Lake Powell

The first week of October, Kregg and I went to Lake Powell with members of Jodi's family (Jared & Randa, Danny, Mindy, Ben, Matt & Melissa). A few days were windy and quite cold(when we were out on the boat on the lake), but we had a blast. The water actually felt good to jump into--it was warmer than the outside air temperature. This was my first trip to Lake Powell and I thought it was absolutely beautiful. We enjoyed skiing, wakeboarding, the jetski, hiking, playing a lot of games on the houseboat, the gorgeous scenery, and all in all, just being together with family. I know the slide show is long, but I took hundreds of photos and just had a tough time picking out just a few. It really was so fun, and I can't wait until next year when we go again.

Diving Fun

I thought I'd better catch up on a few things that some of my kids are involved in. Steven, Dustin, Kourtney and our exchange student, Henrique, are all involved in Swim and Dive right now. Henrique is swimming (and he's really good), and Steven, Dustin and Kourtney are all three diving. Steven has placed 1st in Dive in all of the meets so far, and Kourtney has placed 4th on average, which we think is great, considering she just started diving about 4 weeks ago. Dustin, unfortunately, has been inelligable to dive so far because of grades(hello?!! Yes, Dustin, you do have to do homework in High School). Hopefully he'll get to dive soon. Today Steven and Kourtney were in the Wolves Classic held at Chandler High School. Kourtney placed 21st out of 31 girls, and Steven came in 1st among the 37 boys. We're proud of both of them. Kourtney is also on the Freshman Cheer Squad and is enjoying that, too.

Kourtney with friend, Tearza

Two Great Books

I just finished reading 'The Holy Secret' by James L. Ferrell. It is an awesome book, and I plan on reading it again, as it has so much in it that it's almost impossible to take it all in the first time. It's by the same author who wrote 'The Peacegiver', another fantastic book. They are both inspirational and leave the reader with a wonderful feeling. I would strongly recommend both books--they are absolutely amazing, and a worthwhile read.

Random Moments

Saturday: August 15, 2009
Karsyn decided to rake up the mowed grass in the yard all by herself when no one else would do it. We didn't even know that she was out there until I saw her from the kitchen window. She finished the job and did great. What a trooper!!


Sunday, August 16,2009: Parker and Karsyn
Later today I came downstairs to prepare dinner and this is what I found. What a couple of cuties--I couldn't resist taking some shots of them.

1st Day of School

Dustin, Steven and Kourtney

Alec, Henrique, Kellan and Parker

The kids went back to school today. We had a fun and busy summer, but now it's back to business. Steven and Dustin spent the summer Lifeguarding at the pool(where they will continue to do so), Kourtney and Kellan (and me) attended Girls Camp, and Kourtney attended Cheer Camp, Alec, Steven and Dustin had both Scout camps and Aaronic Priesthood Encampments, we had a couple of trips to California, and a whole lot of swimming. This year Steven is a Senior, Dustin a Junior, and Kourtney a Freshman, all at Perry High School. Alec is in 8th grade and Kellan in 7th, both at San Tan Jr. High, and Parker is starting 1st grade. Karsyn (4yrs old) and I will get a lot of time together, and that's ok. We also have an exchange student with us again this year. We picked him up 3 days ago, and he also began school today as a Junior at the high school. His name is Henrique and he is from Brazil. I think we'll have a great year.

Canyon Lake

We went to Canyon Lake on Saturday with my brother, Jared, and our nephew, Nick. We had a blast. The younger kids wanted to jump in the water every time the boat stopped. Steven and Dustin did a great job wakeboarding (they've done it before), and then Alec, Kellan, Kourtney and I gave it a try for the first time. Alec and Kellan only tried a few times before they wanted back in the boat, but Kourtney did a great job and got up several times. I didn't do too bad myself, and managed to get up a few times, but I certainly need more practice. Kregg skiied, and did great, of course, despite a sore shoulder from work. It was a lot of fun, though, and I can't wait to go again (I hadn't been to the lake in probably 15 years before this). It was a great afternoon, and we appreciate Jared taking us up in his boat. It's all the kids have talked about since.

WICKED!!

Wednesday night, July 22nd, Kregg and I went to see Wicked . Oh, my...what can I say? It was amazing and I loved it all!! We went with some friends, Mike and Michelle Bloom, and we had a great time. We had the best seats--7th row, seats 1 & 3,dead center--they were crazy good seats and have now spoiled me from sitting any where else for a show. The following photos aren't the best-I forgot my camera (I know, for anyone that knows me that's hard to believe), so these were taken with my cell phone. I just had to make due with what I had.

