Eve's Donkey Kong Hip Hop

Eve is the tallest blonde on the right of the back row, then ends in the center of the front row. Funky!

Eve's Dance

Eve begins the dance in the front row fourth from right in the pink dress. She is the shortest babe in the pick dress.



Eve also has a Hip Hop Dance we are trying to upload but we are having problems. We will get that on the blog as soon as we can.

Emma's dance

Emma begins the dance in the front row, second from right. Skip to the 2:00 minutes mark.

Hyrum's Dance

Sour Kangaroo Snippet

Eve: The Sour Kangaroo

In December, Eve's teacher announced that the 3rd grade would do
"Suessical the Musical" in June.

Since then, Eve spoke of nothing else.

She had big dreams to be the "Sour Kangaroo"

She started practicing....and practicing....and dreaming....and practicing...
and finally, the cast list came out.... Eve is the Sour Kangaroo....with an attitude!
(Mari got to be the baby elephant-bird understudy)

Sour Kangaroo and her baby were absolutely delightful! The audience cheered...and Eve has her own fan club among the grades at school (my favorite comment from her peers: "Wow Eve, I didn't know you could sing!). Thank you Aunt Carrie for coaching her singing. Thank you for Grandma Charlene for teaching me how to sew (all those years ago!) We are so proud of Eve for setting her goal and achieving it! Eve, you can do anything!

p.s. Eve plays the piano too! She did a beautiful job at her class talent show!

Family Reunion

Wonderful Carrie organized a family reunion. Although our numbers were small, our fun was huge!

Carri's Family, Ben's Family, Jeshua's Family

Dean, Carrie, Tiffany, Ben, Brooke, Jeshua

We had so much fun being together and getting to know each other. It was a weekend well-spent! Thank you Carrie!

We went to the Weiser Fiddle Festival.

There were fun things to see and do...especially if you are into that sort of thing. (Everyone who knows us, knows that we are hillbillys at heart)

Music and jam sessions everywhere.

The music was amazing!

We were all inspired to go home and practice. We wish we would've brought our instruments to try out some of the things we heard.

Cool entrance stamp!

We must come again! Next time we'll bring our instruments and Dad and Nate so we can have our own jam session.
(We will have to claim out our own street corner well in advance because they fill up fast)

We also went to the downtown Farmer's Market. (Aunt Margie met us there...it was great to spend time with her). While we were at the Farmer's Market, Ben, Dean, Dave, and Ethan went golfing.


Music and dancing and crafts and food!

We ate some delicious homemade donuts and root beer, bread sticks and maple cookies.

Erik and Hyum were inseparable the whole weekend. Thanks Erik for being such a good cousin!

The cousins all had a great time together...

Ethan, Emma, Erik, Eve, Hyrum, Lauren, Christian, Mari, Collin

Other highlights of the weekend: "Cars 2" movie with Jeshua's family and flying popcorn, fantastic Carrie food, "Just Dance" for Wii marathon, swimming in Carrie's pool, Thai Restaurant with Carrie and Dean while the cousins had a pizza and movie night, shopping at WinCo to stock up on our favorite cereal (Raisin Bran Crunch...seriously, they had an amazing sale so we bought 9 boxes to take home with us), a tour of Boise and a beautiful cemetery.
Would we do this again?

You bet!

Hyrum the Wrestler

This winter, Hyrum wanted to try his skill at wrestling. His first wrestling practice was hilarious! He came in ready to take on the world. He started talking 'smack' with everyone around him (including the coach): "I can beat you!" "I can beat that kid!" "I can pin everyone!"

His coach took him aside and explained that everyone here is on the same team and we all work together to help each other get better.

Hyrum still thought he was tuff stuff and kept trying to pair up with kids twice his size.

Finally, after weeks of practicing he had his first meet. The kids were matched according to size. Hyrum's style was to make friends with the kid he was matched with and then....pow...pinned!
Hyrum won both matches.

