Monday, May 16, 2011

Virginia Richmond Mission!!!


Steven received his mission call on April 14, 2011. He has been called to serve in the Virginia Richmond Mission. He will report on July 20th to the MTC. We are all very excited for him, as he is for himself.




General Conference


In April, Kregg took the boys up to General Conference. Steven wasn't able to go because of work, but Dustin, Alec, and Victor (our exchange student)went and they all had a great time. They left early Friday morning and arrived around 5pm in Salt Lake City. Friday night, Kregg and the boys, were able to go visit a family that Kregg had taught and baptized while on his mission in New Zealand many, many years ago. He hadn't seen them since the early 80's (on his mission), and they had since moved to the states. They had a wonderful visit. Saturday they watched the morning session of conference in the theatre of the Joseph Smith Building, the afternoon session in the Tabernacle, and they had tickets to go to the Priesthood Session at the Conference Center. They had a lot of fun and enjoyed Conference. Sunday they drove home. It was a quick trip, but worth it.

Outside the Conference Center after Conference
Inside the Tabernacle--Temple Square
Victor, Dustin and Alec in front of Salt Lake Temple
Visitin the Joseph Smith Memorial Building
Kregg with family from his mission in New Zealand

Sunday, April 3, 2011

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission


On Sunday, March 27th, Steven's missionary papers were sent in to Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. He should have his call in the next week or two, and we're all excited to see where the Lord will send him. More to come.....

Pinewood Derby Time



On March 5th, Parker participated in his first Pinewood Derby (he turned 8 the month before in February). Parker was so excited. On his birthday, I asked him if he wanted a 'winning' car, or just a 'fun to build' car (you know, there is a difference). He said he wanted to win. That being said, we turned the building of the car over to Uncle Jared, who has finely tuned the art of Pinewood Derby car building. Uncle Jared built the car, Parker painted the car, and was very happy with how it turned out. During our ward races, Parker's car won every heat and he won first place and got a trophy. Later that evening we returned for the Stake Races, and again, Parker won every heat. There was another cub scout who's car also won every heat he raced in, so at the very end they had to race each other three times to see who would get first and second place. Parker ended up coming in 2nd place in the Stake in a very close race. He was totally fine with it and was very happy to get his second trophy for the day. Parker was very appreciative to Uncle Jared for helping him build an awesome car.

Monday, March 7, 2011

What??? A Whole Year Has Passed.....

Beware: A somewhat long recap of the past year.......:)

I can't believe I've let a year pass by without posting anything about our family. (Actually, I guess I can believe it, but wish I had been more diligent in my posting).....I guess I'm just trying to keep up with life in general:). I'll do a little catch up, but probably not much (that would be a way long post!). Honestly, I don't know if anyone even checks out blogs anymore (with Facebook so popular), but I've decided to do this more for ourselves as sort of a 'Family Journal', and then maybe, eventually, compile all of the post into a book or something. So here goes...

Last year we had an exchange student from Brazil--Henrique Isfer. We loved having him in our home. He went home in June, but before he left, his parents and two sisters were able to come to Arizona for a short visit. It was so nice to meet them (now we know why Henrique was such a great young man). Henrique's family was delightful and we're so happy we were able to get to know them and we hope they will all visit us again, many times over. We would also love to go to Brazil sometime to visit them. We miss you, Henrique!!!



Steven graduated from Perry High School on June 2, 2010. Yeah!!! He is attending Chandler Gilbert Community College right now and will have a year behind him in May 2011. Steven is working on his mission papers right now, and we hope to have them sent in by the end of March. He's very excited (and so are we). He is also Lifeguarding and teaching Swim Lessons. Steven also received his Eagle Scout Award last year and we had his Eagle Court of Honor on Sunday, November 21,2010. We're proud of him and all he did to accomplish this goal.


Dustin and Kourtney(along with Steven) were busy all summer Lifeguarding at Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center. When school started again they both started Diving again for Perry High School. They did great and had a good season. Dustin is a Senior right now, and will graduate in a couple of months. Right now he is preparing to do his Eagle Project. Kourtney is involved in Track right now; she's doing Polevaulting, Hurdles and something else (I can't remember). She's really liking it. She and Dustin are also continuing to take Piano Lessons and they are both playing really well.

