Home and Family

Family Photos from Last Fall

2011-05-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

We had some great Photos taken last fall by Earth Momma Photography,
She is great and the kids love when she takes the pictures because she does stuff they want to try.

Guess who is home

2009-05-20T19:27:00.001-07:00

Jordan arrived home this evening from Hawaii.
The pictures are of his last day on Kauai, sunrise, bright sunny day and sunset.
The sign the girls and Mark made to welcome him home.

Hair Today and Gone Tomorrow!

2009-05-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

See these BOYS. They are mine.

Joseph is engaged.

2009-05-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

This last month Joseph has been working on getting engaged to the love of his life Sarah Pennell.
She is from Allen TX and is a beautiful girl.
We all love her and are looking forward to her being a part of out family.
They will be getting married on August 8th in the Dallas Temple.

Cousins Breakfast

2009-04-23T13:00:00.001-07:00

This last month while I was in Utah I went out to breakfast with some of My cousins.
My cousin Jen and Sister Ben set it up for us to meet in Salt Lake for breakfast and a visit.
It was fun to see cousins I hadn't seen in 20 years and catch up.

Family

2009-04-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

I was recently in the company of my Mother and 2 Sisters for an exciting week of sisterly love and enjoyment in the big state of Idaho. (Lava Hot Springs population 512 to be exact)
I must admit it was a wonderful week of relaxation and fun.
We have started trying to get together for a visit of just us every 2 years and this is our second trip. We had to fit it in while my sister Ben is still on leave before she starts her job in Provo at BYU in 2 weeks.It's fun to just be the girls all grown up. My baby sister is 10 years younger than I am and was only 8 when I left home and moved to Texas.
It has been years since I was up in Lava and I'm not even sure if I was remembering it correctly.
We rented a house The Strawberry Fields Home a few blocks from the main hot pools. We had purchased big fluffy robes and went down to the pools once or twice a day while we were there.
When we weren't at the pools we were watching all of our favorite movies (Jane Austin, and Elizabeth Gaskell) and playing games and reading entertaining books. I think I finished 4
We didn't watch TV or hear the news for a whole week.
We visited and talked story, diets, and families for 7 days.
My darling husband sent us some of the most beautiful roses. We watched them open and most thoroughly enjoyed them. Thanks Mark from Mom, Ben, Holly and I.
It rained the sun came out and temperature rose to a balmy 78 one day and down into the 30's the next. It snowed and stuck (not something I have seen much of these last 25 years)It is an amazing feeling to be sitting in a hot pool 112 degrees and watch the snow fall and feel it land on your back just to sizzle away. Then to feel the steam rise as the temperature outside falls and the breeze blows across the pool.

We also took a short trip into Pocatello to Walmart for supplies, I want you to know I didn't go find my missionary that happens to be in Pocatello right now, but we did get some groceries for him and dropped them off at the Mission office. We were able to meet the Sweats serving in the mission office and hear that he bore his testimony just an hour before at a meeting they had been attending. We also got to see the mission board and amazing amount of information on the mission board. My Sister noticed there were a lot of missionaries from Texas.

One night we went into Soda Springs which boasts the largest captive geyser in the world and was featured in "Ripley's Believe It or Not." The geyser, in downtown Soda Springs, erupts every hour on the hour and is kinda smelly.

All in all the scenery was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, and the company very enjoyable. The pools were hot, the snow cold, the people nice and helpful, the sisters and mother fun, and the family home sick. Sorry Mark

Missionary

2009-03-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

Most of the people that check my blog know that I have a missionary serving the Lord in a far off state.
He is doing great and loves the people.
This is a bit about his week and what he is doing.

