Life in a "Large" Family...

So Far Behind...

2009-09-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

Wow, so much has happened since our last post! Let's see if we can catch up...

The week after we took Brandon to Illinois, we took Tiffany's boyfriend, Tommy to Colorado where he is attending Adams State College on a football scholarship as well. GO GRIZZLIES!!! Derek, Tiffany and Tommy's dad (Ted) went on this trip. As they were heading up toward Heber, the fuel pump went out in the Suburban at about 3:00am. They ended up turning around to head back home and when it finally totally quit, they had to push the car until they reached a hill where they could coast down, then coast until it wouldn't coast anymore and push again. Fortunately, there are several pretty big hills to help them. They made it almost to Payson and Tyler had to drive up to tow them the rest of the way home to get the car fixed. The next day they were on their way and made it to Alamosa, Colorado in about 10 hours.

Before Tommy left for college, he got Tiffany a kitty (she named 'Kitty') She was so excited and absolutely adores her new kitty!

Dean finally received his Bobcat, which he earned quite a while ago and also his Wolf in Cub Scouts.

The kids have been enjoying school so far. Dean is in 4th grade and started playing the viola in the school orchestra this year. He really enjoys that, even though they haven't really been playing too much yet...still just learning the basics.

Heather started her first year in actual high school this year as a sophomore. She was a little nervous but has been enjoying it. Unfortunately, they dropped orchestra from her schedule because none of her classes were offered A hour. She has been practicing all summer with both the basketball and softball teams and is very anxious for basketball season to start.

Heather has also been playing the piano a lot. She practices every day and is definitely improving. There are a few songs that she can play with both hands pretty well. She's pretty much teaching herself and is doing awesome. So, no grandma, you can't have the piano back...sorry!

Kimberly started this year at EVA and EVIT in their Health Sciences program to begin working towards her goal to become an OB/GYN.

Tiffany started her Junior year this year and is on the Varsity Cheer Squad. She misses Tommy but is doing great. She's also driving...not sure if we mentioned that in a previous post or not. She started teaching dance classes at the house over the summer and has also started dancing at the dance studio again 3 days a week.

Cathy has finally received (although earned a while ago) her AA Degree! It only took 20 years :( Now, only 8 more classes to finish up for her Bachelor's in Business Administration, hopefully by next summer!

Over Labor Day weekend, we took another trip to Colorado to visit Tommy, watch his game and help him celebrate his birthday. Derek, Cathy and Tiffany went, along with Tommy's mom, Diane and his sister, Jackie and her friend Zoe. It was a lot of fun. We were hoping for some nice cool weather and while it was in the 70s it seemed really hot and we all got very sunburned while watching the game on Saturday. For his birthday, he wanted to go to the alligator farm so we went to see the Colorado Gators and then went bowling. Here are some fun pictures from our time there...

Happy Birthday Tommy! We love you!

Good Luck Brandon!!!! We Love You!

2009-07-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we (Derek, Cathy, and Heather) just returned from the nice long drive back to Illinois to drop Brandon off at college. We took lots of random pictures along the way (in the car, at the rest areas, in the restaurants, etc.) We drove straight through to Charleston (that's where EIU is) and it took us about 24 hours to drive straight through.

We did make a couple of stops along the way at the Precious Moments Chapel/Museum and Bass Pro Shop in Missouri.
Heather posing in front of a life-size piece of her birthday train that Grannie started for her.
OK, so the picture doesn't do the story justice, but as we were leaving Brandon decides to play around near the fountain...he starts jumping up the stairs (only 2) and as he hits the 2nd step, he slips and falls, drops to the ground and almost rolls IN to the fountain. He had to stick his arm in to catch himself. If only we could have had it on video...it was the funniest thing (especially to see the look on his face as it was happening). So, the best picture we could get was one of his wet arm afterwards (lame I know). Most likely, even if we had the camera or video camera ready we probably wouldn't have been able to catch it because we were all laughing so hard.

Bass Pro Shop...

We spent the night in a hotel there and looked around a little bit then headed up to Indiana to visit Cathy's brother and his family. It was nice to see all of them and get to spend some time there. Heather got to eat at her favorite restaurant (with Uncle Joe and Aunt Becky)...

Brandon wanted a haircut so Uncle Joe helped him out. He wanted a cape but they didn't have one so he made one out of a garbage bag.

Heather had fun catching lightning bugs. Those pictures didn't turn out so well and she didn't have a glass jar so they were collecting them in a Cool Whip container with holes poked all over it.
We also got to visit Cathy's Aunt Elsie and went by the cemetary where her dad and grandparents are buried.
The College Football Hall of Fame is also located in South Bend so we got to visit there. As Brandon says...he was picking out his spot!

We stayed there a few days then headed back to Charleston to get Brandon settled in. We were able to spend a few days there as well and were able to attend church with him on Sunday. It's great to know that there is a 'built-in' family wherever you go! The people there were great and very welcoming! There's definitely not a shortage of corn fields in Illinois (they are everywhere), as you can see from this picture of Brandon in the front of the cornfields across the street from the church.

We got him all set up with all the supplies he needs (and wanted) except for a car. Still working on that one. In the meantime, we bought him a nice beach cruiser so he can get back and forth to the school and wherever else he chooses to ride.

His house...
A couple more pictures from the school... Love the big helmet up on the wall and the picture turned out great too...
...and here he is in front of the Tony Romo wall (Dallas Cowboys QB who played for EIU)

We had a great trip, the weather was wonderful (some rain here and there, not too much humidity, temperatures in the 70s and low 80s). It was great to be able to see the school, meet the coach, his roommates, his Bishop and other church members, see the town, his house, etc. It was hard to leave him but this is an awesome opportunity for him. This is a great place for him to be and he is living his dream. He is an awesome young man and we know he will do well and accomplish great things. He has some missionary work to do while he's there as well. Check back for updates on how he is doing as the year/season progresses...
**********GO PANTHERS!!!***********

Now, to get the other kids ready for school...

All the happenings...

2009-06-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

Derek is back to racing again...He and Tyler have been going out to the new sand drag track, which is about 10 minutes from our house (beats the heck out of driving to Yuma, Blythe, Laughlin, or Mexico) and playing in the mud and sand. Tyler has been driving the old 'Wild Willyz' Jeep that Derek use to race.

