Lake Powell 2008

We just returned from Lake Powell and we had a great trip. My brother Chad and his family went , their friends Monte and Sandra. My mom and dad, and my brother Tagg and his wife. We stayed in Page, AZ again. It was cooler this year which is par for the weather everywhere. It was windier and the water was cooler. I think we've decided next time to go later in the summer.

The defining moments that come to mind are......
* Kimbri got up on the knee board and ski's for the very first time. And she liked it. Woohoo Kimbri!
* Having 1 on 1 time with Kimbri while we rode the tube for 30 miles back from Rainbow Bridge. We sang songs, told stories......probably the highlight of the trip for me.
* Sitting by the pool at night telling stories. Thanks to Tagg for the unforgettable crow story. (He'll never live it down).
* Everyone jumping off the rock doing a "crow tribute" to Tagg at the same time. HA, HA, HA, I'm still chuckling about that.
* Chad mocking John about last year not being able to speak after eating the hot wings and then sounding like a bubbling idiot himself this year. (what comes around goes around)
* Chad running out of gas returning from Rainbow Bridge
* We lost a towel and our flag while John and I had the top down going really really fast. It was awesome.
* We got our ski rope caught in the impeller and had to cut it off. Thanks to Grandpa for having his leatherman handy.
* I jumped off the cliffs this year more than once, the peer pressure was just too much, I had to do it. (dang competitive Williams blood)
* Grandma water skiing, will it be the last time????
* Lataun and I taking what we thought was a leisurely ride on the tube. What were we thinking riding behind the speed monster? John creamed us in front of everyone, we bailed big time and both our shorts came off. HA! It's revenge time Taun.

It was a great trip, thanks for arranging it Penny. (now why wasn't she there??????)

Enjoy some fun photos.This is my favorite picture of the whole trip. Priceless!

Grandma said she liked the tube but she always had a look of desperation.

Jack preferred being on the boat, he was not to fond of the water until the very last day.
Each day it got warmer.

Cowabunga!!!

I think they've been ship wrecked,
Ya can't get any more dramatic than this.

The Famous Five

Joshua getting in on the jumping action.
Did he get that nose plug thing from Aunt Lataun?

Although Josh appears to be having fun, this is really a look of terror. He doesn't like to tube. We were sitting there after going fast and he goes "ah, this is perfect." I said, "Josh we aren't even moving." He never did decide it was fun.
"Feet first? Bahumbug! I raised a bunch of cowards."
Go Grandpa, it's your birthday, go Grandpa

"I think I read somewhere this is dangerous, quick I need an excuse to get off of here"
I think he has been labeled a "scaredy cat" something to that effect.

Jack deciding John's driving just wasn't good enough so he took over.

Kimbri and Sis hanging on for dear life. (Is John driving that boat?)

Father's Day in Idaho

The beginning of our summer vacation's has begun. We decided to run up to Idaho for Father's day this year. It was great seeing the new addition mom and dad have done on their home. It's awesome. They deserve it. We left from there and went through Yellowstone with my brother Chad and his family. I don't know how we are related. He whined about going and we talked him into it and I think he whined the whole way, not sure. I'll have to check with Taun. I could go there every year, what's his problem???? We stopped at Warm Springs on our way and then went through the park with hopes of seeing a bear. Didn't happen but it was fun looking. Chad and Taun went their separate ways and we continued on to Jackson Lake and got a cabin at Coulter Bay. We didn't have our boat this year but Logan and John and Josh did some fishing while Kimbri, I, and Jack did some hiking. Pushing the jogger on the trails was a feat in itself but it was fun. They said that a grizzly had been spotted in the area so Kimbri and I hiked always looking over our shoulder. We went through Swan Valley on our way home so that John and Logan could once again fish in the Snake River. Logan caught a fish on his first cash in the Pallisades reservoir so he didn't want to leave, EVER!

It was a great trip and now we'll get ready to leave for Powell. WoooooHoooooo!

Schools Out!

School is out. The kids are soooo excited. All three kids did awesome this year in school. Logan continues to hold his 4.0 grade point average. He won 5 awards this year, they were the Einstein award, most likely to achieve, principals award, 4.0 award, and honor student. Kimbri had her first year with a 4.0 as well. I'm so proud of all the extra work they do to make it happen. Joshua got all A's. He had a few A-'s so he didn't have 4.0 and I had to explain that to him. He sees what the older two are doing and wants to be like them. We have a lot planned for the summer including our Lake Powell trip. We are excited to go play.

John's almost home

It's been a long (almost) 2 weeks. March 3rd John flew out East to do meetings for our Xango business and to visit his mom and sister I've been holding down the fort. It's a lot of work and I'm tired. It didn't help that my Grandpa Jack passed away the morning he left. Thank you Kilee Butterfield for staying with our kids while I was gone to the funeral in Texas. Logan, Kimbri, and Josh were troopers while I was gone and they have helped me so much with Jack. Thanks to Kimbri for giving me a break everyday after school. Jack loves Kimbri.

Spring break has started, Logan and Kimbri left yesterday for Idaho to spend time at the Stegelmeier family reunion. Loren & Anne have put their papers in to go on their third L.D.S. mission. What a great example they are to all of their grandchildren. I'm glad Logan and Kimbri get to spend time with them before they leave again. Logan & Kimbri will be spending all next week with their dad. I miss them when they are gone but they enjoy their time with him, and its important.

Jack is now driving his cars all over the floor with his little motor sound. His favorite spot to hang out is climbing on the end of the couch next to the window and standing on the window sill to look out the window. I'm not sure why he likes to make things so dramatic.

