Berryessa Bloggers

2009-07-11T13:26:00.004-06:00

Berryessa Memorial Day 2009
Slip-n-Slide Skimboarding Party
Santa Clara

Apparently Katie has done this before!

Big Tall Lauren driving my Safari....I know she is coveting

my mini-van...no you can't have it!

Drew and no I don't know what he is doing! It's Drew!
Anything is possible.

Brady landing after his slide

2009-07-11T13:26:00.002-06:00

Big Tall Lauren learning skimming moves

Konner sliding

Brookie girl makes a crash landing

Kyle, Sheree and Taylor Marie watching!

2009-07-11T13:22:00.004-06:00

Brookie Girl and Big Tall Lauren

Big Tall Lauren and Konner

Drew crashing

Taylor Marie skimming

2009-07-11T13:06:00.001-06:00

Scout Camp 2009
Thunder Ridge Scout Camp
Cedar Canyon
Santa Clara 5th Ward

Dean is certain he is old enough he doesn't have to go on Scout Camps
anymore....unfortunately, he's the Second Counselor in the
Bishopric and well...he went.

Yup....a flat tire on the trailer on the way to camp.
Dean had just had a flat tire driving home from Cedar the
same week. He was on the freeway at freeway speed and it
blew on his truck. He pulled off safely, and all was well.
Thank goodness...so I'm sure he wasn't too excited to
be doing another tire repair between Cedar and St. George.

Three of the scouts.
Pono Basso (l to r), Mitch Seely, and DJ Whitehead

2009-07-06T18:47:00.002-06:00

Brook's Graduation

May 22, 2009

Brook graduated from Snow Canyon High School. She will attend Dixie State College next fall. This is a picture of her playing percussion for the last time in her high school years. Most likely her last time ever. She is the girl in green on the front row of the percussion section.

Brookie girl and her mother at graduation. They graduated at 8am...does it show.

Brookie girl and her father.

2009-04-17T23:37:00.005-06:00

April 2009

Brady was voted Most Preferred Sophomore 2009. Notice the award he received. I believe it is supposed to resemble an Oscar Award. It is pretty much a Barbie doll with her hair cut short, sprayed gold and has a sash on. He was honored.

2009-03-24T14:09:00.017-06:00

Carlsbad Beach, California 2009

We went to South Carlsbad Beach for spring break. We had a large group just from our family: Dean, Trudy, Erin, Shiloh, Asher, Drew, Alix, Katie, Brook, Brady, and a family friend Jacob Graf.

We stayed three nights. We were with three other families: The Lindsey's, The Cox's, and The Hillstead's. Total of about 27 people. We ate and played together. This is a picture of a little trip we took to San Diego to visit the tide pools at low tide. There were fun ocean creatures to see in their natural habitat.

Kyle, Sheree, Konner, and Taylor Marie didn't go because they were packing and closing on their new home. LeRand didn't got because he couldn't get time off work. Everybody else from our family was there though.

This is the Naval Cemetery in San Diego, California. It was huge and this is just a very small portion of the cemetery.

These are lovely pictures wouldn't you say. Brook, Brady, and Katie are playing with canned whipping cream. We had leftover cream and the children, of course, came up with a game. They would put a blob in the palm of their hand, hit their arm while swinging it and the cream would fly in the air. Their goal was to get the cream in their mouth. Sometimes it even worked. All the kids at camp played until the cream was gone.

We took three cars because we needed to take so much equipment. Dean and I drove the truck and Drew and the teenagers drove my van, and Erin and Alix took the babies and all their gear which was almost as much gear as all the rest of us needed. Erin and Alix did stay at a hotel about a mile away...a good idea for a two month old and a one and three quarter year old.

Anyway...the teenage car decided they needed to wear bandanas. This is Brady...in case you couldn't tell.

Katie doing her best pirate impression...Rrrrr...notice the pirate's eyes not quite lining up.

This is Alix and Asher...this is the morning of our trip...that is why Alix is smiling. Riding as shotgun in the car with two small children is always an adventure.

