Halloween Fun

We had some great looking Jack-O-Lanterns this year, courtesy of Brian

Last weekend was so much fun! Lindsay came home for the weekend because she was singing in Sacrament meeting for her good friend, Brian, who just returned home from his mission. We celebrated her birthday on Saturday night and had a great time! We celebrated at Kimber & Ryan's new house. Lindsay is in Esthetician School in Salt Lake City, so we also did quite a bit of waxing over the weekend. Lindsay has to practice on somebody!

Lindsay with baby Noah
We also got some very exciting news over the weekend...
Kimber and Ryan are expecting their first baby! She is due in late June and we are all very excited for them. This will be grandchild # 14 for us!

October

This is the one year anniversary of my father’s passing and Lindsay’s birthday. Also I had my Woodbadge beading tonight along with Ralph Willet. A day filled with mixed emotions... I love my dad and I miss him. He had the funniest sense of humor and loved to make other people laugh. He was thoughtful of other’s needs and would help out his friends at the drop of a hat. He loved my mom more than anything in the world and was fiercely devoted to the principles of the gospel, to the Savior and to the church that he joined over 40 years ago.

I am grateful to him for being my father and for the way in which he and my mother raised me. I owe them a lot.

Lindsay is such a fun person! She recently cut her hair and it suits her so well! I just love it. Robert and I sent her a poster for her birthday through Kathy Thurgood and her Thur-goodies business in Orem. She loved it!

I’ve wanted to be Woodbadge trained for over 6 years and I’m finally there! We had our ceremony tonight and I am now officially a Bobwhite. I love it. George and Janet were there, Greg and Patti, who MC’d the ceremony, and from my patrol... Justin, Kris, Brian (who came from Flagstaff) and Ralph, who was also beaded. Robert presented us with our beads and Bryan Colby, our troop guide, presented us with our neckerchief and woggle. Brian’s uncle, Joel Skinner also came, along with Edell Washburn from another troop. It was great. Woo Hooo!

This month Brian also had his Wisdom Teeth removed. He actually did quite well and was up and around later in the day. In fact, he went to a party that night. Oh, to be young again!

And this month, Catherine and I had a "Sleepover with Grandma" night. She did her best to stay awake, but she finally fell asleep in my bed...

On My Way

Yesterday I finished my last ticket item for my Wood Badge course that I took back in May. I’m very excited to be finished because now I can be awarded my beads! At the end of this month Ralph Willet and I will have our beads presented to us at a ceremony. Ralph was on my course and in my patrol and finished his ticket just before me. I think we are the first two Bobwhites to receive their beads from our course. GO BOBWHITES!!

Today was the second day of General Conference. It happens every 6 months...I think it can't possibly get better than the last session, but it does. After the second session today, our family discussed the talks that made an impression on us and the principles that were mentioned and the ways in which we were taught. Elder Holland's talk was mentioned several times. What a powerful testimony he shared of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Elder Bednar's talk of the familiar scenes from their family were all too familiar to our own experience and, of course, President Monson's talk about service was a favorite, too. We learned of love and service and changed hearts and how we have to nourish them. How we love listening to the General Authorities and their testimonies and the words that they share with us. It is the highlight of our year. Lindsay had the opportunity to attend two sessions of General Conference this year and she enjoyed it immensely.

We had family members over to our home to watch Conference and have dinner and the following are some pictures of the family as we watched Conference. An all around great weekend!

Brian & Ben watching Conference...

Ethan likes to climb and he spent a lot of time climbing up Grandma and up onto the chair...

Kimber, Ethan and Catherine playing.

Kisses from Dakota

Fall has arrived...

Well, as many of you know, we had a garden this past summer. Our garden is still there, but with the heat, we haven't been reaping much of anything lately, except for the weeds. But a few months ago, we had a mystery plant growing and I was very excited to learn that it was a pumpkin plant! I don't remember planting it, but it got there somehow!

