grab some breakfast with the Kleins.

Vern and Dana Klein (and Abe)

Zach and Sadie with Charlie and Alice Klein

So after breakfast we headed up towards security.  As I go to pass through the gate into the line the officer tells me to place my carry-on into the cage to see if it fits.  Mind you we have flown out of Gatwick three times this summer with these exact carry-ons and they have never once asked us to place them in the cage. 

It fit except for the wheels and they guy says we have to take all three of our carry-ons to check them.  I try to explain that we have been in England for 5 1/2 months and we have already checked 13 bags!!  He doesn't care and at this point his senior whatever comes over and gets involved and really ticks us off.  We got a kick out of seeing Vern, a very happy go lucky guy, get completely annoyed with this lady. 

When we saw that we were getting nowhere we headed back to the check-in desk and explained the situation and the lady tells us we'll have to pay 250 pounds ($500) to check these 3 small bags.  Ridiculous!  Abe pleads with her and she calls her senior and we finally get the fee waved and check the bags.  

By this point our hour and a half cushion has disappeared and we headed off through security at practically a run to get to the gate.  

We were sure they were closing the gate by the time we arrived but to our surprise we were fine, in fact we actually got bumped up to first class!  This definitely made up for earlier inconveniences.

Cheers England thanks for having us...HELLO USA!!!

A Day With The Dallimores

Saturday we had a fantastic day at Poulton's Park, a local amusement park with Mark and his two daughters.  Mark was Abe's first hire here in the UK office and our first friend here in England. 

We were worried as we headed out that we would have rain all day but within minutes of arriving at the park the sun came out and we had a lovely afternoon. 

Mark's two girls Kayla and Millie are absolutely darling and Lucy had so much fun with them. Note their curls...I thought marrying Abe I would surely get curls like that in my girls, since when has straight hair been the dominant gene?!

I would like to announce that Zach has officially overcome his fear of roller coasters as he rode on "The Cobra" 6 times and loved every minute of it.  In fact he was trying to convince the worker to let us ride it one more time at park closing.  Way to go Zach...this is quite a breakthrough for you.  Next comes California Screamin!

McKay turns 7

Daddy took McKay out for a special birthday evening.  They ate at Little Frankie's, our local "American" Grill and went bowling. 

(McKay's favorite!)

We also took him to build-a-bear workshop to get a new friend...as did Sadie and Lucy on their birthday's.  He choose a cute Koala, bought him a Batman suit and PJ's and named him Koala Wayne...nick-named KiKi.  

McKay you are a joy to have around.  Your sense of humor keeps us rolling on the floor, you are always willing to share, you are loyal and kind and we love you sooooo much!

  Happy Birthday kiddo!