I smile because we are family...

...I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it!

Since my parents and sister Kirsten, and my sister Lisa and her familiy were here for Tyler and Quintin's graduations, we took some time to take some family pictures. It's been a little while...4 years for my family. Our awesome niece Pene was so gracious to come and take them for us. We were missing my brothers and their families and were sad that they weren't able to make it. They plan on taking more pictures when they all get together this Summer for my grandma's 90th birthday.

 My Parents and Sisters

(L-R: Julie, Dad, Mom, Lisa, Me and Kirsten in front)

 With our Spouses

(L-R: Bob & Julie, Dad & Mom, Chris & I, Jordan & Lisa, and Kirsten)

All the Grandkids

(L-R: Back Row-Zachary, Lauren, Tyler & Brynnly; Middle Row-McKenna, Grandpa, Grandma, Quintin & Brooklynn; Front Row-Adelaide, Braxton, Ivy, Sinjin, LaRue & Matilda)

 The Whole Gang

 Our Family - May 2016

 Lauren - 16 years old

The one of the left was taken in April 2016. She hates it, but I love it!

 Brooklynn - 10 years old

McKenna - 13 years old & LaRue - 12 years old

(We didn't get one of just McKenna)

And, we didn't take any of Tyler because we had just taken his Senior Pictures. But just so he doesn't feel left out...here is the official yearbook picture.

Spring Break 2014!

First Day of School 2013-2014

And just like that, BAM!, summer is over and school has begun! School started on August 20th and because I had already started working, all the first day rituals and photography responsibilities fell to Chris.

Tyler started the 10th grade and is officially at the High School now. Unfortunately, this is also the year they decided to eliminate bus service. We tried to fight it but lost. Bummer.

Lauren is now an 8th grader and is so happy not to be a "Sevy" anymore. Luckily she still gets to ride a bus...which she really hates because everyone is sooo immature now! :0)

McKenna is a 5th grader and has Mr. Crandall. We are super excited because he is one of the best teachers EVER! Side Note - He has been teaching for 34 years and used to teach some of these kids parents!

 

Brooklynn is in the 2nd grade this year with Mrs. Almberg who is an amazing teacher and all of our kids have had her. After this year she can quit if she wants to. I'm out of kids!

And, it wasn't my first day at work but I guess I had to have a picture taken too...thanks a lot KT! This year I am working at the front desk at McKenna and Brooklynn's school. It's perfect and I love working there. I love our school and everyone I get to work with.

One thing I really do miss though now that I am working is my morning walks. I don't get to walk the girls to school and get my daily exercise in. I miss the socializing time with friends too. Roxy doesn't get walked either and she really misses it.

 

Our traditional shot with McKenna and her friends. 

 

(L-R: Morgan, Katelin & McKenna)

 

McKenna and Brooklynn.

Blessed, Honored Pioneers

 

Trek - where do I begin??!! What an AMAZING experience. It is just too hard to sum it up in words, but I'll do my best. Chris and I didn't have the Pioneer Trek experience growing up so when we had the opportunity to be a Ma & Pa on our Stake Youth Trek, we jumped at it. We were able to go along with both Tyler and Lauren. The trek was for youth 14 and older but if your parents were coming, you could come if you were 12 or 13, so Lauren was able to come too. 

We all had to dress in pioneer clothing, pack everything we'd need for 3 days (except bedding) into a 5 gallon bucket that weighed no more than 17 pounds, and walk around the wilderness pushing a handcart for nearly 20 miles. Sounds like fun, right? It was. 

Our Stake decided that they wanted the youth to have a more spiritual experience rather than focusing on the harsh physical conditions. Not to say that it was easy by any means, but it was easier than a lot of groups that go.

 

I heard of one group who actually had to catch their own wildlife for dinner! We were spoiled and the Stake cooked most of our meals for us or provided us meals to cook that were mostly done. We ate fantastic! They also had trucks that hauled all of our tents, bedding and cooking stuff from site to site so we didn't have to lug that around in our handcarts.