The teenager van got to Barstow before we did on the way down...they were occupying their time doing yoga and horsing around.

This is a toy they played with on the beach. It's called the human rubber band. The people across from each pull back and it catapults the other two across from each other. MaryAnn Lindsey made this and the kids want me to make one for them. They really didn't have fun. It looked like they were faking it though, but it really does send them flying.

Grandpa Dean blowing bubbles with Shiloh.

While waiting in Barstow, Brook found an old friend she needed to share a secret with. Look at how intently Bob is listening to her.

Erin at the beach...ummmm, you need to rub the sunscreen in a bit more for it to work.

Katie and Drew flexing their wetsuits. This is just before they ate it in the ocean and found a very large rock garden.

Yes Drew.....I'm sure Katie will say you have big muscles if you hold the pose long enough.

This is me (Trudy) holding sleeping Asher at the tide pools.

December 2008 Activities

2009-01-04T17:04:00.019-07:00

Christmas Eve Party...December 24, 2008

December is over and January is here...December was a wild ride.

We went up North for Christmas and enjoyed the Gwilliam Christmas Eve Party. We had food and enjoyed each other's company. Jennie Baum and family hosted the party this year. We had two pregnant girls this year: Erin and Kathie. Both looking adorably pregnant. We played our "family game." This year was a bit bloody because there were rival schools...BYU versus U of U. I hope everyone came out with the right school loyalty.

Erin in a maternal way!

Shiloh choosing a gift during the game

Dave and Alix with their pillowcases.
Ali, Nicole, Ross, and Lorna feasting.
Jim, Kathie (pregnant), Bradley, and Lauren.
Trudy and Katie
Chad showing BYU loyalty..not only a fan, but an employee

December 27, 2008

Konner is baptized.
Kyle baptized Konner and Grandpa Romney confirmed him.
It was really a wonderful baptism. It was at 10:00 am on a Saturday and it was just family

Konner and Kyle Berryessa

The Berryessa Boys: (left to right) Drew, Kyle, Dean, Brady and Konner in front

Taylor Marie can't resist the podium and microphone

Kyle and Konner

(Left to right) Drew, Kaitlyn Pallas, Katie, Brook, and Brady

Kyle and Sheree had a luncheon after the baptism at the Pasta Factory.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2008-12-08T17:30:00.015-07:00

December 8, 2008

Every year, the grandchildren decorate the Christmas tree. They love to decorate it. They build the tree as the photos show you and then put the decorations on it. They have done it since they were really too little to help.

This is Drew's contribution.

...much the same as Brady's contribution.

This is Konner and Taylor Marie actually helping.

Taylor Marie whips us all into shape when we need it.

Konner is showing off his mouth size.

Katie was helping while I documented Christmas Decorating 2008.

Kyle watched and supervised while Sheree was hands on.

This is the final results of the Christmas tree.

The builders.

2008-11-21T16:43:00.002-07:00

November 21, 2008

This is Brook playing the cymbals in the Veteran's Day Parade in St. George. After the parade, they had a Drum Line Competition and Snow Canyon High School took first place. If you have never seen a Drum Line Competition, it is well worth the effort. Brook said it is going to be put on YouTube...so I'll go looking for it. If it is, I'll post the address here. Brook has been taking percussion for 7 years, and she is NOT a band nerd (says Brook.) She looks really good in a uniform.

2008-11-01T11:30:00.006-06:00

Halloween 2008

Chaos at the Berryessa home until the kids finally went to a movie at 9:00 p.m. Peace at last. Aren't they lovely!

This is Jacob Graf.

This is Brady and Jaycie Shotwell.

Katie and Brook

Brady and Jacob...DEFINITE EMOS! Brook...looking rather chipper! From left to right (back row): Jacob, Brook, Katherine, and Ciera Jaycie horizontal Left to right: Raisa and Brady

2008-10-29T12:38:00.004-06:00

October 29, 2008

Almost Halloween

Drew was down last weekend. These are pumpkins that we carved...see if you can guess which ones Katie and Drew carved as opposed to the rest of them. I have a certain lack in this type of creativity.

