Family Pictures

Well, we finally went and took new family pictures. The anticipation and planning of such is a high stress event for me. No wonder we hadn't updated in 3 years. And I never fully like the pictures until a year or so later. Right now I still see little things that if I could just tweak this or that, they'd be perfect. We got a CD with all the shots they took on it that the lady said was perfectly OK to blog with--no copyright infringement going on here. Well, below is a a sample of some. Kirt and I couldn't agree on which family shot we preferred, the black background or white.(Neither one of us were a fan of the brown one). So, just for curiosity sake leave a comment with your vote. We did buy both, but it's a fun little debate we're having Ü

Baptism

Dallin was baptized yesterday by Kirt. He was a mixture of excitement and nervousness. From his smile here you can tell it was a happy day for him. As well, as for all of us. We were so grateful for our family that came and ward friends. We were especially touched by our many neighbors/friends not of our faith that accepted our invitation to share this event with us, too.

We are so happy for Dallin's decision to follow the Saviour and the example he is setting for his younger siblings. We love our Dallin!

An extra special treat this day was that Grandma and Grandpa Nelson were able to come! They had been serving a mission in St. George and got released a few days early to come to the baptism. This meant so much to Dallin. We all enjoyed their visit this week :)

First Day of School

The first day of school came early this year, August 6th. Dallin just getting over being sick, so not too happy here, was off to 3rd grade. And Elaine, excited to walk to school with Dallin and neighborhood friends was off to 1st grade. Taft wanted to be a part of it all too, so we packed him a juice box and pretzels for his walk to school. Dallin and Elaine both got male teachers, a Mr. Hamlin and Mr. Harris. Crazy coincidence!

Taft really enjoyed walking to school and after dropping Dallin off at his line we waited with Elaine in hers until the teacher came. Well, poor little Taft was so sad he had to leave, he was convinced he was going to school with Elaine, today :( After a few tears he came in the stroller with Brigham and every couple of hours asked when Elaine and Dallin would be back--sweet.

Happy Anniversary

This month Kirt and I celebrated our 10th anniversary!

I can't believe how the time has gone by. I guess, the old adage is true, 'time flies when you're having fun'. It has definitely been a wonderful and busy 10 years. 4 kids, 5 houses, 2 states, college graduations, job changes; we're finally settling here in Arizona. I'm so grateful for the last 10 years we've had to spend together and look forward to an eternity more.

For our anniversary Kirt surprised me with a day at Saguaro Lake. Well, it was a week after as on our actual anniversary, we were camping with the boy scouts--nice timing :) He rented a wave runner for the day and we played on the lake for 6 hours, just us. It was fabulous!

We pretty much had the lake to ourselves in the morning. The day and the scenery was so beautiful.

I was a bit of a wimp when it came to really speeding around the lake, so Kirt took the wave runner out for a solo spin. Although, I did get more courageous as the day wore on. It was a blast!