Yee Haw!

Jodi -
Sooooo, yall...I returned from Tennessee last week and had a great time to say the least. I was working at a convention called Creating Keepsakes University. Yup, they give people this certificate that give them a degree in Scrapbooking after they take classes. That's just the industry I work in:)
So we taught some stuff and Thursday, Friday and Saturday...but on Friday night we went to the Grand Ole Opry and listed to 'legends' like Little Jimmy Dickens, Mel Tilles, the Whites and a bunch of others. The Grand Ole Opry is a legend in country music where they perform live Radio shows. We bought ourselves some Cowboy hats and danced right alone with...well no one! Everyone there was like 100 years old, (Grandma and Grandpa you would have been youngsters:) ) so we just danced by ourselves!
Then we went to a dancing club and played for a few more hours. Sure we were tired the next day, but with no sleep you can justify teaching a full class with a Southern Accent...
We have pics on the Making Memories Blog too, if you want to see...

I LOVE SCHOOL???

Brynley
I'm just sitting here in class, week two and only 14 evaluation classes left. Yes this is a countdown. 14 classes and 30 minutes. Speaking of class, I'm sorry I'm going to miss our Kyle's big party tomorrow, I'll try to come when I'm out of class. Official end-time is 9:00, so we'll see. This last week I have spent behind the computer trying to get my final testing/papers done. I just need to finish my second paper and write the third paper. Hopefully the easiest of the three. I can't wait to have a life again, getting outside, running, playing volleyball, biking, living. That'll be the day. Well, i don't have much to report, just this homework. I did finish the last week of working with the teen-group in Tooele, I actually really liked that opportunity and got to like the kids quite a bit. Now just the write-up and these three classes. I would say that I'm trunky.
It is great to have Kyle back in town, he makes me laugh...a lot. thanks for coming to my dinner adventure last night.
Well life is great, thanks for being my fam! And grandma, thanks for writing.
Luv You

Back to back weeks I'm in

Hi family,
I hate to brag, but I've posted a blog in two consequetive weeks now. Life is good for us. We're enjoying our time staying at the Loos'. Abby and Spencer enjoy sleeping in the same room and it's always fun to be at Grandma's house.

Our new home is still a couple of weeks away from starting. It's nice that in the meantime, we have a nice place to stay.

We're looking forward to Tues night at the park. That should be a great time to have everyone together. Thanks to Dad for giving a great talk in my singles ward yesterday. I think there were many at the meeting who were thinking to themselves, "with a father so talented, why doesn't the son do a better job" Just big shoes to fill I suppose.

I'll look forward to seeing you on Tuesday,
rp

Anybody, I'm here.

Gma & ibmom

Dear anybody,
Where are you? This is not going to work unless we all post. Oh dear I make so many typing errors and this doesn't pick it up. Had a good day today. Went to Sacrament Mtg. and R.S. Came home and had a good dinner of spare ribs and applesauce, cottage cheese and corn. I have to have it all soft because I've had all my teeth removed and they will put implants on the bottom. It's sore and tender. But this too will pass. And oh yes, the diamondbacks just barely squeeked past the Chicago cubs 5-4. The Branch President came right to our house to issue our new recommends. I'm glad to hear Kyle got home. Want to hear more about the loss of his luggage etc. Talked with Cory this afternoon. He is anxious to get home and will be here next Fri. I heard that Ronda arranged a Marler family party at her house on the 9th. Wish I could be there. Dad's in there fixing me some cantalope ala mode and Jeff is planning to fly to Utah for Sally's son's wedding next Thurs. Love ya all. ibm & gma

Thanks a million for everybody's help!!

Hello family of mine,
It's just another manic Monday around here, but I wanted to take a couple of minutes to thank all those who helped make last weekend a success for our family.

