2009 Bucks

Here is the muley that Jared shot on a trip with his friend Kenny and the whitetail buck Mitchell shot in our field this year.

Parker is 10

Here is the birthday boy with some of his friends. He did it up flame style with his birthday cake. I really had to stretch my artistic skills to paint the flames.

Jared on the Madison

Here is Jared on one of his favorite rivers.

First day of school. . .two months later

I know this is a little late, but here you go. It is a good snapshot of how the boys have grown.

It's football time

Here are some photos of the boys in all their football glory. Mitchell's team is in playoff mode and Paker and Brigham have two more weeks of games. Gooooooo green!!!!! I didn't rotate the one of Stockton, but you get the general idea.

A little oops

This little oops happened quite a while ago, but it took me a long time to get the photos off the camera. This has happened once before to a friend of ours who was pouring concrete in our garage. The red release handle on the garage door opener got caught in the luggage rack on the suburban and the door started to come down as I was backing out. Unfortunately, Jared was out of town and so the Suburban was stuck in the garage until he got home and could take the broken panel off. At least when the contractor did it he broke two panels and I only broke one, LOL. Such is our life!!!

The Sound of Silence

The kids are back in school and the house is silent for 8 hours a day. I have only been able to enjoy this silence for small moments because it is the busiest time of year for our family. I am in the throws of running the soccer program. Do not ask me why I am still doing this, because I do no have any children playing soccer. Yet, I am handling all the registrations, checkbook and ordering of t-shirts (complete with preparing sponsor art), go figure!!!! Scouts is in full swing and we have our recruitment meeting tonight. I have spent all day preparing for that and just got finished in time to walk down to get the mail (my 2 mile walk for the day) and walk the boys home from the bus.

All four boys are playing football this year, so the calendar looks like a flight plan for NASA. Mitchell and Stockton both have games today in Park City which is about 45 miles from our house. Their games will typically be on Monday, so I have had to rearrange my work schedule because of the two days that I work, Monday is one of them (of course).

It is also hunting season, so I will soon be a hunting widow while Jared scours the mountains looking for an elk to shoot with his bow. This is usually the only time he takes vacation, so he really enjoys being out in the mountains doing what he likes best.

Tomorrow I hope to truly enjoy the sounds of silence as I sit on the couch and eat bon-bons while watching a chic flick (if you actually believe this, then you don't have four kids), LOL!!!!

Summer Finale

We ended our summer with a bang this year, at Lagoon!!! The kids had a great time and wore themselves out on Monday riding rides and playing in the water park. The older boys experienced the priviledge of being responsible and cruised the park without their parents. They did call every 30 minutes on mom's cell phone to check in with us, but it was a great thrill for them. All they could talk about was the ride "Wicked" and how fun it was. Parker and Brigham are still on the smaller rides, but that will probably change next year. Luckily there was a 2 for 1 special going on, so the kids ended up paying for the whole family to go with the money they earned over the summer. We had a blast!!!

Where is my anchor?

I have to blog about a great experience I had yesterday while doing Sharing Time. We discussed how we are like mountain climbers trying to get up the mountain of life to the Celestial Kingdom. We talked about how important anchors are to climbers and that they need to use anchors that are put in correctly by someone who knows what they are doing.

Our Father in Heaven has given us all the anchors we need: family, prayer, scriptures, the Holy Ghost, the temple, and even his son Jesus Christ. We cannot rely on only one anchor, we need several anchors to keep us safe from falling too far back down the mountain, just like a climber needs multiple anchors.

Some of the anchors that we rely on instead of those given by our Father in Heaven include: money, friends, popularity, fame and pride. These anchors will always fail if we use them as the basis for our ascent to spirituality.

I had to take serious inventory of what I am using as anchors for my life. It was exciting for me to see how the spirit guided me as I prepared for this Sharing Time and how much my perspective has changed in just a couple of days. I am thankful that these solid anchors have been provided for us by a loving Father who wants us to return to him. Tie your rope onto a solid anchor, because you never know when you will lose your footing or when those boulders of life will come flying at you from nowhere!!!

It's time to get ready for school. . .

