Graduation

Well Craig's gradutation finally arrived. It is a day I thought was never going to come. A little over eight years ago Craig decided that maybe he didn't want to be an airplane mechanic, so he started back to school. He began by taking a couple classes a semester. When he finally got his associates degree about a year and a half ago, he start up at Utah State. He met with a counselor and came up with a plan. By taking 4 classes a semester and going summer he could graduate in December 2008. Finally seeing an end we decided to follow the plan. We knew that we wouldn't be able to go on any vacations and that Craig would be gone alot, but we felt that the end would be worth it. I have to say that the last year has not been easy but we for sure have been blessed. Some how Craig has manage to stay healthy this whole time and he has been able to be at events and stuff for the kids when he needed to be. He was relieved when they announced that the oldest graduate was 62. He was sure that they were going to announce his name. Here are some picture from the graduation. There was a hugh snow storm that day, but my parents and Craig's brother and sister and their families and Craig's dad made the scary trip up to Logan.

Alot of the graduates would carry their babies up to get their diploma. We thought Craig should have brought up all the kids with him. Craig was so glad that his dad was able to make the trip to see him graduate. His dad has not been in good health lately.

Here is all of us together.

Last but not least we have to thank all of our family and friends that really made this possible for us to do. We appreciate all of the help we have recieved from our friends...those that helped take kids to their activities and helped watch them when Craig was gone. We also so appreciate our families for all of the encouragement they have given...It really helped keep us going. As my motto for the last eight years goes "It is better to be 40 with a degree than without." I have to say Craig is feeling really good about 40 with a degree.

Arrow of Light

One of Zach's favorite things to do is going to Cub Scouts. What is better than being with all your friends, doing fun things. I am sure one of he reasons he likes scouts so much is because it gives him a chance to get away from the girls and just be a boy. Zach wanted to get his Arrow of Light since he started scouts and he has worked hard to accomplish this goal.

He recieved his Arrow of Light with his friend Andrue. Now he is excited to move up to boy scouts and start working on his eagle. He has already asked me what he has to do to get it and how old does he have to be? Of course...since he is my first and only boy I do not know the answers to these questions. I am sure that I will find out quickly....the sad thing is that he is my only boy so by the time I have this scout thing down he will be out.

CONGRATULATIONS ZACH!

Smile Please

I decided that it was time for a new family picture....just in time for Christmas Cards. So I got everyone dressed up in sweaters and headed for the park. It was great place to take pictures. I just set up my camera on the tripod and used the timer to get the picture.

This picture I just had to take. I was setting up the camera and had everyone postitioned where I wanted. So can you tell who was liking the picture taking and who wasn't?

This was one of my favorite pictures and the one I got blown up to hang on my wall. The funny thing was this was the very first picture that I took....it was downhill from here.

Is it possible to smile with a broken arm?

On Monday I was finally feeling okay to get out and take some pictures. I wanted some of the kids showing their excitement for their dad graduating from Utah State. The hardest part was to get a look from Anna that wasn't total boredom or the look of "she is way better than this."

I will cut her some slack and say that she did break her arm on Saturday and has not been in good spirits since. She actually fell off her scooter coming down a hill by our house. Her story is that Zach hit her with a shovel. I do think that she is a little proud that she is the first one in our family to break a bone....(not counting when Craig cracked his cheekbone with a water ski.) She is also amazed that she broke a bone before Zach. Zach is the daredevil in our family so he is falling all the time. As I explained to her, Zach knows how to fall. He always rolls so when he gets injured it is usually scrapes on his shoulders or back. Anyway Anna got a beautiful purple cast put on yesterday.

We did manage a few good pictures. The kids thought I was funny because I made them wear the T-shirts backwards because it says I am proud of My Aggie on the back. I thought it looked cute.

Fall Photoshoot

Today the kids were bored so I took them out on a fall photoshoot. I need some new pictures of the kids any way. Here are some of my favoites.

Braces on, Braces Off

After 22 months of torture, pain, lots of crying, not being able to eat carmel, corn on the cob or apples, cankers, headgear, rubberbands, did I mention crying....Anna finally is braces free. So here I have the before and after pictures.


On the way home I stopped by a store so she could buy a box of Milk Duds. After much thought and consideration she came up with Milk Duds as the first thing she wanted to eat.

I can only hope that the painful memory of braces will be enough motivation to wear her retainer so that we don't have to go through this again!!! (Up next: Zach in Feb.)

Halloween

Much to my delight we have made it through another Halloween. This is my least favorite holiday (and really why is it called a holiday?) I would much rather go and buy each of my kids a couple of bags of candy and call it good. Unfortunately that approach to Halloween just doesn't fly with the kids. So once again we manage to come up with costumes that the kids were happy with. I will say that it was nice to have good weather for a change....that made it almost bareable.

Before the kids went trick or treating we stopped by my mom and dad's house so that they could see the kids costumes. My sister and her kids were their also...so I took a group picture.