A message to our grandson, Tyler

Ty,

Words can’t express how proud we were as we learned of your outstanding accomplishments on the football field. We know that you have worked hard to develop the skills and strength to lead your team to victory after victory. Now, as your missionary grandparents, we are prompted to share a special message with you.

We have read the story of Ammon in the Book of Mormon (starting with Alma 17) many times. But as we read it today, it had a special meaning. We encourage you to read it soon and consider some important truths. Ammon was blessed with incredible strength and skill. In many ways he reminds us of you. You, like Ammon, have been given a wonderful opportunity to bless the lives of many others. You are becoming a hero in the eyes of your peers. I’m sure the girls are giving you special notice and that you are enjoying the attention. A word of caution – never forget who you are and what your purpose in life is. Keep your guard up and know that the girls that pursue you really only want to share the spotlight and their affection is shallow and fleeting. The girl that will one day go with you to the temple of the Lord will be impressed not only with your strength and skill, but will be most impressed with your humility and righteousness.

You have been wonderfully blessed in so many ways, from loving parents (and grandparents) to being given a mind and body that serves you so well in the field of athletics. Never forget and always appreciate where those blessings came from and why they were given to you. Be a hero, an example, a leader, and indeed a missionary. (What else did you expect to hear from your missionary grandparents?)

We can hardly wait to get back home where we can watch you play. Win or lose we know you will always do your best. Stay humble in victory. Stay happy in defeat. Stay focused on who you are and why you are here on Earth. We love you!!!!!!!

Hole-in-the-Rock

How much do you know about Hole-in-the-Rock? I remember being in an airplane with Dad flying up-lake for some training events. Dad let me go with him a time or two. The pilot tried to point out to me the location from the air, but I never could make it out.

Listening to a favorite podcast, the Cricket and Seagull, I learned about a new book from Gerald Lund that will focus on the story of the pioneers that cut that hole. Did you know that one of the people involved in that experience was also a part of the Willey/Martin handcart companies and that he thought the experience at Hole-in-the-Rock was more challenging?

There is a web page for the book that also has some maps and photos. I'll look forward to reading the book one of these days. I still haven't read the previous series that Brother Lund released that also looks interesting, so I guess I have my work cut our for me.

Nicole and Theo, it looks like you've got your next youth conference all mapped out!

WOW

Nice win Bingham!!

Live-blogging kindergarten, part II

New clothes on...check.
Homework in backpack...check.
Backpack on back...check.
Pictures taken...check.
Tummy full...check.
Time to leave yet...not for 45 minutes.
Over-excited five-year-old boy, roaring like a dinosaur and literally knocking over furniture...double check.

Live-blogging kindergarten

Ezra is berating me that I didn't put him in morning kindergarten. Because then he could be in school RIGHT NOW.

He woke up this morning, and before he even got out of bed he was caroling "First Day of School! First Day of School!" This woke up the baby, but it was charming nonetheless.

We did his first homework last night. (A get-to-know-you booklet.) Ezra needs to learn to stay on task. Mommy needs to learn to let Ezra do his own thing, even if it looks raggedy and messy.

More later! (With pictures!)

Gone Camping, Back Later...

"And 'X' never, ever marks the spot."

Gideon discovered that he can move the little trike backwards AND forwards.
And turn it around.

Mercy is just excited to be alive.

Ezra and the amazing marshmallow-toothpick structure.
(He made it all by himself.)

"Whatcha cooking, Dad? Can I see it, can I see it?"

A very tired Heber, gazing at the campfire.

Skip, Happy Birthday to you..........

We love you!

Happy Birthday, Deb

We love you!

We can see what we can do about names when we get home. First, make sure the temple will be open over Thanksgiving. We haven't turned in names with the new system. It is supposed to be easier so we should be able to find names for the kids to do. Nicole, it should be a piece of cake for you to get some of Theo's ancestors for Drake and others to do. Cool idea!

Baptisms

I love the baptism idea! My kids love doing baptisms for the dead, and going with their cousins would make it even better. I have never done genealogy... I guess I can try to learn. Maybe Mom has some names we could do???

Plans

Brad has volunteered to fly to Laguna Woods and to drive Grandma Peters things to SL. Wes will be flying with Mom to SL.

