Just in time

Deacon had a goal to earn his Eagle Scout Award BEFORE he turned 14. Well, his is birthday is in 1 1/2 more weeks and we were able to squeak in His Court of Honor this last Sunday. Here are a few pics.





We're proud of you son!

Concerts!

Between high school orchestra, the East Vally Mormon Choir (EVMCO), high school choir, elementary choir and band we have been concert hopping all month!!! One highlight was having Mamo and Poppa here for a week at the beginning of December. We kept them busy almost every night attending some kind of musical event. Poppa was in HEAVEN......well, Mamo was anyway:) This was the only picture we got of the whole week. Ya, we're pretty lame like that. Don't pay any attention to Shay in the robe...I'm sure she doesn't want anyone to notice...hehehe

Fly like an EAGLE!!

Saturday was one BUSY day for us. We all got up early and excitedly headed off to Deacon's Eagle project! He chose to work with Save the Family, an organization that helps families of domestic violence get on their feet. We prepared an apartment for a family to move in.

Here's one of Deacon's uncles helping with the job. Sure appreciated the hard work he put in. Most of his time was spent in an upstairs bathroom...eeewww.
We have a very small Deacon's quorum, here is one of our newly baptized Deacon's and his Muslim friend that came to support in the cause.
The best friend was a big help!
And the prospective Eagle himself! He led the project and did a pretty good job at it too.
Kitchen kept me occupied the whole 4 hours!
Ward helpers! Appreciate these guys!
Fellow boy scout and cousin lending a hand. It was a project that left me with a feeling of doing some good in the world that day!

A Little 2011 Heaven!!

We had the privilege of spending October break with Mom & Dad and all of their posterity (minus 2 Dad's that had to work). It was a wonderful week full of scheduled and impromptu fun. The weather and scenery was beautiful! Here are a few things I don't want to forget.

We determined to do some work projects while we were there. The kids were great worker bees as we chopped a HUGE fallen tree into firewood. Papa's tractor came in quite handy...as you can see:)
Yep...this pile was the work of lots of little worker bees.
Here's a shot at the top of Green's Peak. It's a beautiful view don't you think....look at those kids
Here's a group pointing to the spring. This was the destination of the hike one day. Doesn't look like much, but it's the source of the pond down the mountain.
Truckload of kids on their way to Green's...most of this group chose to run down the mountain instead of drive down.
Here's a shot of one of our Minute to Win it games.
Another game, get the cookie in your mouth with only facial movements! She did it!
Watching this game made me cry from laughing so hard!
We spent one afternoon riding horses. It was another highlight for the kids.


Some other favorites were Family Feud, team building games, singing around the fire with Papa playing the guitar. Making smores, watching old family videos, and exercising with the adults, it was a week full of fun and family. It truly was a little heaven in 2011!

Our little.....more like BIG star!

Derek tried out for the school musical and had a wonderful experience. They performed Give My Regards to Broadway and he played "Legs." Here are a few photos of the gangster.

I was proud of his efforts to overcome his stage fright! Boy did he overcome!
Here he is in his tutu trying to avoid capture.
He was definitely MY star of the show!!

Grand Canyon Railways

Mima was itching to spend some time together so she arranged for ALL of us to take the train from Williams AZ to the Grand Canyon on Labor Day. It was a fun trip, cool weather and beautiful scenery.Here we all are. Mima and Poppa's posterity-5 kids with spouses and 19 grandchildren. Quite a crew.
For some reason our rail car was kind of noisy:)
At the Grand Canyon the kids all participated in a jr. ranger program. Here they are at the pinning ceremony.
On the way back to Williams we were robbed! Here are a few of the bandits.

Here we all are being trained by the ranger. She was showing us what animals live in the area. We were even lucky enough to see a couple of California Condors.

Mima and Poppa with their laps full. It was a fun day. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

cousin campout

The weekend before school starts we have an annual cousin campout for kids 8 and older. We have missed the last few years but were happy to be able to attend this year. Our whole family could go as everyone is older than 8 yrs old. It was an awesome experience. From cooler weather, to playing in the creek, to sharing our favorite scriptures around the campfire.