Derek recently traded his Mustang for a Corvette Funny Car, blown big block Chevy that runs on alcohol. Thanks to everyone who helped him get the car ready to race, especially Lamar, Arnold, Wayne and Mykel. It looks and runs great and he had a blast. His best time was 3.36 seconds on a 100 yard track at 96 mph. He's only had it out one night but is hoping to take it out again on July 3rd & 4th. They also both have a great 'pit crew' (too many names to list here but most of them are family members).

He also took out his little 4 cylinder, Toyota 4x4, which was the first to make it through the mud. Heather and Dean both had fun riding along.

Heather has been playing basketball 3-4 days a week with tournaments on most weekends.
Tiffany has started teaching dance classes at the house. She had a great turnout the first week and is expecting more to come on a regular basis.
Kim has spent the majority of the summer with her aunt and cousin, and doing some babysitting. She also had her first date!
Dean just finished up summer school and is bored out of his mind every day; asking each day if he can go to Chris' or Tyler's house. Not sure what he will do for the next month and a half.
Brandon is finishing up everything to get ready to head off to college. He just got registered for his classes, has made his living arrangements, and is having a good time here with his friends before he goes. He hasn't even made it there yet and has already made his first appearance in the local newspaper. You can read the article here: http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2009/06/25/sports/doc4a4440de5fd2b156255742.txt
Cathy just finished up her last class to earn her Associates Degree. 10 more classes to complete her Bachelor's in Business, hopefully finishing up by next summer!!!

HAPPY SWEET 16 TIFFANY!!!

2009-06-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Tiffany is 16 and is so excited to have her license! Mom & Dad are equally excited because she can now drive herself to dance, cheer, etc. and also help drive the other kids around as well.

Tiffany with her boyfriend Tommy. Tommy graduated from Skyline in May and will be leaving in a few weeks to go to Adams State College in Colorado on a football scholarship, playing inside linebacker. Tommy is a great kid and we will all miss him but wish him the best of luck there.

Go Panthers!

2009-06-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like it's official...Brandon has chosen to attend Eastern Illinois University (EIU), home of the Panthers. He will be leaving at the end of July. His plans are to 'red shirt' the first year (they have a senior quarterback) and start next season. EIU is in Charleston, about 1 1/2 hours from Indianapolis, IN. He and Derek just returned from a 4-day trip to visit the school. They had a tour of the campus and Brandon met 3 of the 4 days with the coaches, admissions staff, etc. They looked at the dorms and also checked out apartments to rent, found local restaurants, the mall, etc. (all the important stuff). They also talked to the local Bishop, who is a teacher at the university and lives close by as well. Brandon really liked the town, the school, the coaches, the Bishop and everything. He's very excited about it! He will be heading off to Illinois at the end of July.

That's Brandon standing at the tip of the Panther's nose. Hopefully we will get better seats than that when we go to watch him play!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER!!!

2009-05-09T18:09:00.001-07:00

Heather celebrated her 14th Birthday last week! It's hard to believe, isn't it? Her party started out at Teaka's Playhouse with her friends: Marlee, Heather, Jaron, Denise, Austin, Cody, and Tanner. They played there for a little while until the owner had to come and ruin their fun by telling them they couldn't all be on the bouncy slide at the same time. Then they walked around the mall a little bit and went to the park to play some football and ended with a stop by Dairy Queen!

She had her Sunday dinner...her favorite (spaghetti, lasagna, ghoulash w/corn, chicken parmigiana, and yummy mint ice cream cake). Thanks to the Christensens, Leavitts, Whitfields, Beaudoins, Hockenjos, and Roberts! Then, to top it all off...on Wednesday (her actual birthday), mom and dad picked up Heather, Heather and Jaron from school and took them to Olive Garden and then to see 'Wolverine'!

These 'cell phone' pictures didn't turn out very good but mom forgot the camera so it's the best we got...

Spring Break

2009-03-21T16:24:00.001-07:00

Well, spring is definitely here and the weather is heating up. It reached 90 today...a little too warm for March and that means we'll have to hit the A/C sooner than we'd like. Anyway, besides Kimberly's birthday party, during Spring Break, we also had a couple of house upgrades done. We finally got the entryway, hallways and stairway painted. We really love how it turned out and are picking carpet and paint for the living room upstairs and hope to have it done soon as well. We also had the carpet ripped out of the food storage/sump pump closet downstairs and had tile put in. It turned out great as well. A special thanks to the Whitfields and their crew from their business: Floors, Baths, Kitchens & More. They did an awesome job!

We also did some 'spring cleaning' while the kids were home: cleaning out closets, moving furniture and sweeping, mopping underneath, cleaning ceiling fans, etc. Of course, they had lots of fun time as well...Kim got to spend some time with her favorite cousins, Tiffany went to Payson and the rim, Heather spent some time with her friends and did a little shopping and had softball practice, Dean spent some time with his brothers and friends and had baseball practice, and Brandon spent a day at Disneyland with his girlfriend. All-in-all, it's been a great week and we're sad to say it's almost over!

HAPPY SWEET "16" KIMBERLY!!!

2009-03-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Kim wanted to celebrate her 16th Birthday at Castles & Coasters. The girls had a GREAT time!!! 16 fun things Kim did for her birthday...

1. Had big spaghetti/lasagna dinner w/cake & ice cream
2. Received a cool foot soaker/pedicure set (Thanks Aunt Linda)
3. Tiffany fixed her hair for her big day
4. Gathered up the 'gang' for the day...Kim, Tiffany, Heather, Mom, Marlee, Morgan, Dana, Brittney, and Andreana

5. Ate pizza and ice cream
6. Drove the bumper cars

7. Rode the 'magic carpet'

8. Rode roller coasters...went upside down!

9. Drove Indy cars

10. Rode the Dragon Boat...Kim's favorite as you can tell from the pictures!

11. Rode the Sky Diver

12. Got wet on the log ride

13. Got face and arm painted with friends

14. Received bath set (Thanks Marlee & Morgan)
15. Stopped on the way home to eat at Taco Bell
16. Relaxed, watching a movie while soaking feet

Where has the year gone...already!

