The Reedalong

Grandma's funeral

2010-08-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

The one thing funeral's will do is make everyone take a moment out of their busy, busy lives and come together to celebrate the life of someone they love.

It was a fast, but a great reunion for the kids to get to see their cousins that we don't see much. As you can tell from the faces it was a late night of IPad gaming.
The girls had a real sleepover. They had their own room with two beds for the four girls, but the report we got in the morning was that all four of them slept in one bed. They were just happy to be together.

They all do clean up nice. Gathered in the Relief Society room for the family prayer.
My cousin Nicole and her husband Bryce and their cute kids.
My grandmother had all 33 of her grand childlren in attendance, a great tribute to her love.

The separation was a natural one, no one told the boys to do that. But as you can see we needed Shaun's 3 boys to help balance out a little bit.

Three good lookin guys.

The pallbearers were the oldest sons from each family and her very faithful home teacher of 20 years or so.
Me and my three very handsome brothers. This was a strange experience for me to see all my brothers looking so grown up, it hit me that they are men, not my little brothers. I always feel so special, and very protected when I am surrounded by them.

Just a regular pose is no good for Shaun, so this creative shot is from Shaun's brain. (I wish I could climb in there for a day!) Our family after the graveside service. They had a man who loved my Grandmother very much sing a beautiful song and then my dad dedicated her grave. He always says the most wonderful things.

My Grandmas husband of the last 20 years picked out the spray for the top of her casket. I thought it was so lovely and a beautiful reminder of his love for her.

My Great-Grandfather-he settled this valley.
My Grandmothers 1st husband. They called him Brick because he had a very red beard. We think between his and my dad's red beard is where my red hair came from.

I can't wait to meet him someday.
After the services the ward members put on a nice meal for all the family. We were happy to have an air conditioned church to come back to. It was pretty warm out there.

The kids loved the cupcakes.

Once all the tables were put away the gym became a perfect dance floor for the girls.

No one ever wants to be the one left out so they all piled in for a short drive to go check out the tortoise. My Grandmas bishop has a tortoise that their daughter received as a gift when she was 15. It is now 15 years old and huge. We wanted the kids to get a peek at it.

He was up and about for us to check him out. He just roams around their yard and eats watermelon, cantaloupe and loves bananas.

On Sunday we attended the 9:00 sacrament service before heading our separate ways.

The people of Monticello are blessed to have a temple right next to their church. It services the whole area between Salt lake to Monticello and St. George to Monticello.

I was happy we could all be together and listen to stories and hear testimonies born by my grandmothers children. They all shared wonderful memories of their life with her as a teacher and a mother. As a granddaughter I know that I learned a lot from her example and her tender ways.

The service was beautiful and a wonderful tribute to her 96 years full of service and love.

Donald the Duck

2010-08-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

This is Donald, the Duck, our Duck. Yes we have chickens and a duck. What in the world? you ask yourselves (I ask myself this everyday). Well Logan's class does a whole section on ducks at school. They read about ducks, study ducks, draw ducks, color ducks and even raise them from tiny ducklings. They read the book "Make Way for the Ducklings" (if you have never read this to your kids I highly recommend it). So the teacher tells the students when they are done with this section the first four children who come to school with a note stating they can take one of the ducks home may have one.

Logan started bugging us about it-but we told him "No, we do not want a duck! they are messy and stinky, No". Time went on and the persistence did not stop. He wanted a duck so bad. Mark, (the softy), finally said what does it matter if we bring the duck home. I agreed it wasn't a big deal. We would keep it for a few weeks and then take it to the park to live with the other ducks. (a great idea until we found out he cannot fly) Mark, the softy again, couldn't stand to think that the duck would be alone so he ordered 14 friends to come and live with Donald. They all lived in our basement in a TV box until it was so stinky that they had to be moved to the garage-then started the process of the $100,000,000 chicken coop. (that's the story of our chickens)

Well needless to say Donald loved his friends and as he grew older and into a boy duck (we thought he was a hen) he loved his friends too much and he needed to find a new home. We advertised him on KSL and to our surprise we got a taker. Russell from Lehi who has ducks and young boys was thrilled to give Donald a home. He had ordered 2 ducks, a girl and a boy, but turns our he got two girls so I am sure Donald will be very happy in his new home.

The best part was while we were away on vacation they came and picked him up so we didn't have any drama saying good-bye. So now my kids can tell their kids they had a pet duck named Donald.

Talents on Browning

2010-08-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Today was the talent show for Browning Circle. Jack did a great job organizing the date, time and who would be participating. He worked very hard making sure it was at a time that everyone could be there and working around crazy summer schedules that was not an easy task.

Logan thrilled everyone was a little tune on the banjo.

Sophie and Kate put together quite the gymnastics number-no Sophie is not in gymnastics but with a friend like Kate and an imagination like Sophie anything is possible.

Sam is always a wower, and with Tabo as his sidekick it was a great number.

We also had scooter jumping, bike jumping, magic tricks, baton twirling-it's endless the talents these kids have.

Jack-the organizer. A real talent indeed. Thanks Jack for all your hard work to make our street so special.

Update on Emmy

2010-07-12T09:48:00.001-07:00

So we can all sleep better at night (and at 5 am) Emmy has found a new home on a farm with 22 hens in Tooele. Carol (the lady who worked with us at This is the Place) took Emmy home with her in a white sack a week ago. She gave us a report on Wednesday July 7 when we worked with her again.

She said they left with Emmy and had plans to go and eat at Training Table. The sack which Emmy was in had to be held closed because he was really trying to get out. So much so that he pecked her grand daughter who had really taken a liking to him. I think he really wanted to get out of the sack and be free. The bag began to shake and they were worried he may die before they got home.

When they arrived at the restaurant they decided they could not leave him in the car because it was to hot and he would probably make a mess of things in the car, so they put him in the bushes and hoped he would be there when they came out. She said he was just dripping in sweat.

To our luck he was still there and very content to be eating bugs and getting fresh air. Back into the bag he went for the rest of the drive home.

When they arrived home she made a phone call to her friend who owns chickens to see if he would be interested. He was and so they took him down to the farm-his new home.

She said they checked on him again a few days later and he was in complete control of the hens.

The kids were relieved that he made it safely and that he did not become someones Sunday dinner.

A Century of Sunshine

2010-07-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet Grandma left her mortal body peacefully on July 9.

She was one of my favorite people in the whole world. She married her sweetheart and together they had 6 children. He died from a kidney disease and she was alone to raise their cute little family by herself, the oldest child being 8 and the youngest was 1. She raised her family in a 1 room schoolhouse that she had moved to Monticello. With the help of the Elders they transformed it from one room to include 3 bedrooms-a girls room, a boys room and mamas room.

She taught school for 28 years and there's hardly a person in Monticello who wasn't blessed by her poetry festivals, or a perfect year in the 4th grade.

