School

Well school has started for us, we are now on our third week, and kids are loving it. So am I.
Mathoni is now in the third grade and doing book reports, its so fun because I remember third grade and doing those kinds of things. Mathoni works hard at any task he is given. He worked so hard with reading this summer that he earned a couple of passes to 7 Peaks- and had a blast!
Joseph is in second. Misses his first grade teacher but enjoying his new teacher. He is so bright and catchs on quick. He loves to sing and randomly throws out an English accent for no reason. I love it!
Both boys are green belts now and starting sparring. They love Tae kwon doe and are doing so well.
Ezra is still in Preschool. But doing great there. All his theripists love working with him. Who wouldn't? When ever he gets home he searches and calls for "baby girl" if she isn't at the door waiting. Its so cute to watch those two.
Eliza gets mornings free with me. We enjoy it. She is so observant and wants to tag a long where ever I go and then try to help. She loves to be read too. She is growing up so fast, it is sometimes hard to believe that she will be two in five months.
Stephen is had at work where ever he goes, in the field, around the house and out of town. We miss his witty comments, laughter, sageness and hugs- hurry home.
I am keeping busy with helping out at school, and UAF, Karate and everything in between.

I am so blessed to have my children around me, keeping me busy and teaching me how to be a better person. I am so blessed to be the mother of four active, vibrent and wonderful children. I am very pleased with all of thier accomplishments and adventures.

August Recap

Life just gets better all of the time. Glenn surprised us and came home this week, Tuesday. It has been wonderful having him home. I see him and my heart jumps for joy. Then today, Leon surprised us and was home when we got back from Church. Hurray! It is so good to have them back.

We enjoyed a wonderful few days at Bear Lake with much of the family, Stephen's family, Levi's family, Mike's family and those at home. Brigham and Maranda joined us the last night. We camped up the canyon from the North end of the lake and went down to the lake to enjoy the water Monday and Tuesday. Dad, Mike, Scott, and Gabe worked during the day and spent the later afternoon with us at the lake. Stephen went to work with them the first day but had to leave for a job in Rexburg on Tuesday. Levi had to leave early for work also. Mike brought Thane Jessop up to work with him and we enjoyed getting to know him a little. The lake was perfect and we had a wonderful time.

A week and a half later we were camping again with the Thompson Family order down at the campground in Mt. Pleasant. That was lots of fun also. Mike and Stephen's families were there and we got to spend time with LaRee and children too. I really enjoyed both campouts.

The weekend of the Thompson Family campout there was a bazaar held at the RCA. It was a great success. Dad and Momma Marion went and helped out for a few hours. Landon went with them but the rest of us stayed at camp. We moms had spent a lot of time sewing up items to sell, it was fun but stressful with everything else that goes on in our lives. We were glad to be able to help out in a small way.

Taylor brought LaRee and their children home between our campouts. It was so good to see them. Taylor headed back out to Georgia to finish the season and an extended season as well. We'll be glad when he is really home.

We spent this last weekend at the RCA Building with the youth activity. We all went except Thomas and Landon. It is hard to believe that there are only two left at home that are too young to attend youth activities. Glenn was there and I for one was glad to see him, from time to time, among the youth. I think we eached enjoyed the two days there very much. The weekend was centered around our ancestors and their faithfulness and the Prophet Joseph Smith. It was wonderful. Saturday night there was a formal dinner and dance. It was an amazing sight to see about 400 youth and staff seated at a formal dinner with candle light and all. We enjoyed some wonderful speakers and a "wall experience" that left a big impression on all of us. You will have to ask one of the teenagers to share their view of the experience.

The garden has been producing lots. If anyone wants cucumbers we have plenty and then some. We have actually canned beens and beets this year. I've never done beans. It has been fun even though at times I feel there just isn't time to do it all. We have lots of peppers as well. We tried canning them as well. They seemed to work out well. The tomatoes are ripening and we have enjoyed them some. We have to do something with the chickens though. They are running free and they like the tomatoes so most that we pick have chicken pecks in them. I'm not very happy about that. Hopefully Dad will be able to get them to stay in the run that he and the boys put together. He said he would try to clip their wings to they can't fly out.

