Christmas at the Clark House

Kind of lonely on a quiet Christmas day... Sean and Tanner
Tanner overjoyed to find the pickle!

Christmas 2010

Christmas this year was very different/quiet at our house. We were very excited to have Tanner come home early in the week from Rexburg. I don't feel like we've gotten to see nearly enough of him since he returned from his mission. School and work have kept him far away. When he is home he is constantly on the move - looking for things to do, things to clean up, things to fix, etc. He keeps us happy and laughing! Well, until he puts his foot through the bedroom ceiling while he is checking out the insulation in our attic! I thought that having his wisdom teeth out would slow him down just a little bit, but I was way wrong. He didn't skip a beat!

Anyway, that was it as far as family coming home. Everyone else was in Utah. Nic and Steff were spending time with the Sellers family. Matt and Katie were with the Johnsons. Ryan and Ashley were at the Nelsons. We were a little lonely.

On Christmas morning we got up around 9:00 and opened a couple of little gifts and then just kind of sat and looked at each other for a while. Finally remembered to look for the 'pickle' on the tree. Tanner spotted it first. Then I had a new prize-worthy game to play... 'guess how many snowmen are hanging on the tree'. Lyle won the present for that one. Then we really wondered what to do with ourselves the rest of the day! We just had to keep telling ourselves that in a few days we would be spending time with all of the family on warm, sunny beaches in Puerto Rico! That is Christmas for us all! Can't wait!

Averi Opening Gifts

December 14, 2010

Sean, Lyle, and I made a quick trip to New Albany to give Averi her Christmas gifts from Uncle Sean and Uncle Tanner before she left for Utah. She is so fun to watch open presents! She ooh's and aah's with each one. She actually opens one present and wants to play with it! Unlike many children who open one, toss it aside, and move quickly to open the next package. We had to really work to get her to stop playing with the microwave and open the second package, which was a blender.

Sean Clark Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

Sean is a very talented individual. I guess if you read my blog you will know that I think so. West Muskingum High School had a Variety Show last night. I thought he hit this song 'out of the park'! This is the first time he has ever sung in public other than a couple of times at church. He said he was nervous, but he didn't act like it. Many people at the show wondered why they hadn't ever heard him sing before..... they thought he was amazing!

Trip out West

Brooklyn with her to-do list for The Nana!

Good visits at the birthday party!

Happy Birthday, dad!

Mom and dad with all of their children!

Adding spouses.

All of the grandchildren that were present!

Cake excitement!

Of course Karen had games planned for the kids!

In Idaho, Grandma enjoying Brooklyn and Camryn.

Goofy girls! Breakfast before we head back to Utah.

Movie night! PJ's. Popcorn, Great Company, and Toy Story 3!

The sisters begin to gather at Karen's house to enjoy a yummy salad! Brinkley and friend before they run off to school.

Sheri, Me, Mom, Laurie

At the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with Leslie, Me, Mom, and Jana Leigh. (Laurie is taking the picture.)

Discovery Gateway - what a great place to play with girlfriends.

Kendyl, the bunny, on stage, in the theater at Discovery Gateway.

Brooklyn in the farm area with the tree full of fruit!

Camryn and Kendyl.

Brooklyn, the bunny fairy.

Putting up the fun tree in the basement!

I had a free travel voucher that expired this November, so I just had to take a trip to see family! I flew in late Friday night, November 5. Nic picked me up from the airport telling me that I had my work cut out for me - my time was all planned out by Brooklyn. He told me that she had drawn a picture of all the things that " The Nana was going to do with them when [I] got there." So on Saturday when Brooklyn woke up I asked her to show me her picture. How adorable that she had drawn pictures of :

*Movie Night - in the basement with popcorn in our pj's

*Reading stories

*Baking cookies

*Going to the toy store

*Having a party

*Shopping for shoes (even though none were needed! Is she 4 or 14?)

*Going to the 'rec' center to swim!

While in Utah I also got to sneak in on the surprise party for my dad's 75th birthday. You'd never know that he was 75! He acts like a 50 year old! (Yes, that would be younger than me!) He is still so young and active; he is very inspiring!

I spent a Sunday in Idaho with my parents and visited the Clarks in Soda Springs as well.

Then headed back to Utah to enjoy a day and a half with most of my sisters.

Wednesday I enjoyed tackling that list with Brooklyn, Camryn, and Kendyl!

Sean's Senior Pictures

Lyle has a little bit of time on his hands, since he has been released as Bishop. He loves photography--he always has. He has taken some classes and taught some classes. Ashley is now becoming familiar with some photo-shopping software. She and Lyle share what they are learning almost every day. So with that as a common interest, when Ashley was here a few weeks ago, she and Lyle decided that they would try to take Sean's senior pictures. He was in agreement. I certainly was okay with the idea - it would save hundreds of dollars! Ashley and I spent an afternoon 'scouting out' some sights, then the three of them went to work. I stayed home - figuring that one Clark woman with opinions was enough to have in the group!
We are delighted with what happened! Sean is a great model! Lyle and Ashley are having fun photo-shopping, editing, and cropping. I don't think all of these have been photo-shopped yet. We need to take a few more indoors now. But it was a great, fun experience. When Ashley comes at Thanksgiving we will finish it up!

