It's synchro season again...

Now that Sidney has joined the competitive team for synchronized swimming, from now until the middle of June or so, there is a meet at least once a month. This season started off in Tucson a weekend or so ago. Sidney is swimming a team routine and a trio routine. The suits are so great.


Sidney is the 2nd one in from the right.



Sidney is right in the middle.


Sidney's trio, she's in the middle. These suits are so cute, right. I helped design then and them the team seamstress made them. I tried to get a better picture during the routine, but none turned out great.

Way to go sweetie!

Aren't Grandmas Great!

Early in October, it became evident that John's grandmother was not going to hang on to this life much longer. She passed on October 5th. Since she lived in Utah, we made the trek to attend the funeral and spend time with family there.

It was wonderful to see family and nephews and nieces that have grown in the time since we've seen them, some more than a year.

All of John's siblings were able to come, and we were only missing a few of the grandkids because they were either to young to enjoy the funeral services or not in the country. It was more like a reunion than a sad event.



Here is all of John's family. It was his mother's mother that passed and she was the oldest daughter.

John's Grandpa is a rock of a man. He spoke at his own wife's funeral and bore testimony of the gospel and making choices that will bless you and your family. It was great to witness that.



Here is John's parents and all their children. No spouses or grandchildren just their immediate family. They are each different in their own way, but you can see just a few similarities amongst them.



We had to take the opportunity to capture our own family while we were dressed up and together.

We will certainly miss Grandma Graff. She was a sweet, wonderful woman. She truly loved her family and the stories of her life were evidence of that. She loved to have family close-by and have get-togethers at their home. She was a simple, unassuming woman who cared so much about each individual. She listened well and asked with sincerity about how you were and what you were up to. She loved to give. She was a wonderful example to her family of genuine love. She will be missed.

Fall baseball

Baseball is pretty big here in Arizona. So, when Hayden's friend's mom asked if Hayden would like to play baseball on the same team, Hayden said yes. At first, the practices were twice a week which was difficult to schedule in, but we did. As of now, there is only one more game to play and I think Hayden has enjoyed himself. In the very latest game he got walked twice to first which both resulted in scoring runs, he slid into 3rd base..."safely". AND he got an out at 3rd base. He had a really awesome game and he was awarded a game ball by his coach. The coach chooses someone each game to award the ball to that demonstrated effort and heart in the game.



Hayden is so unethusiastic about all the sports we've encouraged him to try. It's hard to tell whether he will ever be excited about something. Baseball was good though since his friend was there to enjoy it with.

How sad...

It has been so long since I have posted something to our blog that I'm not sure if I even remember how to post. Pathetic, eh?

I haven't decided how I want to post, either by person and what they've been doing or chronologically, or by event.

Anywho, stay tuned...

What are we up to?

So, my blog says to come and see what we're up to, but according to the lack of posting recently you would think, "Not much." This would be the opposite. We are exponentially more busy than we were before (if that's possible).

John is taking on more responsibilities with his work because his partner and colleague is possibly retiring at the end of the year, so he is taking over some of her tasks before they all land squarely in his lap when she leaves.

Sidney has joined the competitive synchronized swimming team. She was on the recreation team and it is less time per week. Now she swims twice as much on the competitive team, but she's still enjoying it.

Hayden is now in 3rd grade and it seems that there's quite a difference in the homework area from 2nd to 3rd grade. It used to take him about a half hour, tops, to complete his homework last year. Now it takes hours. And I'm not exaggerating when I say HOURS! Even with me by his side to keep him on task, it can take over 2 hours on some nights. And he's still trying to adjust to that reality...all of us are. In a couple weeks, Hayden will start fall baseball with his best friend, so we'll have to squeeze that in, too. He hasn't tried baseball yet, and we're all hoping he at least enjoys himself.

I am adding some change into the household as well. I have a job. Two actually. I was hired by the kids' school to be on the substitute list and I've already worked once. And I already have positions lined up for future days. I'm excited to be working with kids and getting a chance to see different age groups. My first assignment was with 6th grade and my next will be with 1st. We'll see how much I like it after that.? My second job is independently consulting with parents for the Becoming a Love and Logic Parent course, which is distributed through the Love and Logic Institute. I am ecstatic about it! I am having so much fun. I love helping parents see that there are some practical methods to offer them through this course.

I like that our new phase of life is pushing each of us to learn more and challenge us more and get out of our comfort zone more. So far so good.

School started a while ago...

My kids have been in school for 3 weeks. I have been slacking in the area of blogging. So, here's pictures of my kiddos before they left for school.

End of Summer...

My kids claim that they didn't get to do very much this summer. In some ways I agree with them, but when I made a list, it says otherwise. You decide.

First, here's a few pictures of some of the stuff we did or friends we spent time with.

















Now, lets see, what did we do again?

Slid down inflatable slides
Made a scavenger hunt and went on a scavenger hunt
Made blue cupcakes with green frosting
Sidney got her ears pierced
Went fishing
Made fabric rosettes
Hayden got baptized
Danced with a Native American tribe
Made homemade popsicles
Got rained on
Played at a playground/jump center
Swinged on swings
Hayden cut his head and got staples
Visited Cardinal Stadium for RV show
Went to the UFO museum
Tried to make paper mache pinatas
Rode bikes
Went skating at Skateland
Stood in a White Sand desert
Went swimming
Played at a water park
Sidney chopped her hair off
Toasted marshmallows
Ate fresh veggies and fruits from our garden
Went to a Bead Museum
Went to an underground cavern
Visited an aquarium
Played video games
Made homemade bread
Ate at many great restaurants with friends and family
Shot guns
Built sand castle
Rode a carousel
Made cookies
Saw sunsets
Watched lightning
Visited a temple
And played many card and board games
Sang songs out loud, really loud

Oh yeah, and just had some good plain fun!