2008-10-29T12:19:00.002-06:00

October 29, 2008

I'll Play!!!

I was supposed to post the fourth picture in my fourth folder...so here it is...a picture of Katie and Brook. These girls get along very well and are truly great friends. They are both incredible people and very enjoyable to be around. Thanks Katie and Brook for being such great kids!

2008-09-14T18:56:00.003-06:00

Halfway Through September

Time is certainly flying. We have SEP's for high school next week. That means kids get out of school early at least three days....so much for a quiet house. I'll have to go to three different kids' SEPs. Let's do the math... 3 x 8 = 24 teachers. I guess it's good that Brook, Brady, and Raisa all have the same chemistry teacher. I'll be at the school for a few hours.

Katie and Katherine are enjoying college. I'm so excited they are taking some classes that I took a few years ago. The teachers and curriculum are wonderful, so I know exactly what they experiencing in those classes.

Katie and Katherine go to the college ward. Two guys came up to Katie the first week she went, which was the first of June, and asked if she was looking to get married. She promptly said no, and even had the courage to back the next week. No one has asked since. Although, Katie and Katherine had home teachers today while we were at church (their church is at 9am and ours it at 1pm), their home teachers asked if they had boyfriends. They said they felt funny, almost like he was volunteering for the job.

I love this time of year and how it cools off and slows down...okay, I want it to slow down, and it seems like it used to slow down. I don't think it slows down much anymore. Is the world spinning faster now?

Hope all is well with everybody out in bloggers world.

2008-09-04T09:08:00.003-06:00

This is the Brazilian Family that I mentioned. Their names are as follows:

Paulo (father)
Claudia (mother)
Katherine (far right)
Raisa (far left)
Chrystal
Nicholaas

Katherine and Raisa are the two girls that are staying with us. Their father (Paulo) was baptized by Brad Hafen (a guy in our ward) when Paulo was a boy. They stayed in touch. Katherine stayed with the Hafen's two years ago. Katie and Brook became good friends with Katherine. We knew that Raisa wanted to come to America for a semester, but Tode and Brad Hafen went on a mission to South Africa, so we offered for her to live with us. Katherine didn't make the deadline for BYU, so she came to do at least one semester at Dixie College.

Therefore,

3 teenagers (Katie, Brook, and Brady) + 2 teenagers (Katherine and Raisa) = 5 teenagers

1 sophomore, 1 junior, 1 senior, and 2 college students

2008-09-04T09:03:00.000-06:00

2008-09-03T15:35:00.000-06:00

2008-09-03T15:31:00.000-06:00

2008-09-03T15:29:00.000-06:00

2008-09-03T15:27:00.000-06:00

2008-09-03T15:22:00.000-06:00

September and School is in Session

2008-09-03T12:45:00.000-06:00

It's great kids are back in school. It is different than it has been for years. Katie only goes to school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She has Tuesday and Thursday off, but she does work those days usually. My home alone time has been decreased substantially. It seems like they leave and before you know it, somebody is coming home. I'm really excited for Katie because she is taking several of the classes I took at Dixie, and the teachers are wonderful. She will have a great experience. Most kids hear, "oh is so-and-so your brother or sister," poor Katie has to hear, "Is Trudy your mom?"

We have two exchange students from Brazil living with us. Katherine and Raisa (High-EE-zah) Brandao. Katherine is attending Dixie College and Raisa is a junior at Snow Canyon High School. They both speak English very well, which is good because we don't speak Portuguese at all. They have been here a week and a half and will stay until just before Christmas. There is a possibility that Katherine may come back, but I think they are looking into BYU-Idaho for spring semester. Their parents and brother and sister stayed for four days before they went back to Brazil.

It's hard to believe it is September...but it does happen to be my favorite month of the year. The weather starts to change and you get that cool crispness in the air in the morning.

2008-08-29T10:20:00.000-06:00

Okay, here goes my first attempt to jump into the blogging world. I have chosen to select people for starters. I don't know if I want my thoughts out there for everyone to read.