Our Summer in a Nutshell

 McKinley finished up her Lacrosse season, and we had a party for the team.  It was a great season, and we have some awesome players on the team.  They are a fun group of girls.  It was McKinley's second year of lacrosse, and she played goalie.  We had never even seen a lacrosse game before she started, so it has been a totally new thing for our family.  Luckily, McKinley picks the the rules and such much faster than her mom.

 Conner went to BYU's summer music festival.  He spent a week down there again, for his second year.  He had a blast and learned lots of  great things, and made lots of new friends.
 McKinley made the Utah Lacrosse Team, and went to play in the ESPN nationals tournament in Orlando, Florida.  It felt totally strange sending my daughter across the country with her team, but she totally loved it.

 Will and I got to help with the youth conference for our ward this August.  We helped with the games, and it was a blast.  Will is usually the one called to help with the youth, so it was a treat for me to go with him this time.  Luckily we didn't have to be in charge of the Leadership Reaction Course that they did here.  I couldn't believe what our kids did.  They were amazing!  McKinley  is standing on the thingy here.

 Conner is here in the grey shirt helping the kids get down off the wall.  His group did really well.

 Brennan's team played in the Summer Championship tournament this August.  They played really well and won the whole sha-bang!  The team has awesome coaches, and great players.  The boys really wanted this.

 Here is Brennan with the championship t-shirt and trophy.  He was so happy he even posed for a picture for me.

Well that is a quick overview.  Will and I went on a New England and Canada cruise in June, that I will post soon if I have time.   Right now we are all getting ready for school to start.  The kids are going  to have a heck of a time getting up early, as we have really been bad the last few weeks.

Take two.

Hopeful this video will work.

Conner's first kiss.....at least it better be!

This is Conner in his Jr. High Musical, Oklahoma!   He did a great job.  The whole cast did.  The video with his song in isn't uploading, but I will keep trying.  We figure Conner has reached his kissing quota for at least 4 or 5 years.

A Shout Out to Oklahoma!

This week my brother-in-law and three of his kids arrived from Oklahoma.  On Friday we had a family party so we could see them before Spencer headed down to Arizona for work.  

 My sweet sister and her son are holding down the fort in Oklahoma, getting the house ready to sell, so they can all move to Arizona.  We are THRILLED that they will be living closer to us!

 It was wonderful to see them.  It's been a long, long time.  Meagan and Conner are great friends.

 Bryan and Nicole came by.

 Joanna and her "green family".  (One day after St. Patty's day.....huh??)

 Cousins are the best!

 Cousins by chance, forever friends by choice.

Grandma and Grandpa.

 The Three Musketeer's!

Here is most of the Gang.  We are too big to all fit in one picture!!  opps.

 Megan and Jayden give the thumbs up to their yummy gluten free cupcakes.

 Emily hit it off with Spencer.  She loved him instantly.  

 And crashed fast asleep in his arms.

Here is the family all before they went their separate ways.  It made me sad to think they won't all be together again for a couple months.  I thought they were all very brave.  The video below is in black and white.  I really need to learn how to fix that on my camera.  :)  With everyone waiting for me, I wasn't going to try to figure it out then.

Love you Spencer, Susie, Justin, Jayden, Devon and Meagan!!

Solo and Ensemble

Conner has been working hard this year for Solo and Ensemble.  He sang a song called, "The Song that Nature Sings."  He did great at his school level, and was advanced to the District level.  Here he is with two of his friends who are also musically talented.

Here is Conner with his good luck cookie.  

Because Conner went to district, he was chosen to sing his solo at the choir concert.  He did a great job, and didn't  even act nervous.

Grandma and Grandpa came to support him.

Here is a short clip of the song he sang.  I took it right before he performed in the practice room. Great Job Conner!  Congrats!

Snow

This weekend we went on a snowmobile trip with some friends of ours.  We had a wonderful time.  Saturday was a little snowy, but Monday was good for the most part.  Brooklynn kept calling our friends the "cousins".  It was hysterical.  

Brennan and Calvin ruled the mountain on their snowboards.

 A mommy-daughter picture.   (look at all that snow)

 Will pulling Brookie on a sled.  She was a trooper in the cold weather.

We also met some friends on Monday.  Ashlyn spent the day playing in the snow with these two lovely ladies.  She wouldn't even stop for lunch.  It was blast.  We can't wait to head back up to the hills.

Playing around

For Christmas this year (and Valentines) my sweet hubby got me a Mac computer.  My other laptop had gone to that big scrap pile in the sky.    We picked the computer up on Saturday night before a romantic dinner at Market Street Grill.  Brooklynn and Emily were both sick yesterday, so I had to stay home 

from church with them.  We tried out the computer, and played with the photo booth feature.  It was fun, and entertained Brooklynn for a while.    I'm still learning all the in's and out's of my Mac, but I'm already in love.  When I get a second, I'll post about Friday night.....  One of the best night's I've had in a long time!!

Ahhh, my very handsome boys!!