We harvested two pie pumpkins from that plant and I was hoping to keep them until October/November to use in decorating the house, but I noticed today that they had started to get a little soft... so we will be cooking them before it's too late and we will enjoy them as bread... So, I guess for us that means that Fall is officially here! Have a happy Fall everyone!

a day to remember the sacrifices made by others so that we can be free...

I will not forget

Mission Call!

Elder Benjamin Heagle Reeves has been called to serve in the

Chile Concepcion South Mission

for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He will report to the Provo, Utah MTC on November 18, 2009.

Several of us were on our cell phones with other family members who couldn't be here, but lots of his friends came over to see him open his call. We are so excited for Ben and this opportunity he has to serve the Lord for two years. He only has ten weeks to prepare! Oh my! We will be busy, busy, busy for the next ten weeks! We know that this will be a wonderful experience for him and that he will grow immensely as he serves the people in Chile.

Lindsay having breakfast in the airport

Lindsay and I flew to Utah this past weekend so that she could visit the school where she is applying to and to move into her new house! Wow! We were able to get most of her things into 5 suitcases to take with us and the rest we will either mail to her or take up the next time we are up there. She is rooming with a friend of hers from BYU days, Kristin, and will attend Esthetician school. We will miss her TONS, but we realize that this is a great opportunity for her to finish her education and she will have a great experience.

Ward Campout

Every year we look forward to the Ward Campout.

We love to spend the day walking through the area and visiting with our friends.

The Hansen compound where most of the action is...

and our campsite, complete with a spot for Max

Max Hansen and Josh Carpenter loved taking Max for walks.

Rick & Lisa Hansen and their family,

Brother Whitlock, Brother Lines, Brother Carpenter and Brother Whetton

taking Max for a walk through the Campground, which is called Long Valley.

Kevin Jerdon was smart and brought a bike!

some flowers we found on our walk

Lisa and Janet waiting for the program to start and trying to stay warm.

Mostly, this is the McCurdy family, enjoying the campfire program.

Bishop Gallacher entertaining us during the evening campfire

I think school starts earlier and earlier every year! This is the second year that Brian will venture off to school by himself! That seems very strange. Ben is now preparing for his mission call, Lindsay is contemplating school in Utah, Brad is in Maryland working and Taylor is in the Navy. Anyway, Brian is attending Mesquite High School this year as a Sophomore and will be participating on the Swim Team this Fall and the Lacrosse Team later in the year. He is taking AP and Honors classes and is also in the Concert Choir. This proves to be a very busy year but we look forward to it and all the activities!

Hawaii!!

On July 11th, Robert & I, Brian, Kimber & Ryan flew over to Hawaii for two weeks.

We spent a week on the Island of Oahu on the north shore near Shark's Cove in a house right on the beach. It was awesome and we had great views of the beautiful sunsets every night. Probably one of the funnest things we did there was to snorkel around the volcanic rock into Shark's Cove from our beachfront. Its a good thing we didn't know that sharks like that area!

the view from our porch

Sunday morning Robert and Ryan helped to save a sea turtle who got snagged on a fishing line.
Kimber and Ryan walking back to the house, after "the rescue" of the turtle

Brian (top) and Ryan (bottom) jumping off the rocks at Waimeia

one of our favorite things to do is eat at Bubba Gumps

One of the highlights (for me, at least) of this trip was when we helped a little bird recover after hitting our window. He stayed on my finger for fifteen minutes or more till he flew away.

On Kauai, Lindsay joined us and we stayed at the Marriott Waiohai Beach Resort

We experienced a very relaxing week of lounging in the sun by the pool,

...horseback riding along the beach

...visiting the Grand Canyon of Hawaii and having dessert at Lapperts,

...watching Ryan surf every morning right off the hotel and great BBQ dinners (courtesy of Ryan & Brian). Our room was on the first floor right off the pool, which was very convenient...

This year we again went on the Napali Coast tour and the weather was perfect,

the views stunning and the food was yummy!

Quite often, Monk seals will come up to the sand to warm themselves and rest

We saw some great sunsets from the beach in front of the hotel

It was a lot of fun to be there, but the best part was just enjoying the time together...

We will enjoy the memories for a long time...