Summer, whats left of it.

Well summer came and went, it seemed so short. There were a lot of changes going on. made quite a few trips to Utah. We are now officially empty nesters. Or as Janelle Dorsing put it. DEAD ENDERS. We are excited to have two new members of our family Katie, and Devin. Holly and Devin are in St. Louis going to medical school. Alan and Katie are still in Utah going to school. I got to go and spend a few days with Holly before she left to be with Devin. We had a good time, shopping, watching movies and painting shirts with Aubri. We also went to the Monty L Bean museum at BYU. It was amazing. If you have never been you have to go. They have every animal and insect, imaginable.

We managed to fit a camping trip in this last week. of course it was only in our back yard. but we pitched the tents, had tinfoil dinners and started a fire in the fire pit. Got the pool put up for the kids and went to Calalhans water slide. All in all we had lots of fun. Good food and great company:o)

Sam got to dance at the grant county fair. And it's time for school to start so i guess that means summer is officially over. oh well! onto the next thing, CANNING.

Weddings

Well the long awaited occasions have arrived. We pulled it off two weddings in 30 days. We all survived and we still love each other. AMAZING!!! It first started with Holly recieving her endowments on the 27th of May. What a special time with all the family there in the Draper Utah Temple. We afterwards went and ate at the Texas roadhouse. Way yummy food. put a star by that one, we will definately go back again.especially since we got there about 15 minutes before they closed and they were just as nice as can be about serving our group. The next dayMay 28th was the big day, Alan and Katie's wedding. it started at 6:00 pm in the Bountiful Utah Temple. What a georgous Temple. The weather was a bit windy and it couldn't decide if it was going to rain or just sprinkle a little. But all in all it was a beautiful day. The bride was lovely and the groom was happy to finally have it happen. They make a cute couple and I know there will be lots of love there. We went to the church afterwards and had a wonderful meal prepared by Katies family. It was a darling reception with lots of favorite things there. The Bride and Groom headed off to Hawaii for their honeymoon. The next weekend we had a reception for the newlyweds at our home in Royal. The weather had been pretty nasty a few days before, but the day of the reception (which was held outside in our yard) it was as beautiful as can be. sunny and calm, It couldn't have been more picture perfect. Thanks to lots of family and friends, it was a smashing success. Katie and Alan are now settled into a cute little studio apartment in Orem. While Alan finishes his degree. Katie is working at a credit union and Alan is working part time for a nuts and bolts company called fastenal.


Now jump ahead 29 days. June 25th The kids (Holly and Devin) decided to have their reception the day before the wedding. So that the day of the wedding it could be a calm and non rushed day. What a great idea!!! The weather again cooperated for the reception. it got a little breezy closer to the end of the day but all in all it was beautiful almost as beautiful as the bride and groom, if you can call a groom beautiful (OK, Handsome). Again wonderful friends and family to make it run smoothly. The next day we headed to portland early. The wedding was scheduled for 1:00 pm in the Portland Temple. Now Portland is known for it's rainy weather and it had had a few days of rain, but not on this day. you couldn't have asked for more picture perfect weather. And man did we take pictures. Rosalie Black, the photographer took some amazing pictures, both at the temple and the day before at the reception. She was an all around awesome help that weekend. She did family pictures two hours before the reception. did Holly's hair, did bridal shots and reception shots and then traveled to Portland the next day for the wedding. As I write this Holly and Devin are also honeymooning in Hawaii. Thanks again to Yasmine's (Jason's wife's) parents Firoz and Diane Husein who own some condo's on Maui and was gracious enough to let our children use them for their honeymoons.
















So things have calmed down a little, except that i'm getting ready for girls camp. (I'm the stake camp director). We have one more reception for Holly and Devin in Alpine Utah. I will miss the first couple of days of camp but will be there to finish out the week. Thanks to some very competent assistant camp directors. I'm pretty sure every thing will go smoothly without me.

My next big adventure will be this week. I am taking Josh's place on a sturgeon fishing trip that was planned for the guys only...but Josh got called to colorado on the catastrophy team (for his job as an insurance claims adjuster) and I am going to catch a huge fish, if not it will be the biggest fish story ever. See ya all later :o)

Sping is here!!!

Spring is here and love is in the air. I love spring, just about as much as i love Fall. The trees and flowers are waking up. Everything is starting to turn green. There is a new clean feeling. i wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that my windows are clean and i can actually see out of them? I have lots of pictures that i was going to get put on the blog but i just never did. We have had a couple of exciting things happen in our family recently. Heather had a new little baby boy, named Brycen Larell Fitzhugh. he was 7 lbs and 15.8 oz. He is a cutie and a very good baby. He looks alot like Caden. We just had his baby blessing this week and we were so glad that Alan & Katie and Holly & Devin got to come for the blessing. It was a short visit but fun.














Alan actually proposed while he was here and she said YES!!! Her name is Katie Warner from Bountiful Utah, and she is a keeper. We are all excited for them. They will be married in May in the Bountiful Temple. As you can see by the pictures. We disked in the field. "Will U Marry me Katie" and then flew her over it. It was a great idea, but didn't anticipate her being sick that day and she almost missed the excitement. But she was a trooper and we are glad that she is going to be a part of our family. We can see why Alan feel in love with her.

Jack had his 2nd birthday, and we went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate.

It's a New Year!!!

We finally got enough snow to play in. It was our off year for Christmas. So we didn't all get together until the 30th. Which means the Tree was pretty much dead by the time the kids opened their presents. It was pretty quiet on Christmas, but after the 30th it felt more like Christmas is suppose to be.

Jack looks like he's not so sure he likes sledding. It took a long time to get McKay outside, and i don't think he is very happy about the whole sledding thing.

Jacks rocking horse seem to be the big hit of the night. It makes horsey sounds and moves it's head and tail.The kids had a good time sledding. even if it was only on the pile of grass from this summer. David did get the 4 wheeler and pulled them behind it. They got a bit creative and hooked the 4 wheeler to my alligator teeter totter. Hopefully it still works after the grown ups got finished riding it.

Holly re-did her bedroom. It is more mature now. I kinda like the old bright colors myself. David was a little shocked when he opened his range finder. It was a total surprise , which is hard to do. Holly Jean just loves her road kill hat that Josh gave her. He's spent alot of time and miles trying to find just the right animal. What is that Josh? Rabbit or Squirrell?

The Holidays are here

Thanksgiving was so much fun. We are glad Jerry and Julie's family came and spent a couple of days with us. The little ones were so cute. The food was great and as usual I ate way to much. But then what is Thanksgiving for.

Alan and Holly were good about helping get the Christmas lights started, BUT they weren't able to finish. They left on Sunday and the lights haven't been touched since. I think i'm going to have to call on the other sons that live close by to finish it up or they may not get turned on until Christmas. HELP!!! CRAIG & JASON.

I'm having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit.

I even had David put on a Santas hat to help get things going. I've been listening to Christmas music, but i think i just need a little snow to get the Christmas juices flowing. There is just something about that quietness of snow falling.