We closed on our house Friday and moved out Saturday. And there were many who helped make that possible. Thanks to Brynley for coming to help early before her volleyball. Thanks to Mom and Troy for being such good packers into the storage shed. Thanks to Matt and Jodi for clearing a huge space in their house so we can store more of our stuff. Thanks to Dad and Mom for staying afterwards and helping to clean the house. Also thanks to Mom and Dad for taking the two grandkids Saturday afternoon to LaGoon. They even got Spencer to ride all of the rides. Amazing. And thanks for my in-laws who are allowing us to move into their basement apartment for the next several months while we wait for the new house to be built.

Besides moving, it was a crazy week as the financial markets have been in disarray for the last little while. It definitely adds some excitement to my days and weeks when we're in this type of market, but it sure helps that I don't invest my client's money too aggressively which helps minimize the damage.

And to answer Grandma's question......I'm still in the Young Single Adult ward. Most likely, a new bishopric will be called in the next 60 days or so. Hence, I'll stay there until a new bishop is called and then will leave. Kath and the kids most likely will attend church for the next several months with her mother because of convenience issues.

It's always hard to leave a place that we've loved so much, but we're excited about the new opportunities that await us. Thanks again to everyone who helped make last weekend a success for us.

Love you all,
rp

Grandma is Right

Brynley
Hi family, I didn't realize that an extra week got by without my post, but it's been a week since my birthday so I need to thank everyone!!!! for coming to my birthday party or for a phone call. My family makes me so happy. August has been a busy month with school. I like Cory am looking forward to August 31st that will be the day I hand in all of my finals for my program. Then I just have to do the write-up on the project I will finish this week and three more classes that begin today. I can't believe the first day of school and I don't even know what I'm going to wear yet. Another big day today in that I will get my final veneer! And hopefully it won't show my dead black tooth. I realize the circumstances aren't exactly ideal, but from a selfish point of view, I am most excited about my new roommate. I think we will "work things out" here. My prayers continue to pour out for Jodi and Matt and for others in our family who have a lot going on...and that includes just about everyone that will read this. I thank you all for being such a big part of my life. We are so blessed to have the best family ever. Thanks to our parents for being wonderful and great examples and friends, even the one who will wake me up at 8:00 on a Sunday morning and jump on my bed to get me up. Well, I've gotta get going on this paper...again, and then to the dentist.

ibmom & gma

Hey guys, where are you? Just Ryan has posted since I did last. I've been busy too. In fact last week was one of my busiest weeks with too many decisions to make and too many things that have made me sad. I'm glad Ryan and Katherine hace closed on their house and have made the move. Hope when R & K and Jill and Gary are ready to get financing, there will be money in the bank. Jusy one more thing for a mom and gma to worry about. I've had to increase my Oxygen and hope that will help. I have some small portable tanks, in case I need it when I just go to the store. Tomorrow, I go have an ultra sound test at 7:00 a.m. Then I will have some teeth removed on Wed. for implants on my lower teeth. I had to give the prayer in Church this morning. I talked with Cory in Tennessee this afternoon. He will be glad to get home on the 31st of Aug. I also talked with Zack this afternoon. He has his first game with Colorado next week. College starts Tues. at Dixie College in St. George. He is living in the dorms. I hope things work out with Jodi and her new room mate. Our prayers are with you in your travels on the highways and in town. I'm wondering if Ryan will be in the same ward or what. Let me hear soon.
Love ibmom & gma

Hello family on mine,
In 15 minutes, we're going to close on our home. It's pretty exciting as we get ready to enter into a new chapter of life. For those that can, we'll be moving tomorrow morning at 7 am. I know it's early but we should be done in no time at all!! We sure appreciate your willingness to help us.
Besides that, this stock market has been beating me up for the past couple of weeks. I'm sure that all will be well and this market correction is normal, but it still doesn't mean that it's fun.
Have a great weekend to all,
rp

