Los Hermanos

For Katie's birthday we always go to her favorite restaurant in Provo, Los Hermanos. This year was no different and all the adults plus Emma and Chloe enjoyed a relaxing afternoon over chips & salsa. As you can tell Maryn, Holly, and Laura were playing it cool to the camera while Brooke and Craig revealed the real side of the Porter Clan. It's sad just how awesome Craig looks! Let's just say with this group there always will be noise and laughter. Who would expect anything else? Mom just looks at us and shakes her head. What? we ask. Then we quickly remind her that she was the one who raised us!

Family Fun!

Each year we get together as a family and open our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. This year was no exception and for the first time in three years we ALL were together, including the six kids, spouses, and grand kids. We had a lot of fun together and continued many family traditions. One thing mom likes to do is give all the big girls a fun gift and all the big boys one too. This year the big hit was the last present opened that night. Each of the big boys, including Scott and Justin, opened up a marshmallow gun made out of PVC pipe and an accompanying bag of mini marshmallows. Within seconds a full fledged war started up and the fun began! Marshmallows were flying everywhere while kids ran around to gather up the ammo to re-stock their dads supply while all the ladies sat there trying to dodge the bullets and laughed so hard they were crying. The boys were hiding, slouching, ducking, not to mention dropping and rolling just to get the perfect shot at their target! Good times were had by one and all and memories were made. A few short days later our lives changed forever with the loss of Joey so it is nice to be able to think back and remember what a good "soldier" he was that night and how well he and Adam worked together to attack their enemy. It is one night that will never be forgotten!!

I thought it was candy . . .

I know it's a little late but I thought this was too funny to not share. The day before easter we had Ethan and Tori over to help color the easter eggs for the big easter egg hunt. We were getting the water ready and had already passed out the tablets of dye to each of the kids to drop in and watch disolve before the festivies began. Well out of no where Maryn looks over at Ethan and notices that he is foaming red stuff out of his mouth! He thought the dye tablets grandma had given him was candy so he popped it in his mouth. Luckily we were able to get most of it out before he swallowed it but wasn't quick enough and it stained his teeth pretty pink! At first it looked like a horror movie but then we all just laughed hysterically! As Katie would say, "Well, he won't be known as the smartest kid. . . " Good times!

Moving up in the world . . .

I'm sorry but I just HAD to put this on our blog. It's official - St. George has Utah's very first In-N-Out Burger!! This is BIG news for basically anyone who grew up in or visited California since . . . well, basically forever! They announced over four years ago that they would be building an In-N-Out in St. George and they even bought the land. We waited, and waited, and waited until FINALLY the blessed event occurred at the end of April. It already has had people visiting from Northern Utah, Idaho, and even some from Nevada have crossed the border since St. George is closer than Las Vegas. Now when you pass through the Land of Dixie you'll have more reasons to stop besides visiting your favorite person (that would be Brooke) or enjoying the red rocks. Now you can treat your taste buds as well with one of their FIVE menu items. Get it "animal" style, I hear it's quite delectable!!

Good times with the cousins!

I'm working on getting an entire family picture put on here but in the meantime, one of all the grandkids will have to do. This picture was taken the morning of Joey's funeral. We let all the kids run around the primary room while the viewing was going on, realizing that asking them to be quiet for both the viewing AND funeral was pretty much pointless. Poor Madi was sick, sleeping on the floor in the corner throughout the entire thing, but managed to come join everyone for the picture. What a sport!

Double Trouble in the Tub . . .

William and Ryan decided to have a little fun in tub. I had just taken Emma out of the tub, and they asked if they could turn the bubbles on (jets). When I came in, this is what I saw. They said, "Emma did it!" They claim that she put shampoo in the water before she got out! Never a dull moment!

Happiest Place on Earth?????

Craig, Laura, Justin, Madison, Ally, and Nathan just got back from a fun-filled vacation to Orlando, Florida. They spent a week under the sun where they visited water parks, Disney World, Epcot Center, and lots more. By the looks of things, everyone had a great time not to mention got beautifully bronzed! I'm so jealous! I'll try to get more pictures up soon of the water park.

Fun in the Sun . . .

Craig and family spent their spring break in St. George, Utah with some friends, the Herveys. They hiked a lot, swam, rode bikes, and just relaxed. Since Brooke lives there she was able to see them a few times during their week visit and went hiking with them in Snow Canyon. The red rock is a trademark of Southern Utah and by the looks of things everyone had a great time . . . especially when it was time to visit the local Icecberg for some shakes!

The Newest Member

Before leaving for duty in Afghanistan, Jeff was able to fly home to Virginia at the end of April and baptize William. I am sure Will was excited that his Dad was able to come and share his special day with him. Will is such a bright little boy and we are so proud of him and the decision he made to become a member of the church!! We just wish they all lived closer so we could see them more often.

GI Jeff

This past week Jeff made the long trek from Washington to Maine to Germany to Kyrgyzstan and ended up at Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan. He is supposed to be deployed there for ten months and we are crossing our fingers that it is only that long. He is over a group of men and women who are in the military intelligence unit. In the meantime, Tiffany and the kids are back in Virginia staying busy and hoping the time flies bye! We miss Jeff but are fortunate enough to be able to email and hear from him often! (He's the one on the left)

Batter Up!

Grandpa Ed is probably Justin's biggest fan down at the ballfield. Whenever they visit them in California you can always hear the two loud mouths (Craig and dad) making their comments and opinions known, not only to the umpires but to the entire crowd. Poor Justin, good thing he is an awesome baseball player and can handle some family humiliation with style!!

Getting Started

Okay, so mom has hinted multiple times that I should be the one to get this family blog thingy going. And since I have so much time on my hands and I'm the favorite child I should probably get going. I have multiple friends who have a blog and I love looking at those so I thought that it couldn't be that hard, right? Well I'm SLOWLY getting the hang of things and will probably stay up way too late adding and deleting things. Be patient and any advice would be helpful!

Brooke