Family Traditions Live On...

It's that fun time of year for the traditions to live on.

Bradley and Katie got to shop for a few more ornaments for

our tree. Katie inst ed on 2 because Bradley has

more the her. We lucked out, ornaments were on sale and

it was $7 for all three.

The next day is was time to do our houses.

Here is a sample of our fun.

Did you notice on the first picture how

serious Brent gets?

For those who make theirs quickly it's time to

frost.

Let the decorating begin!

A thoughtful Katie.

We asked Bradley why he was just standing around,

he said his dad was doing it all and hadn't told him

the plan.

This is the creation of Kaylan and Bradley.

A hunting cabin complete with an Out House!

Great job guys...

This is Kellie's creation, very cute, we all thought

it looked like a church.

Katie's is a bit more under control than usual, she did a good job.

Cindy's house is sweet and cute just like her!

Brent's house is a replica of my housecomplete with lights! Hopefully mine is a bit sturdier.

Murray Update

Just a quick note to let you know that Dan's mom passed away early this morning. She had been doing quite well with the Leukemia until about 3 weeks ago when she got phenomena and an infection. She spent 2 weeks in the hospital and then they brought her home. Dan's sisters took care of her for the last 4 days.

She and Jess both wanted to donate their b0dies to the U. Jess was 1 year too old but they were able to take Doris'.

We will have a small, family memorial for her this week and the burial when her body is returned.

Love you all!

Rewards!

This tree in the fall is the reward for all the crab apples we have to pick up.

It's actually very pretty in the spring when it blooms too.

Halloween 2009

We took the time during General Conference to make our Halloween houses, thinking that Bradley and Katie could make them while we listened. We didn't hear much of conference but we had fun! Check out our creations for this year...

Katie posing with her finished product.

I love green teeth and messy faces

Bradley in progress

When your done there's nothing like eating

the left overs!

Our finished products...
This is Katie's..

Bradley's

Kellie's...

And Sammie's (Kane's sister)

Happy Haunting to you all!

What do Y0U do with your Sky Miles?

Dan and I took ours and our Hilton points and went to Vermont in hope's of seeing the Fall Colors. We flew to Boston and picked up our rental, a mini van, because it was the cheapest car.
We had a row of about 7 mini vans to choose from...non of which had been cleaned. None of the cars on the lot were clean. We picked one and had them vacuum and wash the the outside, it was still Gross. Any way we stayed in Boston that night and drove the next day to Vermont. I enjoyed the changing colors along the freeway. Side note, going with a color blind person to see colors is interesting to say the least. We also went to Maine, cold, cold. As you will see our van died on us. Lucky for us it started up again and we were able to drive it to an airport that was not too far away and got a nice clean one.
Enjoy what I hope is a self guided tour of our trip.
I found the perfect Mission for me here, you take care of the landscaping and and put of Christmas Lights!!

Ben and Jerry's Factory Tour

Speedstreet!

My computer seems to be working again, at least for now. I thought I would try to update you on our summer. Sarah came for 2 weeks and we always try to do as much as we can.
We made our usual IKEA trip and the Temple Open House. We also did a session at the Bountiful Temple with Dan and Brent and Cindy and had lunch in the Temple cafeteria. The food is yummy! It was Dan's first time eating there and he decided that once a month the guy's at the office should wear white shirts and eat lunch there.
We golfed about 5 times, we took Jessica's kids to her office to get their teeth cleaned, we took the family to California Pizza Kitchen and the the Harry Potter movie and and also took the wave runners out. I think every one's favorite thing was SPEEDSTREET! Everyone had to pick a name, Dan's was Old Fart and Kaylan was Death to Old Fart.
I thought you might have fun figuring out who these Speed Demons are.

Will "Golf Fever" Pass on to the Next Generation?