She taught primary for 51 years and served a mission in Boise, Idaho.

She never missed a grandchild or great grandchild's birthday. There was always a card with a $2 bill inside.

She made thousands of quilts for every grandchild and great grand children and many more to auction off at our reunions.

She remarried at 75 and has been married for the last 21 years to John Hemmelberger. I am grateful for him and the companionship he gave this great lady.
I could go on and on about what a wonderful woman she was and a great example to anyone that knew her. Since her passing many people have cried in gratitude that they had known her.

Since I can remember this is Grandma's house. I can remember pulling up many times late at night to this little white bungalow and being so excited to run inside and find her there waiting for our arrival.

These two pictures were above her bed and the first things you saw when you walked in her room. It is a reminder to us all of her devotion to God and the importance of prayer in her life.

Grandma I love you and am grateful for all the things I learned from you!

A Bientot.

One year wiser

2010-07-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandpa T!

We got together to celebrate Grandpa T's birthday . Erin made a delicious dinner and I brought blueberry pie. It was a beautiful evening to be outside and enjoy being together.
We love you dad and hope to celebrate a thousand more!

Nesting boxes for the Ladies

2010-07-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

Mark was hard at work-putting beds in the palace for the ladies. We figure they should start laying any day now. We hope they can figure out what these cute little boxes are for.
We had to put them up here, but each night there are a few more roosting than the night before, so we think they will get the hang of it.

Goodbye Emily!

2010-07-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

July 2, 2010

Emily and Annie were very sad to have to seperate after a week of fun, chitter chat, more fun and more chitter chat. Those two hardly stopped talking to take in air.
Goodbye! We hope we get to do this again, maybe in France!

Au revoir mon ami.

What Time is It?

2010-07-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Had to make the stop at East High- the school where they filmed High School Musical. Unfortunately it was locked and we couldn't get the photo with the pink locker.
What Time is it? Summer Time! It's our vacation. Sing with me now......

Dinner Time

2010-07-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

We put everyone to work making dinner, becuase many hands make light work and everyone was starving. Emily had the fun job of tending the onions.

Of course they found time to snap a few self photos of themselves.

More Fun

2010-07-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

We went to Grandma T's today for some swimming and tennis. Annie & Emily made up a little routine and gave me a performance.

Ta-da!

Sometimes I am worried they might turn into fish.

I think we have work Emily right out!

The girls crashed on the couch for a couple of hours while I was out with the boys on the court.

Summer is so fun, but exhausting. Playing hard all day and staying up late equals a nap in the afternoon.

Our Rooster Emmy

2010-07-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

Today since it is our volunteer day at This is the Place Heritage Park, which is a pioneer village that guests can visit to see Pioneer life "in action". We all dress in period clothing and are assigned to one of the homes in the village so when guests arrive we can tell them about the home. They have tried to recreate the Salt Lake Valley as it may have been when the pioneers arrived. There is a school, a cabinet shop, ZCMI-the kids favorite (they can purchase candy and soda there) and a farm. They have chickens, lambs, horses, geese etc. A few weeks ago they had a fire in their barn and lost some of their animals, one of which was a rooster. I figured I would make their day when I showed up with a "donation" Emmy our rooster. He was supposed to be a hen, we only ordered hens, but turns out she was a he. We are not zoned for roosters and when he learned how to Cock-a-doodle-doo a few days ago-he had to go. We hauled him up there with us but the farmer said NO they didn't want him.So now I had a rooster in a basket for the day, great!

Emily was a great sport and humored Annie and tried being a pioneer for a few hours, even though her foot was still a little swollen. She stepped on something in our backyard that her foot didn't like, I think it may have been a bee.

Soph holding the 10 lb. Emmy, at least she thinks he weighs that much.

Sophie and Lily are transformed when we are here. They have really taken to playing little pioneer girls-they stay busy for hours, playing with the homemade toys in the house, or gathering wood for the stove, cooking or sweeping up the house. I love watching them and their imaginations soar.
Lunch!
The kids have never held Emmy so much before until they thought maybe he wasn't coming home.
The good news is Emmy did not come home with us. There was a woman working in the home with us today who lives in Tooele and she said she had many neighbors with chickens and roosters and was sure that one of them would like him- lucky for me. She didn't even have my phone number to call me if she couldn't dump him somewhere. I guess we'll find out how it went next week.

She had her grandchildren with her and was planning to take them to eat at the Training Table with the rooster-can't wait to hear about that one. They took him home in a large white bag. Good-bye Emmy hope you love your new home on a real farm.

Now I won't have to wonder what that noise is at 5:oo a.m.

Something New for Sophie

2010-07-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

Sophie spends hours at the piano teaching herself songs like "Mary had a little Lamb" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". She even learned how to play it upside down.

She begged for piano lesson and I figured any child who spends that much time trying to figure out things on her own deserves lessons. We hope her love for the piano continues for a very long time.

Snowbird

2010-07-01T21:38:00.000-07:00

June 29, 2010

We decided to spend our day up in the beautiful mountains at Snowbird.
The kids started out on the bungee tramps. We had one on each tramp in this shot.
Annie & Dallas flip together.

Annie & Emily both doing back flips.
Sophie really got good at jumping high. She didn't want to take a chance with the back flips.
Logan got the double back flip down and was going for a triple.

The kids got all harnessed up to try out the new ropes course.
Emily taking a rest with a gorgeous backdrop.
Annie & Sophie cruising right along.
Everyone thought this was a lot of fun. They are roped in to the top rails. They just have to keep their ropes in front of them to keep moving along.

Everyone thought it was fun until Sophie realized how high she was-had a little melt down and the employee who stays up there in case of emergencies helped her back to the ground.

Annie & Emily heading up to take the alpine slide down.
Down comes Annie.

Down comes Emily.
I was on the chair lift as Annie & Emily were coming down and got a birds eye view of them sailing down.
The boys were very careful drivers, but loved racing each other.
Sophie even got brave and went down on her own. She loved it! We were very lucky that there were not many people there and so they kids could go down the slide over and over.
Sophie got up her nerve by practicing with me on the back. My arms just weren't long enough to get all of Sophie's face in the shot.
Logan was a great bull rider and stayed on way longer than 8 seconds.

Annie and Emily taking a ride on the zip line.

They got 2 rides in without too much of a wait. Emily was a little nervous the first time about the stop, but after doing it once the fear was gone.

This is the tram at Snowbird. We were able to take it to the top so we could show Emily what it looks like at 11,000 feet. The tram takes you up 2900 vertical feet in 1.6 miles.
It's pretty amazing-she may have to come back to see what it looks like covered in snow.
It's much windier and a cooler up at the top. We all wished we had our sweatshirts with us.

Showing off the snow in the background.

