The Nolden Family

NEW BLOG ADDRESS

2009-08-18T05:45:00.000-07:00

We have a new blog address for our family site. I will not be updating this site anymore...but all of the "stuff" that is on this site will be transferred over to the new site.

Check it out at:

http://nolden9.com

Meet Sophie (our puppy)...

2009-08-02T20:01:00.001-07:00

OK...so Frank and I were NOT too excited about getting a dog. We had decided that we wouldn't get another one for various reasons. But most of the kids wanted one SOOOOOOOOO badly that we finally caved in and got one. We realize the benefits that come from the kids learning to take care of something dependent on them and all that good stuff....soooo....

We actually spent a lot of the summer going to the pound to find that dog that we couldn't live without. It's so heartbreaking to go there and see all of the sad dogs and cats that want to go home with you. Unfortunately, we could only save one...and what we found was SOPHIE. They speculate that she is probably a mixture of lab and hound dog. It will be interesting to see how she grows up and how LARGE she gets :-). She is terribly cute!

Above: Hi, Sophie!!

Above: ...lounging in the grass (that needs to be cut very badly).

Above: ...and lounging in her little bed...

Above: Ashley and Sophie. She loves to nibble...we need to break her from that habit really quick. It's cute now...but soon I'm sure it will be a problem.

Above: Donovan with Sophie. They have had a ton of fun with her already. It makes it worth it to see how happy it makes them all.

Above: We couldn't find Sophie anywhere...we have to keep tabs on her since we are still "potty-training" her. So, we found her completely asleep on a huge stuffed animal the kids gave to her to play with. She's still very much a puppy and plays hard for a while and then sleeps quite a bit...just not enough at nighttime yet.

Above: Sophie asleep on PJ's lap.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!! See Sophie in Action....

Above: All of this playing is making me TIRED!

Pack Meeting - Donovan becomes a Bear

2009-08-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

I'm still a Cub Scout Den Leader (as well as teaching Sunday School to the 14-16 year-olds). This was our latest Pack Meeting...we had it at the home of one of our Scouts...the kids had a great time. Donovan just turned 9 and completed all of the requirements for getting his Wolf badge, so he was awarded that on this night and will now become a Bear.

Above: We have a very small pack...only 4 boys...but it makes it easy to do fun activities. (L to R: Donovan, Nathaniel, Chase & Sam).

Above: Donovan taking a step off the diving board (Sam behind him and Ashley in the water).

Above: Sam taking the plunge.

Above: Rico Suave...I mean, Donovan.

Above: Ashley...

Above: Sam...it's his pool...he's so lucky...

Above: Ashley hitting water...literally...

Above: Nathaniel

Above: Chase and his sister Isabelle...

Above: ...and Chase's sister Lilly...

Above: Donovan was enjoying an apple from a tree on their property.

Above: We did our awards after the swimming...and Donovan forgot his shirt...so he looks "not quite done up." But this is right after he got his Wolf and became a Bear.

Above: I was having a really bad hair day...but this is Donovan and me right after the awards ceremony. Boy...Donovan looks happy...

Summer Happenings....

2009-08-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things that have been happening as summer is winding down....

Above: Brother Mitchell took the Young Women (from church) on a boating trip near the end of July. They had a LOT of fun (thanks Bro. Mitchell!!!). (L to R: Katy, Megan, Melissa, Vickie & Sariah).

Above: Megan trying kneeboarding. Liz was there too...but I don't have any photos of her yet.

Above: Megan and PJ went crazy in the kitchen one afternoon. They helped me make Navajo Tacos and they were amazing help...plus they had a lot of fun. Why can't they always get along like that? :-) We had 4 missionaries over that night too...so they rolled out a LOT of fry bread.

Above: Ahhhh...they're so cute when they are being agreeable :-).

Above: Liz got to try out her cosmetology skills (both hair and makeup) on Mikayla and her friend Breonna the night of their Middle School Open house. They really looked beautiful and caused quite a stir at school when we arrived :-).

Above: ...notice the eyeshadow work....

Above: PJ...gosh...he's only 11 and he's growing up into such a young man already!!

Above: I saw this sign in Marietta, GA, and thought it was funny (and honest, for a change)....

Above: Our Sister Missionaries (Humphries and Snoddy) with our favorite Buck girls: Ferree, Sariah & Lydia. This was at a Musical Fireside we had at the church tonight...it was amazing!!! Liz, Megan, Mikayla and Ashley sang a song for it.

Random Summer Photos

2009-07-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

Here are a few other things that have happened this summer:

Above: Cody has been home from his mission to Korea for 2 years now! Wow...time flies. He had a mission reunion this month. President Cho and his wife (pictured with Cody above) were recently released after serving for 3 years and traveled to Utah to meet with some of their missionaries that have returned home. Cody got to go to dinner with them the night before the reunion and really enjoyed being able to see them again. Cody served with him as an AP (Assistant to the President) for many months and so they got to be very close.

Above: Cody, Sister and President Cho, and one of Cody's companions on his mission (Elder Webster).

Another cool thing for Cody was that he got to translate from Korean into English when President Cho (who doesn't speak English) gave his talk at the reunion. Cody was really able to master the language while in Korea.

Above: This was at a Wal-Mart in Cortez, Colorado, when we took our little trip over to Mesa Verde during our Utah trip. I took these with my phone and forgot to put them on the Blog. (PJ, 11; Donovan, 9; Bronson, 9).

Above: This was right before we headed to Stone Mountain for Donovan's birthday. We had found out the night before that we were losing some of our favorite missionaries to transfers....so we got a photo with them before they left.

Above: We couldn't see Elder Kilpelainen in the last one...so we had to take another. I learned how to use the timer on my camera this day :-)...and that pianos are a great height for doing this. (Primary room...can you tell?)

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BELOW: I had a hard time uploading videos for a while a couple of months ago...so here are a couple that I would've uploaded with past entries but didn't because I couldn't.

Above: Donovan (9) and Seth (10) doing the Slip N Slide back in June.

Above: This was a volleyball game that our ward had at the Annual Memorial Day BBQ out at Hard Labor Creek. You can see Megan and Liz on the Left and PJ on the Right.

Adoption is a Great Option!!!

2009-07-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

I feel compelled, for some reason, to quickly share my feelings about adoption and what a great option it is. It's a little bit removed from our typical "Blog Fodder" (a coin termed by me, feel free to use it ;-)...but my hope is that perhaps it will help someone out there that is contemplating adopting a child...or a woman/girl who is making the very difficult decision of whether to raise a child they are pregnant with or allow that child to be placed for adoption.

I guess the first thing to say is that I am a product of that decision made by a very young girl many many years ago. And the next thing I would like to say is "THANKS!" to her for making that brave decision...which I'm sure was incredibly difficult. I am so grateful that, number one, she didn't decide to terminate my chance at life by having an abortion. Secondly, I'm grateful that she didn't decide to try and raise me...she still being a child herself.

I (Shayne) was adopted when I was 3 days old and I have a sister that is 21 months older than me that was also adopted at the age of 1 month (different biological parents). My (amazing) parents, who tried unsuccessfully for years to have children, have always let my sister and I know that we were a "miracle" in their lives. We always felt extra special in that regard because we knew that they took extraordinary, deliberate measures in order to bring us into their family. We always knew we were adopted and that made us feel unique.

Another angle to this story is that I now have 3 adopted children of my own. Three of our children (it doesn't matter which ones) were adopted through the Foster Care system. Frank, and his late wife Karen, took care of many children in their home who were not born into ideal family situations. They were able to adopt three of those children. They have all been a blessing in our home.

So, that is my quick story. I tell it, as I said, as an advocate for adoption and the blessings and benefits it can bring into the lives of the child adopted as well as the family that is blessed by their presence.

I was adopted through the LDS Social Services (now LDS Family Services). They have a great new website to help those contemplating adoption (on both sides) with their decision. They have a bunch of testimonials from birth parents and adopted children and a lot more good info. Check it out at:

ItsAboutLove.org

Thanks for indulging me for a moment.... :-)

Donovan Turns 9

2009-07-25T16:34:00.001-07:00

Donovan turned 9 in July. My baby is growing up!!