That fateful time of year has arrived again. Where did the summer go??? We spent last Monday night going through clothes. This was no small task, as it took TWO hours for the boys to try on all of their clothes to see what does not fit and what is too hideous to be worn in public. Thank goodness I don't have girls or we would have been doing it all night.

Luckily for us, we only needed two pairs of pants and one pair of shoes, yeah!!!! Two of the boys needed cleats for football that I found at a used sports store (score). Plus I found two pairs of pants for Parker for $10 each at Ross and a great pair of shoes for Briggs for $13 at Ross.

I stocked up when school supplies when on sale last year so I only had to spend about $50 for all of that stuff.

I cannot believe that it is time for school already. The boys start on the 26th with various events before the actual start of the school year.

As one last hoorah we are going to Utah for a wedding this week and hope to squeeze in a trip to the amusement park for our family vacation on the way back home.

Life is good and things seem to be looking up from the abysmal last few months where we have been plagued by problems.

I am amazed at the blessings that we have in our lives. Sometimes we forget how great it is to experience the miracle of daily life, health and love!!!! Hug someone you love today and tell them that you appreciate them, then tell your Father in Heaven the same thing. It is wonderful how our outlook changes when our focus is on the right things!!!

Mitchell turns 15

It has finally happened. . .we have a teenager old enough to drive--watch out!!! Mitchell had his birthday last week. Which he spent doing service at his grandparents' home and going to the temple. He is at scout camp this week and we barely got the cake squeezed in last night. Happy Birthday, Mitch!!!!

The Reef Waterpark

As part of the reunion, we all went to an indoor waterpark in Billings. Here are some great shots. . .

Family Reunion time

We had a wonderful week with lots of family and activities!!! Jared's family reuion was held at our home this year and we had a blast. We spent 5 days enjoying each other's company, experiencing spiritual highs and cementing those family bonds. Here is a photo of JUST the grandkids. I do not have a photo of everyone, but you get the idea. . . just add a bunch of parents to the mix.

To reovate or demolish. . .you decide

A few days before we had 60 people show up at our house for a family reunion, we decided to fix a hole in our bathroom floor that happened quite some time ago. Jared's brother Cory came over from Butte (3 hrs. away) to help us. Jared purchased the supplies so everything would be ready when Cory got there. Needless to say, we found that the problem was not as isolated as we thought. The rotten floor extended under the tub, so it all needed to be ripped out. It seemed that everything we touched in that bathroom went horribly wrong. Here is a photo of Cory with a look on his face that says it all!!! I will post the finished product once I have finished painting. . .

Torture at Day Camp

A local high school sicene teacher was running the Scientist station and she did a fabulous job. Here the boys tried out a bed of nails (they really were nails) to explain how pressure changes based on the size of the area where the pressure is applied. They were a little hesitant . . . Parker was on and off the board so quick I could not get a photo!!!

Summoning Redbeard's Ghost

Parker had an awesome experience earning his Scientist pin. Here he is learning about how the air changes when it goes from cold to warm. Redbeard's Ghost (which is trapped in the bottle) is attempting to grab the quarter on the top of the bottle. It was great fun!!!

Pirates, ahoy!!!

Parker and Brigham had a blast at Cub Scout Day Camp--Adventures Aboard the Black Otter (Pirate Theme). They made boats and raced them in a raingutter regatta, made treasure chests, tied knots like a pirate aboard a ship, learned what to do if a man went overboard, hiked on a treasure hunt, played pirate games. We had fun at the week-long camp. And even slightly enjoyed the overnight campout, even though everyone in the camp who snored put their tent by ours!!!

Here we go. . .

Okay, I have finally stepped into the Blogging arena. This is a completely new experience for me, so please be patient.

This blog has been created so that you can catch a glimpse at our fast-paced, exciting, wonderful life. I am terrible at communicating with people one-on-one (I may not even keep up with this as much as I would like), so this is a good option for our family.

We love our family and friends and want to share what is happening in our lives with you. Here you will see those small successes that usually go unnoticed and are not worthy of an email to be broadcast to the world, but are special to us.

Join us on our journey into cyberspace, but watch out for the speed bumps and black holes (times when I forget to blog for several weeks).