Still Waiting...

Due to the 4th of July holiday (and lack of mail delivery), we are still waiting for Travis' mission call. Be assured that the mail is checked every day and that we are anxious to find out where he will serve! We are also pleased to report that Seth has submitted his papers as well. He has been able to avoid having to have oral surgery, so he is good to go with some minor adjustments to his teeth. We anticipate finding out about Travis' call by Thursday, July 16th and Seth's two weeks from Tuesday. The children have all enjoyed guessing where they will be going. We have recorded everyone's guesses and the one with the closest guess (by miles) wins a prize! We'll see how this finally plays out!

Summer is in full swing, the sun is out and the kids are just starting to say "I'm bored...there's nothing to do!". This is quickly met with, "Well...the lawn needs mowing, or...the garage is pretty messy." This seems to do the trick in diffusing the complaining!

Stay tuned for more information!

Waiting for a Mission Call...

We are glad to report that Travis' mission paperwork will be submitted to Salt Lake City tomorrow. We have been told that the waiting period is about 10 days to 2 weeks. You can be assured that we will be checking the mail everyday from next week on. We are all anxious and excited to see where Travis will serve and when he will leave. You can look forward to a posting of that information soon.

Seth will be submitting his paperwork as well. He has to get his wisdom teeth pulled before he is fully eligible to apply for a mission. We hope that he will be ready to go in the next couple of weeks. Clearly we have some exciting news in the very near future! Stay tuned...

Class of 2009!

Congratulations to Travis and Seth who graduated with 342 other seniors from Auburn Mountainview High School yesterday, June 13th! The ceremony was wonderful, the weather was just about perfect, and the family celebration was delicious. We are grateful to Grandparents, friends and extended family who have supported the boys over the years, and helped us celebrate this milestone.As mentioned previously, the boys are in the process of deferring their admission to BYU-Provo and are completing the process of serving their missions. Travis will have received his mission call in July (hopefully) and Seth shortly thereafter! Seth needs to attend to his wisdom teeth...looks like he will have to do without them! Speaking of Seth, you will notice a picture here of his state track meet. Seth placed second in the 800 meters, 3rd in the 4x400 relay and 15th in the 1600 meter run. We are so proud of him! The local paper wrote a nice article about him. The article can be found at the following link

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/aub/sports/47681972.html

. Seth will be walking on for BYU after returning from his mission. Seth also received his Eagle Scout last weekend...he has been a very busy young man this month! Between prom, scouts, track, and graduation he hasn't had much extra time on his hands!

Travis graduated not only from high school this weekend (magna cume laude) but from Green River Community College with highest honors (suma cume laude). Travis'

talents are academic in nature. He is a natural learner, quick on his feet

and always has a witty sens

e of humor. Travis has spent quite a bit of time these last couple of years helping us drive the kids to and fro, he is always helpful and does not com

plain about having to help out...even though we know he'd rather not be the back up taxi driver! We appreciate his leadership and helping hand! Both boys will become fine men. They will find joy as they serve their Heavenly Father during their missions. We will, of course post mission information on this blog!

We have added some pictures taken of the graduation (thanks, Grandpa Bill). We hope that you enjoy looking at them as much as we do. I suppose that it is normal to be a proud parent. We have enjoyed watching our oldest children grow into young adults, and feel so grateful for all the help that we have had along the way!

The Post-Season

The post season for Spring sports is in full swing.  Tess and Amanda competed at the State Water Polo competition.  Their team placed an amazing 3rd (the best of any Auburn team ever!).  Both girls were selected as all-state second team.  This was quite an honor, especially for Amanda who is a freshman and has only played water polo this season.   Tess has worked very hard this season to become the best goalie in the SPSL...great job ladies.  

Seth ran in the West Central District track meet this weekend.  He was fortunate to advance to state in three events:  the 1 mile, 800 meters, and 4x400 relay.  We are so excited to see how he does next weekend.  His "speciality" is the 800 meter run, we are sure that he will do well.  

As we mentioned previously, graduation is on June 13th, and the whole family is excited to experience our first "round" of kids graduating.  We will have at least one child graduating every year for the next five years.  We will have a one-year break and then Evan and Alyssa will graduate.  What will we do with an empty house?  Our family reassures us that it will not really be empty.  We do look forward to the changes that we will be experiencing over the next few years, and we will keep everyone posted on those changes!

Stay tuned for more photos and news about next weekend's state track meet!

The Heritage and The Prom.

Spring has sprung, and the school year is beginning to wind down.  With the end of the school year comes Prom, Graduation, and college plans.  With this post you will see pictures of Seth the night of prom.  It was a bit nostalgic to see Seth in his tux, date by his side heading of to the prom.  

Graduation is June 13th.  The ceremony will be held outdoors at Auburn Memorial Stadium.  We are excited for Seth and Travis to graduate, we will be sure to post pictures on this blog.  We are hoping for good weather, since it is an outdoor ceremony.  With the weather here, there is probably a 50-50 chance for rain.

