Summer 2008

Wow! It has been a while since I updated our blog so here are some pictures of our family.

We to Florida for a quick family vacation earlier this summer around the 4th of July. While we longed to be with family in Utah, we had a good time. I have posted a few pictures from our trip as well.

As an update on the family:

Rainier will be headed to Kuwait early next year as his unit will be deployed to the Middle East. We are praying for his safe return. He is doing well at Ft. Bliss, TX and gearing up for his deployment. (Rainier is on the right).

Zach is finishing up band camp as a freshman at Petal High School. Petal is the state champion in marching band in the largest division of the State. Needless to say, they take it very seriously. Zach will play on the marching bach (trumpet) and in the school's Jazz Band later this fall. He also will be playing soccer for PHS. He played as one of two eighth graders on the high school team last year. It was a great experience for him and he is looking to improve more this year.

Matt is doing great and has enjoyed his summer. He is looking forward to starting 7th grade football. Thursday and Friday nights will be busy for us this fall. Matt has become quite an amazing guitarist and loves playing his great grandfather's guitars. He writes his own music and loves playing for a group.

Gabby is so excited to go back to school and be in the fourth grade. She has had a great summer and spent a ton of time in the sun and in the water. She loves going to church on Wednesday nights and having fun with the girls.

Oh boy, the twins are beside themselves with excitement to go to kindergarten. We bought the school clothes (uniforms) and they want to wear them every morning. We are down to 2 more weeks but they just don't get it. They are so ready though.

Candy is excited for everyone to go back to school too. This will be the first time in our married lives since 1994 that we won't have kids at home during the day. She is going to finally have a bit of breathing room to work out in the gym, potentially start taking classes at USM, or do about 10,000 projects she has on her list. The first and last choices will likely be her first move to start.

Brent is gearing up for another semester at USM. One wrinkle is that he will be taking 8 students to India in October for research purposes. He is also enjoying serving as bishop of the Petal Ward and learning to balance his family, church, and work lives. All in all, life is good.

This summer, we have had two other younguns living with us. Matthew Barton and Megan Fuchs moved into the house in May. Matthew will be headed to Pearl River Community College to play soccer there next week. He is going to move into the dorms to complete the freshman college athlete experience. Megan will be attending Oak Grove High School and will graduate in December. She will also begin at PRCC in January.

Life is never boring at our house. We are truly happy and looking forward to entering back into a semi-normal routine as school starts again. We have had a full summer and a fun one at that.