All My Loving - The Beatles

80's Dancing

80's Dancing Car Ride :)

80's Dancing Shopping

Can't remember if i posted already Tia and I

Carson and I

Megan and I

Michael, Chase, Zack, Maximus, Mark

Melissa and I

Liz and I

Ward Dodgeball...men team
Ward Dodgeball whole ward

Mark and I

Guitar Hero II Wyatt and I

The Girls ask guys Preference Dance

Ben, Me, Brett, Tim, and Britton

L. Tom Perry is coming to speak to us tomorrow, so that should be very neat. I love you

max

Funny comparison

I think this is the picture that Ya Ya said the picture Max just posted, reminded her of.

Thought for the Day

You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.

-Marian Wright Edelman

Protazoa Spike

Mark and I decided to spike our hair, so we got his up and then "protazoa" spiked mine...it was pretty intense...it was nice to talk to you all tonight for prayer...i love you...-max

The Party is over

The tribe lost tonight big time - again... Very disappointing as I always hope this will be the season Cleveland gets a winner, but it was fun to be in the playoffs and exceed expectations.

It is really good to be home. The past few weeks have included a ton of travel and there is nothing like being in Lakewood with Lexi and the kids. I have been to San Antonio, Houston and Chicago in the past 10 days.

The weekend - had a great dinner with Mom on Friday night upon returning from Chicago. We ate at the Clifton diner down at the corner of Clifton and 117th. Saturday morning Luke and Sophie played soccer - Sophie had a goal and Luke was awesome. Luke didn't particularly like taking a solid ball kicked into his privates, but he got past it and went back into the game eventually. We then worked on the house and the yard all afternoon getting it ready for the Halloween parties, fall, etc. with pumpkins, cats, spiders, etc - Mom will have to put some pictures on the blog.

We saw Sam run in the district CC meet down at Edgewater. He had a great season, got his Varsity Letter and improved incredibly. I of course am hoping he trains in the off season because I know he can continue improving. It was really fun watching him this season. I'm sure he will get his license the next time around...

Jack is done with CC and had a really good season, running second on his team and is now ready for LHS next year. He played the trumpet in the marching band for the Middle School football game last week and both he and Luke sang the National Anthem with the Middle School choir to start the game. Unfortunately Garfield killed Harding, but it was a packed house - it is great to see Lakewood support the teams.

Mom is amazing - keeping the house running great, doing an awesome job as the stake YW Pres. and doing service several times a week for members of the ward. She is also my best friend - you boys will be so lucky to find a girl like mom someday!

I love you - Dad

Sunday Night

Hello family -
Another beautiful day in Lakewood - All is well here but the Tribe was pretty disappointing this weekend. They had their chance, just didn't happen. Bummer.

We do have the most AWESOME-ly decorated house for Halloween. My friends, Debbie and Gail came over with all kinds of their stuff and willing hands to decorate. Luke and Sophie had a party last night. 10 boys and 4 girls. The boys were a little nutsy but fortunately it was warm outside and they went out to play capture the flag. One of Luke's friends came dressed as Luke DeBaltzo. He had sprayed his hair red and wore a BYU cap (which Luke always has on). It was great. We made caramel apples, monster cupcakes, ate lots of pizza. All around good time.

Next weekend we are having an adult costume dinner party and then Sam is going to have friends over after the Stake fall festival on Saturday - so we should get some good use out of all the decorations.

Sorry we couldn't be at parents' weekend at the Y this year - we certainly thought about you, Max. Thanksgiving is getting closer and we are so glad that we don't have to wait until Christmas to see you.

Really proud of Sam who got invited into NHS this week - he finished his Cross Country season on Saturday - He says he is going to miss it. I think he will benefit from a little more down time! Hopefully he will get his license this week as well which would be exciting.

Today Jack shared the following story with me - I especially loved that it came from Jack who had kind of a rough school week - Please know how much I identify with the story - as does your Heavenly Father - you are priceless spirits. I love you. Mom

"A well-known speaker started off his seminar by: holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this. He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE. You are special - Don't EVER forget it."

Hello from Mom

Well it has been a funny weekend. We had NEOEA day on Friday so no school but everyone seemed to have plans. Sophie and Luke spent the day at Kalahari Water Park at Cedar Point with the Schleckmans, Jack went apple picking with a gang of middle schoolers - I am pretty sure that the key activity was "see and be seen" because I didn't see a single apple come home.

Dad has been out of town since Weds - and doesn't come home until late tonight. So it has been pretty low key around here. But we do miss him and can't wait to have him come home!

Sam took his driver's test on Friday - aced the manueverability but then failed to "yield" during the driver's portion which is an automatic - "you need to wait and take the test again next week". He was disappointed.

However, as we drove home and just got into Lakewood - the Lexus started driving really oddly. The RPMs were racing and speed dropping. Definitely feels like a transmission issue. I managed to creep it to the repair shop - they think it may only be some fluids - (Dad and Sam both mentioned to me after the fact that there has been liquid on the driveway under the car) So I am hoping for the best and most affordable repair.

Anyway - the reason I recite all this is because President Eyring's talk was my favorite at conference last week. He talked about "seeing God's hand in his life or the life of his children each day" and the need to recognize it and not take things for granted. I know that had Sam passed his test, I would have had him drop me off and let him go for the day with a full tank of gas. To have something mechanical like that happen to the car could really have been treacherous. So yes, to me, that was God's hand in our life that day. For which I am truly grateful. Sometimes it is the very small moments in life that do the most to strengthen my testimony.

This weekend was Stake Conference and we have a new Stake President - President Titera. He will be different than President Rice but we are very happy with the opportunities that lie ahead for the stake. Counselors didn't change so my life in YW should continue merrily along and I can keep working on my Nauvoo Youth Conference that I am really hoping will happen.

It has been great to be able to talk to Max frequently, and Sam and I had some great time together this weekend. A nice lunch on Friday after the car fiasco and an AWESOME time watching him run on Saturday evening. It was so great to cheer him on and watch him kick it up a notch as we screamed his name.

I love you all - You are the light of my life.
Love- Mom