Holiday fun

Gingerbread house anyone? With Christmas right around the corner the Porter house in San Diego is getting more and more company with each passing day. For the first time ever, I think, we changed locations for the holiday festivities. We all decided we could use some warmer weather and wanted to avoid all the Utah snow so Craig and Laura's house was the perfect location. Holly arrived last week and I (Brooke) got here on Sunday. Everyone else is getting in tomorrow morning so then we'll really have a packed house!

Not having everyone here the past couple of days has been nice for me to get some one-on-one time with the kids. Justin, Madi, Ally, and Nate are all super fun kids who make me laugh every day. We have been busy making an obstacle course in the family room with the furniture (shh . . . Craig isn't supposed to know), singing songs, dancing while singing, laughing so hard from our dancing we're crying, watching movies, making muddy buddies and the most blessed event . . . decorating the gingerbread house!!!

Ally and Madison were incharge of the main house. They were stuggling a bit with the roof line not caving in but they did a great job! They worked really well together and had the whole color pattern thing working out.

The frosting was being a little pain. First too thick, then too thin. Brooke just couldn't seem to get it right. We worked really hard and a few knives and fingers later, we had ourselves a beautiful house!!!

Nathan was incharge of decorating all the "accessories" aka tree, gingerbread man x 2, and the chimney. He had so much fun and did an awesome job!

Check out those cute kids! We only had a few minor things broken and miraculously, we all got along and worked well together! Oh, and we even had some extra icing left over which just HAD to be eaten! Happy Holidays from San Diego!!!

The lameness continues . . .

As you can see St. George got a HUGE blizzard thrown their way on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. I think by the end of it we got a whoppin' 2 inches on the ground! Wednesday night (with nothing coming down outside, mind you) I got a phone call from my principal letting me know school was canceled for the next day. Are you freakin' kidding me?!?!?!?!?! He assured me it was NOT a joke and that because of all the snow we couldn't have school. I just sat there, stunned. As a kid we would go out to recess with FEET of snow on the ground. I just couldn't believe it. So yesterday we had a snow day. Except by noon there wasn't one flake of snow on the ground so how can it really be called that? Some teachers were so excited to have a day off but I was ticked! You see, over the break students seem to get amnesia and "forget" EVERYTHING we have done over the last few months. We needed to finish up a math chapter and take a test on it not to mention finish up our long-processed, home-made Christmas presents including the much anticipated event of wrapping and using the "way fun and cool" curly ribbon! Without school how could that be done? It took me only a few minutes to get over the whole "I'm freaking out because there isn't enough time to get everything done" attitude and I sat back and put in a movie. I ended up sleeping in, cleaning my house, cooked, wrapped presents, went shopping, and synched songs onto my iPod. Looking back on it that was the best snow day I've ever had! Too bad we have to make that day up at the end of the school year. It's going to make for a VERY long month of May.

Are you SERIOUS????

