As a side note to Steven's dive meet, I just want to thank my parents for coming out and watching and supporting him. It was a bright, sunny, warm day(not the best environment for my mom, thus the big umbrella in the picture). Steven appreciated having his grandparents there, and his older sister, Kassidi--along with Julia and Karsyn. Kregg was out of town working in 'Vegas, unfortunately, but will hopefully be at the State Meet.

Regional Dive Meet

On Thursday, Oct. 23rd, Steven participated in the Regional Meet for Diving to determine who qualifies to go to the State Meet next week. It was an 11 dive meet held at McClintock High School. The competition was a bit more intense this year, with some really good divers. Steven did a wonderful job, and performed some beautiful dives. In the end, he took 1st place, but it was close, with the top 3 finishers finishing within a point of each other. Yikes--a little too close for my comfort. We're looking forward to the State Championships next week (on Halloween--Oooooohhhhhh, scary!) at the ASU dive tank. We're proud of Steven and all he's accomplished thus far. After the school dive season is over, we're hoping to get him in some club dive so he can further his talent in the sport of diving. You're awesome, Steven!!

Vegas, baby!

Parker, Karsyn and I made a trip to Las Vegas to visit my sister,Camille, and her family. We spent three days there, and had a great time. Parker and Karsyn had a lot of fun getting to know their 'Vegas' cousins, and Camille and I enjoyed doing nothing--just relaxing(at least for me) and visiting. Thank you, Camille, for your hospitality. It was a fun visit. Even though their pool was on the cold side, the kids didn't care, and did a lot of swimming.

While in Las Vegas, we were able to get together with friends of ours that live in Henderson--Roger and Melvina. We had dinner and a wonderful visit with them. Thank you to the both of them for an enjoyable evening. It was great to visit and catch up.

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!).