House Project - Kitchen Backsplash

With the help our great friend, Donny, we attempted this lofty weekend project. We learned a lot, worked hard, had a couple very late nights and loved the result! Gave us a brand new looking kitchen. Thanks Donny for sharing your expertise with us!

Guys Weekend in Utah

Brent and Riley had the great opportunity to go to Utah for a 'Guy's trip' in October. They started the weekend by attending the Priesthood Session of General Conference. Then they traveled to Boulder Mountain and hiked and hunted through 3 days of downpours. Fun was had by all and most importantly they came home without injury to a helpless deer.

It has been a year....

Hard to believe, but this little guy turned 1 year old yesterday!

We love Zac and it has been so fun to watch him develop and grow.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY ZAC!

(Jamie took these pictures with her phone, so they are definitely not up to the standards of Zac's dad, but they are cute none-the-less. This last one was taken right after Zac waved goodbye for the first time without being prompted....look at the delight on his Mom's face!)

A Life Scout

It has been a while since Riley's Boy Scout Troop has had a Court of Honor, so it was great to see lots of Rank Advancements and Merit Badges awarded this week. Riley is so lucky to be in a very large Deacon's Quorum and attends scout with this very active group of 12-13 year old boys.


Riley has been working very hard this past year and has progressed through the Star Scout Rank and also received the rank of Life Scout on Wednesday night!

Here is Riley's Scout Master reading off the long list of Merit Badges Riley received:

• Communications
• Sculpture
• Weather
• Family Life
• Climbing
• Snow Sports
• Citizenship in the Community
• Environmental Science
• Wilderness Survival
• Geology
• Leatherwork

Riley was thinking hard here as he was telling the group about his adventures with his fellow scouts during their wilderness survival experience at scout camp....basically it was a cold night, their shelter fell on them during the night and they didn't sleep at all!

We are very proud of Riley and his accomplishments in scouting, he really enjoys it! He has also completed the Cycling and Personal Management Merit Badges. He has two more campouts to complete the Camping Merit Badge. The only two Merit Badges Riley has left to complete are Personal Fitness and Citizenship in the Nation. Then, he can start working on his Eagle Project! Should be a fun year ahead!

Sidney's New Obsession

Sidney is the best collector in our home. I was thrilled the day she 'gave up' squishies, although they had provided hours of fun and creativity, I was not sad to see the little creatures disappear from all over my house.

Shortly thereafter, Sidney decided she just had to started collecting "Squinkies". (Thanks to TV commercials!) Squinkies are Target's newest craze toy...really just another version of squishies, but a little cuter and really hard to find.

Sidney has accumulated quite a collection of these little toys and they mostly live in our kitchen, where she plays with them all day long. Luckily Mom can use her secret stash of squinkies as a great motivating tool for Sidney, so I don't mind sharing my kitchen with them for a few more weeks!

6th Grade, so far...

Jamie had a rough start to 6th grade, her first year at Middle School.
It was tough to get on the bus 1 1/2 hours earlier than last year.
It was tough to write in a planner EVERY day.
It was tough to keep her papers organized in one big binder.
It was tough to carry a clarinet and gym clothes to school every other day.
It was tough to open her locker.
It was tough to only see some of her BFFs during lunch.
It was tough to go the same school as her older brother.
It was tough to have all male teachers.
It was tough to have lots of long-term assignments.
It was tough and resulted in a 20 minute meltdown after school for the first 8 days of school.



The important word above is WAS....Jamie is much more adjusted after 3 full weeks of school and back to being our fun, happy preteen girl. We love her and are so glad she has adjusted to her new school year! She is a joy and the whole family is much happier this week!

Long Overdue Catch Up

Being 4 months behind in blogging results in about 28 new posts in one weekend! I set a goal to get caught up this weekend and it is 11:00 on Sunday night and I made it!

Be sure to click on the 'Older Posts' button at the bottom of these posts to see the rest of our summer, especially our fun vacation to New York. I post-dated all the posts, but they are all new until you get to the 'End of the School Year' post on June 10th. Yes the kids have been back in school for 2 weeks, and I am just now catching up...but you can tell that we had a very busy and fun summer, we hope you did too!

