X Games!

Over at the Raymond's, Ryan is trying his first time at bike ramps!

From the Mouths of Babes

Just a great line from Ryan!  On Sunday, Clark Butler asked Ryan if he knew what drugs were.  Ryan said, "Yes, they are bad for you and make your ribs turn black."  Too funny and very cute!

Road Trip Anyone?

Alex James - my THIRD child asked me to take him to get his driver's permit last week.  I was pretty reluctant, because I thought he would fail because he didn't study much.  However, being the good mother that I am, I relented and took him.  Boy, was I ever surprised that he passed - he showed me!  I let him drive around a little after church on Sunday and he did a really good job.  I am proud of him.  But, will I ever get over being afraid when my kids drive?  Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like that?  They are good drivers, but for some reason it scares me because I know that they don't have a ton of experience.  They're probably all better drivers than me!

Feast of Beasts 2

 3rd Ward had their "Feast of Beasts 2" last Saturday.  A few months ago at 6am Stake Priesthood meeting, our ward had the biggest percentage of priesthood holders there.  Because of that, they got the "Irod Rod" award.  They celebrate with the Feast of Beasts and this is the 2nd time they have won.  All the boys, from 2 on up are invited and they go crazy eating every kind of meat you can imagine.  There is pork, beef, elk, chicken, rattlesnake, etc.  You get the idea.  They also drink rootbeer that is served out of an old toilet bowl!  After eating themselves silly, they have different contests for the boys.  I snuck over for a little while on Saturday, just to witness what really goes on - the boys absolutely love it and wouldn't miss it for the world!

This is Ryan trying to catch a chicken.  He was a little shy at first, but rose to the challenge!

I caught one!

This is Taylor and Travis trying to put underwear on a steer.

It looks hilarious, but I feel sorry for the steer!

I'm Thankful for . . . . .

I'm Thankful for . . .

My Family

A Living Prophet

General Conference

My Home

Road Trips

My Bed

Watching my kids in their various activities

My Relief Society Calling

Friend's

Autumn

Family Vacations

Reading

Movies with Brad

Flowers

Holidays

Traveling

The Gospel

Answers to Prayer

My Savior

Penny Project

A few months ago, our Primary started saving change to buy a tree so that they could plant it at the Mesa Temple.  It was a project our Stake was doing together with the Temple.  Ryan and Danny were excited and willing earned and saved change and took it to Primary every few weeks.  

Saturday was the day that they actually got to plant the trees.  Our ward got a great spot with a nice view of the Temple.  Under direction of the Bishop :) the kids got to take turns digging the hole and filling it in.  It will be really neat when they get their endowments or get married and we can take another picture by "their" tree and see how big it has gotten!

Ryan taking his turn digging.

Danny filling in the hole.

These were the kids that were able to show up and help, along with the Bishop and the Primary Pres.

Election Blues

Well, it's been almost a week, and I guess I should go ahead and write about it.  Barrack Obama won the election for President of the United States.  I have been kind of down about it for the last week because he believes so differently than I do.  Anyway, I guess everything will be all right.  We have been counseled by our leaders that we need to be happy and have "joy in the journey".  I worry a lot to think what's going to happen in the next 4 years, especially with the economy and everything that is going on.

On a brighter note, Proposition 8 in California and Prop. 102 in Arizona both passed!  We are very happy about that.  I feel bad for the poor people in California though.  They have kind of had it rough.  They had to close the temple in L.A. and send everyone home because there were a thousand protesters outside.  It seems everyone is blaming the Mormons, when in reality over half the people in the state voted for Prop 8.  Only a very small percentage are Mormons.

I'm Getting Old

Just a note that Emily and Taylor both voted for their 1st Presidential Election!  Am I getting old or what?  Brad and I went with Taylor and it was really neat to see him fulfilling his civic duty.  I wanted to take his picture outside but he really didn't want me to.  Mom's getting pesky with her camera!

Election Day 2008

Yikes - Election Day is here.  I have been so stressed out about this whole thing for months.  The race for President is between John McCain and Barack Obama.  I am not a big John McCain lover, but I worry a lot about Obama, his policies and what he stands for.  And it looks like he will probably win.  I guess we'll see tonight or in the morning.  At least it will all be over either way.  The other big thing I'm worried about is Proposition 102.  It is a bill defining marriage.  We had a sign up in our yard and that night it got stolen.  Mormons are really taking a lot of heat for this - especially in California.  I know a lot of people think that we are bigots, but it goes so much beyond that - I don't think a lot of people fully understand the issue.  If the "no" votes win, it will change everything.  Click on the title above to find out how.  It is truly an historic vote.  

Happy Halloween!

This is always a favorite tradition - but it just hasn't been the same with Emily gone.  Also, we were just getting over a nasty stomach flu, so the pumpkin smell was a little too much!

Halloween was on a Friday this year - yay!  Ryan had missed the whole week of school from being sick, but we let him go trick-or-treating for a little while anyway.  Danny always has a gang of friends that he goes with - Taylor and Alex both had parties - so all had a great time.  Miss you Emily:(

Alex is "Nacho Libre", isn't it hilarious?  All the kids had great costumes this year. Taylor got his "early 70's" look from Savers.  Danny makes a great "Amigo"  and Ryan is a cute "Karate Kid".

Welcome Home!

This is my cute niece Jessica Patterson.  She just returned from serving a mission in Chile.  We missed her smiling face and enjoyed reading her inspiring letters while she was gone.  Welcome home Jessica - we love you!

We Got Some "Autumn" for "Fall Break"

Last week was Fall Break.  Andy and Suzette were kind enough to let us use their condo in Park City, so we decided to drive up on Wednesday and come back Sunday.  Alex had already been invited to go with Taft's family to Rocky Point so we reluctantly went without him.  We were excited to see Emily and spend some time in some cooler temperatures.  

The first thing we did was pick up Emily and go to eat at the Brick Oven.  Brad and I hadn't been there since our early married days.  Then we went to the Bean Museum at BYU.  We had a fun time looking at all the animals.  

When we got back from our trip, I plugged my camera in and all my pictures were erased.  I don't know what in the heck happened, but I was just absolutely sick about it.  My good husband stepped in to save the day.  We bought a computer program that was able to save all these wonderful pics and more.  Thank you so much honey!  You are a lifesaver!

We dropped Taylor off at BYU with Emily to spend some time and on the way back to Park City we stopped at Thanksgiving Point at a Fall festival called Cornbelly's.  Danny and Ryan had such a great time.  We stayed for a long time.  We went through a corn maze that was in the shape of David Archuleta and then the boys played on the other stuff til they were good and tired.

We decided to play for awhile at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake while we waited for Emily and Taylor to meet up with us.  Taylor spent a night with Emily and went to school with her.

There was duck poop everywhere by the pond, so Ryan is scraping out Danny's shoes.

On Saturday, our last day, we decided to drive through the Fall landscape.  We were a little late in the year, but it was still beautiful.  We ate at Dairy Keene in Heber for the 2nd time - the fam loves it!  Then we drove up to Cascade Springs.  It has a special place in our heart because that is where Brad tried to propose to me, but it was closed up for the Winter.  It is beautiful there and it was a perfect day.

Isn't this a great picture?

We were sure missing Alex.  It always feels better 

when the whole family is together

What a great end to a great trip!