It has been a crazy summer so far but I think things are slowing down now other then Kaylan is heading to Colorado next month for work so I will have Katie and Bradley more. But that is not what this post is about, we will get to that later. This is all about Bradley!
Grandpa Dan bought Bradley his own set of golf clubs. He has to have his own since he is the only Lefty in the family. I think maybe Grandpa is trying to stock pile golf partners so he will always have someone to go with.
Here is the dude with his clubs and a bucket of balls.



Grandpa shows him how to hold the clubs and how to swing.
After a few swings and misses Bradley told me that it's a lot easier to golf when it's a game like the WII. He never got frustrated but was surprised that it was so hard.



Here he is swinging quite like a pro. He didn't want to keep figuring out the grip so I kept teeing up the balls for him and he would hit them.
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Brent and Sarah joined us and we played a round. Bradley hit now and then and putted. He was also all to happy to drive Brent around the course. Brent enjoyed it to except when Bradley drove right over his ball...oooops!



Here he is on the 8th hole, does he look like he's had a fun time???

What a Vacation...let's go again!

We found out that we have our own intersection in New York! Who knew! Too bad we were on a bus tour and couldn'get a family picture. At least we got a picture of the sign for proof.

It just wouldn't be a trip to New York without seeing the statue of Liberty! It was awesone to see, notice how tiny the people look who have climbed to the base look. I hope Jessica gets the chance some time to go to the top, it' the only thing she wanted to do.

A view of the skyline from across the bay. The buildings were all so amazing. You just had to look up and up. I think we did every thing they tell you not to do so you don't look like a tourest. WE ARE TOURESTS AND WE DON'T CARE IF WE LOOK THE PART! There is so much to see and do in New York it's a bit over wheling. We had a great time. It was also fun on Sunday and one rainy evening to get together in our room, eat New York style pizza and play games. Our only regret was that Kaylan and Kane could not join us. We missed them and look forward in 2 years for hopefully another trip that will work out for all.

After visiting the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and having some lunch the crew returns to the boat for the return trip.

How do you measure who had the best time on a trip. If you say that the person that gained the most weight had the most fun then it seems that Brent had the most fun! He says that he gained 10 pounds! How can that be? Look at this picture, he is even sharing with Sarah!!



Jerry Seinfeld lives in this building the 2nd peak from the left. actually it is also the 2nd peak from the right as well! I guess we could say the middle too. Sarah and Brent are big fans. They wanted to do all things Jerry Seinfeld. Sarah did buy the Black and White cookies they talk about on the show to share with friends. She said they were yummy!

Here are Brent and Cindy on the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked Half way up, took pictures and then came back. That after walking forever just to get on the bridge. If memory serves I think this is the only bridge made for walking, bikes and cars. Can I just say here that I felt parts of my legs and hips that I have never felt before, by Friday I didn't think I could walk any more!

We found the Manhattan Temple, they let us go in and see the stained glass doors. We also went up to the business floor and visited with one of the senior missionaries. It was very nice on the inside. The outside blended in with the other buildings other than on the front was "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". Saturday Mornings are apparently their busiest times. I'd like to go into the building next door and see Angel Moroni staring back at me.

Jessica mentioned how Broadway had shut down the street, here is a picture of it with people relaxing and hanging out.

This was another street that was blocked off with chairs to relax in. A great place to people watch. While we were sitting there it was raining so we didn't stay too long. The number of taxi's in the city is nuts. I don't remember the number so any of my family that does can share that info.


Who can pass up a 3 story M&M Store? Especially one with a big screen and a M&M guy on the Empire State Building! I actually don't eat as many as i used to but I did buy some cute M&M place mats.



The girls got in a little shopping, Sarah and Kellie got some fun things at this "Strawberry" Store. You can't so to New York and not shop for heavens sake!! We also checked out the worlds largest store...Macy's, where Katie scored the most with a dress from her mom and a cute embroidered blouse from grandpa.




This is the "Wicked" group, Jessica and her kids already have the sound track memorized!


Brent wanted pictures of buildings, I wanted pictures of my family...here they are.