We had a way cool experience this last week! We went on splits with the zone leaders so we could pick up a referral they had for us, and so that we could cover another appointment at the same time, I went and had a great lesson with this guy who had his sister get baptized a little while ago, and promised her that he would talk to the first missionaries that he saw, and so he was excited to see us, in the past 2 days had already started reading the Book Of Mormon and liked it (although he said that he had a little bit a of a problem understanding the language of the scriptures). We have another appointment tonight and will probably get him out to church this week.
While we were doing this the other 2 went to another referral that we had and the guy pulled them in and said that he had been waiting for us to show up. He had gone down to the Draper Temple open house and had really felt the spirit, he said he felt like he had been waisting the first 25 years of his life without the gospel and wanted to get baptized, he had grown up catholic but had never felt right about it and had always wondered why we would go through life married to someone but then have it be only "to death do you part". They tried to set a baptism for April 11th but he asked if he could do it before then, and so he has a baptism date for the
21st of March!
In December he wrote home about the food he was getting.
This is one day of that week.
On Saturday we were fed a big lunch and went to talk to some people in the ward they gave us hot chocolate (it was almost a blizzard out side)We then went and talked to someone else they gave us more hot chocolate and some snacks. then we went and helped someone shovel their driveway and guess what!?! they gave us hot chocolate! We went to dinner and ate a big dinner with...hot chocolate, then off to help someone move stuff around in their house and they gave us another dinner and....MORE hot chocolate! ha ha.

+

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-03-04T12:32:00.000-08:00

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008

2009-02-27T12:48:00.000-08:00

I have decided to give a quick update and try harder this next year.
We had a very good year and would like to share the highlights.
Jordan came home for a visit, Skylar turned 1, Aunt Ben came for a quick visit, Joseph came home from his mission in New York, Eliza and Joseph went to Kauai to visit Jordan, Mark and Joseph went on a canoeing trip, we had cousins come and visit us, we went to Utah to visit cousins, Mark and I went to Kauai to be apart of Jordan becoming an Elder, Marks parents came to be apart of him becoming a high priest, Jordan came to see Joshua off and we had all our children together for the first time, And Joshua left for his mission in Pocatello Idaho.

The Conservatory Overcoat GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-02-27T12:06:00.000-08:00

The Conservatory Overcoat GIVEAWAY!!!!

Puss Ann Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-02-27T11:40:00.000-08:00

Puss Ann Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-02-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Very Funny

2008-12-21T21:46:00.000-08:00

This is a few of "our elves dancing"! (Jordan, Sara, Jonathan, Jonah, Skylar) After you view this dance, click on the "Try Another Dance" button on the left ... they are all really funny!

Christmas Lights

2008-12-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

We went out looking a Christmas lights this evening. A tradition that we all love when we are finished we come home and have a cup of hot chocolate and visit.
Last year we discovered a fun house over in the Deerfield neighborhood.
The Deerfield neighborhood is well known for their lights. They have horse drawn carriage rides, lots of limos and helicopter rides flying over.
If you are trying to go in though the main entrance it can take up to an hour just to get in and forever to get to see the fun lights.
They do have one of those fun music and light houses that is fabulous. The wait is very long to get to it.
But if you sneak down to the Ohio light, turn right and then turn right onto Quency (about 5 or 6 block up) you can get right to another fabulous light and music home that is every bit as good and easier to see.
This is our 2 year for finding this home and so much easier. You can then mosey the back way through the neighborhood and have just as much fun.

Gordon's lights: http://gordonlights.com/

Deerfield Homeowners: http://www.deerfieldplano.org/

YouTube

2008-12-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

Now I have figured out how to post something from YouTube I have to share my favorite Tex Avery Cartoon.
Tell me what you think of the new model from Paris.

The Littlest Angel

2008-12-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't ever read this srory or heard the song. I read it to my kiddos this evening and then found this while changing my playlist.

Director Eliza

2008-11-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

My kids have been playing and this is what they came up with.
Eliza did the editing and Sara wrote the news story.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Boys Playing On Gandpa's Stairs

2008-11-17T23:30:00.000-08:00

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The Tah

2008-11-17T20:33:00.000-08:00

I packed my family up and took them to the Tah for 2 weeks in July.
We left the dad home for a week but he came out and visited with us and that was fun.
We stayed with my Mom and with my Dad. The big boys stayed with Dad the whole time.
We went to SLC Square and had lunch with Gma and Gpa while on their mission. Some of the family were able to go to see the Spoken Word broadcast. On our last big night we went to see the Osmond's and the Tabernacle Choir for the 24Th celebration and the 50Th for the Osmond's.
The big boys went on a fishing trip with my Dad and my Brother.Big J's first big fishing trip since he got home from his mission.

