Brian and I just got back from a week in St Thomas. This was a much needed relaxing vacation. We started by flying at 1:00 am. I got a Rx from Dr. Ferguson for some Ambien. Brian and I both took the Ambien and honestly we can't even remember taking off or any of the flight to Atlanta or any of the 3 hours that we spent in the Atlanta airport. Kinda scary but also really nice.



When we arrived in St Thomas it was beautiful, hot and humid. The people there really don't SMILE much at all.
We stayed at the Elysian Hotel on the East end of the Island. It was nice. We spent a lot of time on different beaches. Our favorite was Lindquist beach. It was so peaceful and beautiful it nearly took my breath away.
We went on a walking and driving tour of the Island. We saw Blackbeards castle and walked the famous 99 steps.


Brian was a BRAVE BRAVE man and drove the whole Island. It was crazy narrow roads with no shoulder and he had to drive on the left side. I was so glad that we did rent a car so we could avoid the Taxi's over there. (They are CRAZY!!!)
We spent a day on St. John and went snorkeling there. It was pretty, I saw a sting ray and Conch Shell crabs. The water is so clear and the temperature is perfect. We had a long walk and were lucky that a Islander picked us up or our walk would have been a lot longer :).


We went to church on the Island, there is just one small branch about 25 people were there. About 10 of us were visitors. The whole branch presidency is from the states, there was a missionary couple and about 5 native members. The church has a lot of work to do in that area.
Brian and I had lots of time to catch up and spend time together. It helped me remember that I really do love him. Sometimes life gets so crazy we just need some time away to reconnect!!!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Conference and Dinner

Dustin's conference tradition is to build a Lincoln Log Tower


This past weekend was conference. I love to watch conference and I am inspired to do better and be better. Carl Cook spoke on Saturday he taught us to look up, step up and cheer up. I went on a walk and saw him at his house so I stopped and talked to him and Lynette. They are an amazing couple and great examples to all of us. Elaine Dalton spoke to the fathers and I thought her talk was great too. Boyd K. Packer spoke to the youth. I really enjoyed it all.
We had Cody and Annie and Bo and Rochelle up for dinner. After dinner we went for a walk. It was good to see them again, it has been way too long!

Happy Grandparents Day FHE

We had a family home evening with the Montgomery Family and we spotlighted our grandparents. It was fun to hear about Grandma and Grandpa Montgomery, Grandma and Grandpa Wayment, and Mom and Dad. We are so blessed to have such a rich heritage. The grandparents also wrote nice notes to their grandkids. My kids enjoyed reading what grandma and grandpa think of them. I came to the conclusion that we don't take pictures with Grandma and Grandpa very often so we had a little photo op that night too.

Northwest Passage

Brian and I ran in a race up in Seattle. We started up by Blaine (the border of Canada) and ran 190 miles out to Whidby Island. I am officially not a runner but it was beautiful and a fun trip.
Brian also just ran in the St. George marathon and had a bit of a hard time after. It was SOOOOO hot and the heat and Brian don't mix well.

Dustin, Braces, Mountain Lion, Eagle, 8th Grade Officer

Dustin is in the 8th grade and is the 8th grade President at Snowcrest. He just got braces on and has to wear them for 2 years.
When he was walking home from school the other day he saw a mountain lion that crossed the road looking at him and ran up to Lowe's house. Just a tad bit freaky. A few days later a mountain lion killed 2 goats and the fish and game came and killed it. Before they killed it the dogs had tree'd it so here is a picture of it. They don't think it is the same one that Dustin saw.
He is also finished with all of his merit badges and has his eagle project approved so he will soon be getting his eagle. Great job Dustin.

Lynzi our new WEBER WARRIOR

Lynzi is in 10th grade at Weber and is loving every minute of it. She is running cross country and making all sorts of new friends. She is taking Interior Design, and all sorts of other fun classes that she likes. It is fun to see Lynzi running better and better each week. She says that she doesn't like running cross country but I think that secretly she does!