HEAVEN at Bear Lake

Dearest Family,

The dearest family a mother could have. Only 50% of my kids were there; all my grandchildren but Chris & Zack and Stuart and Allison; and 50% of my great grand children. So excited to see Milt and Marge Priest come all the way from Layton to spend just a few hours up there. I can't name names because each of you were special to be with. Did miss Kyle and haven't heard from him for quite a while. I will be anxious to hear of his trip to Europe. Some of the memorable things that happened to me at BL were: the way each of you were willing to hold my hand and help me in and out and up & down; the way Gary tirelessly drove that Green Machine back and forth with passengers and even had Abbey and Spencer on more than one time; Gary's patience is most noteworthy; the access we had to all of Scott's machinery; the loss of Jill's Cell Phone. I've never seen Jill in such withdrawal before. That and not being able to use her computer nearly made her crazy. To overcome it, she took to cleaning. She and Ronda went through tthe house with a fine tooth brush. (We didn't find Gary's Sunglasses, but did find an extra beach towell. Green, blue and white. I think Ronda had it because we thought it belonged to Shaylee.) Then, she went out in the garage and took all the machinery and washed down the garage and the machinery while it was outside. She offered Jackson and Jax (his cousin) a milk shake if they would wax those babies. It was so cute to watch them waxing those machines. They looked like a teen ager waxing their first car. While Ronda was there, we used her phone, but after she was gone we had no contact with the outside world. Scary, but Jill handled it very well. Once we got into Utah and through Logan and Sardine canyon, my phone worked fairly well and we were able to call Gary and tell him to meet us at the apartment. When we met up with Gary, Jill became much calmer cause he had a working phone. I'm calling my cell phone provider this morning and asking them about the areas I can call from and possibly get it nationwide. Fun! I can't thank you all enough for belonging to my family. My great thanks to Jill and Gary for taking me up and bringing me back. Gary did get a chance to go to Last Chance and get a neat looking sport coat and Jill did go to dinner with some of her friends from CHC. They both shopped for Dad and got him some new shirts. Then they left Sat. night and drove all night to get home and get to their new ward and get some things unpacked in their new apartment. I was even able to go in and lay on the bed while we waited for Gary. What an eventful week! Now I've got to get back to the Dr. routuine. I've got an inner ear infection and am so dizzy. I don't know whether the pulmonologist can take care of it. The internist hasn't been able to. Then when I am not so dizzy, I've got to have some teeth pulled and have some implants in. Love you all, ibmom and GMA

Wild Week

The Mom

Wow, what a week we have all had. Kyle has also had much going on with ending his internship and heading off to Europe. Kyle is seen diving off a 20 foot boardwalk off Coney island. This family doesn't sit still for very long that is for sure.

We started last Thursday, Aug 2, off with a little putting game action with G&G, then Fink, then a John Wayne movie. Does it get better than that?

Thank you all for helping me to live my dream at Bear Lake. Each day had a personality of it's own. Saturday was the Baptism theme for Jackson. Then Ronda brought up the spaghetti dinner to the Priest cabin at Bear Lake and we had usn's and the Cory Marler family. Since this was the only time Cory would be up to BL, he made hay and got all the four wheelers going and the wave runner. Matt drove while I played flag girl (actually could only hang on for dear life) and we finally did get Cory up as he would jump off the dock so it could get enough power to pull him out. Michael brought Brooklyn (main squeeze) up as well. We had 6 hours or so of true excitement as we realized that Scott is selling his "cabin" and perhaps we could buy it for the family cabin. Then reality hit, but it was still fun to think about it for a period of time.

Sunday was fun to go to church and have our own back at the "cabin". Games and cards of course. Lots of great food including the natural BL staples of watermelon, cantaloupe, corn on the cob. Everyone took their assignments for the meal on Sunday and we had a meal extraordinaire. Cory, Ronda, Michael and Jackson left Sunday morning, but we were still able to hang on to Shaylee and Ben. The day was topped off with a nice 2 1/2 hour walk with Brynley til 1:30 AM.

