Celebrating 57 years

57 years 

12 children

62 grandchildren

Later...

 We celebrated over lunch

 Ross took a moment to express the importance of 

family love and connection.

He doesn't pass up on an opportunity to express his love and share his testimony.

One of my greatest blessings is having

 Ross and Anita in my life and

as the grandparents of my children.

Happy Anniversary.

Spring Break

We spent the first half of Spring Break up in the mountains with this fun bunch of cousins

Interesting to watch all these "little chiefs" try to agree on capture the flag rules

The rules and teams were finally agreed on and the game could be played

Some other highlights

....because we never share the low lights on blogs (:

2- day Gimme 5 card tournament (Like Sequence)

9 holes of Frisbee Golf through the trees

Pride and Prejudice marathon

March Madness!

Everyone had to get their own Monday paper with the special team bracket insert

 We held  FHE all together and had a great lesson by Carol.  

She is a great teacher.
I always come away learning something new from her.

 Everyone memorized a paragraph from the Proclamation on the Family

In the midst of all the fun....

someone hit the wall from late nights and long play days

He was absolutely convinced that memorizing the paragraph was impossible

And then.....success 

awarded with a giant jawbreaker (yuck!)

and off to bed for some much needed rest.

He had a green mouth for the next 2 days!

{Back to the fun}

Played Pop Pop Pop! 

Fun game for a large crowd of all ages

Horseshoe Tournament

Disappointingly,  Ike's lucky purple mustache and....

this amazing throwing form

did not bring our team a victory.

I think Ike will pick a different partner next time.

Game

The JV volleyball season has begun.... 

Not easy watching your kids play sports....fun and nerve racking.

Cole did a great job setting...first time.

My nephew Rock is on the varsity team.  

I have loved watching

him grow up...great kid!

It is nice to have the family come out and support.

Griff supports a lot of games and his mom,

 Molly, is prepared for everything....

an amazing diaper bag full of tricks

and this is my little fire fightin nephew, Luke

I have to admit I was a little conflicted during the game.  

 I had one son setting the ball...

And another son doing "thriller" moves in the back court.....

Resulting in one of them being benched....and it wasn't Cole

I had to draw the line when he went on the

 court during a time-out and began break-dancing...

I tried to capture what AzBrainfood does each week.  I am always trying to think of ways that we can grab the attention of the corporations we beg money from.  We are in the process of putting a new presentation together for that very purpose.
We have a diverse group of volunteers that show up each week and get the job done so efficiently....it is truly a great thing to be a part of.  I have met some incredible people that I love seeing each week.
When I am not pretending to be a filmmaker, I am at the recycle bin....breaking down boxes.  Who knew that I had a hidden talent of fitting an incredible amount of cardboard into 2 recycle bins.

B.T.Q.T.

Every Friday morning, Grandpa Jack takes

 Isaac and his cousin Ava to  "B.T.Q.T" 

on their way to school.

Jack makes life fun.

B.T.Q.T = Breakfast Time at Quick Trip (a convenience/gas station)

I know...healthy goodness.

Ike looks forward to it all week.

He even has a special dance he does out to the truck...surprise, suprise.

Ike:   "Mom, it's like I can get whatever I want there! Doughnuts, chorizo burrito, chocolate milk"          

Me:   "Well remember that we want to still try to put good things in our body 

          AND Grandpa Jack has to still pay for it."

Ike:   "Um nevermind then."

 Per Ava and Ike request we must have a "crazy pose"

We love and appreciate Grandpa Jack

Remember when.....

It is hard to believe that my nephew, Adam , has since served a mission and just got married last month.  The other two Uaisele(left) and Ben (right) are currently serving missions in Brazil and New Zealand.

This is the song that inspired my kids to learn the uke...I love it.  

I know I have posted this before, but just felt like taking a stroll down memory lane.

Last Saturday

Last Saturday, Tom and I taught a workshop for the 12 and 13 year old girls in our stake.

I have realized that I need to have a specific outline or I tend to get off mark--

so here I am with my crutch.

We decided to use our scuba diving experience as an analogy to the blessings of the temple....

anything to capture the attention of this age group.

Tom never uses any notes and did a great job.  

And no, this is not my wedding dress.  I don't have one to display since

I borrowed one for my wedding.  I guess that exposes my practical and boring side.

Here is our little caterer, Meg.  

She was asked to help cater the luncheon that was held at the conclusion of this conference.   

She is gaining some valuable skills working as a little apprentice for our caterer/neighbor, Melody.

She was excited to tell me all about the meatballs she helped make....

they were all the exact same size! 

 Good work Meg.

The people in charge of putting this event together made it really nice for these girls.

Summer and her friends all enjoyed it.  

Summer even got to sing a musical number with a few others, Cole being one of them.  

Um... Cole was not so thrilled to be singing to a room full of 12 and 13 year old girls. 

I told him that one day this will be the exact group that will be most interesting to him.  

At least he was willing...

and HI!
I am usually behind the camera, not so comfortable posing for photos....trying to get better about that.

I do want to have some pictures with my kids...

even if they have a "surprised Mom's in a picture" look on their face.