School starts in just over a week and of course we are not ready. But, "Ready or not here it comes!" The last month has been a bit of a whirl wind so it might be very good for us to have something to regulate our lives a little. Even if I don't want it yet.

That is about all for now. Love you all and look forward to having everyone back home again soon.

Its August!

WOW the summer has finally flown by enough that now Jonah is starting to realize he doesn't have to die in the belly of a fish. :)

Laree and kids are coming home, Sams fam is almost done and the boys will be coming soon.

Though we still have not heard directly from the boys, Glen and Leon get your acts into gear we all KNOW you have TONS to say...at least one note would be nice. And Mandy, Marcy and Caramie, what! do you think we don't care about your boring and lothsome lives? We do, and we all want to be apart of it. At least one note before the summer is over would be delightsom.

Here is a note from Sams Fam-
We're down to the last month(ish)!
Hopefully a month from now we'll be back with you all, but who knows? A change of plans would totally be par for the course of the summer.
The official end date for the summer is August 27th, we will probably stay later though, depending on the demand and how many salesreps stick around for a while longer.
Crazy to think about. And for the most part we don't. If we spent time putting a lot of thought into how close we are to coming home, it'd make this last bit take forever. It already is taking forever.
It's been nice having James around, Sam really enjoys him as always, and it helps to have someone around who is not burnt out like the rest of us, someone who still likes the fact that we're busy all the time and have no energy for anything else. Keeps us smiling at his enthusiasm and appreciative of his energy. The rest of us are just dead on our feet.
I never understood, at the start of this summer, when I heard that we had a salesrep who did the summer program and then took the other 8 months off to go on vacations and laze around, how he could do that.
I know now just how easy that would be.
Of course, Sam won't. He anticipates taking a few weeks off maybe, and then getting back to work doing SOMETHING. Everything's kinda up in the air right now.
Including what we're doing, where we're living, and if I'll try working again. Let alone what we will do next summer. We figure it's too close to this summer to really try thinking about a next summer program- the thought honestly makes me shudder at this point. Regardless of where it would be.
Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Things have a tendancy to kind of just work out providentially, in whatever manner God sees fit.
And for that I am grateful :)

Papas Crew crusing around

We are back from our Montana trip. Conference was very good. They only had two meetings this year, one Saturday morning and the other Sunday morning. Sunday morning's meeting was 3 hours which was quite long but made it possible for those headed back to Utah to get and earlier start. The dance Friday night was fun and so was the barbcue on Saturday. It was nice to visit with those we love in Montana.

From Montana Daddy and I went to Lake Tahoe. We took a longer route to enjoy more scenery. It was a nicer drive but took a long time and I was tired of travel by the time we got there (we left Monday morning and arrived Tuesday night). We enjoyed our time there biking, touring an old estate, kayaking, a paddle wheel boat 'Sunset Cruise', and a sailboat ride. I was greatful for the opportunity, but glad to be home early Friday.

Mamma Marion headed home from Montana Tuesday night. It was a long trip for them, but they made it safely and that is what counts.

AnnaLee gave up her job, she said it just wasn't working for her. She has been doing some cleaning with Connie Jenson (Zubrod). She seems to like that better.

We head to Bear Lake next Sunday. We are really looking forward to camping and the lake. Virginia has been great getting us organized. Look forward to seeing some of you there.

to sieze or not to sieze???

What's new with the Lavery family??? Well Carson has been acting funny the last few week, he goes into this zone and does really heavy breathing so on Tuesday we went to see Danny and he thinks he might be having little seizures. They did some blood work and on Monday we are going up to Primary Children's for an MRI which will tell us if he really is and hopefully why he is having them. Danny's office called on thursday saying his blood work can back and it looks like he has a virus and that might be why he is having the seizure's so we might be going back into him again to do more blood work in a week or so. As soon as Mike found out he came home that night and was looking up all the natural ways to help so all week we have been downing him with stuff and if it ends up that its really nothing then he will just be extra healthy along with his brother Mason, I have been giving him everything as well because if you give one baby something the other one thinks he needs it as well. We have been extra busy in our yard trying to work on our family projects and last Tuesday we went out to Deanna's to can black and pinto beans, we wanted to get a good supply under our house before canning season started. Love you all and I hope your doing well

Love Virginia & Family

passing summer, boys camp and more from mama Gigi

Summer is quickly dissapearing on us. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think I have enjoyed my time off school enough. I hope to get some camping in the next month since I haven't done any yet. We do have the family campout at Bear Lake that I am looking forward to. Wish more of you could be there.

