Quick Updates!

Last weekend I returned from Orlando playing in the USADB (USA deaf basketball) tournament. My team took 5th place out of 12 teams and did pretty well. It's a bummer that we lost our first game since that ruined our chances of playing for first but we were able to win our next 3 games and placed 5th! We enjoyed a great time at the resort and the wonderful pool! Island of Adventure was way cool and my favorite ride there was SPIDERMAN! It's amazing how they can make it look like you really are in the middle of all the action. We are all excited to play next year in San Antonio! I am just glad I am still playing ball! I love playing ball and play on Wednesday nights with my former college ball friends. We have such a good time! It helps me not to be so rough and keep up with all the youngsters! 

Our awesome and sweet friends, Matt and Amie! We had a great time with them staying at our home during General Conference weekend! We also enjoyed a late midnight snack of SUSHI! Mmm! If you love sushi go to Showgun Restaurant in downtown SLC on Friday or Saturday night from 11:00 pm to 2:00 am and get half off on everything! Amie is wearing her birthday hat her mom made for her. She was to wear it everywhere she went! Cute Hat!

Matt with Sam and Brooklyn! We think they make a cute future couple! Maybe an arranged marriage? (hahaha) Not pictured is Jake the older brother. He is quite handsome!

Brooklyn at the ZOO! She loved all the animals and enjoyed hanging out with Matt and Amie. Thanks guys for watching Brooklyn and treating her like one of your own! We know you want her but she stays with us! :)

A few weeks ago Matt, Brooklyn and I were able visit Matt's Grandparents in Arizona.  My grandparents live here in Salt Lake but we got to visit with them as well. We sure love you all and hope you know we think of you often! 

Great Grannie! We sure miss you! This is Matt's Grandma who lives in Mesa, AZ. We are so blessed to know her and be a part of her family.  We hope you move to Utah someday Grannie!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Bailey in Arizona! It was so good to see you both! These are Matt's grandparents from his dad's side. They also live in Mesa, AZ. We enjoyed a BBQ with all of their children and celebrated Grandma Bailey's birthday!

Great Grandpa Groen! We enjoy making dinner for you! This is Shari's Grandpa and Grandma (below). We enjoy going to their home and making a delicious dinner! We have had salmon and brown sugar chicken that are tantalizing! Shari made her famous peach cobbler and we gobbled that all down! Grandpa wanted the leftovers! We hope you enjoyed it!

Great Grandma Groen, we love to visit with you! What cute smiles you both have! Brooklyn loves to visit with them and of course play with their toys! 

Our 4 year "Meetaversary"

It was four years ago that Matt and I officially met after having known of each other for almost 3 years! I wanted to share a little about how we met. Matt's mother met me while I was working at the adidas outlet in Draper. She noticed I was deaf (her daughter is deaf) and told me I should write to her son, Matt, who was on his mission and later when he came home she came back into my work and said you should go out with my son he is home. I declined as I had a boyfriend at the time and the 2nd time she came in I had gotten my mission call and was leaving in a couple of weeks. So we never met until a week after I got home from my mission. We were set up on a blind date by his mother and my good friend Nicole. Matt didn't even want to go on this date and so his mother coerced him by saying she would pay for the date if he would go.... Geeesh.... I had seen a picture of him but he had never seen a picture of me so he had no idea what to expect. He knew I was deaf and thought he would have to use more sign language and expected me not to be able to talk as well as I do.  He tells me when he first laid eyes on me... He knew I was the one he was going to marry. I can remember clearly that he stared at me the whole night. We had gone on a double date to Fat Catz with my friends who were getting married the next day. I remember just loving it that he kept staring at me and a few times made eye contact and smiled big! I was thinking man this guy is tall and I think I could get used to this. We had a great night and from then on we hit it off and got married almost 7 months later.  I love you Matt and I am so ever grateful for all you do for me! I feel like I am such a lucky wife with a husband who is so caring, thoughtful, never yells...(seriously I have never seen him yell or get mad). He truly makes me happy! Happy Meetaversary Matt! I love you in World! 

We went to Brick Oven for a little fun night out!

Brooklyn loves artichoke and tomato pizza!

Daddy and his little girl.....

On the way to Brick Oven, Brooklyn kept asking Daddy

to hold her hand... It was so sweet...

Shari's Scar Ordeal

Sad about my cut.......

Can I say OUCH!

Can you tell I am cringing in pain!

Doc about to put in the stitches!

See my fat lip and stitches?