Above: Donovan with his awesome birthday cake made by Megan.

Above: It's supposed to be a boat...can you tell? We didn't have blue icing for the water.

Above: Cousin Hannah over for the party.

Above: Donovan, "Give me those presents."

Above: Cards from Grandparents.

Above: Liz trying to look innocent?

Above: Megan couldn't wait to taste her creation.

Above: Seth came over for the party too and then stayed for a slumber party.

Above: Donovan got what he wanted...a Rip Stik!!

Above: Trying out the Rip Stik.

Above: PJ, who already has a Rip Stik, showing Donovan how it is done.

Above: PJ gave Donovan his bike for a birthday gift.

Above: Ashley trying out the Rip Stik.

Above: Donovan blowing out the candles, with a little help from Seth.

Stone Mountain for Donovan's Birthday

2009-07-25T15:43:00.001-07:00

Donovan wanted to go to Stone Mountain for his birthday...but he didn't want to stay long...he wanted to make sure we back in plenty of time to open presents and eat cake and ice cream.

We have gone to SM a couple of different times, but the line is always stinking long for the "Sky Hike," which is what Donovan wanted to do. It wasn't that long that day...but we still waited in line for 1.5 hours!!! It was crazy! At least it was a beautiful day...not too hot or sticky.

Above: Donovan (9), PJ (11), Shayne, Ashley (10), Frank, Mikayla (13), Liz (16), & Megan (14).

Above: My beautiful girls - Megan (14), Liz (16) & Mikayla (13)...waiting in line. Megan and Liz got out of the line before the end...so they didn't get to do it.
Above: Ashley (10) - Liz did her hair cute that day.

Above: There were three levels to the Sky Hike.

Above: Donovan (9) starting out on the Sky Hike.

Above: Ashley (10) starting out on the Sky Hike.

Above: Donovan, "I've got a serious wedgie!"

Above: Mikayla (13) and PJ (11) on the Sky Hike.

Above: Ashley and the people we stood in line with for 1.5 hours.

These guys were behind us. The people in front of us turned out to be LDS, just like us....what are the odds??? They were from a stake down by Jonesboro.

Above: PJ and Mikayla.

Above: After Frank took some photos from the ground, he tossed the camera up to me so I could get some photos up on top. I got in trouble twice for taking photos...oops! I guess they don't want "loose objects" so they don't fall on people below. What they didn't realize was that the camera was nothing...we had a couple of "loose cannons" up there ;-). jk

Above: On this level you could choose the easy route (see the straight stick on the left) or the more difficult one. Ashley always chose the more difficult one....she's a daredevil.

Above: Donovan, PJ and the lady that got mad at me for taking photos.

Above: Donovan did the climbing wall after the Sky Hike.

Above: PJ on the climbing wall.

Above: PJ, Megan and Don on the little kid obstacle course. They were only a foot off the ground. They were only doing it because they wanted to do the zipline at the end.

Above: Donovan on a different climbing wall. He made it to the top and rang the bell.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!! Donovan doing the Zip Line at Stone Mountain.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!! PJ & Megan doing the Zip Line at Stone Mountain.

Ward Pioneer Party

2009-07-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

We had a great Ward (church) Pioneer Party the other night out behind the chapel. Below are some of the highlights.

FYI for those of you that don't know...our church, and the whole state of Utah, celebrate "The 24th of July" every year...which is the day the LDS pioneers, led at that time by the prophet Brigham Young, entered the Salt Lake Valley back in 1847 (so the celebration in Salt Lake City is called "The Days of 47") and he announced "This is the Place" that the Saints would settle after they were driven by force from their homes back in Illinois, Missouri and Ohio.

For more info on the Trek of the Pioneers:

FOLLOW THE PIONEER TRAIL

(**I didn't get my camera out until it was almost over, so I missed a lot of the water fights, kids games, and most of the awesome stick pulling contest where Elder Hunter beat everyone with ease**)

Above: Here is Mikayla and Ashley making an attempt at stick pulling. This is a game they used to play a lot in the days of Joseph Smith (early to mid 1800's). I have never seen my camera do this before...but look at Mikayla's shirt. The shirt was completely red...but for some reason the front part of the shirt was changed to brown (the color of Ashley's shirt)...hmmm...

Above: Everyone getting ready for the "Dress Like a Pioneer" race. They had to throw on a Pioneer Garb and then race around a cone and come back and tag the next person....guys against girls.... That's Ula in the apron...she is our "Activity Chairperson" and put on a great party.

Above: Elder Mundt getting his (female) pioneer garb on..

Above: Elder Mundt ready to run... (he's a greenie from Vegas!)

Above: Ashley was the first on the girls side to get dressed and run...she was in competition with Elder Mundt.

Above: Elder Hunter, Elder Brewer, Patrick, Sam and Sister Humphries...

Above: Donovan

Above: Poor Elder Hunter...Ashley has him "roped."

Above: Luckily he's a good sport. Above: Mikayla and Liz.

Above: Elders Brewer, Hunter & Mundt.

Above: Some AWESOME MISSIONARIES!!

Brewer (Utah), Kilpelainen (California), Hunter (Arizona) & Mundt (Nevada).

(that's Donovan in the background)

Above: We finally got some SISTER missionaries in Conyers (no offense Elders)....and they are AMAZING too...Sister Shaw & Sister Humphries. We were sooooo bummed that Sis. Shaw only got to be with us for 6 weeks!

Above: This was the start of a "Shaving Competition." The girls got to shave the guys. The "shavers" were just wooden sticks...but the shaving cream was real.

Above: The guys took it pretty well. That's Liz shaving Elder Kilpelainen.

Above: Elder Brewer...he's a funny guy!

Above: Ashley shaved Elder Mundt.

Above: Another shaving "victim." Sam...one of my Cub Scouts.

Above: Bro. Joyner...who got ahold of you???

Above: One of our favorite Bucks - - Lydia!

Above: Mikayla got to shave Ivy. Can you see the fear in his eyes???

Above: Elder Hunter...channeling Brigham Young! ;-)

Above: It's only fair...

Above: Megan and Sister Shaw spent a good part of the party working on one of Megan's perpetual crossword puzzles...

Above: This was a really cute dog there with Charlie. We had fun playing with him.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!

We love Elder Hunter. Here he is messing around with PJ. We were all waiting for him to "take him down," but he was being too nice :-).

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Check out the latest posting on the Church's Youtube page. It is about Modern Pioneers. I really liked it.

MODERN DAY PIONEERS

Trip to Brunswick 09

2009-07-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

We got to spend the 4th of July with Frank's family in Brunswick, GA, this year. It was a lot of fun.

We only had 5 kids, which was weird. Cody was at BYU and Liz was still in Vegas visiting friends.

Above: We went to a beach on St. Simons Island on July 3rd. It was great. Then we went again on the 4th of July. BIG mistake. There was NOwhere to park and we had to hike down the beach with all of our gear for quite a ways. But...we still had fun.

I don't know who the person on the far left is...but after that it goes PJ, Mikayla, Megan, Donovan and Ashley.

Above: We hauled all of our boogie boards down to the beach...then we realized that we were the only ones on the beach with boogie boards. If you notice...there are no waves big enough to justify a boogie board! I guess it's a West Coast thing?? You could walk out a LONG way and it would only go up to your waist (knees most of the time).

Above: Hoping for a wave.

Above: Megan

Above: Mikayla

Above: PJ

Above: Frank and Ashley

Above: So, later that night we decided not to go back to St. Simons Island for the fireworks show. We were told that it could take 4 hours to get off the island afterward. Instead we opted to do our own little fireworks show in front of Grandma and Grandpa Nolden's house.

That's Shayne and Grandpa Nolden on the porch before the fireworks. The fuzziness of the photo is because of the intense humidity in the air. We had just taken the camera outside into and it hadn't adjusted yet.

