Garrett's mission photo shoot

Tonight we went to the Gilbert temple to do Garrett's mission photo shoot. I was thinking with it being a Monday night that it wouldn't be busy with people everywhere. It wasn't busy, but the gates were locked, so we couldn't go in. Didn't think about that. Haha! So we did the best we could with the outside. Garrett is very easy to work with. He won't admit it, but he secretly likes to have his picture taken. Haha! He did great and the pictures turned out awesome!

 

       

       

Garrett Speaks in the Desert Wells Ward

Well its starting...the countdown to Garrett's mission!  One of the things they do in this stake is have some of the new soon departing missionaries speak with the High Counselors on 3rd Sundays.  Garrett was asked to speak with Bro. Paul Gardner who is also from our ward.  Garrett spoke on Elder Christofferson's talk, "Finding your Life" from the March 2016 Ensign.  He did a great job relating it back to his preparations for his mission.  He used Grandpa Severtson's famous quote that his going on his mission will be the greatest two years of his Dad's life.  He got a good laugh out of that...  He did a great job...a missionary in the making!  I look forward to seeing what he becomes when he returns in just over two years from now!  Good job on your talk buddy...Love you!

Caleb Trotter welcome home!

Tonight we went to the Trotters to welcome home Caleb! Can't believe he's been gone for 2 years! Bentley will be home one month later!  It was good to see him and his family. He had a great mission!

Temple Selfie with Garrett

Went to the Mesa temple tonight with Garret since the Gilbert temple was closed. We're trying to get him to the temple as often as we can before he leaves in his mission. It was fun to show him around that temple. We did sealings and it was a great experience. Our sealings was very entertaining. It was nice to be able to show Garrett where his mom and dad were sealed and where Toby and I were married. It was a great evening.

Nativities galore!

Today we were invited to have dinner over at grandma Porters house. We all love to eat over there because she makes yummy food. She made her favorite chicken and noodles. I've been told it was Cindys favorite. Kami and I have both made the noodles but grandmas are so much better. Mike and Becky and their kids were there also. So it was fun to visit with them. After dinner grandma pulls out this big storage containers to me and had me open it. It was my birthday present. I was amazed to see what was inside! I was nearly in tears. She had hand made me a beautiful nativity set! I had see hers at Christmas time and asked if I could buy one from her. So I was shocked to see it for my birthday. Bentley asked if she could have it when I die. Haha! I will definitely treasure it always.

Let the Shopping Begin!

This afternoon we officially started our shopping for Garrett's mission suits and clothing!  That is always a rude awakening when you for a parent when you have your son try on suits that they look so great in, then the sales guy says, "this suit is a steal at $400!".  Then Lexine asks about the shoes and they say, "Those Hush Puppies are a great deal from $169 - $209 per pair".  Yikes that adds up to a lot of money!  We now now his sizes and the hunt for great deals begins!  Luckily we were able to find him 8 pairs of super nice name-brand dress slacks at Goodwill for about $25 -- they look brand new and I'm sure he'll need all of them over the next two years!  We also found him a perfect, new looking dress jacket that will sure come in handy during those chilli, Concepcion winter nights!  We got some great deal and an awesome start to everything he's going to need, but we still have a long way to go!

Kami's wedding dress...

So Kami found a wedding dress on line. But of course we couldn't order it. So after looking at dresses and not finding anything... I had the brilliant idea of making her dress! Haha! I had her try on my prom dress and Bentley's prom dress. She liked the top of mine and the bottom of Bentley's. So after tearing the house apart looking for the patterns, I put the both together and made a fake dress. So, I still need to work on making it all come together before I make the real one, if that's what she's decides.

 

Caleb Joins the QC Tennis Team!

One of the things I love about Caleb is that he doesn't let anything stop him from doing things he wants to accomplish.  He set his mind a few months ago that he wanted to try playing tennis and that he was going to join the Queen Creek tennis team when the season started.  Even when his friends and cousin decided they were going to do different sports, he didn't let that sway him from his decision.  He didn't really even know a single person on the team, but still he joined it and has not been through a week of practices -- he says he's already learned a lot and improved his swing.  He came home Friday excited because he was the among the first two on his team to hit the ball perfectly over the next into the correct area of the court 6 times in a row -- a task the coach gave the team before they could go home.  I've gotten to know Caleb pretty well over the years and I know he'll have a drive and motivation to continue practicing this sport until he masters it -- what an awesome trait to have in this life!  I'm sure proud of you Caleb -- can't wait to see how your tennis season goes!

