Porter's Birthday

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Labor Day Excursions

LABOR DAY- Chad had the day all planned out! He wanted to get some sight seeing done for both Kaden and Garrett's merit badges! So off we went down town SLC. We needed to see the State Capitol and take a tour and also visit the Beehive House. In addition to that we decided to take Porter somewhere he's been asking to go for over a year now..."To visit the place President Hinckley is buried at!" So we stopped first to purchase some flowers for his grave sight. Porter of course had to pick them out. He has been so sweet about this and has wanted to visit there for so long. He was pretty proud to say he finally visited President Hinckley! From there we went to the Church History Museum. It was very interesting and fun to read/see all the church history.

Next we picniced on the grass near the Conference Center then we headed to the Beehive House.

On the way back to the car we took these fun shots on Temple Square

Then finally we made it to the State Capitol where we were lucky enough to find a lady in the Governor's office that let us in for a sneek peek! Everything was locked up for the holiday but we were lucky she let us in.

The best part of the whole day was when the kids decided to give part of our picnic lunch to a homeless lady standing at Temple Square. They were hoping she would enjoy it. We noticed she chose to eat the Ho-Ho first. They got a kick out of that!

We ended the night with a BBQ with our good friends the Hart's. It was a great and memorable labor day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Oh No...it's that time again!

The beloved 4th grade...it's time again to enjoy the blissful high pitched screech from this lovely recorder! Ellerie will be blessing us with her talents this year! We can hardly wait for the big push to "practicing at home"

Bells Are Ringing!

School Bells

Today was the first day back to school for Kaden, Garrett and Ellerie. Garrett had a short 7th grade day yesterday but today will be his first real day. He was pretty anxious and a bit nervous as well. I'm having a day of "I can't believe they're this old"...

Kaden turns 14!

Okay so Kaden is 14 now and by the looks of this first photo, you can tell what's on his mind! ha ha The Iron Gym is something Dad has been eyeing now for a few months. What a crack up! I guess we'll either have some sweet looking young men and a 5 yr. old soon or it will make a really cool toy for all the neighborhood kids to "swing" on!

Kaden is going into 9th grade! I can't believe he is that old. It's been such a joy to watch him grow into a great young man. I am so proud of him and all his hard work in school, church, music and sports! He is a well rounded young man.

Grandma Smith (aka my mom) sent up this huge clown face pinata! We thought it was such a great addition to his gifts! Here he is waiting to open his presents.

Kaden is probably my most predictable kid. He always picks the same cake and has for the past 4 years; Heath Bar Cake. Here you can see we had to get creative with the candles being it was SUNDAY and I forgot to check my candle stash on Saturday. Oops! Good thing Kaden is a math whiz! He thought it was pretty funny that I put the addition signs inbetween. What a good sport!

Kaden's prized possession- or best gift was the ipod touch he bought with his own money (with a small donation by mom and dad) He really is such a great teenager. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will continue to keep his positive attitude and pretty good nature. We feel so blessed to have him for our son! Happy Birthday Kado! You are one amazing 14 year old!

Love,

~Mom

Another dedication...

Oquirrah Mountain Temple

Today was not only Kaden's birthday celebration but it was another opportuntiy for us to attend a temple dedication. We feel so blessed to have such a special year. Draper Temple was dedicated on Ellerie's b-day this year, March 22nd, 2009 and then today the Oquirrah Mtn. temple was dedicated. What a special memory that will be for both Kaden and Ellerie.

We attended the 9 a.m. session this morning. It was such a wonderful meeting and all the talks seemed to be just for me. I love it when that happens. It was a remarkable day and one that we will always cherish!