Paul's homecoming and June fun

Paul returns from Russia

At the end of May we were so excited to have Paul return home from his mission in Russia. We anxiously waited at the airport for his return. The missionaries are always the last people off the plane. Laurie, Kent, & Sterling wait for a glimpse of Paul.

We came to the airport from Chase's baseball game. He is not waiting so patiently.

Welcome home Paul!!!!!

Laurie, Eric,Paul, Kent & Sterling & Jon in the background.

Laurie & Paul

Paul and Mom

June Activities

These are roses from our friend Jeanie's garden. Thanks for sharing with us Jeanie.

Last day of 1st grade. Rex is excited to give his teacher her thank you gift. He has grown so much this year and it doing so well.

Chase on the last day of 4th grade. I can't believe how grown up he is. He learned so much this year and did so well. He really enjoyed his teacher and especially all the great field trips they took during the year.

Rex with Mrs. Otley. As you can see she is not much bigger than the kids. She was such a wonderful teacher and Rex really loved her class. He is really going to miss her.

We were able to celebrate summer with a picnic on the patio. It was great that Dad could be with us because he was not feeling that great. This was the last time he was well enough to visit our home. We were so happy to have Paul and Laurie with us. Paul shared experiences from his mission and was so kind to answer all the boys questions about Russia.

We were able to attend the Oquirrh Temple Open House. It was wonderful to tour this beautiful building. Rex enjoyed looking for all the circles in the building.

Rex

Chase, Rex & Les

A beautiful shot of the temple.

Fathers' Day!!!. Les and his boys.

Wonderful gifts Les received for Father's Day. We never have enough flashlights in our house.

May 2009

Rex enjoying a spring rain storm in his batman PJs.

We enjoy visiting Temple Square and the Church grounds in the spring when all the flowers are so beautiful.

Chase, Rex and Margaret

Rex, Chase & Les & the flowers.

A cute sister missionary was kind enough to take our picture.

Celebrating Les' birthday with Rex blowing out the candles.

Chase's fourth grade class put together a wonderful grandparents program. Chase was so happy that Mom and Dad were able to attend. A great picture taken after the program at Mom and Dad's house.

Rex, Dad, Chase & Mom

We were so lucky to go with Mom and Dad to decorate the graves in Salt Lake. We had a wonderful time. It was sweet as we learned once more about our great relatives. This is taken at Dad's parents grave.

Chase in front of the monument for Heber J. Grant.

Rex and his Grandpa. It was hard for Dad to get in and out of the car so Rex would sit with him while the rest of us put the flowers out.

Spring Break 2009

For Spring Break we took a trip to Southern Utah. We had a wonderful time. Our first stop was to each lunch at the Timberline Inn Restaurant in Beaver Utah. The Restaurant is owned by Megan's husband Jon's family. We had a terrific lunch. Jon's brother is the chef.

In the restaurant parking lot were all these army vehicles. The boys went crazy. They had a great time running around, posing and climbing.

Ready for action.

These boys make me smile.

These trucks make the boys look so small.

We stopped in Parowan to take pictures for Chase's fourth grade county report. This is the DUP museum.

One of the many highlights of the trip was a visit to Zions National Park. This was the boys first trip. It is such an awe inspiring place. We had a beautiful day. This is on the way to the mouth of the narrows.

Chase, Rex & Les at weeping rock.

Cute Chase resting. He was so nice to volunteer to carry the pack.

We also had a fun visit to the St. George Temple and visitors center. They have redone it since we had been there. The crowds were small so we were able to see everything.

We also were able to visit Les' friend David in Las Vegas. On the way home we stopped at the Las Vegas Temple. This picture is in front of the entrance. (I know it hard to tell that's where we are)

On our return trip home we visited Kolob Canyon. Once again we were inspired by its beauty. This is at one of the pull outs where the boys found a flatbed to climb on.

Rex and Chase enjoying Kolob Canyon

Les and the splendor of the canyon.

More beautiful vistas.

Our one family photo from the trip.

The boys enjoying the ride home - snacking and watching a movie. The only way to survive long road trips.

General Young Women Meeting Choir 2009

March 28, 2009. This experience was one of the highlights of the year.

In December of 2008 I received a call to serve as the Choir Manager for the YW choir that would sing at the General Young Women's Meeting on March 28, 2009. My responsibilities were to "manage" 364 young women from 10 stakes in the Salt Lake Area who would be participating in the choir. I had the opportunity to meet and work with wonderful people who helped with the choir. There were many tender mercies along the way. Les was amazing as supported me and took care of everything at home so I could complete this assignment. It was a full time job for several months. It was a life changing experience. I wish I had more pictures but here are a few from the dress rehearsal and final practice before the performance.

Left - Kristen - Executive assistant to the Young Women Presidency
Right -Merrilee the choir director - she was amazing with the young women

Chase and Les were able to come to the dress rehearsal (Rex was at the symphony with his kindermusik class). This is Chase up on the stage at the conference center.

A great picture of my back as I give instructions one more time to the choir. Lots and lots of details.

Myself and Julie. Julie is a member of the Young Women General Board. She was the person I was blessed to have lead and guide me through this experience. I already knew Julie because we grew up together in Parley's Stake and that was a great comfort.

The view from the back of the Conference Center. One of the challenges for the choir was to find the specific colored blouses required. They were hard to come by but in the end it was well worth the search. The sunburst colors looked great.

Colleen and Dave. Dave was the High Councilman assigned from our Stake to help with the choir. He was amazing. He was willing and able to do anything asked of him.

From Left to Right: Craig - 2nd Counselor in our Stake Presidency, Margie (his wife) 1st Counselor in Stake YW Presidency, Melissa - Stake- YW Secretary, Kathleen - Stake YW President, Linda - Stake YW 2nd Counselor
Craig was my Stake contact and he was so supportive and available to help. The Stake Young Women Presidency were invaluable. I couldn't have done this job without them. They were my go to gals. I loved getting to know and work with them.

March 2009

I am trying to catch up for the last few months. Here are a few of our activities for March. Chase #44 playing Jr. Jazz basketball. He is really enjoying playing. He seems to be leaning toward being a defensive player. He is the tallest person on the team.

We had a great celebration for Dad's birthday at Mary's. It was great to all be together. The food and the company were excellent. We attempted a family photo.

Chase with his handcart he made for his class project.

Rex has participated in a Kindermusik class since he was 3. The class is taught by my good friend Carol. As part of their last year of the program she takes the kids to the symphony. When Les went to pick him up with Chase they were able to enjoy the instrument zoo they had at the symphony. They had a great time. Rex and Chase outside Symphony hall.
Rex trying out the flute.
Chase trying out the violin.
Hanging out at symphony hall.
This picture was taken March 30th. What a contrast.

Sunday with Grandma

This past Sunday was the primary program. The boys were blessed to have both their Grandmas attend. Chase & Rex did so well singing and sharing their parts. It was a great message about the importance of eternal families. After church we were lucky to have Les' Mom come and have dinner with us. After we had fun taking a few pictures.

Rex and Chase mugging for the camera.
Showing more creativity. Rex is holding his dog shep on his head.

Les, Grandma, Chase & Rex. We loved having grandma with us.