2009-03-06T18:03:00.000-08:00

OK, I knew it had been a while since my last post but when I went to see where I left off I had no idea it had been THREE MONTHS!!!!! If any of you out there have been watching our blog and waiting for an update, please let us know you are interested so we can do a better job of keeping you up to date! For now, let's see if we can get caught up. Hopefully you won't fall asleep while reading this LONG post.

Heather finished up the basketball season and was very sad to see it end. She had a great time and really enjoyed getting to know all of the girls on the team. She had her high-scoring game toward the end of the season with three 3 point shots and a total of 10 points against Shepherd. They didn't end with a great record but she learned a lot and had a lot of fun. She's looking forward to playing again next year. She received the Coach's Award at the end of season awards night as well.

Heather is now playing on the school softball team (more on that in the next post).

Tiffany is still cheering. Toward the end of the basketball season, she was asked to move up to Varsity and compete with them. She had a couple of games at the end of the season in which she cheered for both JV and Varsity. Their first cheer competition is coming up this weekend (more on that in the next post).

Brandon has been playing church basketball and loving every minute of it. He plays with a great group of men and is really enjoying having the time off from football to play some fun basketball. He's got a full schedule this semester and has been working out and throwing quite a bit in preparation for the next football season. He was excited to receive a hand-written letter from the coaches at UCLA this week. Hopefully he'll be getting some good Division 1 offers throughout this next season.

Cathy had a great time last weekend at her semi-annual scrapbooking retreat, joined by 5 friends. She missed plenty of sleep but was able to complete 40 pages, what a shock!

Kim has joined drama and is back in chorus this semester. She is turning 16 in a couple weeks. Hard to believe, isn't it!...more to come in the next post.

Chris has been busy with school, work, and bowling with the MCC bowling team. As of the time of this post he is bowling in Buffalo, NY. He was able to visit Niagara Falls and Canada (maybe we can get some pictures for the next post and have more info on how he did in the tournament).

Our little Dean turned 9!!! For his birthday party he had some friends over and they played some fun games, had a scavenger hunt, ate cupcakes and played at the park. He had a fun time and enjoyed seeing some friends he hasn't seen for a while. He now also gets to advance to the Bears in Cub Scoutswhich he is very excited about.

Dean just finished up his first season, ever, of soccer. He was able to be on a team with a friend from church who lives across the street and whose dad was a coach. He did really well for his first time playing and really enjoyed it. We may have found 'his sport'! He scored a total of about 10 goals during the season, 4 of which were in 1 game. He had a great time and is looking forward to playing more soccer in the near future.

He also was able to attend SRP's Take Your Kid to Work Day with mom this year. He had a great time checking out all of the tools, equipment and other displays they had.

Player of the Game, Happy Birthday, & Merry Christmas!

2008-12-31T12:23:00.000-08:00

We've been super busy with school and basketball finishing up before Christmas break; getting ready for Christmas...decorating, cards, letters, baking, shopping, etc. Haven't had much time to update the blog and unfortunately, pictures are on the camera card that is currently with some friends, but here goes...

Heather earned 'Player of the Game' in their game against Stapley for shooting 2 three-point shots (in a row)! She did awesome! Unfortunately, they still lost the game but she had fun. Mom gave Brandon a hard time because, although he was at the game to support here, he was very 'involved' with a brickbreaker game on his phone during both of her three-pointers.

Brandon celebrated his 19th birthday the week before Christmas. He got (an early present) a ticket (and cash) to go the ASU vs UofA football game in Tucson and then we took him and his friends Dan & Jessica out to dinner at Olive Garden.

We had a great Christmas (aside from a slight plumbing problem that started the day before Christmas Eve and therefore wasn't able to be fixed for about a week). The kids got everything they wanted and more (well, maybe not everything but they faired well). They got mom & dad out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to open presents. The popular items this year were clothes, shoes, jackets and gift cards for the older kids and of course, toys for Dean...Bakugan, chapter books, Ben 10, etc. Derek's family (well, part of them)and some friends came over Christmas morning for breakfast (biscuits & gravy, sausage, bacon, hashbrowns, and Grandpa Tommy's 'concoction' (egg, potato, ham & cheese casserole). It was a nice day!

Chris & Tyler playing with Dean's toys

Kim excited about one of her new DVDs

Tiffany sporting some of her new clothes

Dean showing off his new Pumas! He's been wanting these shoes for months but mom could never find them.

Heather is, for some reason, obsessed with office supplies...she got an OfficeMax gift card!

Happy Belated Birthday, Tyler!

2008-11-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

OK, so it's been way too long since my last post and I just realized that I still had my Halloween background up and it is now November 9th. I also missed posting a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to Tyler (sorry T)...Tyler turned 20 on November 1st. It's hard to believe! Also, a belated Happy Birthday to Sharon!!! We took Tyler & Sharon out to Red Lobster for their birthdays and then had them over for dinner on Sunday for tacos and taco soup (their favorites). Here's the new blazer he bought for his birthday...

Here's a few pictures from Halloween. Unfortunately, I missed Kim in her costume. She left early and went trick-or-treating with the neighbors.
Here's Dean (Batman) and his friend Willy

Heather and her friend Marlee (dressed as Brandon)

And Molly getting her 'treat'...she's just a little spoiled, don't you think???

There are aliens among us...

2008-10-23T15:05:00.001-07:00

So, Brandon's game last Saturday was at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico, home of the famous 1947 Roswell UFO incident/crash. So, we went on an alien adventure and although we didn't see any 'real' aliens or even any live 'alien impersonators' (hmmm....not sure that word really works in that sense) we had a great time. It was a very long drive, they lost, and an even longer drive home (although we did decide to stop on the way and sleep.

I would like to give a special thanks to all who helped us out so we could make this trip...Beaudoins, Mom & Paul, Whitfields, Ericksons and L'Heureux's!!!!!!!

It was rather interesting to see the entire town with its 'alien theme'. Most all of the storefronts were painted with some type of 'alien' scene. We stopped at the local Wal-Mart only to find this on the front of the building...

...and Heather and her friend Marlee found this inside...
"UFO H2O" who would have thought?

