Krista & Alex's Wedding

December 29, 2009

Nauvoo, IL

Krista & Alex

Engagement Photos

The most beautiful time of year

I love fall.

I don't think I appreciated it before we moved to the Midwest.

I think I love it more now because I know what is coming next.

Scarecrow Day at the First Grade

Emma's new Room

Twelve year-old Emma was really anxious to get rid of her "Little Girl Bedroom". New paint, bedspread, window treatments, bed and pink accessories have given her the teen bedroom she wanted. It was a fun project to do.

Kip at High Adventure

Kip spent a week in August at Stake High Adventure Camp in Wisconsin. They did a lot of leadership training and had some great activities. Kip enjoyed wall climbing and brought home a new outdoor game for us--Koob.

Marching Band

September is a busy month because of Marching Band. This year both Emma and Abby are in color guard for their school bands. Abby is co-captain for her squad and is very polished. She has worked hard to perfect the rifle. These pictures are from the Bolingbrook parade.

New School Year

Quinn is off to 1st Grade. He is excited for the new year and it will be a big change for me not to have anyone home during the day. Abby is a senior this year and Emma is in 7th grade.

It's going to be a great year.

California Trip

August 15th- 22nd, 2009

A GREAT Vacation.

It began in Sacramento:

-visit with fabulous friends

-massive rental car-- "The Tank"

-Train Museum

-good food

-Young Adult activities for Abby

-an evening at the Sacramento Temple

-a day at the water park

-honey walnut prawns at Frank Fat's

-Jelly Belly Factory tour

Then we traveled to Oakland:

-visit with more great friends

- more Good Food

-lots of laughs

-The explorarium and the Tactile Dome

-Oakland A's baseball game

-Walking & Shopping in Berkley

-Oakland Temple

-Muir Woods & hiking at Mt. Tam

-The beach

-Chinatown, Cable Car Museum, Art Museum & Golden Gate bridge

- Oakland flea Market

Blueberries

We are all set for a year of "Blueberry Buckle"! Emma, Quinn and I spent a morning at the blueberry farm and picked 14 lbs. of very sweet blueberries. Yum.

Girl's Camp

I went to camp this year as Craft Leader. We had a great time with the vinyl cutter. I also did fun projects with wire and mod podge. Plus, SHRINKY DINKS. My staff and I did over 100 of these value boards plus 110 quote boards. Great fun! (and much better than last year's assignment in the kitchen) Looking forward to crafts next year.

Emma's first year at camp. Lots of new friends and experiences.

Abby's 6th year at camp. She is an experienced Youth Leader

and has a talent working with the younger girls

Abby in Utah

Abby spent a week in Utah with Krista. They visited Bob & Mary and Abby spent the night with her friend, Brooks. Then they went to Monticello for the 24th of July. A fun trip to the lake, a parade, good food, a stop at Arches National Park and lots of family were the highlights.

John Deere

Quinn LOVES John Deere tractors. He has informed us that he wants to be a John Deere driver when he grows up. There is a fantastic museum at John Deere headquarters in Moline, IL and we had a memorable summer get away there in July. Quinn got to sit in a dozen tractors -combines - gators and we rode our bikes along the Mississippi River. The local museum and IMax theater were great. We also enjoyed a minor league baseball game (well, at least until it was cancelled because of a huge thunderstorm.)

Kip's Travels

Great picture. Kip sleeping at an airport with a "big, boring book" on his chest. Very typical.
Kip spent two weeks on the road this month. The first week was in Perth, Australia where he experienced an Australia "winter". Then it was off to Mumbia & Pune, India. Lots of interesting new experiences, food, people & even an adventure attending church. This trip included stops in Tokyo and Singapore. He returned tired but pleased with the work.

What happened in June?

-School finally let out on June 9th. We had a lot of snow days this year.

-Quinn finished Kindergarten and is looking forward to 1st grade (and eating lunch at school)

-Emma ended the year on a high note--Straight A's. She was also promoted to the next higher choir in YNS singing group.

-Abby-- BRACES OFF, finally. She has a new hair color and new glasses. Cute girl.

-Youth Conference. With Kip serving as Stake YM president and Abby on the youth committee for the conference we were very involved this year. It was a successful day--great speakers, activities and friends. Don't forget the AMAZING food (yeah, I was drafted to do the food for 130 people.) It went well. I think our favorite thing was the make-your-own Ice Cream Sandwiches. Very fun.

-Kip's International Travels

-Abby to EFY in Bloomington, IN, including a trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum for Quinn, Emma and I.

Abby's piano recital

Abby and her friend Jenny at their piano recital.

They both played beautifully.

Emma learns to crochet

The young women had a lesson on crocheting. Emma started a project on Wednesday and by Thursday it was a long, skinny something (a blanket for a snake?), by Friday she had added on to it and closed it into a circle (a lampshade?) By Saturday she decided to add some straps and a bow and make it a dress for a teddy bear.

Wow! She certainly has a gift for learning quickly and for being creative.

Tulips--the bad and the good

So, last fall I planted bulbs. I thought I would plant a few in a pot and force them to bloom early. The only thing is--I forgot about them. They started to grow out from under their cover and look like alien creatures. Not a pretty sight.
But, the bulbs in the garden have been beautiful and so fun to look at from our kitchen table.

Quinn's Birthday

Our Lego loving Boy turned 6 years old and we celebrated by going to Legoland with his friend Nate who also turned 6 this spring. Sweet Boy.

Spring Break Trip to Florida

Things we loved about our family vacation:

#1 The Hyatt Grand Cypress in Orlando.

-Huge swimming pools, water slides, hot tubs

-Outdoor activities: biking, golfing, paddle boats, rock climbing

-The Hyatt Regency club: Free Breakfast & Dinner. What a time & money saver!

- Newly remodeled room with a beautiful view. We were the first guests to stay in the room.

#2 Magic Kingdom

We started the day early and hit all the "must do" rides (Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh, etc.) then returned to the hotel for naps and a movie. After an early dinner we were back at the park about 7 pm and found the lines much smaller. We couldn't believe it but we didn't leave the park until almost 1 a.m. Abby even got to see her High School band perform. The highlight of the evening was Quinn getting to drive the boat on the Safari Cruise and they even gave him a "driver's license" to bring home.

#3 Epcot

-Soarin' was amazing (and worth the marriage testing argument we had over getting the fast pass tickets).

-Abby loved the British Invasion band. Quinn's favorite was the Kim Impossible mystery that he solved using a cool cell phone. He loved it so much that asked to do it in three different countries. The Japanese drummers were Kip's favorite. Emma enjoyed the ride in the "golf ball" that used cool photos and computer technology. A great day!

#4 Kip and the Mouse Ears

-He was a great sport and let Abby take his picture with every Mickey hat we saw. The slide show made us laugh so hard we hurt!

#5 LEGOLAND

Quinn was in heaven with all the Lego models. We had a good time picking out his cup of assorted parts and a lego tractor set.

#6 The Orlando Temple

#7 Great time together.