We had water fights, picnics, parties, popcicles, fireworks, and just tons of fun.
Some went to EFY and some took thier first night away from Mom and some went fishing.
We read books we watched movies we went in the "Big Creek".
We made dams and retaining walls, we poured cement,put down new grass and looked at computers, met new cousins, and J got his mission call while we were gone. He teased us all and opended it on his own at Temple Square.

Summer 2008

2008-11-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

After our room redo we had some cousins come to visit and go to camp. We planned a couple of swim trips, teen party, shopping and then the big girls went to camp while we played at home.
It's fun to have cousins come and visit to make new friends with people we haven't seen for a year or more.

When they left we had our annual 4th bonfire and got ready to go to the tah and visit family and cousins.

Long lost summer

2008-11-17T19:16:00.000-08:00

It has been many months since I have written in my blog.
I have had many things going on with getting Josh on his mission and painting a room moving kids around and starting school and CROCHETING a little trip to Hawaii, 2 to Utah and then I haven't been able to get to my pictures and I hate the idea of blogging and telling all this stuff and not showing you pictures so I just don't.
We started the summer off with a redo of #2 sons room and made it #4 daughters room.
When we started it was a very dark red. I re textured the top half and ceiling in the room we then put a coat of primer on and then a wash coat of orange we were going to do brown on top but she liked the lighter orange better. Joseph and Mark put in the wainscotting and I painted it white.
She likes the S wall and the new (old craigslist desk) with the big drawers.
As you can see I had a helper for painting. He is is in the first 2 pics on the window seat.

She wanted the room done so that when she had her cousin come they would have fun staying in her room.
These next pictures are the girls after our princess night with the new matching PJ's and hair,fingers and toes done up princess like.

Thank You Allison

2008-09-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

I love it! Thanks for the inspiration to get going again.
Allison did the new layout for my blog.Check her out.
http://www.alliebrownslayouts.blogspot.com/

Bluebonnets

2008-06-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

It has been way to long since I posted on here.
In April we rediscovered the Bluebonnet field that we went to the year that we moved up here to the Allen Area.
We drive by it every week on our way to TKD.
Momma got a bee in her bonnet and we packed 6 kids, 1 Granddaughter, 1 Radio Flyer wagon, and 3 cameras and went to take pictures.
We had tons of fun.

My favorites are the color isolation ones of Jonathan,

Eliza's Bluebonnets, and Jonah pulling Skylar in the wagon.
On the way home we went and got Ice Cream for a treat and took it home to eat.
When we finished we decided to have dinner. Sometimes we just have to do things a little different. We tried out our new waffle maker.
Waffles are one of our favorite quick dinners.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Stormy Weather

2008-04-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks we have had several stormy evenings.
We lost one of our forts in the back yard and several branches in the trees.
This last week the big boys took down the ant eaten trees before the big storm.
We will be expecting more storms this nest week.

He's Home

2008-04-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

Our Missionary is home.
He came home last week and we are all still adjusting to the changes.
We spent the first part of the week cleaning and getting ready.
The rest of the week was spent visiting and getting all the immediate things done that he needed.
Saturday we enjoyed conference and Sunday the same with a big Family dinner to top it off.
Joseph has already started working and things are starting to feel normal again.
It's good to have him home and the spirit he has brought back with him is good to feel.
I think he misses the Spanish so if you know Spanish talk to him in Spanish. (We can't help much in that area)

A little funny from this morning.
On the way to the temple two of my friends were discussing their schedules for Mondays.
One of them said she sent an email to her missionary son. I suddenly had this sick panic feeling that I forgot to write to our missionary this week. Then I remembered he was home.

Daylight Saving Time

2008-03-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

I am not looking forward to the time change early Sunday.
I found this info on Yahoo.
I wonder if Al Gore has seen this study. Does anyone have his email? We could forward this to him and maybe he could take care of this for us.
I really like the last line. Who thought they could get more hours out of the day?

It's official: Daylight Saving Time is a bust. Designed (and recently extended) as a measure to save energy in a period of inflated electricity prices, an in-depth University of California study has now shown that DST doesn't save anyone any money at all. In fact, it's costing consumers extra, to the tune of $3.19 in extra utility bills per year.

