John and Daniel come for a visit

John flew from Boise with his son Daniel for Nathan's Aaronic Priesthood ordination. It was a real treat for us to have the two men. Although, we REALLY missed Megan! Thank you sooo much for the time and money it took to support us. We love you!

Daniel was Nathan's biggest soccer fan.....can't you tell?

Daniel's favorite place to play was Toby's kennel. What's wrong with this picture????

Nathan's Spotlight Week board

It was Nate's week at school for the spotlight. So, he put together a board to hang in the room that showed all the things about him.

Amanda nominated to homecoming court

During a seminary class that I was subbing for, Amanda came walking in with a turtle balloon and bubbles (I don't know the significance of the turtle baloon???). She came up to me and excitedly - yet - quietly - whispered in my ear, "I was nominated to homecoming court!!" She is going to be involved in tons of activities this next week and then the big homecoming dance....which she is going to go with her friend Kendra and some other girls....too young to date! Girl friends were a much better option than her dad or brother :) The entire week sounds super fun and I think she'll really have a great time. They are really treating the entire court like royalty.....even taking them all out to PF Changs for lunch one day this week!!

General Conference fun

Whoa - Dang Good-looking!!! On their way to Nate's first Priesthood session

Hurray for President Eyring and Elder Cook. We were so excited to find out the news. We love conference time!! The kids have graduated from playing bingo to actually taking notes in their journals. Nobody complains anymore either ---Wow!! I guess consistency really does pay off. This was Nathan's first time to go to the Priesthood session with his dad. Look how good he looks in his new suit. He loved going. His favorite talk was the one on procrastination and the story of the high jumper (of course I have no clue what he's talking about because I didn't go - can't wait to read it)...and... they even went out to eat afterwards! Totally fun memory. Bob was so excited also. He's been waiting for 12 years to take his son to priesthood with him. This really was a HUGE highlight for him as a father. I loved the talk on Mothers by Sister Beck and the good, better, best by Elder Oaks. I laughed when Elder Falabella (sp?) shared the story of his toe showing through his shoe and his dad polishing it black. It reminded me of last year and Nathan's good ole duct tape shoes. Oh my....those were hillarious!! Well, actually I LOVED THEM ALL!! I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of the restored gospel. Our entire family is truly happy and have been so blessed.

Our traditional conference breakfast: pumpkin waffles and eggs benedict -nummy!!

The note takers....even Toby found a comfy spot!

The Real Birthday

Hip-Hip-Hurray (and thumbs up). What a day he had!! We had to wait to celebrate until 9:00pm because Amanda had a soccer game. Nathan's favorite cake is not a cake.....it's either icecream cake or pumpkin pie!! So, I got a huge pumpkin pie at Costco and he's just spiffy happy.....can you tell? He got tons of fun presents but the best one was his new suit. Now he's ready to pass the sacrament which, if you ask him, is his favorite reason to become a deacon. Watch out world - the kid is 12!

I'm a Seminary Teacher!!!

It's official.....I am now teaching Seminary at Century High School. I team teach with another lady and we have the morning class. I am sooooooo excited. I went to my first teacher training and learned a lot. Seminary is covering the Old Testament this year and it will be a great opportunity for me to gain a deeper respect and understanding of that book. Well, just wanted to share my excitement. I really love the students!

Nathan the party planner

This year I was the birthday scrouge. I told Nathan that I thought he was getting too old to have birthday parties. It's also really hard to buy presents for older kids that are reasonably in a budget. So, I said no party....but....we'd do something special as a family. As you can tell from the pictures below, my advice didn't go very far. He told me that he would plan his own party and I didn't have to do anything. He was so determined and had things so well planned out that I caved in......how could I not??? He organized the decorations and made a sign for the door, he planned to have them all come in and start decorating golf balls with markers (thanks Uncle Paul for the used golf balls you collected at the golf course). He then had them go on a scavenger hunt throughout the house. Then we sang and opened presents. After that the boys headed upstairs for an impromptu miniature golf game with their golf balls, Dance Dance Revolution, billiards, and pinball. They also had a little fun jumping on the trampoline. Before they went home, they sucked the helium out of the balloons and had fun talking and laughing high-pitched. The entire night was super fun and I am that much more impressed with Nathan!

The Gang

Decorating Golf Balls - what's Amanda doing?

Billiards

DDR

The clues for the scavenger hunt