This year for Christmas we get...a new Job...and a familiar place to live

Word is spreading very fast...so we thought we had better make an official announcement. We are moving back to Utah. It's a bitter sweet thing. We have had some very great experiences here in Montana, but an awesome opportunity has presented itself back in Utah so we are going to take advantage of it. Right now the plan is to load the moving truck on December 18th and then depart on the 19th as soon as the kids afternoon christsmas performance is over. If the weather is bad we will leave the morning of the 20th. Glenn will then start his new job with Coventry HealthCare on Monday, December 22nd. As we move forward we will keep everyone updated and we will send out contact information.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus...

This year's holiday performance at Smith Elementary School will be Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Unknown to us, and without any pushing or bribery, Matthew auditioned and was cast in the role of Mr. Shulman. He will even be singing a solo. Just when you think you know your child they go and do something very out of the ordinary for them. He has rehersal's every Monday and Wednesday morning before school from now until December 19th.

Anyway...congratulations Matthew, we can't wait to watch the show. Emma will also be in the show singing with her class.

Happy Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Matthew was a gorilla (Madison teased him that he chose not to dress up this year), Emma was a diva witch (and she is looking way too grown up), and Noah was Iron Man (we were very surprised his costume made it to October 31, He wore it almost everyday for over a month). Madison wore a bat headband that the principal grumpily made her remove. (beware: Glenn's soapbox opinion is about become very prevelant) its amazing to me that evil horrible songs can be played at a school dance but a sixth grader can't wear a bat headband...explain that one (ok - I will spare you from anymore. I'm done and I will now return to the fun that is Halloween) The pictures below are all from the parade at the school. Unfortunately we did not get any pictures of Madison. The kids went to the trunk or treat at the ward building and then we went to the Wilkersons house so we could go through their haunted house. It was loads of fun, and way too much candy.

It's beginning to look a lot like....

We woke up this morning to snow capped mountains.... If you look close enough in the pictures (through the clouds) you can see the snow. These pictures are from our front and back yards.
We are hoping that this is not a sign of a harsh winter...

End Of Summer

Our forcasted high on Monday Sept 1 is in the high 40's - which makes us wonder where summer went...it most certainly was a fun one. We thought it might be fun to post a few pictures of one heck-of-a fun and busy summer. The summer started out in yellowstone, followed by Emma's tonsil extraction, followed by endless fun at the waterslide, a boat ride at gates of the mountains, a visit to the Montana historical society, a tour train ride around Helena, a hot dog dinner at Park Lake, time at hauser lake, a couple of very quick visits to Utah... and who know's whater ever else we forgot. Here are just a few of our favorite family pics from the summer...

First Day of School August 27

We are very happy to report that our first day, and week, of school were very uneventful. Two days before Madison started middle school (6th Grade) we took her to the school to get her locker setup and Noah climbed right in and was ready to make himself at home while Madison went to classes (he's very attached to her). Matthew started 4th grade this year, and Emma started second grade ( the first day of school the morning temp was 52 - as indicated by the coat Emma is wearing). Noah was very sad this week he's having a hard time adjusting. The highlight of the first day was coming home to Melonee's chocolate chip cookies, this is a great tradition that has moved from Melonee's family to ours.

Ward Father and Son's Camp Out Aug 22-23

Our ward held its first father's and Son's campout on Aug 22-23. Rather than pitching a tent Glenn and the boys took the seats out of the van and put down some cushions and used it as the tent. The pictures below are Noah and Matthew getting ready to go to sleep and a couple of pictures from the next morning. They couldn't find the group the first night so they just pulled over to the side of the road and had a little camp out of their own...complete with watching Transformers before bed. They met up with the ward in time for breakfast the next morning.

Pioneer Celebration/ Montana Style

Our Stake had a 24th Celebration at Kleffner Ranch. They had a Huge BBQ, hand carts too pull and play with, a greased pole climbing contest, and tons of games for the kids, and too top it off a pie eating contast. However we cant do anything without shall we say a little "DRAMA" Chaos bad luck whatever you want to call it, We lost our van keys 2 days ago and found out it costs $180 to have it re-keyed and we have to tow it to the Dealership, and out Washer decided to start a leak and it flooded the kitchen, but we made it to the party and it was a lot of fun.

Symphony Under the Stars, Water Under the Bum

On July 18th we took the kids to Carroll College to see Symphony under the stars. Its a free outdoor concert where everyone puts a blanket out on the lawn and enjoys a picnic and some music. This year's host was Buzz Aldren (sp?) (One of the first astronauts on the moon). And the music was all space related. The final three songs were all from John Williams they were Superman, ET, and Starwars, and while the symphony played star wars a really cool Fireworks show went off. We got the boys matching Yoda shirts for the occasion (see the pictures above). All in all it was a fun night.

However, the highlight of the evening came when (please remember we sat at the top of a hill with lots of people below us) Noah dumped our cooler full of water and melting ice down the hill. We discovered he had done this when we noticed the people in front of us standing up with wet pants - they looked like they had peed their pants. It was so embarassing, though we laugh histerically now that we do not have to face all of them. All we could do was apologize over and over.

The other highlight of the event happened before the event even started. We had to walk over a mile from where we parked to get to our spot. Along the walk both of the back tires on the stroller fell off. Imagine that...both of them at different times. When the show was over we retired the stroller to the nearest dumpster.

Tonsils and Adnoids No more!

Emma had surgery on June 30th, and its been a hard 2 weeks of recovery, hopefully now she will be able to sleep and breath a little better, lets just say Glenn and I as well as the rest of the family are glad that the royal princess is feeling better