We drove by the local McDonald's, which is designed like a space ship (pretty cool)

We tried to visit the UFO Museum Research Center but they were closed when we got there. We did take a few fun pictures nearby. Unfortunately most of these displays were inside the front windows of the little shops nearby and there was a bad glare from the sun but it's the best we could get since we couldn't get in to the museum.

Here's the museum sign with a view of one of the street lights that line this main downtown area.

Brandon and cousin, Carl

The Coke machine we walked by on the street corner

One of the storefronts

Heather and Marlee in one of the shops we visited, pictured with the alien displaying the local newspaper from the 1947 incident.

The gang...

I got some great photos of Brandon playing this week and we made a few other stops on the way home. All-in-all it was a nice relaxing, fun weekend. We had Heather and Marlee on the way there and added Brandon and Carl on the way home. We spent the night in a hotel Friday and Saturday evenings and even got to spend a little time with our friend Brent, who was able to make the short drive up from his new/temporary home to attend the game and join us for dinner. It was great to see him. Here are some other random photos from our weekend trip.

Brandon's SCC Spotlight

2008-09-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

Brandon had mentioned a couple weeks ago that he was interviewed at school but he wasn't sure what they were going to do with it. Well, I've been doing some research to find out where they might be posting it. They televised one of his games last week but it wasn't part of that. Anyway, this morning I found it posted on the Maricopa Community College website at www.maricopa.edu/mctv in their Inside Maricopa Sports segment. It's a great spotlight if you want to check it out...

Molly

2008-09-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!!

2008-09-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today is Chris' birthday. He turned 22 today. It's hard to believe!

We had him and Tiffany over for dinner; spaghetti w/hot Italian sausage and white cake and ice cream. We got him a couple pair of new Vans (shoes). Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures of them but he was excited. His old ones were getting pretty ragged. Happy Birthday Chris! We love you!!!
Tyler and Sharon came over to help celebrate too.

Chris & Tyler both brought the 'grandpuppies' over tonight as well.
Einstein is Chris and Tiffany's puppy. He's about 4 months old and is a German Shepherd/Australian Shepherd mix.

Scarlet is Tyler & Sharon's puppy. She is a 5 month old Yorkie Poo. I tried to get a picture of her standing up on her hind legs (it was so cute) but then Brandon walked in the door and she decided she didn't like him and wouldn't stop barking at him. Then Kim and Heather and Patrick all came in within about 5 minutes of each other and she was barking at each of them as they came in. We couldn't get her to stand up again after that, even with a treat.

It was a rough week of football last week. All 3 teams lost. Better luck next week! Skyline JV and Varsity both play Carl Hayden this week (both at home) and SCC plays Western Arizona in Yuma. Brandon is hoping to get lots of passing in this next game. He's very excited about that! Last week's game will be televised on Wednesday 9/24 at 7:05 on Cox Digital Cable channel 115 in AZ.

Family Photos

2008-09-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

So, we finally had some new family photos taken so we thought we'd share...

Heather recently tried out for a club softball team and did really well. They asked her to join the team. She is very excited. They don't have any games scheduled yet but have been practicing 2 nights a week.

We made it through another week of football. Patrick's team beat Alhambra 62-6. He played well and had a really nice tackle. Brandon's team beat Pima College 48-8. Brandon had a bit of an off night but obviously not too bad. He sat out most of the 4th quarter because they were so far ahead. He's looking forward to the game this week against Glendale Community College in hopes they'll have a little more competition. Tiffany's team beat North 26-6. The cheer squad definitely had a better week than last week. They actually cheered a lot more this week and were a little more enthusiastic. Their half-time dance performances have been great!

Derek's company picnic was this past weekend at Big Surf. The whole family was able to make it. It was a lot of fun! Derek made me take the camera but I didn't even use it.

Proud to be an American

2008-09-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

I heard the most amazing September 11th Tribute this morning on the JohnJay & Rich radio show (104.7 KISS FM). It's about 18 minutes long but worth every second. It's an MP3 file so I couldn't figure out how to include it on my blog but you can listen to it on their website at: http://johnjayandrich.1047kissfm.com/pages/podcasts.php

Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones or were in other ways affected by the tragedy 7 years ago today.

FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL, and more FOOTBALL!!!

2008-09-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know...it's football season! Wednesday night we went with Heather and Kim to watch the junior high game. Thursday Tiffany cheered for the JV game. They lost but it was fun to watch Tiffany cheer. Friday was the varsity game and Saturday was Brandon's first college game at SCC. He only got to play the first half because they were up 41-2 at halftime and the other 2 backup QBs got to play the 2nd half. They ended up winning 58-2. They played a semi-pro team from Tempe. He threw 3 touchdown passes and ran another one. He only had one incomplete pass out of about 14 or so and about 200 yards. He didn't get to throw any of his long passes this game but maybe next week.

Here are some pictures of Tiffany cheering.

Brandon (watching during the 2nd half)...

...and anxiously stripping off all the gear after the game (with cousin Carl).

Brandon's 1st Day of School

2008-08-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

So, as promised, here is Brandon's first day of school photo. He's really difficult to photograph. He will grudgingly agree to 'one' photo and that's pushing it. He also doesn't like to take pictures in the front yard. So, in trying to locate an ok place to take a photo inside the house, this is the best we get...

He had an ok first week. He wasn't too excited to have homework on the first day but hey, that's part of school, right?!! He's been spending a lot of time at SCC between classes and long practices getting ready for the big opening game on Saturday.

First Day of School

2008-08-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the kids first day of school. Dean is starting 3rd grade, Heather and Kim are Freshman, Tiffany is a Sophomore, and Patrick is a Senior. Time flies...I can't believe my girls are high school age! Brandon has a couple more weeks before he starts at SCC so I'll have to torture him then but here are the other kids...

Summer...Come and Gone!!!

2008-08-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe summer break is over and I haven't updated the blog for 3 months! Sorry about that! The sad thing is, we really haven't been nearly as busy this summer as we normally are. I guess I've been spoiled and getting some much needed R&R. Well, we've recently been busy school shopping and getting ready for the new school year and getting everyone's schedules figured out. School starts on Monday, August 11th. Wooooooohoooooo! EVERYONE here is so excited about that. Well, what have we been up to all summer?

