First Day of School

I about forgot to post Braden's first day of HIGH SCHOOL!!! And the sad thing is...he looks old enough to go there! No worries about him getting crushed by all the bigger kids...he is one of them!

Our baby is starting high school! We had to go in the first day of school and tweak some classes to get a couple of different teachers, and we think it was worth the huge wait in the counseling center to do it. And we have already had to pull him from class to get his football physical!

Welcome to Provo High Braden!

First Game of the Season

Number 54 in this top picture is our baby boy!!
Braden started off his football season by heading to Springville. He looked pretty sharp in his Provo High green!! And, yes, he is posing here.Braden played all offensive line and some defensive line. The bulldogs played very strong, but ended up losing by just a couple points. There were some really great plays, and it was a fun game to watch.

We had Austin, Laura and Breanna join us at the game so it was really fun to be there as a family...and they all wore green!!

GO BULLDOGS and GO BRADEN!!

A Visit to Missouri

I had so much fun visiting Susan and Jordan in Missouri this August! It made me wonder why I waited so long to get there! Marty and Amanda were still in Japan when I went, so it was mostly Susan and I doing our thing...a lot of walking/running and shopping!!One purchase made us laugh so hard in the store, that we just had to buy it...the strange bird you see Jordan holding. It was worth the 2 bucks it cost for the impact value. Have you ever seen a stranger yard ornament...other than the bird I bought for our yard that is?
Susan and I did not sit around at all!! We took on the project of painting her bathroom. The entire house had been painted an interesting shade of brown before they bought it, so it was in desperate need of some color. Susan chose a beautiful light avacado color that matched her favorite shower curtain. We found some nice flowers to match and she had some gorgeous purple towels, and it really took shape! Hmmmm what can we paint next year?
Susan and I spent the first day together in Kansas City. There was so much to do there!

We found the Nelson-Atkins museum that was really cool...and free!
We loved the City Market area. There were some little shops and fresh veggies for sale really cheap, and we discovered a great little arabic restaurant and market where we went twice!! We stocked up on some spices while we were there too and then tried them out at home. Yum!
We went to a botanical garden for a long time as well, and we found the Lewis and Clark monument and park where the famous group went into the rivers there heading west on their explorations.
It was a great visit with Susan. She is an amazing person, so much energy for a "big sister."

Looking forward to more visits in the future!

Training with Jan

Braden had a unique opportunity to have some personal training with Jan Jorgensen of BYU football. They had about 6 lessons with Braden and a friend. I think it gave him an extra boost for when he started training with the PHS freshmen. How many guys do you know that get to have personal training with college players?
We were really grateful for the chance for Braden to do this. And now we have one more BYU player to watch with interest this year...GO BYU!

Starvation Outing July 24

Dad and Carolyn invited us up to their cabin near Starvation on July 24 so after the 10K race was over and we got cleaned up, we headed there. We had a wonderful day of picnicking and 4-wheeling!! They now have 3 4-wheelers so we a lot of us can get out at the same time!Austin and Laura rode for a while until they had to leave with Scott to cover a soccer game in SLC.
We all looked very tough in our masks and goggles!!
Although some looked more beautifuller than others...I mean Laura of course!!
I ditched my helmet partway through because it was giving me a huge headache, it was so small!
We rode a long way to the pinnacle...it was amazing! Tucked away in the middle of nowhere...and they have a lodge there that you can rent for family reunions! Cool.
This is the group at the reservoir. It was cloudy and a little rainy, but that did not stop us! We had a great time and were grateful for the cooler weather the rain brought.

Thanks Carolyn and Dad for a wonderful day!

NEW PRESCHOOL ROOM

Well!! We have had a summer of redos...first the downstairs bedrooms complete with carpet, then the new shutters and front door, now the completion of the new preschool room! We just love this new look! It is fresh and clean. For complete photos click on the title of this blog or check out my preschool blog at:

http://littlelearnersprovo.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-look.html

Quirky Turkey!!

We have had a lot of fun with the very strange yard decor that I came home from shopping with the other day. Breanna and Josh and I went to get a nice terra cotta pot at Shopko, and this yard bird started nodding at us to get our attention, and before we knew it, he was in our cart wanting to go home with us!!! Honest!As we walked through the store with our quirky turkey, I looked over at Josh and could tell he was really trying hard to compose himself. Then he just could not help himself...he laughed!! Not just a little laugh, but a great big "I can't believe you are going to buy that thing" sort of laugh. I was so entertained that even if I wasn't planning on really buying the bird, I would have. It was worth the laughter and smiles and wonderment that it created...with similar reaction at home.

So, our new friend needs a name. We have had one name suggestion, Larry. Any other ideas?

