Ok--so Dustin's birthday was back in May, but apparantly we 'forgot' to make him a birthday cake and he has not failed to remind me of this fact for the past couple of months. Tonight after football practice he once again asked me when he was getting a cake, so tonight I baked him a cake. He chose chocolate, and we even sang Happy Birthday to him again(although I couldn't find the candles, so we just used a few lit matches). He seems satisfied now that he has finally had a birthday cake.

Swim/Dive Meet

Steven and Dani(our exchange student from Spain), had a swim and dive meet yesterday. They both did great. Steven placed 1st in Diving, and Dani placed 1st in his exhibition swim of the 100 meter Freestyle. Good job, boys. Dustin also had a JV Footbal game last night. He played great, and made an awesome catch for a 15 yard gain during one of the plays. I don't have pictures of Dustin playing in the game, because right after it started we got hit with a massive wall of dust from a major dust storm that hit and lasted for over an hour. There was no way I was taking my camera out in all of that. Thank you also to Grandma and Grandpa Stapley for coming to both the swim/dive meet and the football game(and sticking it out through all that dust). Kourtney also had a Choir concert at school, but Kregg attended that and I don't have any photos. She did great, also.

Labor Day Fun

Labor Day---this year giving new meaning, personally, to the holiday, as it ended 5 'labor'-intense days of Jodi being bedridden after coming down with an attack of kidney stones. She even compared it to the labor involved in giving birth, but in the end, this 'labor' only had a few grains of 'sand' to show for it. Yes, this labor day we not only celebrated all those that labor, but also the freedom of no more labor--at least when it comes to 'the stones'!LOL On a serious note-it was one of the most painful experiences and I pray none of you ever have to go through that.

Labor Day turned out to be a beautiful day. In the afternoon we went over to our friends house, the Chandler's, and went swimming and BBQ'd. The kids all had a lot of fun and we appreciate their hospitality. These pictures are of the boys doing flips and such-Steven, Dustin, our exchange student from Spain-Dani, and Taylor Foysten. Oh, and of course I had to get a photo of Kregg to show that he got in a pool at least once this summer(obviously from the 'glare' it was only once!).

School Starts!!

The new school year started yesterday, July 28th. Can you tell from the photos which kids are more excited than the others? Steven is a Junior and Dustin is Sophmore. Kourtney and Alec are both in Jr. High in 8th and 7th grades. Kellan is beginning 6th grade, and Parker is so excited to be in Kindergarten(my first one to go to all day Kindergarten). The past two days have gone well. After a few schedule changes for a few of the kids, hopefully everything will now run smoothly. Kellan and Parker can walk to school, as we now have a school quite close to us. That's a whole new experience for us--no busride for them. Dustin is playing football again this year, and has been going to practices all summer and attended football camp in Showlow a few weeks ago. Steven will begin diving in a couple of weeks, and is really looking forward to it. Their high school now has a pool, so that will be great. Steven continues to Lifeguard after school, and will probably continue for another couple of months until they close the pools for the season. Kourtney is in orchestra for the fourth year playing the violin, and Kellan is also playing the
violin. Piano lessons will also be beginning again

soon for Kourtney, Dustin, and possibly Kellan.

I was hoping to simplify my life somewhat this school year, but I don't know if that is going to be possible. Karsyn and I are now the only ones at home during the day--what are we going to do?

We're going to have play dates, maybe see a movie once in a while, shop--you know, girl stuff.

She's only one little 3 yr old, but she keeps me hopping. She is always very busy with a lot of attitude and personality. We did have one accomplishment--she was 'potty-trained' about 3 weeks ago. She has done great and it's been wonderful not to have to buy diapers for her anymore. Once she made up her mind to wear 'big-girl' underwear, it was all so easy. I have to thank Kellan and my niece Tyelo for also helping out with Karsyn and training her. They spent almost a whole Saturday asking her every 15 minutes if she needed to use the bathroom. By nightfall, Karsyn was a pro(and getting a treat every time didn't hurt either). Thanks you girls for all your help!! Well, here's to a great shool year.

Exchange Student

We ended our summer by being a 'host' family for an exchange student from China. His name was Lui Jinrui, and he was 15 years old. He was here for only 3 weeks, but we really enjoyed having him in our home(and we think he kind of liked us, too, because he was really sad when he had to leave today to return home to China). He did a lot of things with the kids(went to Aaronic Priesthood Camp with Steven and Dustin, tubing down the river with Dustin, swimming, etc.), and he also enjoyed playing with the younger kids(hide and seek, trampoline, games). We loved him, and hope he can return someday to visit. His English was fairly good, but there were times when there was a definite language barrier. It has been a wonderful experience for our family, and we were sad to say goodbye to him this morning. Karsyn has asked were Jinrui is all day long; we will all miss him. Hopefully we'll be able to stay in touch via e-mail and snail mail.