Can't keep up!

Ok, I am the blog dropout! I cannot seem to be able to get to everything done. I apologize-I will hopefully update soon! Love you all! Jill

Halloween-is is too late?

A few years ago we were at a Valentines day dance, a disco song came on (Stayin Alive, I think) and John out of the blue, started binging these disco moves to the dance floor. The whole dance floor stopped and surrounded him-I think that everyone was so surprised to see the Bishop at this church dance, jamming to this song. Anyway-I thought that John finally needed an outfit to fit his inner disco self that is waiting to come out. The three little witches and a black cat! Anna caught on really quick-she went around with handfuls of candy for days-usually with a sucker in her mouth (thank goodness we know a good dentist!) I told Tanner and his friends they were just too scary!

Husband tag-

Husband Tag!! 1. Where did you meet your husband? Blind date-both of our high school best friends were dating each other-they lined us up and they ended up getting married as well. (does that make sense?) 2. How long did you date before you got married? One year and two months 3. How long have you been married? 16 years (wow! thats a long time) 4. What does he do to surprise you? He always goes all out for my birthdays and plans a fun date. This year he arranged for his parents to come out and babysit, and planned a great date in Las Vegas. We had a blast. 5. What is your favorite feature of his? His smile and I love how he never takes a day off of exercising-he has a great body to show for it! 6.What is your favorite quality? He always thinks of me first. His number one concern is to make sure that I am happy! He always says "A happy wife means a happy life" 7. Does he have a nickname for you? No maybe cutie? 8. What is his favorite food? All food (except Shepards pie) he loves food! 9. What is his favorite sport? Basketball 10. When and where did you first kiss? At his apartement 11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Go on vacations together 12.Do you have children? Yes, 3 girls and 2 boys. 13. Does he have any hidden talents? He is very determined! Once he sets his mind to do something-he will do anything to accomplish it-he doesn't give up, he is also a very hard worker. 14. How old is he? It just hit me that he is 39 when I went to use the elliptical after he was done and it asks your age, it said 39-at first I thought-who used the elliptical that is 39 and then it hit me! Wow-my husband is 39-I guess that I forgot he had a birthday a few months ago. 15. Who said I love you first? He did. After a long, long, long, time. He really didn't want to admit that he loved me. 16. What is his favorite music? U2 17. What do you admire most about him? I love that he doesn't talk bad about people-he never will say anything bad about any one-he won't ever repeat anything bad that he has heard about anyone. 18. What is his favorite color? I don't know-really 19. Will he read this? I doubt it! 20. People I tag. Melissa M., Jen A

Football

Tanner is our little sports fan! He loves any and all sports. He has been playing football and really enjoying it. This is his team-the Cowboys (of course). He had his last game on saturday. John just happen to get this footage. See the pile up (or more like, one person on the ground) -Tanner is that person, recovering a fumble. The coaches high-five after his recovery! Tanner was pretty excited.

Fall (or winter) fun!

The girls were out playing on Saturday when they all came running in saying "its snowing, its snowing". I thought-no way, not in Kanab, not in the beginning of October. Well, sure enough I looked outside and there were very small snow flurries coming down. They proceeded to come in and dig out anything warm that they could find. I love Ally's slippers and gloves (they are gardening gloves). They even took care of Anna with one of their jackets (not quite a perfect fit). They were so excited and continued play outside-running around-jumping on the trampoline. They were so funny-they came in only once it was dark and thawed out with the first mugs of hot cocoa for the season.

Quirks and formatting?

Maybe you bloggers can help me-every time I type something, such as the tag below-I type it perfect-preview it-space it how I want it and then when I publish it, it squishes together and comes out in one big clumped together paragraph. What am I doing wrong? Jennifer-I tried to do your tag and it did the same thing!

Unspectacular Quirks?!

6 Unspectacular Quirks I wasn't sure what exactly this tag meant until I started reading other people's blogs that had been tagged. Although I am a woman of few words-I guess that these are my so called "UNSPECTACULAR QUIRKS". As you read on, you will agree, I am sure, that they are quite unspectacular- Only for you Meliss- 1. I have to wash my feet before bed. It drives me crazy to go to bed without a good scrub and lotion. 2. I have to brush my teeth right before I put my make up on. I am not sure why-I just can't put my makeup on without clean teeth. I also have to brush after eating any sugar. I guess that it is the husband wearing off on me. 3. If I am cooking-I have to follow the recipe exactly. It drives me crazy to improvise in any way. If it says butter-it has to be butter NOT margarine. If I am missing an ingredient, I either run to the store or I quit cooking. I know, it seems weird and uncreative, but if I am going to go to the trouble to cook, I want it to turn out just right. 4. I need sleep-I really hate staying up late. If I don't get to sleep early I get really ornery and small things turn into big things. I get all emotional, impatient and sensitive. Ideally I would go to bed at 8:30 and get up at 5:30 if I could. Not so easy with little ones and especially teenagers! 5. I can't eat sugar on and empty stomach. It gives me an instant headache and makes me nauseated. Don't get me wrong-I eat plenty of sugar, just after I have eaten a meal. 6. I have to change my sheets at least once every week. Ideally, I would change them twice. I had to cut back after I had Anna because it was just too hard to have so much laundry to change everyone's sheets twice every week. I just love the feel of fresh, clean, soft, crisp sheets. I tag-anyone who want to share 6 unspectacular quirks!