I had to use this yesterday, twice! And again this morning. What is going on? Two days ago it was in the high 50's and the next thing we knew we had a "blizzard" going on outside. The people here in St. George remind me of the people in the jungles of Bolivia. A "cold front" would come in (where it would get down to 95 degrees and only 85% humidity) every few months or so and you would think they were all going to freeze to death. I'm talking warm coats, shoes & socks, gloves & hats and they would sit around the fire for hours. All while the missionaries actually put on normal shoes instead of flip flops. We were loving life but still had to take 3 showers daily. So back to these awesome acclimatized people down here. They freak out! The parents freak out because they have to drive in it and come pick up their kids because, heaven forbid, they actually walk home in it. And then there's the kids . . . Anyone who has kids or is ever around kids know how excited they can get when there is snow involved. Especially when it only snows like twice a year here and then it only stays for a few hours afterwards. So picture this with me, if you will. You let your students in the door on a cold, overcast morning. They work great (usually overcast = calmness . . . me like!) for the first hour or so until low and behold a student discovers it's snowing outside and HAS to announce it to the class. The thing is, I don't think the kid could even help himself. It HAD to be done. It's not like he can just sit there quietly working on his assignment. Oh no! It is physically impossible for him to pretend that there are perfectly white flakes falling from the sky. The announcement is made and there goes my morning. Gees, thanks a lot weather man! Forget math and writing and science . . . until . . . I become a genius! Yes! That's right my friends, I became a GENIUS! Although some may say I have always been a genius, for arguments sake lets just say at that moment I officially became a genius. What happened you may ask? Well, for "math" we talked about how if we had a snowball that had 2,584 flakes in it and we wanted to make a snowman, how many flakes would each ball need (aka long division). Then we threw in how the sizes of each ball needed to be "similar" not "congruent" (aka geometry) and wha - la we had ourselves math! In writing we wrote a story from the point of view of the snowman, using as many descriptive words as possible. You should hear some of these, they're quite good! And for science . . . we just happened to be talking about classification of animals and plants in Utah so I kind of changed it up a bit and we classified things we'd need to wear if we went outside to play. Worked like a charm AND they even learned something in the process. And they say it can't be done!!! So, back to the whole point of this entry, the snow! One word for all of you . . . EEWW!!! For those of you who have no snow, consider yourself lucky. For those of you who have tons of it at home right now and are rolling your eyes at this, I'm glad it's you and not me. Hey, I grew up in the stuff so I know what it's like.

P.S. Word on the street is that one school in our district had school get cancelled today. Yep, they got a whole 15 inches last night so it's "IMPOSSIBLE" to get there. Psh, whatever. When I was in elementary school I had to walk uphill both ways . . . barefoot . . . in the snow . . . that a dog had peed in . . .only seconds before . . . as warm cars whizzed by splashing the gross "snow juice" all over me. Aww, to be a kid again!

Remember this?

Check out these beauties! Just a trip down memory lane. Go back four years around Christmas time, if you will. We had all just gone ice skating and visited our local golden arches afterwards. Adam and Brooke just couldn't resist . . .

Just another example of the REAL nerd inside us all!!!

Merry Christmas in Virginia

WARNING: If you don't want to know what the other grandkids are about to get from grandma and grandpa for Christmas this year DO NOT read this entry! I'm not kidding, this contains VERY sensitive information!!!

Jeff was able to go home to Virginia to visit Tiffany and the kids for the past few weeks. His arrival was delayed a little bit (we love the military STRICT schedule - right!) but he got there and the looks of things they all had a great time. He just headed back this past weekend and it was hard for everyone to say goodbye. Before he left, however, they were able to decorate for Christmas and even open up presents from our side of the family. Above you can see some fun pictures of all the festivities. My favorite picture? The one with Ryan in his Spiderman pajamas shooting his spider web at the camera. I think they were a big hit grandma! I'm glad Jeff was able to be with his family during this time. Break a leg buddy over there in Afghanistan! Be safe, be smart, and DBAP!! We love you and will talk to you and your family on Christmas!!

A day at the cemetery

Yesterday, November 28th, was the 5 year anniversary of Grandpa Porter's death. We all decided to face the cold (just because there is no snow on the ground doesn't mean it isn't frigid out there!) and make the drive to the Orem Cemetery where Grandpa, Tyler, and Joey are all buried. Most of us haven't been there in a while so it was nice to go, remember the people we miss and love, and have a few laughs at their expense as well!

Here is Maryn at Joey's grave. Her pride and joy about it is the 4-wheeler she put on there. To keep it from being stolen she wired it to the ground and it has been there for nearly two months! Maryn comes here as often as she can just to clean up around Joey's grave, switch out the flowers, and just hang out.

Next we went up the hill about 20 yards and visited Tyler James Porter, the first child of Craig and Laura. Tyler died at the age of 5 1/2 weeks from SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It came as a sudden shock to our family and we have missed him a lot. We commented on how in a few weeks he would be turning 16 years old and would be wanting to borrow his grandpa's car! It's crazy to think how quickly the time has gone!

