Friends that last a lifetime

There was a time when I considered these beautiful women to be my mothers friends. That was until one day it dawned on me that they were also my friends. What a blessing these women have been in my life. It has gotten to the point with them that I can't remember a time without them in my life. We get togther once a month and exchange homemade cards and work on a preparded project created usally by Trudy. And Trudy thank you for all of the work you put into our fun projects.
This picture is taken of our group in thee Heber mountains where we got together for some amazing projects, conversation, & friendship.

Thanks to Grandma Alicia

What a fun day for us! The fall weather has been fabulous this year and today was no exception. Grandma Alicia invited us to A Pumpkin Patch in Farmington and wanted to buy each of the grandkids a pumpkin. We started out by running through a hay maze. Then we grabbed carts to walk through the pumpkins and make our choices.
It was no easy feet as there were A LOT of choices and some of the funnest pumpkins I have every seen. After we finished making our choices, it was picture time. As you will see I don't think I ever captured the perfect picture, but the kids sure look cute. Finally it was time for the kids to run through the corn maze. They made it through in record time and they all earned a prize for finding each of the markers that lead them through the maze.

Family Photos

The dreaded family photos turned out to be a pretty nice experience. It is so nice to see that in a picture we can appear to really love eachother! Okay we do! Sometimes it just takes a little extra effort.
We had a lot of fun this day. A good friend of ours took our picture, Jill Greenlaw. She did a great job, don't you think! Thanks Jill.

Boys Week-end

Chilcote Boys Week-end

There has been a yearly tradtion for sometime now that the Chilcote boys and their sons go camping for a week-end. It is a tradtion that my sons look forward to every year. And as a mother I have so thrilled to see them enjoy in that time with not only their dad but their Grandpa, Uncles, & cousins!

This year was a little bit differnet. As luck would have it the yearly retreat was held at the MacKay family cabin. Jonathan, due to football weigh-ins, was unable to go up with his dad & brothers on Firday and was disappointed to be missing out. So, I agreed to drive him to the cabin so he could be there also. Rather than turn around to come home, Lane and I had decided to extend the trip to the cabin and make it our last family vacation before school began. Giving me a full day with the special boys/men in my life.

I have such a great love and admiration for my dad and brothers. So it was such a meaningful experience to be with them. It was time well spent and who knows, maybe I will be going every year in the future! tee hee hee

First Day of School

All of my kids started school on the same day this year! That was a little weird. I took this picture as the were getting ready to walk out the door to catch their ride to school. I sure think they look cute in their uniforms. And I love that even the preschool kids wear uniforms too. Nathan embarks on a new adventure this year as he started Junior High. He will be on an 8 period schedule with A & B days.

Truthfully, I sent my kids out the door with feelings of anticipation & anxiety. Is that possible? I am so excited to be back to a schedule and nervous about the homework and ability to meet all the demands that being on a schedule brings!

Happy Birthday Nathan

Two fabulous events take place on this date, August 8th. The first is my anniversary of 16 years. And second is the birth date of my oldest child, Nathan Lane. He celebrated his 13th birthday today. It seems that no matter how we try to plan it one of those events somehow gets over shadowed by the other. This year we figured out a way to give equal attention to both (I hope).

The day began early with a birthday party/breakfast for Nathan 10 of his friends. After loads of sugar from breakfast we sent the kids outside for water games. After an hour of that, we came in the house so Alyssa could hide Nathan's gifts for a scavenger hunt. While we were in the house we let each of the friends tell something they liked about Nathan or something embarrassing they wanted to share. It was fun and we learned some things we didn't know! Then Nathan took his turn to tell what he liked about each of his friends.

Everyone had a good time and Nathan was spoiled with gifts by his friends. A tradition that we have had for sometime is a sleepover with Rylee Chilcote on the weekend of Nathan's birthday. Rylee is an awesome kids and we look forward to this yearly tradition.

13 things I love about Nathan

(these are not in any special order)

1. He has a HUGE heart. He seems to always be looking out for others, especially his family.

2. He loves the gospel! He loves to read scriptures as a family and is always full of questions.

3. He is SUPER creative. I guess that is why he loves the Marvel characters so much! Because he is SUPER too!

4. He is a great cook! He is always so willing to give me a helping hand in the kitchen!

5. He is a great Deacon. It makes me so happy to see him play such an important role in the church as he upholds his priesthood responsibilities.

6. He is my friend. Nathan is not afraid to talk to me. I am so thankful for the close relationship we share.

7. He is an awesome "BIG" brother. Being the first born brings a lot of added responsibilities. Nathan's best friends are his family. He does a great job of looking out for his siblings and being their friend.

8. He is amazing at drawing. He loves to draw and takes pen and paper almost everywhere we go.

9. He is still tells me he loves me and gives me a hug every day, even in front of his friends!

10. He loves to read scripture as a family and he is very a tuned to the our discussions. He asks great questions and I can tell it really interest him.

11. He makes the best out of any situation. (Which makes it almost impossible to punish him, grr).

12. Nathan is very fun to be around. He has a great sense of humor and is very enjoyable to be with.

13. Even though it is sometimes inconvenient to have Nathan's birthday on my anniversary, on the day he was born and every year since then, he continues to be one of the very best anniversary gifts a girl could ask for. (Just don't tell Lane because I love the gifts he gives me too).