Finally... Videos of Music Camp!

Hope you'll enjoy some fun videos of the kids performing their solos at music camp this year!







Kate sings first, then her bud, Sadie, then Morgan! It's a long one, but worth it!





Jack is second from the righthand end, Kaleb is to the far right. Emma Tribe is the tall little girl in the middle. :)

I Can't believe I Caught This On Tape

Kate had a GREAT baseball season this year thanks to awesome coaches (thanks Bro. and Sis. Tribe!) and her best bud, Sadie, as her teammate! She made great strides this year and really learned to be a much better batter and ball handler.

All was going well until her last at-bat of the season... you won't believe it when you see this video ... all I can say is prepare to cringe.

Here are the results (complete with an imprint of the baseball laces!):

Poor kid! She's got a giant goose-egg tonight, but I'm sure it will look better in the morning. Our family doctor happened to be coaching the opposing team, so he looked at her and made a quick makeshift ice pack -- better than a housecall! I wonder if I'll get a bill. :)

Darn cute kid, if I do say so myself!

The End of the Season :(

 

 

Darn it! Todd's team lost their tournament game tonight, so they're out of the running for champion. It's bitter-sweet, but it's been a great year for him. He's played well and learned a lot. We are truly grateful for the WONDERFUL coach he had this year. It's been a fabulous experience.

4th of July Fun

Nothing beats the 4th of July in our little town. A whole week of fun, food, and festivities! Thought you might enjoy a few pictures and a video of Todd playing in the summer marching band. He's the snare drum player closest to the camera. He looks so little with all those big high school kids!

Happy 4th!

Just a little video of the kids singing at the town's Patriotic Program last night.

Aren't we blessed to live in this great nation? I am so thankful to the founding fathers and mothers who gave everything that we might have the lives we have. I pray that we will have the strength and courage to preserve that gift for our posterity.

Happy Independence Day!

Family Vacation 2011

Prepare yourself for a barrage of pictures from our 8 day vacation.
There's no way around it.

We took just shy of a million pictures, I'm pretty sure.
So grit your teeth and.... ENJOY! (or just push your down arrow really fast a bunch of times.)

Kate fell in love with photography on this trip! She especially loves photographing flowers, bugs, birds, and other creatures.

Cove Fort, Utah was a huge highlight of our trip. We stopped on our way home with the intention of staying for about an hour. 2 1/2 hours later we were back on the road! Thanks, Elder Haney, for a wonderful tour!

We also loved our time in St. George. The Tabernacle, Temple, Visitor's Center, and Brigham Young Summer Home were just beautiful and spirit filled. Hot... but spirit filled.

Another highlight of the trip was a chance encounter with the Carroll Shelby World Headquarters and Classic Car Museum. On our way out of Vegas we stopped at a gas station by the Las Vegas Speedway and happened upon this museum. Jack, if you didn't know this, is capital C - CRAZY - about cars, trucks, motorcycles, semis... So you can imagine his immense happiness. He took a million pictures and came away with a bunch of fun Shelby posters and a little keepsake Shelby Spider car. Happiness. It's so easy when you're 5. :)

Some of our fun Las Vegas Strip adventures while Brad was in meetings and classes. Our favorite stops were The M&M Store, the Coca-Cola Experience, New York-New York, The Mirage, the MGM Lion Habitat, the Jelly-Belly Statue of Liberty, and especially riding all the escalators and elevators all over Vegas. We are SO small town, and SO easily entertained!

It was darn hot (in the low 100s most days), but we all did well. One benefit -- 90 degrees in Rupert today feels downright balmy!

Zion National Park is a must-see if you're in Southern Utah and have a day to kill. Wow -- we LOVED it here. The hiking was gorgeous.

One fun little happening... we looked up a church to attend on Sunday morning and showed up at a random (and very lovely, friendly) ward. While taking the kids to Primary, we ran in to a sister from Brad's mission. Even 20 years later they immediately recognized each other and we had a wonderful time visiting and reconnecting with her and her sweet family.

We are so blessed to have had so many days to spend together as a family. The trip could not have gone more smoothly. The kids traveled well and quietly (thank you iPad, iPods, and iPhone!). The car ran well (thank you new car). We spend lots of time together and created many wonderful memories.

We are blessed.

End of School Busy-ness

The end of school brings 'fun and frantic' to our every day vocabulary. I'm pretty sure we were at some event or activity every night of May! Some of the highlights were 1) Piano Recital, 2) Ballet Performance Awards, and 3) End of Year Middle School Band Concert. Each year our kids are getting more and more involved and busy, which adds new dimensions of craziness to our lives! But crazy is good, right?

FYI: in the following video Kate is the ballerina on the far left, and Todd is the percussionist in the band videos.

And, truly, as I watch these videos I say a silent and heartfelt "Bless Your Hearts, Dear Teachers"! What patience, what kindness, what near deaf- and blind-ness they must all possess! We love you, dear people. :)