Latest and greatest

Life around here has been pretty crazy and busy, and I have neglected updating here. So a few weeks ago we got to take a trip to Denver to visit Nic and Casey and family. We also got some dental work done while we were there as well. It was a great last fling before school started the next day after we got home!!! While we were there, we had such a great time! Nic and Casey so generously got us tickets to a Rockies game! We got to go and use the Comfort Dental suite! It was SWEET!! Here we are all hanging out inside. The kids are over there by all the layout of food...pizza, wings, hotdogs, salads, deserts, you name it. It was so great! In the 7th inning the kids also got to go meet Dinger, the mascot. Here they are with him. It was mustache night, hence his mustache..

Here is the view of the field from the seats outside. It was so much fun, and a great way to take kids to the game! When macee got bored, she went inside and jumped on the couch for a while! Loved it! Here is Troy, Britton and Ryan watching the game.

Ok, so these are all mixed up, sorry. Now jump to the first day of school this year. Wow what cute kids we have! Plus i just love our backyard we get to have in the pictures each year! sooo beautiful!! Brooke all ready for her sophomore year! wow. crazy.

disnee is a Junior!!! how does this happen???

Jalan all ready for 6th grade! Holy cow Jr High! He was pretty nervous to go to the big kids school, but has already gotten in the groove of jr high life! cute britton posing! what a kid! Britton is in 5th grade and in Mrs Williams class. At least I think thats her name..oh boy Im bad!

My little sister sue! Macee in 1st grade!!!! HOLY cow!! She is such a cutie, and has such a personality! She got put in Mrs Stroud's class, and we are thrilled! she is an awesome teacher, the best in the school...sooo nice and fun! She loves school!!

So back to the Denver visit.....We got to go to a fun lake there and rented jet skis. It was a blast. Here is Uncle Ryan and Britton going. Ryan was trying his hardest to make the boys fall off, but didnt succeed, they had too tight of grip! So funny... Here is Nic and some kids and Troy and some kids coming back into shore after a fun filled ride!

Troy and Jalan getting ready for a trip out.

Lately we have been seeing alot of these around the yard....cute little baby deer...

This is the mama and 2 babies that are always out. Yes that is our garden that they LOVE and have consumed the entire thing...watermelon, squash, peas, broccoli, you name it! Stinkers!!

Family Pictures

Ok, so while we were in Heber this summer, we had Troys amazing cousin, Tiff, take our family pictures. We had such a blast!! It was so much fun, and they turned out sooo good! So here are a few of the 500 plus that she took!! Thanks so much Tiff, you are awesome!

One of my faves!!

Oh what a Sunday...

So....this is our latest blessing/challenge/test. Saturday night Troy received a call from the stake presidencey(never a good thing). He wanted to meet with us Sunday before church. Uhhhh...talk about a no sleeper night! Mostly for me, I think Troy was in denial that it was anything to worry about. I kept thinking of all the things this could mean!! Holy crud!! SO....Sunday morning we went to church, and found lots of people roaming around. All three stake presidency members were there...Oh crud again!! Bad sign!! So we go in to meet with Pres Croshaw, and he gives us( I use that term cuz he cant have the calling without me agreeing as well!!), asks Troy if he will accept the call to be the 2nd counselor in our new bishopric!! It was a relief in a way, my fears brought out many other options, and this seemed pretty do-able! Anyway...so we had a wondeful meeting with our stake presidency there...it was fast sunday, but they asked the departing bishopric and wives to bear their testimonies, as well as the new counselors, Troy and Brother Marshall, and Bishop Waggoner and his wife to do so as well. It was such a spiritual neat meeting. We are really excited about this challenge ahead, as I know Troy will do great things. After church our family got to attend the setting aparts of everyone, which was also very spiritual and neat to experience and have our children witness as well. Troy recieved such a wonderful blessing. Troy is really looking forward to this new bishopric and the boost it will give our ward for a change. We are so grateful for our departing bishopric and all they did for our ward, but look forward to the future with excitement and nervousness both. I am so proud of Troy and the great man he is. I am so blessed to have him in my life, to be such an example and strength not only to me, but to our children and everyone that comes in contact with him. So please keep him and our family in your prayers as Im sure we will need it as we adjust to this change and adventure! Our family is so grateful to our Heavenly Father for watching over us and allowing us to grow and be refined through lifes experiences. We know this will be a wonderful blessing to our family.

Brittons baseball championship

So Brittons team went to the championship as well. I didnt do too well with the camera here either, but at least I got it out at the end! First round of the tourney Brittons team won the game. They were pretty excited and confident they would take first...as they had beat the other team already twice! So....Brittons team went into the game very confident...and of course you know what that means...they lost! It was the absolute worste game they have ever played. Nobody could do anything, well other than britton:) He made some good plays at second, and hit pretty good, but the rest of the team was horrible!! The other team played great, and ended up killing them!! The score was like 15-4 or something sad. So...they took 2nd place. Here they are getting their medals. Brittons team...with coach Ellis and a couple of dads.

