Decorating the Christmas Tree

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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

September and School is in Session

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.

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.