Austin's Farewell

Austin's farewell was amazing!  He did such a great job speaking! It's funny to hear your own kids speaking in public. It helps you realize how amazing they are and how much they have grown into the great people you knew they were.  Well....that was my reaction to Austin and his farewell talk at church.  He is going to be the most amazing missionary.  We had a house full of kids and well wishers all day.  We served crepes with everything you could desire on top of them.  It was such a great day! One of our friends took these great shots of us all together.

This is Conners position every morning before school!  He hates to wake up.  I've learned he just needs to take it slow.  I wake him up a little earlier and then he lays be the fire with his clothes for the day and his book to read.  He is obviously the Baby of the family because I deliver all his needs to him at the fire.  I love this boy!!!

Nikki gets braces and two weeks later Conner gets braces!

Nikki and Conner both got braces within 2 weeks of each other! OUCH!!!  Can't believe we have now paid for 5 kids to have braces!  I never had braces, I'm always telling everyone, but all my cute kids have had to have  them!  Two great things..all my kids have gorgeous smiles and we never have to pay for braces again!! Unless I have to get them as a Grandma!

Benefit Concert for

Every year the girls participate in a concert to benefit others.  This year they put on a concert for .....

This year was unique because after the concert they had the chance to go have a dance party with these kids they were helping and donate a large check to them.  They really loved that!

Temple with Austin

We took Austin through the temple with everyone a few weeks before his mission.  Austin and I went a few more times and Grandpa Steve joined us one of those times! It was the greatest experience to go throughout the temple with Austin.  We both love the peace the temple brings to you.  Now every time I've gone since I've been able to think about Austin and what a great Spirit he brings to my life and our family. He is going to miss going to the temple for the next two years.  I'm excited to start going with him again as soon as he is back.

Alan is called to serve in...Ventura, California

The boys are starting to get their calls now! Austin was the first and now Alan was just called to serve in the Ventura, California mission.  He will be in the same area his Dad grew up in so he is super excited! It's always a party when a mission call is opened!

Dates with Austin

So Austin decided he would take each kid on a date before his mission.  He took Conner to a BYU basketball game.  He took Sidney to the VELOUR.  He took Nikki surfing! He went to lunch with Jess.  We really tried to make the most of our last moments with him before he left! As his Mom I had tons of fun being with him and going to a lot of lunches at Zuppas! Austin worked with Scott for 7 months before he left which was a blast for Scott.  We also all went to a rope challenge during the break.  Nikki and Conner had a blast!

Saddest Day of the New Year

Conner was soooo sad the day he learned that McDonalds has now made their fries super small in the kiddie meal!  I guess he is going to graduate to the BIG kid meals! DARN!

J..E...T..S..JETS JETS JETS

In going through my last years Blog Book I noticed that I didn't mention the biggest part of our New york trip! The boys went to a JETS game! They had awesome seats and had a blast.  They told me they couldn't believe how BIG all the players were in really life. The girls played while the boys were at the game and I have to admit I was pretty jealous the whole day! I'll get to one of these games sometime!

First Photo Shoot of the Year.

My sweet Dad took the time to take some pictures of our family!  We had a Family Day with Jess before Austin was leaving!  We had a blast! We went to the Movie, out to eat and just had fun hanging!