The study was made possible because of the peculiarities of the state of Indiana, which was only partially on DST until 2006. When the whole state finally went DST (to sync with the national business day), some comparisons vs. the prior method were made apparent. The study calculated that the shift costs Indiana residents an extra $8.6 million in electricity bills in total.

Why? Shouldn't they be, well, saving daylight -- and burning fewer light bulbs?

They are, said the study. But while lighting bills were reduced, air-conditioning units had to run more often, because people were home on hot afternoons when they'd otherwise be still at the office. Heaters had to be run on cool mornings, too, when people got up and it was still dark outside.

Professor Matthew Kotchen, who pioneered the study, noted, "I've never had a paper with such a clear and unambiguous finding as this."

This isn't the first time the energy-saving rationale of Daylight Saving Time has been attacked. The first was in 1976, three years after DST went into effect, when the National Bureau of Standards found that there was no significant energy savings after the switch. The recent expansion of DST to a few extra weeks was also revealed to have saved no energy during its run. And yet here we are...

In related news, it was also revealed that Daylight Saving Time actually creates no additional daylight

Texas Snowmen

2008-03-07T08:38:00.001-08:00

These are some Photos of the snow people that the kids made on Tuesday.

Texas Weather

2008-03-07T07:38:00.000-08:00

Only in Texas!
We have had "Roller coaster Weather" most of this winter.
But I would say that this week takes the cake.
Sunday afternoon the temperature went up to 78, Monday was cooler in the 60's but Monday night it snowed.
Not just flurries, big fluffy flakes that quickly covered the ground. When we woke up in the morning we had about 5 inches of snow covering everything.
The kids went out to play in the snow and make a snow family. They played outside for about 2 hours and topped it off with a show fight.
Then the sun did its job and the snow was gone by 1:00 and the temperature was up to 58 by the evening.
Wednesday the weather was nice in the 50's and then Thursday morning it cooled off again and started to rain. It was cold and rainy most of the morning and then it started to sleet and rain. In the early morning it started to snow. When we went to bed it was 34 but felt like 23. Here we are Friday morning March 7, 2008 and the temperature is 37 but feels like 28. The ground is covered in a thin layer of snow and we are all snug in the house with our heater and blankets.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Suka Dogs

2008-03-01T20:18:00.000-08:00

My little boys love dogs. They like to pretend they are dogs and they like to gather up all the stuffed dogs to play dog sitting for hours.

In the fall Jonathan noticed that Jonah had a dog of his own but he didn't. He asked if he could get one and I looked on ebay with him several times.

He picked the ones that looked more real and was excited to get one maybe for his birthday or Christmas.

Then I got a flier from Build-a-Bear and they have dogs. We looked at the flier and he thought the Husky was the best. I put it in my schedule that for his birthday I would take him out to lunch and to Build-a-Bear to get a husky dog.

About a week before his birthday I was talking to Jordan and he said that he had just rescued a Husky dog from the animal shelter on Kauai. He named her Suka. When we went to get Jonathan's dog we named him Suka also and called Jordan to tell him he had a Suka just like his.

When Jordan came to visit he took the kids to the Frisco Mall and bought something for everyone. Jonah picked a little version of Suka dog from Build-a-Bear.

Here are our photos of real Suka, Jordan, with Boss and Holly in the background.
Jordan, Jonathan, Suka, baby Suka and Jonah.

More Pictures

2008-02-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

Midnight games
Baby sleeping in the pool

Playing ball

Home

2008-02-12T16:12:00.000-08:00

We had a fun 3 weeks with Jordan.
It was a good visit and it was especially good to have an extra week.
While he was here he had his dental work done so he can turn his mission papers in when he gets home to Hawaii.
While he was here we had game nights 2 Birthday parties and a little trip to Tyler.
Skylar is now 1 and that was our first birthday with Sara turning 10 six days later.
Sara loved having her big red head brother home for her birthday.

We also had a belt test a t Tae Kwon Do. The 4 older children are all black belts and took TKD at the same place the little ones are going.

