Sarah's Ballet

Here is Sarah in her first ballet recital, "Scenes from the Nutcracker". She was absolutely adorable! She has loved ballet! She was very nervous about performing onstage... I suppose with good reason as there were over a thousand people in the auditorium. However, she absolutely loved it, and was just glowing during the performance. It was a fun experience for our whole family.

Ben's Baptism

This is one of those priceless moments that fills my heart with joy and gratitude for family and the gift of the gospel! Ben was baptized in December a week and a half before Christmas. He was so excited! His sweet light filled the room as he was baptized. The spirit was so strong watching this sweet boy who was so very enthusiastic about his baptism. I am so eternally grateful to have Ben in our family! He is such a precious boy and a good example for all who know him. I love my Benjamin!!! I am proud of the fine young man he is becoming!

Jason's Baby

At the beginning of the school year, Jason's schedule was not ready. We had to scramble to get him enrolled in his classes. In talking through options with the counselor, we expressed a desire to get him in classes where he would receive high school credit. Many classes were full, but she recommended "Principles of Human Services". We didn't know much about it, but he decided to give it a try to get the high school credit. Little did we know, this class was a jazzed up version of the "Home-Ec" class I took in middle school/high school. It was almost all girls! This was one of their big projects. They had to take care of a "baby" for a day. Jason had to feed it, rock it, change its diaper, hold it... It was an eye opening experience for him...and for me! Now I have a taste of what it will be like to be a grandma. Here, I have had 8 babies of my own (real ones I might add) and Jason was not about to let me or anyone else touch his baby. He was like a lion defending his cub. I couldn't tell if it was the paternal instinct coming out, the strict grading criteria, or the $850 price tag to replace the baby if anything happened to it.

Ben's Birthday

This year Ben's birthday was on Thanksgiving. Boy, did we have a lot to be thankful for!! Ben is a delight to have in our family! He is so full of life, fun, and ENERGY! We made him a candy cake for his birthday this year. He was a little excited!

Court of Honor

Here is Keith receiving his Life advancement in scouts. I am so proud of him! He has put a lot of work into earning this award!

Halloween

We had a great evening going trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. The forecast was for rain, but the weather ended up being perfect!

Pumpkin Patch and Puppies

It is time to begin the task of catching up on my blog. Last October I took Rebecca and the little ones to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. It was a beautiful day! We had a great time exploring, riding on the hayride, playing on bounce houses and slides, and being together!

Here are a few of our puppies just before we sold them. Shortly after selling the puppies, we decided to sell our female poodles as well.  They were sure fun, but a lot of work!  With the adoption still in the works, we decided it would be best to start simplifying things.

Here is Keith counting all of the money they made from selling the puppies. Both boys were able to earn enough to cover the cost of a little over half of their mission expenses!