one hundred forty six

We did swim certification for YW tonight at the Burr's house. It was randomly chilly today so after the girls got done swimming they were freezing and found the hot tub. I'm pretty sure they exceeded the legal amount of people that one can have in a hot tub!

day sixty nine

We had a surprise baby shower today in YW for Sister Hawkins and Sister Morris. They are both about to hatch!

day sixty two

Today for YW we combined with the YM and went to DQ. I drove my carload on over and no one was there. Of course I went to the one on Windmill while everyone else went to the one on Horizon Ridge! Fail. Oh well, we still had a great time! 

day twenty three

We made it to Brian Head! The weather was beautiful for a ski day. Here is Taylor and Raquel looking so cool with their snow boards!

Pace and the squad waiting to get on the lift....

PayPay having a little shut eye before he has to shred it down the mountain.

One trip down the mountain and Johnny decided it was time to take a snowboard class so he found Taylor and they headed to snow school!

Here is Johnny legitimately having a nap on the snow waiting for class to start.

Time for lunch!

It's funny how the only time I saw Pace the entire day was conveniently when it was time for me to buy him some lunch.

A great day with even greater friends!

Me and my little twin. See that snowmobile suit Taylor has on? It was Jade's when he was young. I'd say we're getting our money's worth out of it!

Reunited after a long day of shredding!!! So happy to see each other!

Me and my boy.

day twenty two

Guess what this is? PACE DRIVING HIMSELF AND BAILEY TO SCHOOL!!! I realize this only saves me approximately 7 minutes of driving them in the morning but for some reason it is the most wonderful thing in the world! I wanted to go back in and celebrate with a big fat nap on the couch but I was far to excited and couldn't relax properly. Folks, this here is the beginning of a whole new life for me. As traumatized as I am that he is 16 years old, the fact that he can run errands and pick up kids for me takes the sting out of it for sure.

Also, Jacki is performing at the LHS basketball game tonight! She learned a routine at the "Little Patriots" clinic last Saturday. She practiced the dance all week and might I say she has it down perfect!! We are leaving tonight for the YW ski trip and I'm going to miss her performance (I just shed a tear). I have no doubts she'll nail it though!

The angles, the smile, the bow....perfection!

Meanwhile... back in St. George we are having dinner and getting ready for a devotional with the YM/YW. Crazy busy day.

Speaking of the devotional... Pace had an amazing spiritual experience during the devotional, and by spiritual experience I mean R.E.M.

three hundred twenty two

We did gratitude journals today in YW. This week has been difficult... particularly for Bailey. Trials aren't very fun that is for sure.

three hundred eight

We got to go to the temple today to do baptisms for the dead with the YW/YM. It was Taylor's first time!!! She loved it. I am so fortunate that I get to be in YW so I can be with my kids and experience such cool things with them.

This picture is horrible and blurry but I had to post it anyways. Being with 3 of my 4 kids in the temple tonight.... no words.

two hundred ninety one

Here is a RARE occasion... we let Pace's friends sleep over last night. This is the Sunday morning waffles, strawberries and whip cream breakfast. Now I have to hustle and get them all home so we can all get ready for church!

 Today was Young Women in Excellence day. I was so busy setting up and decorating that I didn't get any pictures of anything! This is a huge fail since it took me an entire week of baking and crafting. Just take my word for it... it was totally cute! I did a vintage sewing theme and borrowed an entire box of old patterns from Shawna Mitchell. It was my favorite part. Fortunately I took a picture of them to text to her so at least I have one decoration picture.

My team (who I love) stayed after church to set up with me. I didn't get a picture of them either but luckily Jade fashioned a headband out of my fabric scraps so at least I got a quick picture of these two.

two hundred eighty

This picture cracks me up! For YW tonight we combined with the YM. We went to a rec center and the kids played wallyball. Basically we shoved 30 plus kids into a room meant for 10 and then locked the door. We sat outside and laughed and laughed. Here is Bailey and Abs begging me to let them escape. Did I let them? Heck no.

two hundred seventy seven

October 4th... General Conference AND mine and Jade's 19th wedding anniversary! What a lovely day it was. Lounging around watching conference all day with my family. Conference was awesome and I couldn't have had a better anniversary.

Here is Pace all snugged up watching the morning session.

Bailey worked on her Personal Progress today. She finished the whole packet by paying attention to the talks. Score!

Taylor had a little power nap in order to make it through both sessions!

Happy Anniversary Jade.... I LOVE YOU!!!!

two hundred sixty two

Bright and early today at 6:45 these girls headed out to the Beehive conference! Taylor is finally a Beehive as of 7 days ago!!! 

Soccer game day out at Heritage. Jacki was fast today!

It's nearing the end of September but still burning hot here is Las Vegas. Spray bottles are a must at these games. Here is Coach Sandy doing the honors.

This is a serious body contortion... it makes my knee hurt just looking at her!

Just look at that face!! The tongue is always out when she is concentrating the most. I love it!

Pace and Jade took the motorcycles to Mesquite to ride on the track today. Pace crashed and is a little sore but all his troubles were forgotten when Jade took him to Los Lupes. Pace somehow got a hold of this humongous kendama and entertained himself all through lunch with it. At least they had the decency to bring me some chips and salsa home.

two hundred fifty five

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!!!! If you're wondering why she isn't looking too excited in this picture it is because she's about to get her ears pierced! The family rule is once you turn 12 you can pierce your ears and officially become a heathen.

We seriously moved the mark on her ear like 12 times till we decided it was perfect. We can't be too careful now can we about a hole that will be in her ear for the rest of her life?

And just like that she's a heathen! But what a cute little heathen she is!

Pace is looking pretty tough throwing his gangsta signs whilst sporting a gold choker.

As soon as we pulled in the driveway we noticed that Taylor had been heart attacked from the Young Womens group. How cute is this??!! She's 12 now and can come to YW with me!!! YAY! DOUBLE YAY!!!!! 

 Here is the official family pose of Taylor's new ears.

Martha brought Taylor an ice cream oreo cake for her birthday. Martha is the nicest person on the planet and never forgets a birthday or special occasion. She has been a very special person in our family's life over the last 10 years. Thank you Martha for always being there for us!

Now we are off to Jacki's very first Desert Divas soccer game! This is so exciting. However, now we have to start in with Jade coaching them to "take the other players out" every Saturday. It's a Thomson thing.

Jacki wasted no time getting back into the swing of things and playing like a boss!

 It was soooooooooooooooooooo hot today....

Here is another reason why today is extremely special... Leona got baptized today!! It was so amazing to see her get baptized and the spirit was so strong. We literally had 12 minutes to get ready in between the soccer game and the baptism but it was definitely worth the rush!

We are one lucky family to have met Leona. Having her in our home for her discussions has been nothing short of amazing to witness.

 This is the "I have no legs" pose. She's actually doing a pretty good job with it!

As soon as the baptism was over we hustled home to eat Taylor's birthday dinner. It consisted of her favorite standard dishes: creamy chicken and rice, watermelon, and oatmeal cake. 

Sadly I still don't have any candles. At least I had the forethought this time to call MaryAnn and ask her to bring some. Notice twelve whole candles on the cake and no matches!!! Score!

No surprise we still experienced a candle fail. I put them in the cake when it was too hot and they all melted. Notice that they are all starting to tip over.... 

Here's a quick family picture before Grandma and Grandpa take Pace and Bailey to the stake dance. Holy cow this day had been CRAZY!!! Happy Birthday again Taylor, our team would not be complete without you. We LOVE you!!

P.S. Happy Anniversary Grandpa and Grandma Pace!! They have been married 48 years today (I think).