The weather was brutal, over 100 degrees most of the time or right around there. There was no shade or trees to be found anywhere and everything was covered in dust. The only shade to be had was under the handcart. There was so much dirt! I had visions of sleeping on nice, soft grassy park-like areas each night, but nope, literally dust bowls! We had so many great devotionals, talks, music and a fantastic fireside given by Brad Wilcox.

 

Each day we trekked anywhere from 4 to 8 miles, set up camp, tore down camp, had our meals, had devotionals and vignettes along the way, a hoe down, camp games, lots of visiting, shared pioneer stories and more.

 

 

 

Two of the highlights were the women's pull where all the men "left with the Mormon battalion" and the women were left to pull the handcarts on their own.

 

 

We had to pull them a 1/2 a mile in ankle deep dirt which was like flour. It was so hard. The conditions were so dusty that you couldn't see the group in front of you. We ate a ton of dust being kicked up by the carts. As we neared the end we could hear the men singing softly and it was so beautiful. We couldn't see them through the dust until we were right there but it was very touching to hear them singing. 

 

It was so hard on them to see us struggle so much. We were so relieved when it was over and our strong boys could take over pulling the handcarts again. The other highlight was the river crossing. We had to cross the river in thigh-high water. The boys could carry the girls across but ours didn't because all of our girls wanted to get wet since it was so hot. I think they were kind of disappointed. Again, it was a very spiritual experience.

 

 

 

 I feel very blessed to have been able to participate and hope the kids enjoyed it as much as we did. Tyler and Lauren both had a great time and did fantastic. Tyler was assigned a different family as they mixed up all the kids so that each family group had a variety of ages, wards and about 1/2 girls and 1/2 boys. Lauren was in our family because she was too young. I suspect they did that so that if they struggled or whined that their parents could deal with them. However, she did amazing and would have been fine anywhere. Oh, and on the 2nd day of the trek each family "lost" loved ones, just like during the real Treks. Our family lost Lauren. They got to ride ahead up to our next campsite and hang out, play games and have treats while we all trekked some more. Later that day they got to come back. It was just such a great experience and we totally want to go again next time.

Our Trek Family

 Our Trek Family - the Girls

Our ward kids

 

(L-R: Back - Spencer Miller, Rachel Albach, Tyler, Lauren, Bro. Crismon Lewis, Front - Constanza Cuello, Ryde Casper)

Tyler's Trek Family

 Tyler and his friends

(L-R: Landon Lawrence, Treadon Casper, Ryde Casper, Josh Buss, Spencer Miller & Tyler)

Lauren in her BFF - Kaylee Dial

Some lost Summer Pictures

I forgot about all the pictures I had on my phone and missed a few fun things we did this summer. Brooklynn took a Karate class and LOVED it!!

 

 

Lauren attended a Volleyball camp at the high school and absolutely LOVED it. She can't wait for volleyball season. She also had band camp during the month of June and is looking forward to playing the flute this year.

Um, I totally forgot that McKenna had a birthday way back in May. Oops! She turned 10 and we celebrated up in Malad with lots of family over Memorial day. She requested a "Hobbit" cake. She also got a real bow and arrow set that she had been wanting for a while...so she could be like Legolas from Lord of the Rings.

Tyler has been busy with football all summer long. I was at girls camp when they had their scrimmage but Chris said he did awesome! This video is of an interception he had. He is in blue and is the outside linebacker towards the top of the video.

Oh, and he finally got a haircut while I was gone!

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

Brooklynn and McKenna also took swimming lessons. They loved it and were sad that we only took one session.

Brooklynn (in the green skirt) above and pink goggles on her forehead below. She absolutely loved her teacher. She even wrote him a cute note telling him he was the best swim teacher ever!

McKenna is on the side just to the left of the lifeguard stand (in pink) getting ready to dive from a kneeling position. She really should have been at least another level higher because she was quite a bit more advanced than the rest of her class. My mistake. I just never know how much they will forget from year to year. McKenna is my little fish. Next year we'll do swim team for sure.

There has definitely been lots of other fun things going on but this covered some of the bigger things I forgot.