Esther's Birthday Party

Esther had the best party ever! It was a beauty shop party where the girls got their makeup, hair and nails done. Hannah and three of her friends were the beauticians. The girls came in their dress up clothes. We had cupcakes and fudgecicles before the makeovers. Esther loves doing her nails. She paints her nails at least 5 times a week so she was thrilled at her party. For her birthday we got her a plastic beauty salon with a swivel chair and it is stocked with makeup and nail polish. Esther is very girly. Hannah and her friends had a good time helping and want their own party.

Dodger vs DBacks

Noah won 4 tickets to a Dodger/DBack game at our Little League closing ceremony in June. The game was Aug. 15 and Scott was planning to take the boys. But since we live in the middle of nowhere and Hannah needed to go out of town for a pointe shoe fitting, she went with them. Esther and I stayed home. They went down Friday after school and came back early Sunday morning at 1 am! The game was supposed to be a 1 pm start but was changed to 5. I sent a camera with Scott but they had so much fun they did not take many pics. They had great seats in left field and with mostly Dodger fans. Jonah got a home run ball from batting practice. The only thing that would have made it more fun is if the Yankees were playing. Saturday morning Scott took Hannah to the ballet shoe store and was chatting with the owner, an 85 year old from New York, and his son. Scott said you must be Yankee fans. They said no we are Dodger fans, since the Brooklyn Dodgers, our cousin is Sandy Kaufax! That was very impressive to Scott. Are there any baseball fans who know their history?

Casper Family Visit

We had a great time with the Caspers at the middle of August. I picked up Leah's kids in St.George and took them to Page while Leah and Ric stayed 2 nights there and then they came to Page for a couple days. Her kids were so good for us, they fit right into our family.

First Day of School

We start school way too early, Aug 11! Esther went to kindergarten and was not sad to leave her mom. Ezra is in 2nd and Jonah is in 4th. Noah started middle school and Hannah is in 8th grade. Noah was just a little nervous but felt comfortable because we had been up to the middle school everyday the week before practicing opening his locker and walking to his different classes. Our school has an A/B schedule so half of his classes are every other day. Hannah has done a great job of looking out for Noah. I came home from taking the elementary kids to school and went in my house and could not believe the silence! It was way too lonely. Luckily I have great friends who called to make sure I was okay and took me out to lunch a couple times the first week. That first week of school was hard. I am now able to volunteer at the school quite a bit more with everyone in school. I have things to do but would much rather not be by myself all the time. It is a huge change.

All Stars

Noah is at 2nd
Jonah pitching
Jonah up to bat

I can't talk about summer without talking about baseball since it lasts through the whole month of June and the first week of July. This was Jonah's first year in the majors and he made the All Star team. He played short, 3rd, 2nd and even pitched. His team is young, they lost both games but had a great time. His 9/10 team played in Winslow while Noah's 11/12 team played in Flagstaff. Luckily Winslow is 45 minutes away. I stayed at one of Noah's games while Scott went to Jonah's 2nd game. The other games we all got to see. It is a family vacation for us. We stay at the hotel and swim and play and watch baseball what is more fun than that? Noah's team lost the first, won the next two and lost the fourth game. Jonah was happy he got #2, for Jeter and Noah got #13 for A Rod.

Goodfellow's Visit

Our tradition is to bring a football to the cemetary. This is a pic when the boys are fighting over catching it because Cory was playing 500 with them.



Visit to Grandpa's grave, which Scott doesn't like to do because as he says, "We know his body is here but his spirit is not. He is in heaven and we know we will see him again. What a blessing to know that this life is not the end. "
Mallory and Esther playing checkers. We are so thankful that Cory taught us how to play backgammon. We are putting Grandpa Homer's table to good use, hopefully it will survive.


The Goodfellows came to Page the third weekend of July. We went to the lake a couple times with them and took a tour of the dam. We love having cousins come visit! Esther loved having Mallory. That was the weekend of our Pioneer Day celebration. Hannah and Jonah were asked to be in a historical vignette about some pioneers. They portrayed Aurelia Spencer Rogers, who was the first Primary president of the church, and her brother. They memorized their part which they told over and over as people went from one group to the next. The children crossed the plains by themselves, their mother had died and their father was on a mission in England. Hannah and Jonah played them at the age they were crossing the plains. It is an incredible story.

Summer in BC

Four generations of beautiful women!

Jonah loves Hazel!

Chicken fighting tradition continues, Hannah is tall enough to be in the water against Dane.

Esther loved Great Grandpa's golf putting man. We are so blessed to have so many grandparents. Every time we visit the kids can't wait to go across the street and have a flag ceremony (and of course ask politely if they can have a piece of candy from Great Grandpa!).
I took the kids over to my parents house for a few days in July. We had such a busy summer I could barely squeeze in a visit! The kids love to go and we swim all day and night. Noah and Jonah stayed there for an extra 4 days. My mom took them to Hurricane where my mother-in-law, Kathy, was visiting Amy. Kathy drove to Page that afternoon to visit us for a couple days when Sarah and her family were visiting.