Before & After...

After 10 months and a lot of hard work I am down 74 lbs. I'm not quite where I want to be but I can finally see the light at the end of the weight loss tunnel!

The mighty wrestler...

Sam was on the Piute High School wrestling team. He did pretty well considering it was his first and only year!

Happy Birthday, Courtney...15 yrs old

Courtney didn't get to come home for a Christmas visit this year. Maybe next year. So we visited her the day after Christmas and she got to open her Christmas presents and her birthday presents. Isn't her hair cute? She does it all by herself!

Courtney wanted a stuffed monkey.


Courtney, Steve, Suzanne, Sam, Eric, Kylie, Braeden & Lindsey.

Uncle Curt, Grandma, Courtney & Uncle Clay.

Courtney and beef jerkey!

Courtney wanted a Tinker Bell birthday cake!

Christmas Morning...

Lindsey...my little head-banger rockstar!

Braeden and his monster nerf dart gun.

Lindsey with her snowboard...bought all three kids little kids snowboards...

So she can play her head-banger music!

Sam got cowboy stuff...hat, belt buckle, jacket...now he is a really cowboy.

More Christmas Morning Happiness...

Lindsey with her pink Cowgirl boots.

Braeden and his new Zune...Kylie got one too.

Santa brought the kids Band Hero for the Wii.

Eric and Sam can hardly contain their excitement!

Christmas Eve

What's Christmas Eve without new PJ's.

Braeden's

One of Kylie's...she needed multiple new pairs.

Lindsey's

Phefferkuffin Boys...

Steve's mom being from Germany would make Phefferkuffin boys for the kids every Christmas. We have tried to keep the tradition going since her passing. They have lots of fun making them. I think this is the one they made for Courtney.

Visit with Courtney

This picture was just so you can see how tall she is...

As tall as her dad...

Making gingerbread houses. We had lots of fun.

Thanksgiving building project

Steve finished the shelves in the cold storage room over Thanksgiving weekend. I can't find my before picture but it was just cement walls. He does such a great job making shelves!

Kurt Bestor Christmas Concert 2009

Kids and Steve went to the Kurt Bestor Christmas Concert. I got sick the day before and didn't feel much like going. They went out to eat and then had a great time at the concert.

Thanksgiving 2009

It was so good to be back in Utah where we could enjoy the holidays with family. This is the first Thanksgiving we have had with family in 4 years...

Sam and his "baby blues"...hubba, hubba

Yummy pies...my favorite thing in the Thanksgiving Feast, of course!

Lindsey, Braeden, Kylie

Grandma...making the gravy...mmmm!

Sam, Grandma, Eric, Clay, Curt, Suzanne

First Snow of the Year

This is how excited my kids were that it finally snowed. Footprints from bare feet were all over outside. Living in Texas for 4 years...they forgot that snow was cold!

There was more snow on the cars than on the ground.

Chores were done by 9:00am on this Saturday....they wanted to play in the snow (before it melted). Wish it would snow everyday just so chores would get done.

Desperate attempt to make a snowman.

Lost his head....


This was his ultimate demise....poor frosty. (take notice of the awesome soccer kick form!)

Visit with Courtney/Family Home Evening

We go once per week to visit Courtney. She is residing at the Copperhills Center for Youth. We can't do a lot with her because she isn't able to leave the campus yet. We decided it would be a good opportunity to have Family Home Evening since we go on Monday nights anyway. It has been a lot of fun and I think she is enjoying it. She hasn't had the opportunity to have any affiliation with the church since she left our home 3 years ago. Since starting this she has now asked for a picture of Jesus to help her make better choices...

On this night we had pizza.

And learned about the plan of salvation.

Braeden led the music.

Steve singing "Once there was a snowman."