We figure he is a boy since boy birds are more colorful and beautiful and he is

SO BEAUTIFUL!!
The real inspiration for getting this "bird" was that I had just painted our old white metal table gray hammered metal to match our fairly new chairs...pretty good match huh? They both hang out on the deck together...and they match! A new centerpiece cannot be far behind!

Happy Birthday America...and Jennifer!

We celebrated the 4th of July with our traditional family/friend BBQ. We love the excuse that it is Jennifer's birthday as well and have fond memories of her birth on that fun holiday...well, a few years ago! We were very entertained to have Kerry and Julie bring their 7 month old twins to the BBQ. They were both charming. Ivan fell in love...with CORN. He was absolutely obsessed with sucking on that ear of corn and would throw a mini fit if Kerry tried to take it away from him.We had a few new decorations this year including the addition of glass bubbles that we found in Amish country this year. A festive touch indeed!
And the birthday cake was a form of trifle...packed with yummy strawberries and blueberries to also look very festive for the special occasion! Happy 29th birthday Jennifer! (Since I am claiming 39, she gets to claim 29, it is only fair!)
We finished the night up at Kerry and Julies for the fireworks at Stadium of Fire...the company was better than the fireworks, but that is usually the case! We love this new tradition! Thanks!

Going GRAY...and RED

No, we are not talking about my hair here...but some of the improvements we have made to the house this spring/summer.

I went to an Enrichment where they talked about how our yards should all focus on/point to our front door, and how that should be the focal point of our home.  I started thinking about our home...white home, white door...a lot of white going on.  The idea came to give the front door some "pop."  We discussed colors and red was the all around favorite.  This created the idea to change the shutter color at the same time.  I have LOVED my blue shutters but my kids and friends gently suggested that maybe I need to 

"move out of the 80's."

BEFORE

So, welcome GRAY shutters...at first glance you cannot even tell that we made a change, but we have definitely "gone gray" and we love it!  No one has noticed that we changed shutter colors.  They all say 

"you painted your door red."

AFTER

Now, if we can just get that one pesky shutter turned right side up...

Come see us and check it out in person!  

8th Grade Graduation

Well, he did it...finished the two most awkward years of school...the ones with braces and trying to figure out what to do about having different kids in every class and how to deal with the kids who are too cool and too not cool.
Yes, Braden graduated with honors from Dixon Middle School!  He was given a beautiful rosebud lei from the Sperry family (his friend Fanga's folks) and then another candy lei from the Purcell family here in the stake.  
On to even greater accomplishments at Provo High School...notice the green and white tie he is wearing?  He has already moved on!  Congratulations Braden on a job well done!!

Memorial Day...I miss my Mom

We met at Mom's grave again this year to place flowers, clean it up and remember someone very special to us.
The cemetery was very beautiful with flowers all over the place, it is always interesting to walk around and see some of the additions around Mom's grave over the year.  In her part of the cemetery there seem to be a lot of little children buried; probably because it is a newer area.

We met one family there that lost a little baby.  They took our family picture for us.
There is something satisfying about cleaning up the grave.  Dad edged around it and Vicky helped brush it off.  It is a small token of something physical we can do for someone that did so many things both physical and emotional for us over so many years.

I still find myself wishing I could ask Mom things or share things with her about new milestones in our lives.  I wonder how she felt when she found out she would be a grandma for the first time, for example.  

Gratefully, I know that she really is a part of our lives and that she knows what is going on...and that she probably has a hand in some of the really great things that happen to us down here on earth.  Nice to have several someones you love watching out for you up above!

Axis & Allies- snack version

OK, check out Breanna's blog for the game details of the HOURS AND HOURS game played at our house on Friday night!  My part in all of this was helping provide country appropriate snacks for the game players.
Here are the "troops."  

Josh Barton was United States- we chose chili dogs for this country.

Breanna was Great Britain- we had strawberries and cream. (We decided the Boy Scout uniform worked as a costume since Boy Scouts started in England.

Austin was Japan- we went to the international market for some "Pocky" a favorite Japanese treat; chocolate dipped cracker sticks.

Braden was Germany- so we brought out the Gummi Bears; yes they originate in Germany.

Scott was Russia- I made some Russian Peroshki; little potato dumplings served with sour cream on top- yummy!  Hey, what about the cool Russian hat that I saw upstairs???  You know, the fur ones that Austin brought back??
Braden really got into his role as Hitler...I think he liked the idea of having a little mustache thingy.

Anyways, I think good times were had by all and...I do not even know who won this war.  I finally gave up and went to bed!!!

Spring Concert

Braden just finished up his year of being in "Show Choir."  He is the third from the right on the top row of this picture...and very grown up and handsome as he sings.  I went to his concert this week and was impressed with how well his group sounded.  Their director has a knack for getting them to love the songs they sing.  It has been a good year for Braden.  Hope he has time in his schedule for more choir down the road.  He is too shy to really sing out at church, but I know he has a good voice!
Today Braden and his choir group are singing at Lagoon and then they get to play all day!

