Memorable Monday Olympics

The 2012 Olympics just started and I'm glued to the TV watching as much of it as I can.  I remember watching the 1984 Olympics and becoming a huge fan.  I've watched every summer and winter Olympics since then.  I remember hearing the Olympic theme song written by Josh Williams and loved it.  I love hearing the inspirational stories of the athletes   I love seeing the beautiful scenery and hearing about the cultures of the countries where the Olympics took place.   It's the closet to traveling that I'll become.   Here are some of the places I visit via the Olympics

1984 Summer - Los Angeles, USA 

1988 Winter - Calgary, Canda 

1988 Summer - Seoul, Korea 

1992 Winter- Albertville, France 

1992 Summer- Barcelona, Spain 

1994 Winter- Lillehammer, Norway 

1996 Summer - Atlanta, USA 

1998 Winter- Nagano, Japan 

2000 Summer- Sydney, Australia 

2002 Winter - Salt Lake, USA 

2004 Summer- Athens. Greece 

2006 Winter- Torino, Italy

2008 Summer- Beijing, China 

2010 Winter- Vancover, Canada 

2012 Summer- London, England 

Taylor Choir Camp

The Band and Choir at Taylor had a two week camp before school started.  Angela was reluctant to participate in choir camp, but she did.  She had a lot of fun getting to know Mr. Meade and loved singing.  It was great to see her sing on the Taylor stage  with her peers.  It brought tear to my eyes to see her participate with her peers.  Zach participated in the camp as well.  He performed with the band plus did a few numbers with some other saxophone players.  It was great to see the two of the them participate in the band and choir camp.

Memorable MondayReading Time

Challenge: What do you love to read?

I struggled with reading as a child and didn't really enjoy reading much in school.  I don't remember many books that I enjoyed reading as a kid, but I do remember going to various libraries and checking out books.  I remember going to 3 different libraries - the library in West Jordan that my mom volunteered at, the library in Sandy, and my favorite library that was on the way to Grandma and Grandpa Shaw's house.  After I graduated from college, I started to read some of my mom's LDS fiction books.  They are easy reads and I enjoyed reading those romantic novels.  The books became too predictable and decided that I wanted to try to read more challenging material.  I started to read John Grishman books and I discovered that I liked adventure/suspense books as well as romance novels.  I joined a book club about 8 years ago and I've read a variety of genre.  I decided that I like fantasy books and historical novels too.  I really enjoy reading now and wish that I had more time to read a book or two.  

Favorite Books in my Youth
"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"
"Sweet Valley High" series
"Choose Your Own Adventure" series

Favorite Book Club Selections
-"Peter and the Starcatcher" Series
-"Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"
-"The Host"
-"Eragon" series
-"The Hunger Game" series
-"Picture of Hollis Woods"
-"The Goose Girl"

Favorite Books not discussed in Bookclub
-"Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites"
-"Book of Mormon"
-"Prelude to Glory" series
-"Work and the Glory" series

Favorite Book I read to my kids
-"Are You My Mother?"
-"Green Eggs and Ham"
-"Llama, Llama, Red Pajama"
-"Go, Dog, Go"
-"No More Water in the Tub"
- Junie B. Jones Series

Emily's Talk

"Heavenly Father loves us and we can pray to him when we need anything.

 One day, my family went to spend the day with my grandparents.  It rained a lot and was raining when we started to drive home. We said a family prayer and asked that we would be safe on the way home.  On the way home, there was a deer that darted across the road in the dark.  The car in front of us stopped really fast and my dad was able to stop the car safely fast.  I know that Heavenly Father answered our prayer and kept our family safe on our trip home. 

 Heavenly Father loves us and will comfort and help us when we need it.  I'm so glad that our family said a prayer before we headed home."

Rim Country

 Grandma and Grandpa Pace went camping, so we decided that we would join them for a day.  Uncle David and MaryAnn were there too.  When we arrived, Grandma and Grandpa were in Pine getting supplies, so we hung out with Uncle David.  It was great to sit and talk and forget about the world we left back home.  We hung out with Grandma and Grandpa when they returned and the kids found fun things to do.  Grandma always brings fun projects for the kids to do while they are there.  In the afternoon, it starts to pour - really pour.  We headed into Uncle David's trailer and played cards.  It poured for quite a while and even started to hail.  It was really nice for Uncle David to provide us with shelter.  It stopped raining and dried off and we played outside some more.  We had such a great time up on the rim.  There is so much to do up on the rim.