Scott is back home finally. We have really missed him. He arrived Thursday evening. I knew he was coming, but let it be a surprise to the rest of the family. They thought he was coming Saturday. Everyone was surprised and happy to see him.

AnnaLee has a job. She is working in the deli at Macey's. It makes for a hard busy eight hours and she isn't used to that kind of demand. She needs our prayers that she can endure. She said to me the other day that it is cooking and cleaning and she doesn't like either one. She is hoping to get transfered to another department. I hope it works out for her. This is a new experience for her.

Chauncey attended his first boys camp this week. I think he enjoyed it, but said there wasn't enough food. Gabriel went also. They came home burnt and tired, but said it was fun.

The garden is coming along great. Dad, of course, spends any minute he can in it. He is a hard worker and I really appreciate his example. We have been getting beets, carrots, peas and now beans out of it. We also have chickens running around in it during the day eating bugs. We started with about 50 and now have about 40. We think we have a skunk who has gotten a few. We keep them in the tool garage at night but need to get the chicken coop finished so that we have a real place for them. All in time! Mamma Marion and Brigham sheared the sheep on the morning of the 4th. It was tough at first to get the lamb held down but after a few minutes it settled right down and enjoyed having the hot coat taken off. It took them a long time and they got alot of wool off of it.

We moms have enjoyed the grandkids alot this week. We have had children every day to watch, either Virginia's, Heather's, Becca's or Caramie's. It has been fun. We miss LaRee's tons. Not that we are predjudiced, but we really have the cutest grandchildren on earth. We are excited for the new ones coming next year.

We attended Mckynzie's baptizm this last Tuesday. She was so short she couldn't stand on the floor of the font. She had to stand on the step so he could keep her head above water. It was a sweet baptizm and we enjoyed the spirit there.

Mamma Marion, Landon, and Maura went up to Jordanelle Resivor yesterday and joined Aunt Dawn's family at their campout. They really enjoyed visiting with the cousins and the activities that they had going on. Everyone is growing up and there were lots of teenagers there. It is hard for me to believe that they have grown that much. Scott, Brig, and Mandy joined them that night for a boat show and fireworks. It sounds like it was lots of fun. On the way home they stopped at the job in Midway to pick up tools for another job Monday. The neighbor thought they were stealing things and called the police. After being pulled over and checked out the police let them go home. It made for a very late night though. They got home after 1:30.

We are all going up to Montana for conference this coming week. From there Dad and I are going to go to Lake Tahoe for our 25th year aniversary. I'm looking forward to it.

We can hardly wait for everyone to get home. Please hurry! Love you lots!

Texas

Greetings from Texas everybody! Hope you're doing well.
It's hot down here. Majorly.
I haven't had to deal with it much just because I've yet to join Sam back at work, but it's definitely there. It doesn't even cool off at night, it's just HOT.
Sam's doing alright at work, he misses my help. He was able to take the first few days of work off last week, but has been working since Wednesday again. The salesreps have started this new rule that they don't actually start working until 3pm? I guess it's just too hot for them or something, partially I can't help but wonder if they're being lazy because we're in a new area. But that's just me. :)
The fact that they are able to knock less than 8 hours a day means there is a lot less work for the installers, which is kinda a pain, but what can we do? It's not like we're the bosses :)
We're living in a hotel room, not an apartment, which could be fine, but it doesn't have a kitchenette at all! Just a microwave & a small fridge. I dunno- it's not the best set up, and I miss having things feel like a home, but it's life. At the very least I suppose it's nice to have someone else to make our bed whenever we're feeling too lazy lol.
There is one working washer & dryer for the entire hotel complex, which is kinda a pain- we need to do laundry but I obviously should have done it on a different day than Sunday, since that's when it occurrs to everyone else that they need laundry done too. haha
But such is life.