GG brought some flowers to put on each of the graves. Because Tyler's grave doesn't have any holes in the cement to hold the pots we were afraid the wind would blow it away. And being the little boyscouts that they are, Ed and Tom decided all they needed was a stick to poke through it and stick into the ground. As you can see, it wasn't quite that easy . . .

First Ed took a tree branch and tried to stick it through the bottom to make a hole.

When that didn't work they were hoping a plastic knife would do the trick . . .

Nope, that thing still wouldn't budge so he whipped out the big guns . . . the pocket knife! I think he tried every single tool in that knife but it just wouldn't work.

When he thought he finally got it, he tried it out in the ground and SNAP. It broke in half! We all were laughing and even mentioned how TJ was probably looking down at us just shaking his head thinking, "what a bunch of dummies!!! It's just a 99 cent plant!!"

Our final result? Oh we just placed it in the corner without anything holding it . . . the same place it was at 20 minutes earlier!!!

Our final stop was to the Veterans section of the cemetery where Grandpa is. Grandpa died one day before his 82nd birthday. Because he was a diabetic and had to really watch his sugar intake, we always joke that he probably is up in heaven having the biggest piece of chocolate cake! And he should, he deserves it! Happy Birthday Grandpa, we love you!!!

Tom, Mary, and Ed Porter

Thanksgiving in New Mexico

We had Thanksgiving at the Garcia house this year. It was fun to see the dishes served in the Hispanic culture, but I must admit I did not partake of the pigs feet! Martin's best friend, James, showed up unexpectedly. They haven't seen each other for five years, so it was a nice surprise. Plus, we were lucky to have Martin's sister Cynthia, and his neice Marina here for a whole week. We went to the zoo, shopping, and even had time to hang out in the hot tub. I sure am grateful this year for the chance to be with family, even when I'm not home with the Porter family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble, Gobble to all those blog readers out there! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday full of family, friends, football and tons of turkey! Once again the Porter family had a wonderful day together. We didn't have quite as many people here as usual (only Ed, Jan, Katie and fam, Maryn, Brooke, GG, and Uncle Tom)but we still had a fabulous time. Anyone who knows Ed and Jan know that these people are related to their parents and have to have EVERYTHING done three hours before schedule. Although we like to make fun of them for it, we are grateful that when they say we're eating at 4pm we actually sit down at 3:59pm. By noon Ed took on the task of setting up the tables and chairs downstairs in the great room. Before you knew it he had transformed into "Mr. Martha" and decorated the heck out of it. Table clothes, center pieces, cloth napkins, good china, etc. etc. etc. It was all there and it was fun to see him go. Then came the devil eggs, yams, cranberry sauce, jello salad, rolls, vegetables, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and of course the turkey. We all pitched in and helped and before we knew it we were giving thanks for all of the blessings we have. Here are just a few that were mentioned:

Brooke: Music, text messaging, and long weekends
Jan: Happy, healthy children
Ed: The dishes are done
GG: I'm still alive!
Tom: Loving family, good food, great stories, and nieces and nephews who have good senses of humor (um. . .that would be Brooke!)
Katie: Facebook
Maryn: Family!
Tori: A roof over my head
Ethan: Jesus
Chloe: Tinkerbell
Adam: Everything

As you can see, we have a lot to be grateful for! Not only are we thankful for all of you, our family and friends, we're thankful that you're even looking at this because that means either we're loved OR we're being stalked! Either way, that's kind of cool! Happy Turkey Day!!!