Unfortunately, for me their isn't a Kimbri to hand Jack off to when I need a break. Thanks to Josh for his help, he's really stepping up, not to mention he makes me laugh all the time. John will be home Monday night. Thank the heavens. I think the first thing I will wish for is........sleep. Lots and lots of sleep. :) How pathetic is that.


My niece Reese is showing progress. It's very little at a time but it is progress. I don't think it's possible to pray enough for her but we're sure making the effort. I was talking to Penny about why things happen in our lives. We were discussing how when we are faced with trials that we should try to figure out what lessons we should be learning at the time. Anyway, the night before this conversation I opened up the scriptures and it said (and I'm paraphrasing) that the Lord gives his children trials otherwise we forget him. WOW! I thought why is it only when we have trials that we remember him always? Why is it only in our trials do we fall humbly to our knees and plead with our Father in Heaven in our prayers? I know that I'm learning many lessons during Reese's trial. First and foremost to be more patient with my kids, you just never know how long you have them and I know I don't want any regrets. I'm also learning that I need to be more in tune with my Heavenly Father and not just when I have trials and fear. I'm grateful for lessons that we learn each day I just wish that these lessons didn't have to be in behalf of my beautiful little niece.

I'm counting down the few days left to have John home. He's so good to me and helps and supports me so much in everything I do. I'm sure at times he would like to take away my ability to say "yes, I'd be happy to sign up for that." :) Wait until he sees my new list when he gets home. :)

Spring is Here?????

I have to get better at blogging more often. We have had a great winter. Christmas came and went, we were able to go up to Idaho to my mom and dad's to spend time with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. It was a lot of fun. There's getting to be a whole herd of us but we survived. It's always fun to get the cousins together. Mom changed her family tradition and had the party on the Eve of Christmas Eve so that we could all be there. Thanks mom and dad. We don't care when it happens we're just glad to be there.


Logan, Kimbri, and Josh all played Jr. Jazz basketball this year. It was Josh's first year and he loved it, he's becoming quite the little athlete, he announced after his first game that he wanted to be a professional basketball player when he grows up. Logan played on a comp. team again and this year I was his head coach. It was quite the experience, just when it seemed we were coming together as a team the season was over. We played in the playoffs and lost by one basket in double overtime. It was an awesome way to end the season. I was Kimbri's assistant coach as well and we had a great time, Kimbri was the tallest on the team and she's quite the little hussler. She ends up playing the whole game because she does so well. It's fun to seem them improving each year.





Jack just turned 1. He seems to enjoy following us around. He really doesn't have much of a choice. He's so fun, he's close to walking and speaks his own language non stop, he even talks in his sleep it's nuts. Kimbri is officially his favorite, he prefers her over me most of the time. (did I not give birth to him???)

John has been doing some traveling for our Xango business. He likes to get it all in at the beginning of the year which is nice. It gives him the opportunity to go out and stay with his mom and to see his sister in Jersey. He's decided to continue at the golf course this summer. The perks of golfing for free just can't be beat.


I'm sad but relieved to report that my Grandpa Jack Eavenson passed away on March 3rd. He had a long battle with cancer. It was a blessing for him to pass on so that he was no longer in pain but sad because we will miss him. I was able to travel to Texas with my siblings for the funeral. John went out East the day Grandpa passed so I had to take Jack with me, that was a feat in itself. It all worked out and it was fun spending time with my siblings and my parents. It was nice having so much time visiting with Penny talking about the philosphies of life. I think we solved all the worlds problems over the weekend. :) Thanks to Chad for hanging out with me and helping me with Jack on the plane and through the airport and driving the rental van. In retrospect that's probably the only thing I would have changed, me driving and not him. :) He's nuts!

Right after returning from the funeral we find out that my sister's 22 month baby girl Reese has pneumonia in both of her lungs and she has septicemia (poison in her blood) it's very scary and I find myself praying all day everyday in my mind and on my knees. It's unfortunate that something awful has to happen in order to find myself so diligent to the Lord. I guess we're all going to learn from each experience we have in life it just breaks my heart when such a young sweet spirit has to be the object of our lesson. Our prayers are with your family Penny. We love you Reese!

On a lighter note, spring is in the air. (somedays) We're glad to see the snow gone for now and hope its the end. The kids are getting ready to play baseball and softball. Josh is going to try baseball this year instead of soccer so that should be a fun experience for him. I'm the assistant coach for Kimbri's team again and Logan is playing on the Stealth (his traveling team) again. We're excited for the tournaments, they are always fun. And of course we can't wait for the weather to be nice enough to get the boat out and make more memories this summer. Lake Powell here we come!

Summer Vacation 2007

We decided this summer we were going to get out as a family and do something. We started our trip after the Williams family reunion in Island Park Idaho. We left there and took the kids to Yellowstone National park to see the sites and Old Faithful. We then went through Teton National Park and saw the beautiful waters at Jackson lake and decided to stay in a cabin and boat on Jackson Lake. WOW! It was so beautiful there. On the way home we stopped in our old town of Swan Valley, Idaho so the boys could fish in the Snake River. After recooping for a week from that trip we headed out again. We started our trip by going through Bryce Canyon National Park, we then spent 4 awesome days boating at Lake Powell with my brother Chad and his family. We then took the kids to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and then on our way home we went through Zions National Park. We loved Zions so much that we stayed an extra day and hiked into the narrows. What a beautiful place. We had a blast and no one wanted to come home. That's what I call a priceless vacation. The posted pictures our of each location we visited. Enjoy!

Lake Powell

The kids loved finding rocks to jump from.
They are braver than I am. I hate jumping

John and Josh hanging out in the 85 degree water.

Jack really didn't enjoy the water all that much.
He prefers being on the boat going fast.

John has the reputation for the love of speed.
He kept telling Chad to go faster and give it all
he had. At one time he was going so fast the
sleeves on his shirt were blown up like a balloon.