Karlee Homecoming

Karlee is enjoying her senior year to say the least!!! She is running cross country, and being a social butterfly despite all her AP classes. She went to homecoming with Mike Call and had a great time.

Ally on the traveling team!!!

Ally is in her second year at UVU and she has made the traveling team for cross country. She has ran in Wyoming, Montana, California, and will be going to South Dakota and Indiana. It is fun to see her getting more comfortable with racing. She is loving her roommates and college life this year.
This is her meet in Laramie Wyoming. The swim team come dressed like this every year, I just had to get a picture for the atmosphere.

Rest In Peace Fredrico

Karlee ran into a tree in Fredrico and pretty much totaled the car. We were in Montana at the time and it was kind of scary to get that phone call at 11:30 at night. We are just very thankful that the tree was there to stop her from being in the river. Once again Karlee is very blessed to be ok!

Pictures from our vacations

Vacation Time

I have the best intentions of keeping up on the blog thing and then life just gets busy and this is the thing I let slide. Teri did tell me this is a great way to write a journal and it is so true. Once again I will attempt to do better at blogging!
This summer we went to Jackson, and Montana on vacation. When we went to Jackson we had our whole family there. It is getting harder and harder to get everyone together. Ally and Karlee had to go back to work so Lynzi, Dustin, Brian and I went up to Kalispell to visit with the Burnhams. They were so nice to take us to Glacier, take us down the river and to let us stay at their house. Good times.

Girls Camp

Girls camp was last week and it turned out great!! I can't believe how much work it takes to get girls camp underway it is exhausting to even think about!!!
We planned our girls camp after the talk Your Happily Ever After by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. We divided the talk up into the three days. The first day was Trials are Part of the Journey.
I rode up very early with Lynette and we got camp set up. We saw deer, moose, bear, porcupine, fox, all before the girls arrived. There really is a neat spirit at the camp. We then unpacked both of the trailers so the girls could just grab their stuff and go. I taught a workshop on testimony and the three bears that day. I was really nervous for teaching it but I think it turned out good. That night we had Kris Belcher come up and speak. She is blind from cancer and she has a wonderful spirit about her. She makes you laugh and laugh and then feel the spirit so strong. She is amazing. The evening devotional girls did a devotional on..If life gives you lemons...make lemonade with this little handout.
Day 2: The theme was the Gospel is the way to your happily ever after...we did the challenge course that day and it was so neat. The missionaries related that challenge course to life, we are not going through this life alone we are tethered to the Savior. When we got up the telephone pole we had to walk on a wire and we were told to trust the belayer down below and lean back. Each time we felt a tug it was like the holy ghost giving us little reminders. Then we got to a place where we got on the zip line and flew down to where people were there to help us get unhooked. It was a neat experience. That night we had skits and it was fun to see all the girls be the star. (Our overall theme for camp was STARS stay true and right your story.) You are the only one who can make your happily ever after.
Day 3: The theme was stay true to what you know is right. We did the hike on that day. It really is beautiful up at the Heber Valley Camp. We taught little things all along the way on the hike. Then we had a star scrapbook craft about all of the stops on the hike and then we had testimony meeting. I am thankful that I was able to plan this camp and be able to be with Karlee and Lynzi this week. I am truly blessed!

Yard Work!!! Yard Work!!!

The snow has melted, the yard is visible and oh my my my we have our work cut out for us. We pretty much tore our yard up during the remodel so we are going to be putting in sod, and getting new sprinklers and cleaning up around here.
This year we are going to participate in a community garden at the Wadman's. This will take a little pressure off of us so we can work on our yard and get things done.

Studio 5 Live Show

I like to watch Studio 5 and they had a live taping at the Hale Center theatre. I got 4 tickets and took Ronda, Heidi Hansen, and Keri Gunter to the show. The funny thing is that Keri dated Darin Adams the host of the show and she didn't know if she wanted to go because she thought it might be weird. She brought a picture of her and Darin at a dance at Idaho State University. I thought it was so funny. We had a good time just being together.

Church stuff.