Dean went to summer school in June to get a little extra reading help. Since then he has been bored out of his mind and, like the other kids, becoming rather lazy. He is anxious to get back to school and also ready to start playing baseball. We will probably be signing him up to play on a fall baseball team soon.

Heather has been busy babysitting; playing softball (she was on the All-Star team and also played a few games with a traveling team); she got braces last month and is VERY excited about that, of course her first set of bands had to be 'blue and orange'! She has spent the past couple of weeks at volleyball camps at her Junior High and also the high school and is having lots of fun with that. She will have tryouts for the junior high team during the first week of school.

Tiffany has also been doing some babysitting along with some weight lifting and lots of cheering and dancing. She is really having fun with cheer. At cheer camp, she made All-Stars and is supposed to go to Houston to compete. She is anxiously awaiting the time (in the near future) when she gets to have her braces removed! Can you believe Tiffany is going to be in High School??? It's hard to believe; only 3 more years!

Kimberly has also been babysitting most of the summer. She and the other girls went to church camp in June and had a lot of fun. Kimberly was called to serve as the Mia Maids President for her age group in the Young Women's program at church.

Patrick has been practicing and gearing up for football all summer. He's also been pulling lots of weeds and being lazy around the house. He was suppose to have a job but hasn't had much luck with that.

Brandon has also been practicing and gearing up for football and is registered and ready for college! He will be attending Scottsdale Community College on football scholarship and learned recently that he will be starting so we are all excited about that. He is scheduled for 16 hours first semester so between that and football he will be keeping busy. He also got a job this summer; yes can you believe that, Brandon has a job!!! He's working with Dad at the auction yard. He calls himself the Assistant General Manager (Dad is the General Manager). He acts like one too, trying to hang out in the office all day sleeping with his feet up on the desk :)

Tyler is still working and playing...what Tyler does best. Chris has moved back down from Flagstaff and he and his girlfriend, Tiffany have moved in with Tyler and his girlfriend, Sharon. They both have new puppies...We call them the 'grandpuppies' and we are ok with that for now! It's nice to have them fairly close by and they do come visit quite often (only if we bribe them with dinner).

We are hoping to have some new family photos taken soon so we'll be posting some of those as soon as we can make that happen. Once school starts next week and all the sporting events gear back up our schedules will go back to crazy busy mode again. Assuming Heather makes the volleyball team we will have games 4 nights a week plus all the other stuff; Monday and Tuesday Tiffany will be dancing, Tuesday-Heather's volleyball games; Thursday-Tiffany cheers for JV football games; Friday-Patrick's Varsity football games; Saturday-Brandon's SCC games. I need to find some pictures to add but will have to update later. For now, I'm off to pick up Heather from volleyball camp and it is pouring outside right now with some good thunder and lightning!

Graduation

2008-05-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well, for the first time in, I don't know, 20+ years it rained on graduation night in Mesa. Last minute backup plan was moving graduation into the gym and the auditorium. They had to split the class in half. It was a bummer not to have them all together but we survived it and Brandon received his diploma! We didn't get nice pictures which really stinks but he did it and we are SO proud of him. We will miss his school friends and sporting events but look forward to watching him grow, learn, and succeed at the next level. CONGRATULATIONS Brandon and the entire Class of 2008!! We are proud of you and we love you!

Athletes

2008-05-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days we've had the opportunity to attend several end-of-the-school-year events including: choir concert; orchestra concert and various award ceremonies. Patrick received his first varsity letter from Skyline for track. Way to go Patrick! We look forward to watching him play football, wrestle, and compete in track again next year with Skyline.

Today we attended Westwood's Senior Awards Ceremony. What an amazing group of seniors they have there! Brandon received the Mutt Ford Athletic Award (which is basically best multi-sport athlete).

We are so proud of all of our kids and their accomplishments during this school year.

It's a Beautiful Thing!

2008-05-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

Heather and I (Cathy) went to visit our good friends last week and got to see their beautiful new baby. She's only a few days old in this picture but she was very alert. She is just too cute so I had to share. CONGRATS to the Christensens on their newest addition!

Brandon and Patrick both went to Prom last weekend. Here are their great photos:

Dean had his last baseball game Thursday. He's a little bummed to be done for this season but excited to get his trophy!

MAY

2008-04-30T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, track, baseball, and softball are all coming to an end. Brandon and Patrick are getting ready for Prom this weekend. Brandon is gearing up for graduation. Heather's birthday is coming up (the big "13")! In the next month or so things should begin to settle down a bit. Summer is quickly approaching...UGH! We are all doing well just keeping extremely busy at the moment so this post will be brief. Here are some of Brandon's senior pictures.

Spring is here!

2008-03-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

OK, so it's been a while. This is the time of year when we leave the house at 6:30 in the morning and don't return until about 10:00 Monday-Saturday. We've been just a little busy. The kids' sports are really kicking in. We had a great Easter and hope you all did as well. We had our first Easter egg hunt at the new house; 250 eggs...The kids all (even the older ones) had a blast finding eggs. We are still missing one (thank goodness they were all plastic)! Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos (bad, huh?)!
Dean absolutely loves Cub Scouts. On Friday he was able to participate in his first Pinewood Derby. Tyler helped him build his car. It was really cool, but unfortunately, it didn't go very fast. Neither Dad, nor Tyler were able to make it to the Derby so weren't able to help with the car. He had fun anyway and got some help from some of the other men that were there. He ended winning the prize for 'Best Overall Design'. Here's a picture of his car...

Tiffany had cheer tryouts this week and made the JV squad for next year at Skyline.

More to come soon... We really should be updating daily since there is so much going on.

Latest Update

2008-03-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a while... Things are getting crazy busy around here. Several of us have had the 'crud' that's going around. Fortunately, it has now moved on, hopefully not to your house! Well, here's what's been happening around here:

Cathy went on her semi-annual scrapbook retreat last weekend. There were only a few gals there this time around so it was a little quieter than usual but we still had a great time. Derek has received a new calling as the Sunday School teacher for the 15-16 year olds. He will start that next week. That is a great calling for him. He is really good with the teenagers and they all love him. He's been busy working and trying to clean up/organize his garage. He and Tyler have also been talking and planning lately to get back in to racing 'Sand Drags'. They've been talking about buying a funny car that they can both race! We used to have a lot of fun when he raced before and now that Tyler is old enough to drive as well, they will have a great time with that.