When Jordan went with us to the test Master Kim said He has gotten much taller. He also remembered Joshua when he took the kids for me. When Joshua went he was 4 and called himself Big Boy.
While he was here Jordan got lots of comments on the hair. Yes all the highlights were natural from being out in the sun every day. When he left he was in the keep it shaved stage and a lot of people were surprised to see he had curly hair.
It is good when your teenagers grow up to be wonderful adults.
I am ready to have Joe come home now.
It will be good to have them all home for a few days.

Home

2008-01-23T07:41:00.001-08:00

Look what I found when I got home from Tae Kwon do last night!!!

This is the best surprise ever.

This is Jordan.

Home for a visit.

He finally met his little brother.

Texas Coyote

2008-01-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Nina saw this coyote in the field nest to our house.

She came in and told me so we decided to take a picture. If you look real careful you can see it going down the side of the fence.

When it got to where the video ends. (ran out of space on the card) it chased a rabbit into our field and then moseyed on down and around the lake in our back yard.

I don't think it was afraid of us. They used to run off when doors opened and closed.

It was over in the field for several minutes with the door opening and closing several times and Nina walking through the yard.

November is gone?

2007-12-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

I made it all the way through November without a single post.
In the middle of the month I went to Arizona for a few days to visit a dear friend and be a support while her son was getting married.
We had a great time visiting and doing the things we used to do when she lived here in Texas.
We went to a concert for one of the girls, we went out to lunch, we practiced making wheat bread from scratch, we went shopping for a book needed for school, went to see the Joseph Smith movie at the visitor center, and we painted. She is my friend that helped me paint the flowers in Nina's room when you first come in the front door. (everyone thinks that it is wallpaper)
While I was there I made a new friend and that is always fun.
The wedding was wonderful and a miracle that I even made it to the temple.
We left early and made it to the temple a half an hour early but I forgot my recomend back at the house 20 min. away. I jumped in the car and said a prayer that I would please make it back in time but if I didn't I would not pout.
I hurried and made it back to the temple in record time just as the wedding was to begin. But I couldn't find a parking spot. I kept going around and around I finally gave up and parked at the corner. I jumped out of the car and ran to the temple when I walked up the front steps Gail stepped out the door and told me to hurry the wedding had been postponed for a half and hour. (not because of me but the wedding beforeus)
The Lord does answer prayers and teaches us in such interesting ways.
After the wedding we were walking around on the grounds and there was the most beautiful grey cat that was all over while we were there. I haven't ever seen anything other than a bird at the Temple that was interesting.
It was fun to see Gail and her family but it was fun to come home to mine also.
They had cleaned up and taken good care of everything.

A Few of My Favorite Things

2007-10-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

This week it has seemed more fallish and wonderful.

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the smells in the air, the cool weather, and the frenzy of trying to get all you can out of the day before it gets dark or cold.

( I also have a fall birthday)

My kids love to be outside and I often have to call them back in to get the school work done.

My favorite colors are fall colors.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

Hot Chocolate, Homemade Soup, Apple Pie, Caramel Corn and Apples, Homemade Bread,

The hot air balloons during balloon festival, pumpkins, sunflowers, and hayrides. These are some of my favorite things.

When I was in Young Women we always had a hayride in the fall. We took a hayride down a long lane to a farmers barn and watched a scary movie, ate donuts and drank apple cider.

The pictures are of the kids climbing all over the tractor and trailer that we borrowed for the hayride a few weeks ago.

Eliza's Birthday Party

2007-10-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Getting ready

Barbie Hairdo

Stamping

Pizza Cake

Girls Eating

Opening Gifts

All The Girls

Skylar and Jonah

On Friday night we had a group of 8 girls over to celebrate Eliza's 12th birthday.
They arrived at 6:30 and started right in on some stamping on note books for the crafty part of our party.Aria was invited to come and help the girls with this part.
After about 1 1/2 hours we got some pizza and lit some candles for Eliza to blow out
and had some dinner.
Some of the girls went to finish their books and the rest played.
When everyone was finished we brought up a chocolate fountain and some goodies for the girls while they watched a movie. (Evan Almighty)
When the movie was almost over they decided to open presents and then finished the movie.
I think they all had a good time because they were suppose to go home at 10:00 but didn't end up leaving until almost 11:00.
It was fun to have a party here with this group of girls they are all so sweet and enjoy each others company.
Part of the time I was watching Skylar and Jonah down stairs so we were out of the way. They had a hard time not being a part of the party. But it was a little quieter down there.

