Kid Pics….

Here are all the random pics of the kids I have taken over the last few months…..

Ellionna:

Cat toys make great baby toys!

Enjoying the last few days of the fall weather!

Feasting on a graham cracker for the first time!

Tub time!

7 months:  Crawling and now wanting to climb the stairs!!

She is starting to pull some funny cheesers!  

Gavin:

 Getting into the Halloween face make-up

I let him pick out one toy at the dollar store. 

 He was ecstatic to pick this!  He even turned down a toy car, which was a surprise! 

I just finished the dishes and went upstairs to get Ellionna dressed for the day.  I came back down after about 5 minutes and found this….  His naked pictures will never get old!  There are plenty of them, too!

So serious...

Jordan:

I had to capture him with the iPad…. I don't even think he was playing it.  It just so happened to be on the bed when he fell asleep.

Jordan decided to draw a picture of his kindergarten teacher and he strictly told me right after that we needed to send a picture of it to her.  Don't we all remember our kindergarten teachers?  He loves school!

 Makenzie:

Makenzie just finished doing 5 shows of the Nutcracker with her dance and tumbling class for the community!  She was a peppermint.  The show was done very well and all the kids have so much talent!  She loves to perform.

 And this was just a day while we were at a park this fall.  We live right by the Ohio River that separates Ohio from Kentucky.  The bridge takes you right over the state line.

 

Coming home for a funeral….

The camera cord has been found!  Here are the pictures of our trip home to Utah.

One of the many fond memories for the grandchildren is watching cartoons with Grandpa on his bed. 

Tyler headed up a lot work that needed to be done around the house.  He finished the kitchen, which was halfway done being remodeled.  He also helped clean out a lot of Roger's "treasures" from the backyard.  "Another man's trash is another man's treasure!"  Roger was Mr. Fix-it.  Plus he loved to find things for free, or cheap, to restore and use again.  The Bug is one thing staying….and Gavin sure loved playing in it!

Roger was an avid surfer growing up and has always had a love for it.  Tyler and Will cleaned up his old boards to display at the service.

 A lot of the week was used to go through photos.  What a blessed time it was to hear lots stories and relive memories with everyone.  Lots of crying and laughing!

This was a cookie jar with Oreos.  When the lid opened, it belted out some surf tunes.  Not the most quiet thing to be displaying, but a good memory!

 We wanted the casket flower spray to be represent the ocean.  I think it turned out great.

The pall-bearers doing their job.  

Roger is being laid to rest in an oak casket, one of his favorite woods. 

The Sherman Family

Mandy, Eli, Scott, Wendy, Tyler, and Will

Roger's brothers- Richard and Jim.  His mother, Lena.  His sister, Lena Jr.  

 Wendy and her siblings-

Tim, Tyrone, Leann, Wendy, Connie, Keith

 

So after the funeral was done and we were all at home visiting, I made the rounds checking on all the kids.  Well, I couldn't find Gavin right away (which isn't a surprise.) I found him outside in the backyard, playing in the water….. (This was December 1 and not the warmest day!)

Heading to the airport…. It took a good week for us all to recover.  We all went on very little sleep for about 2 weeks straight.   It was worth it seeing so many family and friends!!

Thanksgiving

We had a lazy and quiet Thanksgiving day!  

 Makenzie made the turkey basket for the rolls.

Let's eat! Makenzie is doing a "T" for Thanksgiving!

Feast your eyes on these beauties!

 

A second in time changes everything….

I find it ironic that my last post was of gratitude.  Thankful for life and service. As most of you know, Tyler's father was killed in a motorcycle accident the day after Thanksgiving.  Well, even more now than just two weeks ago, I can stand with even more faith and gratitude for life and service!  It has been an emotional, exhausting, and bittersweet 2 weeks.  A time of traveling with a young family, working,  cleaning, planning a funeral, laughing, crying, reminiscing, visiting with family and friends, and being the recipients of so much heartfelt love and concern.  Thank you to everyone for their love and support.  I don't dare name off names as there have been so many people who have done so much for us at this time.   Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Roger was a great man and we will miss him.

After coming home to unpack all 6 of us, I realized only one thing did not make it home.  My camera cord to transfer pictures to the computer!  So until I can track that down, there will be no pictures.  But I have plenty to share, so hopefully I can find it soon!

Attitude of Gratitude

This is a personal post here....Just a few things running through my head that I felt needed to be said.  This month I have had many small moments and experiences where I have been able to truly feel the love of our Heavenly Father in my life.  These experiences have led me to truly comprehend my deep sense of gratitude for ALL that I have and enjoy in life each day.  Life is a great gift!  I am reminded to  remember what really is important in life and what is not.  I try so hard to keep that perspective each day as I raise my family, interact with people, and find ways to serve.  I have so much more to learn. There is still plenty more faith, hope, and charity that I need to implement into my life.  I sometimes feel I don't have much to offer.  But this past month, I have been able to have opportunities to help "bear one another's burdens, mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those that stand need in comfort." (From the Book of Mormon, Mosiah Chapter 18)  I have felt the Spirit in ways that I haven't felt in a long time.  I have felt it's guiding powers as I have forgotten myself and committed to serve and sacrifice in ways that I didn't think I could.  I have been stretched for time, energy, and temporal resources.  It's been an overall amazing experience.  I go into this Thanksgiving holiday with an attitude of much much more gratitude than I have ever felt before!

Give Thanks....

That Halloween is over!

So much effort and hype with costumes, parties, and candy!  With the weather miserably wet, cold, and windy all week long, the community post-poned trick-or-treating to tonight (Nov 1.)  They had to drag it out one more day....


Ellionna: a pretty lil' flower.   Yep, she has decided sit up this past week all by herself.

Makenzie: A butterfly fairy.  Tyler painted her face here, but this was after school when it had been worn all day.  She got to dress up 4 times in the past 2 weeks.

Jordan: Wall-E!  If you remember, he wanted a Wall-E birthday in February. I guess he wanted to carry it on throughout the year.  Very random!  I don't get any credit for the costume.  I made it, but all the creative juices came from my sister-in-law who made the same costume two years ago.  I just picked her brain and copied her!  Thanks!

He did have little robot hands, but left them at school.

Gavin:  When I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween back in September, he randomly said, "A Bird!!!"  Well, he never changed his mind.... except wanting to be a red bird after I made it blue.

Ready to head out!!