A Great Day

On Saturday January 2, 2010 our daughter Kamrie was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We were so blessed that both sets of grandparents were able to come for this special occasion.

Kamrie asked her big brother Zac if he would perform the baptism.  He of course said he would, and did a great job!

I was amazed at the number of people that came to support Kamrie in this milestone of her life.  We are so blessed with so many friends here in TN!

Merry Christmas

I am so bad about mailing anything, let alone Christmas Cards.  I do LOVE getting them though.  So here is the Coontz Family Virtual Christmas Card!

(my favorite is seeing how all our friends and family have grown and changed!)

The Reason

I think this picture tells the story of why we make the long trek to CA!



(Jim's Family Too!! But there is no picture of all of us together from this trip)



More pictures to come!
I know you can't wait!

Tyler

So Tyler, my second child, turned 15 on April 21st.
(Before I start talking about Tyler, it is going to start
out sounding like a bad post, but keep reading.)

When Tyler was a toddler/small child, I was told by friends and family on numerous occasions that when he was a teenager he was going to be TROUBLE! He wasn't always bad as a youngster, but he did have a mean streak, and quite a temper. He was extremely head strong, wanted what he wanted, and rarely changed his mind about it.

Personally, I had mixed feelings about it. There was part of me that worried he would not grow out of it and our teenage years would be a nightmare. The other part of me felt comfort in his stubbornness. I felt if we taught him good principles and he had strong convictions about them, this would be a great blessing in the teenage years.


Well, to all you Mom's of small boys you think will do you in as teenagers. I am here to tell you, we were all wrong about Tyler! There were some rough patches during the pre-teens, but nothing life altering! And now at 15, Tyler is one of my favorite people. Yeah, he's my son, but I really like him. He is a good kid, that tries hard to do the right thing. And when he makes a poor choice, he does what he can to make it right, and learn from the experience. He is my favorite TV watching buddy, and has a great sense of humor.

I am looking forward to the coming years and watching him grow into a man. Seeing what career he will choose. Watching him fall in love and get married. I know he will be a fantastic Dad.

I don't think I could be more proud of Tyler. I will still push him to do better in school, be a little nicer to his younger brothers, keep his bathroom clean, and feed his pets. But overall Tyler has been a great blessing to our family, and wouldn't trade ANY of it.

So, here's to fifteen years, and many more to come.

What do Ya'll Think!!

(that's how we talk in the south)

A family friend was kind enough to share this photo on face book.



(Urmston's circa 1973)
I know my Mom has it somewhere, but now I do too.

I was noticing a similarity between my Scott and Marc. What do you think? They are probably the exact same age in these two pictures. Same goofy hair and teeth!

When Scott was a new born, I walked in on my Mom holding him and crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she said he just reminded her of when Marc was a baby.

PS Scott says they don't look alike "at all"

Congrats!!

Just wanted to send out congrats to my niece Courtney and her new husband Brigham!! Wish we could have been there with you!!

Love Ya!

(thanks to her parents for sharing the pictures so quickly, so I could steal one!)

Five Dollar Bill

My Grandma Stumbaugh (Mom's Mom) always gave us $5 for birthdays and Christmas. Once we were married and had kids she gave them the money. It was always a favorite for my kids, and I am sure their cousins, to open their cards from Great Grandma and Grandpa at Christmas and find a crisp new $5 bill. She told me the teller always thought she was crazy when she came in to get the $5 bills. She had 37 great-grandkids in my family, and then there were the ones from my aunt. Why am I telling you this? My Grandmother passed away, and we have had two Christmases without her. Just the other day, and I can't remember how it came up, Kamrie told me she missed her. She didn't know her really well, but she knew who she was, and loved her.

Then this morning Kamrie came down from her room. She was excited about something, and told me she had been looking in drawer under her bed. This drawer holds some of her baby clothes I am hanging on to for her. So it is a drawer she isn't supposed to be in. Well, this is what she found.


There is no telling how long it had been there, at least two years. But, I have no doubt, that my Grandma is watching us and wanted Kamrie to know she appreciated her thinking about her.

And, she always spelled Kamrie's name wrong.

Love you Grandma!!

In other news...

So, here is the post about Zac I promised. (I know, you've all been just dying!)

A month or so ago our transmission went out on the van. While we were getting it fixed a friend from Jim's work loaned us a car he doesn't drive. It was a giant Bronco!! After the van was fixed he said we could hang on to it and that Zac could use it. Well, one afternoon Kamrie was invited to a friends house, I was busy and asked Zac to drive her the .5 mile. A little while after he left my phone rang and it was Zac -

"Mom, I just got hit"

I made sure I understood him correctly, that he had been hit, not hit someone, and that he was alright. He was and so I jumped in the van and headed to the site.

As I came to the street I saw him standing there, and behind the bronco, was a TOW TRUCK!!! As Zac had been waiting to turn left, with his blinker on, the driver of the truck got distracted and by the time he saw it was too late. The tow truck actually looked worse than the bronco.

So the insurance, totaled out the bronco and paid our friend. I think he plans on fixing it any way.

Our Christmas!!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to all you November Babies!!!!

Logan, Michael, Addi, Kait, Kauner, Peter.

We all wish we could celebrate with you!!

Love ya!!

Just for Fun!

My friend Mandee had this on her blog and I had to try it too. I don't know how accurate it is, I did get different results with different pictures.

Mission Call

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

Urmston Mission

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!!!