Geddes Visit

Lyle is present, just taking the picture.

The Geddes family made a trip to Zanesville to visit family and old friends. We were so happy to see them. We really miss their whole family. They are a family with such great energy - living life to the fullest! I believe they do everything the way we are supposed to!
We grabbed a few minutes for dinner at Tlaquepaque with Ryan and Jonnette, Rachel and Andy Fuhriman, Lora and Alberto Mancuso, Sean, Kelly Coffey, and Steve Hull.

Soccer is Over..... so sad!

I don't know if Sean or I am the saddest that soccer is over. Not sure what I will do with myself not having any children left playing soccer! Having said that, I should note that Tanner just finished a season of playing soccer on three separate teams at BYU-I, as well as a flag football team and an ultimate frisbee team! Study time??? Nic is playing on an indoor team, and Matt has also played on an intermural team at OSU. So, if I could just get to their games, I guess I could still watch my children play.
Anyway, Sean's team lost to Berlin Hiland. It was a heart-breaker. I know it is hard for Sean to have it over, however, he is now running 6 miles most days to get ready for track! LIFE GOES ON!

Sectional Soccer Tournaments

We entered our sectional tournament as the #1 seed! We won our game on Tuesday night against Caldwell 9-0. It could have been so much worse! Our coach really held the kids back. He told them they could only score off of a 'header' or a 'volley'. It was a painful game to watch. However, so glad we won without stress.
Tonight I was a little worried about what we might face with Steubenville Central Catholic. They won their game on Tuesday night against Rosecrans 5-1. (Rosecrans had a regular season record of 15 wins and 1 loss.) Anyway, tonight's game was not too tough. If we could have hit the net on even 1/3 of our shots, it would have been nice. We did have 3 really sweet shots and Steubenville had 1 lousy shot that somehow bounced out of our goalie's hands!
There you have it!

We now face Berlin Hiland on Saturday night, October 23, for the sectional championship. We beat them in the preseason (for the first time in years!). Hopefully we have improved over the season, and we can win again! A win would put us in the District Finals next week!

Lyle's New 'Post-Bishop' Life

Lyle was released as Bishop of our Zanesville Ward last Sunday, October 10, 2010. He was called as Bishop on January 9, 2005. He has been the best Bishop ever! He spent so much time making visits, talking on the phone, cooking breakfasts, high-adventuring, camping, interviewing, handing out candy, speaking, counseling, showing concern, and driving......

So, just so that you can see that he is still surviving....

No new calling yet....

He is smiling.... And this is how he spent this Sunday afternoon!

Halloween 2010

YOU KNOW, THEY SAY IF THE SHOE FITS.....

We had a stake youth activity last night - a haunted hayride, barn dance, bonfire, food, games, pumpkin carving contest. I went as a witch. Thanks, Ashley, for the use of your fabulous hat! My green doesn't show up too well on the pictures. But it was good enough to completely confuse most people as to who I was! Maybe the wig helped with that as well.

We had such a fabulous time.

Just FYI, the clean-up was brutal, though (removing the nails and green in time for church this morning)!

Beating John Glenn 8 to 1

This is a little out of order. We played John Glenn five days before the Tri Valley game, I'm just getting around to posting those pictures.

Sean, as well as all of the defenders, was upset that we did not have a shut out.

West Muskingum vs. Tri Valley for the Muskingum Valley League Championship!

Friends celebrating a wonderful victory - MVL Champions!

A happy Jimmie Boyd and Cyrus Kinkead.

Paul, David, and Adam Wilson

I wasn't trying to knock him over, he was swinging me around in a circle. Such excitement!

Tri Valley set this up for us - it was so nice of them!

West M needed either a win or a tie against Tri Valley in our last game of the regular season to be the MVL Champions. If we lost to them, then Tri Valley was the league champion once again.

We beat Tri Valley 2 to 0 earlier in the season on our home field. This game was being played at Tri Valley on their 'senior night'. Tri Valley shot off fireworks while they were introducing their seniors and had quite a display going on and on and on and on. I was worried that it was going to 'psych' our kids out. They were feeling so much pressure! Sean said that he had a horrible time focusing on anything during the day of the game. That is really not like him.

It took a while for the team to settle in to playing their game - some of them played 'nervously' most of the night. Passes weren't the greatest. We didn't win the long balls as well as usual. But they played without stopping and picked up some steam at the end of the game, and it paid off! We are a better team than Tri Valley. Just wish we would have put one more in the net. Had several close ones. The game ended in a tie - 1 to 1! We are the MVL CHAMPIONS outright. The first time in many years (although we have shared the title a few times, including when Tanner was playing).

Sean did kick the assist that Dominic Cikhart scored off of! It was a beautifully placed pass! He had a near assist a little later in the game. And he nearly scored a goal from way out. It just barely missed. He had a non-goalie save. Did a great job for his team!
GREAT JOB WEST MUSKINGUM!
Looking forward to tournament action next week!

Click on this link to view the news broadcast about this game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLtPGH7ex3U