Fencing lessons from Mikes Family

Hello again from the Lavery's, life has been so busy the last few week I have not taken the time to blog. We finish our fence, YES! now our kids will stay in the back yard. Mike still wants to fix some things on it but it opens and closes and that's all I need. Marcy and I have been working on a project in our yard, we put in a rock patio out behind our shed that has a small fire pit, its nothing big and grand but it's nicer then all the weeds. We also planted some flowers and I have been looking for grass and rocks on ksl to finish it up. We want to do a dry bed next to the wall and plant some lager flowers and things to try and keep our kids from walking on the wall and the grass will go on the hill side. I think it will be really nice when its all finish, our kids have been great little helpers Mike, Marcy, and I did the youth 5k the other weekend and our two older boys did the kids race, I think Mo is going to be our little runner he did his race and wanted to do all the other ones as well. We miss you all so much and I'm excited it's only another two months or so that we will all be back together again. I'm looking into planning a Baker Family Reunion for next year in the fall. It would be in a cabin that's in the canyon just above Cedar City. Our family stayed in the cabin this spring for Marcy's Family Reunion and had a lot of fun. They have a large cabin that a lot of us could stay in but they also have small ones all around. Zion's is about an hour away grand canyon I think is about three hours or so away. We could do some hiking of fishing, whatever people would want. The cabin also has a game room and a hot tub so we could hang out at the cabin as well. I'm just looking for some feed back from everyone to see if their is interest??????? Love ya all and may God bless and watch over you all as much as he has my family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR JULY FAMILY

BRIGHAM
TRISTEN
LEILONI
LAREE
MANDY
LEANDRA
HEATHER

Sum memeries

Happy Independence Day!
There has not been much activity around here. Stephen has been working in Orem and gotton a few side jobs here and there, to keep him busy. Mathoni finished his summer reading camp and improved by four months in just three weeks. He is so excited to be finished and feels very accomplished. He is now anxious to go to 7 Peaks, it was his reward from summer camp. Joseph has been my big helper while I do bodywork. He misses school and askes just about every day when he gets to go to summer camp. Ezra started his summer program as well, He loves riding the bus and seeing Ms. Kari and Ms. Gina, He has a favorite book to read that is called MUD. He does such a cute job reading it. He still thinks its funny to run off after church or at the parade, only now we have learned to keep him on closer watch.
Eliza is finally walking! after a couple of Chiropratic visits, and more to come, she is walking all over the place. She is such a joy to have.
We are all counting down the days until we get to go to Montana and camping its been over a year now sence we have all been up there. And now that we have a new ride, yep we finally got a new car too!

May God bless you all as he has blessed us.
Stephen and family

family mussing

Good Morning and Happy Independence Day to my wonderful family. I love you so much and feel it a great privilage to be a part of this beautiful family God has blessed me with. I'm up very early today to get my 'baked beans' cooking for the Hess gathering this afternoon. Since I haven't ever done them from scratch I hope they turn out well. Anyway, they are in the crock pot heating up now and since it is too late to go back to sleep and no one else is up yet I decided to take a few minutes and update the parent's household news and events.

My sister Emily called me Saturday while I was enjoying the grandkids at the RCA while their parents ran in the YOZ 5K. She said she may be able to come home that day and was looking for a ride since Don wouldn't be able to get her until later that night. That afternoon I went down and retrieved her from her prison/hospital abode. She is so happy to be home and have her boys with her. She has to stay down for two weeks still and is to have someone with her if she has her boys, but I'm sure she brakes the rules at times. I'm so happy for her and her boys. They really needed to be a gathered family again. I will miss her cute boys around all of the time, but I must admit, I'm a grandma now and get tired and worn alot more easily than I used to.

Gabriel also came home Saturday. He had a wonderful experience on his work mission and I'm glad he had the opportunity, but I'm also glad to have him back. It has been difficult to live without a big boy around when you have had one for so many years. It was good for Chauncey because he got the opportunity to be 'big brother' for a few weeks. We relied on him lots.

