Eagle Scout Project

Cole left early this morning to bring a little Christmas to the Navajo children 

in North East Arizona.

 He collected almost 200 toys from family and neighbors, 

raised money for an education scholarship, 

and bagged 300 sacks of oranges.

 Tom and I lent our support, but he carried the load

and carried it well. 

We are full of gratitude

 to those that gave money, toys, and their time

 to help Cole have a successful Eagle Scout project--

 but more importantly to make Christmas a little brighter to 

children that have very little.  

Baby Cow

Meg was invited over to her friend Sophie Nelson's house yesterday.  Sophie lives on a ranch and loves animals as much as Meg does....so they made an instant connection.
Well, while those two animal lovers were horseback riding, they came across a cow that was trying to give birth.  The poor first-time mama cow had lain there struggling for who knows how long.  Good thing Meg and Sophie came to the rescue and got help.  They got to watch the birth.  That mama and baby were so exhausted after the whole ordeal that neither got up for a while.  When I came to pick up Meg that night, the mom was up and moving, but the baby was still struggling to stand.
It was touching to watch the mother coax and prod that baby because she knew that is what baby needed to survive.  She wouldn't allow it to lie there and give in to exhaustion.
We called today to check on the calf and the Nelsons said that they were doing great today...so of course we had to go see.  Thank you to the Nelsons for allowing us this experience.

High School Pep Assembly

 Ike, along with his cousins, performed the "Haka" dance

 to help boost the energy at Mountain View's pep assembly.

Getting a little instruction from Tom's sister, Carol

Recent Highlights

Volleyball in the front yard

Ping Pong games in the house

FHE outside with Ross and Anita

Cousins

and more cousins

Great Thanksgiving

 Jump Roping 

Watching my father-in-law taking it all in

Nephew Sam and Holly's engagement party

Watching Cole organize and carry out his eagle scout project

Isaac's first season of soccer.  

Loads of help decorating for Christmas this year

Club Volleyball

Meg's job

Bunker family Christmas party at the park

Big Grandpa 

I need a nap now!

Birthdays

Meg and I are one year older and just had a great shared birthday.

  Meg stayed home from science camp and we went to brunch with this fun bunch( and my mom taking the picture).  Afterward, we met up with Tom and went to Happy Feet.  

We always decorate with signs and pictures.  Summer is such a great helper with this tradition.

After I posted this, I saw a certain picture of me on the wall.... {explanation:  I took my kids to get their pictures taken...I was in my comfortable housewife sweater, no make-up, and self-trimmed bangs.  I somehow ended up in front of the camera, instead of tucked comfortably behind due to some strange influence that my friend, Amy, has over me.  

Well, there were a few glamour shots of "yours truly" included in my kids photo shoot 

and they ended up on the birthday wall. 

Too bad, it was going to be a Christmas present for Tom.

This is our 3rd amigo, Molly, who shares our birthday.  

Everyone needs a Molly in their lives.

Thank you to everyone who made it a special day.

Making of a Video--{shorter edition}

A song from the 80s is the inspiration behind this video---if only in theory---
 about an orphan waiting to be adopted

YW

I am grateful "Amy the Great" helped me out and took these photos of

 my Laurels that will be receiving their medallions...

I call them mine because that is how I feel about them.

 I love working with young women! 

Try-outs this week

I woke to the sound of bumping at 6 a.m.

Summer and Cosi are getting ready for volleyball try-outs this Saturday

Cole is also practicing his shot.  He has basketball try-outs this week

Regardless of the outcome,  I am glad to see the effort.

Happy Halloween

Cosi took the place of Cole...who was at a volleyball tournament down in Tucson.

My mom with some of the grandkids at our neighborhood carnival

Summer and cousin Luke

Summer is a bit of a pied piper with little kids

This is"big grandpa" and he now lives in my ward.  He helped keep 

all the little kids safe on the bouncer and passed out jumbo marshmallows
to the Laurels that were working with him.

He will be 87 this January & is still sharp as a tack and good humored.

BeanBoozled!

I brought the game Bean Boozled to Meg's 5th grade Halloween party.

(You can find it at Amazon.com)

It was very entertaining to watch these kiddos.

Basically you spin the wheel and it lands on a certain jelly belly.  

That jelly belly could be a good flavor or a really bad flavor..they look identical.

Strawberry or Centipede

Chocolate Pudding or Canned Dog Food

Banana or Pencil Shavings

Black licorice or Skunk

.....you get the idea

Meg was a better director than participant.

She about cried when I told her this was the game I was going to play with her class.

She was brave and did play after a little peer pressure.

It takes your taste buds a moment to decide...

Good....

or very very bad....

poor brave soul had rotten egg

Good idea to keep a paper towel close by...

in case of a strong gag reflex

(I kept a container of hot tamales on the table, so they could clear their offended palates.)