We kept telling Emily about our snow and that it's the greatest snow on earth, so we made her touch it and get really cold. She wouldn't believe us that it is actually printed on our license plates how great our snow is.Trying to warm up before the tram heads back down.
This was one way the boys could get warm. They turned into monkeys and climbed a little higher.

The other attraction that the boys loved was the climbing wall. Once again because of the low crowd they could climb and climb and climb to their hearts content.

The girls even gave the wall a go.

Dallas can't seem to get away from catching butterflies no matter where he goes.

We had a terrific day and I think we succeeded at wearing them completely out. They all fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Snowbird is one of our favorite summer traditions.

Steiner

2010-07-01T21:36:00.000-07:00

We truly do know when summer has arrived and cruising along when we find our time ticking by as we play at the Steiner pool.

Tennis

2010-07-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing. We had our two weeks of tennis lessons with Jane. Logan, Jesse and Sophie each had lessons and loved it.
Logan with Jane and his class. He can't seem to get enough of tennis right now. He had an hour lesson this morning, we played 2 hours this afternoon in 98 degree heat and after 2 hours of hockey and 2 hours of swimming he wanted to play some more. Mark took them over to the courts and let them play a little more.

Crane Reunion 2010

2010-06-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

June 26-June 27

Just hours after Emily arrived we put all the kids in the car and headed to Idaho for the Crane Reunion. We took Emily through 3 states in one day-Utah, Wyoming,
and Idaho.
Having a great time at Camp Baretoes.

This sheep herders camp pulled in during the middle of the reunion. I couldn't resist asking if I could take a photo. Mark's grandpa Crane who homesteaded the area we were in was a sheep herder. The wild and crazy girls. 7 cowgirls- Natalie, Sarah, Jesse, Annie, Emily, Jennifer and Jamie.
2 little cowgirls. Soph and Annie. Aunt Wilma made stick horses for the kids to go on a "ride" with. She took them up in the hills on their horses and then had an area all prepared with a blanket for stories and treats.

Everyone was given a colorful cowboy hat to help get in the cowboy spirit.

All the cowboys and cowgirls listened to Aunt Wilma tell them stories of their Great-Grandpa.

Soph found the perfect spot for lunch, and Annie decided to join her.In the afternoon Grandpa took the boys fishing. They had a banner day. They each caught 3 and I think everyone else did too. We always benefit from their fishing trips with a tasty snack.

They didn't waste much time when they returned from fishing. They moved from catching fish to catching butterflies. There were plenty of them and a large variety to make their collection very diverse.
Preparing for the big lamb dinner and dutch oven potatoes. It takes many hands to peel the pounds of potatoes it takes to feed a crew like this.

Karen can hardly contain herself-it's her birthday on Saturday.Group photo.

Family photo.Grandma and her 8 siblings. This reunion was in a way dedicated to their sister Karen who died 2 years ago. We all miss her.
The beautiful Bennington Valley.
Great Grandma's great red barn.

Of course a trip to Grandma's house would not be complete without a ride on the wheelers.
4 beautiful girls all dressed up for church.

They survived all 3 hours, and still look beautiful.
Back home in Utah.

Emily arrives

2010-06-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

June 26, 2010

She has safely arrived after her very long flight and layover. She is finally here.

Annie has been so excited to have her friend Emily come and stay with us for a week. Today was the big day and she finally arrived. Her flight was a little early and arrived before midnight.

They were both so giddy and excited to see each other.

They became good friends at school in France-they were each others life saver. They talked about getting together once we came back to the states, and today
it is a reality.

I hope Emily gets some sleep because already on the trip home from the airport there was constant chattering. They aren't sure how they will ever catch each other up on their lives. When I came upstairs Emily had pulled out her yearbook-what a great week they will have.

8 days and counting

2010-06-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sophie with Brownie

I'm amazed at what $7 can buy you. Sophie really wanted this big stuffed dog and when the red price tag was marked $6.99 I thought, ok why not it's cheap, but then I thought I bet
I could get some mileage out of this big stuffed dog. I brought it home and let Sophie hug it and love it for a minute and then we talked about how she could earn it. I told her if she could go 7 days without whining she could earn "Brownie" (her name). We put him safely at the top of her mirror on her dresser so she could see him, but not touch him and started our countdown. Wow-the self control when something that "big" is at stake is pretty amazing.
She was confused at first between whining and crying. She asked me if she got hurt and cried would she have to re-do that day. I had to explain that it was ok to cry sometimes, it's the whiny voice or whining when she didn't want to do something she was asked- that was what we were working on. Not that she is a particularly whiny child, but she is 6.The next 8 days were heaven.

She struggled one day and realized that she would have to add an extra day to her chart in order to fulfill her part of the bargain, there wasn't any whining about it though.
What a happy night Sunday night was when Brownie was officially hers.

A New Life

2010-06-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

Is it possible for all this to fit into half of one girls room at college? We sure hope so. Cute Autumn will have this challenge in a few days as she moves to her new home and starts her new life at BYU. Her dream is finally coming true. She has told all of us for the last 4 years that this is where she will be going for college-sure enough despite all the other offers from other schools, she followed her dream and arrived in Utah a few days ago with her life packed in a Rubbermaid.The girls adore their cousin and long to be around her as much as they can. So much so they suffered cement floors and a freezing room with 1 small blanket all night so they could spend the night with her in her new room.
She had that room whipped into shape and everything in it's place in about 2 hours.

She entertained us on her guitar and beautiful voice with a few songs she has written in the last year.The cousins were happy to be reunited again. The girls had a great time together and acted as if they had never been apart.Sophie and Az.
Monica and I never have our picture taken together so I decided this time we would. One of my very favorite people in the whole world. I never tire of being with her talking to her listening to her and getting all sorts of "how to raise a teenager" advice from her. Love ya, Mo and good luck Autumn. Remember you are only 40 minutes away now!

The Garbage Can

2010-06-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

So, I was at the D.I. the other day (I love that store) and what do I spy but a brand new silver garbage can for $5.00. Do you know how much these things are in the store? Around 30 bucks. So I walked around with it until it was time to check out. Brought it home and put it in the most appropriate spot in the house-the boys room. Can you think of a better place for Boy's dirty clothes than a garbage can? Me either. They love it and so do I-especially the price.

I have been wanting to get them one for some time but never wanted to pay the big bucks-patience is a good thing.

Cooking Class

2010-06-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

One of the goals this summer is to teach the kids some cooking skills. I really would love them to know how to make a few good meals and how to make bread and treats. (They are already pretty good at many things, just want to sharpen their skills and know when they head off to college they won't starve).

Sophie and Lily are busy squeezing the limes into our salsa.
It was a perfect Saturday-nothing on the calendar, yeah, and so we decided to take advantage and begin with cinnamon rolls, bread and salsa. Here they are at the fun stage-lathering the dough with butter and cinnamon and sugar.

Everything turned out delicious!

The bread, and cinnamon rolls were gobbled up in no time.
Way to go girls.