Brandon has decided he will be attending Scottsdale Community College next year and plans to play football there for a year or two before moving on to a university. He is currently playing varsity baseball (pitching) for school and is also having fun playing basketball with the men from church.

Patrick and Tiffany are both in track. Patrick attended an invitational meet at NAU earlier this week. He said it was very different to be in the Sky Dome. He took first place in two events at his last meet.

Heather has started fast pitch softball. She's only had a few practices so far but loves it. She's very excited to start the games and she's learning a lot.

Dean has turned '8' and will be baptized this weekend. He is so excited he can hardly wait for Saturday to get here.

We are also having an Open House on Saturday, so, needless to say, Cathy is stressing to get prepared for that. It's been a very busy week so all preparations will have to take place Saturday morning. It will be a great day on Saturday but we will be glad when it is over as well.

Well, we hope to see some of you on Saturday and hope all is well with you and your families!

Just trying to find time...

2008-02-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

The family is well, the weather is great, and schedules are packed...
Brandon is finishing up with basketball. They are heading in to the region tournament next week. He is preparing to start baseball as soon as basketball is over. He and Derek visited Western New Mexico University this weekend. It's a small town but not too far away (about a 4 hour drive) and they want Brandon to play football for them pretty bad. Adams State College in Colorado is interested in him as well. He has also been talking to the coaches at Scottsdale Community College quite a bit lately and they really want him as well. He has some decisions to make in the next few days...
Patrick is getting more excited about sports at Skyline. He's been talking to the track coach and the football coach and they are both very excited to have him there. The track coach said they would be hiring a personal pole vaulting coach for him. He was really excited about that. He will also be running for the track team.
Tiffany is also starting track and is still dancing and getting prepared to cheer next year.
Heather is getting ready to start playing fast pitch softball (through Little League). She's excited but a little nervous since she's only slow-pitch before. It will be good to prepare her for playing for the junior high next year.
Dean will be starting baseball soon. He is very excited to be turning '8' this week and is preparing for his baptism. He is SO excited about that. He will be baptized on March 8th. We're trying to get pictures taken so we can get invitations sent out but haven't been able to get that accomplished as of yet.

January 20, 2007

2008-01-20T21:04:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since we've posted and we apologize for that. We've been busy getting adjusted to everything new but we are all well. The kids are making new friends and still really enjoying their new schools. Brandon has received a few college offers and is trying to decide where he would like to go and planning visits to a couple of schools out of state. Patrick has started to play soccer at his new school. We are starting to prepare for Dean's baptism next month and are hoping to find an open Saturday to have an Open House so everyone can come out to see our new place. We still have one more room to furnish but the house is coming together. Cathy was recently called (Derek is helping) as a Sunbeam teacher at church, teaching the 3 years olds. They can definitely be a challenge at times but they are so sweet. We generally have about 7 of them each week. They definitely keep us on our toes. Not much else has changed around here. We hope you are all having a wonderful new year so far!

New Schools

2008-01-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well, the kids are all registered and attending their new schools. Dean and the girls all LOVE their new schools so far. Patrick is still not too sure about his but he's only been there one day.

Brandon was nominated as a Tribune Scholar Athlete and his profile is up on the VarsityXtra website.
You can view his profile at: http://varsity.evtrib.com/page/studentathlete

2007 Year in Review

2007-12-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

OK, so here is the Christmas letter you've all been anxiously awaiting. Thank you for being so patient! It has been a hectic month, no surprises there...it's the Larges, it's December, the holidays are upon us, need I say more? It's been difficult trying to make time to just sit down and try to 'remember' what's been happening this year. As you have most likely already heard, we bought a new house and moved in during the week of Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving in our new home. Our new home is about 20 miles east of our old house. It is a 7 bedroom basement home, almost 4500 square feet on about 1/2 acre with a large pool. We absolutely love it and are adjusting to the added driving time back and forth to school, work, and other activities. The girls and Dean are looking forward to attending their new schools in January. Brandon will finish up his senior year at Westwood. Patrick will also be changing schools in January. We love our new church ward and the few neighbors we've met have been very nice. There is a nice little neighborhood park right down the street that the kids love. It does have an HOA, which we swore we would never have, but they seem to be fairly relaxed and well, so far, so good...

Chris moved to Flagstaff in April to complete his internship at the Orpheum Theater. He was hired on and is also working at the bowling alley and has decided to go back to school at the community college as well. He loves Flagstaff "it's beautiful and the weather is great". He likes to ride the trails on his mountain bike and does some hiking as well. Chris has been dating his girlfriend Tiffany for over a year now but she lives here so he doesn't get to see her as often as he would like. He is considering moving back to the valley in a few months.

Tyler graduated in May and is still working at Bergeron Marine (now full time). He has decided to purchase our old house and moved in there as soon as we moved out. He has been fixing up the house and adding his own 'personal touches', including new carpet, paint and a pool table. His girlfriend Sharon lives with him as well as another family who lived with him at the other house (it's nice to have someone to help make the house payments). He spends his free time fixing up cars and riding his quad and sandrail.

Brandon continues to be the sports nut. He was the starting quarterback for the varsity football team and has been getting letters from many colleges/universities (some of whom have come to the school to talk to him). He doesn't have any official solid offers for scholarships yet but is sending out game film and hopes to get something soon. He definitely wants to play football at the college/university level though so it will be exciting to see where he ends up. Brandon received 1st Team All Region Quarterback and also earned 2nd Team at the state level. He skipped baseball his junior year but has been promising 'Dad' that he will play his senior year. He is currently playing on the varsity basketball team and they have been playing in several tournaments including one in Yuma where they took 3rd place and one in San Diego where they placed 4th. He also has a 4.0 GPA and is looking forward to having a short schedule next semester with only 2 classes starting at noon so he can 'sleep in'. Brandon also recently completed all the requirements to earn his Eagle Scout award.

