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??

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!