Ava Sue

My youngest sister, Carrie, just had her 4th baby (you go girl). She was a week overdue but still only weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. Her babies have tiny heads, lucky girl. She was supposed to be induced tomorrow but really didn't want to go through all that so last night she took some Castor oil, and it worked! She also did that with her first and almost didn't make it to the hospital in time. Congratulations Carrie, James, Eliza, Ian and Jimmy!

Big 1st Grader!

Today was Taylor's first day of school. He went yesterday to meet his teacher. We are SO grateful we got Mrs. Sponbeck. Lauren had her and just LOVED her. She was sad when it was time for Christmas break. Taylor's a good kid and I'm sure Mrs. Sponbeck will just love him too. He was excited for his first day. Didn't seem nervous at all. He even memorized his lunch code number so he could have hot lunch today. It was also bring a critter day today (stuffed) and wear blue. He was all ready to go!

Lauren's First Day of School

Lauren is now a big 3rd grader! She was excited and nervous to go back to school today. Luckily she has some good friends in her class. She picked out her outfit last night and picked out what she wanted to have in her lunch today. When I picked her up today and asked her how 3rd grade was, she said, "It was super, super, super, super fun." That's a pretty rave review. She said her teacher, Mrs. Lyman told them all she is a mind reader. Isn't every teacher and mother? :)

Germany

When I was two we moved to Germany for a couple of years. My sister Gwen was born there. My dad got a new toy/scanner which will scan slides. Since that's all they took way back when, it's a really cool thing. He's been sending some as he scans and here are a few. I really don't remember too much of Germany, but I do remember the dress.

Donut Falls

We decided to go for a hike in the mountains with some friends. With only two more days of summer vacation left we were trying to do the things that we've been saying we wanted to do before summer is over. It was a fun and easy hike but not too much water coming down the falls. I'm sure in the spring it is crazy.

Visit from Grammy

Lauren (mine), Jimmy (Carrie), Kennedy (Jordana), Grammy, Ian (Carrie),

Eliza (Carrie), Maddie (Jordana), Josh (I'll claim him), Taylor (mine).

My cute, stylish and young 80ish grandma was in town this week. She lives in California so we don't get visits too often and we haven't been good about driving out there. We were so excited to have her here for a few days. This is a picture of Grammy with her Utah great-grandkids (she has 14, almost 15 total (come on Carrie)). Grammy is the matriarch of the family and we can't wait to all get together next summer in Sunriver, Oregon!

Lagoon

Easing into the rides by going on the train

Riding on the skyride with dad while Lauren was off on a "big" ride with mom

Laruen and Mom on the Tidal Wave

Josh couldn't wait to go on the boats

One of the last rides of the day

We were hoping that since we did Disneyland in May, we might get out of going to Lagoon this year. No such luck :) We got there when it opened at 11 a.m. and stayed until it closed at 10 p.m. It was a long but fun day. Lauren was VERY brave. After going on the Spider, Wild Mouse and Jet Star III (all rollercoasters) I told her I'd pay her $2 (that's right, 2 not 20) to go on the Colossus, which goes upsidedown. After thinking about it for a minute, she did it! She was so brave and actually did it again. Taylor and Josh were more on the mellow side. We spent a lot of time with them in Kiddyland. We wore ourselves into the ground. Bring on the first day of school now!

Soccer Time Again

Lauren decided soccer wasn't for her anymore, but Taylor loves it. Since he's now 6 and going into 1st grade, they get to play with 8 players and a goalie. It's a bigger field and means more running. His face was beet red by the time he was done, he plays hard. His team is the Blue Ninjas :)

Blogfest

My sister, Carrie, was the first one in our family to start a blog. A couple of months later I thought to myself that it couldn't be too hard. It's not hard, but I'm not creative, at all. Now my sister Gwen has caught the bug. She's the only one to live out-of-state so we are excited to see more of our "California cousins." Welcome to the blogging world, Gwen.

Sad Day

Today was a sad day. Actually it's been a sad year. One of our good friends, Bev, died Saturday of Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) and today was her funeral. It was a cruel way to go. She had such an amazing spirit throughout and was a perfect example of being kind to everyone. She left behind a wonderful husband and three kids, ages 21, 16 and 11. It was an honor to know her and to be her friend. She has made me want to be a better person. I hope we can all reflect a little bit more on what's really important to us in our lives.
p.s. She was only 49!

Pie Anyone?

Yesterday was our neighborhood "Family Fun" day. The kids look forward to this every year. This year they had a pie eating contest. They recruited the bishops to participate. Parley came prepared with his safety goggles. He tried his darndest but wasn't victorious. He did do a good job getting it all over his face. Chocolate cream pie will not be eaten any time soon in our house :)

Happy 75th Birthday Grandpa!!

Last weekend we had a big birthday party for Parley's dad. He is the greatest father-in-law, father and grandfather. As you can see from the picture, he has 20 grandkids plus two have married. Everyone was there, including his three siblings. It was a great "Bobfest" night. Happy Birthday dad/grandpa!

Sweet Sound of...

Everytime we go to a parade, there are bagpipes. Everytime I see and hear the bagpipes, I think of my grandma (gram), she hates the sound of bagpipes. Hate may be a strong word, but she doesn't enjoy the sound. Consequently, I can never hear them without thinking of how much she wouldn't be enjoying the parade with them walking by :) I love you Gram :)

Family Night

We had some friends take our family boating for family night. We went to Utah Lake (hence the water color) and had a great time. The water was warm and the weather was perfect. Laruen and I and Parley all had fun wake boarding. Lauren and Parley had lots of fun on the tube and Taylor and Josh hung out. As Lauren said, "It was the best family night ever." Thanks to the Woodheads!

Adventurous Lauren

Lauren had a great time boating. After watching the other kids wake board she decided she wanted to try. And she did it. She didn't stay up too long, but she did it, and was willing to try again (later, which never happened). She and Parley had a great time on the tube. She showed no fear.

Skipper Taylor

This is Taylor's boating experience. We were lucky he even got on the boat. He had no interest in getting wet. He's our very cautious one. After spending the evening watching, he was taught how to drive the boat and steered us perfectly back to the docks.