Patrick played on the varsity football team and is now playing on the JV soccer team. His soccer team is doing really well. He has been attending the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) participating in their Health Sciences program. He would like to become a dentist. He has been working at Chick-Fil-A but will be looking for a new job closer to our new home. He just got his permit on Christmas Eve and is very excited about that. He will be attending Skyline starting next semester (January 3rd) and is not too happy about that but he will still be able to attend EVIT from there as well.

Kimberly is doing well. She is in the school and church choirs. She is doing well in school and loves to socialize! She loves having her own bedroom in our new house and is excited to meet new friends at her new school.

Tiffany is still dancing (surprise, surprise). She absolutely LOVES to dance. She helps teach the younger kids as well. Tiffany also loves to sing and is in the advanced choir at school. She is very excited to start attending her new school and is looking forward to meeting new friends. Her favorite thing to do is 'hang out' with her friends.

Heather loves our new ward and is making lots of friends there and looking forward to attending her new school. She didn't want to wait for the semester break but wanted to change schools as soon as we moved! She is in advanced orchestra, still playing the violin which she loves. She has also been playing the piano a lot lately and wants to take piano lessons again. She also loves having her own bedroom in our new house. She has been babysitting more and really likes that, especially the money that comes with it!

Dean is in 2nd grade now and is just the coolest kid ever! He loves hanging out with his older brothers (especially Tyler). He loves to work on cars and do all the cool stuff that Tyler does. He played baseball in the spring and is anxious to start playing some other sports (football and soccer). He is looking forward to getting baptized in February and is also excited to start attending his new school.

Molly (the mini Schnauzer) is still as spoiled as ever. I think she is more spoiled than our kids are and that is pretty bad! She and Misty (the Boxer) are adjusting well to the new house. They both love the big back yard.

Derek moved from working at the tow copany to another division within the same corporation, running their auto auctions. He has been enjoying that and has advanced again to Operations Manager, managing the auctions as well as the rest of the tow company. He has been working very hard to get our new home.

Cathy is still working at SRP and with the kids activities and moving hasn't had time to do too much else. Ocassionally she finds time to get a little scrapbooking in (although that's been only at the 2 retreats she organized with a few friends this year). She also started back to school, working toward her degree that she might some day reach! We've been having fun shopping for furniture and getting our house organized and decorated.

We have been truly blessed this year and love this time of year when we can celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ and count our blessings for all he has given us!

We hope you all had a great Christmas and have a very happy, healthy, prosperous New Year!!!

November 28, 2007

2007-11-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

Well we pretty much have everything moved over. Of course it isn't all put away (or even close) yet but we're working on it. We still need to get furniture for the dining room, living room and family room as well. We have all of our Christmas decorations at the new house but just haven't found the time to put them up yet. Tyler says he won't be putting them up this year so Brandon & Patrick said they would. The only problem is, they are never home to do it.

Tyler has decided he and his roommates will move in to our old house (he is planning to buy it as soon as he builds up some credit). He has been working very hard to get our stuff out and get it cleaned up so he can begin moving over. He has great plans so it will be exciting to see what he does with it.

We spent half the day on Saturday working on Brandon's Eagle Scout service project; cutting down trees and cleaning up the area next to one of the church buildings in our stake. Thanks to all who came out to help! We got a lot done with only a few minor injuries.

We attended our new church on Sunday. The people were very friendly and we learned of two families that are in our new ward that used to be in our old ward. Kimberly & Heather went to mutual with the new ward last night. They went to Temple Lights and had a great time.

Brandon played his first basketball game last night. They played his cousin, Carl's team. They lost but it was fun.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2007-11-20T07:04:00.000-08:00

Wow, we have so much to be thankful for this holiday. We have a beautiful new home; we have an amazing family; we are all in great health; we have been blessed with some wonderful friends; we have the knowledge of the gospel in our lives and great blessings that come from that; and the list goes on and on...

We have been having SO much fun moving that we've decided we'll do it again in about 6 months or so! Yeah, right! Just kidding. We are pretty sure we never want to move again. The girls are getting excited to start their new school in January. Unfortunately, until then, things are pretty hectic trying to get everyone to school with 4 different start times. Fortunately, we hope to not be doing that much longer.

Patrick tried out for WW soccer and made the varsity team. Pretty good for never having played soccer before. Dean will be starting flag football soon and will be playing with his best buddy.

A special "THANKS" goes out to all who helped us move (and brought us food) over the past week. We truly do appreciate your service.

We hope you all have a wonderful THANKSGIVING!

IT'S A GREAT DAY!!!

2007-11-16T22:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a great day today. The house closed today. It's all official...and it's all OURS! We are so excited! The carpets were cleaned today so we will be officially moving in within the next few days. We spent part of the day today cleaning but need to go back and do some more tomorrow as well as continue packing. We took the first load out last night but it's all in the garage until the carpets are dry.

In addition to the excitement of closing on the house today. There was a BIG game tonight. Westwood played Hamilton (the best team in the state). It was a truly amazing game. Our boys played AWESOME. The score was tied until about 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter and unfortunately they weren't able to beat them but we are very proud of our team. They are true Warriors! What a great game it was. After the game Brandon was told that he made 1st Team All Region QB! Way to go Brandon!!! Now, on to basketball...first game is Tuesday (11/27). He also told the baseball coach today that he would be playing baseball!

We'll keep you posted as the packing/moving proceeds...

OUR HOUSE

2007-11-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

We finally signed papers this afternoon and have keys to our new home!!! Everything won't officially be closed until tomorrow but it's a very exciting day! Just wanted to share. We'll try to keep you updated on the packing & moving process over the next couple of weeks but it probably won't be too often.

As if all of that weren't enough during this Thanksgiving holiday, Brandon is also working on getting his Eagle Scout project completed and signed off before his birthday next month. Some of you may be hearing from us to come out and help with his project next weekend!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

2007-11-11T15:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been a while since we've posted. We are now busy packing, packing, and...oh, did I say packing!!! What great fun that is! We should be signing papers on Tuesday, Nov.13th! It's very exciting. There are a few things we need to do (like cleaning, having carpets cleaned, have utilities turned on, etc) before we actually start moving stuff in but we hope to be able to start moving in by next weekend and plan to have our first thanksgiving in our new home (most likely surrounded by boxes) the following week. The kids think we should just start moving stuff in LAST WEEK! They aren't the least bit excited or anything :)

November 1, 2007

2007-11-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!!! I should have taken a picture of him to post but didn't think about it until now and it's a little late. I'll try to get one tomorrow...

