An extra special day

Jaleen and her Dad, although she has a better full length version. :)
Joanna and Broc had to leave before we could all get out for pictures. But this is Garth, Janelle, Sabrina, Jaleen and Doug.
Jaleen and very proud Mom and Dad.

Jaleen took out her endowments on the 22nd of December, we are so excited for her. It was just an extra special day what more can I say, we love you and are very proud of you and the good choices you are making in your life.

Christmas Morning 2007

Jared opening his presents on Christmas morning.
Jon really was getting into it, I think his favorite was the little mini desktop computer. He seemed to keep going back to that over the next few days. Thanks Jon for being such a sweetie while we were there!
Christmas morning was spent with Jon, Jared, Jocelyn, and Jason. The boys had great time watching the little boys open presents along with a few of their own. Mama and Papa just loved watching period, it was great.

Christmas Eve 2007

Lots and lots of food, I am so glad my girls are good cooks.
Ryden with his new haircut
Shelby, Jared, Garin and Jonas.
Jaleen with Brady
Most everybody was able to make it up to Jocelyn's for Christmas Eve, lots of good food and it was so fun to have all the grandkids there. It is always so tricky figuring out schedules, but thanks for the extra effort to make it. A big thanks to Jocelyn and Jason for hosting it! It was truly a very Merry Christmas for us.

When we drove home after Christmas in San Diego we had a little snow waiting for us on the ground. It actually didn't even start to snow until we got to Farmington, it was like a welcome home present! We pulled to the side of the road and Jonas hopped on the quad to clear a path. He looked so bummed, HAHA!
It was only about six inches, but enough to have a real good time plowing.
Our front door step also was filled with lots of goodies from the neighbors. All of it was still good and it was so fun to munch on that night. We have great neighbors and feel so blessed to have them. I guess I should explain that the ice chest is for our milk delivery, on Monday's and Thursday's we open the door and have fresh milk just delivered. The ice chest keeps it from freezing in the winter and cold in the summer. They milk the cows the day before and it is delivered less than twenty-four hours later to our door. I just love this!

Brady and Joanna's visit

A few days after Thanksgiving Joanna flew up with Brady for a visit. YEAH! It was so fun to have them here. I missed taking pictures of Joanna working on her Christmas cards, we do have great craft stores here. But she managed to get most of them done before she left. I bought some gingerbread men cookies for Brady to munch on and he loved them, he also loved feeding them to Pink, our dog. Joanna got a picture of that and posted it on her blog. It was so funny trying to get the picture, but we finally managed it.
We only got a little snow while they were here, but enough for his Uncles to make a little snowman for him. So Joanna bundled him all up nice and warm for a picture.
Not so sure about that cold stuff on the ground, what a cutie and such a good baby. I held him a little too much though and really over did this shoulder that I have been nursing along for the last several months. It was worth it though and I am so grateful that they were able to come for a visit. Thanks Joanna and Broc for letting her come!

A picture of Shelby at her soccer game, which I was privileged to be able to take her to. She loves to play and is a great player. If I remember right she scored the only two goals for her team of the season.
Before Shelby's game I got to take Trevon to his. Janelle has been the coach for his team and all the parents spoke very highly of her and what a fun year the boys had with her. Good job to Trevon and Janelle!
Papa got to stop by at toward the end of the game to cheer Trevon on too!
I was so glad that Janelle asked me to take the kids to their games, it was a fun experience and I was thrilled to be able to see them in action. Oh, this is when we went to San Diego for Garin's ordination.

Garin's special day

Our oldest grandson turned twelve and was ordained a Deacon by his father. What a special day and we are so proud of Garin. He also looked very handsome in his new suit. What a privilege it was to be there and how old I felt realizing he was twelve. It was wonderful to be there!
Jon and Jared also were there and I grabbed a picture with their Uncle Jaren. Watch your consonants between Jaren, Garin and Jared we all need to pronounce them very carefully. :)
Starlee pretendin to be shy, which of course we all know she is not. She is such a cutey and give anybody a good work out keeping up with her.

Ryden showing Uncle Jaren the pond.