Travis has been notified by BYU that he is the recipient of the "Heritage" scholars

hip.  The scholarship is a four year scholarship.  Travis will have to maintain a 3.85 GPA to retain the award.  We are very pleased and proud of his hard work.

Both Seth and Travis have begun preparing for their missions.  The process is mostly electronic, and they will be ready to "send in" their paperwork early in July.  We are excited for them, and look forward to finding out where they will be serving.

Tess and Amanda are heading off to the girls state water polo tournament next week.  We will be taking pictures and posting results of the event.  Tess is an amazing goalie, and Amanda is an excellent player, one of the top scorers on the team.

Finally, Seth goes to districts in track.  He will be running the 800 meters race and the 4x400 relay.  In the pictures posted, you can see the 4x400 team.  They are each holding up four fingers...its a boy thing!

Happy Mothers Day!

Thank You CrystaLite!

We had a wonderful Easter.  We were blessed to celebrate with my parents and grandmother. Neither had met the twins, they enjoyed visiting and getting to know Lillie and Landon.  We have been taking care of the twins for three weeks now, and have found a full-time day care provider. She comes to our home each day, and takes good care of the little ones.  

We would like to make an official "THANK YOU" to CrystaLite for utilizing funds from their foundation to provide us with a grant to cover the next three weeks of day care expenses.  We are so grateful to this company, and look forward to thanking them with a letter and pictures of the kids.  These folks have eased the burden of covering day care costs for nearly a full month!  If you are interested in finding out more about this company, visit their website at CrystaLiteinc.com.  

Seth and Travis have begun the process of filling out their mission papers.  The system is electronic, but it is quite an experience to think of these fine young men serving the Lord in just a few short months.  We will be so excited to post where they are serving and when they leave. Of course, they must graduate from high school first!  Graduation is set for June 13th.  This promises to be an exciting day for our family!  We will share pictures and thoughts.

Take care!  Happy Spring!

Things We've Learned!

Here are some of the things we've learned (or been reminded of) about our big family over the past week:

1.  Two babies are twice the fun of one!  

2.  Babies don't always sleep through the night!

3.  Older children feel empowered when a baby says their                       name ("Seff" and "Jucka" for Seth and Jessica)

      4.  Families can hold more love (and children) than you think!

5.  Thank heavens for baby gates.

6.  Thank heavens for those little plastic locks to keep little    hands out of cupboards!

7.  Keeping the house clean seems less impo

rtant than it used to.

On a different note, a friend in the state just celebrated the birthday of their late daughter, Mara Adams.   This dear family has an amazing and touching story, if you are inclined visit their website at www.maraadams.com.  Be sure that you have some tissues ready. These sweet parents are an inspiration to many, they continue to give and inspire as they lament the loss of their daughter.

We are now expecting to have Landon and Lillie for much if not all of April.  The older children are excited and enjoy the opportunity to help out.  It is interesting when I say "who wants to help bathe the babies?" I get six volunteers.  However if I ask, "who wants to clean their room?" everyone quietly sneaks away.  Go figure!

Seth and Ethan participated in a school track meet yesterday.  Seth place first in the one mile and 4x100 relay.  Ethan set personal records and was pleased with his performance.  He has three more seasons of growth and experience.  Seth is looking forward to seeing his cousin Ben run at the state meet in May.  Seth and Ben won't run against each other, their schools are in different divisions, but they still enjoy each others accomplishments.  Ben's older brother Nick will be submitting mission papers in a few days.

Tess and Amanda have done well in Water Polo this season.  Tess, a seasoned third year goalie is doing great.  She really enjoys the aggressive nature of the sport, and is talented not only as goalie but as a field player too.  Tess wants to play water polo in college, perhaps as an intramural sport at BYU.  Amanda is an outstanding athlete.  She's the type who can play any sport and excel!  She has learned a lot from Tess, and her basketball experience has helped a lot. She is  happy to be playing with the varsity team as a 9th grader.

We were pleased to find out that Evan and Alyssa earned a special award from their middle school for getting straight A's last quarter.  I think that they may have even surprised themselves.  Aarun has had the great experience of helping to publish the school yearbook.  He has learned a lot about writing, deadlines, and publishing!  Way to go Aarun.  

Jessica is preparing to take the national AP exam for her European history class at school.  This test, along with the ACT take up a lot of her time.  She is very self-motivated, she studies and prepares without us having to "bug" her about it.  

I hope is doesn't sound like bragging, but I always feel inclined to mention the accomplishments of each child.  I don't want anyone to be left out...and each child enjoys reading about themselves in each post.  We have also enjoyed reading posts from some of your blogs too!  I think we've looked at Anna's, Cammie's, and Sarah's.  Lots of ooooh's and aaaaah's at Sarah's new baby! Congratulations!

Lastly, I've added some images to this post.  You'll see one of Travis, Jessica, Amanda, and Evan with a cousin in Moses Lake.  Jessica and Amanda at the Hawaii temple (visiting grandparents who live in Hawaii), and three of Landon and Lillie.