Chad's 10 Years

A Decade

What can I tell you about Chad - if I had to choose one word to describe him it would be endearing. I have always been a little protective of him. Maybe it's the middle child thing we have in common. I always tell my big boys, "I know what it's like to get picked on by older siblings, so I am not going to let you do it." (I am sure that my older siblings may say this didn't happen, selective memory)

Chad is extremely intelligent and very creative. He loves to draw, and even though he doesn't like people to know, he has a beautiful singing voice.

I thought I would share a story he wrote at school this week. I believe the assignment was to write a story using their spelling words.

Me and the Man From the Moon

When I was walking home from my friends house, a man started floating down from the sky and said, "I am the man from the moon." I asked, "Do you have a name like Billy or Fred?"
"I never thought of that. I was here in search of a bed and now I am in search of a name.

The next day we went to the store with my Dad but he was too tall to fit in the car so he said he would follow us. I asked how fast he could fly?

He said, " A hundred miles an hour."

When we got there, we had people vote on his name. His name was Bob. He flew away and gave me a moon rock.

Here is a sampling of what Chad is drawing now.

I've Been Tagged!

I am not sure about this, but Jaime "tagged" me, so I guess I am supposed to answer the following questions!!

1. Where did you meet your husband?
We met for the first time at Kathy Gabbitas' 16th birthday party. He has no memory of meeting me. He was 19 I was 14. (I was actually very interested in his brother Jeff at the time) We met again, thanks to Kathy, at BYU.

2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?
I really don't remember. But Kathy invited him and his friend to my dorm for brownies, and they brought ice cream, I think I said something about him going to the store on Sunday.

3. Where was your first date?
Dollar movie in Provo, we saw Lean on Me. This is a movie with Morgan Freeman, he is a principal of a pretty bad high school, and helps turn it around.

4. Where was your first kiss?
At Jim's apartment.

5. Did you have a long or short engagement/courtship?
We had our first date on September 15, and we were engaged on October 14. Then we got married on March 3. 5 1/2 months from first date to wedding. You be the judge.

6. Where did you get engaged?
We actually got engaged on a plane. It has been said that I can be demanding. I mentioned to Jim that when he proposed it should be good. His room mate at the time Matt Morris had his pilots license and Jim had been bugging me to go flying. I really didn't want to. But one day he would not take no for an answer. So we went to the airport and Matt kept taking all these pictures, it was really bugging me. So we finally took off. We flew around for awhile and as we flew of Timpveiw High School I looked down on the football field and in great big letters it said "Will You Marry Me Amy". Some of his other friends had done that part. And the rest as they say is history.

7. Where did you get married?

Los Angeles Temple

8. How did the reception go?
It was good. A lot of people and we stood in the receiving line forever. The best part was the song Peter wrote and performed. The worst part, was we didn't eat anything. We actually ordered Domino's when we got home.

9. How was the honeymoon?
It was good. Thanks to generous friends we were offered condos in Mamoth and the beach. We went to mammoth first, and it was snowy and cold. (I hate the the cold) So we left and went to the beach.

Tag your it!!

Linda - come on you can do it (or Candice can)

It's Official!!!

With Kamrie off to Kindergarten this morning, all my kids are in school. It is hard to believe that just 6 short years ago we were awaiting the birth of this sweet little girl, and now she is out in the world. She told me she was little nervous this morning, but once we got into class she was fine. At our school they only go one day the first week. (So she will be home tomorrow) It is a nice way for the kids and the teacher to ease into the class. There were only four kids there today, and two were in her pre-k class last year. For those of you who know about that, I don't know how excited she was about that.



















We have no doubt that before too long, she will be running the class, and letting the teacher know how it should be. Luckily has as seasoned teacher that will be able to handle her.


Kamrie and her teacher Mrs. Garrett

Reality TV Junkies.

I will admit that I really love watching TV. I love to escape into another world. But I really love reality TV, and have taught my kids to love it too. Right now we are watching two shows, So You Think You Can Dance, and America's Got Talent. We have our favorites and watch each week to see if they will be moving on. (Yes we even vote). Here are a few links where you can see some of our favorites from both shows.

The first is Cas Haley and he is an incredible singer, and musician, he takes songs we all now and makes them his own with a reggae twist. Our other favorite from AGT is a ventriloquist, I know what your thinking, but this guy is amazing. His name is Terry Fator, and I would pay money to see him perform. He actually has his puppets do singing impersonations, and is incredible. The first audition he did Ella Fitzgerald, last week he did Dean Martin and Tony Bennet. (You will be blown away, I promise.)

So, my favorite on So You Think You can Dance has to be Sabra!! She is amazing and always does and awesome job. It is hard to pick a favorite of her performances but it is a contemporary she did with another favorite, a break dancer, dominic.

Mission Call

My Mom and Dad have received their mission call. Check out their site to find out where they are going.

Urmston Mission

My "Other" Kids

Many of you know that I babysit. By September I will have 6 that I watch at different times during the week. But there are two that we consider part of the family.


I have been watching Carlie and Colton for about a year and a half. Carlie was 1 1/2 and Colton was 3 months old when they started coming 3 days a week. Now they are here 4 days from 8-5:30. My kids treat them like a little brother and sister and we can't imagine them not being here.

July was CRAZY!!

So I think it worked out that my first post was a very busy month. The fun started with Jim's parents arriving on the 16th. Then my Mom and Dad flew in on the 18th. Two days later Jeff and Angela and kids arrived from Texas, and Erman and Jessica and kids from New Jersey. They didn't all sleep at my house, but it was a crowd. The main reason for them all being here was Scott and Ethan's baptisms which took place on Sat. the 21st.


Then on Mon. Jeff's family and Jim's parents headed off to Texas. We spent the day at the Memphis Zoo. The highlight would have to be witnessing the birth of a Bontebok.


We also went to Mudd Island. This is a scale model of the Mississippi river. You can follow it from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, taking a dip along the way. Then you can paddle boat in the "gulf". The kids love it, and the grown ups get to awe at the enormity of the river, or watch a barge making it's way.


On the 26th Erman and Jess headed back home, and we hit the road with my parents for Branson.


We spent Friday at Silver Dollar City, a fun amusement park. (Thanks Mom and Dad) We rode rides, saw a couple shows and had a great time. Saturday we did some shopping, the kids swam, and spent the evening staying out of the rain. We headed home Sunday. Mom and Dad stayed until Wednesday, it was a hard goodbye as they are going to be leaving soon for 18 months on a mission. We will miss them but are excited for them. I will try not to let my kids grow too much while they are gone. ; )
Now we will start getting ready for school!!!