On Dec.9th Braeden played at his Christmas Piano Recital. He played a duet w/ Kai-"I Saw Three Ships", and a solo then accompanied by his teacher, Sister Church "Jingle Bells".

Life's greatest blessings--our children

Ryan was chosen to read a Christmas story to an audience at Barnes and Noble on Dec. 5th. She read "Hurry Santa".

Kevin's Transformation

Kevin accepted a Stake Missionary position in the Church, contingent upon him cutting his hair and removing all facial hair--to be obedient to Heavenly Father, he willingly complied. What a difference, I think he's very handsome now!

Close Encounters at Camp

The deer came right down to the camp and ate pringles from the kids!
Unfortunately, the blogger shuts down when I try to put pictures on....

Might not be any more posts!

Every time I try to add a new post my computer shuts down Internet explorer....I'll keep trying

The old truck is "DNR" (Do Not Resuscitate)!

Kevin's good old pickup finally bit the dust after many resuscitations. It had more than 150,000 miles on it. Kevin had driven it back from Missouri 3 yrs ago after his dad left it to him in his will when he died. We just couldn't afford to bring it back to life anymore!

Sooo.....we have a new baby: an '09 Dodge Nitro: sunburst orange. Braeden picked it out and it was a pretty good deal. We got instant approval and drove home with it within hours!

Next up is a new dishwasher, it's kaput also.....ugh!

African thunderstorm

African thunderstorm

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HIGH ACHIEVERS!!!

I am so proud of Braeden and Ryan. I recieved a special invitation to their school for an awards ceremony and was told not everybody got one--so I was really curious. The only parents that were there were the one's whose kids got an award, but all the kids in the 4th and 5th classes were there.

Braeden recieved the highest award possible--The Principal's Award for "All Around Outstanding Student". His teacher had written a beautiful description of Braeden saying among other things that he is looked up to by his classmates for leadership and right and wrong and that he is not aware of the positive effect he has on others, and always a good example to the other students. He also was awarded Outstanding Citizenship and Outstanding Attendance-(he would have had perfect attendance if not for his appointments for braces).

Ryan was awarded the Outstanding Artistic Ability from her Art teacher because of her creativity in class, the Outstanding Citizenship Award, and the Outstanding Reading Skills Award (which is funny since Ryan doesn't like to read much!)

What a great surprise!

Braeden's and Ryan's 10th birthday!

Braeden and Ryan had a great 10th birthday on May 21st! We were glad Sissy, Blake and Kalli were able to come, but sad that Joe couldn't come. We celebrated for four days, from Wednesday through Saturday.The party was on Saturday at our community pool- it was a Hawaiian theme. Wednesday we had a family dinner from Olive Garden, compliments of Grandma topped off by ice cream cake. On Thursday (their actual birthday), we had scouts and a baseball game--which we narrowly won! Friday, swimming and sunburns with Mom and Grandma and a send off breakfast with Kristen, Blake and Kalli. For the weekend they spent it with their dad at the Comfort Inn. They got phones from their Dad for their birthday--hope he plans lots of money to pay for their texting bills!!!!

Maybe we'll plan an even bigger celebration for their 20th!!

Braeden's new braces!

Finally that front tooth is going to be straightened. Maybe now I'll get smiles in pictures instead of grimaces. If you can't tell, his chosen colors are green (his favorite color) and black. Evidently, he can change his colors monthly.

Happy Easter

Grandma bought Ryan her Easter dress and Braeden a new tie! Aren't they the most beautiful kids ever!

Kevin's follow up

So, Kevin had the second surgery Friday to remove the external "fixator" and place plates and pins internally. We won't see the final results until he sees the Dr. 4/21. Until then, he is mainly to stay down and be waited on :( But at least he's on the road to recovery instead of waiting. Thank you everyone who's sent prayers and well wishes, and fed us!

The motorcycle is no more....

Kevin totalled his Harley and nearly totalled his leg! We haven't been able to see the bike yet but here are pictures of Kevin. Sorry these are pretty graphic for some of you--but I have more if you want to see them--just e-mail me!

Friends

Hi this is Ryan.In this picture our new cat is sitting next to our pet mouse Olive.We didnt put her up here we just came home from the library and I came in the house to see if Kitty(our cat)didnt goble or eat Olive.We all thought this was just sooo cute we had to put it on our blog. Right now our cat is very sick with the sneezes.We know she will be o.k. We think she's feeling better. We have to give her medicine twice a day.She takes it very well but, sometimes it could be a struggle but,we manage to get it down her.We give her nose drops,antibiotics, and pills.We love her and she'll be all right.I saw her staring at Olive and i said"No you don't eat her.xoxoxox" Ryan,Olive, and Kitty.

OLE'

Hey this is Braeden, Kevin, Mean Old Lady, and our missionaries. We're at our Mexican Fiesta for our church.[Braeden is writing this!]Ryan is not here because she is at her friend's birthday party so she was not in the Mexican Dinner.We're fooling around with the hats. Their only dessert was cookies but they had almonds so I couldn't eat it except the parts that had no almonds. And there was this milk with a cinnamon flavor-- it was so good! We're all glad that the Mean Old Lady[Grandma Sharon] came here with us! I'll put more of my writing on the blog so you guys can read it! Braeden

Best Friends!

Janice and I only get together once or twice a year but I still consider her one of my best friends. We have known each other since we both worked at the UMC Outpatient clinics in the 1990's. I love getting together with her and hearing all her tales. She is a world wide traveler (in fact is rarely home more than 3 weeks at a time before she's off again!) so has all kinds of stories to laugh about. Janice, love you --never change!

New to this!

Okay, so this is all new for us. I'm not the most computer literate person, so this may be hit and miss for awhile! First, we had to get the laptop, since my old desk computer is pretty elderly. Then, I got a digital camera (my first) and am currently learning how to use it! So now comes the blogspot since it seems everyone else is doing it and I'm impressed with how fun it is to read them and keep up with my family!