Go Eagles! Prosper Homecoming 2009

My baby brother, who is growing up much too much quickly, had his first high school homecoming experience! Homecoming is a much bigger deal in Prosper than Plano... So Trev was delighted when he, along with all the other Prosper school kiddos, got out of school at noon on Friday so he could attend, along with the rest of the town of Prosper, the homecoming parade... Later that night, everyone-- and I do mean everyone, turned out to watch the Prosper Eagles slaughter the Decatur Eagles 49-10.
Trevor at the parade with friends

Trevor took Hillary to the homecoming dance, and this is the garter she made for him. He was so cute with it on!


This is the mum we made for Hillary... Momma and I had a lot of fun working on it! It is so great to create things! :)

Everything below is thanks to these two people... Brother Fisher and Sister Ophar made sure all the priests and laurels went to homecoming and were able to do so in an environment where there was no pressure to have a date or drink or have any of the other dumb pressures that accompany high school dances. These two are amazing!

This was the dinner mom and I made and served to the kiddos... It started off with a spinach artichoke dip, then progressed to a mixed berry and candied walnut salad. For the main entree, we served chicken cordon bleu with garlic mashed potatoes, French-style green beans, III Forks creamed corn, and Lion House rolls. For dessert, we served a blueberry mini tart. Everything was beautiful and very delicious :)

Here are the boys...

And the group... They all look so good!

Trevor and Hillary

The group with the hummer Sister Ophar and her husband were awesome enough to provide to the kids with their 'magic carriage' for homecoming. They loved it!

Go Eagles!

The Bigger the Better...

Just to give you a taste of what we do to our highschoolers here in Texas around homecoming, I submit to you a picture. The second girl from the last on the right is Kelly, Trevor's homecoming date who goes to Plano West. My mom and I made the huge mum she's wearing, and it fits in perfectly with the other mums. In fact, I would say its superior to the other mums!

Yes, this is what we do to our girls in Texas... Its one of the many wonderful signs of fall :)

Blessed

So, I was "blessed" with really weak teeth... Luckily, I was really blessed with an uncle who is an amazing dentist, and a family who has the means to get my teeth in 'working order'.

After a hellacious experience with a dentist from our ward in Plano, my parents decided to fly me up to Arizona to get my teeth mission-ready with my uncle's help. When he told me another apicoectomy would not be necessary and my other tooth would not have to be pulled, I just about cried because I was overwhelmed with joy. Dr. James Hamberlin with Red Mountain Endodontics redid the two root canals on the right side of my mouth. Uncle Scott did the rest. The total was just under $3000-- a lot of money, yes, but THOUSANDS less than what the dentist in Plano was saying things would cost.

Because I had such a miserable experience with the left side of my mouth (barbiturates, throwing up, crying while hoping to die on the cool tile floor by the toilet, sinus fluid draining through the hole in my gums, not remembering a full week of my life, etc.) I packed mostly pajamas, planning on being out of commission for the entirety of the week I would spend in Arizona... But I was wrong, which was a definite blessing- because we did a lot of great things that week!

I spent the first half of the week at TickTock's house. It is here I discovered her AMAZING Broccoli Salad and red chicken. She's quite the chef! I also watched the Martha Stewart Show and learned how to bake croissants... Who knew it was such a lengthy and involved process!?

Grandma, Beau, and I went to Applebee's for dinner on Friday where we took advantage of their 2 entrees with an appetizer for $20. What an awesome deal! This picture was taken after we ate!

The second half of the week, I spent with PapaBama, and we wrapped and finished up what little preparations we had left to get her all ready for Christmas! On the 16th was Grandpa's 1 year anniversary of moving on to his immortal state, so we went to Mesa Cemetery where we met up with Kim & Eric, Tyler & Kristen, their kids, Blake, Wes, and Mack & Lisa. We placed roses at his grave site and sang "Families Can Be Together Forever". We also visited the graves of Clinton, Clayton, Hannah, Charlene, and Alan Mark where we left roses as well. I feel so blessed to know of the plan of Salvation, I feel so blessed to understand the eternal nature of families, and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family that I will always be with.

Here we are at IHOP- After discovering this awesome restaurant in Dallas, they were eager to take me to the one in Mesa!

We had a lot of fun, and at last, my dental evaluation is filled out and sent into Salt Lake!

It shouldn't be much longer 'till I know where the Lord wants me to go for the next year and a half! I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to serve a mission... Truly blessed :)

One year older and wiser too...

My mother had a landmark birthday this last weekend, she turned 29! It was a wonderful weekend... It all began Thursday when our dear family friends, Richard and Jessie flew down for the weekend to cheer on the mighty BYU cougars. We welcomed them to Dallas by treating them to some yummy Mexican food at Chuy's. Friday morning, David and his wife Cara drove down from Oklahoma to cheer on their OU Sooners. We had some delicious Texas BBQ from Rudy's for lunch! Saturday morning, we had a big breakfast to prepare everyone for the day of hardcore cheering they had in store-- it was during this meal I discovered one of my new favorite recipes: Maple Pecan Bacon... Thanks Southern Living! While the bacon (and just about everything else) was a success, the peachy rice pudding wasn't quite hacking it. I've tried making rice pudding twice, and I've failed twice. Lame.

