BALLROOM Dancing

Just a quick short post...(I can't believe it's been this long!!). Brandon and Sarah competed in ballroom dancing this weekend - for the first time they were able to be partners. They came home with 6 ribbons each - placing in 6 out of 10 entries. We are so proud of them!! I'll post pictures later.

Apostle, Dallin H. Oaks, comes to BYU-Idaho

Last week, President Dallin H. Oaks, one of the twelve apostles of our church, came to speak for our devotional on campus at BYU-Idaho where I work. It was a very interesting and quite sobering. For those of you who are not familiar with him - before he was called as an apostle, he received a law degree and has even served on the Utah Supreme Court in years past. He is very knowledgeable about our government and laws.

Family Reunion 2009

"When sisters travel cross country, you need more bars in more places!!"

"Bubba" (6-Erin's), Matthew (4-Marci's), Breklynn (5-Hillary's), Hayden (4-Erin's), Taycen (3-Hillary's), Brielle (2-Marci's), Mary (2-Shirley's), Lexi (1-Hillary's), and Wyatt (3 months-Erin's). Hillary and Erin are holding up their youngest - I'm sure the 2 teenage girls were busy packing out luggage! :)

The end of June, I decided to go on a road trip with 3 of my sisters: Shirley, Erin, and Hillary and some of our kids...eleven to be exact! The fifteen of us drove to Missouri in 2 minivans for three days; stayed three days; and then drove back for three days. It was a ONCE IN A LIFETIME TRIP!! We had 2 teenage girls: Taylor (18) and Sarah (13) ; Marc (6); Breklynn (5); 2 four-year old boys: Hayden and Matthew; Taycen (3); 2 two-year old girls: Mary and Brielle; and two babies: Lexie and Wyatt!! In case you weren't counting that's 4 in diapers and 1 in pull-ups.

I found Brielle's TWIN!!

Brielle -1

Enna - 2 w/ her Grandma Barbara

Back of Brielle's Head w/ the beautiful curls!!


Top of Enna's Head w/ her beautiful curls!!

Both girl's birthdays are in September.

Brielle is perplexed...wondering if she is looking in a mirror!?!

Both girls are tall for their age.

Enna will be 3 mid-September and Brielle will be 2 the end of September.

There is actually no blood relation between these two girls...Enna is a daughter to my cousin Barbara's (in pic) step-son. (My Aunt Marci, my namesake, is behind the girls)

More T-Ball

T-Ball

Matthew played T-ball this year for the first time. We signed him up with the city league...he isn't quite old enough (just turning 4) but we snuck him in anyway since Uncle Corey was willing to coach him.

The first day proved to be the challenge - he kept running around where he shouldn't be and when they tried to get him to run the bases he just layed on the ground at second base!! Case in point that you should wait until your kids are old enough to be on the team!! :) We enjoyed watching him learn and Brandon was a GREAT help. I don't think he would have lasted without Brandon's help. BIG BROTHERS ARE AWESOME!!

The SCARE of my Life!!

This morning I left the house about 6:40 am to get Brandon to the high school at 7:00to leave for Band Camp (as far as I knew; the other kids were sleeping). I received a call from Brandon about 8:00 telling me he had forgotten his swim trunks (and allergy/asthma meds!); so all morning I was trying to get prescriptions filled and calling Sarah to "find" his trunks at home! About 10:00 I received a call on my cell phone from an unknown number. When I answered I learned that I was talking to a guy from the Health and Welfare office in Twin Falls, Idaho. He said they had picked up a little boy about 5 years-old by the name of Matthew Nite that was wandering the streets of Twin Falls at 6:45 this morning!!

At this point, I was panick-stricken!! He asked where I worked and could he come and have me identify the boy in pictures...and did I know where my son was. When I explained that my daughter, Sarah, was at home with him while I was working, he confirmed that Matthew had identified that he had a sister named Sarah; and another named, "Briella". I was just SICK to my stomach...but kept thinking "at least he's safe with the authorities" and "How the HECK did he end up in Twin Falls!?!". The guy asked me to call home and confirm if he was there or not.

I called Sarah and she didn't know where he was, but said he was "probably at Erin's house". She said she had seen him that morning in the bathroom about 8:00 or 9:00 (the panic began to ease some at this point because I knew it took longer to drive to Twin Falls than an hour). She walked to Erin's and was able to find him safely there!

As I was returning the guy's phone call, part of me was expecting him not to answer, and I thought maybe somebody was playing a CRUEL, SICK JOKE! He did answer and apologized for giving me ANXIETY!! Being the worrier that I am...I was still worried about giving all this info to a stranger: where I work, who watches the kids, their names, etc. About 11:00, I called our neighbor, who is a police officer, and had him verify the story for me.

Indeed, there was a boy found wandering the streets this morning...they had since found the mother, who's last name is different; and reunited him with his family. He does have a sister named Sarah, but he had misprounounced the other sister's name. When they pulled up information in the system, they "thought" he might have been saying "Briella". They had called my house and talked to Sarah, questioning her about a "Matthew" living there; and if he was visiting "Grandma, in Twin Falls". She gave them my cell number to call me (which was another question I had running through my head when he was talking to me).

