More pics

For some reason, we are still having trouble getting photos posted--here are a couple more...

Fun October

We have had quite a month. Elise and Michelle flew to SLC for General Conference and got to be the first to stay in G&G Ross' cool new house. We went to the Sun afternoon session and saw Pres Hinkley!! We also got to see the B-Ross fam and the Hannay clan. We had a great time! the Gilly boys all went dirt biking while we were gone. Gabe and Seth finished up their football season (shwew) and Gabe turned 11 on the 10th while Kip's family was visiting.
Of course a huge milestone was reached for Elise this year as she turned 8 on the 19th. We are so grateful to the Martins and G&G Ross for making the drive to support her. She really appreciated it and we had a great visit with you.
We hope everyone else is doing well and we enjoy seeing pics of the clan, especially the Virginian Rosses as they are so far away.

Family Photos

Michelle & Elise came for conference weekend and we all got our photos taken by an amazing photographer Michelle found. You have to see the great pics she took.
Go to www.julieparkerphotography.com and click on proofing... enter Kim to see Hannay photos or Michelle to view Elise & Michelle.

Life

Greetings from Virginia, We have been so busy with school, soccer, scouts, and life. These are just a couple of pitures of our life here. Deer outside our front door, we see them almost everday. We never get tired of it. Blake just celebrated his fifth birthday, growing -up way to fast. The boys are playing soccer for the first time and having a blast, if we could just find a way to keep Claire off the field, She desperately wants to play. Please count us in on the gift exchange. Hope all is well with everyone , Love Skip and Laurene

Volleyball Season

Check this out... http://www.deseretnews.com/photo/gallery/hs/1,5380,385011597,00.html
and http://www.deseretnews.com/photo/gallery/hs/1,5380,385010797,00.html

Lauren is #12.
She has been in the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune several times!
We are sad to see the season end. The state volleyball tournament is the first weekend in November.... We'll let you know how they do.

Paria Adventure

Theo, his brother Shaun, and friend Otis all went on a trail runner's dream run this Monday. Starting at the Paria trailhead just a bit north of Page, the three adventurers started their run at about 7:00am. Over the course of 40 miles (yes, that is correct, four-zero), they crossed the Paria River a couple hundred times, greeted campers just getting up for the day, and enjoyed some spectacular scenery. About six hours later, they arrived at their destination, Lee's Ferry on the Colorado where they soaked their sore muscles in the chilly river. Shaun said, "That was the best run of my whole life!" Theo has dreamed about achieving this feat for many years as his Grandpa Symond used to hike this trail every summer when he was younger. He had a great time, and extends an invitation to anyone who wants to join him the next time! (-;

Count Us In

The Martins would love to participate in the cousin gift exchange. Last year I had the arduous task of assigning the givers to the receivers. I am sure someone else would like a turn at this job. (-;
Life has been a little busier than usual this last month. We have three boys in soccer (all on separate teams that each have two games a week). Theo is in the thick of his first season as the head cross-country coach. We are still working on our addition. I am doing two classes this semester for my master's degree. And the kicker, I have started working part-time at home on my computer! Not to mention all the day-to-day stuff like doing stuff for callings, and FHE, and school projects, and kids with the sniffles, and birthday parties, and play dates, and cooking dinner, and cleaning house.....I'm getting tired just thinking about it.
I think Christmas shopping therapy is in order!

Orange Slush

Way back in the day (I'm thinking Fruit Heights, I think), Michelle (and I think Skip) would occasionally make an orange slush drink and give me a little bit of it. It had orange juice and ice and... what? Can you give me the secret recipe? Keryn just made something similar and I wanted to compare.

Gift Exchange

No one has responded yet to Keryn's request... (Michelle was traveling and Nic is writing for big $$$, so maybe everyone is just too busy to blog right now.)

The Hannay Family usually has all the cousins who want to exchange put their name in and exchange... Maybe we should do that in the Ross family. That way each family can decided what they can handle and we can all have a happy and stress free holiday!

Ezra, Mercy, Gideon, Lauren, Ty, Eric & Nate are in... anyone else?

Christmas gift-giving

Are we going to do the cousin gift-exchange for Christmas this year again? We had a lot of fun last year, and as the weather cools down, my Christmas-juices start flowing. If we are, it would be awesome to start early, so we can get everything sent off to the right places in good time (or even handed over at Thanksgiving, for those who will be there).

Just a thought. Yes, a Christmas thought on the second day of October. I'm a Christmas freak, so sue me.