General Conference

My kids look forward to General Conference every time. They each gather their "stuff" and settle in for a quiet listening.

This time we had cousins with us, which made it even more fun and exciting.

Audrey, Katelyn and Sydney joined us for the Saturday morning session, while Karen ran a 10K with a friend.

We got out our well-loved "file folders" which only come out at conference time. My kids are starting to get too old for most of them, but Sydney was the perfect age for many of them.

I was proud of how the kids did. I shushed a few times, but generally they were quiet and listened.

"We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet"!

Abree turns 8!

Abree requested a princess cake for her birthday. She said she wanted it to be a "regular princess", which I interpreted as not a Disney character???

I borrowed a Barbie from the girl's stash, but had to take the legs off to make her fit into her "dress". Little did I know, but I picked Taylee's beloved "first Barbie" and she was upset and heart-broken I had taken the legs off (one of them might not be able to be repaired). Sorry Taylee.

The "princess" turned out a little squatty. She kind of sunk into the cake as I was frosting it. Abree didn't seem to mind. I used a new frosting technique I saw on Pinterest. I liked that part of it at least. :)

We invited Grandma McKinley and Grandpa Waite over for dinner, gifts and dessert.

Abree's requested birthday meal was nachos. So I made "deluxe nachos", which included black beans, taco meat, olives, salsa, sour cream and avocados. Yum.

Abree was very excited to open gifts. After dinner, it was FINALLY time. She wondered why this gift was so heavy...it was her own set of scriptures! An 8-year-old gift tradition.

Funny story: Taylee and I were recently talking about buying scriptures. When she found out how much they cost, she was shocked. She said, "You mean to tell me that you trust 8-year-olds to not loose them or ruin them, when they cost that much?! Wow!" Then I reminded her that's why I was so upset when Treyson lost his promptly after receiving them. Thankfully they turned up later..whew. :)

Abree was spoiled with gifts.

She received; scriptures with a purse-type holder, a journal, pink sheets, a dress, socks and DS game (from Jason and I), pens, stickers, journal and crafty masks (from Grandma McKinley), Sunday shoes (from Rylee), a picture of Jesus (from Treyson), a homemade CUTE doll bed for Piper (from Taylee), a kite, a potholder craft set, a ball, beads and much, much more (from Grandpa Waite).

Happy Birthday sweet Abree!

Can't believe you're so grown up... my baby is 8!!!

Primary Appreciation Dinner

Our Primary presidency wanted to thank our Primary staff for a job well done. We wanted them to know how much they are appreciated, so we decided to put on a Primary Appreciation Dinner.

On first count, because we invited spouses and anyone who was associated with Primary (scouts, activity days, etc.), we could have had 80+ people come!

Whoa.

But as we received RSVP's our total only came to 20. We planned for 30, just to be safe.

Our menu for the evening was shredded ham sandwiches and a craisin/walnut/feta cheese salad. We asked our guests to bring either a side or dessert to share too. The table looked slim at first, but filled up nicely as guests arrived at "Mormon standard time"...lots of variety, lots of yummy.

We filled the 30 places we had set, plus one. More had shown up, than RSVP-ed, which turned out great.

We visited, talked, laughed and ate until we were full. Good company and a nice evening.

It's always nice when people come to an event you've planned. I seem to almost always have a little fear that no one will show up. :)

Two small regrets:

1. Should have done some name introductions.

2. Should have taken some pictures during the dinner.  

Oh well...everything else was great.

Thank you Primary staff, we literally couldn't do it without you.

Jonathan Grant Waite

Meet our newest baby cousin...

Jonathan Grant Waite

October 3, 2012

10lbs 8oz -- 22 inches

Hope I got that right.

Isn't he sooo cute?!

Congratulations Dean, Candice & family!!!

Game Day

Each season, Dan (a carwash chemical vendor friend) treats Jason to a BSU game of his choice.

Dad (Jesse)-Jason-J.C.-Jared

Jeff

When Jeff expressed interest in coming from Texas to Boise, to see BSU play, Jason chose the BSU vs. BYU game. Dan generously paid for 4 tickets (allowing Jason to invite Jeff and J.C.).

Another generous carwash customer, Ron Leise, provided 2 more tickets. Then Jason was able to invite Dad and Jared to come too. Along with the extra tickets, Ron invited them to tailgate at the game...stuffing them full of bounteous Mexican food. :)

Normally when BSU plays, Dad and Jared are interested and will root for them. BUT when BSU is playing against BYU..that's another story. Dad and Jared wore BYU t-shirts under their BSU sweatshirts, interchanging as the situation suited them. Like when BSU tailgating (eating BSU fan food) they wore BSU, but in the stands they peeled off their sweatshirts and rooted for BYU.

Dan ended up not being able to come, so Jason had another ticket. When my Dad didn't answer his phone, Dean became the lucky recipient of the ticket...as long as Candice wasn't having a baby that day.

Short story, long... BSU was victorious. Not a pretty game I am told, but still a WIN.

Mom, Teresa and Lynley tagged along for the weekend too. It was fun to hang out with them and go shopping.

Everyone left Saturday morning, to start heading back to Utah, but not without detouring at Dietrich to visit J.C. and Julia's newest arrival, Savannah Nicole (sp?).

Jeff came back Sunday evening to spend one more night, before flying back to Texas.

Fun week end!

Non-Prom..or Homecoming rather

If you ask Rylee how old she is, she'll probably say, "almost 16!"

She's getting excited for dating.... and honestly I am too.

Because Rylee, and most of her girlfriends aren't 16 yet, they made a plan for a girl's-night-out on the evening of their highschool Homecoming dance. They decided to dress up, go to Olive Garden for dinner and then meet back at a friend's house to watch a "chick flick".

Rylee went "retro" by wearing my mom's old highschool choir dress. After minor adjustments, it fit her well and she looked cute in it. She added her own touches with the belt, beads and other accessories.

Riley Mortensen, Paige Simpson, Jane Stepherson, Rylee, Sarah Bruneel, Eliza Bradford & Melissa Brown.

As Sarah's parents and I were taking these pictures, we commented on how next time the picture would most likely have guys included! That's crazy to think about. :)

Instead of a parent driving/chaperoning, they had Sarah's 21-year-old sister Audrey (3rd from the left) take them. Much more COOL and FUN than a parent I suppose.

(I wanna go.)

What a fun way to spend Homecoming night.

Girl Power! :)