Night Sky

2010-06-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

June 6, 2010

Wow! Did anyone see that night sky on Sunday? We walked outside and the sky and the air were almost eerie. It was so still and the way the light was hitting the clouds was amazing.
My little camera can't even come close to capturing it, but it was as if it were a pre tornado sky.

Run for Rex 5K- June 5, 2010

2010-06-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

Dallas and Logan with their shirts and numbers were excited to run their first 5K since they decided to become big runners.

This was a race to benefit a little boy named Rex who was just diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor-we are always happy when the race can help someone in need.

Right at the front of the line waiting for the horn with Taylor and Lilly.

All finished and all red faced. Whew! They crossed the line with a time of 25:18, not bad boys.

Our friends the Randall's are closely connected to Rex and so they were there to run with.
Way to go Clara-she ran the whole race.

Logan was downing the fruit to refill his gas tank.

We had checked out the times and learned that they boys came in 4th place after 3 12 year old boys. The cut off for the kids was 12 and under. When they read Logan's name as the third place winner, well you can see the surprise that it was.

He was awarded a $25 gift certificate to Trafalga. (Of course he will be splitting it with Dallas because they crossed the line at the same time.)
Getting up early and exerting a lot of energy can wear a person right out. Both boys were out for the ride home.

Red Mango

2010-06-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

One thing we love about summer are the spontaneous things we can do because there is not a schedule.

There is a new Red Mango on the corner of 21st and 15th. They were offering free yogurt from 4-7 so we decided to take the troops and take them up on their offer. We were not the only ones who thought it was a good idea-the placed was packed. It was a great treat for a hot day.

8th Grade Graduation for Annie

2010-06-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

June 4, 2010

All decked out and ready for this big day!

Annie with Mrs. Cordon. Mrs. Cordon was my teacher through the 7th and 8th grade. She had a big influence on my life and I know she has on Annie's as well.
Sammy, Annie and Rachel. These girls have been great friends through the years.
The yellow ribbons are for a girl in Annie's class that was diagnosed with bone cancer a few weeks ago. Everyone in her class has been touched and praying for Lillian.

If you could see this photo better, you would see the tears streaming down Annie's face. Those of you who know Annie, know that she is a very tender spirit. This was an exciting but sad day. With only 30 kids in her school class, you tend to get pretty close. Most of the students will move onto different schools and so they won't be spending as much time together as they are used to.
She has been caught crying a lot in the last week by her classmates and by the Head Master Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor keeps teasing Annie a great way to turn off her tears is to just come back and repeat 8th grade. Annie and Anna.
Annie, getting some sound advice from her father.

Carden has been a good fit for Annie and we hope she will take what she has learned and use it to her benefit in her high school years.

School year 2009-2010 Comes to an End

2010-06-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

June 4, 2010

Dallas was lucky enough to have Mrs. Jones this year. He loved her and learned as much as that 4th brain could hold. We wish she was moving up to the 5th grade-we loved Mrs. Jones.
Our 3rd and final child to have the influence of Mrs. Stucky. Another teacher we love and feel grateful our kids are in her care each day as we drop them off. Thanks Mrs. Stucky for mentoring another Reed. Logan and Mrs. Hunt. What a year Logan has had in 2nd grade. He loved every minute of it and felt so happy in Mrs. Hunts classroom. She is the one to thank for Donald. Sophie will move on into her class next year.

So now say hello to: tennis lessons, golf camp, trips to the pool, girls camp, beehive camp, trips to Idaho, 1/2 marathons, 5K's, Lake Powell, scout camp, hockey 3x3, This is the place, lazy afternoons, a million trips to the shiver shack-or what we know as SUMMER!

The End of an Era

2010-06-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

June 3, 2010

Today when I dropped the kids off at school I realized that this would be the last day that all of them would be going to the same school together-ever.

It has been pure heaven to have them all there together- so I was a bit sad that this was the end.

It's been a great year and really fun for Sophie to have had all her siblings with her for her first two years of school.

Lagoon Day

2010-06-03T20:26:00.001-07:00

June 2, 2010

It's tradition at Carden for the 6, 7 and 8th grades to go to Lagoon. For some "lucky" reason I have been blessed to tag along for the past 2 years.

This year we had great weather and the kids had a terrific time.

Here is Jesse and some of her classmates on Cliffhanger. I guess becuase it didn't rain this year they felt like they needed to get wet somehow.

Here's the crew-dripping wet.

Jesse was born with more guts than our entire family put together. This is her second flight on Sky Coaster (or as we refer to it-Super Man). Some how she convinced her friend Carly to tag along. They get to wear these fancy suits so they could be safe.

In full flight.
Annie and her friends were great Cheerleaders as Jesse and Carly made their flight.

The girls were so excited the night before at the dinner table they kept talking about how excited they were. One of them would just all of a sudden break out in a scream and say "I am sooo excited for tomorrow AHHH" after about the 5th time Dallas finally said, "It's just Lagoon!"

I couldn't have agreed with him more.

The Greatest Find

2010-06-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

So I was driving down the road with Jesse and what do I spy with my little eyes? A set of stairs. Now who would ever even think this was a neat thing to spot in someones junk pile -me. I nearly crashed I was so excited. I yelled "Jesse, did you see that?" I turned the car around so fast and had Mark on the phone asking him to jump in the Suburban to come and meet us. I just saved him about $100 and 9 hours.

Why are these so special you ask? Well, we have a retaining wall in our back yard (an ugly one at that) but on the top of the wall is where our garden rests and so in order to water, weed and pick the garden we need to be able to get up there. We had a set of stairs that were about 90 years old and I thought someone might die on them, lucky for us no one did, but they needed to go. So, they are gone and you are looking at the new replacement. Aren't they gorgeous. They fit perfectly and they are so sturdy and safe. It's crazy the things that can get one excited these days.

The cute couple that had set them on the side of the road actually came home when we were measuring them to see if they would fit in the car. He helped Mark load it up (my back thanked him) and she told us that they were an art project of hers that she no longer needed. They hoped someone would really be able to use them. Well, I bet they never knew how much we needed them.

Blue & White May 28, 2010

2010-05-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

This was our last blue and white day with all the kids together. It's been so great to have all the kids in the same school for the last 2 years.

Blue and White day is typically our last day of school (due to graduation conflicts we had it the one week early this year, a titch anti climatic.)

They divide all the kids up onto two teams-either the blue team or the white team. Those teams are then divided into 9-10 teams depending how many kids there are. They line up on the field at Sugarhouse Park behind their team number, blue on one side and white on the other and then they do different relays. They keep track of which teams win which races and keep score so at the end of the day they can announce a winner.

The kids love it and it's a very fun competition for everyone.

I was just happy the weather cooperated and left us with a beautiful day.

Here's Jesse running the handkerchief relay.