Needless to say, I AM SO RELIEVED THAT MY KIDS ARE SAFE!!!! It's been a CRAZY day!

Eagle Scout Court of Honor

She's officially LOST her MIND...

Sarah is finally a teenager...she turned 13 on Saturday!! We can safely say without any error that she now has no brains!! :) Just kidding of course. Sarah and Brandon (who turned 15 on Friday) enjoyed a day at Lagoon (our closest amusement park - in Utah) last week to celebrate their birthdays. Brandon camped out in the backyard on Friday night with Matthew; and Sarah and I enjoyed an evening of shopping in Idaho Falls (with Brielle) for her birthday. She will have a bunch of girlfriends over on Friday night this week to celebrate with them. It's hard to believe how quickly they grow up!! I'm glad we have Matthew and Brielle to enjoy it a little bit longer.

Eagle Scout Court of Honor

We had Brandon's Court of Honor last weekend. He is officially an Eagle Scout!! I had camera problems and had to have my mom take my pics so I will try to post them soon.

Scholarships, Eagle Scout, and Track

Kayla was offered a RENEWABLE scholarship to Idaho State University this fall!!! We are working on setting up her housing and scheduling her for classes; she starts on August 25.

Brandon officially had his Eagle Scout Board of Review on March 24 (the same day Erin had her SURPRISE baby (6th boy, instead of the girl the doc had predicted)! We are waiting to get our letter back from Nationals and will then hold his Court of Honor!

Sarah is in track for the first time this Spring. I think she will be throwing the discus. She can't make her first meet today, but will have one next week. So far, she is enjoying it!

Popcorn, Popcorn, Popcorn!!!

Brandon is in the process of selling popcorn to raise money for his National Boyscout Jamboree trip next summer. We would appreciate anyone who would be interested in purchasing some from him. REMEMBER: It's for a good cause! :) Log onto www.orderpopcorn.com and use the order key TEWHPT9 (Troop 472). Brandon will receive 40% of his sales and if he can sell $500 worth, he will receive 6% toward a college scholarship or his mission fund. We would appreciate any support we can get and hope to be sending individual emails to everyone with the link as well. Thanks everyone!

Another Youth Gone

Well we have lost another young boy in our neighborhood...this one was not such a shock, but is still sad. Brayden Pittsenbarger, 15, died on April 1 last week of cystic fibrosis. He was in Brandon's teacher's quorum, same grade, and they were even on the same ballroom dance team up until he had to quit dancing (due to his health) a couple of years ago. Braydon was a wonderful guy who lived life to it's fullest. He was always smiling and never let his disease stop him from trying anything. He always had a good attitude and endured much in his short life. He will be missed by many. Thanks Barbara and Dave for having such a wonderful son!

Thoughts of Trevor

We had a tragic loss in our neighborhood, church, and school this week. One of Kayla's friends, Trevor Walker (18- a senior in high school), was killed in a car accident on his way to school on Monday morning. Trevor was an exceptional guy - very talented in music (voice and violin), friends with everyone, great student, always trying to better himself, and was very active at church - always happy to help where he could and preparing to be an Elder at church in preparation for his mission for our Church next year. He was a great example to my kids and will be greatly missed by everyone. One of my favorite memories of Trevor was when he and Kayla had their combined 16th birthday party. Trevor and Kayla's birthdays are only 4 days apart so for their "Sweet 16" birthday in 2007 we rented the Junior High School and had a big party with all their friends! Thank you Kim and Melanie for having such a special son! We love you all and will remember you in our thoughts and prayers in the coming days and months that follow!

Valentine's Day Dance 2009

Ballroom - January 2009

Here are a few pictures of Brandon and Sarah from their performance at the Civic Auditorium last month:

National Boyscout Jamboree!

Brandon received a letter last month inviting him to participate in the National Boyscout Jamboree in Fort AP Hill, Virginia for 2 weeks in the summer of 2010! 2010 will also be the 100th anniversary for Boy Scouts and promises to be an even better jamboree. This jamboree is only held once every 4 years, and is a once in a lifetime opportunity for him. He can participate in rapelling, sailing, and scuba diving; in addition, he will be able to tour the National Mall, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, and other national historical sites. He also has the chance to tour some of the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) historical sites: The Sacred Grove, Fayette Farm, and Kirtland, Ohio instead of touring Boston. They will all end the 2 weeks with a day at an amusement park. There will only be 5 troops formed from our Grand Teton Council. As you can imagine, the cost for such experiences is astronomical ($3000). We have received the blessing of being given a $1000 scholarship from a close family member and will be working to save the rest. Dad and his friend will be hosting a Dutch Oven/Cowboy Music benefit dinner this summer in his behalf; with all profits going toward Brandon's fees. If you would like to view information about the National Jamboree go to www.bsajamboree.org for more information.