Living the Dream: Happy Birthday, Savannah!

Savannah and Erin at the game - Erin is from here and is like a big sister to Savannah

Savannah is celebrating her eighteenth birthday today, far far away in Cougar country. I think it's pretty safe to say that she jumped in with both feet and is making a big splash in her new little corner of the world. She is living her long-time dream of attending BYU and she's making the most of it!

She's got a job at the Cougareat, a full schedule, and a good head on her shoulders. She's had ups and downs but she's already shown that she can face whatever comes head on and work things out.

When our phone rang at 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning, it was Savannah screaming into the phone about BYU's big win over Boise State. She said it was the best night of her life! For her first ever home-opener football game, it was a pretty good one! She was so excited when everyone stormed the field after we pulled out a big win.

Needless to say, she is having the time of her life!

As much as we miss Savannah, we are in touch all the time. Texts, skype, e-mails... this sure beats communication with a missionary! I'm so glad she's including us in her BYU experience.

Happy Birthday, Savannah! I hope eighteen is your best year so far. :)
Love,
Mom

Laundry Hazard

This was in the dryer the other day. I saw this 2-inch black thing by the door so I reached in to see what it was and it freaked me out!!! I totally threw it across the room. 

It's not even real. It's made of rubber. Yeah, I felt pretty silly when I realized that. None of my kids owned up to putting it in the laundry. Everyone acted like they didn't even know it existed, but they were sure quick to think up funny things they could do with it once they saw it. Great. Something tells me it might sneak up on me again...

Dancing in the Rain

We finally got a good drenching rainstorm this afternoon. It's about time. Everything is so dry and it's been HOT!

Sadie and Soren went out on the porch to watch the rain fall. The next thing I knew, they were soaked to the skin!! But they were laughing their little faces off and having such a good time together that it made me laugh, too. 

Here they are, right before they came in the house to dry off. The rain was still pouring down, but this is about the time the thunder started so they decided pretty quickly that they were ready to come in! 

Savannah had a sign that hung in her room that said, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." These two have it down. :)

I Can't Help Falling In Love

Our one-man-band is at it again! Sterling has directed, produced, and starred in another winner. You just never know what he'll come up with when he disappears with the video camera. This one is a keeper. :) 

Rise and Shout THE COUGARS ARE OUT!

If only the above score told the whole story.
Let me sum it up for you...

Backup Quarterback, Tanner Mangum. (A true freshman.)
Down by one point with ONE SECOND LEFT IN THE GAME!
On the 42-yard line, out of field goal range.
A super awesome Hail Mary.
Caught just outside the end zone by Mitch Matthews who was surrounded by Nebraska players and then he FELL INTO THE END ZONE! (Forward video to 1:12 to see the play.


There was much rejoicing on the field, off the field, in our house. Did I mention we broke the longest home-opener winning streak (29 games)?

Ah, BYU Football. We've missed you!

Go Cougs!

First Day of School

It's official, Savannah is a BYU Cougar! Her first day of school was today. Doesn't she look cute? 

By all accounts (hers) it was a pretty good day. Monday is her busiest day, by far, and she survived. 

I think it's going to be a great year!

A Chance Meeting

Savannah is diving right in to BYU. She and her roommate were on their way to the Women's soccer game last night when they ran right into Cosmo! She was pretty excited about that little meeting! :)

It's been quite a week. Saying goodbye was every bit as hard as it was when Sam left last year. We're super excited for Savannah. She's been looking forward to this for a long time and she's already having amazing experiences after only a few days on campus. I knew she'd make a splash!

(I should probably stop now because I can feel the tears welling all over again.)

I'll post more about our week together in Provo when I have a longer minute. Go Cougs!

Our Weekend

What a great weekend! The Youth Cultural Celebration on Saturday evening was so fun. The kids had a great time participating and it was a great show! I'll post a link later if there's a way to watch it in the days ahead. I hope there is. As fun as it was to be in the stands and see it live, I would love to see it from the camera's perspective.

President Eyring, Elder Ballard, Elder Andersen, Elder Hallstrom and two other Seventies were there for the festivities and temple dedication. Jeff, Sadie and I got to meet them briefly before the Celebration. They were all so nice and they each talked to Sadie, asked her name and age, and told her they like her hair or thought she was pretty. :) Three or four of them, including Elder Ballard, gave her a little stroke on the cheek or chin. It was very sweet. I'm glad she was with us.

We all enjoyed the temple dedication yesterday. Jeff said the opening prayer at the 2nd of three dedicatory sessions so he and I were seated in the Celestial Room. The kids were in the Baptistry. It was a really special experience and I'm grateful our family could be there together. Of course, we were missing Sam, but we know he is right where he needs to be.

We've been looking forward to this for so long, it seems strange to have it over with. I'm hoping the spirit and memory of it will stay with us for a long, long time.

You can read more about the Youth Celebration and Temple Dedication, as well as view pictures of both, here.

It's onto our next adventure. Savannah and I leave bright and early tomorrow morning to take her to BYU. More to come...

Stormy Beautiful Weather

Hi, my name is Missy and I'm addicted to clouds. (Hi, Missy...)

I know, I know. How many pictures of clouds can one person post? Well, the answer is, a whole lot more than you can imagine. If you only knew how much restraint I've shown over the years. If you saw how many pictures of clouds I take then you'd know I am the model of self-restraint since I only post a very small fraction of those. You're welcome.

Anyway, we walked out of a restaurant about 15 minutes from home last night and this is what we saw:

It kind of reminds me of a UFO. The storm was moving pretty quickly and ended up following us home. 

The last picture was taken just after we pulled in (that is my next door neighbor's house.) Right after that, the sky got really dark and it started to rain. We had a lot of rain earlier in the summer, but it's been a while. We've desperately needed a good rain storm and, boy howdy, that's exactly what we got! It rained and rained. The streak lightning and gunshot thunder only added to the effect.

I love me a good thunderstorm. This one was awesome!

The First Day of School, 2015 edition

I sent this crew off to school this morning. The first day came a little too soon for me, but the kids were good sports and faced it like champions. Sadie and Soren just got home and it's so far, so good. :) Sterling and Spencer are at Cross Country practice for another hour, but both were optimistic when I dropped them off this morning so I'm confident they'll do just fine. 

As much as I love having my kids at home, they always do well in school and their teachers love them. I'm glad they are out there making a splash and bringing happiness to those around them. I think it's going to be a great year!

Sadie, our fifth grader, got a little crazy when we were
taking pictures this morning... ;)

 

Soren is in seventh grade, braving the middle school!

Sterling is in eighth grade, big man on campus!

Spencer is a junior. He's flying solo at the high school this year.