Sophie in the same race. All the Reed children were on the same team-Blue #6. I got to be the team leader of that same team.

They try to keep siblings together, which was great for me.
Logan keeping his hand over his cup of water to try to fill our bucket as fast as possible.

Dallas trying to keep the ball between his legs and hop as quickly as he can.

Annie did a pretty good job keeping that slippery ball where it needed to be.
Dallas and the boys.
Spencer, Geo, Thomas, Dallas & Riley.
Logan and friends.
Annie's had a hard time keeping composed this week. A lot of emotion running through the halls at school. A lot of these kids have been together for a lot of years and they will all spread out into different schools next year.
They also have a classmate that was just diagnosed with bone cancer and she has not been able to be with them for the last few weeks and it has put many emotions close to the surface.
Sierra gives Annie a comfort hug.

This is the final game of Blue & White day. The Tug of War. This is an E form (8th grade) only activity. Each year it is the most exciting part of the day to watch the E form go up against each other. Mr. Jeff's stands with the hose in the middle for the losing team to cross into the water so the mark of loser is left until the sun can take it away.
The war was pretty even in the beginning-neither team was able to pull the rope one way or the other, it just sat still for several minutes until, it looked as if the white team had a little more muscle. That was all it took for the Blue team to muster their last bit of energy and pull the white through the water. Yea!!! The Blue team dominated this year. (I am just glad that was the color of our shirts today). The blue team basking in their victory-giving high fives to all the kids. The smaller kids are all scared of the E formers until they become their champions.

A few happy blue team members.

The 2010 E form class after Blue and White.

This is actually more like it.
Mr & Mrs. Jeff's in their "casual" uniform. Mr. Jeff's told the assembly to take a good look because it could be another year before they see him without a tie on again, and I think it's true.

The medal-May 28, 2010

2010-05-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well, if you can imagine Logan was very anxious to get to school this morning. As soon as we arrived we walked into Mr. Taylor's office and Logan gave his report that he had finished his 26 miles.

Mr. Taylor was very surprised and told Logan that he figured he was going to pass off the medal next week. I told him that I am sure that was part of the incentive because of the holiday weekend that was a very long time to wait.

Mr. Taylor had the medal on his desk and pulled it out and put it around Logan's neck and told him how great he thought it was. Logan was very excited. Mr. Taylor told Logan that he had taken 9th in this particular race-it was the Park City marathon 2004.

We hope this is the start of many more miles put in by Logan.
I did spend a little time doing some research on upcoming 5k's and half marathons. It wouldn't surprise me if I am posting pictures from one of those events soon.
I think he has got the fire burning under Dallas now-we'll see how contagious it is with the rest of the family.

The Finish Line

2010-05-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

Logan ran 5 miles when he got home from school. We had told him the max was 3 because he needed some energy left for hockey, but he wanted to keep going.

He went to hockey and did a great job, but couldn't wait to get home and try to finish.

Mark decided to clock the circle again and much to our surprise you only need to run 5.1 laps around the circle for 1 mile. After we calculated the number of laps Logan had already run we figured out that he only needed to run 7 more laps to finish. So you guessed it, there was no stopping him.

He sprinted the last lap and broke through the winners tape.
His siblings were so excited for him. Dallas made him a paper medal to put on when he finished.Jesse made a poster of congratulations.

He went from a goal of 10 days to completing it in 4 days-pretty amazing! Way to go Logan.

The Marathon

2010-05-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

So here's Logan our determined child-most things he puts his mind to he accomplishes. On Monday May 24th he told me he wanted to run 26.2 miles before school got out on June 4. He needed to figure out how many miles he would have to run each day in order to complete this new goal. He figured he would need to run about 3.5 miles each day to finish by June 4. His first day he ran 4 miles, which in our circle we clocked with Mark's handy dandy measuring wheel that 6 laps equals 1 mile. He was pretty excited and so the next day, Tuesday he ran 4 more miles, even in his white shirt and cords. This seemed pretty easy and so he decided to up his goal and to try to finish the 26.2 miles by this Saturday, May 29.

Today, Wednesday May 26, he ran 6 miles. I think a small part of his new determination stemmed from a phone call he received tonight from the headmaster of our school, Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor is a big runner (I think he runs 26.2 miles for his daily workout). I had told Mr. Taylor about Logan's new goal and so on his own he called Logan tonight and told him that for each marathon he had completed he had received a medal. He had pulled out one of his medals and told Logan as soon as Logan finished all the miles

to come and see him in his office the day after he finishes and he would give Logan the medal. You couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

I can't think of a better motivation-he didn't want to stop tonight, but it got dark and I made him quit. He still had enough energy when he finished his six miles to do a victory jump.
He has done the math 100 times to figure out when he might cross the finish line.

This is his chart that he made to keep track of the miles.

He is walking a little funny and so I asked him if his legs were sore and he said, "yes! it hurts so bad right here-pointing to his thighs-it really hurts when I walk".

I hope he makes it and can still walk when he's done.

I think the idea came from one our goals last summer. I told each of the kids if they ran 26 miles during the summer that I would pay them $1 per mile, but I would only pay them if they completed all 26 miles and they had to finish before school started. Everyone actually accomplished the goal-we were down to the wire on a few of the kids but they all did it. I don't know if Logan thought we would be repeating this again this summer, but decided he would like to start early. He did suggest tonight that I should pay him like I did last year-we'll see.

He has hockey on Thursday's and so we told him he needed to save his energy to be a good goalie, but he thinks he can do both.

Stacking

2010-05-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

Sophie had a tea party for herself and 3 of her friends. When I asked them to clear the table and set their plates next to the sink this is what I found.

Pretty clever and definitely more fun to find than the usual boring stack.

I'm so happy to have these little moments to bring a smile to my face and reflect on the simple pleasures.

Maybe we'll try it and see what our server does the next time we eat out.

(I'll be sure to have my camera handy in case they want a photo.)

May snowstorm

2010-05-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

What was the date again? Did you say May 24th?

Yes we had an amazing storm today that left a white, wet, heavy blanket over the grass and flowers.

With the trees full of leaves and then the added weight of the snow there were many big branches in the road that came down due to the unseasonable storm.

Luckily it had all melted by the time the kids got home from school so they didn't request their snow gear I had just packed away for the summer. (did I say summer? we hope this was a fluke and won't be happening again for awhile and we really will get a summer.)

No more training wheels

2010-05-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

A record breaking moment at the Reeds.

Each chapter we close is so sad, yet so exciting. It proves we are moving onward and upward (and getting older).

Our last child Sophie learned to ride her bike without training wheels.

It's always an amazing process to me, one day it seems impossible, the next like they have done it their whole life.

She didn't want much to do with her bike eversince she got it last year for her birthday. She rode it occasionally, but not very often. Now that the extra wheels are gone, we can't get her off of it.