Our Missionary Joseph

2007-10-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

Joseph has been on his mission for 18 Months.

He is serving in the New York, New York North Spanish Mission. He is currently on Manhattan Island living in the Washington Heights area.

This is the 5th area he has been in and loves it in this ward because it is the area he was born in. (missionary lingo for his first area)

The place he was serving in before Joseph was part of a zebra companionship. (missionary lingo for Spanish and English speaking)

Joe has now been gone for 3 conference sessions and has been a part of many baptisms.

He loves working with the Spanish people. They are kind, polite and he has enjoyed learning the language.

Joseph has always been a hard worker and this is hard work that he loves. His testimony has grown and his patients.

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Times Up!!

2007-09-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

I have to do something here.
This last month has been crazy with school starting and a family camp at the beginning.
I took Eliza, Sara, Jonathan, and Jonah on a home school family camp with other families that we like to hang with.
We went to Lake Bistineau in Louisiana. We left on Tuesday Sept. 4 and stayed at a group camp in the State Park.
We did this last year only we went to Lake D'Arbonne State Park.
Louisiana State Parks are great. Especially for group camping.
The Adams purchased a boat just in time to share with all of us on the trip. Thank You
Everyone had a great time taking turns riding the boat and playing on the tubes.
We took turns cooking this year last year Margaret Johnson did most of the cooking for whole group.
The kids spent most of the time playing games, having fun, catching frogs, and we parents visited, watched the kids, and played games also.
Its fun to just take time to relax and next year Mark and Nina will be coming with us to family camp.
That was the worst part leaving part of our family home.

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

2007-09-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

I won this fun little contest on Amys blog a couple of days ago and part of the deal is that I would post the same contest on my blog!

Here you go:PAY IT FORWARD I will send a handmade gift to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. You may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. (So, you must have a blog to participate.)

How fun! Now let's all pay it forward, give each other gifts just for fun, and comment away! If you are one of the three, I'll contact you to get your mailing info (if I don't already have it.) If you're not one of the three, hurry and click over to the winners' blogs to see if you can make it!

** "Handmade" could mean something crafty, something pretty or something yummy coming from me. I'll cater it to the recipient.

A Little Trip

2007-09-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

On Thursday August 16 (Eliza's birthday) our family took a little trip to Conroe Texas for the weekend.

We had tons of fun just relaxing and playing.
We went swimming, fishing, Minature golfing, and just hanging around.

We also had lots of rain, in spurts.

Saturday morning we got up early and drove back Home.

An evening out

2007-09-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday evening Mark called from the office to ask if we would like to go to the baseball game. It was 7:00 pm and that is when it started.

He hurried home and we left to go and on the way we called Aria and Steven to see if they wanted to go.

When we all got there we had dinner and then went and watched the end of the game it was fun to sit and watch and visit.

When we left the ball park Mark looked at his phone and saw that he had missed one text message that said "Josh is fine we are at the Care Now please call."

Mike Black was with him at Care Now as you can guess it was a little stressful to get this kind of message from your neighbor and Bishop.

Joshua who was out at the lake with friends wake boarding and water skiing had fallen and gotten hit in the head with the wake board and needed 6 stitches to close it up.

His plan was to wash it and let it be but when he got home and nobody was here he called Mike to ask him to come and help him wash it. When Mike saw it he called Doug Johnson and decided to take him in to get stitches.

"SLIDE SHOW"

2007-08-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the "SLIDE SHOW" of our Celebration Park Activity

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Water Fun * click speaker 1 or 2 for music

2007-08-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our primary had a fun activity this last Saturday evening.
We all met at Celebration Park and had a good time playing and eating
watermelon and ice pops.
The kids played with friends in the water and all around the playground.
Steven and Aria came to the park with us.
Its fun to have big kids that want to still be apart of the family.
We took pictures of the kids sliding and playing and also of Skylar and Jonah.