The armpit of Utah

This past week I (Brookelyn) had the opportunity to go to the USOE (Utah State Office of Education) Arts Conference that was held in Ogden, Utah. Anyone who isn't familiar with Utah and the cities of random names and where they are located, let me just say Ogden is WAY up north. About an hour north of Salt Lake even. And from someone who lives in the very southern tip of Utah it was quite the long trek. I set out on Wednesday morning with three other teachers from my school and the principal. We took a district Yukon and had three other teachers from a neighboring elementary school join us. Besides the amount of hours we were stuck in the car and the fact that my principal REALLY believes in eye contact during conversations (did I mention he was the driver ?!) the trip up was uneventful. By the time we pulled into the hotel it was dark. We were ready to get out of the car, get some dinner, and relax. However our priorities shifted quite a bit once we saw where we were staying. Let me give you just a BRIEF synopsis of what we found inside our "HISTORIC" hotel room . . .

The hole in this blanket was just one of many we found on each bed.

There were holes ALL OVER the place and I don't think they were from old pictures that were hanging up. I think when I counted I had over 20 holes in random places and they were all different sizes!

I thought it couldn't get worse when I got in the shower and found this as my shower head. You can't tell very well but it is basically falling out of the wall with wires all over the place. In addition, the "shower" was pretty much plywood with a coat of paint over it and of course the water had damaged it.


And then we come to the kicker, the big Kahuna, the MOTHER of all problems . . .

Yes that's right my friends, that is blood on the lamp shade! Gross, dried, splattered BLOOD only feet from where my head was supposed to lay that night!

Needless to say I was disgusted. I told the people we were with that I could probably handle a few of these things but blood? Come on! That is just too much. What made it even worse is that the teacher I was rooming with was quick in inform me that her husband works for an insurance company and his job is to go around to hotel rooms and take pictures when there are murder/suicides. And that these things are commonly found there. GEES - THANKS for that visual!!! I took pictures and went to show my principal. His reaction . . ."Oh well, it's only for two nights!" SUCH A MAN!!!!! I think not buddy, we are out of here!

EEWW!!! I am sure there are a lot of nice people in Ogden and that's great but I can promise that the only other time I might even go there is when passing through on I-15. My friend text me one of the days I was there and asked where exactly the conference was held, which city. All I did was mention the name and her reply was, "Oh my gosh! That's the ARMPIT of Utah!" Perfect I thought, very accurate. Luckily the conference was in the nice, clean, sanitary conference center so there were no worries there and I got REALLY close to all the artsy fartsy teachers of Utah. I was surprised, however, that I already incorporate a lot of the things they mentioned into my teaching. Who knew I had creativity in me? Or that I was dramatic? That is certainly news to me!!!! I'm excited to go home and tell everyone in St. George all about the exciting adventure that was mine. My favorite things about this trip:

AND
We don't have either one "down south" so we knew we'd have to take advantage of our time there. We went to Jamba twice while there and each bought a bakers dozen of bagels to take home and freeze. Fortunately for me there was enough asiago cheese bagels, unfortunately my family (who I visited with the rest of the weekend) loves them as much as me so I'm leaving with a mere 2! Oh well, that's ok. I'll be home again in a few days for Thanksgiving. So the moral of this blog . . . NEVER stay at a hotel that is claiming to be "historic" or "victorian." That is just a fancy way of saying "old" and "ghetto."

Girls Weekend

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since we've posted anything and I would just like to say that life is crazy. Thank goodness for fun weekends with my sisters to help get a perspective on things, talk about "girl stuff", laugh, sleep, SHOP, and just catch up. So most of you know I (Brooke) live in St. George and love, Love, LOVE it down here except for the few months out of the year that it is over 110 degrees. But even then I have air conditioning, a pool, and usually a great tan to keep me going. Well Maryn and Katie decided that the frigid weather "UP NORTH" is just not suiting them and they needed to come down and visit their sister. Needless to say a random thought, a few texts, an awesome husband to keep the kids (thanks Adam!) and a tank of gas later, we had ourselves a girls weekend! We did miss Holly, though. In fact, multiple times she came up in conversation and how next fall we should plan for her to fly and visit us down here in Southern Utah. That could definitely be some good times! As you can tell, we had a great time and the weekend flew by. I really wish we all lived a lot closer. But if we did, who knows. . . maybe we wouldn't like each other so much!! Ha ha Okay, so stop laughing. You all know it's true. Absence makes the heart grow fonder! Thanks girls for coming down to visit. You're always welcome to stay when you just need to get away from life. Mi casa es su casa!

