Holiday

We look forward to our church's 

General Conference held twice a year...first weekend of October and April.

It feels like a holiday.  

Instead of heading out to church, we enjoy hearing from the leaders of our church 

broadcast over the television on Saturday and Sunday.

As Ike put it "Yay, church on the couch!"

Amen.

My kids wanted to invite some family over for a brunch between the two sessions...they love to host.

Landon   Griffy  Molly

Landon brought his yummy cinnamon rolls over.

He makes them only on conference weekends...and they are delish!

Parker (our nephew) and sweet 'lil Tillman

"Hey everyone look here real quick."

Luke and Cole were being stinkers.

Here sits a man we all love dearly.  He turns 80 this year.

He is the father of 12 children and 63-4 grandkids....you'd think I would remember 

the right number and I am too lazy to figure it out right now so there.

My kids love the babies...it makes us happy when the "littles" come over.

 Molly was telling us about this great video that we all needed to watch.

Check it out here

 Before our guests left...we had to have a quick game of 

"Around the World" ping-pong.

You hit your ball then go to the other side for your next hit.
You start out walking and then it turns into a run.  It requires a kind of coordination that
I run short on.
The last two players have to do a 360-spin before hitting their ball.  

After a big meal, playing with the babies, and ping-pong...

Back to watching some great messages of hope, faith, love,

and encouragement...

....with a little help to stay alert.

Cole is an Eagle Scout

It was not easy, but it was worth it.  

After 7 years of scouting, this day finally arrived.

Cole was awarded his eagle scout rank on Sunday.

It is always nice to see things through and finish what you started.

Check out his eagle scout project here 

 Pretty lucky to have your grandpa Jack be one of your scout leaders.

This man was born to make scouting...and life.... a lot more fun.

My Mom and Jack

 Some of the cousins that were there to support

 My sister Aryn and her husband Nate.

 My brother Chad

"Big Grandpa" with his merit badge sash.  He gave it to Cole since he is the first great- grand child.

 Ross and Anita

"Mama and Papa"

This is Mark, Luke and Bonnie (Tom's sister)

We have raised our kids together.

I don't know what we would have done without having them around.

It was only fitting that Cole and Luke received their eagles together.

(just because I always carry a bit of nostalgia around)

Seriously...I want to reach into that picture and kiss on those little chubby cheeks.

Summer Turns 14

This week Summer turned the big 14.

I truly hope that the next 14 years do not go so quickly.  

I have to shake off feeling a bit forlorn these days.... 

as I feel time escaping too quickly.

(I am sure my sister is tired of my running dialogue on this subject.)

One of the best things about teenagers is getting to know their friends and having them over.

This is really a fun stage to be in.

These girls did a first-rate job decorating her room...I think it took Summer a few days to clean it up.

We had a little birthday celebration with friends. 

Cole and his two buddies Jason and Robert manned the Italian sodas.

Here is their cheat sheet.....

I get my syrup flavorings at Smart and Final but you can also order them online.

From Partying to Work.....

Cole officially has a part-time job during school.  On the days he does not have volleyball practice,

he is the "yard guy" at Tom's office.  

He goes down about 2-3 times a week for a few hours.  

With working during the summers, he has earned a little more than half of his mission fund. 

Of course, with dating around the corner (February to be exact) he has a new motivation for earning $$

Cole has a very heavy load this school year.

 Here is one of many study groups. This particular one is for CP Chemistry..a sore subject around here. By reading his body language you can tell how happy he was that I was snapping photos. Needless to say, I won't bring out the camera again....I get it he is now in high school.

Meg was Captain of Communications at Mission Control for their Shuttle launch at school.

She was in her element, to say the least.
This child is not afraid to take charge.

Isaac runs in the wolf pack now.   

He seriously woke Tom and I up at the crack of dawn to pass off his bobcat badge.

He stood by my bedside, leaned over and began reciting the law of the pack, the motto, ..... something else...I was half asleep and don't remember.

 Isaac's first season of flag football began.

This is my kind of football.  No touchy--slam to the ground--- football.

Run, my baby, run!

So far my track record for getting up with the sun is nearly perfect.

I think watching the sun slowly appear over the horizon is good for the soul.

I just feel such a connection to my Savior when I see a sky like this.