We were all tuckered out when it was all done. It was a fast and furious trip.

First Day of School!! (a month later)

Sophomore (holy cow!!)
8th grade
5th grade
My favorite crew of kids. These are fun people!

So far so good for the 2011/12 school year!

Summer of FUN!!!

We are just catching our breath from finishing one of our best summers yet! We began the summer with a Mayberry reunion in St. David. I loved rubbing shoulders with relatives that we don't get to see as often. I especially loved the map that showed all of the different areas in the world that have had missionaries from Grandpa Jim and Grandma Gwen's posterity. What an inspiration. We left the reunion to travel to SLC for Shay and Steve to perform in the tabernacle. That was an amazing trip as well. The kids and I got to hike Ensign Peak, tour the conference center, go to the movies, shop, and visit with the Brubakers. The trip finished with a bang as Mamo and Susie flew in from CA to go to the concert with us.

We spent June doing Scout camp, EFY, Girls Camp, and swim team. Super fun. The kids and I left on June 30th for an awesome week at Aspen Grove. It's a family camp run by the BYU alumni at Mt Timpanogas. What an amazing experience. We were lucky enough to spend the week with Janette and Brian and their two cute boys. Here are a few pics of that trip.

Twinners slept in the loft of our little A-frame
Shay in the middle of the high ropes course. She rocked it! I couldn't believe how well she did. It was SCARY....I experienced it:)
Here they are going around on the balancing wires. Yikes, and SUPER tiring.

Here we are in front of our A-frame (it just happened to be the furthest one from the eating hall) Which ended up being ok as we were pigging out all week long!

Derek during the family dance-pretty good at the limbo for a tall guy huh?

One of our favorite things was meeting the Hamacher's from Missouri. We loved getting to know them, having game night and especially kicking booty on the wallyball court!

So many memories! We drove home and 2 weeks later flew to Quincy for the Wright reunion. Loved spending time in that little town. The weather was gorgeous and the company was great. We had a whole 10 days to get home and prepare for school to start!

#1 Dad

This man is #1 in our books. We love all that he brings to our family. Laughter, love, giggles, and happiness are a regular eveyday event in our house because of him. He is our everything! Provider, chauffeur, counselor, cook, teacher, listener, handyman, and on and on. Happy Father's Day!

Some of his biggest fans!

Dream Come True

We had the amazing opportunity to spend the last week in Salt Lake City. The reason for the trip...so that hubby and daughter could record a CD entitled "Messiah in America" and perform the inspiring oratorio in the Tabernacle. It was an awesome week filled with fun, family, r & r, and a little driving.

Thanks to my awesome sis-in-law who let us crash for the week. The kids had a blast hangin with their cousin, swimming, and playing games. If I have more time and energy I'll try to post some more pics of this fun trip.

(had to delete my photos...apparently the church asks that we not post any pictures of the organ pipes..they are a copyright of the MoTab....who knew!)

My BOLD Boy!

Friday was twin day at the Jr. High. Deacon and his best friend decided they wanted to do something a little different. Sooooo...here is how they went. He said they had lots of positive feedback, from the principal, to school teachers and students. Many asked to take their pictures. One non member asked "where's your bikes?" I was impressed with his ability to not be ashamed or embarrassed but instead shine as an example of the believers. Almost got me choked up to see what a good looking missionary he is. Can't believe it will all be reality in as little as 6 years! LOVE this kid!!!

A whole decade!!

This past Sunday we celebrated Kevin and Kinsey's 10th birthday. That's right, double digits, a whole decade of having those two in our family! We reminisced watching their first birthday, first Christmas, and other family movies. I can't imagine our family without these two. They add such spice, joy and laughter to our group. I love my twinners. Some of my favorites about miss Kinsey: She still likes to snuggle She tries her hardest in all that she does. She likes to help in the kitchen and does a pretty good job Some of my favorites about the Kevster: This kid is ALWAYS happy He makes me laugh His heart is tender Love to hear him sing-as long as it's not too loud:) See what spice they add? We needed a little more of that in the family....don't you think?