We are going to put her in the master bedroom and we will move downstairs. We will need to get some things ready for that to happen when we get home. We will probably put a ramp in the garage to get her in and out as steps aren't on her list of things she can do. We are still trying to come up with a date for this to happen.

We will be driving to CA for my 50th HS reunion on Oct 17. We will also visit with Mom a day and then return to SL on Tuesday or Wednesday. On Sat the 24th we have an El Monte Ward reunion in Provo. I suspect it will be in the afternoon like it was last time. We had hoped to go to Page for a few days over a weekend, but we aren't sure if that will happen right away at this point.

Thanksgiving sounds like a great idea. Of course, anyone is welcome to come visit before that!

Twelve and Up

I had a brainstorm and wanted to put the idea out to the family at large. I would like to take our kids to the temple to do baptisms for the dead when we get together for mom and dad's homecoming. We would need to get probably 25-30 names to bring with us for the kids that could participate. If there is someone out there who is experienced in these matters, make yourself known as I am a novice in the whole name submission endeavor. We sure had a wonderful experience at the Oquirrh Mt. Temple open house. I would love to be able to share this temple experience with our Ross cousins.

I Like My Birthdays, Every One....

We were able to have Bowen's baptism on his birthday last Monday, and what a wonderful event it was! The Gillelands had just gotten off the lake and graciously agreed to stay over the weekend to be with us for the baptism. Michelle was a champ and gave one of the talks (even in her under-the-weather state). We sure missed G&G Ross. They of course called in birthday wished over the phone, so Bowen knew they were thinking of him. Congratulations Bowen! We are so proud of you!!!

Gma Peters

Just a heads up... Gma Peters is moving in with Mom & Dad in early November.

Ross Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving sounds marvelous, but whatever works for everyone will work for us. We're (tentatively) planning a trip to LA to see Grandma Peters in October; we're also planning to hit Page and Las Vegas during that trip, too. We're so excited for Grandma and Grandpa to come home!!!!!!!!

Thank goodness for Thanksgiving

After talking to Mom & Dad... they are pretty booked in Oct. So, I think maybe we should shoot for a Ross Thanksgiving. Football and cross country will be over and we have a long weekend to catch up.

What do you think??

Has it been 18 months already!

Mom & Dad have booked their return flights. They are coming home late Oct. 12 and then leaving for California a few days later. I thought some of you would like to come visit and see the returning missionaries once they get back from sunny CA. I believe their homecoming talks in Sacrament Meeting will be on the 25th, so I thought that weekend would be a great time to get together.

So, unofficial mini family reunion party weekend.... Oct. 23-25th.

Friday, October 23 - arrive and catch up
Saturday, October 24 - activities, games, BBQ (I am making Dad his favorite ribs!) & mission slide show
Sunday, October 25 - sacrament meeting homecoming talk

Of course, come early, stay later... hope you can all make it!

Go Gideon! Awesome!
We can't wait to see the kids and how they have grown. It sounds like Ezra will be ready to read to us!

Keryn's Rootin' Tootin' Roundup

1. Gideon just walked two steps, totally independent--no walker, no crutches, nothing! And he did it again and again. I cheered and clapped until my throat hurt and my hands were tingly.

2. Heber is now sitting up without immediately falling over. He's still behind on gross motor skills (sigh), but making good progress. I think he's a little bit lazy.

3. Mercy is an amazing animal lover. Dogs, cats, birds, fish--she loves them all. And she's pretty good with them, too.

4. Ezra had his kindergarten pre-assessment yesterday. Don't want to brag, but he correctly identified all his letters (upper and lower case), numbers, counted to twenty (and only stopped because the teacher told him to), wrote his name, and rhymed. Go Ezra! He cannot wait until August 26th, the first day of school for kindergarteners.

Nicole's Summer

Whoa, Nicole and Theo, you all are having quite the summer, aren't you? Yikes. I hope Rex is feeling okay. What a crazy couple of weeks!

Happy Birthday Corbin! 10 Years Old!!!

Deja vu All Over Again!