Next week he goes back to Lagoon with school friends to celebrate graduation from 8th grade!!

Time goes faster and faster the older I get!

'Live long and perspire'

Click here:  http://www.trekyourself.com/?mId=30014875.2

Jenna asked for this: click here

Braden asked for this: click here

I Amaze Myself!

I amaze myself with my mental abilities.  Saturday I was cleaning house to get ready for VT interviews hosted at our home Sunday.  I was admiring the new carpet downstairs and for the hundredth time thinking how similar it looked to the upstairs carpet.  Both are sort of a tan frieze style.  I had wondered how similar the colors were to each other so, I found the sample from downstairs and set it on the upstairs carpet.  Yes, I had done this before I am sure, and thought they were pretty close...but it never occurred to me that maybe they were in fact THE SAME CARPET!!  I pulled out my old bill and my new bill and wonder of wonders, it was the same style number on both of them.

Just set that carpet style aside to line my casket with because obviously I have only one color and style of carpet in my brain...I wonder what color I will choose for the living room in a couple of years????  

Notice any similarities??? Hmmm!  Well, we will get Breanna to blog about her new room.  It is SO CUTE with her new twig headboard from Amish country that turned out so cool.

Here's to OLDER AGE and amazing mental faculty!!  Don't ask me to go with you to choose carpet unless you like THIS STYLE ONLY!!

Yes, I took a wasp to church!!

I entertained myself in church and made myself take myself out of church DURING THE PRAYER...because I brought a wasp with me to church.

Well, I did not know that I brought him...or her...but I figured it out later.  I was sitting by myself because Scott was on the stand and Braden was passing sacrament and I felt something in my hair.  At first I wondered if I had my earring caught or something, then the sensation moved somewhere else and I suspected it was a SPIDER so I started brushing at my head to get it off.  This was probably vastly entertaining to people sitting behind me, which would have been the entire congregation since I was on the front row.  Anyways, finally I brushed my hand and felt something fall down so I looked to find the supposed spider only to find a wasp...actually less terrifying than a spider to me...but a wasp in sacrament meeting nonetheless.  At this point the opening prayer was started and I had a wasp climbing across the top of my church bag.  I knew I did not want it to fly into the congregation so I just got up and left the meeting and no one knew because their EYES WERE SHUT!  I took the wasp towards the outside doors, but before I could get there it flew to the ground so I had no other choice than to SQUISH IT!  

I then went back to the chapel, waited for the prayer to end, and walked back to my seat without anyone knowing what had happened.  Oh, and I do not remember what the prayer-giver said in his prayer.  Sorry!

When I looked at my church bag, I remembered that I had picked up the mail from the mailbox before coming to church and I also remembered that there were wasps trying to build a home in our mailbox...for about the third time this spring...we keep knocking them down and they keep coming back for more.  But, I had squished another wasp in the mailbox door by accident...maybe...so yes, I am sure that this wasp hitched a ride to church with me in my bag with the mail.  Not a very good fellowshipper am I?

HAPPY GRADUATION ETC!

Thursday and Friday April 23-24 were the graduation days for Austin and Laura.  
It was wonderful that her family could come up from California to be with them for the special occasion, and sort of a flashback to last year with her sister and brother-in-law's graduation, Jenna and Ty's graduation, and of course, THEIR WEDDING!  

So, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY...HAPPY GRADUATION...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!  We love you both so much and are very proud (in a humble way) of all your accomplishments!

EAST COAST IS THE MOST!!

We have started what we hope becomes a family tradition...LADIES WEEK!  Lori and I have traveled with Scott on several trips and really have become good "shopping buddies" among other things :)   So, a trip to visit Jenna was just the thing to get both of us out of town for some much needed girl time with Jenna...oh and some good times with Tyrel too:)

Jenna was the perfect tour guide to take us into the big NYCity for a day full of travel from the bottom to the top of the city...literally...and then to a fantastic broadway play WICKED.  It was Soooo Good!!!  We just loved it!
The next day, Lynette(Jenna's Mother in law, and an amazing person) gave us the royal tour of Pennsylvania Amish country.  We fell in love with it as well!  We saw a covered bridge and the most beautiful country and people.  (See Jenna's blog for more pictures)  I could go back again and again to this part of the country and we really hope Lynette gets her dream of opening a bed and breakfast out there someday!!!
We were put up in style in the mansion Jenna and Tyrel house-sit at.  It was amazing!
We love our Jenna and Tyrel and our little baby grandson that is starting to really make his appearance!!  Jenna is looking SO CUTE!!!

Thank you Lori for being the best traveling, shopping buddy, and to Jenna, Ty and Lynette for hosting us!  We had a wonderful time and can't wait to see you again!