The best thing he learned from this wrestling experience was how to be a good sport. Now, no matter what game/sport/activity he participates in, he always offers his hand, shakes, and says:
"Good Match!"

Georgia Trip

We decided to get the kids carry-on luggage for Christmas (along with announcing our trip to Georgia).

They were all very excited. I'm sure we were quite the sight at the airport. Actually, I've never felt like we had a lot of kids until we stepped off the plane in Florida. People seemed to stare. We could see them counting in their heads: one, two, three, four "Are they all yours?"
I wonder what the reaction is for people with more than 4 kids....

The flight was really fun. Each kid had their backpack full of fun things to do (they had packed and unpacked their backpacks for 1 month prior in anticipation of this exciting event). Hyrum, who still dreams of being a pilot was thrilled to meet our pilot. He had many questions about the airplane and wanted the scientific explanation for things. (Before this trip he announced to his kindergarten teacher that he didn't want to be an astronaut anymore because he found out the Black Holes were real...now he just wants to be a pilot)

St Augustine, Florida was an amazing place. "The Oldest City in America". We took tours of the historic sites (Emma and Eve loved the history!) We have a greater appreciation for real pirates and early settlers of the United States. We found out that Ponce de Leon was only 4' 9" (as tall as Eve). Height doesn't determine a great leader (Napoleon and others)

This fort 'Castillo de San Marcos' is more than 400 years old.

The walls were made with rocks made of tiny sea shells. It was remarkable!

Ben captured my amazement of the lighthouse
He thought it was a funny picture.

Hyrum ran all the way to the top of the light house without stopping (13 flights of stairs). I tried to catch him because I didn't know what was at the top...was it safe for a 6 year old boy to be up there alone? I should've known that there would be a guide at the top to help him not to do something foolish.

In St. Augustine we saw old cemeteries, the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, and a Pirate Museum where the kids got to fire real cannons, listen to pirate stories (Eve and Mari chickened out half way through the story), took a tour on a red train around the city. We really wanted to take a Ghost Tour at night, but Hyrum was too freaked out by the oddities he saw at the Ripley's Museum that he was shaking and frozen in fear. We were so surprised at Hyrum's reaction that right away we sent Christie a text to find out if the Ghost Tours would indeed be too much for him. Christie sent us a text back (I'm sure she was laughing) saying that next time we go, he needs to go with her boys so he will be brave enough...she said he's been around girls too long. Hear hear!

Finally, the purpose of our trip. Visiting with our beloved Grandmother!

Grandmother made sure she had all of our favorite treats: Peanut M&M's for me, Peanut Brittle for Ben.

A visit to the Homecoming restaurant was a must: Fried Catfish, Grits, and Slaw

Georgia was beautiful!

We loved looking at Grandmother's scrapbooks and hearing stories.

Our Happy Driver. Thank you Ben!

Here is the famous Magnolia tree in Moultrie. We learned that it was planted in 1860.

Uncle Butch and Aunt Edris were very good to us. We enjoyed spending time with them!

Uncle Butch showed us his cool catfish pond! We fed the fish!

We helped Grandmother in her yard...always a pleasure, truly!

Aunt Edris surprised the girls with a shopping trip to buy HATS!

Uncle Butch took Hyrum and Ben to Hyrum's favorite place: Taco Bell

He had many fun things for Hyrum to look at.

One of the most relaxing parts of the trips was spending time on Grandmothers Deck.

Grandmother was always up for a game...and a table full of treats.

We visited Grandfather and Brenda's grave.

We are very proud of our Grandparents for helping to establish the Church in southern Georgia.
This is the church that Grandfather helped to build.

We were special guests in Grandmothers primary class (teaching Emma's age). Grandmother is a very good teacher. Eve and Hyrum went to their own classes. Mari went to nursery. Emma loved going to Young Women's in Georgia. We loved being there for Testimony Meeting. Ben and Emma bore their testimonies. Emma commented that no matter where in the world you go, there is always a family of saints in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have a home where ever we go!