Above: The camera was still fuzzy from humidity when we caught Grandma Nolden and Uncle Mark watching the fireworks show. I'm thinking Uncle Mark isn't liking the show ;-).

Above: Frank and Aunt Lynn taking the safe approach to fireworks.

Above: PJ, Megan and Mikayla were actively involved in lighting off the fireworks.

Above: PJ, Megan, Uncle Mark & Mikayla. It was TOTALLY dark right before the flash went off...so no one knew that Uncle Mark was "lurking" in the shadows :-).

Above: Uncle Mark still lurking :-).

Above: Megan, Aunt Lynn & Mikayla

Mikayla's New "Do"

2009-07-02T20:18:00.001-07:00

Mikayla has soooo much hair with tons of curl...and she doesn't like it for some reason. But her hair is REALLY beautiful. Today I took her in to my stylist for a cut and style...she looked amazing!

Above: The BEFORE shot.... That's Amy Steinberg, our stylist...she is awesome!! She owns GrassRoots Salon in old town Conyers.

Above: ...and the AFTER.

Above: She loved it! It turned out great!

Six Flags (again)...

2009-07-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

Frank had to work this time...and Liz is in Vegas...but the rest of us went to Six Flags this week with Larry, Sandi (Frank's sister), Seth & Hannah. It was WAY hotter and more humid than last time...but we still had a lot of fun. This time we checked out "Skull Island," which is a mini water "park in the park."

Above: Boy, I think Donovan was having too much fun. None of the kids actually liked this one.

Above: Ok, a little bit better.

Above: Seth

Above: Hannah, Ashley & Don

Above: Hannah

Above: Seth & Ashley

Above: The water...before they got wet...

Above: ...and after.

Above: Seth & Ashley

Above: Skull Island.

MONTICELLO TRIP (Part 1)

2009-06-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

Our big trip for the year was a road trip to from Georgia to Monticello, Utah, to visit my family. We went through 10 states to get there and it took us three days of hard driving.

For those of you unfamiliar with Monticello...it is in the far Southeastern corner of Utah...50 miles south of Moab...right by the four corners (UT, AZ, NM & CO).

Monticello sits at 7000 feet on the foothills of the Blue/Abajo Mountains (is it Blue or Abajo?? I've heard both and seen both on maps...don't know). Because of that the temperatures were in the mid-70s to lower 80s while we were there and dipped into the 40s at night...and NO humidity...it was heavenly...except for the wind, which always blows there.

As you can see in the picture above, there are a lot of National Parks and recreational opportunities in the area. It is really beautiful.

Grandma and Granpa took good care of us, we got to see Cody, I got to see my sister and her family, and we had an amazing time!

THE DRIVE TO GET THERE

Above: Frank drove the ENTIRE 1749 miles to get there. I swear I offered many times to help...but he said he wanted to :-). He let me drive on the way home (a little bit). I actually got a lot of reading done, which was good.

Above: Liz, PJ & Megan. The trip went amazingly well in regard to kids. Not that we didn't have our tense moments...but overall I would have to give them an A-.

Above: Mikayla, Ashley & Donovan. I LOVE portable DVD players and iPods! It's the only way we survived.

Above: Like I said...10 states. It was great.

Above: We had our share of "potty breaks." Luckily we found some good Rest Stops along the way.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!! The kids had fun. Donovan loved it...until he lost his grip and went flying onto the grass. I missed it...but I guess he got up a little dazed...and it was pretty funny.

Above: Rest Stop in Oklahoma (duh). We were soooo happy to be out of the car.

Above: We got to see all kinds of cool stuff like this...The Leaning Tower of Water.

Above: ...and the World's Largest Cross.

Above: Wooohooo...getting closer. We stayed in Tucumcari the night before we made it to Monticello.

Above: Finally...only 2 states away!

Above: Liz's manicured toes sticking out of the car at a road construction stop between Shiprock and Cortez...it was HOT. Where did all of the trees and greenery go??? We were having a hard time acclimating back to the desert.

JUST HANGING OUT IN MONTICELLO...

Above: Grandma and Grandpa's Slade's house. They have lived there for like 30 years...they've had the same phone number since 1979. It seems crazy these days with people so mobile. It is awesome to go back and have so many memories still in tact.

Above: Grandpa and Liz playing dominos. One of the best things about Monticello (besides Grandma and Grandpa) is that time seems to move more slowly there. It's so relaxed and laid back. We got a lot of domino and card playing in while we were there.

Above: While we were there, My dad's 1st cousin dropped in (far left) from Arizona. Monticello is on the beaten path to SLC for a lot of people driving up from Arizona....so they get drop-ins here and there (we used to live in Arizona and both of my parents are from there and have a lot of family there...so it is cool). Grandma and Grandpa Slade are on the far right.

Above: PJ and Donovan playing around in the back yard.

Above: The highlight of Gr&Gr's house is the swing in the backyard. The kids will play for hours on it. The favorite thing to do is wind it up (I think the record was 30 twists or something) and then let it go and see who can walk after they get off of the swing. Left to Right: Tristan (cousin), Mikayla, Ashley, Bronson (cousin), Megan & Ashton (cousin).

Above: Megan getting ready to twist Mikayla up on the swing.

Above: Mikayla untwisting.

Above: A favorite place of ours in Monticello is the (LDS) Monticello Temple. It was the very first SMALL temple built (dedicated back in 1998). It was really cool for the town because President Hinckley came down on many occasions to check on the construction of it so he could directly oversee how the small temples were going to work. I was there for the dedication in 1998 and got to see President Hinckley set the cornerstone...very cool.

This photo was taken as the sun was setting...I never made it over there in good light to get a good photo.

Above: A photo from the front with the sun setting in the background.

Above: I got this one from the church website since I didn't get a good "light" photo.

Above: Frank on the north side of the temple. We walked up there a couple of different times...it is just one mile from my parent's home...how lucky is that?

TRIP TO MESA VERDE NP....

Mesa Verde National Park is only about 1.5 hours from Monticello over the Colorado border. Frank and the kids had never been there, so we took a quick trip over to see the Anasazi Indian Ruins.

Above: Heading to the tunnel that leads to the Visitor's Center. (Megan, Mikayla, PJ)

Above: Grandma Slade & Frank at the Visitor's Center.

Above: (L to R back): Mikayla, Shayne, Grandma Slade, PJ & Megan. (L to R front): Ashley, Ashton (cousin), Bronson (cousin) & Donovan.

Frank went ahead of us while kids were going to the bathroom and then we couldn't find him for a long time. When we finally did he said, "It's really hard to lose 9 people (especially at a small little visitor's center)...but I did it." We must've just been going in one door as he went out the other...he went to the car to look for us.

Above: Ashton and Ashley -- AKA: Ton & Lee. Both are nicknamed "Ash" and we kept getting their names mixed up...so we tried to call them "Ton and Lee." Ashton and Bronson are my niece & nephew (my sister's kids).

Above: It was quite a hike down into this ruin...actually the hike out was the hard part...but it was fun. Grandma waited at the top of the hill for us.

Above: Starting the trek.

Above: Hey, it's actually me in a photo...one of the rare ones ;-). It's rough being the photographer ;-). See...I CAN havea good hair day when there is no humidity :-)! It was way hot that day though!

Above: Ashley is not shy :-).

Above: Finally made it to the ruins.

Above: Getting our first upclose look.

Above: We waited in line to be able to go down into the kiva. Bronson climbing in.

Above: Frank.

Above: Donovan..."Get me out of here!"

Above: PJ

Above: Megan

Above: Ashley

Above: Ashton

Above: Part of the hike back up...it was really pretty there.

Above: We were all pretty hot, thirsty and exhausted by the time we made it back up. We were shocked to see PJ giving Donovan a lift.

Above: The climb up the mesa to get to the ruins is pretty brutal...but there are amazing views. This is looking Eastward toward the Colorado mountains where you will find Purgatory (ski resort) and the towns of Telluride and Durango. The photo doesn't do justice to the beauty and colors.

