Life's Changes...

Life is always changing and we have had a lot of changes in our home. A couple of weeks ago we went to California to visit our son, Taylor, who is stationed in San Diego going through the Navy Seal program.

This is the view from the Marriott where we stayed. We had hoped to stay
on base, but there were no available rooms. We enjoyed our stay here a lot.

We took a walk down the boardwalk one day and loved it...

This is the beach where Taylor does his running and workouts. You'll notice a sign that
says to stay out... We are at the end of the public beach and the beginning of Navy property...

This huge big tower is the Dive Tower where he gets a lot of the dive training and instruction

Taylor's training has been extremely strenuous and he is learning a lot. He is in the

phase called "Indoctrination" which is similar to what he will experience in B.U.D.S. training,
which includes beach running and the obstacle course. His marks have been very good.



These are some pictures from the entrance to the base and just a picture of Taylor.
And then of course we had to spend one day at the beach so Taylor could surf...

One of Taylor's friends


It was a good trip and we were glad to see where Taylor is and get a feel for what he is doing.

Last week, Robert and I went to Utah with our son, Benjamin, to get him settled at BYU in Provo, Utah. He will be attending the Fall and Winter semesters there and I think he's ready for it. He will be living in the Heritage Halls area of student housing. Brian is our only child living at home now, although our oldest son, Richard, and his wife Nickie and their two children, Sadie and Mason, have been living with us since May. They have been in Utah since July while Richard does a rotation for Vet School, but will come back here in September. Richard working with one of the horses...

We love having our children and grandchildren here so close and strengthening those ties.

Kimber and Ryan are in New York for about 10 days to visit places that Ryan served on his mission and to see the sites. They will visit Niagara Falls while they are there, see the play "Wicked" and have already seen the Statue of Liberty.

Kelli and her husband recently moved to Alpine where they are renting a house on an acre of land. They should have plenty of room for their family now!

Goals Realized

This has been a very eventful week for our family.

On Sunday, Ben passed his Eagle Board of Review. Ben planned and organized the planting of trees at Barney Park for his Eagle Project. They were much needed for shade near the ball park. Ben is our fifth son to attain the rank of Eagle and we are so pleased that he has chosen to strive for this goal.

On Tuesday, we flew to Utah with Ben and helped him move into his apartment at Heritage Halls, in Provo, where he will be attending Brigham Young University. He will attend for one year before he leaves for his Mission next Fall.

On Thursday, our son, Brian, passed his Eagle Board of Review, making him our sixth and last son to attain the rank of Eagle. Brian organized a Food Drive for the United Food Bank in Mesa.

He and Ben worked together to get all the paperwork for their Eagle rank in and we're so happy that they were able to achieve this goal at the same time.

We are so proud of all our boys for having participated in the Scouting program. We feel it has been a blessing in their lives in helping to shape them into men of integrity, strength and courage. A big thank you to all of their scout leaders, young men leaders, teachers and anyone else who has had a hand in helping them to reach their goals and becoming the people they are!

2008 Hawaii Trip

We just returned from our yearly vacation in Hawaii. This trip we took our four youngest children, Bradley, Lindsay, Benjamin & Brian. We also took Lindsay's good friend, Amy Miles. We had a wonderful time on the islands of Kauai and Oahu. We did several new things this trip including a five hour Catamaran trip around the north shore of Kauai to see the Napali Coast. We saw dolphins swimming in the wake of our boat, some flying fish and got to snorkel in the beautiful blue waters.

Poipu Beach on Kauai

Laie, Oahu Temple

Spouting Horn on Kauai

Sunset at Ko Olina on Oahu

Some of the highlights of the trip were the amazing snorkeling we did on both islands, the scuba diving that everyone did but Mom (she's the designated book reader...), drinking smoothies by the pool (Amy's favorite), visiting the waterfalls, visiting the Temple, hiking to Queen's Bath and jumping off rocks at Luma Hai and Waimea Bay.
The sand is amazing, the water bluer than blue and the weather couldn't have been better. The only thing that could have been an improvement would be to have had all of our children there with us. We love being together as a family and experiencing this beautiful place together.