Emily’s New Job

Emily has a new job, she works at Sodalicious as a mixologist.  Danni is her manager.  She is really excited to have a job and work.  She plans to earn money to buy a computer for college and other expenses to continue her 3D animation. 

First Day of Work

Another work day

Memorable MondayChristmas 2001

Looking back at Christmas 2001 was fun to do.  I don't remember much, but luckily, I took pictures.  The pictures help spark a few memories for me.  I love tradition, which greatly influences how I celebrate holidays.

* We had a Christmas Party at Grandma Pace's house with dinner and a visitor with a special guest.  It was nice to celebrate with the Pace family.  We managed to get so many kids around a picnic table between the counters and sink.  Looking back, I had no idea how that happened.

Josh loved his dinner

Kade, Danni, Kaylynn, and Josh

So many kids in such a small place.

Angela and Santa

Danni and Santa

Josh and Santa

Cousins

*We went to visit the temple lights with my parents and Jeff.  We are so lucky to have such beautiful Christmas lights around the temple and visitor center.  

Jim and Danni

Jeff, Josh, and my parents

Angela and I

*Another special event for me is Christmas Sunday.  Getting my kids dressed for that special day was a way to document it.  

Jim and the kids

Angela and I

*Christmas morning is always so much fun.  I love watching the kids play with their new toys.

Angela loved the Christmas tree

Danni loved her toys

Josh loved his toys.

*Christmas afternoon, we opened more gifts and have dinner at my parent's house.  My mom waits until that afternoon to open presents.  She gets so excited for us to hurry and arrive.  I would too if I had to wait that long.

My kids and I on Christmas

Dad's gift

Memorable Monday Parent’s Hawaii Trip

Josh has been in Hawaii a lot this past 6 months on 2 different trips. He is coming home tomorrow and he was so excited to hear about his adventures.  I want to go to Hawaii on Josh's next trip.  It'll remind me of when my parents went to Hawaii to visit Jeff while he was working there.  I would love it if Jim and I could do what my parents did- travel to Hawaii.

I love that my dad and mom had pictures taken while they were in Hawaii.  It's so fun to look back and see the adventures that they had while they were there.  Dad loved showing off his pictures and made an album for him and others to look at.

Memorable MondaySenior Pictures

 We received Emily's senior picture today.  It's a really great picture of her.  Here are the senior pictures of my kids.  All these pictures turned out so good.  I love them all.

Emily

Josh

Danni

Angela

Memorable Monday Kid’s 12th Halloween

Halloween is coming soon.  This time I wanted to look back at my kid's 12th Halloween pics.

Josh dressed up as a Jedi

Danni dressed up as a teenage witch, complete with a cell phone.

Angela dressed up as a flapper

Emily dressed up as Hermione

It's always great to see my kids side by side.  I love seeing how they looked when they were close in age.  Halloween is always a time that I can get my kids to give me pictures.  

 

Primary Program

Out Ward had our annual primary program.  It is my favorite sacrament meeting of the year.  This year was even sweeter due to the fact that my grandson participated.  It warmed my Grandma's heart to hear him say his words into the microphone.

How cute is he!!!

Tucson Trip

We went to Tucson to spend a fun weekend with the family.  Jim and I went to Kolby's Endowment.  It was sweet to be there and spend time with the Barney family.  While Jim and I were at the temple, the kids went to a local petting zoo.  They saw cool animals and were able to pet a capybara which sounded fun.  The kids took great pictures for me to see.

Em took this fun picture

Josh is helping Manny feed the capybara

Danni helping Manny

We stayed the night at a hotel and headed deep into U of  A territory to the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium.   We had a lot of fun touring the science center.  They had a lot of fun and games which make science a lot of fun.  Downstairs, there were some U of A students that were there to help us as we solved some logic puzzles.  We walked around the science center for a bit and then headed into the Planetarium. 

Ang near the bee section

An arcade game with different fish racing

Angela near the lava exhibit

A deep submarine mission

Manny doing a puzzle

Getting good seats for the Planetarium

It was a fun short trip to Tucson and back.  We love making plans in Tucson.  There is so much to explore and Josh can come with us.  It's always a treat when my kids are all together.  They get along really well which warms my mama's heart.

Memorable MondayPreschool with cousins

Manny is going to school with 2 of his cousins - Jay and Jordan.  It's so cool how that turns out.  Manny sees his cousins from time to time, but now he will be able to see them more.  

Manny and Jordan

Manny and Jay

Britt and Danni did a year of preschool together with Miss Michele.  It was a fun year for the both of them.  I enjoyed watching them at preschool together.  Here are some pics of the time they spent together during the year in preschool.

Danni and Britt with Miss Michele

Their preschool class

Crafts the girls made

Preschool

Manny started preschool today.  We are so excited for him and can't wait to hear about all the wonderful things he is learning and the friends that he has made.  Here is to a fabulous preschool year with Miss Audri.

Memorable MondayFirst Day of 9th Grade

 

Here are my kids on the first day of high school.  Starting 9th grade opened many doors that junior high didn't have.  There were more activities to do and friends to make. For Josh, his class was the first class to start high school in 9th grade. So, a lot of his 10th-grade friends started high school the same year he did. For Emily, a pandemic ended in-person school the week just before spring break.  So, she had to finish her last quarter online.  

Thatcher Trip

Jim, Angela, and I went to Thatcher to pick up Emily from FSY.  Since she needed to be picked up at 7:00 in the morning, we decided to stay the night in Thatcher.  We stopped by to see the Gila Valley Temple.  We had not been there since we attended the open house shortly before it was dedicated.  It was cool to walk around the grounds again.  

Jim, Ang, and I

Jim and Angela

Ang and I

We had dinner at the pizza joint and ran into Ms. Shirts, Manny's swim lesson teacher.  It was fun to see her.  She is getting ready to attend EAC in the fall.  We found out that Thatcher had a Sodalicious, so we had to stop by and get a drink.  

After dinner and a trip to Sodalicious, we went to visit Jim's aunt and uncle who live in Thatcher.  It was a nice visit.  The next morning, we tried to find the gravesite of James Pace, but didn't have luck.  We picked up Emily and Kenzie from FSY, and grabbed breakfast.  We decided one more time to locate the gravesite of James Pace and we were in luck.  

Here is Jim, next to a memorial for James Pace and a few others. James Pace was a pioneer who came across with the Mormon Battalion and returned back to Winter Quarters to cross with his family.  He later settles Payson UT and Gila Valley AZ.  He has quite a legacy.  We thought it was just a memorial for James Pace, but learned that was not the case.  The memorial had names on each of the sides and there was a separate gravestone for James Pace.  It's amazing what we can learn from a trip to the cemetery.  It was a great tip to Thatcher.