Wow what an evening

The group

                Macee and Elder Thomas

                  The guys hanging out and eating cake

 We love this guy, he's like our son....wow that makes us old! haha

Wow! Is all I can say! So last night, we had the absolute privilege of having the St. Louis Mission President and his wife over at our house for dinner.  We invited the Elders and them over, as well as the Hood's, to come and eat and visit. We had such an amazing time! They were so amazing, down to earth great people! We were a bit nervous, but as soon as we met them, we felt at ease and drawn right into them.  We had a fun dinner of Navajo Tacos.  We ate and laughed and shared stories.  Then we got to have a special FHE where the Elders had us each tell something we loved about a person there.  That was a very special, tear filled event that was so wonderful.  Many neat and special things were said about each person there.  We almost felt like we were telling the Elders goodbye, as transfers are this weekend, and Troy and I wont see them again if they leave.  We are hoping they stay one more transfer! We ended the evening with delicious Chocolate Cake that Val made, YUM! It was definitely an evening to remember, even if the girls got benched for their game Friday because they missed cheer practice to be there! Makes me actually glad, this was soooo much more important than cheerleading! We were so blessed to get to know these amazing people and share their spirit in our home and with our kids!

Sports

So our kids have been very busy with sports as usual. This was the other night at a home football game we got to go to. This is the only picture that turned out not blurry. Its not too great, but at least I can see my cute girls in it! They are really enjoying cheer this year, and are super cute!! Britton decided to join the cross country team with Jalan this year for the jr high. Here he is before a meet last week. Shorts are a little big!

Jalan has really been usure this year. He wasnt sure if he wanted to run, but we urged him to do it, to stay busy and involved. So he did, but has had quite the struggle, as his little brother has been beating him in the races. As hard as it is for Jalan, I am proud that he hasnt quit-which is what I expected him to do!- and has continued to try harder and work harder. He has been doing very good this year, and improving over his placements from last year.

There were 2 races at the same place last week...so these might be mixed up some of each...but you get the picture. Here is Britton coming up a hill. He is a fast little fella! We didnt expect him to be a fast runner, but he is! Coming into the finish line! Go Britton go!

Come on Jalan, you can catch them!

They both did good on this race, and I think Britton ended up 11th and Jalan 17th.

Here they are just starting out another race. It is 1.2 miles long! Britton pretty close up front..not sure where Jalan is in this pic. Rounding the first lap...here goes Britton holding strong.

And here comes Jalan hurting a bit...but still doing great!

They both did great here too. Not sure what places they took here, but good. We were very proud of them. There were over 100 boys running! Great job boys!

Ball Games

So we got to have a very neat experience a couple weeks ago. The St. Louis Mission had a Cardinals day, and the whole mission got to come and attend a game together. It was Mormon Night at the Park or something. Luckily, the Elders love us, so we got invited to go drive them to the game, and therefore got to go with them! So, Troy, me, Jalan, Britton and Kyle (we traded Macee with a friend for her little brother to come) and Elders Thomas(right) and Hemenway(left) got to go. Disnee and Brooke had cheer practice, so they couldnt go. Here we are waiting to get a glimpse at some of the players and coaches. I guess its picture day where the fans get to go on the field and take pics as they all come out and walk around the field. Pretty cool. We LOVE these Elders, they are so much fun! Here is the good ole Big Mac...Mark McGuire. He is a coach now, so we got to take a pic of him. Pretty cool. I think that is their head coach next to him, but I dont know his name:)

We got to see and take alot of pics of the players, but we didnt have a very good view from where we were. Britton took the camera to take pics of Pujols when he came out, but unfortunately, he forgot to push the shutter all the way down, and didnt take any...haha. But we got a couple. Here is Jalan and Matt Holiday, and a random other lady. The Elders got a bunch and are supposed to get us them, so for now this is all we have. Troy and me sweating to death and melting in the hot sun..even though it was only 70 degrees...it felt like 100! we were drenched from head to toe after the game..ugh! We were right in the sun the whole time, except our faces!

Here is the view of the missionary section. See all the white shirts...awesome huh! All the members got to sit in Big Mac Land...I guess where he hit alot of homeruns...and so we all got bags, and license plate holders and a coupon for a free big mac! It was cool. The missionaries had a different section, all the way across from us.

Actually, this is 2 days before the Cardinal game, but Troy got some Rams tickets from a friend at work, so he took the boys and I with him for a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Britton wore his Cardinal jersey with Boldin on the back in support of Boldin who now plays on Baltimore..even though we were cheering for the Rams...pretty confusing...here are the cute but hornery boys waiting for the game to start. All my boys. Troy had a hard time finding me I guess. Our seats were pretty good, but right at the end zone. It was alot of fun for Troy and I to be there, but I guess our spoiled kids didnt have as much fun. The boys were more worried about getting cotton candy, ice cream, soda and nachos to even care about the game, and when we didnt buy them all of the above, they started pouting, so we left at half time, sick of their complaining...hint, dont take young kids!

Love this picture! Look how similar their hair is now! CRAZY!! where did the blonde locks go??