After sleeping in on Saturday morning we headed out to the outlet malls. Maryn was highly disappointed in the selection we have here but considering our purchases we did alright. Like the glasses? We're sportin' our patriotism with the whole red, white, and blue. If you look closely Katie's says "republican" and Brooke's is "Obama."

It wouldn't be trip to St. George if we didn't go to IN-N-OUT Burger while they were here. We went on Saturday afternoon and it was packed. We almost had to eat our food standing up because there weren't any seats. You have to become a vulture to get a table around there.

Gees, looks rough to me Katie! I think she sat there for a total of two movies before getting up. She literally had us waiting on her. That's okay though, we offered!!

Maryn and Brooke got ambitious and made a fruit pizza for us to devour. Some might think it sounds disgusting but after a local taste test the results are in - it's scrumptious!!!

Just look at that bad boy, caked with fresh fruit. Even McKenna thought it was tasty and she doesn't do fruit! It was the perfect thing for a girls only weekend! We should do it again sometime!!!

Sad day

Hi everyone. It's me, Brooke. I'm usually not one to just get on here and start typing unless I have a big event to share but I had a really tough day today. As most of you know I am a 4th grade teacher. I LOVE my job and to be honest with you, don't even think of it as a job. I can't think of anything else I would rather do than be with my little friends all day long AND get paid for it. It usually takes about two months to "train" my students but by October they are as good as gold and letting them go in May is rough. Today while I was teaching my kids that learning how to do long division IS possible I got a visit from a staff member of my school. She pulled me aside and told me that one of my students had gone in to wake her mom up to say goodbye this morning before school and found her dead. My little 9 year old who is such a sweet heart and always does good had her world crash all around her.

I can't even explain what went through my mind at that moment. My heart ached for her loss, how she'll never have a mother to brush her hair or help her with her homework. I also looked around at my other 25 students who were quietly working on their math pages and imagined how they would react to this devastating news. We're all tight in Miss Porter's class, we're family. So what happens to one of us happens to all of us. From a loose tooth, broken hand, cool bug found on the playground, and even a new level conquered on the Wii we are all apart of it. As I thought about what I'd say I was at a loss of words. When I finally did break the news there was a somber mood that instantly filled the room. Questions were asked, ideas were shared on how we can help her, but more than anything we just cried for our little friend.

Never once in college do they teach us how to deal with this as a teacher. It's one of those things where we just rely on our gut and kick into 'mother' role. I'm sure I didn't help them very much but I do hope that they all went home tonight and hugged their moms a little tighter and a little longer. I wish I could hug my mom right now and tell her how grateful I am for when she brushed my hair, helped me with my homework and even for her phone call the other day just 'to say hi.' It's times like these I realize it's those life lessons that randomly happen that help us be more grateful for the people we have in our lives. So to all of you in my life, near or far, I just have one thing to say . . . I love you!

Happy Belated Halloween!

Okay, okay, so it is already November and I am just now getting the Halloween pictures on the blog. I would first like to say that I was quite impressed with the quick response of my siblings in getting me pictures of their exciting day. By the looks of things, everyone had a fabulous time! It only took a few death threat emails for them to respond but I am proud and to be honest, shocked that we have something of EVERYONE from the Porter clan in here! I got more from some than others but heck, I'm not complaining! I hope everyone, near or far had a good holiday and enjoyed themselves. After all, you only live once!