Alec is a Freshman at Perry. He also was involved with the Swim/Dive team as a swimmer. He really liked it and he was a hard worker at practice. He is doing well in school. During the summer he went to scout camp and was also on a Parks & Rec swim team.

Kellan is in 8th grade and her life revolves around all of her friends. She's is also taking Piano lessons, and did a summer swim team last summer, too. She's looking forward to going to high school next year and she loves to babysit and earn money (and she loves to spend her money).

Parker is in 2nd grade. He did swim team last summer and it was so fun to watch him. He takes music/piano classes and has gotten really good on the piano. He couldn't wait to turn 8, which he did on Feb. 5, 2011. He was Baptized on his birthday, which was special, but even more special was the fact the he asked his older brother, Steven, to baptized him. What a wonderful day it was! He is also now a Cub Scout and loving it.


Karsyn is in Kindergarten and just plain fun to have around. She loves school, her friends and being with Mom. She is a terrific swimmer and loves to do tricks on the diving board. Her and Parker are great friends.

In June 2010, Kourtney, Kellan and Mom all went to Girls Camp for the week. A good time was had by all (although Mom/Jodi was sooo cold at night). In October Kregg and I went to Lake Powell with my family (adults only). The weather was perfect and so was the company. We had a blast and can't wait to go again this year. Also, in October, we took the kids to California for a short trip to visit Kass and her family. We took family pictures on the beach in La Jolla for our Christmas card. It was a short trip but we had a fun time. Kregg and I also took a two day trip to Disneyland in December and had a great time. Kassidi, Nathan and kids were able to spend one of the days with us there.



In November(2010), I also ran my first 5k, and in January(2011), I ran my first 10k. I can't say I enjoy running, yet, but I'm hoping to get to a point when I endure it better than I do now. Well see what the future brings. I was not a fast runner, but I'll work on my 'speed' when I'm more comfortable with just running. I'm happy that I accomplished these goals that I set for myself.

We had a new exchange student come to our home the end of July(2010) just before school started. Victor is from Venezuela and he's been wonderful. He was on the Perry Swim/Dive team along with Dustin, Kourtney and Alec, where he was a star swimmer--literally. He's an awesome swimmer, and he did very, very, well. He broke many school records. He has fit into our family nicely and were glad he's here with us.

I know this is long, I know I missed a lot that happened, but this was just a short recap of some of the things that happened since my last post, last March (2010).

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Spring Break, Disneyland and San Diego

Spring Break has begun for the kids and we spent the first three days in California. Monday, March 15th, we spent the day at Disneyland. Our family had participated in the Disney Give a Day, Get a Day program that encouraged families to give a day of service to specific agencies and in return the members of your family received a FREE day at Disneyland (that saved us over $700.00!!!) Kassidi drove up from San Diego and joined us for the day. The park was pretty crowded with long wait lines and it was a bit warm, but all in all, I think everyone had a great time. We saw several other families there from our Ward and Stake and that was fun. On Tuesday we drove down to San Diego to spend a couple of days with Nathan and Kassidi. Tuesday we went to Mission Beach, got sunburned, but had a good time. Wednesday we drove out to Coronado Island for a bit, then we went to Old Town San Diego where we toured the Mormon Battalion Musuem. It was really good and the kids had fun 'panning for gold'. We recommend to anyone that will be in the area to go visit it. It was a quick trip, but a lot of fun.


At the Mormon Battalion Musuem in San Diego
Panning for 'Gold' at the Mormon Battalion Museum
Mission Beach, San Diego
Kregg, Kellan, Parker and Julia on the 'Teacups'
Our 'Give a Day, Get a Day' at Disneyland

Karsyn loses her 1st tooth!

Before
After

Karsyn lost her 1st tooth on March 13th (with a little help from Kregg). It's only a matter of time before the one next to it falls out. I think she's the youngest of all my kids to lose a tooth.