Trisha and TJ Besendorfer

My beautiful niece and her sweet husband!

 

Emily and Grace were so excited to be part of the wedding :)

Hanging out at the reception...

 

 

I love these pictures of Emily with her Dad

The funniest part of the evening:
Justin catching the bouquet!

You never know what's going to happen when these 3 get together!

Best friends :) 

The perfect way for these two to start their lives together!
Congratulations!

Footlocker 2012

WHAT do you do when you are 12 hours away from your parents?

PARTY!!!!!!

while mom and dad sit home crying ;)

Yep, it's FOOTLOCKER time :)

Not only did Jac have her brother along for the ride but MIN surprised the whole team to run as a pioneer one more time! 

(I knew she was coming for about a month and it was killing me not to say anything!)

UMM....is this who we trusted to be in charge of our sweet, innocent, darling children???

I LOVE that these two are such great friends!

Enjoying the space museum (I think that's what it was)

Jac ran in the junior race and took 9th place.
(not what she was hoping for BUT, she is looking forward to being 100% again for track. She is going to be stronger than ever!)

Thomas ran in the 7th -8th grade race and took 6th place.

WAY TO GO KIDDOS!

Christmas Oranges

Emily's librarian...her very FAVORITE librarian in the whole world because she lets her check out books during recess and even on days that aren't her class library day...yes she is the BEST!
ANYWAY, she wrote the book "Christmas Oranges". It is now on video and she invited the whole school to a very special "red carpet" viewing at the high school.
to say Emily was excited is an UNDERSTATEMENT! :)

She carefully laid out her "fancy clothes" the night before...we have never seen her so prepared...EVER!

 

It was SO much fun and she felt like a STAR!!

What a fun memory :)

Surround Sound...

It's official...Emily can now hear with BOTH ears!

Emily's appointment went AMAZING! SO AMAZING in fact that we didn't even have to go back the next day! Her brain recognized her new cochlear and adapted perfectly. We were gearing up for a very difficult transition. Emily has been happier than ever being able to hear from both sides!

We get to try out a brand new cochlear in the spring that will come with the magnet part ONLY...no over the ear part at all! The company just announced this new cochlear 30 minutes before our appointment. Emily doesn't like that she has to wait "so long" but we look forward to trying it out :)

CONGRATULATIONS EMILY!

Nike Regionals

ARIZONA or BUST!

There's my girl...sick but ready to have fun!

 

The 3 musketeers...

Famous jumping pictures

 

 

Got to love the pumpkin jerseys with green vines coming out of the bottom...WHAT were they thinking?

Oh well, the girls had a blast and took 17th overall!! 

Coach Rowe (brave soul to go on this girls only trip), Maddie Kauffman, Jac, Angela Blackburn, Kenzie Draper, Nicole Sharman and Emily Allen

A weekend to be THANKFUL :)

Our sweet neighbor started our holiday off with delivering the cutest little turkeys you've ever seen! Thanks Rinda :) 

After seeing my friend Camille Cottle post this delicious banana cream pie she made I hinted that sharing it would be a great way to "observe and serve" like Sister Burton talked about in General Conference...apparently she agreed and we LOVED it!  It was AMAZING! 

The Turkey run!
This year the "older folks" ran at home then took Gracie, Emily and Justin to run the mile race.
Emily REALLY wanted to beat her mom...she made a bet with me that if she won I would give her $50.00..(thank you Uncle Joe for giving her this idea!)

So, the race was on...Gracie and Justin were trying to beat me for a dollar (I like that price much better)

How could I let these cute kids down? I had to show them what their mom and aunt was made of! 

 

The kids were so darling! I don't think I have ever seen Emily SMILING in a race...I loved it!
It was tough but my coaches Jac and Thomas kept me strong, telling me when to surge and when to hold back...Yep, I beat them all...for this year at least! :)
 I don't even want to think about next years compitition they were a lot faster this year then last year's race! Way to go kids!!
Thanksgiving dinner is always a production...good thing we have brave men who will prepare the turkey! We loved having the Parish's and the Buhrley's over! We even got to have Trisha and her fiancé TJ for the celebration! 

Right as we were sitting down to our feast, Grandma and Grandpa Whiting skyped us from the Philippines! They LOVED watching us eat...we did feel a bit guilty! It was so wonderful to hear their testimonies and to have them with us on this special day! We miss them so much! When you talk with them you can't but feel the spirit telling you that they are doing EXACTLY what the Lord wants them to be doing! Thank you for your example Mom and Dad! 

Truly delicious! Can you guess who had cereal for their dinner? Could her name start with an E and end with a y?? I say, why not eat your favorites on holidays right?! :) 
Lot's of smiles, food, laughter, games, more food, smiles and FUN!
This year we had a white elephant exchange...FABULOUS! Doesn't Davin look good in a fro?

Time for some ACTION...Lowes extreme air sports was the perfect way to work off all that turkey :)

 Thanks for another fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. We are SO BLESSED to have you all! So much to be thankful for!

Miss Pioneer Pride :)

The XC awards

Jac received the Pioneer Pride award
VERY deserved :) She has been the "glue of the team" as Coach Rowe put it. EVEN with all her struggles this year. She has proven her dedication and love for the sport and more importantly, the team!

Emily, Kenz, and Jac :)

I was very surprised when the kids called me on stage and presented me with these beautiful roses. It meant so much to know that they notice our efforts as parents! I just felt bad they couldn't recognize ALL the wonderful parents who have helped! It has been so fun working with them... I like to think the team is better because of our efforts to show them love and support. The parents on the team are AMAZING! I feel so blessed to call them friends :) 

Jac and I being goofy...ok in truth I couldn't stand to get a picture with my "volcano chin"...yep, the MRCA came back...AGAIN! Good thing my family loves me anyway and will be seen with me in public! :)