Making the family blog Private

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Grateful....

I just got home from taking the kids to school...as I was driving home I remembered last year at this time we were at the hospital with Rylie following her liver transplant, and my boys didn't have their mom to drop them off to school...my heart was filled with gratitude that I am here with my family doing the simple things in life like taking my kiddos to school. It was a good reminder to me...last year at this time I remember thinking I wasn't going to take any of those simple things for granted. It's amazing how I forget though...so today was a good reminder for me to be grateful for the simple little moments we have with our families:)

First day of School:)

Well yesterday was the first day of school, the kids were soooo excited, Rylie woke up at 5:30 am...It was also my first day with all three kids in school all day! I got a lot accomplished, I washed windows, washed blinds, mopped my floors, it felt really good to get some stuff done! The kids loved there first day, when I asked Presley if it seemed like he was there a lot longer compared to kindergarten last year he said "ya, it made me sweaty." He is so funny...Anyways here are the kiddos in there stylin' first day of school clothes...I wish I could go school shopping again:)

Discovery Channel: I Love the World

Rylie's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Rylie!!

...first of all, I still cannot comprehend that Rylie is 12 years old today, I mean I knew she was growing up....but 12?? Junior High?? Young Womens??? I just can't believe it! Rylie is an amazing girl and I truly feel blessed to be her mom, she is an example to me of sooooo many things. Not to mention her fun, contagious personality! This birthday is pretty special too as we come up on Rylie's 1 year transplant anniversary (August 26th). We are so blessed to even have Rylie with us to celebrate her 12th birthday...if it wasn't for the amazing doctors and staff at Primary Childrens Hospital and even more for her donor (Randon) and his family saying yes to Organ Donation....she really most likely would not be with us..and without all of your support and prayers and love shown over the past year I know we couldn't have gotten through it~ Rylie has shown such strength through it all, Randy and I been right by her side through all of the extremely difficult things she's had to endure, and honestly it is more than I can even bear to think back on...she no doubt had heavenly help through it all. We love you so much Rylie, thanks for your fun personality and your strength and example to those around you:)
Now on to the party!! Yesterday the celebration started, Rylie was one of six kids from Primary Childrens Hospital that were invited to participate in a fundraiser at the Homestead in Midway that Smiths Food and Drug puts on to raise money for the hospital. They were having a golf "putting" contest and each of the six kids were paired up with someone in the golf tournament and they competed in a 6 hole putting contest, they would take turns and then add there score together. Rylie had the most fun partner...Rod Zundell from KSL Sports, he was so cute with Rylie, and lucky for Rylie he's not a bad golfer...the first hole he made a hole in one!! Well we got done and Rylie and Rod had a total score of 16 (Rylie didn't golf to bad either:)) So they start having teams come up and get a prize for the kids that participated, they were giving out baskets with portable dvd players, movies, and candy to the kids that participated...we were amazed at that, so you can imagine how surprised we were when they announced that Rod and Rylie won and for Rod to come and present Rylie with the Grand Prize.....
AN ALL EXPENSED PAID TRIP FOR OUR FAMILY TO DISNEYLAND.......can you even believe it???? Rylie was jumping up and down, she was so excited!! They all sang Happy Birthday to her, what a way to start her celebration~~




We came home on cloud nine and her friends came over for her party...and we headed to the mall. They had a ball trying on too big prom dresses, funky high heel shoes, and doing facials! We stopped at Walmart on the way home to get some face mask stuff and they saw that they were having a party for the new twilight book coming out at midnight (Breaking Dawn) so they wanted to stay and go to that, we ended up going to Rylie's Grandpa's house in Payson and making brownies and doing the face masks to pass time until the big party at Wal-mart! They didn't have time to wash off the face masks before going to the party, so they went with them on!! They sure got a lot of attention! Anyways, it was such a fun day....Happy Birthday Rylie...We love you soooo much:)

.Shark week!.

Does anyone else love the discovery channel like we do? Deadliest Catch, Shark Week, etc. etc... well this week happens to be shark week on the discovery channel, Presley loves sharks, in Kindergarten his teacher looked at me a little funny when Presley was the VIP and they asked his favorite movie and he said Jaws:) Probably not completely appropriate for a 6 year old, but oh well! Anyways, there is the greatest commercial on Discovery Channel...I love it to pieces! Probably my favorite commercial of all time!~ Love the song, love the pic's, love everything about it! Enjoy:)
My favorite commercial:)

.my own.

