Driving

Just so you all know....this morning (at 6 ugh) i passed my road test!!!! Now all i have to do is wait until im 16 and then im all set for my license!!!

It's Canning Time

Picked beans galore from our garden today! Had a little bean-snapping "party" and got 11 QUARTS of beans....hope we get more!!

Funny Feet

While Devin was watching TV the other day, I took this picture of his feet. I think it's SOOO funny how he has a HUGE tan line where his shoes and socks go. Maybe I'm just jealous! I don't have tan lines. :) I think I'm the ONLY member of this family that really cannot tan. Garrin has olive skin, and the girls and Devin all seem to tan pretty good so far.

Olympic Time!

The Olympics this year are in Beijing, China and started on 8-8-08...hopefully I spelled that right! :) Anyway---we've enjoyed watching them a bit each day and rooting for our American teams. I have to say I've been pretty frustrated with the gymnastics judging :) I caught this picture of everyone lined up....and whispered to Devin to peek around the corner so I could get him in too.

It's a lot cooler in our bedroom than upstairs where the big TV is--so the kids have been congregating in our room to watch TV

Yipee....school's back in session!

Well......I think most everyone was thrilled to be back in school today! Here are the typical back-to-school photos. Shawnee is in 10th grade, Kaylee in 8th, and Jaycee in 4th---so we have one at each school this year! I think they were ready to be back among friends and see so many of them...but not necessarily ready for homework :) Hopefully they won't have too much right off!

On a sad note---I attended the funeral of a friend's husband today. He was working for the Sherriff's office and pulled someone over for speeding. The lady said she turned to get out her registration and when she turned around again, he was on the ground. He had a massive heart attack and died right away. He was 48. I got to the church way early since I wasn't sure how long it would take me to drive to Heber City. The motorcycles and cop cars all lined up were amazing. ....so I had to get a quick picture.

Although I didn't know her husband really well, events like these always make you pause and think about life and how fragile it can be. It makes me wonder if I truly am doing all I can to become a better person. Am I kind enough to my family---do I tell them I love them enough? What can I change about myself to be more Christlike? These are all things that have been on my mind today. I think it's good to be reminded how quickly life can change and that we should all do what we can each day to enjoy life and find true happiness EVERY single day!

What else....fish for dinner!

Thanks Grandpa! He told the girls to leave one of the heads on so we could see their Albino Trout. After it was cut off today---Jaycee wanted to KEEP it until school show and tell on Tuesday and take it to show her classmates! That was a big fat NO from Mom. She showed us how he could "talk" in the picture above.

Then....she showed us his red eye....eww. She liked poking it. Then...Mom made her throw it in the trash right away. What a kid! She's looking forward to another fishing trip with Grandpa...hope he gets the energy back up to take her again.

Garrin fried up the fish today and we had it for dinner. It was really good! Devin and Kaylee were whimpy about having bones in it....so we gave them a hard time.

Fishing Frenzy

Grandpa invited the kids to go fishing with him this last weekend. Devin was gone working and Kaylee didn't feel like going---but Shawnee and Jaycee jumped at the chance to go! It was Jaycee's first time to go with Grandpa fishing--and she loved it. They went down to Fairview in the big 5th wheel camper and their cousin Ryan went too.

Jaycee's FIRST EVER fish caught! Jaycee ended up catching about 6 and threw back some of them because they were too little. Shawnee caught 8 fish. They brought home 6 total...just enough for dinner....yum!

Jaycee claims that she really WASN'T kissing the fish...just acting like it. Ewwww


Grandpa...what's a 9 yr old doing with a sharp knife? LOL She says she didn't like having to gut the fish---but that grin on her face suggests otherwise. Thanks Grandpa---we had a great time!

Eclipse win

Nope---I'm not talking about the Stephenie Meyer book this time. Kaylee's soccer team is called Eclipse and they had their 2nd game tonight. They won 4-0 ouch! Way to go Kaylee! Pictures/video of the team to come when I remember to bring my camera to the games.

Happy Birthday Devin!