At church last week (not yesterday but the week before), John Buckley approached me and said he really enjoyed my son. I didn't know which he was refering to but guessed it was Scott since John was obviously from out-of-town. He said he was a good kid and lots of fun. He also said Scott was surrounded by girls everytime he saw him. Not that I was very surprised, but as a mother it sent me to worrying. Scott, of course, said it was just coincidental that the two or three times John had seen him he was catching a ride with a group of girls. I'll be glad to have him home soon, I miss him and need to keep my eye on him as well.

I'm sure you have all heard that Daddy has another sore on his foot and was on crutches again. I'm happy to report that the crutches are gone. The sore is healing well. He still has to be careful to not brake it open again, but we are glad it has done so well. He will have to have surgery again but he is trying to get onto medicaid first so that we can get some help.

AnnaLee has been working the garden for Daddy quite a bit. She keeps the water going and spends hours weeding. It is good for her and she has learned to enjoy it. We don't see much of Ormond these days, his car is legal! Maura, Chauncey, Thomas, and Landon are enjoying the summer but sometimes they wish for school. As all of you have experienced, when school is "in" you want to be out, when school is "out" you want to be in-"the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence".

Daddy, Mamma Marion, and AnnaLee helped with the sports at Girls Camp this year. They enjoyed themselves. I heard that the program for Thursday night was wonderful. Wished I could have been there but it didn't work out and instead I enjoyed a mostly quiet weekend with the four youngest. My sister Margaret took Emily's boys and I just enjoyed our children for a few days.

Virginia has reservations for a small group camp site at Bear Lake in August (I think it is the 7,8,and 9). Anyone who would like to join us is welcome. Those of us going will enjoy ourselves and want the rest of you to know that you are missing out.

On this Independence Day I want to express my gratitude for those who have gone before me who have opened the way for my freedoms, those who led our country to freedom, those who opened doors for the resotration of God's gospel, and all who have stood for freedom and truth. I'm grateful to them. I would remind all of you to take the time to reflect on the importance that freedom plays in you life and determin to be a part of maintaining those freedoms you enjoy, stand firm for truth and liberty. Take a few moments and read a story about someone with great statesmanship who has been an inspiration to you, share it with your children.

I love you all. Make it a wonderful day!

Sam Fam

Hey Family!
Sorry it's been a while. I keep forgetting to take the time to write, and honestly most of the time I'm too tired to remember haha oops!
We've had a really great week. We were able to put more jobs in this week than ever before, which is an awesome accomplishment :) Definitely proud of that.
Work still has it's ups and downs, ya win some, ya lose some.
It's funny, people keep asking us what our favorite restaraunt, place to see, etc etc, is in Sioux Falls, and we can't say we've really explored it enough to decide. We just work too much.
I never thought I could work as much as I have and still have energy to form coherent thoughts (and some days I don't) but for the most part I've done well. Sam's been an awesome support & does his best to be understanding and loving always. He's really committed to making this summer go well & hopefully we'll be able to reach the goals we've set out to accomplish.
Sometimes I struggle with the whole job itself you know? There is VERY little, if anything, that I can relate to in this job, which makes it hard some days & I find myself wondering why we put up with so much garbage, but as Sam pointed out- we're getting well paid to do it, and this is all just a means to an end. The REAL things we can relate to is the fact that we're doing all this sacrificing for a short period of time, to make things better in the long run. To be able to purchase a lot in Mount Pleasant, to be able to build our own home someday, to be able to help with all the different projects Dad wants to get going, to be able to get me a car that doesn't have to be treated with kid-gloves & a prayer that it will last just a little bit longer.... Those are all things I can relate to.
And with that thought & motivation, I keep going.
It also helps that I get to have a break here in a few days :)
WAY looking forward to seeing you all!
I will be getting in around 9am on the 25th and leaving around 5pm on the 3rd- Know that Sam really wishes he could get away too, he misses all of you so much. We both do.
And on that note, I shall wrap this up & go throw in a batch of laundry- there is so much to do on the one day we don't work!