Above: This is looking westward off of the mesa toward the Utah border. The moutain in the background is the Blue/Abajo Mountains. That is the mountain where Monticello is on the foothills. It's so weird to be able to see a long distance...get a "vista" view....again. In Georgia, you don't get that very often.

MONTICELLO TRIP (Part 2)

2009-06-28T19:16:00.001-07:00

CANYONLANDS VISIT (The Falls)...

We took a day trip down into Canyonlands. We were so excited to go to "The Falls"...a popular hangout place for locals. At "The Falls," a river cascades down several small sandstone cliffs and makes several small pools for swimming in. Well...we got there and discovered that the "river" was not even trickling, let alone running....so all we found were a few stagnant pools of water. We were all pretty disappointed. But, the kids did have fun climbing around on the rocks for a while.

Above: Before we headed down to Canyonlands, we stopped at the rock right by the turnoff and the kids (w/Frank) checked out the little cave at the bottom of it...the one you always see and wonder about as you are driving to Moab. (Ashley, Donovan, PJ & Ashton)

Above: PJ getting a little climbing in on the way.

Above: Donovan...ya gotta love the red rocks.

Above: Not as big as I thought...but still cool.

Above: So, yeah...no water.

Above: I kept telling everyone (that had never been there)..."Can ya just envision how cool it WOULD be??" :-)

Above: My favorite sister, Samantha. Ok...she's my only sibling...but even if I had 10 others...I BET she would be my favorite ;-). Love ya, Sam!

Above: The kids "envisioning" the coolness of it all.

Above: Ashley on the other side of the "river."

Above: Megan.

Above: Sam and my mom.

Above: A good view of where the water WOULD be going if it were there.

Above: This is the direction the water comes FROM.

Above: Tristan, my dad ("Pard") and Frank....contemplating the water issue.

Above: Amazing!!! It rained and suddenly there was water!!

Just Kidding. This was taken not even a week later by our niece who was visiting the area (thanks, Christy). Crazy, huh? Maybe we were lucky that it wasn't running because it is running really fast and DIRTY! But it would've been more fun. Our theory is that someone upstream was probably irrigating...

Above: Christy and her awesome outdoorsy friends walking in the very dirty water above the falls.

Lunch at Newspaper Rock...

Above: We were all hungry by this time and decided to just stop at Newspaper Rock to have our lunch. We actually had wanted to stop in the campgrounds across the way...but they were by the river and they had been shut down due to "flood danger."

Above: Our motley lunch crew. Yep...that's my Favorite Niece, Tristan, being a ham in the middle. Of course, Heather...if you were there YOU would be my favorite... ;-). (inside joke)...

Above: Grandpa and Grandma Slade...they're awesome.

Above: The REAL Grandpa! :-)

Above: Aunt Sam and Dad.

Above: Cody showed up as we were having our very exciting parking lot lunch! We were all excited to see him. That's him on the left and his friend/college Roommate, Eric Engstrom (they've known each other for their whole lives, I think...back in the Vegas days). They had just gone to the Manti Pageant the night before and traveled down to party with us the next day.

Above: Frank and Donovan.

Above: Tristan and Megan just hangin'.

Above: We discovered (ok we were bored) that everyone but Donovan and Shayne could roll their tongues (it's a gene, you either have it or you don't). These girls had even more developed tongue talents.

Above: Some of the guys got adventuresome and hiked up to the top of the cliff. I'm quite certain that we got mooned by one of them...but it cannot be proved.

Above: Four of the suspects, er, I mean, hikers: Beano, Colton, Corey & Bronson. Corey is my sister's husband...and these are 3 of their 7 kids.

THE DRIVE BACK FROM CANYONLANDS....

Above: Right as we were finishing up our lunch and heading back to Monticello, the Engstrom family got there (Eric's family). These are good friends from Vegas who also went to the Manti Pageant last night (and took Liz with them) and then they drove back down to hang out for a couple more days with us. It was so great to see them all.

We went the "back way" home...up over the mountain...it was so beautiful. They have had lots of rain this year and everything is so nice and green. Behind us you can see out into Canyonlands.

Above: Liz with her good buddies Veronica (center) and Marika (right). Veronica is not technically part of the Engstrom family...but kind of is. They are taking Liz back with them so she can hang out in Vegas for a couple of weeks and see all of her "Vegas friends"...which were many...and then fly home.

Above: Megan and the Mountain. I wish you could tell the brilliance of the green from the photo...it was so amazingly beautiful. For those of you familiar with the area...Foy Lake is off to the right.

Above: It's so good to have Cody home!!!

Above: Frank

Above: That was one obstinant cow...it would not move.

Father's Day in Monticello...

Above: Grandma and Grandpa Slade...ready for church.

Above: Frank and Grandpa being ooohhed and aaahhed over before we headed to church.

Above: Frank trying out the neck pillow from PJ. Now he can sleep comfortably on the bus ride to work in the morning or on those long business trip flights.

Above: The whole family...ready for church. Can you believe PJ is taller than me (he's only 11)!??

Above: Our true character comes out.

Above: So...these guys were born 10 days apart. Beano, on the right, is the older of the 2. :-)

Above: Tristan, our little "Flower Child." :-) Or, what did Grandpa say, "bloomin' idiot" or something?? ;-)

Above: Corey and Ashton.

Above: Beano...the marksman...

Above: Colton...who says he never smiles??

Above: Do you love the awesome shirt? You might've seen them at Wal-Mart....what a great idea. We had a hard time fitting 7 hands on the front though.

MONTICELLO TRIP (Part 3)

2009-06-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

Horses and Four-Wheelers...

One of the things the kids like most about Monticello is riding horses...something we don't get to do anywhere else. Luckily, they have a cowboy for a Grandpa. Also, there are great places to go four-wheeling. We haven't found any good places in Georgia...if anyone knows of a good place to go...please let us know!

Above: That's my dad. He's so cool. He actually went on to Arizona State University on a full-ride rodeo scholarship for a while. How cool is that? Also, he grew up as a rancher in a small town in Northeastern Arizona. John Wayne had a ranch near the town. He got to meet John Wayne several times as he would come over and help the Slades brand their cattle. Also, my dad said that John Wayne would help the Relief Society put on a big party each year by donating the beef....he said J.W. was "very down to earth" and "a very nice guy."

Above: Dad on his "other horse."

Above: Ashley

Above: Donovan and Frank.

Above: PJ

Above: Tristan...a true cowgirl...just don't let her use a cell phone while riding!!!

Above: Donovan (8) has become a good rider over the last year.

Above: Shayne, her mom, and her sister.

Above: Ashton & Tristan (nieces).

Above: Tristan with Ashley.

Above: This is the way Grandma likes to ride.

Above: Bronson (nephew)

Above: Megan

Above: The younger kids created this "seat" while they were waiting for their turn to ride.

Above: Ashton

Above: "Cuz I'm a country boy...I got a 4-wheel-drive..."

Dutch Oven Cookin'...

Above: After overseeing all the horses and four-wheelers all afternoon...Grandpa and Grandma still found the energy to cook us all a "to-die-for" dutch oven meal up on the Mountain (Dalton Springs).

Above: LOL...what can I say here??

Above: The Master Dutch Oven Cooker....he is so good at this!! And it is SOOO much work. I felt guilty...

Above: Ashton meditating in the late afternoon sun...

Above: The boys hanging out around the campfire. (Bronson, PJ & Donovan)

Above: The kids going off to play in the field/forest....you don't have to worry about ticks and chiggers there...

Above: Grandma putting together some of her famous biscuits.

Above: Tristan and Ashton. Soooo cute!

Above: PJ and Frank

Above: Tristan and Sam, daughter and mom...

Above: Meggie-Lou

Above: Mmmmm...mmmmmm.mmmmmmm!!!! Fried chicken and the biscuits!! But my favorite part is the dutch oven potatoes...no one makes them like dad!!!

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!! The master chef at work!