Can't believe I have a 19 year old! He says that I'm getting old...but I think it's just him. We sure miss him while he's gone all week working! He is working at Anderson Windows in Springville. He installs window well covers . They are based out of Springville but for the last 3 wks they've been sending him out to Denver to work. His best friend also goes--so I'm sure they're having a great time when they aren't working! He's excited because he gets his own suite at the hotel, they have a workout room, a pool and hot tub and he gets $30 a day for meals. He thinks he's in heaven! They leave Monday morning, work Tues-Thurs and 1/2 day Friday and then head home. It's about an 8 hour drive one way so that's a long drive to do twice each week!

Anyway---Devin has sure grown this last year. ..he's turning into a young man. He's a good kid and we love him lots! Now..if he'd quit spending money---his mother might not have quite so many gray hairs! That is his one major fault....I'm sure he'll appreciate me pointing it out :) He's a spender---that boy! We sure have fun with him though (when he is home). It's hard to keep him home as he loves to be hanging out with friends!

EFY

So last week the amazing I (shawnee) got to go to efy. It was the most amazing experience ever. Here's some of the fun pics i got....





This was our lovely banner that was 2nd best out of all the groups there...our company name was Them That Slept!!












This is my most amazing counselor group ever..Lexy (my roomate), Katie, Nicole, Carolina, Jessica, Me, Our amazing BC Katie, and my most awesome counselor Allie!!











This was just a fun picture we took during lunch. It started out with three people, then i joined in, then two other people joined in, and then two more. Starting from the top.... Cherity, Miguel, Elise, Lauren, Justin, Kaylee, Karsen, and Me!!!













Another fun pic with me, Karsen, and Lexy.















We got the chance to do a service project while we were there. So everyone buddied up and we made baby hats.












This is my whole amazing company!! Them That Slept!! I wont tell you there names cuz that would just take too much time and i would bore you to death.









This is me, Justin, and Justin's hat that i kidnapped.












Cherity and I getting ready for the tuesday night dance...all the girls got together and we did each others hair and make-up.












My awesome, cool, fun, great, couselors: Maggie, Eric, Allie, Jason, and Jen!!










My Amazing hair that Mckesha did for me for wednesday night. It was games night and cheer off. We had the best time and our banner took 2nd.

Rainy Days and Sundays.....

Well---you know how the song goes....Rainy Days and Sundays always get me down....well today it was BOTH rainy and Sunday....but it was really quite pleasant! It sure cooled things off! Garrin brought home a scooter from work and the kids took turns riding it around. Of course---right when we went outside---it started raining. It didn't slow anyone down! The girls ran around in the rain

Each had to take their turn riding it around the cul-de-sac. The Fowlers came over and visited...and the James' saw us all outside and brought over yummy cookies to share! It felt really nice and cool outside-

--

The look on Devin's face is funny---not sure what that's about. And the picture of Jaycee's face avoiding the rain is funny too! We were celebrating Devin's birthday today even though it's not for a few days---but he'll be in Colorado. Jaycee made him a cake and I made Lasagna and homemade rolls at his request for dinner. Fun day together!

Separate Ways!

Well---this was an interesting week---we all went our separate ways! Garrin was the only one at home every night, I went to my Stampin' Up convention (soooo far away at the Salt Palace), Devin is working in Colorado during the weeks and only comes home on the weekends, Shawnee and Kaylee went to Girl's Camp, and Jaycee went to Grandma's house because the rest of us were gone!


I had so much fun at convention---a much needed break! We got our new catalog--with fun new things coming!! Online ordering coming soon, brand new vinyl wall sayings and decor, and a Stampin' Up BIG SHOT!! It will cut through vinyl, cardstock, chipboard--about 50 things in all so I'm excited about some of the exclusive dies we'll have!


Here are a few pictures from my convention. Left picture---outside the Salt Palace with my roommates Mindee and Karen. They had these banners around the Salt Palace with our theme on them. The picture on the right is us during the classes---Mindee, Karen, Lorie and me.
.
This is some of my group that was there---Sheree, Lorie, Mindee, Mara, me, Karen, Sheri and Carolyn. At the very end of convention---they gave us a free stamp set and set off this confetti machine that about drowned us since we were on the 2nd row. There was SERIOUS confetti coming out---at least an inch on the floor when it was over! It was really cool looking!


Here are a couple of pics from Girl's Camp---and I don't have pics of anyone else's activities! Looks like the girls had a great time!

Below: Sarah, Shawnee and McKell

Above: Bailey and Kaylee