Emily's family birthday party

Happy 9th Birthday, Emily!
Emily was thoroughly confused to get a chew toy (from Nicky who was in NV for tonsil surgery) and a box of doggy treats. It took her awhile to figure out what was going on! "Emily, you're getting a dog!" Colin said. We captured the moment on video, so hopefully we'll be able to post that short video on the blog. She was so excited and amazed!

Lunch at Olive Garden.

The twins found this cool hide out at Olive Garden that kept them entertained after they had finished eating!
We went to Laurea Stirling's house after lunch so Emily could pick out her new puppy! I had thought she'd choose a brown one, but she went straight to the black and white one and said, "I want that one." Laurea told her she could take more time getting to know the puppies, but she was sure about her choice! She decided on the name Keta (Kee-duh).


Adorable!

Emily's 9th Birthday party!

Notice the tear marks? Tameeka was a little upset that it wasn't her birthday, and the presents weren't for her. Thank goodness for cake and ice cream though! That cheered her up!





Emily made this delicious spice cake!
Em invited 4 friends and they were all able to come! Sydney, Caroline, Stephanie, and Mackey.
We played fun outside games: hide and go seek, an obstacle course (Devon made that one up), tag, and Frisbee golf. Everyone had a great time!

Flag Football

The boys had a great flag football season! They had some awesome plays and some very cool flag-grabs! Colin and the man in green were assistant coaches, and the one on the far left (Matt Biamonte) was coach.
The boys had just played a game when they took these pictures. Hence, the sprayed hair and pink cheeks!

I know this is a goofy picture of me, but the sun is making my hair look blond and I thought that was kind of cool. Look! I'm a blond!
The kids loved Daddy to swing them around after the football games were over!
Calvin and Devon started a little team spirit with the hair spray-on dye. They would spray their hair before almost every game!
Diego (the one with the water) Hunter is the one in front.
Clark
Ben
Dev with lots of spray-dye!

Emergency Preparedness

We're finally prepared in the 72 hour kit department! Our ward does a great job at making emergency supplies available at a very good price. We have a large tent to fit us all, sleeping bags, food, flash lights, cooking gear, etc., etc. all ready to go in our garage. Let's hope we never have to use it, but it's a feeling of security knowing it's there if we ever need it!

BYU game

Colin took the older kids to a BYU game. The Royals gave us extra tickets, and so did a neighbor, so they went for free! Emily was sitting in a different section with Colin, so that's why there are no pics of her. The boys had the camera.

Grandpa and Grandma- Peach time!

Once again, Ray and Leona have traveled miles to come help us can our peaches! I forgot to mention in an earlier post, that they helped us a ton with our garden in Highland, too. Thank you Ray and Leona, for helping us build up our food storage!
I didn't help out much this year with the actual canning process. My job was entertaining little ones, while Calvin, Dev, and Em helped Grandma and Grandpa can peaches. They did a terrific job and are officially pros at canning!
This is Leona's favorite recipe for peach jam. It is so yummy! We got so many peaches on our tree this year, so they were either canned as peaches, or used for freezer jam.