SEPTEMBER!

I was super spoiled this month because my groovy sister in laws surprised me with an early "20th anniversary of my 20th birthday" trip to NEW YORK!!! We had such an AMAZING time!!! Getting lost on the subway, weird dudes ON the subway, Ryan P Esquire III, good food, Mary Poppins, so much fun. Thanks girls! 

 Josh is still plugging away at the MTC! He leaves in 3 weeks!

 Gracie sorta, kinda, learned to ride her two wheeler!!! Good job Gracie Ruth!

 Brennan and Tyler performed in their Real Rock Band concert! Ty played the electric guitar and Brennan played drums! My favorite was Sweet Child o' Mine!!! They did a GREAT job!

 My two sweet sisters are both having babies and are due within days of each other! We had a "little man" shower for them, they're so cute!

 We have watched an INSANE amount of football. Brennan, Tyler and Jaemon all play on different teams and are doing pretty well. It's been a lot of running around but they have really enjoyed it!

 For Homecoming week Jen and the rest of the Student Council decorated the whole school like Wizard of Oz. It was really well done and they had so much fun doing it!

 Eisley Jayne hangs out with mom all day. I am taking a photography class so she is my little model while we are home. She is learning lots of words and tries so hard, we are loving her so much!

 Did we mention a LOT of football?

 Jen at the Skyhawk rally, the seniors won....of course!!!!

 Jen had a great time at Homecoming, she looked gorgeous and her date, Ryan, was a perfect gentleman!!!

My sister Beckie had her baby!!!! Jrexyn Malachi Gibson was born on Oct 2.....which is also

Jeamon's birthday!!! What a cool birthday present BUD!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe he's really 9. He is such a great kid, we love him!  Happy Birthday and Happy Fall!!!!!

Fist Day of School!

It's back to school time!!! It's happened really fast. We had a great summer, but I guess it's probably time to get back to the grind!!!

 I'm having a hard time with this one.....my sweet little Boo Bear is a senior!!!! She is also School Historian and she was so excited to wear her student council sweater (even though it was 100 degrees!) I am excited for her to have a great year!

 Eighth grade seems like a pack of ravenous wolves to me. But Brennan is a great kid. He can handle it!!! (I hope!!!!)

Cute Ty-Bug is in 6th grade! He is ready! Last year of elementary for our cute boy!

 Jaemon is so excited to go to 3rd grade. He can't wait to learn cursive and have lots and lots of homework. (Ha!Ha!Ha!) he really is excited to write stories, he is REALLY great at stories!

 I CAN'T BELIEVE my baby Gracie Ruth is in first grade. I am going to miss her so much. She is my little buddy and best helper and friend. She made me pinkie promise that I wouldn't leave while she was gone so I would be sure to be here to make her a snack (velveeta macaroni and shells, her favorite) when she got home!

 I will miss you guys! I love you!!!

And here is the little munchkin, not to be left out. She has her "backpack" and her little "you're so sharp" sign that she got with pencils like the other kids. We are going to have lots of fun just her and I this year!!!

Elder Chizzy is having his own "school"! He is enjoying the MTC and you can read all about his adventures on his blog, at elderchisholmheartandseoul.blogspot.com. We miss him, but he's doing well and he is in a great place!

Angels

It's hard to believe Josh is in the MTC. We are so grateful for the support and love we had for his farewell and as he left. I have started a blog for his mission. It's called Heart and Seoul. To read his letters and keep up on his news go to http://elderchisholmheartandseoul.blogspot.com/ We miss him a LOT, but know his missionary service will bless our family. We feel like the angels are watching over him, and our family as he serves.

 My heart was so full as I watched him walk away, I felt like it might break. It was such a bittersweet moment letting him go and trusting Heavenly Father to watch over him. I held it together pretty well until I couldn't see him anymore, then I really lost it. I'm trying daily, to pray harder, do better, be positive, read my scriptures and trust that Heavenly Father has a plan for ALL his children, mine included!!! I know He does. I know my boy will be an AWESOME missionary and we are already feeling the blessings of missionary work in our family.

