Our Bishop back in the day...

I came across this picture after Dave Williams was called to be our new bishop. This was taken several years ago at a Halloween party at church. Yes, that's Hugh on the left with Dave. That is Hugh's dad's shirt and it was bought in probably 1973 and he still wears it. Classic. Although, it was probably never the same after Hugh wore it. It was stretched beyond its capacity for stretching.

Friendship Rodeo

Today, the girls went to a church activity called the Friendship Rodeo. They had to dress cowgirlish and they were going to do all kinds of cowgirlish activities. They looked adorable. Not super cowgirlish, but good enough. Courtney's jeans are so cute

and I wish they made them in my size!

Smokin' Hot Ladies Night Out

Ok, I didn't name it that....Jennifer did. :) But I think it's funny. Anyway, last night, 10 of us went to Yardhouse for drinks and appetizers and we laughed so hard my cheeks hurt. That's my favorite. We are hoping to get together like this once a month because given our busy lives with family and work, it is much needed. But, driving home last night was NOT FUN. After I dropped off Lisa & Jana, I started heading to Tracy's house and a HUGE storm hit. I could hear the music from the tornado scene in the Wizard of Oz playing in my head and I was just waiting for a cow and a farm house to go flying past us. It was raining sideways, and after I dropped Tracy off and started heading home, I could not see if front of me. It was crazy.

Me & Jennifer

Illene, Debbie, Kristi, me, & Jennifer

Debbie, Jana, Tracy & Lisa

Jodi is on the far left, but she hid during the picture!!

The Nielsons

A beautiful couple from Mesa named Christian & Stehanie Nielson were in a plane crash on Saturday, August 16, in St. John. I have become somewhat obsessive about reading her blog and the blog of her sister, Jane. A little stalkerish, I know, but Stephanie & Jane are remarkable women and I'm very impressed with her writing. Even after the crash, Jane is able to report on the Nielson's recovery with lightness and humor. This tragedy and has made me stop and and thank my Heavenly Father for my blessings. If you are interested in reading about the Nielsons, you can click on the "Nie Recovery" link to the right, or go to her sister's blog . Jane has been very good about keeping her blog updated so readers like me can be informed about Christian & Stephanie's recovery. My favorite entry on Stephanie's blog has been "The Bell is Ringing Again.." and it's about her annual Back to School dinner that she puts together for her kids. It's a tradition I'm going to start next year. To read Stephanie's blog, click on the "I read Nie Nie" on the right. My family and I will be keeping the Nielson's in all of our prayers.

Courtney the Photographer

Courtney wanted one thing for her birthday - a digital camera. She was so excited when she got it. She has taken so many pictures, it looks like the papparazi lives here. Here are a few she took at dinner last night.

Connor and my parents

Caitlin

Sistas!!

Courtney & Connor sitting on the saddle at

Texas Roadhouse while we all sang Happy

Birthday to them.

Silly girls!

Some of my other favorite pictures of the twins.....

The twins with their Great-Great Grandfather,

Joe Butler.

Connor always had his eyes WIDE OPEN.

There it is again.

Look at that smile!

Daddy & his boy.

Aren't they adorable?

Our first family portrait.

Love this one of Courtney.

My babies are 11!!

Courtney & Connor turned 11 today. It's hard to believe. They are miracles in every sense of the word. After 4 years riding the infertility rollercoaster, we were blessed with our twins. Their entry in to this world was dramatic - 8 weeks premature - but with the help of the wonderful doctors and nurses at St. Joseph's, they survived. Connor stayed in the hospital for 4 weeks to the day, and came home at a whopping 4 lbs., while Courtney had to stay for an additional 2 weeks and came home at 4 lbs. 9 oz. They were tiny, and on heart monitors, and kept me awake all night while I watched them breathe. But they have grown in to these amazing children who I am so grateful for. They are compassionate, humble, funny, selfless (most of the time), obedient (again, most of the time) and I count them as my blessings every day.

The day we brought Courtney home we put her

in the crib with Connor, and he immediately

put his hand on her hand. It is my favorite picture

of the two of them.

Courtney with all of her tubes and wires.

Courtney with her beanie baby.

Connor with his beanie baby. They are almost

the same size. You can see all of his tubes and

wires.

Do you think the carseat was a little too big

for him?

Memories

I got this from my friends blog. I thought this would be fun. I hope you will play along. Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together (or my husband). It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I know some of you don't know me personally, so you can just share a funny memory of your own if you would like. Share your bloopers with me & lets all have a Great laugh...