Richard, Daddy, and David have been friends for 30+ (ish) years. How great is that?!

This is a better shot-- one that shows better how the weekend was. It was filled with jokes and reminiscences, we all had a lot of fun!

Sunday, everyone left. and that's when we had cake and presents to mark mom's 29th (ish) year on this planet!
"Happy Birthday to you..."

There were presents... Lots of great presents! The following pictures sum up the night!

(oh, and that's a laugh... not a sneeze.)

Happy Birthday Momma! Thanks for all you do- you are truly an example of truth and righteousness, and I am really glad you are my mom!

America's Team... In Action!

Lance's dad was so sweet and gave us three tickets to the cowboys preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium... We asked Lance's roommate Drew, who's from Carrollton, to join us, and he was thrilled to day yes!

This was in the car on the way to the stadium in Arlington

We were quite a ways away-- and it was HUGE!

"I pledge allegiance, to the Dallas Cowboys of Texas..."

Before the game... We were all so excited to witness the awesomeness that is the new stadium!

Roommates, mid-game!

I had to keep telling the boys to cover their eyes whenever the cheerleaders were on the big 160' X 72' screen... It's the largest in world. Everything's bigger in Texas!

Lovebirds <3

After the game, we dropped Drew off, and Lance and I went to IHOP-- Because where else would you go for dinner at 11:00 in the evening?!

Our dinner was smiling at us :)

We like each other-- a lot...

we're kind of in love!
<3

Wedded Bliss and a Week of Firsts

My cousin Jaimie met the love of her life, Sean Tanner, and Married him August 14, 2009 in the Mesa, Arizona temple. My mother, sister, niece, and I were lucky enough to fly up to Arizona to help my grandma Christmas shop, and it worked out that we were able to be there for her big day!

Here the newly weds are, coming out of the temple... Her colors were orange and green.

Their pictures were really cute, and I really loved her guest book. It was a book of pictures with some cute quotes, and lots of space for well-wishers to leave their hopeful comments for Jaimie and Sean's future!

This is at the reception. I love this picture of Sophie and her tongue!


Audrey sure did love Uncle Jay and Aunt Danon... He kept getting her neck, and she would just laugh and laugh!

This is Grandma Jones and Aunt Barbara, she is grandma's sister-in-law!

Cooper, Ella, and Sophie were so cute running around the cultural hall together!

The bride with Grandma Jones and her daddy

As you can tell, it was a pretty big week-- not only for Jaimie, but also for little Audrey! She had her first airplane trip,
her first rice cerial,

her first baby snack (Baby Mum Mums),

and her first time bathing in the big girl bath!

As always, the week came and went way too quickly, and before we knew it, it was time for Audrey's second airplane trip. We had gotten a lot done, and nearly finished shopping for our big long list 75 names when we had to say our goodbyes.

Audrey loving on Papa Bama before we were on our way back to the airport...

And saying goodbye to tick-tock.

Thanks for all the fun times everyone-- We really had a blast!

All Good Things Must Come To An End...

Nauvoo is filled with lots of memorable moments-- and this post is dedicated to all these moments that didn't quite fit into the other posts. 

All over were statues of memorable historic moments. They were all beautiful and very powerful. This was the statue across the street from the temple. It's Joseph and Hyrum Smith on a horse when he was riding off to Carthage Jail. There was a definite reverence surrounding this statue. 

After we saw High Hopes and River Boats, we walked out into the courtyard next to the Visitor's Center. Nauvoo's Brass Band was out there playing all sorts of great tunes! 

This cute little family was listening to the band as well, and they were dancing up a storm. It was so darling!

The Reorganized Latter-Day Saints are in possession of all the Smith's property. Things weren't as well kept as the church's property. But these are the graves of Joseph Smith Senior and his wife Lucy.

These are the graves of Hyrum, Joseph, and Emma Smith. 

Lance, being the Harry Potter nerd that he is, loved Granger Street!

After church Sunday, we changed into our road clothes and these were some flowers by the bathroom we changed in. They were absolutely huge!

We had to get a sunstone picture... This was after church too!

On the way home, we went through Bethany, Mo... Of course, we had to take a picture! I love that our trip came full circle-- we saw the Bethany road sign on I-75 driving up to Nauvoo, and we drove through Bethany the city on our way home from Nauvoo. It's just because we love her so much, we planned our trip around her! :)

The trip was amazing, and so was the ride home! We pulled into Bethany's house to drop her off at about 1:00 in the morning. We hugged and said our goodbyes, and we all agreed it was a wonderful and uplifting trip for all of us!