What a difference two years makes! I've had the first picture hanging in my entry way for two years now and I figured it was about time (2 years later) to update it:) You would think as a photographer that I would have monthly updated pictures of my own kiddos. But believe me, my kids are my most difficult subjects to photograph! A lot's happened during the last two years with our family, it will almost be 1 year (on August 26th) when my daughter Rylie received her life saving liver transplant. It was a very difficult time for our whole family, I'm so proud of all of my kids for how well they handled our lives being turned upside down for a while:) And now as we look back we can see how the whole experience has strengthened our family. It was a life-changing experience for sure, and a little ...okay, a LOT rough at times, but looking back we have been extremely blessed throughout it all.. and Rylie is doing fabulous with her brand new liver, she is alive and well today because a family said yes to organ donation. Rylie's donor Randon's mom has created a beautiful memorial website for her son Randon's site . Notice Rylie's picture in the slideshow:) Also for more info on organ donation visit Organ Donation.
summer 2006

summer 2008

Stickney Family Pictures:)

Hey Everyone....it was so good to see all of you on the 4th! Wow, Grandma and Grandpa...look at your posterity! Pretty amazing, well Happy Anniversary and thanks for the fun party! ~Amie

How to "grow" a chicken according to Presley

Step one: Get a home or a bowl for your chicken
Step two: Put a lot of grass in, so your chicken has a nice soft place to hatch
Step three: Get some birdseed from your moms bird feeder out back so your chicken will have something to eat when it hatches.
Step four: Put some water in a ziplock back so it will have a drink of water.
Step five: Get an egg out of the fridge and put it in the bowl.

......he really thinks it's going to hatch.... :)

Feeding the Ducks!

I remember feeding the ducks all the time when I was little, it was fun to take the kids and go with Grandpa to Spring Lake! I love that place, so many memories of my Grandma J and her amazing garden full of peas and raspberries and so much more! Here is a little slide show of our adventure!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Cute little Zoey~

Don't you just love her eyes?? I think it helps that she has two gorgeous parents! This is from our Fathers day bbq on Saturday:)

Happy Fathers Day!

Just wanted to wish the two special fathers in my life a Happy day! My dad, whom I love dearly, I love you so much! There is something special between daddy's and their daughters...I see it with Rylie and Randy, and I see it with my dad...thanks for all you 've done for me dad, have a wonderful day! And to my hubby...I couldn't ask for a better father to our three kiddos....he's an amazing dad and our kids are so blessed to have him as a daddy!! Happy Fathers day!!

A video to go with the post below!

I said May was crazy....right?

Well I have lots of posting and pic's / video to share from all of the chaos!! Although it has been busy around here, I was reminded the other day as I was talking to someone that I need to enjoy this craziness, I was telling her how we were running here and there and everywhere, and she just looked at me and said..."enjoy it, I miss it" (her kids are grown) it was a really good reminder to me to enjoy every little moment we have together...I remember when we were up at the hospital with Rylie, missing just taking the kids to school everyday, eating dinner together...it was the little things like that in life that are really the big things! So there you have my lesson learned this month!
I was able to go on the kindergarten field trip to the Zoo, it was a rainy, yucky day, but the kids had a blast, I don't think the weather phases them as much as it does me! I was in charge of 3 kids, Presley, and his good friends (twins) Megan and Macady. Presley's favorite animal in the whole zoo was the skunk...not the lions, not the giraffe, but the skunk!:) The bus ride is quite an experience crammed full of 5 and 6 years old, but amazingly enough, I fell fast asleep on the way home, I must have been really tired because believe me it was noisy! Here are some pictures, I actually took these with our video camera, so they aren't the best quality, but still cute none the less! Enjoy~

May....the month of craziness!!

I feel like a years worth of activities gets crammed into the month of May! Every day on my calendar is completely filled in. . . first of all the kids are doing there end of year testing in school, 2nd of all the kids have various field trips for school, 3rd of all baseball/softball season is in full swing (I don't know why it doesn't start after school gets out!), Randy coaches Hunters team, Presley plays, and I coach Rylie's team...I know we're nuts, So Tuesday through Friday we have at least one sometimes two bball games, 5th of all we have the Dance review, so Hunter and Rylie have there regular dance class, plus practices on the stage, 6th of all Hunter is in piano lessons, 7th of all I am the Bear leader for scouts so I have to plan a weekly activity, 8th of all I have been swamped with pictures, 9th of all I help Presley's kindergarten class once a week, ...... I really don't have time to be writing all of this down:) Ya, May is crazy month, but it's a lot of fun too...I've been a bad blogger lately, but hey maybe in June it will pick back up!

Rylie's Talent Show~

Well this was actually a couple of weeks ago, but I just figured out how to post our movies, so I thought for the first Steele Family Movie I will show Rylie's talent show a couple of weeks ago. Watching her it is hard to believe that just over 6 months ago she under went a liver transplant. Not a day goes by that we are not so grateful for how well she is doing and for her donor, her guardian angel, Randon and his amazing family. Rylie is the little one in the middle...Enjoy! Okay, I couldn't add it, I am a computer dummy sometimes:) Just click on the link and it should take you there!

