Birthday Party!

My girl asked for a Panda theme for her bday party this year. Its kinda hard to find panda decorations, so we had to be really, really clever. I attempted this 3-demensional panda masterpiece for the first time. Took me all day, 3 trips to the grocery store, and a disaster in my kitchen. One of her friends asked me "When do we get to execute the panda?" So, I let them do just that. Crazy "Panda"monium!

Happy Birthday Skidder!

Today we celebrated our girl's 8th birthday! We are so amazed that she is growing so fast! She

is such a loving, funny, delightful girl. We are so lucky to have here. We celebrated as a family tonight and she is looking forward to her friend party next week! Look a this great picture of her on her 4th birthday. Hard to believe it was 4 years ago!

Monsters Really Do Exist!!!

One of the best things about Halloween is dressing up...again and again! The kids dressed up for their piano recital last week. Today they are in costumes at school. And we will do it all again tomorrow for trick-or-treating.

When the bus driver saw G with the leaves in his hair he said, "I think I'll LEAF him alone!". I am just worried about how we are going to tame that nest later tonight.

Our New "Male"box

For quite some time now we have needed a new mailbox. The one we currently have is rather disfunctional. It blows over with the slightest wind and the door doesn't close. This results in a lot of missed deliveries and wet mail. Gared continues to set it back up and bends and tweaks it. He disregards my pleas for a new one. Today was one of those days when the box wasn't even attached to the post any longer. I could see the delivery truck coming, so I rigged a new one. I think this one is quite functional and much better looking than the old one.

I have to add our friend, Johnny's comment here:

"I like the new MALEbox. Its awesome. It even ARMed. Do you know the MANufacturer. Hopefully you can keep this one a little longer. Be careful with the person in the jeep. They are called Male-carriers, you know."

Angie's 40th Birthday!!!

I had an amazing time in San Diego the past 6 days to celebrate my friend's birthday with her. I flew there with a friend of hers, Emily whom I had never met. We were on the same flight, but didn't find each other until the San Diego Airport. It was a miracle that we did, because Emily left her cell phone home. Angie's hubby picked us up at the airport and then the wait began....10 1/2 hours until Angie got home. Our arrival was a surprise to her and we almost couldn't stand the anticipation. It was all worth it to see her reaction as she came home to find us sitting on her couch!! Priceless!!!

The next day we packed up and went to the Welk Resort where we stayed for 4 days. We partied and played and had a blast! It was like being a teenager again. We ate too much junk food, stayed up way too late and giggled and cried. I am beyond privileged to have this beautful friend. Now I have new friends to cherish as well. This will go down as one of my favorite all-time memories! I am so lucky to have been a part of the the celebration!!!

Ancestors

I asked my sister in law to share pictures that she had scanned from my Grandma's collection. I was delighted to find some of these treasures that I have never seen! Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

Season's End

Directly across the street from our home grows a wonderful, tall cornfield. It becomes like a strong wall that shields us from the rest of the world each summer creating even a greater sense of our own little world. I am always saddened when the "wall" comes down and feel a bit exposed. However, I understand that there is a season to all things. If the corn were never harvested, there would be no fall, which I love too! Today when I heard the tractors and truck going to work on the corn field, I snapped a quick picture to capture the end of one season with the harvest, and the beginning of another with the snow dusting the mountain tops.

What We've Been Doing

When D called from Germany last week he requested pictures of what we've been doing. It has just been the regular routine around here...school, work, play. So, here's every day pictures of us. Yes, Evil Knievil on the 3 wheeler is as scary as she looks, and G is pretending to cut the dog's paw off with a wooden knife! What a good dog!

Run for the Summit

l



Summit Elementary held the greatest fund raiser this year. The kids found sponsors and set a goal to run a certain distance at the "Fun Run" in return for a pledged donation. G was very enthusiastic and raised $120 for his school then met his goal of running 2.5 miles in 45 miles. It turned out to be a really hot day, but he managed to complete his run. H ran part of the distance with him to encourage him to keep going. Way to go!!!

God is Good!

Hubby and I had a fabulous time at the "Nashville Tribute" concert last night! It is one of the most powerful testimonials of Joseph Smith and the Pioneers I have ever witnessed. If you haven't heard of them, you can check out their website at http://www.nashvilletribute.com. There's samples of the music there and a show schedule. They will be performing in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Oct. 7. I would so highly recommend it to all! It is a performance that will uplift like nothing else. Your spirit will be energized and your heart uplifited. Their song "God is Good" says it all!






The popular group "DueWest" is part of this group and I really love their music too. It is 4 LDS men who made a pact to always use their music to express the values they hold dear. Jason Deere who is the lead singer and songwriter of Nashville Tribute is their producer. You may have heard their song that is on the GAC Top 20 right now "I Get That All The Time".
You can see more of them at DueWest.com. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

On the Horizon

This evening after a quick storm, we were graced with an amazing double rainbow to the east. I ran out with my camera and took a few shots before turning to look to the west. There was a glorious sunset! We have some really amazing sunsets here, but this one was breathtaking!

This Place We Live

This morning I set out on my bike ride and had to turn back for my camera! Look at these clouds! It was an absolutely amazing day! Many of the farmers are cutting the hay now and the corn is taller than me. We are truly so blessed to live in this place of abundant beauty. I was totally in my element, nose to the camera, then looked down to see that I had attracted a massive amount of burrs on my pants!!! That was a drain of my patience to pick all of them off. It was worth it though to have these images. Don't ya think? Oh, and I was just wondering, can I have 6 more months of days like this? It ended on a rather splendid note too!