Above: The kids were trying to sneak up on a deer. This darn deer was very friendly and kept coming back around camp over and over.

MONTICELLO TRIP (Part 4)

2009-06-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Picnic at Lloyd's Lake...

Above: This is a man-made lake above Monticello. We had a picnic and then took the kids down to the water to play around.

Above: The mud was a "little" deep.

Above: Ashley, "Help!"

Above: I had no idea Frank was such a good rock skipper. He had one that skipped like 12 times before it went under. He was teaching the kids how to do it.

The Trip Home...

Above: We had 3 more grueling days of driving to get home. We stopped in Amarillo, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas. The kids loved being able to swim at the hotel at the end of the day.

Liz was in Vegas already, so we only had 5 kids in the car on the way back...it is so weird when just one is missing.

Above: I loved the huge windmill arrays that we saw along the way. We saw one of the blades for these windmills being shipped by truck in Cortez. It was HUGE!!! It was so huge the guy couldn't make the turn in town and had stopped traffic. We also got a close up look at one on a truck stopped in Monticello....you can't tell how big they are from a distant view.

Home at Last...

Trips are so rejuvenating! But it is always GREAT to get back home and sleep in your own bed and have access to all of your "stuff." We were so happy to be home...even though it seems that the heat and humidity had been cranked up in a major way while we were gone. :-)

Visit from the Lamberts

2009-06-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

Those of you from Desert Sage Ward (Vegas) will recognize the Lambert family! They had a family event in Alabama and made the drive over to Georgia to see us. We were so excited to see them...they have THE cutest kids!

Above: Holly & Michael.

Above: Liz playing with Kylan.

Above: Liz playing with Aiden.

Above: Aiden.

Above: Kylan...besides being so cute, he is such a smart little boy too. He just turned 4 (I think I got that right), but he talks like an 8 year old.

Above: What a cutie!!!

Random June Items...

2009-06-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Early June was mostly spent waiting for our road trip to Utah. But there were a few "exciting moments" before then...

Above: Poor Lizzie Poo!!! Liz had to have her wisdom teeth extracted in early June. She had a few rough days...but overall did quite well. Here she has just gotten home from surgery and is still pretty medicated.

Above: We got our first "Slip N Slide" for the kids this year. They loved it. This is Donovan and Seth (cousin) racing.

Above: Mikayla, Seth & Donovan. For some reason Seth always ended up in the grass.

Above: Mikayla, Megan (sliding), Seth (cousin), Donovan & Hannah (cousin).

Above: PJ (scooter) and Hannah (cousin). Hannah wasn't so sure about it at first...but then she got into it.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!: Seth and Donovan racing...."Who won?"

Above: This was a different day. I'm thinking we need to get a swimming pool...at least one of those little round plastic ones. But, hey, I guess this works too. :-) This is Donovan, Ashely & Christina (friend from down the street).

Above: Ashley & Christina.

Above: Donovan and Ashley.

Above: The most recent missionary crew: Elders Hunter, Johnson, Cockayne & Quinn. Everyone but Elder Hunter left us right after this.

Above: I was out shopping and Donovan called me and said that when I got home had a "performance" ready to show me. This is what I saw. He's pretty funny.

Bathroom Remodel

2009-06-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

We decided to get our bathrooms retiled...with a little bit of remodeling too.

We also had the tile redone in our front entry way. The men that were doing the tile in the entry way discovered that we had a lot of water damage and a colony of hungry termites. That's a whole other story though...see the entry: "Let's Get a New Door..."

So, the bathrooms...that was really cool. I took some videos that show the before and after...that will be a lot easier than doing photos. So, here ya go.

KIDS BATHROOM:

BELOW: Here is a video walkthrough of the Kids' (Jack N Jill) Bathroom BEFORE any work was done.

BELOW: So, here is the AFTER video walkthrough. Doesn't it look beautiful?? (there are 2 videos of the After)

BELOW: Here are a couple of photos, since I know the video isn't big enough to get a really good look at the tile??

Above: Kids' bathroom before any work was done...

Above: ...and the after.... Above: The kids' shower before...

Above: ...and the kids' shower after.

Above: More of the kids' shower after.

MASTER BATH:

BELOW: Here is the BEFORE walkthrough of the Master Bath. There are two videos, actually....the second one goes into the toilet/shower room. You can see that we had a very large shower before...which I hated. It stayed dark in there and the mold LOVED it. It was a constant battle.

BELOW: Here are the AFTER videos. We had the shower made smaller and a closet added...and we have no shower door (to keep clean). We absolutely love how it turned out.

BELOW: Here are a couple of photos of the Master Bath before and after.

Above: The master bath before...

Above: ...and the master bath after.

Above: The master tub before...

Above: ...and the master tub after.

Above: The master shower room before...

Above: Inside the master shower before...

Above: The master shower during construction...

Above: ...the master shower room after.

Above: ...walking inside the Master Shower after.

Above: Inside the new master bath closet.

***************************

For those of you in the area, we would HIGHLY recommend Ken Avery for any work you need/want done (thanks to the Bucks and Swetnams for recommending him). He did an excellent job in all respects. He has some amazing tile guys come in and do all of the tile work. They did excellent work as well and were very detail oriented. If you need Ken's number, let me know.

Let's Get a New Door...

2009-06-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

So, we had to get our whole front door replaced...and we are talking the door, sidelights, and the half-circle transom over the top. Oh, yeah, part of the wall too.

Unfortunately, the house we bought last year had a serious water leak into the wall by the front door (the roof had been done incorrectly originally)...which had "enticed" termites...and it had been going on for years and years, I guess. We discovered this when we hired someone to put new tile in the front entry way and they started tearing the old tile out. At least we found out now before the whole thing fell in. It was quite an adventure.

Above: This is a BEFORE picture of the door (this was taken before we bought the house).

Above: This is what the front-entry way looked like before. You can see how foggy the half-circle transom is...probably because of the water leak.

Above: This is what it looked like when they started ripping up the tile and found the termites by the front door.

Above: This is what we discovered on the outside. It turns out water was leaking at a roof joint just above this and it was all rotted inside and termites were in there. You can see where it had been heavily caulked and it was mushy to the touch. We broke through it with just the push of a finger.

Above: This is inside...on the opposite side of that last photos. You can see the termite trails all behind the trim.

Above: We had to tear a ways into the wall to get rid of the termite damage. This is Ken Avery that contracted the work. He is awesome and we would HIGHLY recommend him for anything you want done around your home. Email us if you would like his number.

Above: This is what it looks like when someone removes your front door.

Above: This is what it looks like when you have no front door. At least it is a pretty view with all of the greenery.

Above: The outside view...

Above: The new door on it's way in...

Above: Remember the hole in the trim on the outside of the door. That hole was there for several days as we waited for the new door to arrive. So, in the meantime a bird built a nest in there. I found out the hard way as I was up on a ladder taking some plastic and tape down (a poor attempt to keep the rain out)...the bird flew out right by my face.

Well, when we discovered the nest with little baby birds in it...Ken tried to find a nice spot for the nest, since we couldn't leave it where it was. But, the momma bird didn't come back, the nest fell, and all of the babies died. It was really sad...

Above: The baby birds.

BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS

Above: So, this is what the tile looked like BEFORE we had it changed. You can see a big crack on the left hand side at the bottom.

Above: ...and this is AFTER.

Above: A BEFORE look from the front door.

Above: And an AFTER look from the front door.

Above: The new front door all done from the outside.

Above: The new front door all done from the inside.

Above: And an aerial view looking from upstairs.

International Day at Elementary School

2009-05-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

I guess this is the 20th year that our Elementary School has held an "International Day." It was very cool. Donovan's class had Mexico, Ashley's class had England and PJ's class had New Zealand.

They kids have been learning about their country for a while, they had a parade to show off what they had learned (see photos below), and after the parade they got to taste food from their country. I learned how to make Bread Pudding and a New Zealand kiwi/papaya salad for the event.

Above: Before the parade...the classes were all getting lined up.

Above: Donovan was lucky enough to get the largest sombrero...which he loved, of course :-).

