Tyler opening his gifts. He got a great backpacking/climbing backpack.
A shirt to climb in.
Jordan so excited in the festivities!
Here Tyler blows out the candles on his cake. He requested banana bread with cream cheese frosting and it was WONDERFUL. Kaila made the frosting and it was mighty tasty!
Here Tyler shows off the candle he got from Kyle. Yes...it is the same candle he had given Kyle for his birthday just last month. You gotta love regifting.
I had read on buildingmyark.blogspot.com how to can butter and thought it would be a good idea. The opportunity presented itself when Richard and I attended a High Priest Social and we were helping clean up afterward. The tables were cleared and tons of butter were brought in only partially used. Since this wasn't a family party (no little fingers playing with it) I volunteered to take it home to try out this method. First you melt the butter and let it gently cook for 5 or more minutes. Then you spoon into hot jars and seal as you would jam. The jars then need to be shaken and shaken and shaken and shaken and shaken some more! The was a whole lot of shakin goin on.
Here is the finished product! So for no money I was able to put aside 8 jars of butter that will stay good on the shelf for 3-4 years. 
Each year around the end of October we get together with Richard's siblings and their children for a reunion. We used to do this around their fathers birthday and have continued since he passed away. This year Jolyn and Larry hosted the event in their backyard. We chose the middle of the day to accommodate church meetings but little did we know that it would be a sweltering 94 degrees on the first of November! It was warm, especially for Nat and Adam who came from up north. We love to get together and in the 4 siblings who attended we were introduced to 4 new babies that had arrived since the last get together. Thanks Jolyn and Larry for your great hospitality. We all had a great time.
Carol Lee and Spencer
Heidi, Craig and Brogan
Carol Lee and Amber
Ben and Sam
These are two of my great sisters-in-law, Donna (with Brogan) and Jolyn.
Loran, Anne, Lee and Lindsay
Peter and Adam
Natalie and Reanna.
Our fam
Loran's family
Becky and Tyler.
Levi helping Peter take a ride in the car.
Peter and his cousin (I don't know his name :/ )
Just a few pictures of us posing Reanna for formal type pictures. They turned out cute. She is such a cute little princess.
One night we were all eating (at 2 separate tables) and weren't paying too much attention to Peter. We were celebrating Adam passing his MRI boards (YEA ADAM!) with an ice cream cake. The day had been too much for little Peter and he just passed out in his chair. You can see he did like his ice cream though.
One of the joys of a new baby is to get to know them. Here is Grandpa bonding with little Reanna. She is such a good baby and cute as a button. We are thrilled to have this new little one in our family.
I am all about traditions and the way they pull a family together and help us feel a part of something bigger than ourselves. One tradition I started way back before Richard came into my life and Dana's boys were little was this. Early morning TV watching on Granny's bed. The theory was to let the parents sleep in while I usually got ready for work and I could have a little time with the kids. Now we do it most times when any of the kids stay over. (That is if Grandpa isn't still in the bed)
