Brielle is One-Year Old!

Brielle turned 1-year old on Monday, September 22! We had a party for her on Sunday night...It took her a while to get into the cake, and once she did; she didn't want to stop. Her favorite birthday gift was a new baby doll! She is now 30 1/2 inches tall (still off the chart) and weighs 24 pounds (75 percentile). She still doesn't have much hair to do anything with yet, and is starting to be busier than ever. She is starting to walk and will initiate walking on her own. About the most steps she's ever taken at once is about 10 little baby steps!! She is the master of climbing though...she can climb up on my 5-gallon buckets (used for food storage)in the kitchen and stand up next to the kitchen counter. As well, she can climb upon the couches...we'll need to move the large couch away from the stairwell soon!

Eagle Project Open House/Dedication

We attended the Open House and Dedication of the Drak home on Saturday, September 6th. There was local media there from channels 3 and 6. It was cool to be a part of something so wonderful!

A Second Published Poet in the Family...

I submitted one of Brandon's poems for publication because I thought it was great; obviously, so did the judges. His poem, like Kayla's will be published in "A Celebration of Poets", (West, 7-12, Summer 2008 edition). Here is his poem:

Two Year Old Brothers
Two year old brothers are a pest
Two year old brothers jump on my chest

Two year old brothers mess up my room
Two year old brothers hit me with a broom

Two year old brothers like to scream
Two year old brothers can be rather mean

Two year old brothers throw a fit
Two year old brothers sometimes spit

Two year old brothers are a pest
Two year old brothers are the best!

The Homecoming Dance!

Kayla went to the Homecoming Dance this year with another fellow-senior, Derek Sharp! She had a wonderful time; thanks Derek!!

Eagle Project - Final Day!!

We finished our final day of landscaping with the largest group ever, 17!! We were able to finish earlier than normal and left by 2:30. The days after we finished laying the sod, it poured rain here! It was a wonderful blessing to the family since they did not have any water hooked up to the home yet. The project was finished for a total of 131 1/2 hours of work!! We will follow up next month with the Court of Honor!! Excellent job, Brandon!

Eagle Project - 2nd Day

Sorry to take so long posting the pictures....

Welcome Alexys!

My sister, Hillary, had her third baby yesterday - Thursday, August 21 at 1:28 pm. she weighed in at 8 pounds and 15 ounces and is 19 1/2 inches long. She looks a lot like her older sister, Breklynn.

Brandon's Habitat for Humanity Landscaping Eagle Project

DAY ONE: Well it's been in the planning phase for several months now, and we finally did the first day of physical work yesterday, Saturday, August 16th. Needless to say, some of us are sore! It was great to do the work and we are looking forward to next Saturday with a little bigger youth crew. The Saturday before school starts was a very popular day to be busy, but we were thankful for the help who did come! Thanks Nate, Jason, and Jacob!!! We were very greatful so see some LDS missionaries show up to help mid-morning and look forward to seeing them again in the next couple weeks. Some of the dirt was a compacted clay and was more like breaking up rock. JR's tractor "Oliver" saved the day when he ripped up some of the soil for us. It wasn't until the last hour that our driveway expert thought to hook up his snow plow to his truck and bring it on over to level things out. It was the first time it was used in the month of August!! We ended up staying about an hour longer than anticipated, but got the job done!! Way to go Brandon!!

It's GOOD to be HOME!

We just returned from a week and a half vacation to Colorado to visit Blaine's family and as always it's good to be home. We thoroughly enjoyed our 3-part trip: 1) The Pioneer Day Celebration in Manassa, Colorado (2-day parade, carnival rides, rodeo, moto-bike competition, demolition derby, and many hamburgers) 2) The FAMILY Reunion at a cabin in the mountains by the Conejos River with all of Blaine's family - Wonderful! and 3) Colorado Springs - Family, Friends, Shopping, Camping and Water Skiing (Brandon), Swimming at the YMCA, and Chipotle Burrito - we hadn't had a Chipotle burrito since Minnesota (yes, it was way good!). Now the countdown begins for school...summer is coming to an end. :(

Lovette Family Reunion 2008

We just returned from Marci's Family Reunion near Ashton, Idaho! It was wonderful to see extended family. The reunion had to be cut a day short because of all the mosquitos. This picture of Matthew tells it all...this is with bug spray after 2 days!! Poor guy!