Noah is Ordained A Deacon

My parents and Scott's mom came to visit for Noah's ordination. It is a blessing to have Noah in our home. He is a great example to his family. He does what is right and is humble. When Scott was blessing him I could feel the Spirit so strong in the room and felt a confirmation that Noah was a special spirit before he came to earth and Heavenly Father has a specific plan for him. What a blessing to know the Plan of Happiness: that we lived with Heavenly Father and Jesus before we came to earth to get a body; then to be tried and tested on earth, die while our spirit continues on until the glorious resurrection; that we can live together forever with our families. It is times like this that I am overwhelmed with love for my family and the Savior who made this all possible. I thought of Heavenly Father shouting with joy when Noah received the priesthood and Satan cringing in anger. I will continue praying that he will have his picture in a missionary suit in 7 years.

Bentley and Emily Visit

Emily and Bentley came to visit us last month. They were out west for a couple weeks. The kids all tried to be Bentley's favorite cousin and loved having him around. We went to the marina and fed the fish. We only found two ducks. Bentley is all grown up and doing great. It is not fair having cousins who live on the other side of the country!

Noah's 12th Birthday

Noah getting one of five rocks he got from Ezra.


I still can't believe Noah is 12! He had a fun birthday party with friends and fun. They played football, basketball and had a Nerf gun party that lasted from 9 pm - midnight. I love when my kids want to give each other presents and run around trying to put something together. Esther was so proud of herself for wrapping one of Noah's birthday helium balloons and giving it to him when he was opening his presents.

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.