Tess is engaged to Shawn!

We received exciting news, Shawn asked Tess to marry him yesterday at Disneyland. I understand he asked her in front of the "Where Memories Begin" exhibit. Like a gentleman, he called home and asked Wayne his permission to marry Tess prior to the proposal.

The date for the wedding is April 27th, 2012 in the Seattle Temple. Congratulations, Tess and Shawn!

Summer Summary

The summer is nearly gone! We had two adventures this summer. The first was girls camp, uplifting and enjoyable. The second was Trek. Six of our kids attended the 4 day re-enactment of the sacrifice the Mormon pioneers made as they traveled across the country to settle the Salt Lake valley. Wayne and I were fortunate enough to be asked to be a Ma and Pa. The experience was uplifting and testimony building.

Tess came home for a quick visit before going to Idaho and Utah to visit her special friend's family. She is now currently in California working at Disneyland in their college internship program. She will return home January 2nd before heading off to BYU-Hawaii.

Jessica leaves for BYU-Provo on Tuesday. Amanda, Evan, and I are going to take her down and stay for several days while she gets settled in to college life. Go Cougars!

Ethan has enjoyed a pretty relaxed summer. In fact, he's posted on facebook that he is BORED. At this point in my life I wonder...is that a bad thing to have nothing to do?

Amanda has been busy. Trips to Utah, Girls Camp, Trek, Winthrop, and back to Utah have kept her busy. Too bad Ethan couldn't have tagged along with her on some of those trips. Both Ethan and Amanda are excited for their SENIOR year in high school. Amanda plans to join Travis, Seth and Jessica at BYU-Provo. Ethan plans to go to Green River CC to finish his associates degree prior to leaving on his mission.

Aarun has spent a lot of time with friends this summer. He has participated in Summer League basketball and done some training for Cross Country. We are looking forward to have four children on the cross country team this coming fall.

Evan and Alyssa are both preparing for their freshman year in high school. Hard to believe these two are in high school. They each took two summer school classes to help give them a head start in high school. They earned A's and are ready to begin the year in the "big house". Luckily, Wayne is still teaching at the high school our last five kids are attending.

Seth is coming home from his mission on November 6th. Travis on November 11th. It goes without saying that we are VERY excited to have them home. We will have them back through early January, at which time they will go to BYU-Provo.

I was able to find a photo of Travis at his most recent zone leader conference.

I also came across these gradation photos as I was organizing pictures. Congratulations, Seth, Travis, Tess, and Jessica.

Time Flies!

It's hard to believe that it is nearly May! Where has the time gone? For the semi-avid blog reader that I am, it is quite hypocritical that I have let posting on my own blog go for a while. Perhaps because I wonder if anyone reads this blog, or perhaps I've just been so busy with life and I have let this go.

Either way, here is an update. Seth and Travis are down to less than 6 months remaining on their missions. Travis experienced (from a great distance) the earthquake in Japan. Both boys have become fluent in their respective languages. Their testimonies have grown and they are truly becoming men. We have been greatly blessed by their service and are thankful that they have chosen to serve valiantly. Travis is set to come home in October, Seth in November.

Tess came home for Spring break from BYU-H. Ironically, she left the sunny weather in Hawaii to enjoy ten days of drizzle and cold weather here in Seattle. Oh well, she's lived here all her life, she knows what to expect. It was great to have her home. She seemed just the same as when she left. I have noticed that I expect my children to suddenly change when they leave home, but to my surprise they seem to linger in the state they left in. I enjoy it quite a bit. Tess is back in Hawaii through July. The unfair parents that we are...we are asking her to stay for summer quarter since she has a good job and could take a class to get ahead for next year. She will be in Disneyland fall quarter, as she acquired the Disney Internship. She will live on the Disneyland campus, work retail full time, while taking online classes. College kids these days think this type of thing is quite appealing. I guess one should "go for it" when they are young, right? Great Job, Tess! We are proud of you!

Jessica is graduating in just over one month! I cannot believe it! She is already 18 and will be attending BYU-Provo in the fall. She will be joined winter semester by Seth and Travis. She is such a smart, sweet, hardworking girl. She graduates June 18th. I'll post photos here. Speaking of photos, here is her senior picture. I must admit, that I was so happy with how it turned out...especially since I had the pleasure of taking her photos this year.

Amanda and Ethan are both juniors. This time next year, we will be graduating two more seniors and believe it or not will only have 3 children at home. We plan on spoiling Aarun, Evan and Alyssa as much as possible. Poor things have lived their lives in hand-me-downs and the smallest portions of dessert. We are thinking of going out to dinner from time to time and taking some fun vacations. It will be fun to create family memories with the youngest three kids! Amanda has become quite an accomplished water polo player (so has Jessica). Here is a photo of her doing her thing!

Ethan is doing well in track, getting better every season and looking forward to going as far as he can in the post season. He recently ran at an invitational in Oregon and did very well. He placed 5th in his event. Wayne is one of the coaches and was able to travel with the team and enjoyed watching Ethan as well.

Aarun is doing great, he is a sophomore and plays basketball and runs track. He is working on excelling in the classroom to the same degree that he excels in athletics. Living with two educators can be such a curse! We remind him that he is a student-athlete. Overall, he does great in school. We are proud of his accomplishments and his desire to be an award-winning runner. He will go far as he sticks to his goals.

Evan and Alyssa are finishing up 8th grade. It is hard to believe that they will start HIGH SCHOOL next fall. I remember them as three year olds, and then as kindergartners in the same class. They have been together all through school and complement each other well. Alyssa is organized while Evan...is not! Evan loves math, while Alyssa...does not. They both like to read, enjoy track, and have many friends. One would not know they have not been together their entire lives. Well, they've been siblings since they were three, so they have grown up together for a good portion of their lives.

Wayne and I are still plugging along. Wayne is teaching math and history at the school the kids go to. He is coaching, has just joined the bishopric, and is busy with graduate school. I have acclimated to my new job as a high school assistant principal and am hoping to survive budget cuts. I am also in graduate school, and hoping to become a principal soon. Life keeps us busy (too busy to blog) but we are very happy.