OUR OWN PERSONAL FAMILY CHEF (Ryker) AND SOUS-CHEF (Syvanna)

When I homeschooled Syvanna and Ryker we would have cooking time every other day and look up recipes and go buy the ingredients and then come home and wash up, cut up, and cook up everything we needed to cook dinner for that night. About 2 years ago Ryker really started getting really interested in cooking, and especially on creating his OWN recipes. So, we started letting him take one day a week to create anything he wanted for dinner and we would have whatever he made. He was seriously great at soups...mostly anything he wanted to make them out of from the fridge and cupboards and whatever spices he wanted from our spice cupboard....they all seemed to turn out great. Then he ventured into pastas, making sauces for the pastas as well as for some chicken dishes. For some reason he still has not lost interest in doing that and we still have him "throw something together" at least once a week. Sometime , about a year or so ago, Syvanna wanted "in" and Ryker took her on as his "SOUS-CHEF" which I think he learn that whole option from the movie "Ratatouille"...and they have been teamed up on that mission ever since. Their ideas and creation are always a joy and usually quite tasty but for me ...my favorite part is watching and listening to these darling friends plan, cut up, create and just laugh together in this function....and to always see how proud they are of themselves and eachother when we have our official "presentation of the dish" to the table that night. I never could have planned it better myself to have these two bond in this venue....they are so blessed to have eachother and our family continues to learn from the 2 "youngest"in our home! We love you Chefs Ryker and Syvanna.....we look forward to being the recipients of millions more of your tasty culinary masterpieces....always made with your signature ingredients of love and laughter!

Exclusive Interview Footage with the Chefs

MY 40th BIRTHDAY-May 6,2008

This was my FOURTIETH birthday! What a year...what a life! When I was in kindergarten I remember thinking that my brother Steven was soooo much older than me, because he was in THIRD GRADE! I thought the third graders were so cool and soooo much older than me...It did'nt even go much farther than that for me, I guess because that was my goal....to be as "big and cool "as a third grader I guess. When I was in third grade I remember going to my sister Michelle's Class (she was Lisa then) and getting her attention and she knew what that meant...she would give me her glasses so I could borrow them for the rest of the school day without my mom and dad knowing so I could look "older and more mature" to my friends and I wanted to be as "big and cool" as Michelle was. I could go on and on, when I was 9 or 10 I wanted to already be 12 so I could be in Young Womans already, then at 12 I wanted to be 16 so I could be "big and cool" by driving and dating and so on.....I imagine some of that is fairly normal, and some of that was driven by my "growth challenges' so I wanted to compensate somehow, but it is crazy to me that whatever went on during those years in my progression....
I now of course cannot believe how fast those ages came and went....where did 40 years come and go?,...and have I made enough out of that time?, have I spent most of that time climbing as close to my potential at this time as I could have? Should have? For me , I say YES!...for atleast 2 reasons: one, as I watch my children grow and progess through their ages I have seen at times what appears to be wasted time, or unproductive spans...but as time has past I have seen more clearly that EVERYTHING that they engage in has taught them something about themselves and what they really want and the feelings they want to keep around and the ones they want to avoid! It short, it is making them who they are today and who THEY will be when they turn 40, 50....110! So, for my point,....I choose to believe the same has been my growth and progression pattern-- and every day, whether productive, happy, thrilling, rewarding,and peaceful or challenging, painful, unproductive,and fearful the gift of those days have accumulated into who I am today at 40, and I really like Stephanie Suzanne Du Bois Simmons, not only for who I am today and all the experiences, people, and love that have gone into who I am , but for the road I am on and if I stick to this road (no matter the bumps, and speed limits set along the way) and be patient and humble with all of the unexpected road construction and repairs that I will continue to run into.....
I am pleased with what ultimate joy and peace my life's road is leading to. So I guess what I am saying is HAPPY FORTIETH BIRTHDAY TO ME and even more importantly HAPPY FOURTIETH BIRTHDAY to all of you who have enlarged my capacities and my joys along my journey!
I said there were atleast 2 reasons....but really the 2nd reason has 6 sub-set reasons:
1.Ronald Brent Simmons-2. Rylan Brent 3. Shayli Suzanne 4. Selleka Marie 5. Syvanna Skylar
and last but definately not least, especially in energy...6. Ryker Ammon!
I really feel with those blessings alone, promised to me eternally, my Heavenly Father has granted me a life way beyond what I feel I have earned up to this point....thank goodness I have more than 40 mortal years to show my love and gratitude for this most divine plan of
happiness that we have been and will most definately keep living!

My HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY SONG video

SHAYLI'S West High Choir Concert April 2008

Shayli had a great experience being in her high school choir this school year and her talent in singing as well as her confidence in sing in and for the public increased dramatically as well which also encouraged her to participate in the high school play "Grease" as well. These pictures were taken at Shayli's end of the year choir concert.
Shayli,we are so thrilled at your example to set a goal to do something that is difficult for you and then work to overcome insecurities by putting faith in your divine nature to eventually accomplish that goal. You did wonderfully in excelling in a talent while reminding us of the exhilaration and the thrill that can come from continued progression and development...Thank you for sharing your talents and example!

SYVANNA'S 9TH BIRTHDAY PARTY- May 1, 2009

For Syvanna's 9th birthday party we had the Birthday Olympic Games in honor of the 2009 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. It was a total and complete blast and a great success. Ronald even went as far as letting our backyard grass grow as long as possible so that he could mow giant "olympic rings" into the grass--Shayli and a friend dressed us in kimonos to help be hosts as chinese ambassadors--Ryker, Rylan and a friend acted as olympic security and were very much in character throughout the games--Selleka and her friend were event planners/olympic volunteers, and Ronald and Iwere judges and the all around olympic committee---it was so awesome! We had a marvelous time celebrating such a world class young lady with such a world class theme! We love you Syvanna, you are worth more than a million gold medals to our family and we are proud to have you represent our family in any event life brings you!