Happy Birthday, Brandon!

It about killed Brandon that he had to wait a WHOLE MONTH after he turned 8 to be baptized. He's a terrific kid in every way, and we're so thankful he's part of our family.
On the trail to Eagle...

Family Pictures

Labor Day Fishing

We spent Labor Day in the Uintahs hiking and fishing. What a beautiful day! All of the kids caught fish, luckily (Brady even caught the $2 fish- the albino!). I'm not sure why Jared bothered to get a fishing license- he spent the whole time baiting hooks and taking fish off lines. Esther came too, to make it a real "reunion" hike from last summer.






We took a bunch of pictures and someone's eyes were closed in every one. Oh well.
Esther leaves us soon for Georgia. That will leave a huge hole, but we wish her all the best.
These girls are growing up way too fast.
These two keep us on our toes!

Back to School

Brady's first day of preschool. Wednesday and Friday mornings at the elementary school. I wasn't going to do preschool at all, but the teacher called and said she had openings, so we tried it. He's having a great time, and I can get all of my errands done ALONE!

Hannah's first day of middle school. Vista Heights is a brand new school. She was pretty anxious about all of the different classes, and the rotating schedule, but has adjusted easily. Another new adventure- riding the bus!

First day for Emily (5th) and Brandon (2nd). Emily never gets the teacher she hopes for, but always ends up liking who she does get. If Brandon's brains don't leak out of all of the holes left in his mouth from losing teeth he should do just fine.

Pioneer Trek

Jared and I were asked to go on pioneer trek with our stake as a "ma and pa". We had a group of 7 awesome kids, 4 from foreign countries, so we were the international family. We went to Martin's Cove and Rocky Ridge in Wyoming, and pulled handcarts along part of the actual Mormon Pioneer trail. Despite a major storm that left everyone drenched and kept us up half the night, one of our "daughters" taking a side trip to the ER for an infection from mosquito bites, and living in pioneer clothes for 4 days (no showers), we had the most amazing experience. In fact, those events made it even more memorable and wonderful. People tried to tell us how much we would be affected by this adventure and we didn't really pay much attention. I know lots of stakes go on trek all over the country, and people will have their own unique experiences. Ours was four of the most fun and spiritual days we have ever had, with a group of truly amazing youth who are facing challenges that touched our hearts and left us in awe at their strength.

Homecoming

After three LONG years, my parents finally returned from their mission in Uganda. The whole family was able to be in San Diego for their return, which was as thrilling as you can imagine. The kids are wearing crested crane hats in Grandma's honor- her favorite bird in Africa (although, her shoebill sighting was probably more memorable for her. But go ahead and google a picture of the shoebill, and you'll know why we made crested crane hats!) Words can't describe how happy we are to have them home again, though we all felt very blessed as they served. There were 4 new grandkids they had never met: Norah (Chad and Stacey), Luke and Lily (James and Amanda), and Lilah (Mike and Camille). Also a handful that were babies when they left. Airports are too stressful for Ammon, so my parents went to visit him Sunday.





Ethan's family


Chad's family


My family


James' family


Camille's family


Esther's family ;)

Updates

Sorry I've been slacking. Here are some of the events for the past few months:

If you were following the Winter Olympics you might remember one of the US womens' skeleton team, Noelle Pikus-Pace. She is a neighbor, so our little city had a welcome party for her. She is one of the most amazing people, with a positive attitude like you've never met.




Weekend trip to St. George for Hannah's dance competition. Nice weather, fun hiking.




Kids' first ski trip to Alta during Spring Break. Awesome, warm day. Started out rough, but by the end of the day the kids were all bombing down the beginner runs (Brady skied between our legs, but did a great job keeping his skis straight.) We're thinking of ski passes for Christmas this year...









Jared took Brandon to a mini BYU football camp in conjuction with the first public scrimmage. I don't know who had more fun. Jared is just glad to have someone to ingrain with BYU football mania.



And here's a few of my favorites. Brady and his friend Jace are as thick as thieves. They both love Toy Story, and one day asked for their Halloween costumes. They were in them all day and you can just imagine what adventures they had together. (By the way, Hannah was "Jessie" because Jace said she is Woody's girlfriend, and he's got a crush on her.)

Koda

Forgot to add in a post about our new dog. Early on a Sunday mid-November, Jared's brother called us to see if we wanted the dog he purchased for his kids in a fit of insanity the previous day. He said he knew it was a mistake the minute he handed over the money, but gave it a night to let the impossibility of it really set in. We figured we weren't out anything and told the kids we'd give him a week trial. Needless to say he is still with us, and we really love him. Some of you know we've tried dogs before, but Koda has been a great dog (read: easily trained!). We thought he looked like the little bear by the same name in Disney's Brother Bear.Recent
First day

New Years in San Diego

We decided to go thaw out in San Diego after we got home from Glenwood Springs. Since our train home was delayed (see previous blog), we arrived home about 4:30 pm Sunday instead of Saturday night. We had hotel reservations in Mesquite for that night so we emptied our suitcases, filled them again and hit the road! It was a whirlwind, but we were glad we did it. We didn't do anything but hang out with Ethan and Marci and their kids, but it was perfect. Monday night Tony and Georgina were over for dinner before they took off for their New Year's trip. I have to add Jared won this year's ping pong game (a tradition when we go down for New Year's). We had great weather and enjoyed being by the water. New Year's Day we went with Ammon to Mission Bay.

La Jolla
Del Mar

Mission Bay

Christmas 2009

Amtrak Zephyr from Provo, Utah to Glenwood Springs, Colorado December 23- 26. Clair, Roz, Marc and Esther also travelled. Thanks to the Grahams for the idea!

On our way to Glenwood Springs- what a fun way to travel!
Took a tram up the mountain in Glenwood Springs to tour two natural caves.
Hot springs Christmas Day
Chinese for Christmas dinner!


Thanks to bad weather in the mid-west our train home was delayed 18 hours. We took advantage of the extra day ice-skating at the local rec center.About 8 pm Saturday, waiting for the train when we thought it was coming at 3 am (original departure time was 2 pm Saturday). It didn't come until 8 am Sunday- luckily the Hotel Denver across the street was good enough to give us discounted rooms. We felt sorry for those stuck on the train for those extra 18 hours!