Happy birthday to Lexine! :)

How grateful I am for this amazing woman and mother whose birthday we celebrate today.  How she has made life happy and been such a good mother to our family.  It was my honor to celebrate her birthday with her today.  Unfortunately I had to work as dad's get to do, but when I got home, it was spoil Lexine day.  I took her to dinner at Joe's BBQ and to get dessert across the street at Liberty Market.  But just before that it was time she opened the one present I got her this year...a new rose gold iPhone 6S+.  I love to surprise her with gifts that she least expects and this was one of those.  Her phone had been giving her problem, so I wanted to surprise her with something should appreciate, enjoy and never suspect.  I hope you had a great birthday Lexine...I love you!

Special delievery

Since I've been able to travel all over the world lately, I've taken up a new collection. I've collected magnets, sand, glass cubes and all sorts of little nick nacks. But this time I've been on the hunt for nativities. At Christmas time Benltey told me she found me a nativity from France and was going to send it to me. I never got it. In one of her recent letters she told me she sent it in January. I thought for sure it was lost in the mail. Then yesterday I received a pink slip that said I had a package waiting for me at the post office from France! So today I went to pick it up. I was so excited to open it up and see it. It was beautiful! I hope each of the kids will bring me home nativities from their missions.

Watch out! Noah's on the road!

Noah has taken his sweet time with getting his permit. But now that's he's legal, he has wasted no time in getting behind the wheel and driving. I took him out today at the church parking lot. He drove around quite a bit, practice parking and reversing. I even had him go down a neighborhood street. He begged me to let him drive home! No way Jòse! Haha! I did let him drive down our street and park the car next to the garage. He did really well and caught on very fast. Too bad he didn't do this 7months ago. He could've had his license already.

Jonah's birthday party!

Jonah's turning 14 this year, so that means he gets a friend party. This year he choose to do the rock climbing wall and wall ball at Freestone Rec center. He invited a few of his friends to help him celebrate. They had a great time. Afterwards they came home and had pizza and watch videos and Jurasic world.

Valentine's Day 2016

Valentine's Day happen to be on Sunday this year. So on Friday, the celebrating started. Toby brought home beautiful yellowish red tip roses for me. Saturday we went to an early dinner to beat the crowds. We started at Out Back steak house but the wait was 30 minutes at 4pm! So we walked across the street to see what the wait time was for Carrabas. We got right in. We had a yummy dinner. After dinner, we wanted to go see a movie, but ended up doing some other stuff. On Sunday I made pink pancakes with buttermilk syrup for breakfast. I had candy for the kids valentines. It was a lovely day spending it with the ones I love the most!

Newly Painted House!

We were quite disappointed last October when we received notice from our HOA that we were going to have to paint our house just like all the rest of the residents in our neighborhood, but luckily we were able to get a great volume deal from the painters who did a great job.  Our new colors look great  and it looks almost like we have a brand new house!  Its amazing to see the difference of before and after.  We love it...but still not very keen on un-planned expenses.   Now we just need to work on the frontyard landscaping and our wimpy lightning struck palo verde tree!  :-)

Big Band Ball

Our Stake put on a Valentines adult dance. They had dance lesson the last 2 Saturday's to learn some different danced. We went to both and learned the fox trot, waltz, cha cha and the swing! We got all dressed up and went to the dance. They had a 19 piece band, disco ball and lights. They also had a cheesecake bar. Lots of people dressed up in 1920 and 1940's attire! It was so fun see. Toby and I got on the dance floor several times and tried to remember our dance moves. Haha! It was fun to watch others that really knew how to dance! I would love to take lessons. They also had the ALA ballroom dancers come and preform a few dances. We also got Kami and Tim to come. It was a lovely night and so much fun! Can't wait to do it again! 

Getting Ready to Paint!

The painters are coming over to paint our house tomorrow, so the night before here we are working away trying to get walls repaired and trees trimmed away from the house.  Nothing like waiting until last minute!  But we got it done and learned to do a few thing while we were at it.  Lexine is quite the brick layer...hidden talent I never knew she had!  Good to know we have something to fall back on if I'm ever out of work!  :-)

4th times a charm, right?!?

After going to the AJ MVD Noah FINALLY  passed his drivers permit! Hallelujah! The last couple of times he would miss it by ONE. So glad he passed this time! Now for the driving. I think he'll be just fine..I hope. :)