Homecoming Dance for Emilee!

Em got to go to the Homecoming Dance with our cute neighbor boy down the road and double with her 2 other best friends! Emilee is one gorgeous girl...inside and out! She looked beautiful!

We got to go to General Conference!

Somehow we got lucky enough to get 4 tickets to the Sunday Morning Session of the October 2015 General Conference. We asked all of the kids who wanted to go. Kylee and Emilee were the only takers! The younger 3 wanted to stay home together and watch it on TV. I wasn't sure about this plan, but it actually turned out OK. The 4 of us had a great experience going, and the younger 3 did a great job being responsible and watching it together while we were gone.

We had the great opportunity to listen as the 3 newest called Apostles, Elder Renlund, Elder Rasband and Elder Stevensen shared their messages and testimonies for the first time. It was great to be there in person.  It is also a wonderful experience to be in the Conference Center when the Prophet enters. The spirit that accompanies him in to the room is amazing. We also were there as sweet President Monson struggled to finish his talk. We were on the edge of our seats wondering if he would finish and still stay standing on his own. That was heartbreaking to see. Because we were there we also saw President Uchtdorf and President Nelson who were seated closest to the podium on the edges of their seats, ready to steady President Monson if needed. President Monson is such a great example to all of us. We love him! We are lucky to live close enough to SLC to be able to attend when we do get lucky enough to get tickets. I'm grateful Kylee and Emilee got to experience Conference in person.

Kylee's Best Friends!!

Kylee is loved by every small child anywhere! And she loves them back equally as much. Her best friend this year is Libbie! She lives across the street. She comes over often to see her "best friend Kylee". She tells her Mom some days that she is Liberty Southwick! We will take her!! 

1st Day of School!

This year we have a Junior in College, a Senior in HS, a Sophomore in HS, a 7th grader and a 4th grader!! Whew!! We have 5 of the smartest kids around. They are off to accomplish great things again this year. I somehow missed Kylee and Quincy in the picture taking. So sorry girls!!

Cute kids!

Toilet Papered...again!

This is what happens when you have cute Teenagers that live at your house! We have had this happen a couple times this Summer. Twice in the past couple years we have had a Perry Policeman bang on our door during the wee hours of the morning. I frantically throw on some clothes and stammer out to open the door. They kindly inform me that we have been toilet papered and to let them know when I clean it up if there is any damage that I would like to report! Gratefully, there must not be much crime in Perry. The Policemen must not have enough to do during the middle of the night! I'm pretty sure I would have figured out that we had been toilet papered when I woke up the next morning. Kinda a funny quirk about living in Perry! At our house, the teenagers get to clean up the mess. Chris and I know it doesn't come from any secret admirers to us!!

Camping at Smith & Morehouse!

We snuck in a last minute camping trip right before the kids all went back to school. The week before school started we camped from Tuesday until Thursday. We went with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Barb. We had to stop at Grandpa's favorite diner on the way there for lunch. Can't miss a good burger when you are with Grandpa! We got there and set up camp and then headed to the lake. Grandpa brought his pontoon boat and we took turns taking it out on the lake. Chris and the kids did a little fishing and actually caught some! We don't always have great luck fishing, so this was pretty exciting. We slept that night and woke up to rain, rain and more rain. It was cold and wet! 

Unfortunately, Grandma's knee locked up and she could barely walk. They decided they had better pack up and go home. Kylee went with them because she had to get back for a Dental Hygiene Orientation at WSU. Some of us wanted to stay the extra night, and some of us wanted to go home. It rained all day long. We decided to stay and we were glad in the end that we did. We played a lot of card games in the tent trailer and managed to make a dutch oven dinner over the fire. Later that night it finally stopped raining! Thank goodness! We decided to go back to the lake and try our luck at fishing again. Brinley was the only one who had not caught a fish yet. It took some time and patience, but she finally got one! Her first catch!! We are hoping for some more camping next summer with a little better weather!

Kylee's 21st Birthday!

Wow! 21 years old!! How did that happen? Happy Birthday to Kylee. She gets to share her Birthday party most years with Mason! That keeps things fun. We end up with 2 pans of favorite desserts to go with dinner. This year she helped hold his HUGE present as he unwrapped it.

Kylee is kind, hard working, motivated, super smart, beautiful and always so happy! We love that she is still here in our home with us. She definitely keeps us smiling!

Happy Birthday Kylee!

We love you!!

A week with KateLeigh and Maisley!

Liz Bunce was nice enough to let Quincy and Brinley stay with them while we were in Guatemala, so we did a trade and had her girls while they went to Oregon. It was a busy week! Adding 2 more to a family of 7 definitely makes a difference! One day the 3 girls spend hours in the garage making a road and parking stalls for the plazma cars. Sometimes you have to get creative!! 

Stitches!

Em's poor chin met with the gym floor during a dive at Volleyball! We had to take a quick trip to the Dr.'s office and get a few stitches. OUCH!

Sleepover!

A sleepover sometime during the summer was promised to Maddie and Brinley. They reminded us about it EVERY Sunday. Finally in August before school started, we made it happen. They were busy busy busy! They definitely made the most of their time together.