Late Summer Fun -- Ellie's Baptism

Our summer has been more then fun this year... it has been a great year for me all together but this summer we got to gather as a family once again, this time to celebrate Ellie's baptism on Sept. 17th. It was such a wonderful occasion and I have to give thanks to the Lord for allowing us another family filled fabulous event. We got to witness Alex baptize his daughter and Grandpa Mike bless Ellie with the Holy Ghost. We all gathered at church and Ellie showed up in a beautiful white dress, signifying the pureness of the ordinance and she looked beautiful. We all are so very happy for Ellie, proud too, as this is a time she will never forget in her life. We will never forget it either.

SUMMER... where did it go??!!

Summer... sunshine, flowers, blue skies, green grass, birds and bird feeders, children playing in the yard and squeeling with delight, bikes, lemonade, picnics, traveling, sprinklers, popsicles and ice cream trucks... all these things have slowed down down now... the best time of year is now leading into that time of year that we call FALL... and when I think of fall... I think of school, cool weather, coats and jackets, and worst of all... FOOTBALL... You'd think with a High Schooler here at home who plays in the band that football season would put a smile on my face... and I do smile when I think of Briggs playing music for the games... and this year I will actually be able to see Briggs' face while he's out there because he is playing the drums this year... but this year is sort of starting off sad for me... why... because this week I went with Briggs and we picked up his letterman jacket... that's smile worthy... YES, but then the realization hit... he is now a Junior in HS, only two more years left of that... I thought that when I saw him in his jacket I would be excited, which I have to admit... he looks awesome in his jacket... but boy does it stand as a marker for this season in my life... the time has really marched on and so it is that he is starting his Junior year of HS, I'm now 50 years old... fall is here or will be here shortly... and dang it... I'm just feeling my age right now!! =) But... Life is Good!!

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Summer 2011

What a summer it's been!! I have had the opportunity to do a lot in the last few months, but unfortunately, I didn't take as many pictures as I would of like to of. First off, Briggs left the last day of school and flew to Arizona to go camping with his brothers, sister in laws and nieces and nephew!! They camped in Sodona and then he spent a week at Oliver's and Natalie's place and then went to Alex and Ashley's for another week and then brought his nieces home with him and they spent three weeks here with us!! Another really fun thing that Mike and I got to do was to fly to Philadelphia and saw the Liberty Bell, then went off to Atlantic City and spent the night at the Trump Plaza, then off to Cape May in New Jersey. This trip was provided to us by P Farm as a gift for his region winning the biggest award P Farm gives out each year. What a great trip this was. The Atlantic ocean was wonderful, the sites and places we got to see during this trip were unforgettable. Now summer is winding down and Briggs have been at band camp for a whole week... time is marching on... Briggs can even tell you he agrees with that!! =)

Pole Vaulting April 2011

BRIGGS and his activities!!

It isn't even summer yet, but we are as busy as can be. Briggs is involved in what seems like everything, or at least it seems like everything that Briggs is involved in is happening all at once. AND that isn't even counting the winding down of his 15the year of age... soon we will have to deal with him wanting to drive to everything he's involved in. This last week has been a fun and busy week, and so I will post the pics that go with some of our activities of the week. Briggs supported the JV pole vauling team this last week and at that meet, he was able to earn a fourth place award. Then on Sat morning he took part in the last course class of the Young Eagles aviation course at UNO by getting to man an airplane by himself (with pilot on board, of course). The excitment was evident as Briggs was all smiles even while climbing into the cockpit of this itty bitty plane!!

BRIGGS and WRESTLING 2011

Well... it's already February... and nothing seems to be happening other then WRESTLING... and I say that with capitol letters... NOT because of our love of HS wrestling, but more because it is all consuming during these months of the year. Briggs is on the varsity team and is completely enjoying it. I really wish I could say the same, but I can say that I enjoy supporting him and the team this year. It is a basically young team with most wrestlers being sophomores, but none the less... it has made for an fun filled season!!
The picture I'm posting is of the Plattsmouth tourney and this pic is a little gift to me as a parent of one of the other wrestlers snapped the shot for me as we weren't there at that particular time. Confession: I can only take the matches for so long... it un nerves me to hear grown men come unglued over the ref's calls and show such unsportsmanlike attitudes. Anyway, because we had had enough this particular match... we got out-a there... and look what we missed. We learned our lesson!! Briggs is wrestling varsity, 112 pounds and he is sooo proud of that weight gain!! He is 15 going to be 16 in May... where has all the time gone??!! Sure do love this boy of mine!!

Merry Christmas

Another year is coming to a close and the only thing I can say about it is... where the heck did all of it go?? Seems just like yesterday that I was planting flowers in the yard and enjoying all the birds by the bird feeder... now there's snow and the days seem so full that I can hardly keep up with all that I really need to get done. It's been a great year tho. We have gotten to spend some real special times with our sons and their wives and grandchildren and those are the times I have enjoyed the most this year. We celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary with an awesome trip to Cozumel Mexico by cruise ship, visit Disneyworld, Key West and then got to go spend three days/nights at a lake up in South Dakota with the whole family... plus the added bonus of having Pat and Judy come up and spend time with us all there too. Life is Good. Briggs is doing GREAT in school again this year as an A student enjoying marching band, wrestling and no doubt baseball in the spring, Alex, Ryan and Oliver have all been promoted at work, and finding satisfaction with their jobs and their lives in general. Mike is still happily working at P-Farm and me still working at Dakota News. I love my job, so does Mike and so life keeps ticking away!! I am so thankful for my loving Heavenly Father who is watching over all of us and blessing us so fully each day. Thankful too for my family and the joy that I receive each and every day as I realize the blessings of my family, faith and life. I am especially thankful for my husband who is always there for me and our family, who is always the first to lend a hand when needed and first to stand up for what's right. He takes wonderful care of all of us and I love him and am eternally thankful for his influence in my life. LIFE IS GOOD. Wishing each of you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!! =)

FAMILY TIME TOGETHER...

One of my most favorite times are the times I get to spend with my entire family. It's really hard to believe that my family has grown this big... I LOVE this tho... as a child I always wanted a big family... and now I have it. As a family it is so appartant that we have been so very blessed, blessed with life, the gospel, but also blessed to have each other... and it's times like these last month that the blessings come forward enough for us all to feel how special it is and to get together and enjoy!! I have many more pics from this trip, but more are posted on facebook rather then here... so check it out... and look for the big dump that took place during that trip!! Uncle Pat and Aunt Judy came and spent some time with the whole group of us... it was wonderful!!

Briggs Letters in Academics!!!

Briggs received this nice letter and pin for all his hard work last year... he is now a member of the Honors Society. Keep it up Briggs... we're so proud of YOU!!! Now to find a lettermans jacket... I guess...