Sunday morning started out like many others. I had just gotten up to cook some breakfast; Theo was lounging in bed talking to his brother about the last race he just ran. The kids had been up for a while and were running around playing before showers. Suddenly, I hear a bloodcurdling shreiking. Not a single cry, but a repeated yelp of pain. Now in our house, there is lots of rough housing as well as crocodile tears when things get a little too rough. Our rule is, if you can't handle it, don't play. We try not to respond to a lot of the whining kind of stuff. You parents out there know what I mean when I say, this was not the cry of a boy fabricating wolf stories. Theo and I both rushed downstairs to find little Rex crumpled on the floor of our family room. One look and I knew, BROKEN ARM!!!!!! Rex and Drake were playing some kind of chase game and Rex decided it would be a great idea to take a flying leap from halfway up the stairs. Need I say more?! We took him to the ER and sure enough, both bones of the right forearm, busted! Luckily (if there is such a thing in these situations) his bones are still relatively straight, so no reduction was necessary. They splinted our little guy, and home we went to await a cast in about a week. Yowza!!!! We have never had any kids in casts, and now to have two kids with almost identical breaks within 6 weeks of each other...Jeepers! I made the appointments today, and it looks like Rex may be getting his cast on the day Corbin finally gets his off. Go figure. I think everyone should pray for us since I am not sure what our deal is lately! (:

Bowen's Baptism

We are hoping to baptize Bowen on his birthday, August 3rd. That is a Monday. If there are any of you that would like to come, and can't make it during the week, let us know ASAP and we can plan for the following weekend of August 8th. Come one and all, we will accommodate anyone who can be here!
PS- If it is any enticement, the lake is uber-warm and inviting! (:

Hannays love Harry

I took Nate & Eric and a bunch of their friends to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We had tons of fun. I love teenagers!

































The movie was great too!

If you want to know more about this...



















see my blog. EEEWWWW!

I love your garden, Nicole it is awesome!!

A Time to Sow, A Time to Reap

This being my first attempt at vegetable gardening, I set my expectations relatively low. Theo built me a raised bed in a sunny corner of our backyard. We filled it up with manure, potting soil, and a generous measure of Page sand, and then went shopping for seeds. We picked out a wide variety and mapped out a plan, then we plopped those bad boys in the ground. Some of the seeds never came up, but lots of them did. Two months later here is where we are.....

This is a wide shot of our "Garden of Eatin".
Watermelons are coming along nicely. This is the biggest one I could find. They range from golf ball to softball size so far, and there are lots more blossoms in the works.

The squash plant is HUGE. This picture doesn't do justice to their size. They are about as long as my forearm, but according to what I've read, they aren't ready until you can dent them when you push on the outside. Soon, very soon....

Our broccoli leaves are being nibbled on some kind of pest lately, but there is a nice little bunch almost ready for eating.....

The pepper plant seeds were some that didn't come up, so we planted some little seedlings.

The green beans have gone wild. I don't know if we waited too long to pick them. They were everywhere!. Apparently, my allergy to some raw veggies extends to my skin coming in contact with the foliage. After I picked a bunch of green beans, my arms broke out in a rash! Itchy!

I think I am most excited about the corn. The plants themselves are taller than me now, and I picked a few ears today. Next year, I will definitely do more of those.

I think if this is all the garden ever yielded, I would count this as a success. We have all had so much fun watching the plants grow, speculating about when they might be ready. Best of all, we are trying our best to be obedient and follow the counsel of the prophet. While I realize we are not anywhere near self-sufficiency in our produce production, it is a step in the right direction, a great metaphor for life. Even if we can just do our best to prepare the ground, make a plan, and plant the seed, it is pleasing to the Lord. Sometimes the seeds may not come up, the plants may not be fruitful, or the pests may get in the way, but we are trying!

Wedding Photo booth

There were some great pics from the photo booth we had set up at the wedding. I thought I would share a few of my favs...

We have a crazy family...

Thanks for sharing Lauren's day with us
We love you!!!

Port-a-Crib recall

From the Consumerist:

More than one million play yards made by Kolcraft and sold under a variety of names have been recalled. Brands include Kolcraft, Carter's, Sesame Street, Jeep, Contours, Care Bears and Eric Carle. There's a problem with the side rail, and children can fall out. Check to see if yours is affected at the CPSC.

Just in case anyone still has a playpen still hanging around...

Happy Birthday Drake!! 12 is a big one!!!

 We love you!

Lake Party w/ Gillelands, Martins, and Hannays