December 2010

December 2010

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Christmas Memories 2013

Caitlin and Billy came to spend the Christmas holidays with us. They went on a double-date to Christmas Card Lane with Cody and Cambrie. So fun!










We love using our Christmas dishes! Jayson made the napkin rings!




Travis and Cami came to have Christmas Eve dinner with us. Love these two!

 We love getting ready for Santa! Jayson gets everything ready.


And all ready for the kids to come downstairs!

Our tradition of everyone waiting on Mom and Dad's bed until everyone is awake...then the whole crew can come downstairs to see what Santa brought!






A favorite part of Christmas is Pennie unwrapping her gifts.




Look out, Cody got a gun for Christmas!


 The boys wanted to take Billy and Caitlin to experience Sky Zone, a trampoline place in Chula Vista. We had a great time, but everyone got super tired!




Cody is a dodgeball master! He has to be careful not to hurt anyone.




Tyler and Rifka's Wedding in December

One of the benefit of having a big awesome family is enjoying seeing the next generation, my nieces and nephews, make wonderful choices. Tyler chose Rifka and they were married in the San Diego temple on December 18th.
My sister and I did all the flower arrangements for the tables. We had a table arranging party in our garage the day before the big day. I think they turned out great!


The day was super rainy, so we didn't get any pictures at the temple. I mean it was SUPER rainy! Like more rainy than it ever, ever is in San Diego. But, the luncheon venue couldn't have been more beautiful. It was right on the water and every view was breathtaking.


Every detail was beautiful. Check out the cute cupcakes!



We recommended they use the same lady who made Caitlin's cake, and no one was disappointed! It was beautiful AND so so yummy!



It was fun to have Casey come for a few days! And the place was so fancy...

Even with fancy food, that we couldn't figure out how to eat.

The newlyweds. 

 So happy for them!


And so thankful to enjoy the blessings of being a close family!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Finishing up November

I have been out of the blogging world for a while since I started working full time and am still trying to finish up my bachelor's degree. But, I haven't quit! I'm going to try to get caught up over the next week or so, so I can get back on track!

November highlights:

Cody finished up his Eagle Project (although he isn't officially an Eagle, yet)

This is the trash/recycling receptacle.

This is the compost bin.

And we always take a pre-Thanksgiving dinner snapshot -

We had dinner with the Beebe's. So fun!

Derek sent us this funny shot with a caption that read "This is not Pennie!"

It does kind of look like her!


Sunday, December 9, 2012

Derek Letter 11-26-12


Family,
 
Sounds like you had an awesome week from no school to very little work (paid work). Did you watch any football on Thursday? I'm sure there was a ton to watch. One of the people we visited on Thursday already had their dinner and were watching the Lions game on a huge TV right in front of us. It was so hard to look away, let me tell you that, haha. I'm glad that you were able to survive the week because we did too! But now that the weather is getting really really cold and we start bike week this week, with no gloves and ear muffs it may be brutal. I think I can survive though. Just as long as I keep one hand in my pocket and guide the bike with the other. As for my ears, I think I'm going to have to use my hood to block the wind. The high today is 43 and it's going to be 16 overnight tonight unlike you there at home. I already miss the super hot summer as I knew I would. Whatever. As long as we work hard and think of the people and not our hardships, it probably won't matter. Oh, we are also moving tomorrow. It's hard to get to town on bike week because of the cold and dangerous highways. So lasr bike week we got rides everyday. But now with this brand new apartment, we will only bike a half mile to get to town. I loved living with the Crouch's but moving is what we need. This new apartment is super nice too and costs $650 a month. We don't pay for it so I shouldn't really worry about the price anymore. This past week was a little tough again numbers-wise. But we got someone to say yes to baptism now all we have to do is get a date for them. I'm really excited for them because they are a younger couple with a son that has a disease where he can't walk. I don't even know what it's called so I won't try. Thursday was our big fun day of the week. In the morning we had the Turkey bowl flag football game. There were a ton of non-members there and it was fun to play. I had 4 touchdowns but dropped another 2 and allowed 2 so I guess it balances out. I have just gotten over the soarness of that game. The soarness got bad on Friday and Saturday and it wasn't fun waking up in the morning, let me tell you that. After the game (we might be in the local newspaper too about the game), we went home to shower and do weekly planning before the Seljestad's had us over for their big Thanksgiving dinner at 1:30. I didn't eat as much as I could've because I knew we were going to eat again in 4 hours. At 5:30 we had our top off at the Clemens. I tried to eat as much as I could but couldn't finish my plate. Their son, one of the best wrestlers in the state of Kansas, watched us all stuff ourselves while he didn't eat. It made me think of Cody if he doesn't eat anything so that he can make a certain weight. Dad, I have come to love stuffing but don't eat the mashed sweet potatoes or cranberry jam or whatever they had. That was a great dinner but we were there for 2 hours when we are only supposed to be there for one. We tried but failed to get out of there on time.
 
