Friday, July 30, 2010

Our 30th Anniversary

Our engagement photo taken in the summer of 1980. We were pretty young weren't we?

My bridal portrait, we were so poor that this is the only formal photo I have of my wedding dress. My mother made it and she did a fabulous job. It is pretty isn't it? We have the negatives of all the photos but I have never gotten prints of them made.

We were married in the Manti Temple on July 30, 1980.


We had a wedding reception in Hereford at the E.B. Black house a week later on August 9, 1980.

This was in the spring of 1895. We lived in Lubbock then and I was pregnant with Sean.

In the fall of 1985 while we were living in Midland. The Midland years were hard but made us stronger. This was taken on a Sunday after church. Sean is in his blessing outfit.

Here we are in Borger on a trip to visit Jan's parents. It was hard to come up with photos of the two of us together as one of us was usually behind the camera.

I do love that man!

We were married eleven years before we owned our first home. I took this photo after church one Sunday on the way home. We finally had a sold sign in the yard, and we would move in 2 months later!

Jan worked for Texaco the first 10 years or so that we lived in Denver. You can see Stuart asleep on the blanket at a company picnic in the summer of '92. We were certainly alot slimmer then.

Family photo taken in 1992. We were a happy family!


We took a long road trip to Washington D.C. in the summer of 1995 I think this was. Here we are in front of John and Rebecca's house the day we left to go back home.

In August of 2001 we sent our first son, Aaron off on his mission to Brazil. Many family members came to send him off and this was taken before church. I was expecting Nolan in this photo, but didn't know it at the time. It would be a few more months before I finally figured it out.

An informal portrait taken in 2008 or 2009. We put the camera on a tripod and got some fun pics. Owen has the guitar, Stuart in red, me holding Nolan and Jan beside me, Sean is in front of Jan.

Milly and Levi are our first grandchildren. They are so much fun. This was taken on a visit to our house after we took them for a walk in the wagon. They love to ride in the wagon.
We have been married for 30 years and I am grateful for a husband that loves me in spite of all my faults, we have grown older together and had many fun times and many trials. They have only made us stronger. We are grateful for our eternal marriage that promises us togetherness forever if we are faithful.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Battalion Soldier Of The Month!

Owen was named Battalion Soldier of the Month! We are so proud of him. Early in his life it was made known to me that if we (his parents) could channel this child's energies in the right direction he would go far in the world. That has been a very difficult thing to do, but here he is, a top grad in his language school, and now soldier of the month. I hope they give him a really good parking place at the office!


Thursday, July 15, 2010

June 2010

WHEW! June was a busy month. The flowers are going strong, the garden is finally planted and doing well. We had visits from our kids and we went visiting! Here are some shots of what we have been up to in June.

Aaron came home for R and R the first two weeks of June. He enjoyed time with his family and also his parents and brothers. Milly and Levi didn't take any time at all to warm up to him, I had been afraid they would be afraid of him, but the were all happy with him. He and Milly are taking a walk in the park.


Nolan having a little splash time in the backyard, it is summer after all. He was going to 5th block (summer school) the first month and needed some down time.


The garden is looking good! Hopefully it will pay off in produce!


Nolan is learning to cook, he was very proud of his first grilled cheese sandwich. He now has ramen noodles, grilled cheese, mac and cheese and cereal in his repetoir! Good thing cause he is my pickiest eater ever!


Cub Scout Day Camp! He and Kimball had a good time with the marble playing area! We had a good turn out from our ward for day camp this year and everybody had a great time!



Levi and Aaron blowing bubbles!



The day Aaron came home! We went to the airport to meet him and had signs to welcome him home thanks to Susanna! It was a happy reunion!


Nolan is on a baseball team this summer! He loves baseball and is a pretty good pitcher, and he gets to play other positions too! Our coach is his best friends' dad and he does a great job!


Owen came home the last 2 weeks of June, he and Aaron missed each other by one day. :( They were problably in Kuwait at the same time but were unable to find each other in the crowd. Owen quickly got back in the kitchen again and astounded us with his skill. He helped make the Father's Day feast which we enjoyed sharing with Jan on Father's Day!


The last week of the month we went to Texas for a much needed trip to help out on the farm and have my dad's 80th birthday party. We had it two months early because everyone was there and invited many of his cousins. These are the grandkids who were able to make it-Camille, Emily, Reagan, Owen behind Beau who is a blur on Owen's shoulders, front row-Nolan, Brynna, Courtney, Marion, Jessica, Caleb and Sam.



Mom and Dad and the kids and spouses. l-r Dad, Mom, Vaavia, John is behind her, Rebecca, Wesley, Janna, Elizabeth, Steve, Jan is behind Steve and me.


Mom and Dad and us kids,

Vaavia, Rebecca, Dad, Mom, Wesley, Colleen, and Elizabeth.

We were missing David.


As you can see June was a very busy month, full of family and friends! We had Sean out for his job search, got to see many old relatives, missed many relatives, had some good rain, passed around as much loving as we could. Hope you all had the same fun!