Keenan's SLC Christmas

We missed Keenan at Christmas this year, but he had a nice time in Salt Lake City. Here's some photos he shared with us:

Christmas 2011

We had such a wonderful Christmas here in NC! Kyle was home for Christmas this year and we had a fantastic conversation with Keenan who is in Salt Lake City on his mission. Brandee and Scott enjoyed their first Christmas in their own home (and I hope she posts some photos on her blog soon!! *hint*)












Handmade mittens from mom-mom:


Handmade American Girl Doll Dresses from Grandma:


Kyle's gift to Tim and me (SO COOL!!):

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, we wish you the Merriest Christmas and the Happiest New Year!

Kirsten says...

The other day, Kirsten told Tim a story of something that happened about 2 months ago. Tim changed my cell phone ring for his calls to Sugarland's Stuck Like Glue. Here's Kirsten's story:
Daddy, I have something funny to tell you. One time we were in the van and the cell phone rang and mommy started singing with it and then she said "oh my goodness. that's a phone call and you were calling her and she thought it was the song on the radio."
Kirsten started laughing her head off and then said "Ooooh man...that's a whole lot of funny!"

she cracks me up!

Christmas Parade

Hayleigh, Kirsten and I went to the Harmony Christmas Parade. We usually go every year, but this is the first year we went just because we wanted to go and not because one (or more!) of the kids is in the marching band!





The weather was perfect and the parade was very nice. Hayleigh, Kirsten and I were in the paper! Here's the article:

Harmony residents broke from their normal routines Sunday to line the streets and cheer on slow-moving floats, antique cars and Santa Claus during the town’s annual Christmas parade.

From beauty queens to football teams, the pride of the town and surrounding communities was on display. Firemen and emergency responders brought the sights and sounds of fire trucks and ambulances to the celebration and the children lining the route.

“It kind of starts the Christmas season,” Candice Watson said. “We come every year.”

Watson brought her two young daughters, Hayleigh and Kirsten, to the parade. The pair gathered candy tossed from float-riders and watched rather calmly while Santa rode past atop a fire truck, but stood transfixed by what came next.

“Is that the horses?” Kirsten asked her mother. “I want to ride Secretariat.”

While Santa may traditionally represent the highlight of most Christmas parades, there was no beating the dozens of horses decorated with bells and wreaths that closed the parade for Hayleigh and Kirsten.

“I don’t know,” Hayleigh said of what fascinated her about the horses. “I just like animals.”

The parade was a spirited affair. Shouts of “Merry Christmas” echoed back-and-forth between cars and spectators all afternoon. Floats serenaded the crowd with carols and candy was tossed freely. One crowd favorite was a man on an old, wooden flatbed truck pretending to enjoy the parade with a bottle of moonshine.

Harmony resident Jody Turner said he thought it was important for the town to continue the tradition of the parade. He had heard about it in years past, but made his first trip this year and said it was well worth it.

“It was bigger than I thought it would be,” Turner said, adding that the parade was a great family event. “I brought my family, my kids, my wife. I’ve got more family back up behind me.”

There were floats from the Boy Scouts, cheer teams, football teams, soccer teams, bands and multiple organizations from the community. Dozens of decades-old cars took up much of the parade’s line-up. A large group of motorcycles was nestled in the middle of the procession.

The Inevitable Self-haircut

We thought maybe Kirsten was too old to have the desire to be sneaky and cut her own hair. She loves to go to Beth & Company for haircuts...so we thought just maybe she would be the only one of our kids NOT to cut her own hair....WE THOUGHT WRONG! Yikes!

Where in the World is Tim??

Ethan had his first soccer tournament with his new TCYSA team. It was a beautiful day weather-wise and Ethan played FANTASTIC! Until he got knocked into his goalie and knocked out and injured a tooth....then we got to spend 6 hours in a local ER waiting for the CT Scan results since he was unconscious for a minute.




Instead of bothering Tim at work and trying to find out where he is so I can start dinner, I've been using the Latitude app on my phone. Tim is in some really strange places sometimes!! One time when he was in Charlotte, the phone 'located' him in New York. When I refresh it, it usually puts him in the right place....But this time, I had to get a photo of where it located him! I know Tim drives fast, but not this fast! - he was working in Hickory this particular day, and this is where my phone showed him:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family! We have so much to be thankful for this year. Kyle is home after serving 2 years in the Idaho Boise Mission!

We had it all planned out to be at the airport and be standing there waiting for him....and we almost didn't make it! We had some delays at home and then there was an issue with the airplane. Apparently it flew faster than what was expected so Kyle landed 25 minutes EARLY!! We drove speedy quick to the airport and tried to park in the 'hourly parking' garage - which turned out to be too short for the big van. Oh my goodness what a mess! I had to wait for a car to come in and activate the automatic arm that lets cars through and then HOLD IT UP while Tim backed out. Yeah, that was fun. We went out to the parking lot and Tim dropped us off close to the front of the airport and then went to find a space to park. He got very lucky and was able to park right really close and caught up with us. We were breathless and stressed when we finally got 'into place' at the bottom of the escalator! But...we made it in time and didn't have to wait very long for Kyle to arrive!


KYLE'S HOME!!


Kyle and Tim


Kyle and all of us talking....waiting for his luggage.


Kirsten holding Kyle's hand walking back to the van

A Race and 2 Years Ago

Thanks to some friends at the high school, we were all able to go to the NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway! It was a great night - the weather was awesome! The seats were awesome and the noise was awesome! We really enjoyed going!








2 years ago today, Kyle started his mission. In less than a week, he'll be home!We are so EXCITED that he'll be here! We're all going to pick him up at the airport and then head to the stake president's home to have him released. Then we'll be getting some Tony's pizza - Kyle has mentioned Tony's MANY times in emails during the past 2 years.