Love to all!
~LeAndra

From TBFam

Here in the South things are busy for the boys and very 'layed back' for the ladies. The boys are working in Georgia now, so they drive down there, about 2 hours,.on Monday morning and come back late Wednesday night. They do laundry, sleep, and pack to head out again on Thursday morning. They work hard and it pays off when they get to come home again late Saturday night. The ladies spend their time relaxing by the pool and being domestic.
The kids are doing great. Leilani is rhyming everything she can. Lovie is Leilani's shadow and the perfect partner for trouble. Isabel had taken up making felt fruit and crocheting. JD spends his time swimming and trading GI Joes with all the other little boys in the building. 'Little' Bianca has been teething and gets around very well, she is standing up to and walking around everything. And best of all..... Taylor can breath again!!!
We are thinking we might end up staying until August now, but we will keep ya'll informed.
It is so hard not to pick up a Southern accent, I love it.
We hope ya'll are doing well and love and miss ya'll.

From Mama Gigi

Dear Family,

As a Mother I'm missing my family very much. I enjoy so much the visits from Heather and children, Caramie and children, and Virginia/Marcy and children, but we miss you others and don't see the ones in town every day which we certainly wouldn't mind. The summer is quickly slipping by but at the same time seems like it will go on forever before my far away family returns.
Gabriel left for his work mission in Mt. Pleasant last Saturday the 11th. He will be gone for 3 weeks. Scott left Monday the 13th for Wyoming to help out there in the bakery and on the ranch. He will be gone for 5 weeks. Monday Daddy left with Chauncey and Thomas for 3 days to work in Mt. Pleasant. It seems strange that we only have 4 of our children at home. More and more often I find myself realizing that the days of having a full house are quickly disappearing. Personally I have no children at home right now; however, I do have my sister Emily's two boys. They are mine for the summer. Like any 4 and 2 year olds, they keep me busy. It is good for me.
Mamma Marion is working like crazy on household things and in the yard. She has been getting starts from her sister and planting trees, herbs, raspberries, etc. She has also been gathering rock for the dry bed in the back yard. Daddy and the boys started getting the dry bed dug out and rocks placed. It isn't finished but has a good start and is looking great. AnnaLee is spending time planting and watering in the garden and of course reading. She starts a class this week. Ormond works and hangs out some at home. He just bought a car, when he gets it registered and licenced I'm sure he will feel more freedom again. Maura's leg has healed well and she is doing great. As always she is busy being "the boss". Sometimes she and Benjamin (Emily's oldest) get along great and play so well together, other times it is constant arguing and fighting, either best friends or enemies it seems. Landon is a joy for us. He is always creating something new with junk. Aluminum foil and cardboard are his favorites. We are always finding some strange contraption and when he explains it to us it we are amazed. We think he is headed into the roll of inventor. I spend too much time sewing and need to get out in the sun more, but I'm getting on top of things. I even found time to write up something for the blog. Wow! I do enjoy my job and the freedom it gives me to do school and be able to take Emily's boys, etc. But like any job it has responsibility and keeps me tied down at times.
Missing everyone and pray you will be held in the palm of the Lord's hands. I'm so grateful to know that you are in His care and the reasureance that He loves you more than I can is comforting. Take care. I love you!

Virginias Post

Hello Family
I know I'm late this week but you know what they say, "better late then never." Well our family has been really busy already this summer, we made "family goals" and have been busy trying to get them done. They are putting in a fence in the front so our kids will stay in the back, getting a good supply of wood for next winter, and pulling out our old swamp cooler, fixing the roof and painting the upstairs hall and down the stairs so that our roof will stop leaking water on us.Open-mouth smile The fence is coming along, we hope to pick up the other parts to finish it on monday. Saturday we spent all day picking up wood and chopping it and I think we got a good start. The roof will have to be our July and August project. Our kids are having so much fun helping Dad and playing in the yard. Mo wants to be five so he can go to school, he talks about it all the time. Chase still loves horses and asks all the time to riding. We went to the kids dance performance the other night and so now Chase really wants to go dance with them, he loved it so much. Miles is a big boy now and he lets us know it, you don't leave him out of anything Mo and Chase are doing, he also loves "helping" his mom in the garden. Mason had a bad fall the other day at the dance performance so his face is really sad looking, he also loves standing on our picnic table out side, the little monkey. Carson loves playing with his brothers trucks out side and walking around. They are so much fun together and they are never part from each other. Their favorite thing to do right now is Mason will chase Carson around the house grabbing him and then they will fall over laughing and laughing. We miss you all so much and pray God will be with us all until we can be together again. I think we should have a little Baker reunion when everyone gets back together again.

