Some Of Our Favorite Memories!

Sunday we leave for Lake Powell to enjoy a week of great fun!  It really is one the coolest places in the world!  With so much to do, and so much to see, our family, along with many great friends and family have shared 5 years of great memory making!  I LOVE to sit on top of the houseboat and watch the sun set while eating dinner, INCREDIBLE!  I LOVE to watch my kids have so much fun, wake boarding, hiking, climbing, jumping, swimming, dancing, kayaking, and jet skiing, INCREDIBLE!  I LOVE to go on long boat rides, especially at sunset, INCREDIBLE!  I LOVE spending time with my family without any phone, TV, or computer, INCREDIBLE!  I can hardly wait!

S U R P R I S E ! ! !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!

Amanda came to me Friday afternoon and asked me if she could plan a SURPRISE Birthday PARTY for Alyssa.  I thought, how sweet, and then said of course you can plan a party!  GOOD LUCK!  And good luck is what she needed, because all of the phone numbers she needed to contact Alyssa's friends are in Alyssa'a cell phone.  We tried all kinds of lies to get Alyssa's phone away from her!  But in the end Amanda was able to get a hold of enough people, and there were 22 teens at the party!  Amanda knows how to throw a great party!  They BBQed Hamburgers with the fixings, went swimming, roasted marshmello's, danced, and ate lots of cake!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alyssa!  and  GOOD JOB Amanda! 

Getting ready for the SURPRISE!  I took Alyssa shopping while, Amanda, Adyson, and Justin set up and decorated.

Graduation - CLASS OF 2009!

Tuesday, May 19th Alyssa graduated from 8th grade!  I cried a couple of days ago when she graduated from kindergarden, and I worked really, really hard to not cry Tuesday night!  I really can't even comprehend how fast time goes by.  I am pretty sure that time went A LOT slower when I was a kid!  The graduation was really nice.  For the first time ever Marshall Ranch held their ceremony at Ironwood High School, instead of outside in the grass at Marshall Ranch.  I was really very grateful for that, I think we were experiencing record breaking heat for the month of May!  (113 degrees is what was showing on my car thermometer!) 

This limo belongs to the dad of one of Alyssa's friends.  They got to go for a ride in it to Peter Piper Pizza after graduation.  Lucky Alyssa, I didn't get to ride in a limo until I was 36!

Alyssa and all of her friends posing for a picture before leaving in the limo!

Finding a beautiful graduation dress with sleeves was IMPOSSIBLE!  My friend Linda Bennett once told me, "A modest dress"  "PRICELESS".  She was right, if you want a dress with sleeves, you are going to pay for it!  Did I really just pay $60.00 just for the sleeves? YEP  ($30 for the fabric to match the dress, and another $30 to have them made!) OUCH!!

She looked BEAUTIFUL!

18 years and counting!

Justin and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on Sunday the 17th of May! YEAH!!  It has been a good life together!  I love him more now than I could have ever imagined 18 years ago.  Sometimes I just look at him and can't help but think "He is ALL mine!"   Here's to forever!!!!  

This picture was taken on our honeymoon at Sandal's in Jamaica, May 1991.

This was taken in Las Vegas 2 weeks ago.

I wish this was taken in Paris, in front of the real Eiffel Tower!  Someday we WILL go there!

Promotion Festivities!

The Marshall Ranch Promotion dance was in our backyard Friday night.  The turn out was fantastic (75 of the 90 something kids attended) and everyone had a great time!  I have to say that it looked beautiful!  We have a lot of really great parents at Marshall Ranch that helped pull this event off!  And then we have my great friend Bethany that came over on Friday and spent 6 hours helping me clean my house, and set up the amazing food table and tables!  THANK YOU BETHANY!!!  It was so much fun, I hope we get to have it here again next year when Amanda graduates!

Alyssa with some her friends.

A side view of the food table.

An overall view of the party/dance.

A front view of the food table.

Friday morning started out with the 8th grade awards ceremony.  Alyssa received 2 awards,  Honor Roll, and the Presidential Award for Fitness!  Way to go Alyssa, GOOD JOB!

More Get-A-Way Pics!