Technical difficulties!

I am sorry for the lack of updates. My camera is experiencing some technical difficulties and until I can get it repaired, I am unable to do updated posts. I will hopefully be back in business in a few weeks.

Tanner's birthday #11

Tanner wanted one thing for his birthday-to go to Lake Powell. He was so excited to try out the new surf board and to his surprise- he popped right up on it. He was grinning from ear to ear and continued to talk about how fun it was for days. Tanner made his own cake on sunday-sparkle with lots of sprinkles. We went back for another round of the Lake on Monday-we had a great time with Tanner and it was especially fun to have Michelle and her kids here for the weekend with us.

Ok-so I finally completed my blog and I am officially ready for you all to see it. I decided to go back to the beginning of the summer and recap the major events and happenings. I think that this took me a lot longer than I thought that it would. This summer evoked a lot of emotions in our family but through the tough times we were able to create a lot of wonderful memories. The message that I have walked away with and that I thought would be our family's "theme" is that our time is really limited here in this life-each day is precious and we need to cherish each moment we have.

It's family reunion time!

This year the theme of our family reunion was Walk a Beautiful Life through having fun! And as you can see-we had a lot of fun at bear lake. Some of the favorite activities included- boating at the lake, tie dying, playing the "cheese ball" game, the beach, eating a lot of really yummy food, launching water balloons off of the deck, fishing over the deck, and just hanging out with cousins. We had a great time and really appreciated the hard work and effort of grandma and grandpa to make it a wonderful reunion.

Lagoon!

We went up to Salt Lake a little early (before the family reunion) to have a day at Lagoon. I have to admit, I was a little nervous to do 5 kids by myself (John had to work) at Lagoon, but I was pleasantly surprised. The kids were great-the day was beautiful-there were short lines the whole time and we really did enjoy ourselves. Anna was enjoying the drinks a lot. She hung out at the wagon for a long time just tasting each one. I usually don't give my daughter soda-but today, I just gave in, she was just having too much fun to spoil it. Ally loved the bumper cars. She figured out how to turn the wheel and really got good at driving. We spent a lot of time riding them over and over.

San Diego Trip

We had a great excuse to travel to San Diego this summer. Our cute niece, Nicole was married in the San Diego Temple. We had a great time, and even threw in a trip to Sea World and the beach while we were at it. The wedding was so beautiful and the kids had fun spending time with cousins that they don't get to see very often. We are so happy for Nicole and Preston!

Taylor's 15th Birthday

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Taylor has been gone most of the summer with different camps-scout, EFY, Music camp, another scout camp. We were happy to have him home for a few days during his birthday. We celebrated by going out to dinner at rewind. We missed him this summer and are glad that he is home now. We love you Tay!

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

After months of training, Taylor, John, Me and my running friends completed the half-marathon at Bryce canyon. It really was a lot of fun and very fulfilling once it was completed. Taylor wasn't sure he liked it much-but he was a great sport and beat me in the race with very minimal training. Tara, Ashley, Maryann and Me-You go girls!!!

The passing of our dear Uncle Mark

I guess that I couldn't portray an accurate account of our summer without including one of the major events that sadly happened in our family. After a 5 month fight with leukemia, uncle Mark passed away leaving behind Michelle (my sister) and their three little girls (Madelyn-13, Mackenzie-9, and Megan-5). We are saddened by his passing, but grateful that his suffering is over and especially grateful for the knowledge that we have of eternal families thanks to our dear Saviour, Jesus Christ. We love you and pray for you daily Michelle, Maddie, Kenzie and Meggie! Mark, "The Gentle Giant" is, and will continue to be missed greatly~ Madelyn, Megan, and Mackenzie looking darling at their daddy's funeral.

Lake Powell

Fourth of July!

Abbey and I decided to get a little patriotic with our toes and fingers! We all went to the 4th of July Parade. Taylor rode in the parade with his friends!

Anna turns 1!

Anna's big #1 birthday!

We had a great birthday with Anna. It started out with a picnic at the park. Anna loves to swing! That evening we had a barbecue with some friends and then went swimming. Anna loved all of the attention and especially loved the cake! She was not shy at all and just ate it up by the handfuls.