Our boy who hates to lose...I couldnt get a smile out of him for a while...stinkin kid!! Good job buddy! you played great all year and took 2nd place! We are proud of you!

Britton's 10th Birthday!!

So this year for Brittons birthday he had a special day! Grama Spear was able to be in town. She and her 2 sisters, Aunt Joan and Aunt Judy were on a road trip around the country and were able to be here on his day! So Britton was excited knowing his gift count would go up!! Here he is with his pile! Aunt Judy gave him some yummy candy and a few small things..so nice of her!! Aunt Joan gave him $10! The kids also gave him a few things they bought...more candy and such!!

Grama Spear and his $20! He also got a football from mom and dad, along with an IOU for 2 video games that mom and dad didnt get ordered in time...poor kid...at least he was understanding!!

Britton wanted an ice cream cake, so we made an experiment. I made a layer of ice cream sandwiches, and covered it with oreo ice cream..and the crushed up more oreos on top and placed some more on top! It was cute and yummy!

He was able to blow out all 10 candles!! Wow where does the time go?

10 of the things we love about Britton:

*Soooo loveable and cuddly!

*cute as a button

*such a good example to his friends

*accepts anyone and is so friendly

*stubborn as heck, will be useful someday:)

*so sensitive

*those eyes!!

*daddys boy if there ever was!

*goofy and loves to make people laugh

*Loves to choose the right!

Plus so many more...We love you Baluba, Britton hunnies, lash, and whatever names we think of to call you! Happy 10th birthday!!

Jalan's pitching moment

Ok, so this year Jalan has been pitching for his baseball team again. He is one of their top boys, and they have been using him as their "closer"..UGHHH talk about stressful!! So the other day the season finished and his team was going to the playoffs. Their first game was against the top team, who was not only undefeated, but nobody had scored on them. So the boys were pretty sure they were gonna get killed. Poor Jalan was on the worst team in the league this year. SO....the game the boys did amazingly good! So in the 3rd inning, coach put Jalan in to pitch. First batter was this HUGE kid who could pound it out. Jalan threw a couple of pitches...and crack, right back to Jalan, hitting him in the face!!! Jalan was down in the dirt....of course everyone ran out on the field to check on him. Finally, he gets up and walks off the field. Luckily, the ball had hit his glove first, and then bounced off his jaw...leaving a nice bruise...it didnt break the skin, but left a mark showing the stitching of the ball!! It was pretty cool actually. Jalan was pretty shaken up, and got some ice and rested for a few minutes while they warmed up a new pitcher. Jalan ended up heading out to center field for a couple of innings to calm himself down. The end of the 5th inning-(we go to 6)..the score was 5-5!!!! We were so proud of Jalan, he wanted to go back and pitch the last inning! So he did, and unfortunatley they scored again, and won. Jalan took it pretty hard, but they were a great team and so they won. The boys were still thrilled as were all of us in the good job they did!! See the knot under it? Close up to see the stitching!

This was right after the game...still has the dirt all over his hat...great job Jalan...you were tough and did a great job..we are so proud of you!

So the next day they had to play for 3rd and 4th...the boys played great again, and ended up winning 3rd place!! It was wonderful and the first win of the season!! They got a medal..unfortunately, my camera was left at home on accident after taking Brittons bday pictures!! so I didnt get any pics of it. Great job!!

Summer Fun

So we have been pretty busy out here doing all sorts of stuff out here. The other morning we went out and found the two baby deer that we have been seeing with their mama out right by our swingset! We got this pic before the kids scared them away...so cute!! Oh what do you do in the summertime when all the world is green??? Make Jam! A few Saturdays ago we spent the day making peach, strawberry and blackberry(made from the blackberries out back!) jam!! It was so fun and its so yummy to have our freezer full of this yummy abundance of summer!!

Britton and Jalan have been playing baseball again...and I have not done a good job at keeping up on the blog here. Here is one of Brittons games the other day. He is so dang cute! I will post Jalans stuff later... Batter up!

He has played mostly 2nd base this year....he's really good and makes most of the plays out there for his team!

The kids finally talked their dad into taking them fishing the other day to Raccoon Lake. Of course it was upper 90's with tons of humidity, we were SOOO hot, but the kids didnt care. Here is one of the many fish Jalan caught. They were all small little guys like this. Sister even caught one!! Well with some help from mom. yipee!!

The boys trying to get the hook out without pliers. Not easy! Poor Britton didnt catch even one, but was a good sport and helped his brother!