On October 4th, Buddy turned 1. We feel like this is a huge milestone because our last dog, Copper, only lasted 8 months in our home. I have a hard time admitting that I am not a dog lover, but the reality is I do love Buddy regardless of the fact that he has chewed up our baseboards, our new area rug, countless pairs of shoes, books, furniture, and so on. There are days I would like to give him away until I remind myself that my children would disown me if I did that. From day 1, Buddy has been included in our prayers and will more than likely be with us until his last day.

Niagra Falls

Niagra Falls is just a short drive from Palmyra. We are standing on the U.S. side and the buildings in the background are on the Canadian side.

New York City

Standing on top of Rockefeller Plaza overlooking the Empire State Building. A view I will never forget!
We went to Gershwin Theater to see Wicked. Lot's of fun! Christine now wants to one day be Glinda. I have heard the song "Popular" over and over and over and over........


We took the subway to Yankee Stadium and watched the Mariners get beat. It's hard to hate the Yankees when you are sitting in the midst of die hard Yankee fans everywhere. Steve and Cody were even on their best behavior :).

Especially for Youth

I am posting a few pics from summer. Better late than never. Jake, McCoy, Brady and Cody went to EFY at BYU in July. They had a great time and came home better boys because of it. The highlight for me was having them all go to our ward and pass the sacrament together.

Palmyra, New York

We went to Palmyra on July 3rd and on the 4th of July we went for the first time to the Sacred Grove. It was a trip we will never forget.

I It was interesting to realize that at the time of our trip to the Sacred Grove Cody was 14 years old - the same age Joseph Smith was when he was visited by our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

We loved our walk through the Sacred Grove.

I loved this picture of my children entering the Sacred Grove.

This is the Palmyra Temple which through this small opening in the trees overlooks the Sacred Grove. A missionary in our stake is from Palmyra and he told us that the church couldn't get permission from the city of Palmyra to cut down the trees that would give the temple this small opening. Not long after, a lightening storm struck the 3-4 trees which were blocking the view and had to be removed. He assured me that this story was fact.

It Went!

We finally decided to wrap the steel post with wood. The picture doesn't do it justice, but we are definitely happy with it.

Should it stay or should it go?

We've been going back and forth on whether to keep this chrome post or wrap it with something else. I'd love your opinion and suggestions on what we could do to change it.

Cody recently completed his Eagle project. He put together school kits for children in need.

After moving into the same neighborhood we used to live in, we decided to do some remodeling. These are our recently painted kitchen cabinets.

Hope the weather cooperates for this great celebration!