Justin and I people watching at a cafe inside the New York New York Hotel

Scott and Linda enjoying a gondola ride at the Venetian.  The woman guiding the gondola sang Happy Birthday to us in Italian, it was much more beautiful than the English version!

This is the Beazley House Bed and Breakfast that we stayed in, in the beautiful city of Napa.

Napa Valley scenery. 

40 is Fabulous!

At least that is what I am trying to convince myself of!  Justin took me on a birthday get-a-way to Napa Valley, and then on to Las Vegas.  For a long time I have wanted to ride in a hot air balloon over Napa Valley, so we flew into San Francisco, drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and then on to Napa.  But due to unstoppable rain my balloon wish did not come true.  But we still had a very fun romantic weekend!  We then met our friends Scott and Linda Copp in Las Vegas.  Linda and I have birthdays 1 day apart, so we celebrated together!  We saw the Cirque de sole - LOVE, and stayed at the really fun New York New York Hotel.

City Kids Gone Country, I Mean County

There are the "CITY KING'S" and the "COUNTRY KING'S"!  Last night the country King's invited us city King's to join them at their annual County Fair Extravaganza.  Each year the King cousins that live in Arlington, AZ raise pigs for 4H and then show them at the Maricopa County Fair.  All of the trailers that are lined up are friends, that camp at the fair grounds for 5 days.  All of the kids show their pigs, have meals together, and just have a great time hanging out together!  Our kids are now trying to talk us into letting THEM get a pig, goat, sheep, cow, or bunny!  

The BBQ dinner we enjoyed prior to hitting the FAIR!  It was a FEAST!

I think this goat thought Amanda was CUTE!  Or maybe he just wanted a taste of her!

This was the BIGGEST cow we had ever seen!

MAGIC WANDS!

The theme for our girls camp this summer is Once Upon a Time.... And They Lived Heavenly Ever After.  I have to say that we have some pretty amazing, really creative women in our stake!  We had "Camp kick-off" last night, and camp is going to be incredible!  There are soooo many cute things you can do with a theme like this!  Justin and I are going to camp as the head cooks, so we were given the task of a clever treat for the kick-off last night.  I came up with the idea to make eatable MAGIC WANDS for all!  They turned out really cute with the help of my awesome committee!  It is now time to start preparing for the 8 ROYAL FEASTS we have to prepare!

We dipped pretzel rods in white, pink and brown chocolate, then added some sugar sprinkles               WA LA! A Magic Wand!

Family Home Evening at the Lake

We have done this a few time each year!  3 boats, 16 kids, 1 lake, 1000 snacks, and lots of fun for 22 people!  We like to go to Lake Pleasant on Monday evenings, it is quiet and not to crowded.  The kids love to boat hop and take a turn riding with their friends and eating their snacks.  Because usually the "other" boat has better snacks!

The Matthews family in their boat with the brand new tower!

The Smith Family with 4 of their kids, and 3 friends!

EASTER

Being outside yesterday on EASTER was incredibly beautiful! 

I am truly grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, and for the sacrifice he made for each of us.  I am grateful that we were given such a beautiful day to remember and celebrate Him. 

After church we were able to have both sets of grandparents, one great grandma, and our good friends the Matthews over for dinner and the BIGEST egg hunt we have ever had!  All 9 kids got to find 41 eggs each!  Grandma Linda put's money in her eggs. The big kids would shake the eggs they found, and if they didn't make the money sound they would show one of the little kids where to find that egg!  CHEATERS!   It was all in fun though, and we all had a good time!

Beauty is PAIN!

Yesterday Addy got her braces on.  She was so excited that 2 weeks ago she made a paper chain to count down days until she got them.  She was not at all expecting them to hurt, and until last night she just thought that "the sisters" (as Tanner calls them) were wimps!  She wants her teeth to be straight, so she now more fully understands the saying "beauty is pain"!

Picture taken right before we went to get the braces on

Picture taken right after dinner, when she realized that they hurt to bad to eat!

And They're OFF..............

March 31, 2009 was THE big day for Alyssa!  The braces are off and her teeth are beautiful! A BIG thank you goes out to Dr. Matthews for that!  

She told me this morning that all of her Christmas wishes had now come true!  Her first day to go to school looking the way she has wanted to look!  Long hair, contacts, and no braces!  I hope today is as good as she has imagined it to be!