Well, Monterey was great but it is good to be home. It has been a long week. We are planning to go to the house on Saturday morning. If you are interested in seeing it, give us a call and we will give you directions and times. We are hoping to close in about a week and a half! It probably would be a good idea to start packing, UGH!!! So, it looks like we'll be busy doing that for the next couple weeks (or months)!

Monterey

2007-10-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well, Monterey is beautiful, as always. The weather is great; it's actually pretty chilly today. The first couple days of conference have been very informative. I took a walk this evening to visit the sea lions. They were closing the pier right after I arrived so I didn't get to go out where they all hang out but I did find a few. These dark red starfish are pretty interesting.

October 26, 2007

2007-10-27T00:03:00.000-07:00

Well, the lasagna dinner for the football team on Wednesday went great. Well, all but the breadsticks that we ordered from Fazoli's that weren't ready for us. They were actually very rude and didn't even attempt to fix the situation. It was very frustrating but the boys loved the meal anyway. A special thanks to everyone who helped out.

Chris came down from Flagstaff today. It's always great to see him when he is able to make the trip. He's doing well and really likes it up there.

Well, I may not be posting for a week or so. I'm heading to California tomorrow morning for a library conference in Monterey. If I have time, I'll try to post some pictures of the sea lions and/or otters.

In case we don't get anything else posted before... We would like to wish everyone a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

October 23, 2007

2007-10-24T00:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's taking so long to get the photos posted. There have been some difficulties getting them uploaded. There are still a few more yet to post. We've been busy trying to get paperwork to the loan officer and doing inspection on the house to make sure everything is ok.

Wednesday we are feeding the football team (homemade lasagna). It should be quite interesting (lots of work, but, well... it will be fun). We can't complain, it will be the last opportunity we have to do this while Brandon is on the team.

Still more photos

2007-10-22T17:18:00.001-07:00

More photos... master bedroom
master bathroom
half of master closet

backyard

upstairs bathroom

More House Photos

2007-10-21T18:53:00.001-07:00

OK, here are a few more...
Kitchen/dining room/familyroom, garage, laundry room, living room, (food) storage closet-downstairs, and the next two are Patrick's room

House Photos

2007-10-20T22:19:00.001-07:00

OK, we were at the fair for approximately 3 hours on Saturday and actually got sunburned. It's the craziest thing. When we got in the car to go home the car thermostat said 103 and lowered down to 95 as we drove home. It is the middle of OCTOBER!!!!!!! There is something definitely wrong with this picture! Anyway, the girls did great and had a blast riding a few rides. Afterwards, we went out to start inspection on the house. Here are some photos. We have photos of just about everything but Heather's & Kim's bedrooms and the scrapbooking room because for some reason the camera wouldn't take a photo in those rooms. Anyway, it will only allow me to upload a few at a time. So, I'll post these and then try to post some more...

This is the front of the house, entryway, large family room downstairs,
downstairs bathroom, Brandon's bedroom and Tiffany's bedroom.

WW Football Senior Night

2007-10-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well, they lost their game tonight but Brandon did well. He had about 60 yards rushing and a touchdown and about 130 yards passing. Unfortunately his coach doesn't let him pass enough. They move the ball when he passes and get stopped when they run and he continues to call running plays. We don't understand it and it's very frustrating. We are afraid this is hindering his chances at getting a good scholarship. Anyway, it was also senior night so I'm including a photo (it's not the greatest but...) WE LOVE YOU B. LARGE!!!

For those of you who have asked, here's a photo of Brandon's football banner that we hang up at all the games. In case you're wondering, "The Glory is Division 1" refers to Brandon's strong desire to attend a Division 1 university. I'm also working on painting one for Patrick so I'll have to post that one too when I get it finished. We gave Brandon his letterman jacket tonight also. He was very excited; now if it will just cool off enough for him to wear it, that would be nice. I'll try to get a picture of him in in and post it soon.

House Hunting

2007-10-19T10:26:00.001-07:00

WOOHOOO, we have some GREAT news... the househunting is now over. Our offer was accepted! We should be closing on the 19th. Now, we just have to complete the daunting task of finance paperwork, closing, packing, etc. No STRESS here, right? It's actually pretty close to being move-in ready; other than cleaning and a few minor things. I'll post some photos when we go out again. We are trying to find out what ward/stake it is in. When we took the kids to see the house there was a flyer in the door about a neighborhood BBQ this Saturday. RSVPs were supposed to be called in by the 15th but we are thinking of calling to see if we can show up to meet some of our 'new' neighbors. Should be exciting!

October 18, 2007

2007-10-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

So, we are still in negotiations for the house. It's looking promising at this point. Hopefully we'll know more tomorrow!

There's been a change in the date for the Roadshow. It's been rescheduled to November 7th.

Friday night is the big WW rivalry game against MV. It's also 'Senior night' where they honor the seniors. It's hard to believe that Brandon will be graduating soon and we only have a few more high school games to watch him play in. Fortunately, we hope to catch some games in the next few years as he plays at the next level.

October 17, 2007

2007-10-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well, the househunting is still going strong. We are negotiating back and forth right now on the latest offer. We are actually tired to looking at houses and the kids are all very anxious to move. Hopefully it will all be over soon and we will be on our way to a new home.
Football is still in full swing so we've been keeping busy with that. We'll be making homemade lasagna on Wednesday to feed the entire football team. That should be interesting! Only 3 regular season games left and then on to the playoffs! Brandon is doing a great job and still waiting for the college offers to come in. He's had lots of communications from them but no actual offers yet.
Tiffany is still dancing her heart out. She and Heather will be dancing at the fair on Saturday.
Patrick, Tiffany, Kim, and Heather will be participating in a 'Roadshow' at church on the 24th.

Stay tuned ...

2007-10-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

This is the first (test) entry for our new family blog. We will keep you up-to-date on the current happenings of our "Large" family! Of course, our hope is that we can actually find the time to keep the postings current. We'll try it out and see how it goes. Please let us know what you think.