Jeff (in Afghanistan) & Tiffany in Virginia: I learned many lessons this year: Halloween is MUCH easier with 2 adults! Ryan enjoys handing out candy more than trick-or-treating. Teenagers do NOT want to spend the night with parents. High schools should NOT schedule football games on Halloween. Jaden could care less about trick-or-treating when he has his own bag of honey candy to eat. Emma will NOT walk up to a door alone. And last but not least . . . I have NO will power when surrounded by chocolate! Happy Halloween!

Halloween is always enjoyable, but it's the kids that make it fun. As a teacher Brooke always dreads the blessed holiday and then is exhausted as she excuses her little witches and goblins at the end of the day. Luckily for her it was early-out day (we love Fridays!) so they were out by 1:15pm. The day wasn't so bad actually. We took our weekly spelling/vocabulary quiz, had a math lesson and did our assignment and then got to change into costumes. That's one nice thing about 4th grade - they are VERY independent. Who needs mom and dad to come help when you're 9? Certainly not us! We watched a Halloween movie, played Halloween BINGO, ate WAY too much food, went outside and participated in the school's costume parade and then went on our merry way! All that while it was 75 degrees outside. Gotta love southern Utah! Note to self: when dressed as a whoopee cushion be prepared to have students want to sit on you!

This is a random mixture of Maryn, Craig & Laura, Katie & Adam, Holly, and Santa. Here is what they all had to say about their exciting adventures:

Maryn in Utah: I was the Twister game!! I went to "Los Hermanos" with Jake, Jamie, Mandy, Trevor, and Nikki (members of Joey's family) for dinner. Some guys that were part of a big group came walking down the stairs and said "SWEET TWISTER!!" Then one of them came up to me, took a spin on my hat and played a bit of Twister. He even took his shoe off and put his foot on a dot on my leg!! It was really funny but I decided that the fun needed to stop before he put a hand in a naughty spot so I said "Game over..." Haha! Then we had a party at the condo with family. Josh, Trisha, Mandy, Jake, Jamie, Trevor, Megan, Nikki, Ashley, and last but not least... ME!! It was so much fun!!

Craig & Laura in California: We were the Matrix Couple, Neo and Trinity. We had a big Halloween bash at our house the week before where a bunch of ward members and friends came. It was a lot of fun. Madi was Betty Boop, Ally was a Spy and Nate was Iron Man. We all went trick or treating with the Hervey's, some good friends of ours!

Katie & Adam in Utah: This year Adam was on a Chinese kick so all of our kids had Asian themed costumes. We had lots of fun at Grandpa and Grandma's Trunk or Treat across the street. Then we had dinner with them. Afterwards we went to our old ward in Spanish Fork to Trick or Treat with friends. It was a fun night!

Holly in New Mexico: We had so much fun dressing up at Bank of the West this year. My Tellers had the great idea of being inmates, and I would be the Warden. They had t-shirts printed up with inmate numbers, and called it the Bear County Work Facility since our mascot is the bear. Unfortunately, I did have one inmate that my deputy and I had to take down for bad behavior.
My friend Kelli came to Albuquerque this weekend, and we had some fun in Old Town. It was nice to have some girl time (no offense to Martin), and we even ate at Sweet Tomatoes and saw a chick flick. Ahhh...good times!

Santa in Utah: Any guesses who this could be? I thought it was a little early for him to be arriving but I guess I was wrong. He was just making a few stops to visit a few kids on Halloween. I hear he had to hurry back to his workshop to make some more toys. He makes me hot just looking at him with that whole get-up on.

So there you have it, our exciting holiday in a nutshell. Brooke would personally like to thank all the little people who contributed to the making of this blog. After all, without kids there would be no Halloween. With no Halloween we wouldn't have needed to take pictures. And without pictures . . . well, come on. Do you really just want to READ a blog? We both know you're here for the pictures! So here's to the little people!

