And They're Off!

She's off to college now. This year she has a car to drive and Cari is very happy about that, though it meant learning how to drive a stick shift.

Cameron "took off" with the lawn mower the other night. Now that Trevon is gone, he has a lot more responsibility around our home. He did a great job! Way to go Cameron!

Elise's Birthday

Elise requested breakfast in bed. At 7:30a.m. Corban helped deliver a tray of pancakes, hash browns, strawberry yogurt, and a bowl of fruit. She was happy and Corban now has hopes for some breakfast in bed on his birthday.

Because it was her birthday, she took some mini blueberry muffins to school to share with her classmates.
We had her favorite thing for dinner: lasagna! Then, we went to a Scout Pack Meeting where lots of games were played with an Olympic theme. Elise and Corban were given 2nd and 3rd place medals for their participation.

 

 

 

 

 We celebrated with some white cake and presents after we got home from our pack meeting fun.

 

 She enjoyed her gifts and the cards sent from her grandparents.

 She was surprised to get a camera that has games on it and takes both pictures and video.WOW!

THANK YOU!

Eight is a very special birthday year. Elise is now old enough to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is excited for her upcoming baptism on September 8th. We gave her a birthday party to help her celebrate this super special time in her life.

She chose her party theme to be a trip around the world:

She invited 5 friends to her party: Emilie Holland, Jessica Holland, Ambrie Bettridge, Jacqui Stewart, and Hadley Clayton. 

When they arrived they were each given a passport with different countries listed throughout its pages.

As we "traveled" to the various countries listed in the passport, they were able to stamp them with a sticker relating to the activity we did. 

 

We somehow skipped over going to England (playing London Bridge) - but other than that, the party went as follows:

CANADA - as they gathered they were given a picture search/color sheet about Canada to work on (and I took photos for their passports); ENGLAND - play London Bridge; ITALY - we made little pizzas;

 EGYPT - we divided into two teams and had a contest of making a teammate into a live mummy using toilet paper; 

 

 SPAIN - took us outside to play a fun game of Four Corners; FRANCE - was where we decorated some Pineapple-Zucchini muffins with frosting and toppings; 

 

MEXICO - took us to a funky chicken pinata! 

 

 

Inside the pinata we found a clue that took us to AFRICA - sent us on a scavenger hunt Safari that led to the opening of gifts; 

 

 

 

INDIA - we played a tag game where we were cheetahs and cheetals; CHINA - was where we played the Dragon Catch-Tail game; JAPAN - introduced us to a Japanese girl (Sae) who showed us the art of origami and spoke to us in Japanese; DENMARK - was our last destination and we played a Capturing Chains tag game. Whew! It was a fast moving party, but very fun. The BEST part is that I didn't spend an extra dime on it - I was able to use what I had at home to make everything, including the pinata. At the end of the party the kids were given some home-made caramel corn in gift baggies for a favor along with their passports. It was GREAT! Most important, everyone had fun, especially our birthday girl Elise!

First Day of School

Somehow Sadie escaped the first day photo, but here is a before and after picture of the first school day. Cameron and Elise pose before school:

Kristi right after school:

It is going to be a GREAT year!

Trevon Leaves the Nest

This past Monday we threw Trevon a surprise party for his birthday (which is tomorrow).

We made him a yummy carrot cake from scratch, decorated the house, shared a few gifts with him (including TEXTING for his phone), and had a BBQ. This was the day Sae came to stay with us too.

On Wednesday he headed to Orem, where he will be going to college. We said our good-byes:

Trevon is in the honors program at Utah Valley University and was blessed to get an honors housing scholarship as well. He shares an apartment with two guys (at the moment), Brick and Josh, and has his own bedroom. Mike went up north with him to help him get settled, but Trevon had everything figured out and Mike was more of a tag along! Here are a few photos of his apartment and room:

 Mike's brother owns a pizza restaurant in Provo and Trevon has already started working there. He has enjoyed it so far, with some of his co-workers attending BYU. On Thursday night, they were pleasantly surprised to visit with Mike's cousins who were in town for Education Week at BYU. They met at SLAB Pizza and had a GREAT visit together.

It is hard to believe that the time has come for Trevon to leave home. He has been so excited about being on his own; grown-up and self-sufficient. We are so pleased with the young man he has grown into and look forward to watching the rest of his life unfold. WE LOVE and MISS YOU TREVON!

Sae

We are happy to introduce our exchange student Sae (pronounced "sigh") Mitsuke, from Fukui Japan. She doesn't speak much English, but we are able to communicate fine and have enjoyed getting to know her. She has an older and a younger brother and lives in an apartment. She is thirteen and likes pizza and music. She also likes strawberries and chocolate cake. She can play the piano. Her favorite colors are pink and yellow. She will be with us for two weeks, spending most of her days going on field trips and English classes.