Giving Thanks

To the Hannays, thanks a ton for a wonderful Thanksgiving visit! The food was delicious, the house cozy and beautiful, the conversation stimulating, and the laughs delightful! You are always so gracious in welcoming us into your home!
To Mom and Dad, it was great to see the both of you are hanging in there as you adjust to this new phase of life. We love having you back in the USA. The kids are missing you already.
To Laurene and Skip, you are both troopers for making your respective traveling sacrifices. The long drive and the short turnaround flights were appreciated in that we got to have you with us! Jack, it was awesome going to the temple with you!
To Michelle and John, be aware that our kids are already planning our next family trip in YOUR direction! They love you too much!
To Debbie, it is fabulous to see you so happy and healthy. What a difference a year makes. (Still waiting on that picture message. wink wink)
And last, but certainly not least, to Brad and Keryn, we are so grateful that you got up early, dragged your kids to Kim's, and joined us in the temple. We love being with you there! So far, we have had only one child succumb to the germs your children so kindly shared. We are hoping that will be all! (=
We are thankful for our big, loud, crazy, fun, exciting, hilarious, loving family!!!!!!!

An "Indian Ballerina Princess"

State Champions (Bingham 35, Davis 24)

Yay Ty! Congratulations!

(And you made Ezra's evening when you went over to say hi to him. Thanks for that!)

(Psssssst, News on Theo)

If you don't get on Facebook a ton, you may not have read what I posted about Theo. He ran a 50K this last weekend (yes, Fifty, not a typo) in Moab. That is about 31 miles for those of you like me who don't do the metric system. It was his favorite kind of race- long, crazy terrain (apparently there were ropes involved at one point!), and did I mention long. He hasn't been hardcore training lately, mostly running with his x-country team, but he really wanted to do an ultra. The one in Moab was ideal as he had a free weekend, (rare for him in the fall), and it was relatively close to Page. Otis tagged along and ran the 20 mile distance. Theo finished the race in 4:06, destroying the old record of 5:24. The race directors were a bit chagrined as he blew through the check points, maintained his blistering pace, and finished strong(ahead of the guy that won the 20 mile distance I might add)! (What is up with all the parenthesis in this post?! I digress.) He is very sore, but also very happy to have done so well. I sure do admire that guy! What a competitor, tough guy, stud! He is a keeper! (; (Don't tell him I wrote this, he will be uncomfortably modest about it all! hee-hee.)

Confusion

Heber wasn't quite sure what to do with his birthday cake.




He did finally get a little chocolate on his face.

Speaking again

We are speaking in our own ward on Sunday at 9:00 am. We have had to prepare a new talk for each time we have spoke since we have been home. I had hoped I could rerun one of the talks!

Life Spans

I couldn't resist posting this for you all, since I've done simpler versions of this calculation before.

Predicting Who Will Be Church President

Grandma Peters has arrived in Salt Lake

Brad headed for Laguna Woods early Wednesday morning and he was picked up at SNA by Wes and Jan. Everyone finished packing up Grandma's belongings and loaded them in a truck. Brad headed to Las Vegas to spend the night and the other three headed to a motel near the airport to spend the night in preparation for the Thursday flight to Salt Lake City.

Grandma traveled well and was very excited to be arriving at her new home. She couldn't believe her bedroom. She sat and watched while the Hannay's, Deb, and the Ross's helped unload the truck and start putting her belongings into her new room. Ezra chatted to her for several minutes to keep her company.


The stress of the trip and her overall health caused her to be admitted to the ER on Friday night about 11:30 pm. (Jan, George and I were able to attend Ty's game and cheer the Miner's to victory). We finally had her situated in her room by 5:00 am and headed home to get some shut eye.

She is doing well today. We visited her on the way to take Wes and Jan to the airport and then again this afternoon. She will be in 2-7 days depending on how quickly she stabilizes and loses the fever.

Football!

I just saw the live update for Ty's game today against Syracuse--it's the third quarter, and the score is Bingham 38-Syracuse 3. Heh. Kim was right, this was the game to skip. We're definitely going to next Friday's game against (probably) Alta, who is leading Cottonwood 37 to 6 in their third quarter.

So, what are Bingham's colors? What is Ty's number? We want to dress appropriately for next week, and maybe bring a sign or two!

Reunion Reset in 2010

We are sure enjoying our visit with Grandma and Grandpa Ross. While they have been here, we got to talking about our annual Ross Reunion. Technically, we have run through all of the siblings (Deb got off easy with Lauren's wedding! (-; ) So, do we start over again? My thought was, we have been on the Wasatch front the last two years. What do you guys think about going in together to get a houseboat on Lake Powell? Although the days of Forever Resorts freebies are but a sweet memory, we could all plan ahead and maybe chip in resources to make it happen. If the Hannays and Gillelands are willing to bring their boats, I would be happy to coordinate the planning efforts down here with reservations, meal planning and the like. The Ross boys and Deb's help with execution of the event would be great. One big concerted effort...What are your thoughts? Make a comment in the lovely comment section that is now functional! Love it! Love you!

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!

Fact of the Day

One third of companies on the Mormon Trail had no fatalities. 7% of companies suffered over half of the fatalities. Did you know that?