Then and Now

Then: Riley was starting Kindergarten.

Now: Riley is in 8th grade, Jamie is in 6th grade and Sidney is in 3rd Grade.

Then: Riley had been taking piano lessons for about 6 months.

Now: Riley has been taking piano lessons for over 9 years and plays percussion in the school band. Jamie has been taking piano lessons for over 4 years and plays the clarinet in the school band. Sidney has been taking pinao lessons for over a year.

Then: Riley played soccer and baseball in the community leagues. Jamie had just started dance classes at a local dance studio.

Now: Riley continued to play baseball for 7 years, plays tennis on the school team, skied for one year with the district's nordic ski team, progressed through the Cub Scout program and is making great strides in his Boy Scout troop. Jamie dance for 7 years with the same dance studio, has had several years of gymnastics, played softball, ran track, played soccer and decided her favorite sport is swimming. Sidney danced for 5 years, and loves gymnastics and soccer.

Then: We lived in a cute, older home in Eagan and had a long list of To-Dos.

Now: We live in a wonderful, new home in Rosemount and still have a long list of To-Dos.

Then: We had lived in the Eagan Ward for about 2 years, loved it and loved our callings, although they kept us very busy.

Now: We have lived in the Eagan Ward for over 10 years, love it and love our callings, although they keep us even busier.

Then: We loved our family and life here in Minnesota. We loved having young kids who played hard and challenged us physically.

Now: We love our family and life here in Minnesota. We love having 'pre-teens' who still play hard and challenge us mentally and emotionally!

Then: We had family all over this great country and great friends right here in MN.

Now: We have family all over this great country and great friends right here in MN.

Then: Our lives were rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we counted our membership in His Church as one of our choicest blessings.

Now: Our lives are rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we count our membership in His Church as one of our choicest blessings.

The TWINS at Target Field

Our first trip to Target Field was the best. We have really enjoyed watching the Twins this year and can't wait for more victories in the postseason! We love the new stadium, had great seats and loved being outside for the game!

Home Makeover: Kid's Rooms Edition

It all started with a trip to the furniture store. We were just looking for a new couch and a new bed for Jamie. (I of course had a few other things on my mental list.) As all 'house projects' do...our trip to the furniture store turned into a major makeover of the kids' bedrooms. Before we knew what had happened, we were at the paint store and spent the next two weeks painting into the late hours of the night. (We even had a late night helper - thanks Emily!) It took us a few more weeks to get the rooms completed, pictures hung, vinyl applied, furniture delivered and put in place. We love the end result and the kids are very happy!









(Notice in this picture, Riley's licence plate collection. He is determined to complete the collection with all 50 states, so we ordered the states on his new walls by order of statehood. He has lots of blanks...so if you have license plates in any of the missing states, we would love to add them to his collection! So far, he has the following states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, Illinois, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Alaska and Hawaii.)

The First Day of School

Riley Mayson Preator, 8th Grade

Jamie Shaw Preator, 6th Grade

Sidney Brynn Preator, 3rd Grade

The State Fair and Ward Labor Day Picnic

We continued our fun weekend by spending all day Saturday at the GREAT MINNESOTA GET TOGETHER! We enjoyed the day with Donny, LeAnne and Zac. We had so much fun that we didn't even pull out the camera once time!

The last HOORAH before school starts is always our Ward's Labor Day Picnic. The weather held out and we had a great time! (Thanks Stacey E. for these great pictures!)

The New Ropes Course at the Mall of America

We celebrated the last weekend before school started with lots of fun activities. We started off by visiting the Mall of America to enjoy some rides and last minute school shopping. The highlight of the day was our first try at the new ropes course. Everyone had a great time! Sidney was a little more timid than we expected her to be and was the first one off the course. Jamie stayed on for 20 more minutes than everyone else and didn't come off until she had mastered all the parts of the 2nd and 3rd levels. Brent and Riley made it all the way to the tippy top!