Happy 21st Birthday Kaylyn!

Wow, a 21 year old and two off at college!!! I am really beginning to feel old. Today we celebrated Kaylyn's birthday by helping her move into her house at Whitworth and taking her out for dinner. We went to Bajio which is one of our most favorite! It's a popular restaurant in Utah and we were excited to finally see one make it up our way. Yum!

It really was quite strange tonight with only four of us in our family prayer circle (and a dog who thinks he has to be right in the middle of it). It was strange not being all together to celebrate a birthday. We realized that the next time we'll all be together will be at Christmas.

Happy Birthday Kaylyn! We love you!

Knee Surgery

On August 27, Kaylyn had knee surgery to repair a torn medial patellar ligament. Last fall at Whitworth, she injured her knee (dislocated her patella) but it took quite a while and a couple of doctors to finally diagnose what the problem was and how to correct it. Dr. Petersen was a godsend and performed the rare surgery beautifully. It will take a year for the rehabilitation and healing process but after that she should be as good as new!

No funny stories of Kaylyn coming out of the anesthesia. She just couldn't stay awake long enough to get dressed so we could leave! I never thought we'd get out of there.

Dr. Petersen removing the stitches. Notice the grin on his face! Ha!

BYU Bound

The day had finally come for Lexi to become part of the Cougar family! Why not? Her mom and dad and many, many extended family members were Cougars!

Arriving in Provo just in time for Sunday dinner at Mary's, we had a great time catching up with nieces, nephews and cousins. Mary made a fabulous dessert pizza - YUM!

The next day the work began. Boxes, boxes and more boxes to unload, pictures to hang, clothes to put away, groceries to buy, roommates to meet and tears to shed (oh, that would be on mom's part). It was exhausting but fun and Lexi's apartment was turned into a cozy, comfy, practical dorm room. She lives two blocks from campus in the Windsor Park apartment complex.

Her dad tried to put on a happy face about leaving his little girl behind but...

this is how he really felt!

Mom only cried about half the way home! But Lexi is having a great time. She's enjoying her roommates, her classes (although she can't believe how huge they are - welcome to BYU), and getting to know all the cute RMs around campus. We love you and miss you Lexi!!!

St. George Vacation

I knew it would come. I'd hoped and prayed that it wouldn't and said that it couldn't, but it still came... the time to take Lexi to BYU. Not that I wasn't excited for her new chapter in life and the fun and memories she would have in Provo, but I was being extremely selfish and didn't want to let go.

Fortunately, we were able to leave early and spend five wonderful days playing and relaxing in St. George, Utah before turning her loose. For those of you who haven't heard yet (I can't imagine the word hasn't gotten out to everyone already) we are moving to St. George! We drove through this beautiful desert oasis in April of 2008 and fell in love with it. We love the weather, the many outdoor activities and the beauty of southern Utah. So we proceeded to look for a house and eventually found one on the third trip. We bought it and are now waiting for our house here in Spokane to sell. We are very excited and anxious to embark on our new adventure but will definitely miss dear friends here.

It was great spending some "down" time with Lexi and the rest of the family (minus Kaylyn who stayed home to work :( ). We swam in our pool, played games, swam, went sightseeing, swam, rode our bikes and swam some more (what better thing to do when it's 105 degrees out?).

We toured the St. George Tabernacle and had old fashioned sodas across the street at this little store that was founded in 1901. It had every bottled soda that has ever been made and lots of candy that you just don't see anymore. It was very nostalgic for Rob and me!

While in St. George, we experienced the fury of a desert storm! One minute it was beautiful out and the next, we could see this wall of red sand heading our way. The wind kicked up to 50 mph and we could feel the windows in the house shaking! It was impressive - we had white caps in the pool!

All good things must come to an end, or so they say. We loaded up and headed for Provo, not knowing for sure when we would be back.

McKenna's 10th Birthday

Our baby entered the double digits yesterday! 10!!! We celebrated by eating cake and ice cream, playing a game and watching a movie. McKenna designed her own cake this year and mom helped decorate it. Happy Birthday Boo! We love you!

McKenna saw this hat at Gymboree, where Lexi works, and has been eyeing it for weeks. So she was elated when Lexi got it for her for her birthday!

4th of July at Lake Roosevelt

We braved the crowds of boaters and campers to enjoy the day at Lake Roosevelt. The weather was hot, hot, hot - 95 degrees! We went with our bestest boatin' friends and had a great day on the water. It had been WAY too long since we had played on the water!!!

Cooper's Crazy Quirks

This is Cooper's idea of "Sit". He loves to come over by us on the couch and just plop right down and have a seat. You wouldn't think he'd be very comfortable but he seems to love it!


And this is how he loves to sleep. Pretty flexible, isn't he? What a free spirit!