Around and around the circle she goes-it's amazing and a delight to watch each little confidence building experience.

It's official we have 7 bike riders in the Reed household.

Wow-now all the kids can pump on a swing, swim, tie their shoes and ride a bike. All big ones in my book.

(We always manage to have these grand experiences in the most interesting outfits-obvioulsy dressing herself is something she mastered long ago.)

Temple Square in the Spring

2010-05-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

We drove down to Temple Square on a beautiful Sunday Afternoon in May. The spring flowers were so vibrant and colorful, it was a lovely way to spend the day.

We took individual pictures of the kids in front of the Temple for them to put in their rooms as a reminder that it is somewhere they want to be able to go.
We are so lucky to have this beautiful building and grounds right in the middle of the city for everyone to enjoy.

Photo credit goes to Jesse. She was getting fancy with her angles.

Sophie's Self Portraits

2010-05-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

This is what you get when your 6 year old sees a vacant podium at the ice rink and gets a hold of a camera.

These are all self portraits so when there is a missing arm it's because it is holding the camera.

Don't we all wish we had this much self confidence.

These last two were taken by me (at Sophie's request) so that she could have her whole body and the podium in the shot.
I only posted 2 out of about 20. When I would tell her it was the last shot she would say, "just one more", I ended up with about 16 "one mores".
She would have made a fabulous 1st place winner. I guess it doesn't hurt to practice for the "someday".

Pinewood Derby

2010-05-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Pinewood Derby

May 19, 2010 This year the boys really wanted to go for speed so they looked up a bunch of designs online and found a few they thought might work.

Dallas' car did a great job. It took 5th overall. (of course it probably would have won if....)
Logan went for the metallic look.
Logan's did a great job as well. His wheels were a little off and so was the weight, causing it to shake a bit as it came sailing down the track.
We all know and love Logan for his great desire to succeed-needless to say this was not the greatest night in history at the Reed home as far as Pinewoods go.
The cars are still keepers and safely on the shelf for display.

Ballroom Dancers

2010-05-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

On May 14, 2010 I took the girls for a girls night out. The guys had trucked off to Father's and Sons at Pelican Point so it was our chance to go do something really girly. We went down to BYU and watched the Ballroom Dance Team perform some of their dances as well as their upcoming competition dances. They were headed to London to compete the next week.

The girls were mesmerized by the costumes and the millions of different ways you can "Ballroom Dance". Jesse kept leaning over and saying, "Mom, do you think we could find some classes so I could take." I'm sure for her it would be a dream come true-wearing fancy dresses and high heels.

We hooked up with Grandma & Grandpa who had Breia, Salem, Skye and Bryn.

There was not a worry about keeping them quiet-they never took their eyes off the dancers once.

Sophie really wanted to meet this dancer- Heather. She wore a crown in one of the dances. Sophie kept her eye out for her and we tracked her down.

What a fun way to spend the evening together.

I kept telling myself this 40 year old body could do that (if I really wanted to). I really did want to.

We all danced our way to the car and pretended we could float just like the dancers.

I gave the girls their pick of where they wanted to eat before the performance and they chose Hires. So with their bellies still full and minds full of beautiful dancing, they all fell asleep on the way home, except me.

I cherish these moments and hope we have a lot more of them. When we started our evening I was nearly in tears and told my girls that I couldn't believe I had 3 beautiful daughters to go and do fun things with. I am truly blessed.

A few more photos

2010-01-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

Here I sit as much as I can be in the water. I couldn't turn around and smile at the camera becasue that would break the BLT rule.
the beach out the back of the resort

Mark on top of Diamond Head

Mark and Garth on top of the Marriott playing tennis

On the beach.

Mark posing in front of someone elses jeep.

He thought he was so funny

So here are a few more photos-we have a million more to show you when we get home but we wanted to post a few more. We love you and can't wait to see you tomorrow!

Hawaii 2010 1st couple of days

2010-01-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

Here I am getting the royal treatment in my wheelchair shuttle. I was actually grateful because our connections were quite long distances and I would have really held up the group, and besides it gave dad a lot of extra leg room to be a "special needs" traveler. Thank you United.

This is the hotel we stayed in the first night. The Pagoda. We ate their buffet the next morning for breakfast-it was a great price and conveniently located to the airport.

The Pagoda was actually written up in the guide book as a "floating restaurant". It doesn't actually float but it is made to look like it does. It was our first day of walking around to look at all the beautiful greenery. After we ate breakfast we headed to the local Walmart down the road and enjoyed the beautiful weather and all the beautiful flowers.

We did eat at a little local hole in the wall restaurant with a very kind owner and we all tried something authentic. We ate kimchee, homemade noodle soup, spicy chicken and so forth. It was fun and made us feel like we were in another country.

Here I am actually talking to Grandma T about how good my kids are, on the balcony of our condo.

This is the Lagoon we spent our time on the first day we were here. There are four of them along the path right by our condo.

The grass above the beach is so cool. I wish we could grow it at home. It is very soft, short and looks fake. Above the beach is beautifully landscaped with palm trees. bushes, and great side walks.

This is the same Lagoon we spent our day at. You can see the condo buildings from this view.

This is part of the property that you walk through to get to the path for the beach. The grounds are covered with ponds, pools, and lush beautiful landscape.

This is the view from our balcony. We are on the 2nd floor. The pool is very warm. If you can see the chairs that are sitting in the pool are perfect for me to sit in so that I can be
in the water but not swimming. The depth is only a few inches and so your bottom gets a little wet sitting in the chair and your feet can also get wet. Right after the edge of where the chairs sit the pool is about 4 feet deep so it is also very warm and the perfect pool to swim laps in or just relax. There are plenty of other chairs to lay in outside of the pool as well. I will take some other photos of these huge loungers they have as well. I actually fell asleep out there today laying in a chair. (don't worry I had a towel, a hat and sunscreen on) I will probably be the only person who comes home from Hawaii that won't look like the sun even came out.

More of the pools on the resort on the way to the beach.

Can you believe these are so beautiful in January. We keep reminding ourselves that it's January.

Another view from the balcony.
This is our bathroom.

Our bedroom, the bed is very comfortable. Dad can snore just as loud here as he does at home. I actually slept without my brace last night.
Here is our kitchen. We are happy to have a good place to cook our meals. It has two appliances that I have always wanted to try out. The drawer microwave that you see straight ahead, which I do like a lot, and there is a two drawer dishwasher. We have pretty much everything we need in here to prepare all our meals.
In this photo I am standing on the balcony, the table is on the balcony and I am looking into the condo through the doors that open all the way. I opened one a little so you could see how they open (on the left) It makes it feel very open and I love having the air come through. I did leave them open while I went to the pool and I guess we had a few treasures left from some birdies. Next time I better close them when I go out.

This is a different angle from the balcony looking into the kitchen. Don't you think it would be cool to put some doors like this on our house?

