Happy Anniversary

Today is Mike and I's 12th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe that it has been 12 years. There have been a lot of ups and downs, but it has all been worth while. When I asked him the other day whether he would do it all over again and he said yes. I have to xcsay that I am complete agreement. He is my best friend, and I am his.

We also celebrated the 10th anniversary of our adoption and our sealing to the boys. When we became an eternal family.

Our First Broken Bone

Yes you read that right, we have our first broken bone. No id didn't happen on the rugby pitch it happened falling off his bike. Mikhail Casey was coming home from an errand last week and fell off his bike and broke the growth plate in his right thumb. Yes the child that only has one hand has broken that hand. The next several weeks are going to be fun.

Wizard of Oz update

They boys will be in the Las Vegas Shakespeare Companies spring production of The Wizard of Oz. They will be munchkins and monkeys.

The dates of the play are:
May 13-15 and 21-22

The Wizard of Oz

Last month Mat brought home a flyer for a school production of the Wizard of Oz, and as I am sooo not a fan, I conveniently forgot all about it. Then I got a phone call from a friend saying that the Las Vegas Shakespeare Company needed kids to play munchkins. So I called and got the boys an audition.

On Tuesday they went down and sang the song Ireland's Call, which they did acappella, when they were done they were told that they had perfect pitch and harmony. They then auditioned for the mayor of munchikinland.

Today we got the phone call, they got a call back.

One more audition and then we will know.

Grandpa Snyder

In October we went to Utah to visit my Grandparents, after the recent string of deaths in the family we had a feeling that one of my grandparents was going to pass soon, and that it would be my Grandpa Snyder. It was a great day, he was able to be awake for a couple of hours and during that time he gave Mikhail his steel guitar, saying that he will be able to play that much better than an regular guitar. 

3 weeks later he passed away. When we went to the funeral I wasn't sure how the boys were going to handle it, but once again they surprised me. Mat latched onto my cousin Lizzie that is a couple of years older than them, and Mikhail spent the time either holding my grandma's hand, or looking at all the things that were laid out. When his emotions got to much he went outside and threw snowballs. 

As my grandpa was in the Army during WWII he had a military funeral. When it was time to close the casket after the viewing, the funeral director had Mikhail drape the flag over the casket. As we walked into the chapel for the funeral, he had to hold my grandma's hand, and be her support. He sat beside her and held her hand throughout the entire funeral. 

My siblings, cousins and I were all the pallbearers and had the privilege of carrying his flag draped casket, as we stood beside his casket while Taps was played holding the flag over it, as he is saluted by two soldiers, one of whom is Lacee's husband Luke. 

It was one of those moments that forever changed me and my children. 

Reflecting

As I have thought about this year and the changes that it has brought our family I can't help but think that the Lord has very much had his hand in everything that has happened.

When we left Albuquerque we knew thought we knew the road that we were on was the one that was going to take us in the direction that we had always wanted to go. I was going to be a teacher and Mike was on his way to getting on as a Marshall. How quickly those plans went up in smoke, leaving us floundering.

One year later and we have found our balance and are heading in the direction that we both feel is the one that we are suppose to be on. No it isn't the road that we thought we were going to be on, but it is one that we are very happy about.

I am not teaching I am the office manager of a seafood distributor and yes my doctor isn't happy about it as I am HIGHLY allergic to seafood. However I am really happy about working there. I love interacting with all the different people that call in.

Mike however has made the biggest change. The man that I nicknamed the anti sport has fallen in love with a sport, that he started out coaching as a parent volunteer. He has taken to coaching so much that he is going back to school and will be getting a degree in Sports Training. He has a goal to get on the national team as a coach and I have a feeling that he will reach that goal.

Overall it has been a year of changes and struggles and though I know that struggling is a part of life I for one will be grateful when this trial and struggle is behind us.

It has been a while...

So I just noticed the other day that I have not updated this in almost three months and that is a lot of time to cover with two growing boys. It has been a great summer for us. We have been on an oceanography cruise were we saw a pod of dolphins and a blue whale. We have been to the beach and the boys fell in love with that and can't wait to go back. We have been to Disney (we earned free tickets by doing service). I have been to Denver for a romance readers convention.

As always there is rugby. Mike is coaching and loving and will be applying to UNLV to earn a degree in Sports training. Mike and Mat have gotten so much better, they have been able to meet Jamie Roberts of the Cardiff Blues, and Jamie Heaslip from Ireland this summer.

That is what we have been doing here in blazing hot Vegas.

This never happens in regular sports

Thursday was just a normal day in our life, I worked the boys went to school, Mike looked for a new job, and we had rugby practice. Not so out of the ordinary, then we got to rugby practice and it wasn't so normal anymore.

As we got to practice we were told that a pro rugger (professional rugby player) from France was in town and was going to stop by the practice. I was then faced with the deliema of running home to find the camera or using Mike's phone because I had left mine at home quite by accident. 

A little while later I was called over to translate as there was not one but four pro players there to play with the kids. They played a pick up game of rugby with them and the kids loved it. I got some great footage and will shortly be posting it to fb and on here. They guys are from the Montpellier France rugby club. 

As we were talking after the practice all the parents that were there were saying that this never happens in other sports, where the pro's just drop by a little league team to play with them. The main coach is now trying to see if he can get some All Blacks (that's New Zealand's team), little Mike is wanting some Sprinboks players, and big Mike wants some Irish. Me I just want a little warning before hand so that I can have my camera ready. 

Sneak Peak

So our favorite photographer that we were very sad to leave behind in Albuquerque had a convention here in Vegas last month and so we had a session on the strip. We had a great time, trying to beat the rain, we thought it was a little ironic that two years in a row it has rained on our sessions. During the session I left my purse at the Bellagio and then lost the boys when they went to try and find the missing purse, we found both really quickly. Over all though I have to say that we had an awesome session, even if I have only seen two pictures, one where I think my face is huge, and one that is probably one of the best pictures of the boys that has ever been taken.

Here is a sneak peak of the boys picture and I can hardly wait to see the rest of the session.

Catching Up

Where does the time fly? So the last time I updated this was in February while we were at 7's. That was a lot of fun and we were excited to see the USA win, they didn't win the big prize but they won the best for their division. As the team went around after they won and received their award they remembered Mik from when they had met them before the games and pulled him down to walk with them for their victory walk. Mat flirted with all the girls around us. Mik was excited to see his team South Africa go as far as they did, even though they had to play Fiji. The big winners were Somoa, they beat New Zealand.

Rugby continues to rule our lives as they boys season has gotten under way. Mat plays for the Blues and Mik the Chief's. Mat's team has won every game, which doesn't make Mik very happy. Mat scores at least 2 touchdowns with at every game and has been team MVP once. Mik scores most of his teams touchdowns and is team MVP every game. Mike is now one of the coaches for the boys team, I am the parent liason, for the league, and am playing for the womens team the Lady BlackJacks.

Mike and boys are also in the play Savior of the World, which will open at the end of this month and run for a week. Mike is a Roman Soldier, a townsman, Samuel the Lamanite, and the apostle Matthew. It has been a great experience for us as a family. We are hoping to make it an annual event, like a lot of the families have done.

I FINALLY finished my masters degree and am now just waiting on the final audit of my degree to be awarded. The starts the job hunt all over again. With all the budget cuts and NV's requirements for a teaching license I am going to be looking in the private sector and the colleges for jobs.

It has been a crazy month and April is looking to be just as busy. We were just looking at our schedule and realized that we don't have one free night this month.