HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY, ZACH, AND SETH

WOW! They are eleven years old. It has been an amazing journey. Digging through pictures (just to find a few to post), brought back a ton of memories. In the coming months I intend to scan all of our photos, and create a true journey of the past 11 years of our lives. We have been so blessed. Jeremy and I are really struggling with the thought that we are on a downhill journey, at this point, in raising our family. We only have another 8 years, before they make major decisions in their lives! They are amazing kids! I don't know who has taught them all that they know, it certainly has not been their parents. It truly takes a village to raise a family. So many people have had a major influence in their lives. They are surrounded by so many people who love them! THANK YOU

I pray that the upcoming years will be full of stability, love, and commitment to the things that they have been taught. I would not want to be a teenager, in this day and age. The hurdles are huge! I am grateful that they have each other to lean on, and each other to tattle on.

So far, we have been able to have coed parties. We have attempted to do the "boy thing" and the "girl thing", but every time they decide they want to do the party together. This year we have rented an ice skating rink, and we will be having a big party combined with all family and friends! I will post the details later.

BYU or Utah

Never before have I felt so torn over the upcoming football game. I am a BYU fan, I attended the Y for 3 1/2 years. My dilema is two fold, my husband is a huge Utah fan, and I have enjoyed watching most of the games with him this season. Deep down, I think Utah is the better team this year. Second, if the Utes make it to a BCS bowl game, it could mean a mini-vacation for our family (I love to find any excuse to travel), depending on where?? I am looking forward to a good game!

Pinching Pennies

In an effort to save a buck, I am attempting to do family pictures on my own. We had these pictures taken out our cabin a few weeks ago. I took the ones of the kids, and a friend took the ones of the family. I am in the process of editing and developing, and framing them. If you can figure all of this out, you can save quite a bit of money. I am actually taking a photoshop class next week. I am very excited!

Halloween has come and gone, and I neglected to take any pictures?? What a loser! I guess it is because the kids get older and they aren't totally into dressing up (they do it only because they want to go trick or treating to get candy!). Another thing that I have learned this year is that candy is to readily available to my kids. I remember at this age, that I wanted to go trick or treating for hours to fill up my pillowcase. I think my kids went out for a total of about 45 minutes, returning with barely any candy. I guess it is time to buckle down, and throw out the junk food. (this will be harder on me than the kids!) Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! We host an open house for family and friends. We have soup and other munchies available for people to eat through out the night! It is fun to have friends and family gather, it is the memories we make that will last forever!

It has been an amazing fall! I can't remember the last time we had such great weather this late in the year! It was awesome. I must say that I am grateful for the recent snow fall, it has allowed me to shift gears and focus on the upcoming holiday season.

Are we ready for the real deal?

Zach and Seth played flag football this season. They are trying to decide if they have enough interest to play tackle football next season? Flag football was tough on Jeremy. He wanted to get out there and have some involvement with the coaching, they had enough coaches this time. They had a lousy season (due to coaching, says Jeremy). They didn't win any games. Zach and Seth are not ultra competative, so they didn't seem to mind.

As a result of Jeremy's observations, he has committed to coaching the spring flag football league, we will see how that goes?

My observations tell me that Seth will try tackle football next year. I think that Zach prefers being home, taking something apart, and finding a new use for it? I don't think sports are creative enough for him. Zach is asking for pvc pipe, glue, and valves for his birthday (he will use this to make some sort of rocket launcher??) Not every kid has to love sports, right??

Webelos Scouts

Zach and Seth received their Webelos badge this week in Scouts. They are working towards their Arrow of
Light. They love the scouting program and have been blessed with great leaders since the beginning. We are proud of their accomplishment and commitment. Way to go Zach and Seth!!

Fall is in the Air

I must have had a memory block, or the brain cells died when I had kids. I used to spend a lot of time in American Fork Canyon. I haven't been there for years. The kids, Grandma Leslie, Grandpa Mike, and I decided to go camping. We picked the closest campground to home that allowed ATV riding in the area, which happened to be AF canyon. It was breathtakingly beautiful! I had forgotten about such beauty, and it is right in our back yard. We had a great time! We roasted hot dogs, built campfires, went hiking, made smores, got rained on, went on an ATV ride, and built memories. I actually forgot that I really do enjoy camping. The only camping I have done in recent years has been girls camp, and that is a lot of work!

Luxurious Lake Powell

Families that play together, stay together!












I love year around school! We were fortunate enough to receive an invitaion to go to Lake Powell in mid-September! Words can't adequately describe what a great experience this was for our family. It was a perfect trip, nothing could have gone better. The company was awesome! The food was fabulous! The weather was wonderful! The scenery was sensational! We enjoyed getting to know families that we didn't know very well prior to the trip. The houseboat was out-of-this-world. It had a basement, main floor with that was decorated nicer then our home, two ice makers, two kitchens, a screened level, and an upper sleeping level (yes it had 4 levels total). Shawn found the perfect, yes I mean perfect, place to park the houseboat. We had our own private cove. The setting was inspiring, it is amazing to be able to enjoy the beauties of this world! There is no place like Lake Powell!

Abby enjoyed playing on the beach, kayaking, swimming, fishing, and finding sea shells. Abby didn't not spend one minute on our boat the entire trip. Zach took care of all of the audio needs during our vacation, as well as proving to be quite the outdoorsmen. Zach enjoyed some "tube wars"and socializing with the adults. Seth continues to improve his wakeboarding skills, he loves "tube wars", and helping others when needed! Jeremy and I enjoyed taking groups out on our boat to enjoy skiing, surfing, wakeboarding and tubing.

It was a trip of a life-time!! Thanks Packards, Nethercotts, Watsons and Witts!