Jon with Pop Its

We were glad for the opportunity to have Jocelyn and Jon come for Jenna's graduation.
Jon loves to throw balls, so Jaren and Jonas figured he was a natural to throw pop its. He loved them!

Jenna's graduation

In August Jenna graduated from BYU. The happy graduate!
Those that were able to attend.

Dad and Mom very proud of HER accomplishment!

EFY

Jaren and Jonas both went to EFY in Logan at Utah State. They had a wonderful time and made lots of new friends. The weather cooperated and was cool because the dorms there do not have A/C. Again working on scanning pictures.

King's Peak

Jonas went to King's Peak in July which is the highest peak in Utah. He had a great time, but didn't care for the backpacking dehydrated food. The mosquitoes loved him though. I am trying to scan and copy pictures, so I may have to add them later. It is not going so good!

More lake pictures!

Jonas learning to ski, first time up. He is now a pro.
Jaren hanging out with Pink.
Jaren getting up on the wakeboard. Pops right out now!
Pink absolutely loves riding in the boat. She doesn't even mind her life vest.

Cole comes for a visit

We all had a great time and were so glad he could come for a visit.
This was after the rides and they ended up not using the rest of the tickets.
They also went to a carnival in Kaysville, that was for July 24th celebrations.

Cole Tyler came for a visit in July. Water was the theme for the week. They went to the local waterpark, and boating.

Ward Youth Conference

Jonas and Jaren attended a youth conference for our ward in June. I sent a camera with them, but they were having so much fun they forgot to take any pictures. Jonas was asked to give a talk in sacrament the following Sunday and so I have attached that.

My name is Jonas Pitt and I have been asked to talk about the youth conference that I attended this past week and some of the principles that I learned there. It is the best conference that I have ever attended, but I did just turn 14, and it is the only one that I have attended.
Some of the principles that I learned are faith and obedience. When we went to Minnetonka Cave we walked down stone steps and along paths, seeing lots of rock formations with funny names like Popcorn, Bacon, and Steak. At the end of the trail there was a cavern and here, when it was time to go back, they turned out the lights. It was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of you. We were told to hold onto the iron rod, which is the word of God and it will guide us home to our Heavenly Father. This was a great activity to help me visualize the need for faith and that I need to obey the prophet and his words to help me in this “dark” world.
Another good activity to help us understand gospel principles was a short hike at night where we were told to follow the light. As a team we walked from one light to another and at each one we were given “oil” for our lamps, just pretend actually. At the last stop we were given a quote from Pres. Spencer W. Kimball and I would like to share it with you. Pres. Spencer W. Kimball, a prophet of god, has wisely told us, “the kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way, and light the darkness, is not shareable…Each must obtain that kind of oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, Family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the – each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payments of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage are a covenant of eternity – these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps. Midnight is too late for those who have procrastination”. Once our lamps were filled and we were prepared, it was time to light our lamps. It was a fun activity, but it also showed me how I need to keep my lamp filled to help me in my life.
There were so many great and fun activities that it would be hard to tell you all about them. I did also learn that you need to pay attention to instructions and follow them to get to your destination. Having teams helped us all to learn to work together and help each other. This was an awesome experience and really helped me to get to know other youth in the ward.
I would like to thank all the youth leaders, the wonderful cooks, and especially Brother and Sister Smith for all the time and effort that they put into this youth conference. It has helped me in reaching my final destination, that of living my life in order to return to my Heavenly Father. They were great, it was great and I learned that I want to be GREAT too!

Father Son Outing

The "boys" went on a ward Father son Outing this last weekend. It was held at the cabin of a member of our ward. They all said it was beautiful and really enjoyed the keynote speaker. Doug fixed steak and potatoes with ranch beans for dinner and the ward furnished pancakes and sausages for breakfast. There was a three hole golf course, which Jonas enjoyed. Other activities were fishing, football, capture the flag and of course just relaxing, which was Doug's favorite. Jonas also took a picture of a new two room tent that they bought to go.
Also while looking for a bear with some others, Jonas did spot this smaller creature. He would like to know if you can guess what it is?