November 17th

Kyle will be home on November 17th!!!

Counting Down!

I can't believe it, but Kyle will be home in a month! We don't know the exact date yet, but it'll be in November! It's been 2 years already!

The kids here at home constantly have conversations about what they want to 'show' Kyle when he gets here. He is going to be one busy guy if he has to see everything they want him to! Movies, video games, farm stuff, people, toys, DVRd shows and games.....the list grows and grows.

Thinking about though, things have changed a little around here since he left. Tim and I are in our bedroom (after spending who knows how long sleeping in different parts of the house while things were being worked on), we have a lot more cattle, we have 3 new ducks, a new cat, new projects to finish.....






Some things are the same --- fence work, soccer, house work....there's lots of things Kyle will be able to help with - stucco and gutters, fencing, cleaning, work.

We're all SO excited he'll be home soon!!

Letters from Keenan

July 25th, 2011 -
I am doing good. I make investigators feel comfortable cause i just sit and don't say anything and just listen to them. (sorry having a hard time typing i broke all four knuckles in my right hand playing basketball. it hurts so badly. its so swollen). I love working with little kids.

My most favorite thing to do is go to the temple. I feel the spirit so much now; I can't get enough.

And I wear 32x32. Not that apt9; they're a little tight. I bought one pair from walmart 32x32 - perfect. But i have enough black. Yes, I need more socks. Everytime I do laundry I lose a pair. Jeez

And I can't wait to come home and play soccer. Can you find me a good team??

And that's a bummer with Ethan and surgery. The only thing I like at the hospital is the warm blankets. hahahaha

Pioneer day was bigger than fourth of July. Utah is dumb. It was a huge parade and President Monson was in it. pretty kool. they took away our p-day so we could street contact all during the parade.

Blowing Bubbles!

Do you remember the first time you blew a bubble with your gum? I do! Kirsten was SO excited to have finally figured it out - she held her bubble there and waited while I grabbed my camera to take a pic! And yes, Brandee, those freckles are really there!

My 'Buddy'

A couple of months ago when we were sorting cattle for market, we 'found' a steer that was bigger than all of the others, so we decided to keep him in the corral and start fattening him up for the freezer. (yes, I know it sounds awful, but where do you think beef comes from??) Anyway, I kept looking at him and thinking that I had seen one that was WAY bigger than him. Tim and I were walking around the pastures one evening and I told him that I had seen a steer that was HUGE and he had the wrong one in the corral. I started looking around and saw this cow with BIG thighs - and said 'he's about as big as that one.' Well, it WAS him! Tim and I opened the corral panel and let the other steer out (much to his relief I imagine!) and put the BIG guy in. Have you ever seen the movie Babe? You know the duck with the eating disorder (Christmas means carnage!)? I think this guy has been 'hiding' for a while and avoiding us. But, we are smarter than the average steer and managed to be the boss of him! ha!

We had a pretty bad drought here in August and didn't mow our yard at all. Then we got some rain, and some more rain, and some more rain and couldn't mow! It was too wet! So, we got the idea that we would block the driveway and let the steer out of the corral so he could eat the thick grass that's in the yard. We (and when I say we, I mean Tyler) ran a strand of electric fence across the opening to the driveway and we let the steer out. During the night, the steer stepped over the strand of fence and walked out to the road - because the grass is so much better along the road of course! In an effort to prove that I really am smarter than a steer, I blocked the driveway with the dump truck. It was getting to be a pain in the neck to drive up there, get out of the van, get in the truck, back it up, drive the van through, get back in the truck and put it across the driveway and then get back in the van! We parked the truck in the barn and Tyler put 2 more strands with clips across the driveway opening and now we just have to move them. Much easier. (unless it is dark and they get tangled and you are afraid of getting shocked...but that's another story!) The UPS guy however, won't move the strands so he just puts our boxes by the fence.

The steer - my 'buddy'- is wandering around the house eating and eating. The kids have knighted him Sir Loin and they mostly remember to watch out for cow poop when they walk to and from the bus.

In the mornings, I go get the dog, open the chicken door, give them some scratch and yell "Hey buddy, want some grain?" Sir Loin actually seems to know what I'm saying and will come over to the barn and quietly wait for his scoop of sweet feed. I'm glad he's a relatively calm steer because my heart beats wildly when I hear his foot steps behind me following me to the feed stall. Some days I can even feel his breath on my neck! He'll head to the butcher when Kyle comes home - about 6 weeks. We figure the grass will be pretty much eaten up by then and the big bag of sweet feed will be gone.

I NEED MOTIVATION!

Do you see this stack of photos? These are the ones that have been sorted through and put in chronological order to scrapbook. And I don't feel like doing it. I needed some motivation! So, I started a Pinterest. And guess what? Now I spend all of my time pinning things! Lovely things...things I would like to have in my life...and here I sit...pinning and wishing...instead of doing! AARRGGHH!

Soccer so far...

As I mentioned before, Ethan isn't playing school soccer this fall because of his shoulder surgery (bankhart procedure). Dallin is on the JV team and is having an AMAZING season! In the 6 games the JV has played, Dallin has scored at least 1 goal in 5 of them! He got 2 goals (and a yellow card - but that's another story!) in the 2-1 win over South!

10th Anniversary..still remembering

NIHS Alumni Game

Yesterday's photo of Tyler is from the annual NIHS Alumni Soccer Game. It's such a fun game! This year it was Tyler VS Dallin (Ethan can't play because of his shoulder).









And just because I find it interesting that people see such a resemblance between these two kids of mine. I don't know....I'm not seeing it ;)