Simple Fun

2007-08-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

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It has been a while .
Last evening Josh went out with his buddy Andrew and Nina went to babysit Skylar.
That made only 6 of us to feed and entertain.
Eliza has been working for Mark as Joshua's assistant and decided she could afford to take us out to pizza.
Sara decided that we should all go to the park and have dinner and then go play.
Joe Farmer is a great park for dinner out and play time. (something for everyone)
We walked up to the horse shoe pavilion and had pizza, then we walked down to the playground to play. The big kids and I walked around the lake on the little trails and Mark played with Jonah in the playground.
Its fun that just a couple of hours and pizza can make everyone feel happy.
We chased ducks and counted fireflies on the way home.

Sisters

2007-06-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

It has been about 2 months since I started this.

I just got back from a trip to Utah and then on to Las Vegas with my Sisters and Mother.

We had so much fun together. It has been 11 years since we were all together.

We all arrived early in Utah to attend a family reunion at my Dads home in Alpine. (That is a whole different story to tell another time)

Saturday afternoon we left the reunion and headed out to St George, we stayed the night at a friend of Moms winter home. Beautiful and so relaxing to stay some where that has everything you need and nobody knows the phone #. We visited, rested, and did our fingernails the best part of the whole vacation was all the visiting and resting we were able to do. When we got up the next morning we packed and headed out to Las Vegas and the planned portion of our trip.

When we got to Las Vegas we had reservations at the Orleans and spent 2 hours in a huge long line checking in. Mom and I sent Ben and Holly up to the rooms and went to get the Peter, Paul, and Mary concert tickets. When we got upstairs holly was standing in the hall her key wouldn't work and Ben was down the hall on a phone telling the desk that the other room was occupied.

While Ben and Mom went to get a new room Holly jumped in the shower and when they got back to the room they told us that we both had new rooms.

The rest of the trip went very smooth. The concert was so fun Ben Holly, and I were almost the youngest in the room.

The next day we had our massage and facial in the spa we also did the jacuzzi and steam room so relaxing. when we were all relaxed Holly booked us a pedicure for the next day and bought tickets to see Oceans 13.

On Tuesday we got tickets to see Spam a lot (great show) Holly and I rode the shuttle to the strip and walked around then we went back to the room and ordered room service dinner and got ready for the show. We had a lot of laughs at the show. Thanks Holly for the show idea.

On Wednesday we did the jacuzzi and steam room then we hurried to check out before noon.

We hit the road and went back to St. George for the night and had more rest and visit time. We got to spend time at cousin Jenny's for a few hours of visiting and catch-up on our lives.

We were having so much fun relaxing that we stayed until Friday morning and hit the road again. We got to Salt Lake with just enough time to pick up my extra bag and get me to the airport. I was the first one to leave, Ben left on Saturday and Holly on Sunday.

This was a much needed trip by all of us and the connections and love were strong.

Thank you to my family for letting me do this and not make be sorry I did.

While I was gone Mark and Joshua left for Philmont. Aria, Steven and Skylar came to stay with the little kids.

The big sister, I hope they will all want to get together like this some day.

My sisters and I are very different. So different that I don't know if we would ever pick each other as friends in the outside world not because we don't like each other but we would never meet. It is good to have family to make you grow and try new things. To teach you and help you understand and except other ways of doing things.

In the beginning

2007-05-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Hello,

A new beginning.

I have never tried anything like this so we will see how this adventure goes.

It has been a busy Sunday. We as a family went to see Skylar get her blessing today. We had to be up at 6:30 to get to the church on time. The meeting was nice and the baby was beautiful. She was a perfect baby she slept the whole meeting and let all the little aunties hold her before it started.

Both Grandpas, Uncle Richard,Bishop Packard and Daddies 3 friends Josh,Alex, and Jared were all able to be in the circle.

Many of the testimonies today mentioned the PBS show about the LDS Church that was shown this last week.

It is still hard for me to believe that I am a Grandma. I also have an 18 month old baby of my own. Uncle Jonah loves the Bubu.

After Church we came home and rested for a few hours and then prepared dinner for the Fast Sunday clan. Aria, Steven, Skylar, Forest, and Suzanne came to dinner with all of the rest of the family.

When dinner was over the boys Sara, and Eliza all played outside for a while and then we all went in our room to visit and the little kids played a game of hide and seek. They laughed and had a good time together.

It is now getting late and the scriptures are read along with the dishes.