Family Pictures

Back in July, my brother-in-law and his wife took some family pictures for us.  We had a free photo pass to Thanksgiving Point so we headed there and the kids had a blast zooming around in the golf cart after hours.  Too bad they turned off their huge, man-made waterfall before we could get pictures in front of it.  Oh well, I think we got some good ones.  I'm so thankful for these healthy, happy kids.  We are truly blessed beyond measure.

First Day of School Pictures

Early morning seminary for my 9th grader - I was too tired to take it at 6am so this was when he came home

 7th grader - nobody teases this tall guy

 5th grader who loves to make and take her lunch

Kindergarten - we almost missed the bus because I was too busy trying to get the perfect picture.  It's tradition for us to follow them to school and take a picture with Dad.

 

 

He had a wonderful first day and was so excited to ride the bus

  

 

One more to go (it goes by too fast doesn't it?)

Deacon

Our oldest turned 12 recently so we had a big party at Classic Skating. Grandma Young and Troy's sister and most of her family made the trek from Arizona to be here for the special occasion. The cousins had so much fun playing together, especially the 2 girls.

In our church, when the boys turn 12 they have the opportunity to receive the Aaronic priesthood. It's a big honor. Besides holding the priesthood, they collect fast offerings, pass the sacrament, help take care of the church building and for more info you can go to http://www.lds.org/ to learn more about it and what it means. Here are a few pictures we took:

In the money machine at Classic

I have 2 priesthood holders in my house now!
Note: I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant- hence the crop-job

It was fun having family come and visit

Last Saturday we got to take him to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with some family file names. After they were stamping the date on our cards, I realized, "Hey, it's Grandpa Young's birthday!" Grandpa would have been 86 this year. We miss you and love you Grandpa!

Quarantine

Wait, did I spell that right? :) I went to help out at the school today for the school's first Spelling Bee. Unfortunately I couldn't be one of the judges because 4th thru 6th grades were combined and Z was one of five kids chosen from his class to be in it. So I got to watch. They started out with about 45 students. He ended up getting third place overall and the tricky word was quarantine. I totally forgot my camera and my phone was dead so I took this picture when he got home. I'm so glad I married a smart guy cuz I'm pretty sure he didn't get it from me.

2009 Year in Review

A little late but here's a taste of what we've done this year. 2010 is sure to be even more eventful what with my parents returning from their mission, Z becoming a deacon, E getting baptized and the new baby's blessing. I can't wait!

School and Birthday Pictures

My baby boy turned 3 recently. We had Mickey Mouse waffles, went to our favorite children's museum, Discovery Gateway, then bought fun stuff at Build-a-Bear. He fell asleep on the way home. I think his pictures turned out so cute though I may be a bit biased. The next day the kids brought home their school pictures and thankfully we won't need to do any retakes. E's teeth are all falling out at this age so I begged her to PLEASE remember to do a sweet, closed-mouth smile. Gotta love that age! Our last trip to the dentist resulted in 3 repeat visits for cavity fillings and sealants. The one kid who didn't get cavities this time? "He'll need to get braces next time." Thanks for the warning.

N now likes to put his food that is on his plate into his drinking cup. Then he'll tell me, "Mom, look! Mmmm, Licious!" Umm, yeah, that looks real delicious sweetheart. :} The other day I was tending 5 year old twins and we were talking about their preschool. The boy said, "I get to ride the bus to the Helementary school". I couldn't help but laugh - I've never heard anyone make that mistake. I tried to correct him by saying, "You mean eLLLLementary school?" He couldn't pronounce it right so I gave up. Kids say the darndest things don't they?

Happy Halloween!

Don't you hate it when you almost finish a post and then make one slight edit on the Html and your post gets cut to 1 paragraph and your pictures are gone? Yeah, me too... Blogger needs an "undo" button, seriously. I also need to get a lock on my camera case since my almost-three-year-old can now pull it out and take pictures and change the settings to low resolution. Not good... I'm too tired to re-write so feel free to use your imagination. Happy Halloween! (I need some chocolate now)

Picking pumpkins at Farnsworth Farms Festival

Witch, Pumpkin, Z the werewolf and J as Darth Vader

Waldo & Wenda (I even had striped tights.) Wow, we look like dorks
Z's
Hubby's
J's N's
E's
Mommy's

First Day of School & Belated Birthday

My 3 oldest had their first day of school which was on Wednesday. They're holding up their fingers to show which grade they're going into. They're all laughing at me because right at that moment, our sprinklers sprayed cold water all over the back of legs. At least it got some good, geniune smiles out of them, right? Nathan was sad for 5 minutes but I felt like I was on vacation - it was so quiet and I got SO MUCH done. I cleaned, read a book (uninterrupted) and took a cat nap.

I finally got my daughter's birthday pictures taken, a week late. Oh well. We were too busy having fun at Lagoon and I was too tired when we got home. She lost ANOTHER tooth so she looks a little goofy. What a fun age!

Scouts and Biking

So much has happened this past week that I'm starting to forget it all:

Our oldest graduated from Cub Scouts and had his Arrow of Light ceremony. We're so proud of him. We worked really hard to get all those activity patches and pins. He loves Boy Scouts now that one of his friends came in.

My daughter learned how to ride her bike! She had seen her friend outside learning to ride her bike with her dad so she grabbed my husband and told him she wanted to learn how to ride her bike... right now. So out they went and we got lots of pictures of the two of them trying. Troy said she kept leaning against him - it didn't matter which side he ran along. So the next day she sees our boys out riding their bikes and so she asks Daddy if he'll come help her. "Not right now" since he was a little tired from yesterday's learning experience. So about 10 minutes later I went outside to get something from the car and I glance down the street to check on all of them and she's at the end of the street just riding along all by herself! So I ran inside, told Troy and grabbed my camera. Z had coached her through it and it was all just so amazing.

And now I can't remember the rest... lol I just know... Life is good.