Allyson's Baptism

On October 11th Allyson became the newest member of the church! Mom and Dad were headed down to Southern California to be at the baptism and then head off to their cruise. Brooke and Maryn decided to tag along on the road trip and then flew home that Sunday night in time to go to work the following day (yuck!) We had an exciting trip down south, as we quickly realized that mom had forgotten the baptism dress that all the girls wear. Holly, Katie, Brooke, Maryn, and now Jessica and Madison have all worn the dress on their baptismal day. Mom made the dress years ago and she was really disappointed when her favorite daughter (who will remain nameless . . . let's just say it starts with a 'br' and ends with an 'ooke'!) asked if she brought it about the same time we hit Primm, Nevada. We spent about the next hour or so making phone calls. First to Katie to see if she'd be willing to go get the dress out of the closet (thanks Katie for your willingness). Then to FED EX for delivery times and prices. Next to Laura to see if there was another option. Maryn was a sport and made the phone calls from the back seat and entertained us all with her "professional telephone voice" as mom likes to call it! By the time Brooke's driving shift was over it had been decided that because it was going to be delivered on a Saturday and the baptism was at 9:00am mom didn't want to risk it. There is only one dress like it. Although Ally didn't get to wear it, they were able to borrow a different dress from a great friend of theirs. The day of the baptism was a busy one. Ally was the first one ready (by like 7:30am mind you!) and then sat around wondering why everyone else wasn't going any faster. As per tradition mom and dad, along with GG got Allyson a new set of scriptures that she LOVED so much. In fact, she woke up the morning of the baptism and the first thing she said to me was, "Brooke! I read to 16 already!!!" She was so excited I didn't have the heart to ask her whether she was talking about verses or chapters. I did ask her, however what she was reading and she said "some book that starts with a G." I quickly informed her that she would probably like the smaller book better! Gotta love 8 year olds! All in all it was a great service. Two other girls got baptized in her ward too and Ally picked to go first. Craig baptized her and dad gave a short, but sweet (just like we like em daddy-o) on the Holy Ghost. My favorite part? When Nathan leaned over and asked me why they needed to get baptized at the church in a dress when Taryn's mom has a pool at her house. It was classic! Ah, to be 5 again when the most exciting part of the whole event was when it was time for the donuts.

p.s. For those who don't know, Taryn is Ally's best friend and they live in their ward!

Ever wonder guys?

This is a shout out to all those guys out there . . . ever wonder what happens when the girls get together and "do hair"? Well let's just say it can get a little crazy. There's laughter, catching up on each others life, too much caffeine and dare I say it - gossip all over the place! Maryn has become quite the expert in highlighting Katie's hair. Since Laura is in California Maryn figured she should learn so she can be on call. Looks like somebody inhaled too many fumes!

Ahoy Mate!

Ahoy there! So while we're all here in the freezing cold weather of Utah (although it was a nice 86 degrees down south today!) mom and dad are off frolicking in the Mexican Riviera. Yes that's right kids! They are off celebrating their anniversary/birthdays/retirement/etc./etc. and flew the (empty) nest. They were down in Southern California for Ally's baptism and headed for the LA port within hours of her taking the plunge into the font. It was a seven day cruise to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo san Lucas. It was a much needed vacation, but by the sounds of things mom is a little sick and tired of the heat. Hey mom! I'll trade you any day of the week. We're all glad you guys are having a great time and don't expect any 5 course meals when you get back home. Enjoy the escargot for me! Here's a little bit of mom's latest letter to all the kids. Enjoy!

Hola from Cabo San Lucas! Okay - I am about done with the heat and humidity. If I ever come to Mexico again, it will be in February.

We are having a really relaxing time. Way too much food -but I guess that´s what you are supposed to do on a cruise. We ate at Bubba Gump´s in Puerto Vallarta. Other than that it has been on the boat.

We are only in Cabo for a few hours today which is okay with me. I am done with shopping and sweating and swatting at gnats.

We didn´t do much yesterday. I didn´t even leave the boat in Mazatlan. My feet were so swollen from the day before. Walking on those cobblestone streets made my knee really ache. Dad got off the boat for a couple of hours and walked around and bought a t-skirt.