 Jen was in a serious car accident earlier this week. She and 10 others were taken to the hospital in ambulances. She was hit head on twice and we think once from behind.  It is nothing short of a miracle that she and the others survived, let alone, walked away with pretty minor bumps, bruises, and cuts.

 Jen said the first thing she did when she realized she had been hit bad was feel her teeth. When she knew they were all there, she thought she must be alive and ok!!! Even in the hospital she still had that beautiful smile of hers!!!!!!

 This is not something parents want to see. (In the background you can see the second car that hit her on the passenger side, it is also in really bad shape)

 We are thankful for seatbelts and airbags, for the restrictions that save lives.

 It's amazing how something that happens in such a split second can change lives forever. The gravity of the accident still is sinking in but the overwhelming emotion is gratitude. For life, for miracles and for angels.

 Someone sent me the above picture with the angels in it. It wasn't our accident, but still very pertinent to our situation. Jenica was given a blessing and in it she was told that angels took her out of that car. That she has a purpose in this life and that she is blessed. We feel that one of her angels is in the MTC. Because of his service, we know she and her friend and the other people involved were safe and protected. I can't help but think my sweet grandparents were there too and I have felt them very strongly these past ten days. I love that on one of  the windows that is left in her car, the word "love" is still there that was written by her friends earlier that day. I love it. She is loved.

My sweet aunt said that while her son was on his mission she was going crazy counting down the days till he got home. Instead she decided to count "up" her blessings. I have been trying to decide if I should do a  "countdown" and I know now that I will also be doing a "count-up".  On this day we had many many many to count. We are blessed, grateful and humbled.

Lake Powell!

 We had such a great time in Lake Powell! Hanksville bosts the "best burgers anywhere" and Blondies...that's saying something since there's NOTHING ANYWHERE near Hanksville!

 Our houseboat had a cool slide!

 Jon was SO excited to be back in Powell! He hasn't been there since our first date 22 years ago!

 EJ loved the red sand and playing with all the kids!

 We rode out to watch the fireworks on the fourth of July. It was cool, and a little freaky driving the boats out in the pitch black! Glad we had flashlights and a whole slew of boats doing the same thing!

 We celebrated Josh's 19 birthday with our traditional birthday pancakes!!! Happy birthday buddy!

 A pretty fun way to celebrate I think!!1

 We went hiking to some Indian ruins....

 Had ice cream and frozen lemonade at the marina!!!

 Of course...cliff diving and jumping is crazy and fun! ( I was quite happy to take pictures!)

 Even our little invalid had fun on the tubes!!!

 OK seriously.....look at the size of that cake!!!!!!!!! Thanks Uncle Jared!!!!

 Our good friend Kaleb came with us, he seemed to have a great time!!!

 When not in the water, the kids played games and made bracelets on the houseboat!

 Tubing was the favorite, along with wake boarding, skiing and some knee boarding!

 Even the moms had fun on the water!!!!

 EJ seemed to really enjoy napping on the rough waves and even in the heat...maybe we need to go for a boat ride every day!!!

 Tyler got up on skis and the wakeboard!! WHOO HOO!!!

 Jaemon was super brave and tried to water ski....he was so close and did such a great job!

 What the?????? yes this is how we found the baby one night when we checked on her. She had climbed out of her crib and done this.......such a comfy position.

 We had a great time with friends, cousins and just being together! We missed our Jen Boo who decided to also go to lake Powell, but with her two best friends instead of us boring family. She also had a great time and we are pretty sure this is going to become a new family tradition! I was nervous to take all the kids, I thought I would be scared the whole time, but it ended up being really really fun, relaxing and a happy happy week!

Did I mention we would do anything to stay cool? Next summer this boy will be far far away in HUMID, WET, HOT South Korea....and he won't be able to cool off like he did this week! We will miss him and we're so glad he had a good birthday and fun time with us this year!!!