November

A few more things that happened in November....

 

I was able to go to Time Out for Women in Phoenix and Loved. Every. Minute. Of. It!  I haven't gone every year but this was my 6th time and I think my favorite.  Every speaker was so perfect and had a message that I needed to hear.  I was able to see Michael McLean perform From God's Arms To My Arms To Yours and I bawled.  Like a baby.  After all these years I will never forget the emotions I had when I was given two special gifts.

 

Here's our group:  Amanda, Charlene, Me, Caroline, Amy, Jane, Melanie, Kelli, Marcie and baby Payton.

 

 

Emily played her first season of Jr High volleyball.  I have to say for a group of girls that have never played before and never played together before, they are pretty good.  It was actually fun watching their games.  They didn't win them all but they made the other teams work for the win.  I am predicting that in a few years this group is going to be a strong power house.  And they are all good girls, they played well together and supported each other.  I was really impressed.

 

 

I love this next picture of Emily.  She is growing up way too fast.

 

 

 

7th grade Mustang Volleyball Team, 2012

 

For Thanksgiving we had a small Crandell group this year.  We ate at Marcie's house which was perfect.  They are almost done with an addition to the house so there was a large empty room to set up tables and chairs in.  No carpet yet so the kids could make any mess and clean up was easy.  Here's our spread.  Jaycee just couldn't wait for those rolls.

 

Just a couple pictures of the kids table.  Looks like they liked it.

 

These cute little BFF's melt my heart. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Six Months

I hate to admit it but another SIX months have gone by since I've even looked at this blog.  So much for keeping it up to date.  I'm terrible at journaling and I always have been but I still hold out hope that someday I will print this and have something to pass on to my kids.  So I keep trying.  Here is a small glimpse of what we've been up to.

Ally's 8th Grade Promotion:

 

Salutatorian Award!!

 

 

The 3 Musketeers:  Samantha, Ally & Tabitha

 

T-ball Time!

 

Getting ready for 4th of July Fun!

 

 

Sweet Sisters...

 

Luke's favorite past time:  LEGOS!

 

He is building something at the table every day.

 

Lyla is hanging out with Papa while we're canning food.

 

In July we had the opportunity to go on an amazing vacation.  The Crandell family planned a trip to New York and Ohio to see some important sites for the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Since this vacation wasn't exactly small-kid friendly, we left Luke, Lyla & Ruby home with family & friends.  I think they had just as much fun as we did.

 

 

I wasn't able to get pictures at every site and it would take multiple posts to get it all here if I did so I'm just going to post the highlights.  We went to The Sacred Grove, The Erie Canal, Niagara Falls, The Palmyra Temple, saw The Hill Cumorah Pageant, The Smith Family Home, the publication site of the first Book of Mormon, Peter Whitmer's Farm, Martin Harris's Farm, The Kirtland, OH Temple, The Newel K. Whitney Store, and the John Johnson Home.

 

 

All this while driving around in a little Chevy Sonic for 6 days. Pretty obvious why this was a big kid only trip and we had a great time!

 

The most wonderful time of the year:  Back to School!!  We now have a 9th grader, a 7th grader and a 1st grader.

 

 

Then Preschool started a week later.

 

 

For Ally's 14th birthday we had ice cream sundaes at the house for her friends.

 

Ally received her Young Woman Recognition Award

 

Ah Luke...

 

These two are the cutest little buddies.

 

We tried our hand at raising pigs to sell at the county fair.

 

 

In the end we didn't make weight but the girls had a good experience. 

 

Finally finished our fence!

 

Lost his first tooth!

 

 

Pee-Wee Wrestling is serious business in our little town.  The tournament has just as many spectators as the high school games.  Luke loved every minute of it.  "I want to be a wrestler my whole life." 

 

 

 

 

Ally, Emily & I went on a 10 mile walk to the Snowflake Temple as part of a stake Young Women's activity.  We grumbled and complained that morning but in the end had a wonderful time!

 

Halloween 2012:  Emily & Ally dressing up for a Halloween Dance.

 

Luke's class was asked to dress as story book characters.  He chose Robin Hood.

 

 

Ruby was not thrilled with the cat costume but was OK with it once she saw all the other kids dressed up.

 

Lyla was a fairy this year.

 

Trick or Treating at the church Trunk or Treat party.

 

Lyla was walking all around the parking lot having a great time.

 

Emily had the opportunity to be a part of an Honors Orchestra Concert.  She spent the day working with students from all of the area and then performed that evening.  I was really impressed with the music.  She's only been playing for just over a year and she was 1st of the 2nd chairs.  Some of the kids were 8th graders and have been playing for 3 years so I thought that was a pretty good accomplishment.

 

Thanksgiving already?!?  Lyla made this cute turkey in preschool.

 

 

Luke's class did a cute play at school.

 

 

I have set a goal for myself:  To blog at least once a month.  There.  I have it in writing.  Virtually at least.  I really really want to so updating won't be such a daunting task anymore.  I know there are so many details I'm missing.

 

In the words of one of my favorite prophets, "We need to try a little harder to be a little better."  Gordon B. Hinckley.