Congrats to Holly who bought a new car and rented out her house in Amarillo. Now I will let all the rest of you question her for all the details.

Also, congrats to Maryn who loves her new laptop.

In some ways this has reminded me a lot of Bolivia. A lot of the stuff for sale looks the same but is more expensive here. Of course, I realize that we are in a tourist trap area. Dad loves to barter. I don´t enjoy it as much as he does. I figure that people have to make a living, so I usually take the price after they´ve lowered it one or two times - I don´t hold out for rock bottom. I figure it is okay if they think I am too stupi to barter - at least (hopefully) their kids will have food for dinner.

Well, guess I should close for now. Dad has already left the internet cafe and is sitting outside in the shade with a cold drink. We thought we´d have lunch ashore, but I´m not really very hungry and we have to be back on the tender by 1.

Love you all tons. We will arrive in LA on Saturday morning and give you a call (except for Jeff :) ) We are scheduled to drive home on Monday, stopping by to pick up a package from Brooke on our way through. But dad is starting to whine about leaving Craig´s on Sunday and driving to St. George, so don´t know for sure what will happen.

Sorry to Brooke and Katie for being sick.

We love you guys. Do they have adults-only cruises¿ I would love to actually get IN the pool and the hot tub without a million kids that have been left there by their parents for hours at a time. Also, these pools (4) have fresh water, not salt water - so that is a big improvement over Carnival. Actually, pretty much everything is an improvement over Carnival.

We love all of you guys!

William the Bobcat

William recently got "promoted" to the rank of a bobcat. Ok, so this is Brooke typing and I have no idea how scouting works so I'm not even sure I'm using the correct terminology. The closest thing I have ever gotten to scouting would be the Thin Mints the Girl Scouts sell outside of Walmart each year. But anyhoo, William moved up in the world of scouting and that is so cool. As you can see his ward had a big ceremony where Tiffany made him into a bobcat. I wish I could have been there cause then maybe I could learn a few things. Way to go Will, keep up the good work! P.S. I especially liked the picture of Ryan making a face while he was supposed to be sitting quietly. Gotta love the kid!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Ryan just celebrated his 5th birthday! He is growing up so fast! By the looks of things he had a GREAT birthday! Ryan is a fun little boy, full of personality. He is very bright and knows a lot about a lot of things. Anyone who has ever had a conversation with him knows what I'm talking about when I say that he is quite the character. Happy Birthday Ryan, we love you!

Far - We've been traveling far!

For Laura's 29th birthday present Craig got her tickets to the Neil Diamond concert. Just the other night they went to the concert and had a great time. Craig and Laura along with the Hervey's, Riddle's, and Kern enjoyed the oldies but goodies and rocked the house with Sweet Caroline!!!! Oh YEAH! Gotta love Niel baby! Now Craig will have to watch the Jazz Singer with Laura and get even more laughs watching Saving Silverman.....

Just Floatin' Down Tabernacle Street

The Rodeo Roundup is a HUGE, BIG, ENORMOUS thing down here in southern Utah. Everyone goes to the rodeo and has a great time. A few weeks ago our school was in the Rodeo Roundup Parade and I was lucky enough to get to tag along. Although it was bloody hot it was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time showing our community how great it can be to know two languages! The crowd seemed to really enjoy not only our choir but also Conga Town, a bunch of kids playing African drums. Besides the 100 degree weather it was so much fun and something to look forward to next year! Here are a few pictures I took of my class along the parade route. Thought you'd like to meet a few of the little darlings!!

Tappin' Toes

This summer both Madi and Ally had the chance to participate at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, California. They had a great time dancing, smiling and showing off their awesome “skills” for the family and a large audience that stopped to see what was going on. Ally looks awesome in this first picture. As Craig would say, "she looks like a "SUPERSTAR" fo sho!!!"