I Never Know

I always think I should have some earth-shattering; wonderful pictures or a great inspirational story before I post anything. But, when it comes down to it, my life isn't filled with a lot of spectacular events. It is filled with a lot of great, small things that happen with coming and goings of everyday life. Anyway, I am going to try to write a little more often, about the little more mundane and maybe give a little more accurate picture of me...

Sadie's Baptism

Last weekend Sadie was Baptized! Ryan baptized her, and Uncle Mike confirmed her a member of the Church!
It was so great to have so much support from family, friends and ward members. There were over 50 people there to support Sadie. It was a great weekend! We absolutely LOVED having so many of the family here!
Thank you all so much!

A Few Pics...

Here are a few pics of what we've been up to

The Washington County Fair


Hayley's Birthday


Zack's Birthday


Sadie's Birthday

Back to School

Thursday, August, 13th started the new 2009-2010 school year.
Chloe is a Junior in High School (yes 11th Grade,) Grant is in 7th Grade, Hayley is in 6th Grade, Darby is 5th Grade, Zack is in 3rd Grade and Sadie is in 2nd Grade.
I tried to get pictures as everyone left for school, but of course, I missed one.
Grant & Hayley left first. The bus comes for them at 7:01. So it was still a little dark when they left.
Then I took Darby, Zack & Sadie to school about 8:30. (It was much lighter outside at that point.)
Chloe didn't have to be to school until 11, because the first day the High School does Sophomore orientation for the first half of the day, and by the time she left, I had forgotten about picture taking. (About par for me)

One Year!

Ryan and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary yesterday! I can't believe it!



In some ways, it seems much longer than a year that we have been married. I definitely can't imagine life without Ryan anymore. But, sometimes I still feel very much like a newlywed, so in that respect, it is hard to believe that it has been a year already.
Our lives are so crazy and so busy most days that time has just flown by. Days, months and weeks have melded together in running kids here and there, going to school programs and the daily grind. It is nice to have a chance to actually reflect on the big picture.

We spent Saturday evening/night and most of the day Sunday at Zion's National Park. The people that I work with had given us a night at Zion Canyon Bed & Breakfast for our wedding, and we hadn't used it yet. So, we had a great, relaxing night (and day) away.

(This was the view laying on the bed in our room. WOW!)


Ryan is such a great guy! I am SO grateful to have found him, and to have him in my life. Last Friday, I came home from work to a dozen roses on the table, caramels (better than chocolates for me) and a white chocolate & caramel covered apple. But, aside from the BIG things, there are daily things that endear him to me, probably more than he knows.
He always helps with dinner, and clean-up. He is just as over-whelmed with laundry as I am, but he totally helps out none-the-less. He takes care of mowing and watering the yard. (In spite of his allergies.)
Last month I had girls camp. (I am the ward camp director.) While I was stressing about all the last minute 'things' I needed for the camp and campers, Ryan was taking care of the things I needed. He packed all of my things. (Chair, flashlight, sleeping bag, mess kit, pretty much everything I needed that I hadn't gotten around to even looking for. He even loaded up the Tahoe for me.) He really is just a great guy!

I am looking forward to many more anniversaries with this handsome man!

Since I am a slacker, and didn't have any pics from the 4th of July, I scabbed one from Darby & Chloe's dance teacher.

A slacker

It is amazing! A person would think that with 5 of our 6 kids gone, I should have TONS of free time, right? And here it is JULY 9th and I am entering my first blog of the month.
We have been gone more than we have been home so far this summer. Most of the days we have been home, have been work days (So basically, we have still been gone more than we've been home.)
Let me re-cap the last few weeks.
June 17th: PUPPIES! Yes, 5 beautiful little puppies! I didn't really want them, but here they are and they are as cute as cute can be. LOTS of work, but darling.
Father's Day weekend June 19th-22nd): On Friday night, we went to the Manti Pageant, then slept and Grandma & Grandpa Picketts' house in Redmond, UT. Saturday we picked up Chloe from youth conference, took Darby and Chloe to spend the weekend with their Dad. Ryan and I stayed with the Garcia's Saturday and Sunday nights. Monday morning we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. (It was FABULOUS!)
The temple is beautiful, and the spirit is so strong. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to take the girls. I wish that Grant, Hayley and Zack could have gone too. Even without being dedicated, it is so apparent that the spirit of the Lord is present. No words... just awesome!
Monday was Grandpa Bracken's 75th Birthday, so we came home and had cake and home-made ice cream.
The 4th Of July weekend was another crazy one. Darby and Chloe had gone up to Provo with Mike & Brenda for Stadium of Fire practices on Thursday. Friday night, Ryan, Sadie and I joined them.
Saturday consisted of a parade in the morning, then the men (boys) went golfing, and the rest of us explored the street fair and chilled at the hotel. We ate an early dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory, and then got ready for the STADIUM OF FIRE. The show was great! (Much better than last year!) Even though I am not personally familiar with much of the Jonas Brothers music, they put on a very good live show, and I think almost everyone enjoyed it. This was Darby's first year dancing and she thought it was great!
On July 5th, Sadie and Darby went to stay with their Dad for a month. So Chloe is the only one at home with us.
Maybe we'll have a quiet, uneventful month! Not likely!