Above: Donovan and his class lined up and ready for the parade to start.

Above: Donovan's class representing Mexico in the parade.

Above: I think Nayali (left) was the only true Mexican in the group.

Above: Ms. Ferry!!!

Above: You can see Donovan on the Left.

Above: Some of Donovan's friends (you might remember them from the Aquarium field trip).

Above: I didn't have any kids in this class...it's just an example of the other colorful countries represented.

Above: This is Ashley's class in the parade.

Above: Ashley got to be Queen Elizabeth....she felt very important.

Above: Her Royal Highness.

Above: Nkemji and Willow.

Above: Ms. Simpson as Elizabeth the Great.

Above: I don't know how he did it but PJ managed to do the parade without a costume. Here he is trying to hide behind his friend Tahmeed.

Above: More of PJ's class representing New Zealand.

Above: All of the countries were represented by their flags.

Above: PJ's New Zealand class after the parade...you can see him hiding in the background.

Above: Part of Ashley's class.

Above: Ashley with her friends Nkemji and Kha.

Above: The "English."

Memorial Day BBQ at Hard Labor Creek

2009-05-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

We had another fun day thanks to the threat of rain. :-)

I guess our ward goes to Hard Labor Creek every year for a Memorial Day BBQ. Some years it can be pretty crowded...but because there was a good chance of rain...there was hardly anyone there this year. It was nice all day while we were there and then poured on us while we drove home in the late afternoon.

The ward put on a great lunch (at a screened pavillion they had rented) and then we all headed down to the lake where the kids played for hours. Some people fished, some rode paddle boats and some played beach volleyball. It was all really nice.

Above: Bishop and Sister Buck. The Bishop was in the middle of a water balloon fight with some of the Young Men...I'm not sure who was winning.

Above: They have a really nice beach there! I was surprised. The next three pictures can be put together to give you a panoramic view. This is the Left.

Above: This is the center.

Above: And this is the Right.... behind where I was sitting was a building where there was an outdoor shower, bathrooms, a snack shack...and they even had a scavenger hunt and a magic show (because of the holiday weekend, I guess).

Above: Donovan, PJ & Megan (and Ashley is out there somewhere).

Above: This is why I didn't get in the lake. It looked fun...but, uh...yeah...lake swimming is a little dirty.

Above: Elorah...she is such a cutie!!!

Above: Michelle, Hitomi, Yukiko, Shayne & Ula. Ula is our Activity Chairperson and put on a great party.

Above: Ula and Hitomi.

Above: Janna and Mikayla after paddleboating.

Above: Liz, Megan and other ward members in the middle of a sand volleyball game.

Above: PJ (center) on the opposing team.

I had a great video of the volleyball game...but every time I try to upload a video to Blogspot these days my whole browser (and sometimes computer) freezes!!! Bummer!!!

Six Flags for Mikayla's Birthday

2009-05-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

We all went to Six Flags over Georgia for the first time at the end of May. We went in celebration of Mikayla's birthday.

It was Memorial Day weekend and we thought it would be really crowded. Lucky for us, however, there was a threat of rain that day...the traffic was REALLY light. It did rain once for about 20 minutes in the afternoon...but that was it. The rest of the day was overcast and in the upper 70's....perfect! AND the lines were short! We couldn't have asked for a better day.

Well...except for the fact that on the very first ride...the Cyclone, which is an ancient wooden coaster....I put my cell phone in my pocket for the ride...and when we were done it was gone! That darn ride threw me around like a rag doll. The bar wasn't very tight and I felt like I was going to fall out at times...crazy!!! AND it hurt my back in 2 places.

The sad thing was that it was a brand new COOL phone that I had only had for 2 days!!!! I was crushed!!! The happy news is that the guy that sold us the phones put insurance on all 7 of our lines (unbenownst to us)...so, even though I have gotten rid of the insurance now, it did allow me to replace my very COOL phone for not much money :-).

So...back to the story of Six Flags:

Above: Yeah, they mean it.

Above: Yep, more photos of us waiting in line (Liz, Megan & Frank).

Above: PJ...."I'm da man."

Above: More waiting in line (Seth, Donovan, Ashley, Sandi, Larry, Hannah, PJ & Liz)....the lines were short...but there were still lines. They had good music playing throughout the park all day...and good TV "stuff" to watch while you wait...which was nice. This Six Flags is way cleaner and nicer than the one in Southern California too.

Above: This is the newly opened "Monster Mansion" ride. It was supposed to be "It's a Small World" meets "Pirates of the Caribbean." But it was more like yawn meets "get me out of here."

Above: Frank, Shayne and Megan...happy they didn't fall asleep during the Monster Mansion.

Above: PJ and HIS new COOL Phone...which he didn't lose (yet). He just wishes he had more people to text.

Above: Megan and Liz always hamming it up...and PJ trying to get in on the action.

Above: More hamming it up and Shayne trying to catch it on camera.

Above: More hams (Donovan, Seth & Ashley).

Above: Seth and Donovan.

Above: PJ, Frank and Liz.

Above: Shayne and Megan waiting to ride the "vintage" cars.

Above: Sandi being driven by Hannah...why was Sandi shaking after the ride ;-).

Above: Ashley driving Frank.

Above: PJ driving Liz.

Above: And Seth driving Miss Daisy...er, I mean Megan.

Above: Liz is never far from her music... This was in the afternoon and we were pretty pooped by this time.

Above: Hannah loves her Liz.

Above: The end of a very full day....

Above: Two seconds later....

Mikayla's 13th Birthday

2009-05-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

So, we officially have 3 teenagers in the house now!!!! Nooooooo!!!!

Luckily, they are all pretty good kids :-).

Mikayla turned 13 in May. She had her friend Brionna over for some cake and ice cream and then we went to Six Flags over Georgia a few days later for more celebrating.

Above: Liz, Mikayla & Brionna.

Above: Mikayla mesmerized by the magical glitter ball.

Above: Frank coming to grips with having 3 teenagers....

Above: Megan practicing her videography skills...while eating pizza.

Above: Special Horse Card from Grandma and Grandpa Slade.

Above: PJ had a little icing mishap (thanks to Dad).

Above: After cake and ice cream we took Mikayla to BJ's (like Costco...only not quite as cool) so she she could pick out her new cell phone...which was her birthday present.

Above: PJ admiring Liz's new swimsuit from BJ's.

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2009-05-26T08:11:00.001-07:00

If you need a website created, check out Cody's company:

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Outdoor Festival at Charlie Elliott

2009-05-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

We attended the 13th annual JAKES Day at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center this past weekend. JAKES stands for: Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics, & Sportsmanship. It was a free event for kids and they had a bunch of fun activities. They even fed us lunch. For those of you that live in the area and have kids, I would highly recommend it for next year. Our kids had a GREAT time!!

Larry, Sandi, Seth and Hannah joined us for the adventure. Liz and Megan didn't think they wanted to get up early on a Saturday to go with us....but now they wish they had gone!

Above: Hannah and Mikayla. They gave all the kids a free T-shirt.

Above: The kids all got to hold a live, slimy snake. I think Seth liked it :-).

Above: PJ and the snake.

Above: Ashley and the snake.

Above: Two Braves fans (Larry and Frank) and Sandi.

Above: They had several hawks that you could get up close and personal with.

Above: The kids were impressed.

Above: Seth, "Why am I taking a picture with this bird?"

Above: Donovan, "Yeah, I'm with Seth."

Above: More Snakes.

Above: They had a firing range where the kids could do some target practice. That's PJ in the cool glasses getting instruction. We discovered that, for some reason, he can't close JUST his left eye.

Above: Mikayla, Hannah and Donovan taking a turn.

Above: Ashley and Seth decided to try their hand at archery instead. (that's not Seth in the yellow though...I couldn't get a good shot of him)

Above: ...after our lunch of hotdogs, chips, pop AND a giant Rice Krispie Treat....a child's dream lunch.