Monday was my dream day. I was soooo surprised to have everyone (except Kyle- dang) be at Bear Lake at the same time on a beautiful SUNNY day with wonderful beautiful water with a temp that even I can get used to. We rented a boat and everyone got up on skis or board of choice that wanted to. Abby, Spencer and Dad still enjoyed the boating part. Well, at least Spencer had to let it grow on him before he thought it was that cool. We had friends up on the beach, with rafting, wave running, four wheeling, kayaking etc. including McOmbers, Rasmussens, JohnJack, Hillyards, Ronda, Jackson and Jaxson, Ben & Shaylee etc. There was a little bit of a panic when Troy called to see if we had Micah Rasmussen on the boat. Of course his mother overheard and began (as any mother would) to panic. Turns out that Micah had dropped the paddle of the kayak, reached out, fallen in and the BL wind had picked up the kayak and taken it too far to swim to. Thank goodness he had a life jacket on since he bobbed out in the lake for an hour before his g'ma noticed he was missing. In the midst of the panic, I jumped in the water to move the boat out and baptised my cell phone. We recovered the kayak about a half mile away from where Micah was retrieved. Linda thinks that due to the boy from Viewmont drowning at BL just that weekend, Micah thought to put on a life jacket. Ok guys....lesson learned here. Wear a life jacket when going over your head....including gmas who ride on rafts behind wave runners. These are pictures of Troy and Bryn behind the boat. I don't have the patience to put more pics on the blog. I'll post them later on the web. Thanks to G'ma for providing the wonderful steak cooked to perfection by Mathew. We had a fantastic barbecue and dinner on the deck enjoyed by all. To me, it was a perfect day! I will never forget it. That's our Bear Lake. We all love it!!! Thanks for being the most wonderful family ever. I love you all.

Mom

Biggest, Bluest, Best Lake in the world

Troy

Oh, what a week! It turns out that reality isn't nearly as cool as a week long vacation with my family in Bear Lake. It was a great time I had for the long while that I spent there. I got to go a few days early and spend them with the Hillyard family and enjoy their company. Since none of the Hillyards can get into our blog I will just say that our family is much cooler. I did enjoy my time I spent with both families quite a bit and it is now good for me to be back here in the real world mix. On the way home Brynley and I saw about a dozen deer just off the road, but we didn't hit any of them so that was a good thing. It was really fun to spend some QT with my family and remember how fun and funny that we are. Of course we missed Kyle, but we did get Grandma. She is the best!
Now that I am back in town I am just working again getting ready for school to start up and trying to save a little money as well. I just started a new job working mornings in SLC doing some concrete work just off S. Temple. I will be there until school starts where I will just do the school and Registrar thing come Aug 27th. That is all for this week for me.

Love Yall
Troy

Bear Lake Fun

Hi family,
Thanks to all of those who made the Bear Lake trip happen. Kath and I really enjoyed our time up there. One of the main reasons was because our children just had the time of their lifes up there. Thanks for making it so much fun for them!!

As we prepare to move, we've decided that we are going to part ways with our dining room table and matching China Hutch. This is the same piece of furniture that mom and dad used before moving to St. George. It really is nice furniture and are hoping that somebody could use it. If somebody would like it but can't have it right now, then we can put it in storage for the next several months. If there are no takers, then Kath is going to put it on ksl.com. So please let us know your interest levels on that.

Also, for an update on our home selling experience. We're still looking to close on August 17th. We've already moved a lot of boxes to Jodi and Matt's place. Our storage shed is only a mile away from our current house and so we hope that the final day of moving only takes an hour or so. Most likely we'll do that the morning of the 18th. We're also hoping that our new house plans are done by the end of this week. I don't know how to post house plans on the blog, but if anybody would like to see them, we should be able to send them out by e-mail soon.

That's all for now. Sure love all of you.
rp

Happiness is...

I just want to thank those who were responsible for the best weekend ever. I can't imagine a happier time. Wave runner, long walk at midnight, 4 wheelers, food, grandma, kayak, boat, ski, knee board, and crazy mattress ride, all at Bear Lake, the happiest place on earth. Really, who could ask for anything more. Thanks family, we missed you Kyle!

Feel free to post your pics so we can all share:-)