Independence Day

Homemade Icecream
Barbecue
Fun with Cousins
Uncle Matt, Dustin, Steven
Swimming

For the 4th of July we went to Grandma and Granpa Larson's for a barbecue and homemade ice cream. Before we ate, we went next door to Uncle Jared's and Aunt Randa's to swim. All the kids were doing some crazy tricks off the rocks and diving board. Grandpa then barbecued Hot Dogs, and we made homemade ice cream. So Yummy!!
Uncle Jared had his 'stash' of Fireworks, so we then got to watch him set them off(and pray that no kids got in the way!). They were great! Who needs to go watch the professionals--Uncle Jared's were just as good. We had a great time--Food, Family, Fireworks, and FUN!! What more could you ask for. We missed those that weren't with us.

San Diego, California

While I was at Girls Camp, Kassidi watched Parker and Karsyn for me in San Diego. The day after I got home from camp, Kourtney, Kellan, Grandma Larson and I left to go to San Diego to pick them up. We stayed 4 days with Kassidi and Nathan and this slide show represents some of the things we did. If you put your curser on the photo a label will pop up describing the photo(somewhat). We had a fun time and look forward to spending more time in San Diego while Nathan and Kassidi and their family are living there for the next two years.

Girls Camp

Kellan and Jodi(I'm for sure looking scary)
Tearza, Makaela, Kourtney, and Gabby
Kellan(far right)with two friend, Amalie and Brittany

Girls Camp was June 15-20th. Both Kourtney and Kellan went, and I also had the opportunity with the Stake as one of the three cooks. The girls had a blast and the whole week was great. My only complaint was how cold I was every night. After my first night there, I called Kregg early in the morning and told him to send another sleeping bag, coat, gloves, etc. for me with Kourt and Kell when they came up that day because I was freezing at night. Other than that, I had a great time(despite the fact that I was trying to prepare a Father's Day talk for Sacrament Meeting which was the day after we got home). Camp always was a fun time with lasting memories for me when I was a Young Women, and I hope my girls remember all that they did and learned at this years camp. Fun times for sure!!

Ventura, California

I took Parker and Karsyn and went to California with my mom and dad the first week of June. We had a great time. School wasn't quite out yet, so Parker missed the last three days of Kindergarten. I expected some of my other kids to come with us, but none of them wanted to miss the last few days of school. I was kind of surprised by that, but, oh well... Parker, Karsyn and I had a fun time with my mom and dad. We spent time at the beach, the pool, the park. We saw some dolphins out in the water off of one of the beaches. That was cool.

I Love To See The Temple...

I love to see the Temple...

I'm going there someday...
To feel the Holy Spirit...
To listen and to pray...
For the Temple is a House of God, a place of Love and Beauty. I'll prepare myself while I am young, this is my Sacred Duty....
This morning our family had the opportunity to go and work on the Mesa Temple grounds. It was a wonderful experience, and even working -picking up trash, etc.- you could feel the Spirit around you, and feel a Reverence for not only the Temple, but the grounds that surrround it. We didn't have Steven or Dustin(they had a Lifeguard meeting), or Kourtney(babysitting), but for those of us able to attend, it was a special privilege to work on our Heavenly Father's sacred Temple grounds.

Chaperoning.......

The past three days I spent chaperoning for a music Festival that Kourtney went on with the San Tan Jr. High Band/Orchestra/Choir to Anaheim, California. Kourtney is in Chamber Orchestra and Concert Choir. They did a great job and won some awesome awards, among them 1st place. Saturday afternoon and evening(after they were through performing at Fullerton College), we all got to go to Disneyland (where they were having the awards later). It was packed, the lines were looooong, and I had eight girls I needed to keep track of and in my sight at all times. Minus the long lines, things went pretty smooth, and hopefully they all had a good time. I had farmed out my kids to friends for the weekend because Kregg was going to have to stay in Las Vegas to work (where he's been working), but things went smooth at work for him, so he was able to take off for the weekend, so he drove to Anaheim and surprised us and was able to see Kourtney perform and then spend the day with us at Disneyland. He stayed with Kassidi and Nathan, and Kassidi and the kids also came and spent the day with us on Saturday. It was great to see all of them. We got home last night, all went well while I was gone, and except for some mental exhaustion, the trip turned out ok. Following are some phots from the trip. The last one is Kourtney's choir group, and then the second to the last is the group of girls I was in charge of.

Pixie Cutie

Karsyn's hair was beginning to look like a rat's nest, so tonight I picked up the scissors and began trimming away. She didn't like sitting still for so long, but...I think it turned out ok considering I'm not a pro-stylist. She's a cutie no matter what.

Triathlon

Over the weekend, Dustin participated in a Varsity Scout Triathlon up in the Thatcher area. There were over a thousand boys there (so I was told), and Dustin did great. He came in 6th place out of all the boys there. Way to go!!