Halloween, Halloween!
The festivities: 1- Neighborhood adult party at the Montagues; Wyatt wins a prize for his costume. 2- Ward trunk or treat with a salsa contest. Andrea wins a prize for her salsa. 3- Trick or...
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Iron Men
Nate and Roo have had some exciting athletic persuits this past week – For Activity Days at church the boys spent all summer preparing to participate in a triathalon. They practiced their running, biking and...
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Nathaniel is Baptized
On Sunday, August 14th (the day before school started!) Nate was baptized. It was a really lovely afternoon. I so love my youngest boy, and I’m pleased with who he is becoming. He has been...
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True Grit
True Grit: A Story about my 5th Great Grandmother, Tamson Parshley Egan. Tamson was born in Barnstead, New Hampshire on July 27, 1825. She married Howard Egan in December, 1838. She was just thirteen and...
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Easter Talk 2021
This talk was excruciating to get through. I didn’t even attempt to “present” – I just read the whole thing, keeping my eyes and face down. I knew if I looked up I would burst...
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In Which I Am Called to Be A Primary President
In November I received a call from the ward Executive Secretary. Bishop wanted to meet with us – Wyatt and I. I didn’t think much about it – I’ve been called into these types of...
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Calvin is Sustained and Ordained to the Priesthood
On Sunday, January 6th, Calvin stood as the Bishop read his name to recommend him to be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. I think my heart might have exploded out of my chest. I was...
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Getting There – The EPIC Thailand Trip PART I
One day last April we were out working in the garden when Wyatt got a text from Uncle Alex. “Flights to Thailand for $400 round trip.” We should go . . . all of us. So that day I bought 7 round trip tickets to Thailand for November.
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Taking Olivia to the Temple
One of the special things we get to do with our sweet daughter now that she is 12, is take her to the Temple to perform baptisms for the dead by proxy. When I was...
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Olivia graduates from Primary
Cute Olivia – sniff* graduated from primary. Now imagine my eyes with tears spouting out like a spigot gone amuck! Cute Olivia memorized all of her Articles of Faith, passed them off, and was able...
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Everett’s Baptism Pictures
For Everett’s baptism pictures we went up to the Draper Temple, which is a short 3 minute drive from our house. It’s neat to live so close to the temple, it blesses our lives! Look...
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Everett’s Baptism
The most special event of all of 2017 was watching Everett get baptized. It’s a monumental occasion to see my children making sacred covenants. We tried to make it a special day for him! So...
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All the Random Things
Life isn’t always an event – lots of days are just spent doing our work, goofing off, and *trying* to stay out of trouble. Here are some pictures of the random moments.
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Olivia graduates from Primary and goes into YW
Today Olivia graduated from primary! (Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaat?) I feel so excited for the coming years ahead of her. I feel so achy for the years that have passed. I am so proud of Olivia, who...
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By Small and Simple Things – Back to School Dinner 2017
For our back to school dinner this year our theme was “By Small and Simple Things are Great Things Brought to Pass” Somehow I always choose themes that are great lessons for kids, but clearly...
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Everett Get’s Baptized
Everett was baptized on October 15th, 2017. He was baptized by his dad, and we had lots of friends and family come to support him and us. I do so love this boy with all...
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Everett’s 8th Birthday
Everett’s birthday fell on a Sunday. Still, we woke up and opened presents first thing (always presents first thing!). Then we went to church, and then we came home and continued to celebrate our special,...
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Andrea Goes to Scout Camp
This year I was asked by one of the leaders if I would mind going to Scout camp for one of the days (3 day event) to help out. I did, and man-o-man, it was...
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Unto Us A Dream
On the 15th of May I received a text message from my mom: Uncle Bob had a stroke the evening before. Things looked good though. They were able to get him to the hospital fairly...
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Mt. Rushmore
A couple years ago (when Calvin was in the thick of his “Presidents” stage) Cal asked if we could go to Mt. Rushmore. We both kinda brushed it off until we were on a big...
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Women’s General Meeting
This year for the Women’s General Meeting I decided to take Olivia downtown to the conference center. We went to dinner first at Mimi’s and then went down to be with our sisters and listen...
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Everett’s Baptism Preview
This year Everett will be baptized. In the old neighborhood every child had their own baptism (part of having very few children and two fonts in the stake). Here we have stake baptisms where all...
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New Beginnings
With the new year came New Beginnings. But the mind boggling thing was that this year Olivia was invited to it! I cannot tell you how shocking it is to me that my Sunshine is...
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A Gospel Truth
A couple weeks ago, while cleaning my kitchen, I was listening to the BYU Devotional ago about agency. [It was on in the background and I never even looked up to see who was speaking,...
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The Butler 4th Ward
Today was our last Sunday as members of the Butler 4th Ward. We bought our house in the ward in November of 2004 – 11 years and 11 months ago. We’ve been in this ward...
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I Think I Think Too Much
ON Minimalism We decided we’d put our house on the market as soon as we got home from Hawaii, around May 15th. In anticipation of that I packed the basement up – books, movies, wrapping...
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Trust in the Lord and Remember Your Training
This is a copy of Wyatt’s High Council talk that he’s been giving on the circuit this year. I like it a lot, so I stole it when he had it open on his google...
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FHE at the Cabin
One night we invited our friends, the Reimann’s, to the cabin for FHE. We had a good time having a BBQ, going up to the lake, catching frogs, canoeing, 4-wheeling, watching movies and having a...
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Repentance
Last night when everyone else was in bed, Everett came in to talk to us. He told us he was worried because he still didn’t know how to repent. Two weeks ago he confessed to...
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Sunday – The Book of Mormon
Last winter I was awake in the early hours with a little one. As I rocked the baby in the pink-grey light, I really tried to meditate on the things that challenge me. One thing I...
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