These two had way too much fun.     

Girls love to play with the dogs.

These two girls play so sweet together.

The kids had a great time.

Memorable MondayWhat's in a Name?

Challenge - What's the story behind your name?

My given name is Tamra Lee Wall. My nickname was to be Tammy.  I was named after Debbie Reynolds, a famous actress at the time.  She made did a film called "Tammy and the Bachelor" in 1957.  My first name came from that character.  I wonder how she felt when I changed the spelling of my nickname to Tami.  My middle name came from my Grandpa Lee Burbidge.   He was killed in a jeep accident when my mom was 4 years old.  It's an honor to be named after him.

Debbie Reynolds in "Tammy and the Bachelor"

My Grandpa Burbidge holding his oldest - Lee

Playing in the Rain

It rained today, so we all headed out to enjoy the downpour.  I love it when the monsoon makes an appearance and it pours.  I could watch the rain all day long.

Just playing in the rain

What a glorious feelin'

We're happy again.

Danni and Ang

Memorable MondayBlog Profile

I'm in the process of changing the profiles on my blog since the kids are getting ready to start the new school year.  I wanted to remember the profile that I wrote a year ago.

Jim works for a great company as a computer programmer. 


Tami is the manager of the Pace houshold. She currently is the chef, chauffeur, housekeeper, nurse, tutor, and the planning coordinator for the Pace family.

Josh is in 9th grade and starting hish school this year. He is involved in marching band and plays the clarinet. He is still working on scouts and hopes to earn his Eagle soon. 

Danni is in 8th grade. She is really involved in school and is in the yearbook committee, NJHS, drama club and has a part in the fall play. She also takes dance and piano lessons. 

Angela is in 6th grade. She loves to sing and is in the Mesa Children's Chorus. She also plays the cello and piano. 

Emily is our youngest. She is in 1st grade and is learning to play keyboard this year.

Swim Lessons 2012

Angela and Emily took swim lessons at Kino this year with their cousins.  Angela started her swim lessons with Alyssa, but the instructors separated them for more one-on-one training.  Brandon and Emily were in the same swim class for the whole session.  I loved going to Kino and spend time talking to my mother-in-law while watching the girls swim.  After swim lessons, we had lunch at Kino.  The girls learned a lot and had a great time.

My Birthday

Here is my birthday questionnaire!!!

I had a great birthday spent with my family.  We did the traditional Fourth of July activities and  Ihad a good time.  My favorite part of the day was the rain that cooled the day off.  It rained off and on all day.

You can see the rain clouds in the background.

Fourth of July

We started the 4th of July with a neighborhood parade.  Angela rode her scooter, while the rest of the kids rode in the back of Jim's trailer.  It started to sprinkle at the beginning of the parade route which meant we would have cooler weather for the parade.  After the parade, we talked with friends, ate watermelon and snow cones.  Josh and Danni found themselves in a water fight -they always do.

Kids in the parade

Watermelon, Snow Cones, and a Water Fight

That evening, we were invited to a BBQ swim party at the Pyles. The Pyles have a huge pool and the kids really had a great time swimming.  Angela loved swimming so much that it was hard to get her out.  After the party, we lit our sparklers which turned out to be Morning Glory.  Josh headed over to a friends house to watch fireworks while Jim took Danni to see the big fireworks since she missed the ones in Mesa a few days ago.  

Swimming Party

These are NOT sparklers!!!

We had a great fourth of July and are grateful for the freedom we have in this country.  I'm grateful for those who fought to secure our Independence during the Revolutionary War.

Memorable Monday Girls at the Temple

The YW girls went to the temple and their leader share these pictures on Facebook.  

Close Up

I remember when I was an Achievement Day leader (that was what is was called back then) of the 9 year olds.  I went to the temple with the girls that I served over.  We took a similar picture of the girls and I.

Close Up