Brendon turns 12!

Brendon turned 12 in June, and we celebrated by moving on his birthday! So exciting...we know.

But after we moved all our stuff to our new place, we drove back to Phoenix so that we could attend our old ward one last time and have Brendon's priesthood ordination there on Sunday.

So, I don't like to get all mushy, emotional here on my blog, but it was pretty awesome to be there as my husband ordained my son to the Aaronic Priesthood. One of those great moments in life that I want to (and will!) remember for always.

The rest of church was emotional, too, as I said goodbye to all of the young women and countless friends. I am sooo missing them all.

And then we continued our celebration for Brendon by having a family lunch at Evan and Laura's home. It was so kind of them to host--they have a wonderful home that is perfect for family gatherings. Thanks again to all of our family who came and celebrated with us!! We are so proud of Brendon and the steps he is taking in his life--he's turning out pretty great so far!! We'll see what the teen years bring =)

Kindergarten Graduation

A long, long time ago, and in a land that is now far, far away...

Jonathan graduated from kindergarten!

All the kindergartners were totally cute in their grad caps, and it was so fun to see them perform all their songs. And I'm so thankful for all our friends there who sent me cute pictures of Jonathan since I, once again, forgot my camera. When will I ever learn?

Anyway...we're so proud of Jonathan and all he's learned--he's so excited to be reading! I think it's fun to see how his world has changed now that he can read everything around him. He had a great year with a great teacher!

Our new place...

Last week we took a day trip to see the home we'll be renting in Kingman.

here's part of the kitchen


laundry room




great room and fireplace



And the master bath

pretty sure I'm going to love everything except the great room--I really like a separate living room/family room, but every house we looked at only had a great room, so I really had no choice. Having no stairs, a three car garage, tile, nice countertops and a huge laundry room will help me get over the whole great room thing =)

Blessings

So many lately...

First, Phil found a new job! He will start as an assistant city engineer in Kingman, AZ next month. We've been praying for good employment for a while now as his former job was winding down, and while having to move was not the answer we expected, we're feeling pretty blessed that he will have a great job.

Second, and almost as important, Phil fixed the dishwasher!! Life is good again =)

NJHS Induction

Last night Brendon was inducted into National Junior Honor Society. They had a short and sweet ceremony with great refreshments, so everyone was happy!! Way to go Brendon!!

Pioneer movie

In preparation for their mother/daughter night tonight, the achievement day girls made a pioneer movie. I wasn't going to do anything to help Anna dress up (too busy to focus on it, I guess), but after my visiting teachers came (one of them is her leader), I got an idea for a quick apron. I was pretty proud of my creation--that I used an old shirt of Phil's and that it only took an hour or so. And Suzanna was thrilled!! She turned out to be a pretty cute pioneer!!

Pretend fun

Since our dishwasher's broken, we invented a new game around our house: doing the dishes by hand!!

But don't let these smiles fool you, even calling it a game isn't really working =)