The First Day of School!

Wow! Another summer gone! We have always loved the first day of school. Back to the routine of things, new beginnings and best of all out to breakfast. This was our 16th year in a row going out to breakfast on the first day of school. We started the tradition on Jessica's first day of preschool and have done it ever since. The kids look forward to it, although, the older they get the harder it is to get up early. School starts at 7:45 am at the high school so we leave the house about 6:30 am for breakfast. We missed Jessica and Shawn this year. This was the first year without Jessica. She really wanted to come, but I forgot to remind her about it until really late the night before and she couldn't swing it with work. :( Hopefully she'll be back next year, we may really need her if it's just going to be Trevor. Taylor will be 19 next year at this time and there is a possibility that he may be gone. UNBELIEVABLE! Sure love my kids, I just wish I could stop them from growing up!

Great Kids! We are so lucky!

Huntington Beach - Family Vacation!

So much fun! More to come!

Just a few pictures from our wad campout a week ago. Jessica even suprised us and came up with her dog Aires while Shawn (her hubby) was at his 3 week military camp, but it was getting dark when she came and I didn't get any pictures with her. We also brough Oakley for her first campout. She did really well and I think she kind of enjoyed it. How could she not with all the attention she got from all the kids. :) We don't get to go camping as a family much anymore with all the boy's extra curricular activities, so it was fun to spend some time together up in the mountains. I couldn't resist the picture of Taylor and darling Emily Heaps with both of them missing their two front teeth. It's priceless! I wish I would have thought about taking pictures of the breakfast and everyone who helped cook and get the food ready. We had so much food and it was so yummy! Love those camping breakfasts!

Fourth of July Fireworks

Fourth of July this year was quite different from most fourth of July's in the past. Yes, my kids are big! No more getting up at 5 am for the hotair balloons and no more parades. I have mixed emotions about that, but I have to admit it was nice to sleep in and not battle the crowds and the heat, but sad that our kids are no longer little. We did have a BBQ with family and then went to Olympic Park where we watched the Thanksgiving Point firework display. Misquitoes were out in full force and we got eaten alive! Trevor decided to go with his friends instead of hanging out with our family. :( Hopefully, next year he will join us again. It wasn't quite the same without him. Jessica and Shawn joined us and mom and dad seemed to enjoy themselves too. The best part of the evening was the 10 minute drive home instead of an hour when we've gone into Thanksgiving Point. Good times! Love my family, they're the best!

Taylor's Two Front Teeth - Gone! :(

When Taylor was 12 years old he over shot a jump on his bike landing front tire first and hitting his mouth on the cross bar which knocked out his two front teeth and pushed the incisor teeth back into his mouth. I got a frantic call from Trevor saying Taylor had knocked out about 10 of his teeth (which is really what it looked like). I immediately called our friend Dorothy Ryan, to go assess the damage since neither Dean or I were home. Taylor had found one of the two teeth and put it in milk when he got home, but wasn't able to find the second one. Dorothy quickly sent Trevor and his friend, Logan Cottle, back to the empty field to look for his missing tooth. After a failed attempt she sent them back for a second search and told them not to return unless they had the tooth in hand. So, that is what they did! She then took him to the dentist right away where I met them as soon as I could. The dentist was able to put the teeth back in his mouth and reinforced them with a temporary wire which they glued down to the four front teeth until he was able to get braces on the next week. Well, to cut to the chase, 5 years later his teeth are dead, discolored and ankylosed to the bone. So, here we are, on the 24th of June, getting his two front teeth out and the implants put in. He will have to wear a "flipper" (a retainer with two front teeth.) for about four months until the bone and implants are ready for the real thing. I have to say, I am pretty impressed with the flipper! Doesn't he look good? And they are even white. I love it!

Miss Utah 2009

This was my 3rd year to hostess at the Miss Utah Pageant in Salt Lake City at the Capitol Theater. Linda, one of my sisters came with me again for the 2nd year in a row. It is so fun to spend a whole week with her. We were a hostess to 7 girls between the two of us. I had 4 girls and Linda had 3. The girls don't have contact with their families during the week of competition so we become their moms for the week. As fun as it sounds, it is a very tiring week. We don't get to bed until very late (or early in the morning) and up very early. Dealing with all the emotions and hormones are exhausting too as you can imagine. Three our of our seven girls were in the "Top 10"! Pretty good huh? We just loved them! They were so darling, sweet and talented. One of my girls, Whitney Merrifield, won the title of Miss Utah 2009 and One of Linda's girls, Allie Edgington, was 1st runner up. It was so exciting and we were so proud of them!