Taylor Family United!-boring Sam and LeAndra ;)

Sam Fam
Hey Family,
Hope you're doing well.
This week has been a tiring one, and not quite as productive as last, but what can you do except keep moving on?
The good news of the week though, is Danielle has had her baby, a gorgeous little girl with lots of dark hair- and that means LeAndra will be heading home soon! Just for a week long visit, from the 25th of June to the 3rd of July. Can't wait to see you all!
Sorry there isn't more news, life is kinda repetative & boring lately.
ALTHOUGH! We did go to the Sertoma Butterfly House a few weeks ago- it was so much fun! Here are some photos :) The two that are on the post are actually Atlas Moths- they're pretty cool.
Anyway, love you all lots & miss you even more!!!
~Sam & LeAndra

Taylor Family

Bianca is almost ready to walk and just got her 7th tooth for her Birthday!
Lovina has become very independent and has a natural love for the water as long as she can explore it at her own pace. She as also recently perfected the 'fake mope'.
Leilani is a sweet little 'mommy' to her little sisters, always concerned as to whether or not their feelings were hurt. She is so devoted, she walks Betsy EVERYWHERE all day long (poor dog).
Isabel loves learning to cook. She takes great care in being a very attentive big sis. The little girls all love and look up to her, always asking her to help them when mommy is busy.
J.D. is our brave fish boy. He always wants to swim. He also enjoys going to the gym where can work out as well and as long as any adult.
LaRee is so happy to have their little family together again and is enjoying learning to JUST be a mom again.
Taylor is as busy as ever but glad to be surrounded by family again. He is as always a friend to all.
Wow driving across the country with 11 people and 1 dog squished in a suburban with no AC was a BIG adventure. We made good time in between potty stops and only had one tornado watch ( in Missouri). We made it in 39 hours of craziness. We almost lost our luggage off the top of the car when the bungie cord net broke. When we pulled off of the free way and into the gas station parking lot, the back of the trarp was open and it looked like we had already lost some but we counted and did not loose anything, we must have had a really brave guardian angel up there who didn't want me to cry again. Now that we are finally here it is really an experience. We have to shop again! When we arrived I had to go buy eggs, wipes, milk, and of course ice cream......just to name a few things we have not bought in a long time. We went to the beach the day after we arrived, sadly daddy had to work and could not join us. Bianca just kept crawling 'out to sea' and the seaguls stole our lunch and ppoped on mommy as we watched a wedding on the beach. The kids all loved it and it felt like a perfect bath. The kids love it here, we get to swim whenever we want ( ha ha, mommy is a party pooper who doesnt think its good to go everyday, thats where Uncle Leon comes in) Most of us fried the first time we swam especially Bianca and mommy but now we all look like natives, except Lovie who looks like she is wearing little white shorts when she runs around nude. We went to a zoo here and got to go on safari. We got to pet a zebra that tried to bite Lovie's ponytail off. We also saw alot of big cats, JD loved it! We are having tons of fun and JD and Izzy are reading well now!!! The only thing that would make this vacation better would be to share the experience with all of you. We love and miss you all. May God bless our family until we meet again. Love Taylor, LaRee and Children

Glenn and Leon

Glenn is really missing everyone back home and still goes to the gym everyday. He enjoys being around kids again.
Leon is getting tired of dogs and children waking him up early, but he does enjoy having the kids here especially Lovie whom he always finds first when he comes home.
The boys are working hard and doing good despite the heat and humidity. It doesn't cool down much at night here, at 8 p.m. it is still 90 degrees and 75% humidity.
(Thank you LaRee for keeping us all up to date with the boys, I appreciate it.)

Stephen Fam
There has not been a lot going on here. The boys finished school last week and are very ready for a break, however Mathoni was elected to take a summer coarse that will aid him in reading and writing and language, he eagerly accepted that invitation. He is also getting baptized this Saturday. He is very excited and has worked hard (he had to read the first and second Nephi) We are very delighted in his accomplishment. Joseph is going to be his dads right hand man on the "farm", more on that to come. We did build our chicken coop, and got our garden in(some of it) Eliza is walking now, and only gets pushed down about 2% of the time. We love you all and look forward to hearing from you again. Love Stephen and family.

