Cousins

Cousins are great. When my sister decided to move to Arizona, I was so excited. She was 5 years old when I left home to go to college and had just turned 7 when I got married. We are 13 years apart in age. What a joy it has been to get to know eachother. What an even bigger surprise that we would have kids so close in age.

Megan and Jayden are just 9 months apart. I couldn't resist this picture. I hope they'll be good friends.

Volleyball

Katie made the 9th grade volleyball team. We were all so excited. Over 30 girls tried out for 12 spots. She learned so much and made great improvements throughout the year. They only lost one game in their league and came in 2nd place.

We threw her a little surprise party and Rachael made this amazing sign.

A volleyball cake pop.


Here are some pictures from a great season



Ally, a friend of ours, played volleyball at ASU

She came to support Katie and brought flowers

Aunt Helen

My Aunt Helen passed away unexpectedly at the age of 52. It's hard to believe I will never again hear her laughter at family gatherings. I was able to go to Southern California to attend her funeral at Forest Lawn of Hollywood Hills. I felt grief for my Uncle Dale. It was a beautiful day and the service was lovely. The tribute's paid to Helen by her friends and co-workers were amazing. My Uncle Dale spoke beautifully. It was nice to have lunch with my Grandma Shields and cousin David. We miss my Grandpa Shields terribly.

I made a slideshow of the day.

Primary talent show

Every year the primary organization at our church puts on a talent show. All kids age 3-11 are invited to participate. There are lots of great talents shared, from cooking to artwork to magic to telling jokes.

Anna played the piano. She teaches herself all kinds of songs by ear.

This was Megan's first year and I had no intention of having her do anything because I am lazy. But, the day before, she informed me that she was singing I am a Child of God for the talent show. She sure showed me. We sent Rachael up with her to help, but she didn't need it. She was a pro.
I guess we should have video taped it.

School Begins

Here are the first day of school pictures.



This is it for my boy. He is a senior in high school.
Katie is a freshman. She starts seminary this year.
Rachael is in 8th grade.

This is their last year together in Jr. High.

The carpool:Tara, Katie, Rachael and McKenna
Anna is in 3rd grade.
Anna giving our neighbor Livvy a big hug as she starts her first day of Kindergarten.

Our neighbor always has this great sign in her yard.



Courtney, Anna and Corrinne
Megan is so excited to be in her last year of preschool.
This year she gets to eat lunch at school.



Walking to the door all by herself. (Kind of, I'm right behind her)

At the door of the Scripture Stars preschool.

With her teacher, Miss Peggy.

Looks like it was a great day.

Back to School Dinner

I was so inspired by this post from my friend Stephanie (nie nie) that I decided to copy her. She posted this just days before she and her husband were in a horrific plane crash. In honor of her, here is our back to school feast.
We chose this theme for our school year.
Here is our table. Orson could not make it home from work, so we had one placesetting missing.
Our menu consisted of:
Grilled chicken
Green beans
Speghetti squash with marinara


Our table is ready.
Look at these great kids. I am so proud.

Girls Camp

Katie and Rachael went to Girls Camp a few weeks before school started. I did not get to go with them for the first time because I am not working in Young Women's anymore. It was hard for me, but I know they had fun.

Katie is the queen of the self photo. Here she is with just about everyone:










Rachael is following in her footsteps.

Our Stake theme was:
Each ward represented a different musical and we had Hairspray. They had cute T-shirts.

Katie got to repel this year. What a great experience.