Thanksgiving 2007

Since Thanksgiving ended up being small this year, I remembered my wedding China, and decided to use it. This is, I think only the second time in thirty some years. So I thought to take a picture, but once I started serving food I forgot to take a picture. Check out Jenna's blog for that.
Check out my newly upolstered chair seats, I bought a new staple gun and went to work. They didn't turn out to bad, but my fingers were sure sore from all the pulling and tugging. I am sure they must use a special pair of pliers or something. Well worth the effort though and I like them!
The boys organized a RISK game after dinner and we all played Hearts to which was really fun. Casey also brought his cousin Malcolm from Pennsylvania who is attending the Y. We were pleased to have him and are really thankful that Jenna and Casey could come. Mostly though it was wonderful to reflect on all the blessings we have and how thankful we are for all our family and friends. We love you tons!
Our big surprise when Jenna came in is that she is pregnant and expecting a boy in March. We are so excited and what a fun way to find out. I can't believe how good she was at keeping it a secret, but it is wonderful news and I think it is the best month to have a baby. :)

Utah Super Bowl

In Utah the BYU vs University of Utah game is like the Utah Super Bowl. Rival week is huge! BYU bubble wraps all the statues on campus to avoid prangs even. Doug and Jonas had the opportunity to attend this years game, thanks to Casey. It was the greatest and even better is that BYU won again this year. It is a fun event to see the allegiances declared and what pranks are pulled in the neighborhood in the spirit of the week. This year one neighbor hung a huge BYU with lights on his tree and in the middle of the night someone spray painted it red. He of course repaired it and rehung it in celebration of their win, in fact it is still there and this is January. We were told when we moved, that you were either red or blue, but not purple. WE of course declared blue. Thanks Casey for the great memories!

BYU vs State game

Doug, Casey and Jonas went down to San Diego for the BYU vs State game that had been postponed due to the fires. They had a great time and of course BYU won, which made it even better. I sent the camera with them and this was the only real picture I could use. Janelle is front and center, but they missed getting a picture of Garin who was also celebrating his 12th birthday by attending the game.

New snow plow

We decided to get a quad with a snow plow on it for this winter, and since I am late posting, I will say that it was the perfect winter to do it. Here is Jaren trying it out the first time. He and I stayed home while Doug and Jonas had gone to the BYU vs State game. He did great and had even a better time doing it. Doug will also enjoy using it on his hunts. Centerville also has a 4 wheel drive course that the boys will want to check out.

Firestorm 2007

Last week the fires started in San Diego, and we were glued to the computer with a live stream of coverage. Trying to not use the cell phones as we were asked not to, that was the only way to track what was going on. Our hearts and prayers were going out to those we love and I must admit that I couldn't stand it at a couple of points and cheated and called a daughter or two, OK maybe more. This picture was taken on Sunday, Oct 28th, the winds having blown smoke all the way to Utah. Usually you can see Antelope Island out the front, can you find it? We love you all, and had many inquiries at church as to how our kids were.

Texas Deer Hunt

Doug went to Texas this year to hunt in October. He had a great time and hopes to be able to do this hunt again in another couple of years. This a white tail deer and the antlers are not as big as the mule.
It is a fairly large hunt compared to where he has gone before. It covers an area of 43,000 acres and some guys traveled 45 minutes to get to a spot. His friend Bruce is the guy in the white shirt in the middle bottom and his wife his the white shirt to his right. Doug is the back center.

Guatemala

In June, Jaren took a trip to Guatemala with two of his seminary teachers as guides. It was such a great trip and these are just a few of the pictures (over three thousand) that were gathered and loaded onto a CD for everyone. They are totally out of order and to be honest I'm not to sure which some of the ruins were. They started out by going to the Guatemala City Temple and doing baptisms and a service project to deliver clothes for missionaries at the MTC there. They then went to the National Museum and the Kaminaljuyu Ruins in Guatemala City.
This is actually the end of the trip, swimming in the Caribbean.
Swimming Misol Ha waterfall, I think!
Tikal Ruins, there are over 3000 buildings buried in the jungle.

Brother Adams and his wife. This was the first time she had gotten to go. Parents of 14 children.
Brother Scott Pearce, I have never seen anybody so enthusiastic. He must be a great seminary teacher, and I know the kids love him.
On the way to the Chicanna ruins.
One of the many meals, unfortunately one meal made everyone sick, except for one guy that had already been sick and wasn't eating.

Jaren heading out for a swim.
Jaren of course took a book and fell asleep.

Took a boat ride up the Usumacinta River to Yaxchilan, covered today in vines and jungle. Where they stayed in a hotel that you could hear the jungle around you.

Jaren wanted his hair cut short, so he wouldn't have to worry about it on the trip. Here he is hiking up the volcano.

These are the orange shirts for the trip, they handed them out at the SLC airport before departure. Really helped to find the group as they were all assembling. Jaren is standing next to BJ, he is Debbie Comstock's nephew.

This was great experience, even though he never says much, I could tell he had a great time. His roommate Danny turned out to live just a few blocks away and is now at BYU Idaho going to school. They had a a super time.