YC 2012

It was amazing!  Taylor and I just returned from the best Youth Conference experience ever.  10 Stakes from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky.  Over 800 youth attended and over 1,000 were there counting all the adults.  It was major work, but oh so rewarding!

Taylor had the awesome experience of having dinner with Elaine Dalton and the other Youth Committee members for this youth conference.

Sister Dalton even stayed in the dorms with us!  Here she is pictured with Taylor's YC family.  We had the entire campus of Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.

These were Taylor's roommates.  One was from Cleveland Stake, the other 2 from Pittsburgh Stake.  She was a little nervous going into this experience without knowing any of her roommates, but I kept telling her it was preparing her for BYU.

This was Taylor's YC family, with the boys included this time.  She made some great friends that she will probably see again in college.  It was a fabulous time.

Summer Days...

 Looks like the girls are pretty proficient in getting buckled into their bumper cars...but

 their father is another story altogether!!!!

 This is the most fabulous roller coaster in the world!  It is my favorite.  Brent, I think you could handle this one, it is worth a try!

 Of course, we have to treat ourselves while at Cedar Point and see how much of a mess we can make.  I spilled red on Tim's leg, it actually stained his leg!  Can you imagine what it does to your insides?  But oh so good!

And of course the Dragster...Carley screams for 17 seconds straight, what an awesome ride!
Come visit so we can take you too!

We Love Cedar Point...

We splurrged and purchased season passes to Cedar Point this year.  Why not???  We had to drag Carley, and I mean literally drag her, on her first big roller coaster.  I did feel bad about doing it, but now we are all glad for that drag!  She loves every one of them and has even mastered the Dragster without 17 seconds of non-stop screaming!  We are in line for the Millenium here, it is my favorite!  This is the only one I can keep my hands up the entire time!

Lunch break.  The kids want to make of goal of going every week this summer.  We will see how that goes!

Dolls...

 We had a fun mother-daughter outing a few weeks ago to an American Girl Doll Tea Party.  All the girls brought their dolls and we enjoyed a fashion show debuting all the American Girl Doll clothes and of course we had the opportunity to see all the dolls that are for sale and their many, many accessories.

 I LOVE the fact that they still play with dolls.  Girls after my own heart!  They also turn Carley's room into one giant Barbie house with different rooms and elaborate set-ups.  That sounds pretty familiar doesn't it mom?  And when I ask them to pick it up, they say, "But we spent hours setting this gorgeous house up, how can you expect us to clean it up?  We will play with it again tomorrow!"

 This whole thing was Sister Rieger's idea.  I think she would love an American Girl Doll of her own.

 The tea-party size meal.  Very fun!

 Kit had a special hair-do and outfit for the occasion.

I think the dolls really enjoyed themselves!  I know we did too. 

Sweet Sixteen...YIKES!!!

 On May 19th, 1996, this wonderful spirit entered mortality for Tim and I to love and care for and raise in the gospel, that she may work out her life here and return to her Heavenly Father.  That was 16 years ago.  There have been bumps and potholes that Tim and I have bumped over and fallen into, and I am sure there are many more to come, but I am so very proud of this beautiful young woman as she turned 16 a few weeks ago.  We have spoken of goals lately and shed tears together.  We are usually friends except when she doesn't get her way and I get moody and obnoxious!

 These are her fabulous friends whom I dearly love too!  They came for  Taylor's surprise party and celebration.

 Of course we had the normal open presents, have cake and ice cream time.  And she really wanted a car for her 16th birthday, which she knew wasn't going to happen, but her dad came up with another really awesome surprise to compensate for the absence of a car.

 At 8:00pm sharp, we heard a honk in the driveway....who could that be?  Tim the limo driver whisked these girls away to the life of luxury for the evening.  He took them Putt-Putting and then to Cold Stone for a treat and then cruising for a few hours while they enjoyed their non-alcoholic beverages on ice!  Now, that is a 16th birthday to remember. 

Happy Birthday my beautiful daughter!  Remember the goals you have set and never let life divert you from them!  Stick to what you know and have been taught and you will be just fine!  Call Uncle Brent often because he is one person who can always set you straight!!!!!  Love you!

She Runs Like the Wind...

Track Season just ended.  Her specialties:  4X1 Relay, 4X2 Relay, 4X4 Relay, and 100 and 300 hurdles.  She was awarded the "Will to Win" award this year for excellence in performance and being the athlete on the team that tried and tried until she was a success!  It was fascinating watching her run and get over those hurdles.

The "Wills to Win" of the team.  They were both fun to watch.  He worked on lengthening his stride this year and just seemed to fly around the track.

Pretty impressive!

And here she comes in the 4X4 relay.  Her coach has great expectations in her Junior and Senior years, and of course we are very proud parents!  Now...on to soccer season.  Conditioning starts for her today in about an hour.  Here we go...

Finally!

 School is out and life just got WAY easier!  So here are the updates from our family...Mom, these are the tulips you sent from Winter Quarters, they made Spring beautiful at our house!

 The dog, the truck, and the kids all got baths outside during our suprise March warm-up.

 Tim, Kelly and I saw Bruce Springsteen up close!  We actually touched the stage!

And it wouldn't be Spring without their annual turkey hunt.  They didn't get anything, but had a good time together in the woods.  Now that we are out of school, more to come soon!