Thanksgiving

We had a bash at our house for Thanksgiving! It was a full house!

Wall to Wall Folks

Good Food, Good Friends, Good Family, Good Fun!

Uncle Mark entertains the troops.

Holly, Steffi, Brandi, and Shea

Me and my sweet girl

Kathy and Steffi

Sleep-Over fun!

More Giving Thanks...

Steff and Dev...AFTER.... Heather and Gomer stopped by for some fun.
Al and ShelbyMichelle and Shane

Steffi, showing off her 'Moon-Walking" skills

And More Fun....

Me and Steff, Cookin" up a storm!Dev and Zak, playing football.
Grandpa and Mark, hanging out.
3 cute potato peelers!
Brandi, Shea and Holly

Pretty tables

Rain Dance

I was browsing through some pictures the other day, and found this group of goofy ones. One evening last July, Kyle and Steff and Al had just gotten home from their jobs, when it began to downpour! It was one of those awesome warm rains with giant rain drops. My children have always been extra bright, and at least "have the good sense to go out in the rain". So I found them outside doing their "Rain Dance". I thought they were so funny that I took pictures....Then, I thought it was extra funny to lock them out of the house until they sang the

"We Love You, Momma" song.



"We love you, Momma,
Oh Yes, We Do-oo..."

I love those 4 people 1,000,000 Summer Rainstorms!

My babies....Aren't they so stinkin' cute?

State Cross Cross Country 2009

Alex ran at the State Cross Country Meet at Sugarhouse Park in SLC last week. It was his first time at a really big meet and he did so well. He ran a 3-mile course in 17:33. He was 64th overall in Varsity, and came in 8th out of all sophomores. It was a beautiful, cool fall day for a run. It was a good season.

Coach Esplin, Kyle, Jordan, James, Al, Coach Thompson

Blake, Tyler, Nate

Going, Going, Gone...

We have just begun a new adventure in our family. Mark's sister, Michelle, has come to live with us for the next couple of months. She has cancer in her trachea and in her thyroid. The best place for her to be treated is, of course, the Hunstman Cancer Center in SLC. Michelle lives in Pocatello with her sweet husband and cute daughter. So, it is very difficult for her to be away from them at this time. So, we are trying to make our home a happy, and peaceful place for her while she lives here. She has one chemo treatment a week, and 5 radiations treatments. So... we trek to SLC every day. We made it through the first week with no trouble at all. She is doing really great. So far, she has had no side effects. We assume that they will begin sometime soon. But, until then, she is feeling really good. We did notice her first bald spot today, though. As disheartening as that was, we found a silver lining in that cloud. We met a nice lady today at Huntsman that had a beautiful head-wrap on. We stopped her and asked her about it. She immediately took it off for us to examine. We were so surprised to see that it was made out of a plain old t-shirt! So, on the way home, we stopped and bought some cheap t-shirts and found some really nice scarves, as well. We had a lot of fun tonight, making them for FHE. Check out all the stiles! (the boys were even good sports about it. She's gonna look really groovy!Aunt Michelle and Dev.

Dev has a different idea of what would be attractive....

Head turbans.... Guy style...

Gal Style

Wild Thing

Here is a look at my latest creation! Our Library here in Salem has been open for a year. To celebrate, they had fun games and activities for children. One of the fun things was a cake walk. My friend Sandy is on the library board, and needed a cake for it with a theme coming from a story book. So, I 'went out on a limb' and tried my hand at a picture from "Where the Wild Things Are". I think it turned out pretty cute.

SHHS Letter Jacket

Look! Al's Letter Jacket finally arrived! We ordered it clear back in June.

It seemed a long time to wait for it until today. I think it is so nice looking!

I do love the SHHS school colors! They are very close to my beloved Bear Lake High School colors. (Sorry, Kyle and Steff....red and gray are good, too.)

This jacket represents a whole lot of miles run,and a whole lot of lawns mowed. Way to go Alex!
And from the rear...

Soldier Hollow 09

Alex has begun his sophomore Cross Country season. He has been doing very well. Some runs are better than others, but all in all, he is getting stronger and faster every week. We made the trek through Provo Canyon to a cool place called Soldier Hollow. It is where they had the cross country skiing for the Olympics in 2002. There is a BRUTAL race course there that his team had to run. Many hills and dips up a dirt and rock and grassy trial.

It was hard to even watch! Start of the race. Go!

Big finish. 18:37 for a 3-mile course. He was 32nd place overall.


Al and his buddy, James.


And another friend, Tannon.

All in Skyhawk blue at the finish line. Good Job Alex!

Me, Steffi, Kyle, Mark, Al, and James.

Let the Celebration Begin!!!!

The fun we have been planning all summer long finally came! We had a dinner at our house to celebrate Kyle and Heather the night before the wedding. It turned out so well! Who knew we could fit so many people into our yard! Kris (Mark's partner) and Kim Ashby, were here to see the fruits of their labors. They both worked very hard for a long time to make our landscaping look just perfect for the big day. Kris worked his magic and we love, love, love our yard!

Tables ready to go.

Steff lighting candles in the lanterns.

Dev and his buddy, Will, supervising the cooking....

Our dear friends, the Ford family, cooked a dutch oven dinner for us!

It was delicious! It was so fun to have them out in our driveway all day long, cooking away! It could not possibly have tasted better.

Thanks, Aubri, Brooke, Tim, Misty, Mary and JD!

Wedding Dinner Guests

Wedding Dinner

Random pictures of the guests at the Wedding Dinner

Kyle and Heather's mission president couple, Blair and Jane Bennett, came to the festivities! They drove all the way from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to be a part of it. (That is about a 20 hour drive!)

It was so much fun to finally meet them, and learn for ourselves, just why they are so beloved! We agree!Sister Bennett, Heather, Kyle, President Bennett