So here I am looking from inside the condo out onto the balcony with the doors open.

This is the stake center where we were privileged to hear Elder Cook speak to a very large group. We sat in the very back, but they had screens and we could all hear well. I thought it was very funny when it was time to sing the song with the audience everyone pulled out their blackberries, iPhone, iPod touch, etc and pulled up the song and sand-no need for songbooks. What a world of technology.

After church we went to visit Pearl Harbor-USS Arizona. This is a memorial they built over the top of this ship that sunk. At the end of the memorial they have a room where they have listed all the names of those lost on that December day. I think you would have felt the same feelings you did when we were in Normandy. I was once again reminded how lucky we are to have so many who gave their lives for our freedom.
Mark at the USS Arizona Memorial.
I found this flower on the ground and couldn't resist. Aren't they amazing?
My back is doing great- I truly feel lucky to be here to recoup, I am being very careful, but am almost in tears each night that my legs don't hurt and that my back feels stronger each day. I still bend at my knees, I think I will have very strong legs and I still have not done any BLT. I am being very good but it's amazing what the sun can do. I wish you were all here-someday we will all visit here together. Dad has figured out how the condo would work for our family-too many places to go and too little time and money.

We love you and I will put more pics on tomorrow.

Spring Break- Big Water Yurt 2009

2009-04-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

Big Water Yurt

Millcreek Canyon

April 9-10, 2009

We are all ready to start our trek up the mountain with all our gear, enthusiasm, energy and excitment enough for all seven of us. We had to haul in our own water, food and sleeping equipment. We decided to pull it in on sleds rather than try to carry it on our backs.
Sophie had a free ride most of the way, but she did get out on occasion when the hill was too steep, and then we had to sing songs and ask a hundred questions to keep her mind off the fact that she was actually walking up hill in the snow.
Everyone got their turn to help get everything to the top.

She really was happy to be there, she just looks tired and worn out.

There were mile markers every 1/2 mile and so that is when we chose to take our breaks.

The girls were such good sports, first they each took turns pulling their sled, then they decided to use team work and hook it to both of them. Their sled was not light and it was a long way-Way to go girls!

We made it!! 4.5 miles and about 5 hours later we had arrived at our luxury suite- oh I mean Yurt. We were just glad that we didn't have to haul in our own wood.
Everyone was exhausted and worn out but the first thing the kids asked when we arrived was if we could come again next year. I think they felt a real sense of accomplishment.
First things first, get the fire going so we can dry out all the wet gear and then start to prepare our gourmet meal of dehydrated soup, bread, hot cocoa and lots of candy.
We were so grateful for Shaun's burners that he had given to us for Christmas, it heated our water in seconds.
Just happy to be there-you know Mark.
I know what you're thinking, wow comfy beds-well you can stop thinking that now.
We had to hide the swedish fish from Sophie, but she found them.

The next morning we awoke to a beautiful day with a few snowflakes-just perfect for making snow angels, sledding, snowshoeing and a little snowboarding.

We'd had our fun and so now it was time to head on home.
Mark, the clever packer- loaded everything onto two sleds so that the others were free for rides down. Everyone we passed would ask us if we had stayed at the Yurt and then comment "wow that's a lot of gear" What do you expect for 7 people? You know me and my thought process I was ready for that question to come at me one more time so I could give them my answer of "The Yurt? oh no, we just went for picnic."
Once again the journey for Sophie was nothing but smooth sailing. She fell asleep for most of the trip down in her comfy little bed.
2 and a half hours later we were unloading at the car. Another great adventure that I am sure we will attempt again.

(maybe I can find one that is only a 2 mile hike.)

Reed Summer 2008

2009-02-23T16:28:00.000-08:00

Since our arrival back in the states, we have been very busy and wanted you all to know what we have been up to.

This photo is after a very long day of traveling-9 hour flight-8 hour layover and then the final 3 hour flight. We were all very excited to hit ground at midnight.

Grandma to the rescue- We had told her one of the things we missed the most were her homemade rolls, so she had 3 pans all ready to go into the oven, even at our midnight arrival.

YUM!!!!! Thanks mom, you're the best.

The next morning it was off the girls camp for Annie. She had a great time and helped her make a quick time adjustment.

Same girls with showers.

With Ron and Louise home as well, and Dawn on her way back to Texas we were able to have a family gathering at Garth & CayLynnes with most of the cousins.

Ice Cold Lemonade for sale!! Oh the sound of that sure did ring nice for the boys. This is not allowed in France and so they could not wait to have their first sale. They did pretty well- they each made enough money to buy their first webkinz.

How fun for us to come home to the Tennessee cousins. We had so much fun with all of them, but having baby Zoe around made our day (every day).

Then it was off to the Rodeo with the Thompson cousins and Grandpa T. Of course it was great and we loved all of it.

How many puzzles can you put together in a day? I'm not sure what the count was but it was a lot.

We had yummy American hamburgers!

Highlight for all of us was seeing Great Grandma.

Made lots of cakes.

Loved, loved the baby.

Can you guess who thought of this?Sleepy cousins.

Lots of pool action- thanks to the Rowberry's who let us act like it was our own private pool.

Sophie learned Uncle Brandon's trick. Annie & Oakley went to the Salt Lake Temple and did baptisms for the dead. Mark was able to baptize and confirm them both. What a great morning we had.
LICE!!!
The official shampoo party. A little souvenir from France.

Bowling at the U.

We journeyed to the center of the Earth in 3D.

A "little" fishin with Grandpa.

Went to Andy's wedding in Park City-Beautiful until the hail started.

Neighborhood party with cousins.

Jesse turned 11.

Saw the Declaration of Independence on it's tour of the US.

Annie gets BRACES!

Being lazy together.

Annie falls in love.

Sleeping under the stars on top of each other in Grandmas back yard.

Picnic at Snowbird and then a hike to Cecret Lake.

The sign said "No swimming" but as you will see they apparently couldn't read it.

The clothes were too wet to wear home.

Nearly got trampled by a moose and her baby on the way down.

Mark hiked Timp.

Dallas & Logan's new collection- aluminum cans- they have quite the system of smashing them.

Logan loses a tooth- very painful to watch, I finally told him I would pay him $10 if he pulled it out that day- It came out at 11:25 pm. (Thank goodness)

Bird show at Hogle Zoo.

We all went back to school.
Sophie went to the dentist and got some great new teeth. Well she did get a pretty little silver one that she is so proud of and tells everyone!

The princess turns 5 and wins a quilt (the cutest one ever) from Grandma T- she's not excited or anything.

Having a little birthday tea.

Mark rides the Snake in Jackson.

The big magic as Dallas turned an 8 into a 9 on 9-9.
Fun party with a great magician.

He also received a great quilt from Grandma T.

Grandma is a smart lady. She knew if Dallas got his Logan would want his as well, so she brought it just in case-obviously it was well received.

