Monday, September 21, 2009

are we getting OLD?



Is it really possible that

our baby is 25 !!!!!


and my little sister is a Grandmother


















Our son, Nate turned 25 on September 16th so we had a party at our house this weekend.






Nate and his dad





Bruce has been making the kids "dirt" cakes for their birthdays for several years now and this is Nate and Bruce with the dirt cake, and a more traditional basket cake that Karrissa and I like.














Nate and his friend Tony. Nate and Tony have been friends since Nate was in Kindergarten. Tony is now a father of two beautiful children, Violet and Michael, and he is married to an awesome young woman, Courtney.

FAMILY


My brother Jeff and his family came from Tracy
It was so much fun to have a house big enough for the whole family to gather.

There is nothing better than to be surrounded by loved ones. It was so fun to see my little niece with her two babies. She had her second baby while we were on our mission. What a great mommy she is.

My other niece Brooke has grown into such a beautiful young woman. She is such a help to my sister Erin with her two younger children, Josh and Kennedy.


Our three darlings










Nate and his cousin Brooke





Wyatt and Michael











Friday, September 18, 2009

BABY CASH TURNED ONE
















AND A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

Our trip to Utah




What a great trip we had. We got to finally meet so many wonderful people that I had been corresponding with while we were on the mission.


When Bruce arrived in Utah, (I was already there with my mom) we went to Elder Oldroyd's homecoming. This is him and his mom, Kandace. We surprised him by just showing up at his homecoming and we were surprised to see Elders Johnson, Carlson, and Crossley there. We met Elder Carlson's mother too. We spent the afternoon at the Oldroyd's home after the Sacrament Meeting. It was so nice to finally meet his family. Kandace had been following my blog and we had corresponded through e-mails while we were in Ukraine. Elder Oldroyd was in our District and the District Leader for a very long time so we got to know him really well. It was so good to see his hometown and meet his parents and family.




Elder Crossley, Sam, insisted that we come spend the rest of our trip with him and his family in Alpine Utah. So we found ourselves spending four nights in their home. It was so wonderful to be able to spend time getting to know his family. They were so kind to let us stay with them.




We went out to dinner with Calvin Harris and his fiance, Autumn and Sam and his friend, Shawnee, and Brad and Michelle Pearson. It was so fun to see them all together.




Education Week was awesome as usual.




Bruce and I both enjoyed our classes and the fun part for me was finally meeting Jane Ann Woodhead. JaneAnn had been following the blog and we had corresponded off and on during the mission as well. Her son was in Ukraine with us. Jane Ann and I met for lunch and then we went to some classes together in the afternoon. It felt like reuniting with an old friend.


Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Jacob's Home
















While we were there we spent a Saturday afternoon at the Jacob's with some of the returned missionaries. This is (last names) Kalien, Hewlett, Hunt, Hatch, Rasmussen, Me, Valerie Clark, Erica Glen, Sarah Howard, and the Jacob's. We had a really nice visit with everyone and a great lunch. I even got to meet Elder Rasmussen's mom who is another mother who read the blog. I had been reading her blog too so it was so fun to finally meet in person.

St George Utah

When we left Provo we headed for St. George Utah


I love California




But .............

I had no idea St. George was so
gorgeous!!!!



















































We stopped to see our friends Tode and Brad Hafen that we met at the MTC before we left for our mission. They served in South Africa while we were in Ukraine. While we were at Brad and Tode's home we had a visit from the Whitehead's their son was serving in Ukraine with us. It was so good to finally meet them.
What was suppose to be a one day visit turned into three. We had so much fun with Brad and Tode and felt like we had known them all our lives. We went to Zion and Bryce Canyons and then spent the night at their cabin in an amazing place called Pinto. We had our first Quad rides and were instantly hooked.
Well not only hooked on riding quads but...........
on St. George,..........Bryce Canyon, Zion, Pine Valley,
Pinto, Hot tubbing under the stars at the cabin, waking up to homemade waffles, it was so much fun we hated to leave.
We had such a wonderful time at the cabin and staying with Tode and Brad.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I found my camera

I'm back again.

Bruce kept telling me it wasn't really lost, he was sure we would find it and we did.

IT WAS IN THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well, just glad to have it back. so much to tell.....

We've been spending time with some very special people

Our daughter Karrissa and her husband Brad and their amazing children

Maverick


CASH




Monroe,

and our son Nate










AND THEN WE WENT TO UTAH AND MET UP WITH SOME MORE AMAZING PEOPLE

this is just a sneak peek of what we have been up to..........................

we have to get to a Dental appointment and Bruce is going to come in any minute and wonder why I still have my pajamas on when our appointment is in less than an hour but I just had to post a quick update.

More later
I promise
Our friend Tode we met her and her husband Brad at the MTC and they served in Africa


Elder Whitehead's mom and dad
we saw them in Saint George
wonderful people


Our reunion at the Jacob's with a few of the returned missionaries



Elder Woodhead's mom, we met at Education Week and went to lunch and a few classes as well




We went to Elder Oldroyd's homecoming and saw Elders Carlson, Johnson, and Crossley
more later on that great reunion