From you to me and me to you

Okay kids, big and little this is for all of us to keep in touch with the little bits of life that we all miss because we are:

a) accross the nation,

b) playing with soil,

c) busy moms with little sense

d) busy Grandmas with so much in and out that we don't know where we are or who.

How this works: This is going to be a very one sided conversation if you don't post comments so PLEASE comment. You email me, Heather, your update and I will get it posted. Pictures are also nice to have. I am sorry if I don't have your email- shot me one and then I will have yours :)

Also, it would be really nice to hear from EVERYONE! Yep, that means you, oh and you. Believe it or not, that even means you...did I miss anyone. NOT LIKELY! :)

ALL SUGGESTIONS are welcome though they may not be well received ;)

Well Hi Family! We're doing well, miss you all tons though.

Work has been going alright- it has its ups and downs. We've been out here exactly 4 weeks last night. One fourth the way done with our time away already.

On our second week out here we went and bought a little tomato plant, two strawberry plants & a pack of pea seeds. They all belong in the same little pot & they're our "babies". the tomato plant has two or three little green tomatoes on it and they keep getting bigger every day-so exciting! We've harvested at least 6 strawberries & Sam keeps wanting to pick the lass rip ones (were as I'm more patient of course, ha ha,)our little pea sprouts are finally coming up and we're really looking forward to those. :)

It's so flat out here. For the first few days it was hard to keep oriented because there are no mountains! Thank fully the freeways mostly run North/South & East/West so as long as you know where the major freeways are- you can do alright. Well that and we have our GPS :)

The weather is strange here- it can be raining on one side of town, and not on the other- but its not like there's any sort of mountain or hill to dictate what gets the rain or not. It rains SO MUCH too!~ we kept looking for sprinkler systems in the fields but it turns out most of everything grown here is done by "dry" farming- and yet there are huge puddles and ponds just scattered throughout the fields. Its so strange. Definitely farm land- the soil is so rich and dark! Apparently they grow large amounts of corn and soybeans around here- the corn was an obvious guess- but I never would have thought soybeans.

Anyway!

I'm rambling now,

We love and miss you all so much!

Oh and congrats Anna on your graduation! Thanks tons for the announcement, hopefully you'll be getting our postcard soon :) we thought about you lots on Thursday.

Sending our love and prayers for you all!

~Sam & LeAndra.

Hello family I hope you are all doing well. I miss you all very much and will be happy when we all be in the same state together again. I don't have pictures this week but I will try to get some for next week. The most exciting things going on in our house are my babies started walking this week and they are having so much fun doing it. Mason started taking stops first but Carson was the first to go a long distance but as soon as Mason could see his brother was getting all the attention he got right up and started walking just as much as Carson, they are such a joy to our family. We have so much fun with our five boys and they have so much fun together and being as close as they are. We are also putting a fence in our front yard so our kids will stay in the back. No more chasing them out of the road, YES! We love ya tons and we will see you all soon.
Love Virginia and Family.

Mauras leg is BROKE! Did you all hear that? poor girl walked all over Nauvoo and beyond on that broken leg. Great fully it was a clean brake and healing well. -Mama Marion

Well, Ezra gave us a nice scare after church, he ran up the hill to the tractor, near the canal. It was a good fifteen minutes before we found him. And the race is on... We went camping over the weekend and woke to an inch of snow! I think its safe to say that We are tired of global warming, we welcome global cooling! :) Stephen is home and we are grateful for that and FINALLY Mathoni and Joseph started riding their bikes, so of coarse we had to get them new ones. Eliza is not walking but she is taking steps, four and counting. We hope and pray you are all doing well. Love Stephen and Family.

Keeping in touch

This land is my land, this land is your land from South Carolina to South Dakota, from Arizona to the flooding Utah, this land was made for you and me.

okay I know its a stretch but we are in such a wonderful day and age of technology that we get to keep in touch. I hope you all will keep checking back and see how our family is doing.