We've got spirit!

Yes we do...we've got spirit how 'bout you?
Racheal has been cheer leading this year for her middle school. She is constantly cheering no matter where we are...in the house, at the grocery store, in the car. Needless to say we've got spirit. She has really enjoyed it and is looking forward to next year. She was picked to perform a dance the cheerleaders learned from the high school cheerleaders, they will preform it this week in front of her school. Only 9 girls were picked out of all 3 grades.
Here she is before a basketball game.

Thanksgiving trip

We had a very nice trip to Washington for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to see everyone. The kids had a lot of fun playing with Uncle BJ's (Colby's brother) Wii games.
Here are Sarah and BJ playing a tennis match.

Racheal and Brady (my brother)playing Wii


We were able to spend some time with Brady on Thanksgiving day, he came over for dinner and spent a lot of time with the girls. They just love him so much, and they always ask me if he is moving to Idaho yet. I'm sad to say he is still happy in Washington and we have yet to convince him to move near us.


I had a chance to go out to breakfast with Shelly. (My other mom!) It was fun to catch up, when we get together it feels like we never spent any time apart. We just pick up right where we left off.

Colby's Grandma (and lots of other family) came down from Bellingham. He was grateful to see her and spend some time with her. Here is Colby with his brothers and sister, his Mom and his Grandma.


We had so much fun, the time flew by so quickly. But we are grateful for the time we spent with family and friends and are looking forward to our next trip.

First sign of winter and Girls Camp talk already

We had our first snow fall this morning. It snowed for maybe an hour, but it sure was pretty. We are leaving tomorrow morning for Washington to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with Colby's family. The snow should all be gone by then and I am sure we will have clear roads. So over the hills and through the woods we go. The kids are sooo excited, we pack tonight and leave in the morning. The kids have a half day of school tomorrow but we will miss it. As I remember, there is nothing important going on in school on a half day, especially right before a holiday.

On another note, I received an email letting me know that I finally have my 2 new assistants for girls camp. I turned the 2 names in way back in August, why does it have to take sooo long? Anyway, this will be my 4th year serving as the Stake Girls Camp Director and I can't wait to get started. We have our first meeting next week after Thanksgiving and I am ready to get planning! I joke with people that I feel like a party planner for a week long party for 160 people. We have so much fun and really enjoy watching the Young Women grow spiritually as well as build friendships. It really is the best and most challenging calling I have had all wrapped up in one.

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

What a helper!

Sarah's latest past time is to help with her cousins, we can't seem to keep her home. If she has any spare time she is already out the door before I can blink, heading over to Ashlee's house to play with Haylee and hold Ethan. She just finished up swimming lessons and she will probably take another class before spring soccer starts. I can't believe we are already thinking about spring soccer. I'll have to see if I have any soccer pictures of her, she scored every game this past season and would play the whole game. She played half as goalie (she only let 3 get past her all season) and then the other half as a forward so she could score her points. After she would score 4 then her coach would ask her not to score anymore but to work on her passing skills to let some of the other girls score. She really took on the role of team leader and enjoyed helping some of the younger girls score.
Here she is with Haylee (her cousin)

And here is little Ethan (her cousin)

A new cook in the house

Racheal has been so interested in cooking lately...she wants to change her name to Racheal Ray. (No kidding, she actually asked how to go about doing this) She even asked for Rachel Ray cookbooks for Christmas. What 12 year old asks for cookbooks for Christmas? So we made her own apron and she has been putting together a recipe book.
Here she is making ultimate cookies

Going in the oven

Warm cookies, yum!!!

Redecorating her room

Alissa picked to redecorate her room for a YW project and it turned out so cute. She already had the bedding which is a brown and pink quilt with polka dot sheets, so we went with that theme. She had Ashlee print her out some vinyl polka dots for her walls and some sayings. She covered a lamp shade and painted a frame for a mirror. We found some pillows for her window seat and recovered her window seat cushion. We found pink curtains and she sewed a strip of matching fabric onto the curtains. (Her first time sewing) We also recovered her bulletin board with matching fabric and brown ribbon. It was fun to do a project together and of course shop together.