Bryan's New Calling

Our ward split about 3 weeks ago, and it really was time.  We had over 600 members and two elder's quorums!  (Although our new ward still has 2 elder's quorums and 4 nurseries!!)  So we are now in a newly created ward and everyone is getting new callings.  Bryan got a doosie!  He is now officially the Sunday School President of the Traverse Mountain 6th Ward.  We were both a bit shocked.  But he is going to be great, I just know it.

First Soccer Game

Ashley had her very first soccer game last night, and she had a lot of fun.  She played a lot of the game, and even got her foot on the ball a few times!  And, I know winning isn't everything, but....WE WON!  He he.

FINALLY!!!

We are now officially licensed foster/adopt parents!  We are so excited!  We had our safety check with our licensor this morning, and at the end she said we passed on the first try (which is rare) and that we are now licensed!  We should meet our case worker sometime this week or the first of next week and then we will be waiting for our first placement.  Woo Hoo!

Swimming Lessons

I know, I know.  The kids had their swimming lessons two months ago.  I'm going to blame my not putting up the pictures until now on being busy working on getting licensed with the state to do foster care (which btw, we have our safety check on Monday. Fingers Crossed!), or maybe traveling, or the weather.  But it wasn't me, no way.  Okay, enough excuses and on to the pictures...

Cierra showing me how she can blow bubbles.

Ashely showing me how well she can swim.

This is the Twins' class.  Gavin (with the dark blue swim shirt) was the only boy!  Cierra is in the forefront with the braid and the blue swimming suit.

This is Ashley's class.  She is the head that is partially underwater in the middle of the picture near the edge of the pool (not at the bottom).  She is swimming by herself!

And here's cutie Ashley mugging for the camera.

Soccer Mom!

I'm now officially a soccer mom.  I parked my van (which 5 years ago I swore I would never, ever own) next to all of the other soccer mom's vans, and took Ashley to her first soccer practice today for city league.  It was cute.  Ashley would run after the ball, and even get a kick in here and there, but if someone challenged her, she would get nervous and stop kicking.  But, for her very first time playing soccer (or any other organized sport for that matter) she did really well!  I think she'll get into it, but if she doesn't then we'll move on after soccer season and try something else that she might like.

The picture below is Ashley scoring a goal while Gavin plays "goalie" before practice.

I'm Baaa-aaack!

Hi all!  Yes, we did fall off the face of the planet for a while, but we made our way back.  The kids and I went to Hurricane in hopes of being there when my sister Angie (Matt's wife) had their 4th baby.  We ended up staying for a week and a half, and no baby.  So, we had to come back home.  Samantha Helen Excell was born on July 19, 2008 (a week after we came back home).  She was 8 lbs 6 oz and 20 in long!!!!  I can't wait to see her in person, but in pictures she is a cutie, and looks just like her big sister Amberli.

Since we came back home, I have been doing a huge paper-chase, trying to get all of the paperwork in to the State Office of Licensing so that we can finally get licensed to be foster/adopt parents.  As of today, all of the documents are in!  Now, if we can just get those documents to the lady that is doing our homestudy so she can type it up, we can send the homestudy in to the state and get our safety check done.  A few weeks after that, we should be licensed!!!  We are really excited to help out kids, and hopefully one day add to our family!

SLC Temple Visit

After we went to the Chalk Art Festival (see the post below), Bryan wanted to take the kids to the SLC Temple.  They hadn't been there before, and it was only mid afternoon, so we went.  It was fun, and the kids really liked the Christus at the visitor's center and the waterfalls at the Conference Center.  We were there for about two hours walking around and showing stuff to the kids, but then the kids were hot and tired, so we went home.  All in all, it was a good day.

The kids waving SO enthusiastically!  They were tired.

The waterfall at the Conference Center was without a doubt the kids' favorite part.  They loved watching it and running to the different levels to see the different parts.  They also thought it was really loud!

The Chalk Art Festival at the Gateway

For Father's day, Bryan wanted to go to the Utah Foster Care Foundation's Chalk Art Festival at the Gateway in Salt Lake, so we gathered up all the kids and went the Saturday before Father's day.  The art was AWESOME!  It was amazing to see what some people can do with a little chalk and a flat surface.  We took some pictures of the ones that we liked best.  You can click on any of the pictures to see them in better detail.

This is the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  Amazing isn't it?

The kids liked this unicorn/dragon/fish one.

This one looked like a poster or a photo!

My girls are really into mermaids right now, so they liked this one.

This one was so life-like that it seemed like she was looking at you and was crawling toward you!  

Our family is really into faeries and dragons and such, so this one was a hit.

This one of the Taj Mahal was so cool looking.  The kids say "Look!  It's the Temple!"

This one was the kids' favorite, of course!

Here's the kids at the festival.  They were back-lit, so it's not the best picture.

The kids enjoyed all of the beautiful flowers as much as (or more than) the art!

And The Calling Is.....

Primary teachers.  We're not sure which class, but it will probably be the CTR 8 class.  We said that we were fine with being primary teachers, as long as it is in Senior Primary, because the twins are having a little bit of a hard time staying in Sunbeams, and if we were in the same room as them during singing time there is no way they would sit with their own class.  Bro. Leavitt said that was no problem, so we'll be sustained on Sunday and start teaching the week after that.   We haven't been primary teachers for a while, about 5 years, so this will be an adventure!

Who Are You?

Take the Quiz here!

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.