Getting ready to take out my stitches 5 days later

Like my surgical bed?

What a great Doc I have!

What was I worried about? Ain't there no scar showing! I got lucky!

Ok its about time I do a blog entry... Believe me I have been thinking that I needed to do it but time has not allowed me until now... Well really I should be in bed but what the heck! So I am going to share my basketball experience I had a couple of weeks ago in Montana.  I play on the Utah Women's Deaf basketball team and we had a tournament in Great Falls, Montana (beautiful place by the way). Our team was playing in the championship game and we were winning, well pretty much clobbering the other team. It was only like 15 minutes into the 1st half when I and and an opposing player were going for the ball (neither one of us got it) but it ended up that her eyebrow area smashed into my face in the nose, upper lip, mouth area and OH BOY! Did that hurt or what! I was hurling on the ground covering my face cause it hurt so bad and there was pounding as pain seeped through my face I was surprised no teeth had been knocked out with the kind of impact it was. My coach came over and was signing to me are you okay, can you see, is your nose broken... I finally moved my hands and he made what looked like to me a very grave face and said, I think you need to go to the hospital.... I was like what! NO! What the heck for there isn't anything wrong but then he said, you have a cut above your lip and the first thing I said (well rather signed) was No, I don't want a cut, I don't want to have an ugly scar... I started bawling my eyes out and was so nervous about this cut above my lip that my coach was trying hard not to laugh (he later apologized and said I am so sorry for laughing but if a guy were to get some kind of cut they would be so thrilled to have one because it would be so cool to have a scar, but you were thinking totally opposite of that and were worried about having a scar on your face.) Anyways, I ended up going to the hospital crying and worrying the whole time. I got a look in the bathroom before I left and I could split it open.... ewww! My teammates showed up after the game (we won!) and were able to arrive in time to see me get my stitches. OUCH! The numbing shots were worst than getting hit in the face, not to mention 4 different times did the doctor poke me! I have posted pictures of the whole ORDEAL.... hahhahaha I think I made a big deal out of it more than necessary but hey I always worry about how I look. I told my teammates that Heavenly Father was trying to teach me about not being so VAIN... since I always look in the mirror to make sure I look ok... I know I am not perfect but I sure didn't want to have some nasty scar above my  lip! It seems to have turned out great... Thank Goodness! I keep thinking what was the whole point in this happening to me... Well when I went to the hospital, I had an interpreter with me and while we waited for about an hour and half, we had time to talk and I was able to talk to her about the church, more about my mission though and so I keep wondering if this was supposed to happen so that this interpreter and I could meet. I hope she has the urge to learn more and investigates! Guess we will see when we all go to heaven! :)

This is the Bailey Family addicted to SPAGHETTI!

Aim!

Slirp!

Swallow!

She is becoming a true spaghetti eater! Spaghetti is a family favorite of ours and its so easy and quick to make! Brooklyn could sit for hours slirping all the noodles and eat bowls and bowls of canned diced tomatoes! I wonder where she gets that from... her MOM and DAD! We love spaghetti, MORE SPAGHETTI we say! Growing up my mom bought a book, "More Spaghetti I Say!" and I would read it over and over again wishing I was the one eating spaghetti everywhere! If you haven't read the book go check it out at the library. I can remember how I imagined the spaghetti would taste and how I thought I could never get sick of it if I ate it all day, everyday.... so typical for a kid to think that way. Each birthday growing up we got to choose what we wanted for dinner, I am sure you could guess what I chose... YEP SPAGHETTI! Okay so this is a silly post about spaghetti but hey we love it! Enjoy the pictures!

I just had to post this cute picture of Brooklyn... I can't believe how big she is getting! I love this little gal and how much happiness she brings into our family.  Matt and I feel truly blessed she chose to come to our family... There is some significance as to why I posted this picture. I had a dream when I was pregnant, before Matt and I knew whether we were having a girl or a boy. In the dream was a young girl and I was playing and running around with this young girl... this picture looks so much like the little girl I saw in my dream. I knew in the back of mind that the girl in my dream was going to be my little girl someday... I like to think that before I was born I was playing and interacting with the girl that would someday be my little girl and the dream was but a small remembrance of life before we came to earth. As I think about this I am reminded of the hymn song, O My Father, and this particular line sticks out to me: 

For a wise and glorious purpose thou hast placed me here on earth and withheld the recollection of my former friends and birth. Yet ofttimes a secret something whispered, "You're a stranger here," and I felt that I had wandered from a more exalted sphere.

I love you sweet Brooklyn....