Beaver Creek Get Away!

We enjoyed a weekend get away to Beaver Creek Lodge. This is our annual trip with our long time friends. We talked and laughed and even cried. It was a great time. Thanks everyone!

Halloween!

The kids had a lot of fun this year for halloween. Shonee and Brecken went trick or treating with a friend Mckenna and Krystal, Koby, and Randall. Tyson put on a spook alley in our gulley with some friends. We dont have pictures of Justin and Jessi. Justin went to a party and they provided costumes there. Jessi was a Devil - Angel but left her costume at the school. She went party hoping then to the club with some friends. Zach won the costume contest at the club. He was a chippendale's dancer. Yikes!

Our new family members

I got some skeletons to put up outside for decorations this year. They never made it outside. Everytime we turned around they were doing something else. It was tons of fun. The best time was when we went in for family home evening and one was praying and the other was reading the scriptures. We missed getting a picture of that one.

Happy Birthday Todd

Lezlie and Robyn came over on tuesday to celebrate Todd's birthday. We had pumpkin pie and a lot of fun. Then Trenna, Susan, Mandy, Natalie and Randall, and Sherrie and Family came on thursday. Happy birthday Todd, Trenna, Tanner and Natalie!

Sadie Hawkins - Retro

Jessi took Colten Mortensen "Morty" to Sadie Hawkins. The theme was "Retro". They dressed 60's and really looked the part. The day date was a photo scavenger hunt at the mall. She said it was on of the funnest dates she has been on!

Las Vegas!

We just had a fun vacation. We left on wednesday and headed south. We stopped off and toured Zion National park. It was fun we even saw an old friend from Logan there on his honeymoon!

We just spent five days in Las Vegas with Todd's dad and his wife Laura. We had a great time! Their house is beautiful and the kids loved the pool.

We went sight seeing every day and then returned back to their house for awesome food every night! Thanks Laura

We had a great time on the strip! So many things to see and do. Here are just a few!

Of course there are the negatives too. I guess a few things rubbed off!

But we tried to find balance!

I got to see my two best friends from high school! Jon Downer and Jenni Labruzza! That was definately a hightlight of the week!

All in all I think we took to the "City that Never Sleeps" pretty good! ....... Well kind of!

What a View!

Jessi got to skip school today to go hang out with all the other earthies watching hawks with her Environmental Science Class. They hiked up to Mendon Peak and are being taught by the hawk watchers. This is totally up her alley. Did you know she was an environmentalist at heart? Yes she is. She loves nature, believes in global warming and wants to save the rain forest. Maybe someday she will!

Another Concert

Jessi and Tyson went to the Yellowcard concert last night. Jason Reeves and John Allred opened for them. They thought it was great, however, they are having a hard time hearing today. They saw a lot of people they knew there. They even saw a cousin, Hailey, from Star Valley.

I didn't think much of the concert at first. That was until I pictured my kids standing on the floor with numerous people pushing in all around them. The 1988 Def Leppard Hysteria concert came to mind. That was my first concert. I was excited and was there with a date. L.A. Guns opened for them. I don't remember much about L.A. Guns. Just that I was completely miserable. I was smashed on all sides by people I didn't know. I remember my nose being crushed into the back of the person in front of me. I have no idea how close we were to the stage because I never saw it. Let me tell you the floor is just not the right place for short people. The more L.A. Guns played the worse the crowd got. I remember the crowd swaying and my feet not touching the floor. My date was trying to hold me up the whole time. I have heard of people dieing in crouds like this when they fall down. Up to this point I never could quite see how that was possible. During that concert it was all to real a possibility. At one point I lost my shoe. (never to be found again) My date kicked the high heels off of many girls shoes that kept stepping on our feet. I had many round bruises on the top of my feet when it was over. When L.A. Guns quit, my date and I moved to the back. I sat on his shoulders for Def Leppard. It was much better then. Since then I am perfectly happy with reserved seating!

So my mind was on my kids all night. Luckily they came home happy with a great experience. Even if they can't hear.

The Homecoming Saga

As you might know Jessi loves to dance. She really looks forward to all dances especially the school dances. This year she was invited to Homecoming over a month before by Alex. Two weeks later they broke up. It was sad and hard but they decided they would still go to Homecoming together. Then she was asked by Chase (Homecoming King). She was flattered but didn't want to hurt Alex's feelings so she told Chase no. Then one week later things got ugly and Jessi and Alex decided not to go to the dance. So Jessi had no date. We hoped for a week that someone who had procrastinated and didn't have a date yet would ask her. On thursday she broke down and asked a friend if he would go with her. Zak couldn't go because he had to be in Preston that day. On friday, as Jessi and Tyson were going to the Homecoming Game, Todd told Jessi he would pay her $50 if she came home with a date for the dance. He told Tyson he would pay him a $5 finders fee if he found her a date. No luck for either of them. So on saturday Todd took Jessi out for dinner, bought a bunch of chocolate (as you know chocolate cures everything) and settled down for a movie marathon. Part way through the first movie at 7:45 Zak called and said he was home from Preston and asked her if she still wanted to go to the dance. So Jessi got ready and he picked her up 15 minutes later. She had a ball! Todd was a little disgruntled because not only did he loose his date for the night but he spent $50 on dinner and missed the USU vs BYU hockey game with Chris, Tyson, Justin and Tanner. Oh well thats what dads are for right? So does he still owe her $50? Give us your vote.

Crazy USU Fans

Tyson, Tanner, Justin and Chris and went to the USU vs. BYU Hockey Game tonight. USU won of course! It was a great game. (Sorry Todd!) These pictures were all taken after so a lot of their paint had worn off! But you get the idea.

8 is Great! Brecken got Baptized today! It was a really nice day. We had a stake baptism and Brecken was 2nd. Dad baptized him. Grandpa Skinner and Chris were the witnesses. He was confirmed by Dad with Grandpa Skinner, Bro. Knowles, Steve Sorenson, Chris, and Uncle Roy were in the circle. Later we went back to our house for dinner. We enjoyed having Sherrie and family, Lezlie and Nate and girls, Robyn and Talan, Steve, Uncle Roy and Aunt Joan, Chris, Mandy, Amber and Ben, Grandma and Grandpa Skinner and Jackie and Olivia there. It was a really special day!