Guess Who's Who?

Since we have nothing new and exciting to post...we decided to give you a little brain teaser and see if you can identify baby pictures of Nikole, Jessica, and Jordan. There is a big ol' prize to the winner - Good Luck!

Girlie A

Girlie B

Girlie C

Football is a Dangerous Sport...Even for Managers!

I was visiting my mom last Thursday night when Nikole sent me a pix message on my cell phone. It was a picture of her leg after being dragged by a Rover (golf cart type of vehicle) on the sidewalk at the high school. No explanation - just the picture.

I immediately called her to find out what happened. She and another girl where taking shoulder pads to the football players when a few of them fell out of the Rover. The driver stopped and Nikole got out to pick them up. She was still holding on to the cart, when the driver started to go. Nikole was dragged along the sidewalk before finally letting go...OUCH!

Shhhh!

While I was looking for pictures to post for Nikole's birthday (Sweet 16), I found this picture on her camera...I think she is practicing for the kissing part - you know, "Sweet 16 and never been kissed". Don't tell...

Sweet Sixteen!

Nikole celebrated her 16th birthday on August 12th. It was hard trying to plan something special for her - everything we tried to arrange kept falling through, so we kept it pretty simple. Monday evening we had a family dinner for her with Grandma and Paul, Uncle Doug, Aunt Maggie and our family. We went to Iggy's Sports Grill where we could watch the Olympics, went miniature golfing (Nikole's first time ever), then had cake and ice cream at home.

Still wanting to make her birthday memorable...I decided to have a little fun and with the help of one of my BFFs we made 16 gift bags with fun items and little sayings:

* Favorite Soda: "We're SODA-lighted to wish you happy birthday
* Orange Stix : "ORANGE you glad it's your birthday? Hope it's SWEET!"
* Bugles chips: "Sound the horn, it's your birthday"
* Pop Rocks: "Nikole, you ROCK! Happy Birthday!"
* Just Bunches cereal: Hope you have BUNCHES of fun on your birthday
* Pens / Mechanical pencils - Hope your birthday is colorful!
* Can of Cashews: Here is the "CASHEW" wanted for your birthday
* Bubble Bath: Hope your birthday BUBBLES over with fun!
* Gift Certificate - Cold Stone - Hope you have a COOL birthday!
* Now that you are 16...Watch out for "Red Hot" guys who are “Airheads”. They can be “Mounds” of trouble.
* Trident gum: "Don't TRI to DENT the car now that you'll get your license.
* Sticky Notes: Just a NOTE from me to you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
* Donuts: "DONUT" you know we want you to have an awesome Birthday???
* Hi-lighter "Hope today is the highlight of your year. HAPPY SWEET 16"
* Extra Gum with book mark: "EXTRA EXTRA read all about it. It's Nikoles SWEET 16"
* Silly String: We've strung you on long enough. HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Then I had someone (yw leaders, friends, children she babysits, neighbors) deliver a bag to her every 10 minutes - this lasted for 2 1/2 hours - the last one of course was the Silly String and a bunch of the young women in our ward sprayed her with Silly String when she opened the door!

HAPPY SWEET 16, NIKOLE!!

Summer School and the 4th of July

I know this post regarding the 4th of July is a little late in coming, but I wanted to share it anyway. I read an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about children not understanding why we celebrate the 4th of July. I was amazed that the article indicated that many children just think it is a day to go to a parade, watch fireworks, and have a barbecue. Since I am teaching summer school, I decided to survey a group of 3rd graders to see if the article was true. The conversation went like this.

Me: Did you all have a great 4th of July?
Students: YAH!!
Me: Why do we celebrate the 4th of July?
Student #1: Because one of the presidents died.
Me: ...Not quite...
Student #2: Because we have independence.
Me: What is independence?
Student #3: It means we can do anything we want and our parents cannot tell us what to do, so if we want to eat candy we can and they cannot tell us not to.
Me: ...ummmm...
Student #4: It means freedom.
Me: Freedom from what?
Student #5: Iraq!

Dinnertime Conversation...

Nikole has been craving a ham and cheese salad from Fredrico's - so Friday night we decided to make homemade ham and cheese salads for dinner. As we were preparing the "ingredients" for dinner, I had Jordan open a can of beets (which are optional at Fredrico's, but my favorite part of the salad). Our conversation sounded like this...

Jordan: What are beets made out of?
Mom: (Actually, I just paused, wondering if my child really does not know what a beet is - just as I am about to respond...Jessi adds to the conversation)
Jessi: They're made from cabbage.
Mom: (Laughing) Jessi, beets are not made from cabbage...
Nikole: Yah, cabbage is made from beets!
Mom: (More laughing!)

Andy's Graduation and Road Trip

My nephew, Andy, graduated from high school in June - so for our first trip of the summer, we all piled in the van and drove 13 hours to my brother's home in Moscow, Idaho. It was a long, long, long trip, but so fun to be together to share this day with Andy.

We loved the area that my brother lives in. It was a little town in the most northern part of Idaho that was gorgeous! He lives really close to some small mountains and there is a bike trail that is right behind his house. This is a view off his back deck. He also has a hot tub outside that we relaxed in while visiting - fun times!

A few days after Andy graduated, he and his best friend decided to go on a road trip to Idaho Falls (a 10 hour trip). We just happened to be about an hour behind them on our way home. This is what we came across about 50 miles outside of Missoula, Montana...

The problem was that the boys did not have a spare - they had called on tow truck, but we decided to go ahead and put our spare on their truck and then follow them into Missoula so they could get it taken care of. It was working out well, until our lug nut remover (what is that thing called?) did not fit their lug nuts. Just as we started to get discouraged a highway patrolman passed by. We flagged him down and used his "lug nut remover" and finally got the tire changed.

Oops! The boys had left the lights and flashers on while waiting...and changing the tire, so...guess what - dead battery. Thanks again to the Montana highway patrol for helping to jump start their truck!

Finally we were on the road - we actually ran into a few more glitches, but we did eventually make it home (left Moscow at 7 am - arrived in Logan at 12:30 am) and they eventually made it to Idaho Falls - alls well that ends well!!

Jordan's Baptism

Because I am new to the blogging world, I am going to catch up on a few fun events that our family has had over the past few months.

One of the most significant is that Jordan was baptized on May 24th. We so appreciate all the family and friends that attended her baptism and helped to make her day so special! It is hard to believe she is 8 years old...our baby is growing up!

Pictures too?

Let's see...how do you add pictures? I'll give it a try!

YEA...I did it! What's next?

Can I really do this?

I've been debating about starting a family blog. It's just that we are not that entertaining and I would hate to bore you all to death, besides who has time? However, with school being out I am trying to challenge myself to do SOMETHING...man, what do you people do all day???

I have found that blogging is kinda hard...