Super chef's

The boys are taking a day each week to cook a meal. Here is Jaren's first meal of Antipasto salad and Mini Meatball burgers. He got it out of a Rachal Ray cookbook and it was very, very good. Jonas made Steaks with Tangy Corn Relish and Super Cheese and Scallion Smashed Spuds The steak and potatoes were so yummy. The corn however was not tangy, but hot and got hotter as time went on. We definitely decided that we should decrease the chili powder. We can't wait for the next delicious meals, and they were quite efficient in the kitchen too!

New Teacher

Since Jonas turned the ripe old age of 14, and because he is a good kid, was also ordained as a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood on Mother's Day! What a great present for mom. Here he is with his newly acquired list of quorum activities. We also got a picture with those who assisted in the ordination, Bishop Howard, his counselor Shayne Hemsley, ward clerk Rick Cline, Grandpa Goodner, Jaren(who was able to because he is a Priest) and of course his Dad, who ordained him.

Birthday Boy

Jonas turned 14 on May 1, he wanted a Palm Pilot for his birthday, which as you can see he received. He has already learned how to use it quite a bit and has even downloaded the scriptures on it. He is enjoying it very much and purchased a Scrabble and Monopoly game for it too.

Our Easter HULK

It looks like Jon liked his first experience dying eggs!
Two fisted even!
Jocelyn sent these pictures of Jon with his egg dying experience. I figured I would post them for all to see this little cutie!

Spring flowers

The wonderful thing about when the snow melts is that the bulbs start emerging and within days it is a colorful array of flowers, starting with the crocus and then the daffodils and tulips.
I took the boys to Temple Square to get pictures because my Visiting Teacher told me they were just starting to really bloom. Although almost every yard has some. I actually almost layed on the ground to shoot up and get the temple.
Jonas took this one to show the flower beds all along the sidewalk paths.
Besides the bulbs, many trees are also in bloom. They are so beautiful.
I love this statue, but the tulips made it look like they were playing in a field. It was well worth the trip, right up until Jonas and then Jaren decided to jump from planter to planter. Of course we ended up with a twisted ankle. The security guard offered to get the paramedics but Jaren managed to limp to the car. We iced it up when we got home and he is just hobbleing a little now. Actually, he says just barely limping!

Easter Dinner

Jenna and Casey came up for Easter, his sister Charity, and his friend Josh also came. It was great to have them! We played a little trivia game after dinner and of course Jenna won. Her prize was a giant chocolate bunny! Grandma Gigi, Grandma and Grandpa Goodner were also here. Doug fixed his great ham and deviled eggs of course. It was a good day and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Egg Dying

Casey dyed an egg blue with a white "Y" It looked pretty cool and he was very proud of it.
We dyed eggs to mark each place setting. We tried a new technique with rubberbands, and then Jenna wrote the names on with a Sharpie. Notice that we do not have 12 dozen eggs as in the past.

Christmas Break

Trevon getting a tow to the tow line from Cole, he had the best time, smiling the whole time.
Ethan on a tube. What great fun!
A Giant Snowball Fight!
Garin, Shelby, Ethan, Trevon and a very hesitant Starlee.
Starlee kept her distance, but didn't want to go inside either.

The day after Christmas we traveled home to Utah and were followed by Jonathan,Janelle, Garth, Garin, Shelby, Ethan, Trevon, Starlee, Ryden and Jonas' friend Cole(the tall one). Actually he and Garin drove home with us. There was lots of skiing and tubing and a few snowball fights. We had a house full but we were so excited to have them come. What a Christmas present! Here's the all the kids with Frosty.

Giving this a try!

Well, we thought we would give this a try; having enjoyed several friends and family that have done this. More to come!
Love, The Pitt's