This year I am in charge of Stake Young Women girls camp. Our theme for camp is S.T.A.R.S (Stay True and Right Your Story) we took the talk Your Happily Ever After by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I am excited about camp. We have 300 people coming and it is alot of work. I feel blessed that I will be able to be there with Karlee and Lynzi. If I can't be in the ward young women I am glad that I can at least have some time with them on a stake level.
Brian continues being in the Bishopbric. He has a lot of meetings!!! I think that our bishopbric does a really good job. It has been interesting to see how much time and energy a bishopbric puts into the ward.
Allyson has decided to go to the young single adult ward this summer. I can see why the church has put an emphasis on this age of kids. They seem to be floating around and don't really have a home. I hope that she has a fun ward that does alot of activities.
Karlee got called to be the laurel class president. I think she will do a good job at this calling. She really is a good girl.
Lynzi and Dustin are counselors in the deacons and miamaids.
Other fun church news!!!
Ryan got his call to the Dominican Republic. Parker Hansen is going to Japan. JD Montgomery is going to Albuerquerque New Mexico mission.

Lynzi $100 winner

Lynzi is the only one of our children that got 4.0 all through Junior High, she got a check for 100 dollars. I think that she is an awesome student.
Lynzi also was on the yearbook staff this year. The theme for the yearbook is Capture the Moment. She worked really hard and it looks really good.
We had initiations here at our house for the new yearbook staff. We picked them up at 330 in the morning and then took them into the woods to play ooga booga. My oh my it was raining and cold and muddy!! They came back here for breakfast and then off to school. We were tired Mom and Dad by the end of that day!

Running for office!!!

This year Karlee ran for student body office and class office at Weber and she made the primary elections on both but didn't make the final cut. She was sad for a little bit but true to the social butterfly that she is...she bounced right back and is busily busy being social.
Dustin ran for 8th grade class office this year and he actually got voted to be the President. He is really excited. He has a fun grade, all the friends his age get along really well and so his year should be great!

Blog Catch UP!!!!

Once again time has gotten away with me. I decided to sit down and do a little catch up. I am going to pick 10 things from the last 2 months to blog about.
1. Track meet after track meet after track meet!!! Lynzi and Dustin ran at Snowcrest. They both ran the mile and the 800 and Lynzi ran the 4X4. Karlee ran at Weber. She ran the mile, the two mile, the 4X4 and the medley. Ally ran for UVU and she traveled most of the spring, whenever she was in Utah we would watch her run. She ran the 5K, and the 1500. We have had a cold wet spring!!!! I believe we had one track meet that was comfortable to sit at. The things we do for our kids.
Karlee's lucky number this year was 4. She took 4th in every event that she ran in at State. Good job Karlee.
Lynzi ran the mile and the 4X4 at district and she took 2nd in her heat in the mile and did really well in her 4X4. Great job Lynzi lou!
Dustin ran his little heart out and missed running in the mile at district by less than one second. He is about 2 feet shorter than the ninth grade boys but he held his own. Wowzers Dustin!
Ally ran a 4 minute 50 second mile. She is getting faster and faster every day. She has found out that the competition on a college level is huge and she is doing great!
Other news about running...Brian and I are going to run in the Washington Ragnar. My body is not made for running. My back and my I T band and my breathing are just hurting. I am going to stick with it though. Brian is running the Utah Valley Marathon in June and has been training hard
Karlee has an appointment with an orthopedic doctor tomorrow. The trainer at Weber High thinks she has a stress fracture, we will cross our fingers that she doesn't.

Minute to Win It Family Home Evening

Once again it has been a long long time since I have sat down to write. I get so busy and forget my once a week goal. We had a family home evening at our house and played minute to win it. We had a panini bar and just had a great time visiting with family. Here are some pictures from it.

Karlee Prom

Today is prom day and Karlee was so excited for her whole day. She started out by "trying out" for lifeguarding this summer at North Shore. She will know in a couple of weeks if she got the job. She then went with her group to play Minute to Win It and they ate at the Straw Market. Ryan came and picked her up at 5:00 and they headed off to the dance. Lynzi did Karlee's hair and I thought she did a fabulous job. I am getting pro at getting her in this dress. She is a pretty girl if I do say so myself. Happy Prom Day Karlee!