Caitlin & Catie

This summer, Caitlin was so excited because she saved up enough money to buy her own American Girl doll. She even paid the extra $10 to have it shipped in two days. She named her Catie and she even took her to California with us. We saw the American Girl movie "Kit Kittridge" while we were in SD and Catie came with us to that as well. It was so cute to see Caitlin so happy over her purchase, and I'm happy to report that Caitlin hasn't lost Catie yet. :)

Connor & Chase

That's right...Connor has a great friend named Chase. Chase moved in our cul-de-sac about a year ago and he is one of the nicest boys I've ever met. He's polite, humble, very comfortable around other people, and it just a "good kid". He is 13 and he and Connor totally hit it off. They play airsoft war in the cul-de-sac, Xbox, they swim, and just hang out being "buds". So, it was the worst news when we found out that Chase and his family were moving to Chicago. They leave on Saturday. :( Connor is so sad, as are we. Last week, Hugh took Chase & Connor fishing. Isn't the size difference hysterical? Chase is about twice as tall as Connor. We'll miss them so much. They've been great neighbors.

Goofy Girls!

Lisa & Jana - two of my oldest (oldest meaning I've know them for a very long time, not oldest meaning age) were over at my house Friday night, and they decided to play photographer and take some pictures of themselves with my camera. Silly girls. So, here's my favorite. And Jana & Lisa, not to beat a dead horse or anything...... ha ha - inside joke. Love you girls!

First Day of School

Man, this summer FLEW by! Not the heat, just the summer break. This morning was that annual tradition that I like to call "The TRUE Mother's Day". Up at 6:45, and our the door by 7:40. Off to school we go! The kids were actually excited. They haven't gotten to that "I hate school" stage yet - hopefully they never will.....my fingers are crossed. Caitlin has insisted that she can do her own hair this year. She does a pretty good job of it, so I guess I'll just supervise. They all had a great day. It'll probably take us a little while to get in the swing of things. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are our crazy days now with gymnastics, piano, wrestling, Activity days, Young Womens, and scouts. Whew! Then we can relax for the rest of the week. So, to all of you mothers out there....Happy Mothers' Day!!

You might think this is lame, but....

Ok, I'm a HUGE Survivor fan. I've watched EVERY season of it and I love it. Well, for those of you who are fans of the show, you know that during Survivor Fans vs. Favorites: Micronesia, there was a Phoenix Firefighter, Joel Anderson, who was one of the "Fans" to compete on the show. Today, Hugh was with him and Hugh called me and put Joel on the phone. It was so cool! We talked about one of the funniest moments on Survivor, which was an obstacle course in which Joel was tied to another guy named Chet and they had to chase after another team through an obstacle course to grab that team's flag. Well, Chet weighs about 50 pounds, and Joel is built like a truck, so he was literally dragging Chet along the course. Chet was banging his head all over the place. Sounds brutal, but it was truly hysterical to watch - especially since Chet was so annoying. Anyway, during our conversation, Joel mentioned names like "Parvati" and "Jonathon" and "Amy" and "Eliza" who are all returning Survivor players. And, of course, we talked about my ALL TIME favorite Survivor player - James. It was such a cool conversation! I told him I would love to sit down with him sometime and find out all the behind the scene stuff, but he said if I learned that, I would probably not want to watch the show anymore, and I certainly don't want that! Anyway, it was the highlight of my day - with the exception of my kids having a great first day of school. :)

I've been Tagged!

I was just tagged by Molly, so here goes...

How to play this game of tag. Post these rules on your blog:List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 joys...being with my family, a night out with the girls that leaves me laughing until it hurts, and planning parties
3 fears....something bad happening to one of my kids or to Hugh, heights, and my DVR not recording So You Think You Can Dance
3 goals.....to do my family's genaology, to get my kids rooms really organized, to lose a few more pounds
3 current obsessions....So You Think You Can Dance, Breaking Dawn, thinking about when we can have another high school reunion because our 20 year reunion was so dang fun!!!
3 random facts......I am deathly afraid of bees - this is because I saw the movie "The Swarm" when I was 5 and I've been afraid ever since, "Wolf" from American Gladiators asked me to the prom, and I don't ususally go to bed before midnight.

I tag Wendy, Amy, Chantae, Brenna & Katie

Back to School Fashion!

We spent today doing back to school shopping - my favorite! Well, we scored at Justice where they had all of their summer stuff on sale. We're talking $25 shirts for $5. So, we bought a few. :) The girls tried on all of their stuff when we got home and we took some pictures. They also got new bathing suits (couldn't pass them up at $7 each) and they had me take their pictures out by the pool. My little models......they are so adorable.