So, I have thought of a couple other things to get. I would like Costco toothpaste and shampoo because the stuff I use now just isn't the same as either of those. Besides, Costco gives a large quantity of what you want. Too bad the closest one is 2 hours away in Kansas City. There is one or two other things that I just can't think of right now that I'd like to get. But if you don't want to wait anymore to send it, just go ahead and send it. If you want, you can get something for Elder Black. But I'm sure he wouldn't care if he didn't get anything from you. Things are going pretty good here. We have several appointments this week that should work out. We need more people on date, though. Don't worry, we'll work on that. We have an appointment tonight with people that have an issue with the authority to baptize. So we'll talk about Christ's example a lot today. Do you go out with the missionaries a lot? I'm sure they try and get team-ups to their appointments so they must bring somebody. As far as service goes, we helped Mike Poore move on Saturday. He was my first baptism, if you remember, but I know he is going to a ward in Mississippi that will welcome him. Hopefully his wife will join the church down there too. If he keeps it up, they will be sealed together while I'm still on my mission. That would be great news. Oh, on Wednesday, we went a few miles up the road to a small town called Louisville where we met an excommunicated member of the church of nearly 45 years. He made a promise with the Lord that he would never go back to church because he was living with a woman and wouldn't leave her. He said he hasn't been told to go back to church yet. I'm guessing he just hasn't prayed earnestly enough. We haven't attended many conferences lately. Just district meeting every Tuesday which seems to always be good. Now that Thanksgiving is pretty much over and we look towards Christmas, I am surpised at how many people think it's okay to decorate their houses before December begins. You know that I don't like to look forward to it that long out because it seems like it takes longer to get here. So Dad, don't put the tree up until this Saturday. Oh and Dad, nobody forces us to eat anything. Normally people are totally fine if you choose not to eat something because you don't like it. That's one thing I like about this area. Sounds like you had a busy week as well. Oh, man I miss the Cowarts. They were a fun family when they were helping Caitlin with scrapbooking because I would always go swimming. OH, before I forget again (it's been several months since I first thought of this), could you send me the address of Tyler Winston? I want to hear how his life is doing and how his mission went this summer. Well, that's all I can think of for today. Sorry, Cody that you had to go back to school. But it's a thing of life, I guess. Don't worry, you get a two-week break here pretty soon. Well, that's it for me. Tata for now,
 
Elder Sutherland
 
PS: "Of all the places to settle down, why - "
"The Volcano? This kind of soil is some of the most fertile on Earth. So. How does it compare?"
"Everything's delicious."
 
Reminds me of Thanksgiving.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Birthday for a Special Friend

Cody's best friend, Cambrie, turned 16 this past week! He has been planning her surprises for months. It was fun to put it all together!


The candygram - 

The loot - 

The door approach -

Reading the candygram -

She loved her Tangled doll!

Apparently she loves warm pj pants - 

It's fun to have such wonderful friends! Happy birthday, Cambrie!

Cody's Birthday Celebration at Skyzone

Cody wanted to take his friends to a new trampoline place in Chula Vista. It is an amazing place literally filled with trampolines!

In this picture you can see everyone who came: Itza, Cheyene, Cambrie, Cody, Keanan, and Jayson.


Cody shooting a basket after a big jump!

 Taking a rest.

There was a part of it designated for dodge ball. Cody's team won almost every time.

This huge foam pit was fun to jump into.

Keanan's flip right into it. Jayce just finished.

Jayce shooting baskets!

It was a very fun afternoon! Everyone got super hot, tired and sweaty. I think the boys liked it more than the girls, but we went out to In N Out afterward, so it all ended well!