Karlee and Dustin Prom Assembly

Karlee got nominated to be in prom royalty and she asked Dustin to escort her in the assembly. Dustin did a great job even with all those people! I think it was really nice of Karlee's friends to vote her in for that. High School Fun!

Welcome Wall

I saw this idea on Studio 5 and have wanted to do something unique on my entry hall wall. I made this and hung it up. I was happy with how it turned out!

Birthday's, Valentines, Presidents Day, Good Times

The past few weeks have been very eventful in our home. On February 6th Lynzi celebrated her 15th birthday. Her birthday was on a Sunday so on Saturday we took her and Dustin to Pizzeria and then to Boondocks. We had a great time. We then had dinner on Sunday the 6th with Grandma and Grandpa Montgomery. Her birthday was also on the superbowl so we ended up watching that after dinner. We then headed down to get her permit. She passed the test on the first try and now she can legally drive. I know it is hard to believe, but it is true. Happy 15th Lynzi!!!





On February 8th Dad turned 83. We went down to Mom and Dad's house for dinner and a birthday celebration. We really had a good time. It was fun to hear Dad tell stories and for those that came to just spend some good quality time together. Happy Birthday Dad and we hope there are many more birthdays to come!



We had our 3rd annual young women recognition dinner on February 10th. I was given the assignment to cook the chicken and the rolls. It turned out really nice. Willow's son in law and daughter sang and talked. We have had a steady increase of girls getting their award so that is great news.

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We decided to have a Valentine Progressive Dinner. We ended up having 46 people come. It was on a Monday night so we thought that we wouldn't get too many. I was amazed at all the people and we had a great time. So much food though. We had appetizers at our house, then we went to Ali and Jesse's for salad, to Jeff and Natalie's for the main dish and to Travis and Lori's for dessert. I sent Brian Valentines 1 every hour throughout the day. Teri was so nice to deliver them to him. I am going to miss Teri and Brad when they move to St. George but I am happy that Brad got a job so Teri can be home to be mom!

Karlee ran once again at the Simplot Games. She has had a bad bad cold so her running was off on the preliminary's. She did make it to the finals and ended up taken 2nd (just barely) in her heat and 11th overall. Congrats Karlee. Karlee has also had exciting news. She got asked to the prom by Ryan Moser and she is very excited. She also got nominated to be prom royalty. We have found a dress for her to wear and she looks absolutely beautiful.


Allyson had her GOLDEN birthday this year. She turned 19 on the 19th. So we have been seeing gold! She came home and it was so nice to see her. Brian and I both say that she adds a lot of life to our home. We took her on a golden treasure hunt. She ran the mile at Weber State and took 2nd place. We went to a movie and then had a Golden Dinner on Sunday. One thing that Ally got is something that she says she has been missing out on in life and that is a set of God Parents. Scott and Heidi Hansen. Scott even drew up a legal document. Ally asked them to be her God parents, she is a NUT!


Yesterday was Presidents day. We went snowmobiling. We had a BIG storm on Sunday we got about 2 feet so the snow was beautiful and it had been a long time since I had snowmobiled. It was a blast! Thanks Dad, for letting us use your snowmobiles.



February has been a busy month. On top of all that I have written about...Brian and I went to the Timpanogas temple. We are going to go to all the temples in Utah this year. We had two very sad funerals both for babies that were still born. I have been having marathon young women meetings for Stake Girls Camp. We had stake conference. We learned how to work on our marriages. President Kimball's formula for a happy marriage is to 1. Be compatable 2. Be unselfish 3. Spend quality time. 4. Keep the commandments. We also learned how to feel the spirit and to invite the spirit into our lives. President Taggart spoke on the sermon on the mount and he advised us to stop being angry! Our stake goals are to develop Christlike attributes. Good thing to work on always! We had a high priest party this month and a Ragnar meeting. It looks like I am running this race for sure. I need a bit of luck!