Mmm, Berries

I was looking for David in the yard the other day, he seemed to have disappeared. Finally found him in the strawberries, getting his fill.

There is nothing like picking fresh strawberries. The flavor is so true and intense, we’ve spoiled him for sure, now he will want nothing but the good stuff.

For The Best Daddy Ever

Thank you for ALWAYS making us smile!!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Lessons I Learned As A Boy

This is one I could watch over and over, and have. It is heartwarming just to hear President Hinkley's voice. :) …..I wonder if my children are learning life lessons?

Water Maestro

The newest feature in our yard is the drinking fountain. This is David instructing the fountain to perform.






Really, any thirsty participants end up in a water fight, but we know (hope) that the novelty will wear off…..eventually.

Who are these Kids? And Why do they keep calling me Mom?!

: ) Oh! How I love them!!! Summer is coming -- am I ready for this? : )

Multi-Tasking

As I was listening to Abs practice, I was hearing the same phrase over and over and over, and over again. Thinking, 'wow, she is really working on that'. So, I knocked on her door and poked my head in to compliment her, and….

Hmmmm. Practicing or reading?

Family Pictures Postponed

We had to postpone our family pictures a few weeks. Let me show you why….

Emeron flew off his bike. It wasn’t pretty. (No helmet. Bad mother.)


Farrell thought 9 was a good age to experiment on shaving. Um, I guess a man’s gotta learn to shave sometime. : )

Family Pictures are now scheduled for mid-June. ::::crossing fingers::::

Bishop Daddy

For a little over five years, this was the favorite gathering spot in our ward after church meetings, Bishop Daddy’s office.

Months turned into years and here we are at the completion of his service. I am so grateful for our ward family, for all the prayers that have been offered in our behalf. I am so grateful for the opportunities that have been given to us, so grateful for the increased testimony of the gospel, so grateful to have felt the love of the lord daily and witnessed his blessings in our lives. I have learned, in greater depth, the realization of King Benjamin’s words from the Book of Mormon: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.” Now,... what to do with all Geoff's white shirts? ;)

Apple Tree

Violin Recital Spring 2009

Anna’s solo piece: Hunters’ Chorus, by Weber

Abby’s solo piece: Concerto in A Minor, 2nd Movement, by Vivaldi


Once again the girls performed fabulously! :) Have I ever put a plug in for their AMAZING teacher? She is: The. Best. She is inspiring and motivating and incredibly talented. We absolutely love her!

Return to Topaz Mountain

Topaz Mountain is this amazing place for hounds of all ages (rock hounds, that is) to hike around and find real crystal topaz of all sorts and sizes in the sand and rock. It really is a pretty sight and fun for the kids to see the ground glimmer and sparkle in the sun. We spent the day searching for topaz and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent together. At the end of the day, we not only came home with our newfound-treasures, but 4 newfound-lizards as well!

Easter Sabbath

Easter Festivities

It’s a learned talent…. quick hands to pick up, sharp eyes for searching out. As soon as David had opened his eyes from his nap, his mother had him outside, enthusiastically prodding him on to pick up the eggs and put them in his basket. A little bit of a shock for David, I’m sure. He eventually got the hang of it. I probably should have let him stretch from his nap first….. :)

Spring Break 2009

Here are a couple of pictures from last week when the kids were out of school. It was literally spring ‘break’ -- there were broken trees and downed power lines all over our neighborhood. The irony is that school is back in session today, and it is 70 degrees outside with blue skies. Aaah, the beauty of Spring! Here are two pictures of our back yard.

Handsome. Smart. Cool.

Emeron has new eyeglasses!! He has had them for a couple of weeks now and really has been so good with them -- he's only lost them, and then found them, twice! :)

A Day With Ems

Ems and I had a special day.... After a (looonng) appointment with a Pediatric Ophthalmologist, we spent the day touring. First we went to lunch at the Garden Restaurant. Emeron was impressed with the little balls of butter and exclaimed, "look! little butter balls!" after which we both cracked up because that is what we often call his little baby brother. :) He ordered 'chicken nuggets', we all know that the fine restaurants have 'nuggets'. I ordered some extravagant Asian salad, which was not only delicious, but beautiful. Following lunch, we toured all over Temple Square, Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Conference Center. Emeron led the way -- anywhere he wanted to go, we went. It was fun to see Ems' excitement when he recognized the 'big room' as one of the places he visited while watching General Conference this last weekend.

The Influence of a Good Book

Farrell found a book that really caught his attention. Holes by Louis Sachar. He started reading it one night and come the next morning, the influence of the book hit him…. he started digging his own hole.

He shoveled and hurled and heaved and hoed and finally took a break when it was about 3 feet deep. (This was when a few of his siblings took the opportunity to test out the depth.) After a big drink, he continued digging and digging -- he stopped at approximately 5 feet.

Cracking the Code

Geoff deserves the credit for this one…. David speaks David, and really only the family knows what he is talking about. For the last couple of months David says “di-ga-di-go” (rather fast) every time he sees pretty much anything with a handle, ie: scripture case, handbag, lunchboxes, violin cases, etc. So, he says “di-ga-di-go” and struts around with a smile on his face, while carrying in his hand something with a handle.

Yesterday, Geoff received inspiration (during a visit from our home teachers) as to what exactly “di-ga-di-go” means. After our handshakes and goodbyes, no sooner had the door shut than Geoff turned around and triumphantly said, “I know what “di-ga-di-go” means! --- ‘GOTTA GO’!!” Really, it was an obvious match, but it took the smarts of Daddy to bring it to our attention. You see, every time one of us leaves the house, we’re saying we gotta go! Or you gotta go! so naturally David picked up that phrase. It was a happy day indeed to have cracked the code, even if in part, to the language of David! ;)