We love, love, love our quilts Grandma. Thank you Thank you.

LaCross started for Dallas.

Another golden-Annie turne 13 on the 13th. 13 Gold balloons fly away with Annie's golden wish.
A little tea party at the Beehive tea room with Annies best friend Ally.
(Check out Annies skirt, she made it-something else we've been doing)

New Cruiser for the golden girl.
Mark thought he was pretty golden too.

Great American concert at the Conference center with the boys.

Logan loses another- Tricky to eat food now.
Jesse gets a new do.

Logan turns 7!

Yummy peaches from Karen's tree = 21 quarts all ready for the winter (as Logan would tell his friend Will who wanted to know what we were doing).

Waht a terrific summer we had and are looking forward to an even better Christmas with all of you.

July 23, 2008

2009-02-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about coming home was that our Tennessee cousins were here for the summer. Not seeing them for a year was hard, but spending the rest of the summer with them will be a real treat.
Sophie and Salem clean the car.

This is always so fun when you are a child.

He looks pretty comfortable up there.

Obviously a favorite spot at Grandma Ts.

Sparklers is always a fun part of the 24th of July.
Sleeping under the stars was a fun way to end the evening.

Annie could not get enough of Brighton-she loved him and had a great time pretending to have a dog for a couple of months.

The Spanish Fork Rodeo

2009-02-21T17:56:00.000-08:00

Lucky for us our cousins live in Spanish Fork and Chris has "connections" and got us tickets to the rodeo, we were excited to start our Holiday celebration doing something so American.

We were able to spend the day with them and get cowboy'd up and head to the rodeo.
Howdy pardner-the boys are ready!
What a group, we look pretty official.

We dragged Grandpa T along with us.
The night was full of great cowboys and lots of intense moments.

We loved the rodeo clown. He was a local and really made the kids laugh. We didn't know that he was also a stunt man and pulled off a motorcycle jump over the trailer.

If you look close he is directly over the trailer.

The tradition at every rodeo, the royalty presenting the flags of our country and our state.

Here is the flag arriving into the arena for the big events of the night.I've never seen a cuter cowboy.

I love looking at these cowboys like this, I don't really ever want to see them on a bucking bronco.Thanks Thompson's for the fun day!!

"Ice cold lemonade only 25 cents"

2009-02-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

One of the first things the kids wanted to do was have a lemonade stand. These are not allowed in France and the kids really missed making their small stash of cash, so today was the perfect day to sell their refreshing homemade limeade.
Sophie flashing her best "buy my limeade grin"
Dallas & Logan having a great time on a hot day.

The Reed Clan

2009-02-21T08:51:00.000-08:00

July 13, 2008

Cousins waiting for the car to round the corner as we arrive to the family get together with the Reed family.
Annie & Natalie

Sarah & Jess

Sophie & Annie
Our new little cousin baby Mary.
What a good lookin group of boys.

We were so lucky to even have Aunt Dawn there with her darling children. They had made the long trip from Texas and we caught them on the tail end of their stay. Dawn was a brave woman to make the long drive on her own.

The whole clan.

Girls camp 2008

2009-02-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

This is the same group, just 24 hours and a shower later-pretty cute!

We were home just in time for Annie to make it up to the last days of girls camp. She could hardly wait to get there to see all of her Utah friends.
She had such a great time and was happy she was able to be a part of the craziness of girls camp.

Surprise-We're Home!

2009-02-09T10:01:00.000-08:00

I should learn that just because their bodies are on a French clock and they only got 4 hours of sleep that they would still wake up at the crack of dawn. The exciement of being home and seeing their friends was just too much!

The Rutters who live 2 houses away have boys the very same ages and they are all the best of pals. Their mother had told them that we were not coming home for 2 more days, so our kids snuck down to give them the big surprise.
Jack comes to the door and the things you cannot hear in a photo are the screams he let out.
He picked up Dallas and swung him around like a little rag doll-I think he was excited.
I didn't quite capture Will with Logan in the air, but it was about the same as Jack and Dallas.Nothin like good buddies.
It was as if no time had passed-they were all so happy to be back together again.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-18T21:37:00.001-08:00

The Reed Family – 2008

We returned from our year in France in July and everyone settled back into our former lives very quickly. We are happy to be home, but miss France, good bread, and all our friends very much. For now we plan to keep our Utah address, but you never know. We hope to go back again for at least a summer before Annie is out of school. The kids’ photos were taken in the gardens of the Vaux le Vicomte in July before we came home. Ours was taken in Brugge, Belgium in May.

Mark – is still appraising big buildings and large pieces of land. He’s happy with his work and continues to stay busy there. He just completed an appraisal of about 100 schools in the Jordan School District. He attended several BYU football games this year, which made him happy, and now has his boys hooked. He loves his church calling with the 14 to 18-year-old young men and plays tennis on Friday mornings with his brother Garth. He has plans to do more golfing and hunting this next year. (More golf would be more than nine holes and more hunting would be any hunting.) He let the boys shoot a .22 for the first time this fall.

Tifiny – stays busy with the five kids. With all of them in school this year she spends plenty of time at their school (she just can’t stand that their all growing up). She’s still tearing down walls and trying to fix her “grandma” house into something more fashionable and functional. There is no moss growing anywhere near Tifiny as she never slows down. She still has her entrepreneurial spirit and is checking with her Chinese manufacturing contact on a possible new product to sell here in the states that she found while in France.

Annie – 13, is in the 7th grade. She continues to play the violin and started on the piano. She is a very good student and loves life. She is the best babysitter and is very busy with all her jobs. She is a huge help to her mother as well. She is getting to be almost as tall as Tifiny.

Jesse – 11, is in the 6th grade. She is still playing the piano, has straight A’s and started diving this year. She is the party planner of the family and is a lot of fun. Her photo says it all-no those are not her shoes (she wishes). She also does a lot of babysitting.

Dallas – 9, is in the 3rd grade. He plays lacrosse and started playing the guitar this year. It’s hard to get him to come inside-he loves being outdoors, rain, snow or shine. He loves school and sports. He is a real BYU football fan after attending his first game this year.

Logan – 7, is in the 1st grade. He plays hockey and also started guitar. His mind is always spinning and continually cracks us up with his thoughts and questions. He loves football and anything Dallas likes. He is lucky to have a best friend that sleeps on the top bunk.

Sophie – 5, is in kindergarten. She is our dancer! She loves being a girl and dressing up. She loves school and begs her mom to let her stay all day everyday. (We think she is just so happy it’s in English.) She continues to be sweet and a very easy child (most days.)

We feel this is such a fun stage of life. Our friends put it this way – these are the real “Golden Years”, everyone is still at home, no one wears diapers and no one can drive yet! We are loving this time of our lives and have been richly blessed.

Merry Christmas!
Love, Mark, Tifiny and the kids