Rylie's Talent Show

Check out my photoblog!

I posted some new pictures on my photography blog, if you know any seniors that need senior portraits forward it onto them! Thanks! Amie
The link is to the right:)

Easter....Jesus recommends it!

Setting: Family night the Monday before Easter, it was just me and the kids, Randy was on call for work.

Me: "Do any of you know why we celebrate Easter?"

Presley: "Because Jesus recommends it!"

All of us: laughed and laughed:)

of corse he was trying to say because Jesus was resurrected, but I think Jesus would recommend celebrating Easter too!

We had a wonderful Easter holiday, we were able to go camping out west of Nephi, the sun was shining, but it was a little bit chilly! Tyler and April and their kids stayed out with us and Garrit, Leah, Drew, & my dad came out for a little while on Saturday. I wish I had pictures to share, I really need to get a point and shoot camera.  I had my big camera, but it is such a pain for snapshots to get it out and worry about it getting dirty...so no pic's from the weekend..shame on me!  Randy had to speak in sacrament meeting...he did a wonderful job, he also got put in as executive secretary for the bishopric, so I guess that means I'm on my own Sunday morning to get the kids and me up and ready for church at 9 am! Tuesday nights he'll have meetings to, I know he'll do a wonderful job!  

Spring is right around the bend, you can hear it when the birds chirp, see it as things start to green up, and smell it in the air...what a wonderful time of year.  In relief society yesterday the teacher was talking about how there is so much symbolism in Spring that tie in to the resurrection.  Renewal of life.  We can see it in the world all around us.  And how wonderful is it to know that we will have that too, that this life is not the end, that we can see our friends and family and loved ones again....and live forever. I am so greatful for my Savior.  What hope and happiness he gives me despite the world around us that sometimes seems so cruel and wrong.  The key for me is to look to Him, his example, his life and to really try and see the bigger scheme of things.  Because we've been promised that if we live worthily that all that he has will be ours, and really he has everything.  We just need to get through this life, this test and do the very best we can, and thank goodness that the Savior has provided help for us when we do make mistakes....We can conquer sin and death through him! It's so wonderful to know.  I'm so greatful for the knowledge I have of these things...it helps me every single day.  Our teacher in relief society also said she feels like Easter and Spring is a better time to make resolutions, rather that New Years, it is a time we can do a little spring cleaning of the soul, to clear out all the cobwebs that have gathered and start fresh and new....I liked that, my house may not get spring cleaning done, but my soul will!

I hope you all had a wonderful amazing Easter....remember....Jesus recommends it!

Hot Date...

Yeah, that's right...Randy and I went on a hot date last night! You know, you get married and have kids and dates seem to just not happen anymore.  So last night there was a photography seminar up is SLC that I signed Randy and I up for. We decided to make a night out of it and went to dinner at the Melting Pot...my sister in law April said it was really good.  Randy was a bit skeptical about a "fondue" place, but after a lot of encouraging from me he agreed half-heartedly to try it out.  From the minute we walked it to our cozy little corner booth, I knew I was going to like it.  Your kind of secluded, really romantic.  The food was beyond fabulous, we finished our dinner and we were running a little bit late for the seminar, but we hadn't had dessert yet.  Randy said, "Well should we just go, and skip dessert?"  ......me: "Are you kidding me?  Skip the hot, melted chocolate with a swirl of caramel and nuts with all sorts of yummies to dip ranging from strawberries, to brownies, to cheesecake???? Skip dessert? Uh, no."  And boy am I glad we didn't, it was the best part of the meal!  The seminar was good, I won a door prize, a dvd instructional set for a software program I don't have.  But hey, I won a prize, that's all that matters!  We left the seminar at 10:00, it was still going, but it was way past our married with kids bet time of 8:30, and we still had a long drive home.  It was really, really nice to talk and laugh and eat chocolate covered strawberries, just Randy and I.  We really need to do date nights more often, it's essential to a good marriage I think....and something we need to work on and do more often.  So if any of you want to go on a double date with us...let me know! :)

Spelling Bee.....

Well, I really, really do not want to brag for my very first blog post....but really I can't help it.  Last Friday was the third grade spelling bee.  The top 15 spellers from the 3rd grade participated.  Hunter was one of the 15.  Well it got down to the final two spellers, Hunter and one other boy.  The principal had another obligation and had to leave, he said they would finish the spelling bee on Monday, so Hunter had to go all weekend knowing that Monday he and this other little boy would have to compete for 1st and 2nd place.  I don't know if any of you have ever watched a spelling bee....but it is nerve wracking, & I wasn't even in it...so I don't know who was more stressed...me or Hunter.  Well I just got home from watching the spelling bee, and for the 3rd year in a row, Hunter took 1st place.  I do not know where this kid gets all his brains, but he is one smart cookie! Congratulations Hunter....you make your momma proud :)