Above: Probably the best part of the festival was the fishing. They provided all of the equipment and even live bait for everyone to fish that wanted to. The kids loved it. Unfortunately, only one fish was caught...by PJ. All the people around us seemed to be catching fish, but we weren't so lucky. I think we should've gone with the crickets instead of the nightcrawlers!

Above: Me showing off my secret tree-catching throw. It worked...I caught a tree!

Above: I believe Sandi was also successful at catching a tree...

Above: When PJ caught our one and only fish...and we were all standing around not really wanting to unhook it...we were very lucky that this girl came walking by at that very moment and said, "Do you want some help?" She actually liked doing it....so we let her :-).

Liz at Prom '09

2009-05-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

Liz got to go to her first Prom recently....a Church Prom. It was held at Georgia Tech in downtown Atlanta...several stakes in the area were invited. (For those of you that don't know what a stake is...it is a congregation comprising several smaller congregations - wards - in a specific geographic area.)

Liz went to one dance at her high school earlier this year and decided she didn't want to go to them any more. It was pretty scary, I guess. The dancing was disgusting, as was the music. So, we were pretty excited when we heard that the Church was going to put on a Prom with an environment where she would feel comfortable.

Liz looked absolutely beautiful. She did her hair herself and also did a friend's hair too...she has a talent for hair.

Above: Liz's Date, John, putting on the wrist corsage.

Above: John is a pretty cool guy...

Above: The handsome couple...

Above: They doubled with Ben and Barbie. They didn't plan the color scheme...it just worked out that way.

Above: Let the fun begin....

Above: More Photo Ops for parents...

Above: Liz had a great time!

Megan's 8th Grade (Semi-formal) Dance

2009-05-17T06:06:00.001-07:00

Megan had her first "Big" Dance in May. Her middle school had a Semi-formal dance for just the 8th graders. Unfortunately, she thought it was incredibly lame...especially compared to the church dances she is used to going to. But she looked beautiful and got to hang out with her friends for a while.

Liz did her hair for her...

Above: Some of Megan's friends before the dance.

Above: Some of Megan's friends at the dance.

Annual Father Son Campout

2009-05-17T05:57:00.000-07:00

Frank took the boys on the Annual (church) Father/Son Campout in early May, which was held at the Charlie Elliot Wilderness Preserve, which is about 45 minutes from where we live. Larry and Seth got to go with them this year.

They had a great time until they went to bed and it started POURING rain (they were tent camping). They got a little wet and uncomfortable...but overall I think they had a great time.

Above: Seth and Donovan and their prize fish.

Above: Seth

Above: Frank and Donovan (far Right) and some of the other ward members at the campout.

Above: It's so pretty and green in Georgia.

Above: PJ and his mighty catch!

Above: Seth checking out the live bait.

Pinewood Derby 2009

2009-05-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

So, we had a Pinewood Derby in April. I had been to a few but never been in charge of one...so it was a learning experience. We only have a handful of Cub Scouts, so we invited our two 11-year-old Scouts (PJ is one of them) to participate as well. PJ won overall in the bracket that included the 11-year-olds, and Donovan took 2nd in the bracket that just had the Cub Scouts. I didn't get that many great pictures since I was busy doing other things most of the night. But it was fun...

Ashley the Cheerleader

2009-04-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

We signed Ashley up for an "Upward" Cheerleading program. It is in conjunction with a local Baptist church. The plan was that Donovan would play flag football and Ashley would cheer. Donovan didn't want anything to do with my plan. He's way too self-conscious to do...which is a bummer. So the whole family went and supported Ashley in her very first cheerleading event this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and I think she really enjoyed it.

The day before this, the Elementary School had a Pep Rally (for the darn CRCT tests...don't get me started)...and Ashley got to wear her cheerleading outfit and be the front person for her grade. I missed it because I found out about it too late and couldn't get there on time because I was grocery shopping. But...I heard from many people that she did an awesome job. She did 2 cartwheels and went flat down in the splits. She loves gymnastics.

Above: Can you tell which one is Ashley :-)?

Above: Mom, quit taking pictures!!

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!

This is their half-time cheer. I didn't know they would be facing the other side...and I didn't think I had time to get over there...so it's just the back of them :-(.

We have to brag on Liz now!!!

2009-04-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

We are so proud of Liz! Out of over 500 entries at her High School, she won first place for 10th grade and then first place overall for the school in a "Laws of Life" essay contest sponsored by the Rotary Club. She will now go on to the state competition where there were almost 45,000 entries.

Liz's essay was on the Law of Life: "You never know what you've got until it's gone." She wrote about her experience of being pulled from a foster home several years ago and thinking it was just another very bad day for her, but then realizing it was one of the best things that had ever happened to her. She describes how she quickly came to know and love Karen (her soon-to-be adoptive mother) and then of her subsequent sudden death. She showed in her essay that even at her young age of 16 she has already learned, the hard way, that "you never know what you've got until it's gone." Liz truly is wise for her age and has a lot of appreciation for what she has.

This past week we attended a luncheon in honor of her and the other class winners.

Above: Liz, the 9th grade winner (he's 6'4"!!), and Liz's Literature teacher Julie Kimble.

Above: Liz was asked to read her essay for everyone at the luncheon. She did a great job.

Above: Just a very small snippet of her presentation...I didn't think it was showing up well on the camera.

Above: Photo op at the end. The winner from the senior class had to leave early, so she didn't get into the photo.

Above: With Ms. Kimble....who also happens to be one of the Young Women leaders at church...which is cool.

Above: This was an article in the local newspaper this weekend.

Above: This was the article in the high school newspaper after she won.

Easter 2009

2009-04-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

We were happy that as a family we were able to once again celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at this beautiful time of year! We are so grateful for what He did for each one of us that allows us to be happy and at peace in this world of strife and confusion....and to have hope for the Eternities as well.

We also enjoyed all of the "secular" fun-i-ties of Easter.....

Above: Early Sunday morning....finding what the Easter Bunny brought.

Above: Dad's "Taxes" on the candy (dark chocolate...of course).

Above: After church we went over to Sandi and Larry's house for a VERY yummy German dinner and then a lot of egg hunting.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!

Let the games begin!

Above: Donovan, PJ & Mikayla.

Above: Ashley & Seth.

Above: Liz and Hannah teaming up.

Above: Mikayla searching hard.

Above: Donovan and Seth.

Above: PJ even getting into the action.

Above: Megan and Ashley.

Above: Hannah Bannanah.

Above: Frank, Larry (up), and Sandi.

Above: The physical prowess of Donovan.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!

Bubbles from the deck.

Above: Shayne and Liz hanging out inside...

Above: Sandi and Hannah enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather.

Above: Larry and his new Easter Toy...who will be his next victim?? Mwaaahaaahaaa

Above: Liz being her happy self.

Random Spring Events

2009-04-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some things we have been doing in the Spring of 2009...besides suffering from allergies (which most of us have been doing).

BUGS!!!

Above: This is just one of the cool creatures we have found around our house (mostly outside)...it's cool and scary all at the same time.

Just Random...
Above: Magnificent Disco-ing Megan in her magnificently messy room!!! (and the crowd goes wild!)

Hannah Montana Movie

Above: We saw Hannah Montana the Movie a few days ago...very cute and family friendly. We all gave it a "THUMBS UP!" Here is the crew (l to r): Aunt Sandi, Hannah (the other Hannah), Liz, Donovan, Shayne, Megan, Mikayla, and Briona (Mikayla's friend). PJ refused to be in the photo, so he took it. Where's Ashley!!?? I think she was laying on the floor and PJ cut her out.

Above: This photo does not do justice to what took place. As we were walking out of the theater, Megan decided to throw all of her trash away. As soon as she did she said, "My phone!" She had accidentally dumped it into the trash as well. It all happened so fast, but the next thing I knew, I looked over and all I could see was Mikayla's butt and legs sticking out of the trash can. She dove in head first to retrieve it for Megan...what are sisters for??? I missed the classic shot...but the memory remains :-). It was hilarious.

Twinners!!!!

