September

Summer turned 15 this month

and finally got a cell phone.  

She really wanted an orange one... fish fish got her wish.

Her cousins (Sophie, Cozi and Coco) made her feel loved and slightly embarrassed 

bringing  50 "Summer heads" to school that day.

(Thanks to Cozi for texting me these 2 photos)

While we are on the subject of Summer....she made the freshman volleyball team this year

and we love watching her play.  Go #2! 

She plays back row defense.

She does a great job digging & passing...even with her eyes closed.

A fun fact about this team is that she has 3 Farnsworth cousins on it.
They get a lot of family support at their games.

Coco, "Mama and Papa" Farnsworth, Cozi, Summer, Sophie

Grandpa Jack

A little brotherly love.  

I don't think Cole gets much homework done at the games.

Moving on from volleyball...

Meg is a huge help in the kitchen and is developing a much greater skill set than her mother.  

I think this was the time she made a berry cream topping for her cupcakes.  They were a hit.

She is also constantly reading

She's the one that asked for a bookcase last Christmas.  Those shelves are filling up.

I am trying to talk her into starting a book club with her cousins that love to read. 

The only one that may read more than Meg right now is Isaac.
He is completely immersed in Harry Potter right now.

Isaac also just started volleyball and flag football.

 Cole kinda looks like a robot in these pics....dang allergies are getting to him.

Some good news.
The very strange single guy that lived next door to us-- moved out.
A family with 12 children moved in!  Prayers are answered.
Isaac now has a buddy---Ethan.

We will still grab my nephew (on the left)
 every chance we get, but it is so nice to have someone
right next door.

The day after the Homecoming dance, the MVT
 girls starting asking for Winter Formal.

Once a few girls start asking .... it snowballed.

 I liked this idea...probably because I got to help Cole 

eat my favorite kind of ice cream.
After some digging around, we found the name of his date on a stick.
We are working on a way to answer her.  Ike wants it to involve a fish, so he can get one for himself.
My poor kids just want anything to call their own.

Google+ Hangout
With half of my family living apart, we really miss getting together.
So we tried this out last Sunday night.  There are definitely a few
bugs in the system, but overall it works great.
We each took a turn giving an update and answering questions.
I loved every minute of it.

Homecoming Date

His first school dance/date.

Thank you for humoring your mother ...

...even throwing in a smile for the paparazzi 

(It's nice to have some happy cooperation)

Cole took the lovely Natalie Kempton to MVT Homecoming.

This was one of those "circle of life" experiences for me

Tom was very thorough with dating etiquette and then Cole got another dose from me.

We just couldn't pass up this perfect opportunity 

to teach our 16 year old how to be a good date.

Also, it was kind of hard for Tom and I not to micro-manage this first dance/ date--

 like the group size, dinner location, post-dance activity. 

We kept hoping he would ask for our "suggestions" ---nope.

However, after  some time passed we realized that this is the perfect time and way for Cole to learn.

The Group

It sure is a nice thing to really like your kid's friends.

This corsage picture cracks me up because it is my attempt to act like I had a game plan for pictures.

(I really didn't plan to be the photographer)

I really don't like to think up the poses and shots.  I prefer to capture a moment.

Shout out to my assistant that was helping me while getting eaten alive by mosquitos.

Aloha

After I got the kid's school schedules squared away, I took a quick trip to visit my sister Bridgette.

She happens to live in paradise with her husband, Corey, and Baby J.

Corey received a good job offer and can work while schooling at BYU Hawaii.

So, they moved out last spring.  

Their place (for the summer) sat right on the beach.

with this view from their balcony

and a little private beach cove 100 yards away

As great as paradise is--- 

I really came to hug and kiss on this yummy nephew of mine.

...and spend as much time as possible with this crew. My mom flew out with me 

but stayed for a couple weeks longer. 

It was so much fun.

The only thing missing was Corey.   He works long hours-- 6 days a week.

He didn't get home until about 10:00 every night.  

They are looking forward to school starting up and less work hours.

It was fun to watch my mom enjoy the beautiful surroundings and her grandbaby.  

She had a perma-grin the whole time.

My mom is just an easy, happy, content person.  

  She sees the silver lining in everything. We sometimes

give her a hard time about it--but I hope I can be more like that.  

I also wish I had inherited her long neck.  

I have the neck of a football line-backer

compared to her.

My sister Bridgette and I are almost 17 years apart.  

I left for college when she was 18 months old.
I remember her as a little ragamuffin wearing leotards with roller skates.

It has been so fun to become friends as she has grown up.
She is an anchored, content, and happy person.
She married an amazing guy.  Everyone loves Corey.

Motherhood becomes her

We made a couple of trips to the North Shore of Oahu to see the LDS Temple, BYU campus, Botanical Gardens, and the Polynesian Culture Center.  It met all my expectations and more. 

 I absolutely loved it all.

Bridgette scouted out some great food places for us to try.

I am a bit of a foodie....ok, more than a bit.

I love good food and there was a lot of it on this trip.

I hope this little jungle baby remembers something about his life in Hawaii.  

I hope he'll remember the smell of Hawaii....I noticed it right out of the airport.

They say that smells create the strongest memories.

About the time I took this picture of the lilly pads on steroids...I realized I had about 4% battery life left with no charger packed.  Arrghh!

I called every camera shop on the island and struck out.

 So for the rest of the trip, I did not use my camera so I could try and snap a few family pictures for Bridgette before I left.  It was killing me because there was so much I wanted to capture.

I'll never forget to pack that dang charger again.

 

There is nothing more beautiful than a happy family.  I am glad I had about 3% (2 minutes)

to take a few shots of them.  

Bienvenue en France

I am always searching for fresh ideas for YW activities...hopefully successful ones.
I have 3 activity ratings:   Successful (Repeat Idea later), Mediocre (one time is good enough), Flop (let's move on-- forget about it).   Tom can usually tell what kind of activity we had, by the way I come in the door.  He also gets to hear all about what I would do differently next time, whether he likes it or not.

This "Welcome to France" idea was thought up by one of the ladies that I serve with, Lisa Heywood.
Her son, Jake, just returned from serving in the Lyon, France mission.
The Heywood family did an amazing job hosting all the young women in their home.
They decorated with pictures, items, and food from France.

The highlight was Jake Heywood sharing with us French greetings, food, language,

embarrassing stories, travel, and his love of the people.

 He likened the French to the baguette he was holding-

"A little hard on the outside but soft and warm on the inside."

His enthusiasm for France was contagious. 

After our lesson in culture, we enjoyed some bread and cheese and of course crepes.
They were served with powdered sugar, nutella, whipped cream, and strawberries.
Oh. my. gosh!  How do you say delish in French?

We had so much fun, we are already planning a Japanese night in November.

 Next up, 2nd annual scorpion round-up service project...hoping it's not a flop.