The End of an Era (An 8 1/2 Year Era)

Bye, Bye, Melaleuca!!!

The time has finally come. Today is Justin's last day working for Melaleuca!! Although he's enjoyed his time there, I think he's pretty excited to leave. It has been hard for me to prepare for this adjustment. Justin was working there before we got married, so we pretty much don't know anything but Melaleuca.

I told Justin I'm really going to miss getting a product check every month, (Esther, we might be hitting you up), but I won't miss the awful summer picnic and Christmas party. Now I won't feel like I have to go to all of those boring, dreadful parties hoping to win something and always walking away with nothing.

Justin's pretty excited for a change and I wish Melaleuca the best of luck trying to replace him!! jk

Bowling with the Fam

Last night for Family Home Evening we decided to take the kids bowling, (you know to brush up on their skills for when we join the leagues). We had a good time. Anna loved it, but Ellie and Ogden lost their patience toward the end. Ogden didn't bowl the last two frames and Ellie didn't do the last and they still beat me. I must really stink! It drove Justin nuts that I didn't care if I lost or not, but that just makes it more fun to lose.

The balls are a little big for Ogden. Finally, something that slows him down. Just watch out when he drop kicks it. Yes, Clay, we got him to do it again.
Anna had a ball and was really good, too. She beat everyone but Justin by a long shot. That must be why she enjoyed it a little more than the rest of them.

Afterwards, we realized we forgot to get a picture of Ellie bowling, so she settled for one at Rupe's instead. Yes, that's right, we topped the night off with Root beer ice cream, fries, and scotch and soda from Rupe's. Yum!!

I had to get a shot of the cute little shoes on Ogden. They made me laugh every time I saw them.

Happy Birthday, Aric!

It's Aric's big day!! We hope you have a great day with your girls and that they treat you extra special. I'm sure Sally has something yummy involved. You have now been deemed the funny Uncle by many fellow bloggers. Way to go and keep up the good work.

Happy Birthday!

(Sorry about the late post. I've been having a few computer problems today.)

It's Zack's Big Day!!

Today my nephew, Zack, turns the big #8. We're so excited for him and the good kid he is. We have so much fun with him and his curious mind. We hope you have a great day, Zack, and don't party too hard (that means eat too much candy).

Happy Birthday, Zack!!

Emily's Blessing

Over the Labor Day weekend, we were able to go to Provo for my new niece, Emily's, blessing. It was such a fun weekend. On Saturday, my dad, Barry, Justin and I got to go to the BYU game. Although it wasn't the most exciting game I've attended, it was still nice to see them beat Arizona this year. It was a hot day, but a lot of fun.

Sunday was Emily's blessing, so of course, plenty of pictures were taken of the the cute little thing. She's such a good baby.

Camille and Barry with Emily after the blessing.
Camille and Emily, and yes, that is a giant telescope coming out of Camille's head, and my dad in the background. This is the only picture I could find with any of my parents in it. I know some were taken, I just didn't get a hold of any of them.
I realized on Monday afternoon that I had forgotten to take any pictures the whole time we were there, so these are all borrowed from my mom.

Amber, Justin, Camille, Barry, Clay, and Jenn all after the blessing.

We had such a fun weekend and it was so nice to get to see everyone and Clay and Jenn's new place. Emily is Barry and Camille's fifth child and the only other blessing I've been able to attend was Neal's, their first, so this was pretty neat for me. I'm so excited they live close enough for us to visit now!
Thanks Hillams for a great weekend and for putting us up.

Super-Clay!!

On Monday, my dad, Justin, Barry, and Clay all went golfing in Provo and Clay hit a hole-in-one!! It was so exciting for the guys. Barry called us when it happened and told us to get a party going for Clay when he got back. The kids all got together and made a little sign for him, blew up balloons, hung streamers outside, and threw water balloons at him when he arrived and my mom and Neal ran to the store and got him a cake.

All the guys after the big match. Clay, Barry, Dad, Justin.

Of course, Justin looked up the probability of hitting a hole in one for the average golfer, and it's a 12,700 to 1 chance. For a pro, it's slightly lower at 3700 to 1. Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?!!

We kept joking that we were going to have it put in the paper but I don't think many people would be impressed since there's a guy named Clay Ogden, the same age as our Clay, from Layton who is an amateur golfer who went to BYU.

So, we're going to settle for a blog post,instead.

Clay and Jenn posing with the yummy cake we had to celebrate!!

Way to go, Clay!! (and excellent job on the birdie, Barry)

I'm hoping to have more pictures from our Labor Day trip to Provo later.

Kindergarten Has Started!

Today was Anna's first day of Kindergarten. It's also her last until Friday. I can't believe the schedules they put these kids through. Like I expected, she wasn't nervous but very excited once the time came. She's such a tiny little girl. It's so cute to see her little body walking to the bus stop and carrying a big backpack.

I've decided I was crazy for buying her new school clothes. Just getting ready to go to the bus stop, she fell in the mud twice. I had awful thoughts of what her teacher was going to think of me when she got to school, but I figure she's going to get to know Anna sooner or later, so there's nothing I can really do about it.
My camera wasn't working before she went to school, so I wasn't able to get any cute pictures of her at the bus stop, but she was so excited to go that she didn't even pay attention to me when I tried to tell her goodbye. I did grab a few pictures on my phone, though. One really cute one of Anna and Little Owen. Becky had stopped by and she and her boys got to accompany us to the bus stop. I think they now realize how crazy our house is.

I got my camera working this afternoon and was able to get some pictures and include Ellie. The girls had such a fun day. I hope there will be many more to come.