Above: Megan and Liz went to a Stake Dance (church) the other night and decided to dress up the same. They looked so cute...and had a great time too.

Only in Georgia!!!

Above: Ok, if you're from the South you may not find the humor in this that we did...but Frank and I were laughing so hard! We were on date night last night and saw this at the local car wash. We had to drive back by and take a picture (secretly as we were driving by...hence the fuzziness). Where else can you see someone vacuuming out their BBQer?? BBQing is HUGE in the South....and we have had some GOOOOD BBQ since we got here.

Stone Mountain....again...

Above: We had decided we had better get to Stone Mountain since we got an annual pass for everyone and it is up in September. It was fun but crowded because most of the schools in the area were on Spring Break...so we didn't stay long.

Above: We took this one just for Hannah.

Above: The most fun we had at Stone Mountain was the 4-D movie of "Journey to the Center of the Earth." They did like 20 minutes of the show with Brenden Frasier and added special effects. It was pretty enjoyable.

Church Party: Scripture Cake Decorating...

We were challenged to make cakes that had something to do with the scriptures for a recent ward party. PJ and Liz participated...with a little help from mom.

Above: PJ decided to do the Hill Cumorah. You can see the Golden Plates in the "hole" with Joseph Smith kneeling and the Angel Moroni there too.

Above: Liz did the parting of the Red Sea. They both did a really good job.

Above: This is Liz with her friend Liz at the party.

Above: Liz liked this one too because it showed her Ancestors...she has some Native American blood in her. This one was representing the 2000 Stripling Warriors. It was done by Bro. Joyner in the ward.

Above: PJ and Frank having their cake and eating it too! We were all pretty sick at the end of the night. :-)

Above: Elders' Cockayne and Escobido.

Above: The Remains....

Above: Megan texting at a church party...Really?...that is so wrong! :-)

Above: Ta-da!! No more texting!!! Let's eat Cake!

An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ

2009-04-19T05:02:00.001-07:00

We have to brag on Cody!!!

2009-03-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

Cody is such an impressive young man! As we noted in the Christmas letter, not only is Cody taking a full load of classes at BYU, but he also has a job AND has his own company. He and his business partner were recently spotlighted in the BYU newspaper....Check it out:

READ THE ARTICLE

Other Blogs: Cody & Megan

2009-03-24T06:44:00.001-07:00

Cody recently got some new photos up on his blog! Check out the fun he is having at BYU:

CODY'S BLOG

Megan has been doing a lot of Blogging lately...check out the very random thoughts/photos/videos of a 14-year-old. :-)

MEGAN'S BLOG

Random Winter Events

2009-03-24T04:05:00.001-07:00

Here's a hodge-podge of events that have happened in the past month or so....

Above: We recently went to the Atlanta Temple for Date Night. They are going to shut our temple down for 2 years (soon) to do a complete renovation!!! We are extremely bummed! We will have to drive to either the Birmingham Alabama Temple or the Columbia South Carolina temple, both of which are about 2.5 hours away.

That's funny though that I should whine about it since when I was growing up in Utah we used to have to drive 4 hours to the Manti Temple. But after I left Monticello (which now has a temple...the first small one), I have always lived within minutes of a temple...the furthest I have lived from one is 45 minutes when I lived near Seattle...so this is going to be very strange and sad. But I guess we will survive :-).

If you don't already know...the Church started putting videos on YouTube recently. Here are a couple of them on temples:

The Blessings of the Temple

Why Mormons Build Temples

Above: A couple of weeks ago we got to take the girls to see the Jonas Brothers' 3D movie. Hannah LOVES the Jo Bros too...so we all went together.

Above: Hannah can't wait for the Hannah Montana movie to come out too!! I'm thinking another trip to the theater will be coming soon.

Above: Ashley had to dress up as an ancestor for "Achievement Days" last week. Then she had to present three facts about that person. She chose Nancy Naomi Tracy...one of Karen's ancestors that lived in the days of and knew Joseph Smith. The picture she is holding was drawn by Franzi (our favorite German foreign exchange student).

Above: One of the best things about our house is the creek that runs through our property. The kids have really been enjoying it lately. (Don and PJ). Who knew we would be able to go crawdad hunting in our own backyard...it is very cool. We used to do that in St. George...but we would have to drive 30 minutes up to Veyo to do it.

We thought we were pretty safe playing outside during Fall and Spring...not too many worries about ticks and chiggers.....but Donovan got his first Tick on this day! He was traumatized!

When it rains the creek gets REALLY full and runs pretty fast.

Above: Just imagine Donovan saying: "STOP, PJ!!" And yes, they have fallen in many times.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!!

Donovan swinging across the creek on the rope swing.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!

And now it's PJ's turn.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!

Frank's Mom and Dad gave us this bell for Christmas. Frank finally got it rigged up on the back porch for us. We use it to call the kids in from the forest when it is time for dinner, etc. It is so awesome!

Field trip to Atlanta Aquarium

2009-03-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

I love going on Field Trips with the kids. This time we got to go to the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta. It is supposedly the largest one in the world. It definitely was very nice.

I was in charge of 6 kids. Luckily I had another parent tagging along because that was a handful since it was VERY busy and we had one child that could disappear within seconds (and often did). As much as I like Field Trips...I think I will need to go back when I can look at the displays and not be constantly searching for children. :-)

Here's what we did:

Above: Walking into the aquarium. That's Donovan in the brown jacket, and that's his favorite teacher, Ms. Ferry up ahead of him (turned toward the camera). It was a 30 minute bus ride to get there...THAT was fun ;-).

Above: these are 5 of the six kids we had in our group (we had already lost one ;-).

Above: They were able to touch sting rays and little sharks. They probably liked this the most.

Above: This was a huge whale slide. You had to go up to the next level to go down it. This was another hit.

Above: Donovan up close and personal with an alligator. They were very interactive.

Above: The Baluga Whales were cool.

Above: Everyone loved the big tunnel where you were surrounded by sealife.

Above: Donovan and me.

Above: The Bus Ride. Donovan was trying to get a picture of his teacher...but he could never quite get one. She's really good with the kids...in teaching and discipline.

Snow in Georgia

2009-03-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

I understand it is a rare event to get snow in Georgia...at least where we live. So, when it started falling we quickly broke out our snow gear and the kids went crazy. We actually ended up getting about 4 inches...but the photos don't reflect that because once it started sticking and getting colder...I didn't feel like going out and taking pictures of anything. Now I regret it...but I still have Las Vegas blood...it's toooo cold!!!

Above: Ashley, Donovan & PJ...

Above: Grandma...remember that coat you had in your closet for about 4 years?? It finally fits PJ!!

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!!

This is looking out an upstairs window at the front yard and driveway. Too bad you can't tell how large the flakes were...they were so beautiful!

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!!

This is looking out an upstairs window at the backyard as the snow fell.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!!!

The kids enjoying the snow.

Ashley's 10th Birthday

2009-03-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Ashley's celebrated her 10th birthday with a sleepover party and invited some friends from school and church. It was nice outside and they spent some time out there on the trampoline. It was all pretty quiet...until Frank and the boys decided to sneak around the house and scare them. But then they got a good game of "Kick the Can" going and all was forgiven.

Above: Megan made her a classic birthday cake! I guess PJ actually made the cake...Megan decorated it...and Ashley actually got to decorate the sides.

Above: The lucky ladies that got to help her celebrate: Christina, Emma, Ka and Kemji.

Above: It was a wild night!!

Above: Woohoooo!!! Pixos!!!

Above: Emma

A Baptism

2009-02-27T06:51:00.001-08:00

Ealier this month DeVaughn, a friend from church, got baptized. Here are a few photos:

Above: Elder Hunter, Frank, Shayne, Liz, DeVaughn, Elder Chappell. He's a really good young man...and we were very happy for him.

Above: Elder Hunter, Elder Chappell, and Frank. Three awesome missionaries!

Above: Vanessa, Liz & Sariah at the baptism. Everyone tells these three that they look alike.