Utah Trip - SNOW!!!

We just returned from a two week trip to Utah to celebrate Thanksgiving with our family. The day after we arrived it snowed! This is the first snowstorm that Rachel and Daniel remember. They were so excited!!!



Here we are the next morning ready to play in the snow! It was so beautiful!

Rachel making her first ever snow angel!

Daniel's snow angel.

What a great way to start our vacation! That was the only snowstorm during the entire two weeks we were there. Rachel and Daniel really wanted to play in the snow, and they got their wish!

Happy Halloween!

Here is our fun Halloween pictures! We had a great time, both Friday night and Saturday. Friday was our ward party, and Brian and I actually dressed up....first time in our entire 14 years of marriage! It was pretty fun...for Halloween. (I am not a huge fan of this holiday!) Here is Rachel...the good witch! She looked so great! Everyone loved her costume! Click on the picture and check out her purple eyelashes!

Here is Daniel, the ninja! His costume had two swords and two knives in a cool pack on his back. He had some pretty good ninja moves as well!

Here is Brian as Dracula! I think he looks great (or awful...as dracula is pretty ugly!) Brian did his own makeup and hair...it doesn't even look like him! I guess that's what makes a great costume!

Here I am...the black widow witch. (I made that up!) It was a fun costume, and actually looked better at the beginning of the night. (This was taken at the end of the party.)

And we can't leave out Daisy! She made the cutest witch of all! Too bad she hated having that hat on! We all think she looks adorable!

All in all, it was a great Halloween! Lots of candy, friends, trick-or-treating, and more candy! Hope you all had as much fun as we did!

Volleyball...our new favorite sport!

Volleyball season here in Clovis has just ended, and Rachel was on the Junior Varsity team at her school. We are so proud of her and how well she did! First of all, she didn't want to be involved in any sport. After encouraging her, she decided to try volleyball. She started the season not being able to serve the ball over at all, and ended the season's last game serving six over in a row! It has been amazing to see her progress in this sport and learn to love it!

Rachel and her best friend, Abby...cheering her on!
Coach Williams and Rachel at their last game. We love Coach Williams!!

Getting ready to serve the ball over. That was the hardest thing to learn for these girls. Usually the team who could serve over the best won the game.

Another game, another serve. I love to see her concentration!

Here is one of her mighty serves! This one actually made it over the net!

Waiting for an oncoming ball...she was pretty good at bumping over the balls!

Another attempt at serving. I think she has pretty good form! :)

Notice her look of concentration? It seems to always be with her lips pursed. I love it!

Coach Williams giving the team a pep talk! Go Mustangs!!! I am so proud of Rachel for giving volleyball a try, and for giving it her all! She was a great team player and really progressed throughout the season. We all wish the season lasted a bit longer! Good job Rachel!

Cub Scouts!

Ok, so it's been awhile since I have blogged, so I have some catching up to do. This is Daniel's first pack meeting. He received all his awards from Day Camp, he was given the "key to scouting", earned five belt loops, and earned his Bobcat!


Here he is with Cubmaster Rusty Moon....the best Cubmaster of all time!

Here we are receiving his Bobcat award! I am one proud mom!
Daniel and his Cubmaster, Rusty Moon! We are so grateful for all his leaders who put so much time into cub scouting! I know how busy that calling is! Congratulations Daniel! We are so proud of you! This is the first of many awards through your years of scouting!

First Day of School!

There is nothing quite so exciting as the first day of school!

Our tradition is to take pictures by this school sign on the first and last day of school to see how much Rachel and Daniel have grown. I remember when Rachel was half that size in preschool! Now her head is almost touching the bottom part of the sign!

Here they are with new clothes, new shoes, new lunch boxes, new backpacks....all ready for a new year!

Being goofy!:)

Aren't they adorable?!

Daniel looking handsome as ever!

Rachel looking stylish and beautiful! I love this time of year! Especially because back to school means that Fall is coming very soon with cooler temperatures and falling leaves, etc! I know that Rachel will have a fabulous fifth grade year, and Daniel will love his third grade year. HAPPY BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!

Cub Scouts!

We have now entered the cub scouting world!!! Yea for Daniel! Doesn't he look great?!!!

Utah Trip - Part 5 - Misc.Pictures

This is the last post for our family trip to Utah. As you can tell, we had a lot of fun and took lots of pictures! Here are a few remaining pictures I wanted to blog; they are miscellaneous and random.
Here is some cabin fun with family! Aunt Marilyn, Rachel, Daniel and Mitchell. This was after Daniel's baptism when all of Sue's family congregated at the cabin for dinner and socializing together. Later that night, after everyone left, we got the cabin all to ourselves! We slept over and had a wonderful time enjoying the beauty of the mountains! We love it there!!!!

On Wednesday, July 29, we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple Open House. We went with Brian's parents and some of his siblings. It was so beautiful!!! What an awesome experience to take our children through this holy and peaceful place, and be able to explain some of the special things in the temple.

After going through the temple, there was a big, beautiful "tent" set up for refreshments, gathering together, socializing and answering questions. This picture of Christ was absolutely breathtaking!

Here we all are leaving the temple to go to our cars. I don't know why, but I love these pictures taken from behind.

The day before we left to come back home, I took Rachel and Daniel to visit my maternal grandparents grave site. I used to visit this often when I lived in Salt Lake. It is a very beautiful and peaceful cemetary. I enjoyed sharing this with Rachel and Daniel.

I am so grateful for the wonderful trip we had, and all the family and friends we were able to reconnect with. We feel very blessed as a family to have two homes...our home in Utah where all our loved ones are and family and friends live, and our home in Clovis where our home is now, which we love so much, as well as all our friends who have become like family.