My Photo Book 2010

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November-Thanksgiving

We had a really fun thanksgiving in St. George at my parents house. All of my brothers and their wives and kids came. It was the first time that all of us had been together in the same house for a really long time. All 20 of us under the same roof. It was really great and the kids loved being with their cousins. It was actually cold there but we did bundle up and do a little hiking and playing outside. Quinn, Katie, Jeffers, Mom, Dad, Garrett, Chris, Jay and Grandma


A casual picture of the whole family

Update- October

Well, I have gotten really behind on our blog. We have been a little busy with Budd back to school full time and me working teaching art. We have had a lot happen over the past few months with the holidays and birthdays. So I will do my best to recap.

We had Alea's 1st birthday Oct 29th. We had a fun party for her. She loved the cake. She has such a sweet tooth. She started walking at 11 months and now she i running around. She loves exploring and she is into everything. I can't keep up with her (cleaning up her messes that is:) She is such a doll and great girl. She loves her blankie and carries it around with her. She brings us such joy with her sweet smile.


Budd and I went to a Murder Mystery Party for Halloween with some friends in our neighborhood. It was a lot of fun. There were over 40 people there. We dressed up and played the roles of Merlin the Magician and his wife Morganna. I made Budd a Merlin beard out of white yarn. We had a good time.

The kid loved Halloween and had fun carving pumpkins, dressing up and going trick or treating. We have a 10 yr old Japanese boy and his mother living with us this school year and they had fun joining in the festivities.

Alea 10 months

Alea is almost 11 months now. She is getting into everything and very curious. She picks everything up off the ground and tries to eat it. The other day she actually ate some paper and swallowed some before I realized. Later she threw up small pieces of paper and it seamed like the rest came out the other end for days. The poor thing. We are trying to watch her every minute. But she is such a great baby and the cutest thing ever. She sure brings us a lot of joy.

Anniversary=8 years

To celebrate our anniversary this year we went driving in a convertible for the day. Budd's Dads Finace Sharen, let us borrow her convertible. It was really a lot of fun. We cranked the music and jammed as we drove down the freeway. It is amazing how driving in a convertible can make you feel young, free and cool for a moment. We went to the Parade of Homes. It was fun to see home decorating ideas. Later we drove up the canyon. It was beautiful. Thanks Sharen!

Soccer

Brinlee and Spencer are both playing soccer this year with AYSO. It has been so much fun to watch them play. Spencer loves to run as fast as he can and kick the ball hard. He is enjoying it. For his age group they only play 3 on 3 and most of the time it is the boys are pushing and shoving, so they spend a lot of time in a pile up on the ground. There is a dad of one of the boys who takes amazing photos and posts them on a website, so I wanted to show some here. It is fun to see such great shots.
Brinlee is really doing great this year. Last year she cried every game and didn't want to run, but something changed because now she it running really hard and getting really good at controlling the ball. She scored a goal last week after running the ball half way down the field. It was so awesome. She was jumping up and down and I was jumping up and down and yelling so loud. We have really enjoyed watching their games and cheering them on.
Here are some pics, mostly of Spence since someone else took the pics, I havent been able to get very many good ones of Brinlee.

3 kids, a Truck and a Camper

We started off on a fun 10 day adventure on Memorial Day weekend. On Sat the 29th Budd and I and the kids went to Ephraim UT for Scandinavian Days. Since Ephraim is where I grew up, it was alot of fun for me to see so many old friends. It seamed that every minute I was running into someone else I knew. It was fun to drive around and and see all the changes in town. We took the kids to the Manti Temple, where Budd and I were married. They had fun seeing where Mommy and Daddy got married and they liked rolling down the big grass hill in front of the temple. We were also able to get some really great pictures that day.


That night Budd and I were able to get off on a date and we drove up the the spot where he proposed to me, on that same night 8 years ago. What fun to remember that. We spent Sunday there also and it was fun going back to my ward I grew up in and again seeing more of my dear friends.
On Monday morning we said goodbye to Budd. He headed home to go to his classes (he is going back to school to be a Nurse). On his way home he was able to visit and put flowers on his Mothers and my Grandfathers graves in Provo Cemetery.
Here are some pics he took from his phone.



The 3 kids and I, loaded up with my mom in her truck that has a pop up trailer on the bed of the truck. We were headed on an 8 day adventure together. The final destination was the little town of Ramah, New Mexico for my cousins wedding and to see my other cousin leaving on a mission. My mom went to high school in this town that is located between the Zuni and Navajo reservations. Two of my mom sisters along with their families live there.
So we started on our journey Monday morning. That night we made it to Moab. We went to arches, went hiking and saw the amazing sites. The kids loved it. Then we camped in Moab near the slick rock trailhead. There were a few jeeps that climbed the a slick rock hill right in our campground and the kids really got a kick out of seeing that.



Tuesday we headed to Colorado and made it to Mesa Verde where we did more hiking and saw even more amazing site. The kids were great troopers. They loved sleeping in the camper.
My mom has the picture from this part of the trip.

Wednesday we made it to Ramah and it was great to take a real shower and sleep in a real bed. We had fun seeing family. My cousins Sean and Ramah who are 13 and 10 were really great to entertain the kids and watch the baby. Brinlee and Spencer had so much fun while we were there. They loved jumping on the trampoline, playing in the playhouse, playing with the dog and all the toys. They had such a blast that they cried when we had to leave.
On Thursday my mom took us around the area. We went to an ice cave and hunted for arrowheads. We also went to El Morro National Monument where my Mom worked as a ranger when she was in college. We even stopped at Tinaja's for some really great chilly cheese fries.

Friday was the big wedding reception and it was a whole family event. Many family members had come into town. We all met at the church at 8am and started working. We helped with the flowers and food and decorating. It was so neat to see everyone come together and pull off such an amazing event. It was a cowboy themed wedding and it was beautiful. They had it perfect down to every detail. They even had a "Kiddy Corall" for the kids to play in, where they could rope a fake bull and ride stick ponies. My kids loved that.

We stayed in Ramah Sat and enjoyed time with everyone. We hiked to thinking rock and saw the beautiful view of Ramah lake. Here is a picture of it.

Sunday we went to church and my cousins was set apart to go on his mission to Mexico City. He went into the MTC that Wednesday. It was neat to see him so excited to go and serve. It made me remember back to my mission. How I loved it and have such wonderful memories of that time of my life.
We started our drive home on Sunday and made it half way. We camped in Monticello UT, and then made it the rest of the way home Monday. It was great to see Budd and to sleep in my own bed again. What a fun and adventurous trip we had. Thank you kids for being so great. Thank You Mom for making it so great and taking care of us.