Memorable MondayThanksgiving 2007

Pictures from Thanksgiving 2007 at Jon and Mindy's house.  Mardy and Iralee came down for the day.  Looking at the pics from Thanksgiving 8 years ago is priceless.  Taft, Devon, Josh, Seph, Riley, and Jenna have all graduated from high school and Kaylynn, Danni, and Kade are seniors in high school.  The kids have grown so much.  It is fun to look back and see them when they were younger.is 

Ang and Em at the dinner table
with Alyssa, Brandon, and Kaylynn

Josh eating with Kade, Devon, Jenna, and Brandon

Danni and Lissie

Emily driving Brandon and Justin around

Josh

Josh and Seph

Emmy's Thanksgiving meal

Danni's olive fingers

Danni and Lissie

Danni

Emily and Brandon

Alyssa, Lissie, and Danni

Thanksgiving 2015

We had 2 Thanksgivings again this year.  We started off at Jon and Mindy's house with the Pace family.  Mindy always decorates her home so nice for holidays.  Her house is big enough to host the family and play outside.  Their neighbors next door has swings that the kids can use.  The swings are very popular too.  Kaylynn was sick and didn't make it this year and Devon was on his mission. We missed them both.

Josh and Kade

Danni and Bree

Angela and Emily

Playing Football

Swinging next door

We ended Thanksgiving at my parent's house. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner, thanks to Lisa.  She does most of the cooking.   After dinner, I went outside to take some pics.  I invited my mom and dad to join in the pics.  I'm so glad that I did.  Ashley just returned from her mission in August, so it was fun to see her again.

Cousins, Sisters, Daughters, Moms

Mom, Dad, Lisa, and I 

Jim and I

Emily and Kenzie

Brittany and Danni

Zach and Josh

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  It's a holiday about just spending time with family and eating good food.  It's a great time to remember and reflect on my blessings.  I have so many blessings and my family is  the center of it all.

Turkey Trot

Porter Elementary invited parents to lunch and to watch the kids participate in a Turkey Trot.  The Turkey Trot was just an elaborate PE class.  Josh and I came to the picnic and watched Emily participate in the Turkey Trot.  Here are the pics that  I took.  

Sign

Emily and I

Emily, Josh, and I

Josh and Emily

Emily with those in her class as they clean up

Jury Duty

I was selected to sit on a jury for the Maricopa Count Supreme Court.  I've never served on a jury before, so I didn't know what to expect.  I went to court for 6 days, 2 of which were for jury selection.  The trial lasted 3 more days and we deliberated for 2  days.   I learned a lot about the jury process and how that side of the trial worked.  I don't like to talk much about the case because it was hard to convict someone of a crime if though the evidence was there.  I remember sitting in the courtroom actively listening and watching all that took place.  I realized how important my role was in the case and I should not avoid being a juror at all costs.  I remember when we sat in deliberation, how we listened to everyone's thoughts on the case.  Everyone had a say, not just those with strong opinions.  We had to work together to come to an agreement.  I wish that more decisions were solved that way.  I realized that I had a voice and I used it during deliberation.  It was a great lesson that we all need to do our part to fulfill our civic duty.

On the way to the Court, I would see this Christmas tree and ice rink.
  It opened after my jury service

After I completed my jury service

MDLP - FINISHED!!!!!

I'm so proud of Danni for finishing up her MDLP class. She took an online American History class, so she could have more elective classes during the school. She worked hard and finished it. YAY!!!

Josh Ordained an Elder

On Nov. 22nd, 2015, Josh was ordained an Elder by his father.  It was a sweet experience for both Josh and Jim.  Josh had his family there in attendance including both sets of grandparents and Zach.  I loved hearing the words that Josh received during this Priesthood Ordinance.    Grant Wolfgramm was ordinated by his father a few minutes before Josh.  It was awesome to have Josh's friends there in attendance as well.  What a special day for Josh!!

Josh and his dad

3 Generations
Marden ordained Jim
 and Jim ordained Josh

Both Josh and Grant were ordained Elders

Evening of Excellence

I went with my girls to Evening of Excellence.  Since Danni is the Laurel President, she conducted the meeting.  I was so proud of her for accepting the calling and conducting the meeting.  Angela was asked to present something that she did for Personal Progress and since she just finished STOMP, she shared her experiences of reading the Book of Mormon

My beautiful girls

Angela's visual presentation

Memorable MondayWard Talent Show

Last night my family performed "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" at the ward talent show. I've always wanted to perform as a family. It wasn't a fabulous performance but we did it TOGETHER!! I will always remember it.

Our ward had a talent show several years ago.  Josh played a solo on his clarinet and Angela played with her "Let's Play Music" group.  It was fun to have a talent show again and have my family participate.

Angela and her group playing

Josh getting ready to play

I hope that our ward has more talent shows.  I loved seeing everyone's talents.

Throw Back ThursdayVeteran's Day 2010

This was Josh's first year marching in the Veteran's Day Parade. Josh is in college now, but I still reminisce over his high school days.

STEM Night

Porter had a STEM night.  We started in the classroom where we learned about the new ways they teach math.  I was a big fan of it, but do see that it will be helpful in Algebra.   It was an eye-opening experience.  Afterward, we headed to the gym and did some STEM projects.  We had fun and learned a lot. 

I recognize this method

The new method

Bottle Fun

Emily made a battery circuit

Building with marshmallows is always fun