These are some of the fun pictures we've been taking lately.
































Aren't they cute!

The Baptism was a success. No one drown or had to be dunked more than once. Grammy Tara made it on time and in one piece. Blake didn't fall in the font and we all left feeling good about life.

Grandpa Jarman performed the Confirmation and gave Mia a special blessing. What an amazing man. Mia is lucky to have so many good influences in her life. I personally thank you for the good things she learns from you all.

What a great day though. We are proud of Mia and hope she can keep making good choices based on the things she learns in her life.

Thanks to all who came from near and far. We love you all.

J

Wow, it's been a while and I'm sick of everyone telling me to get on the ball and update the blog. We are about to start a new school year and about to have our first Baptism as well. So we'll be pretty busy.

Mia will be getting baptized on Sept 5th and we couldn't be happier. She is such a good sister and we can't wait to celebrate with her. (Plus Grammy Tara will be here to visit.)

We went to the Provo temple and to BYU this weekend to take some pictures of her for the invites that will be going out. Some of them came out really nice. (Dad still needs a little bit of practice.) Rachel was upset since she wasn't getting any pictures so we took a few of her as well.

Aren't they cuties?

Bubble Hut in the dark

So, I go walking down the stairs to check the laundry Angie had put in a while ago and to move it along.

(Angie wants to be sure ya'll understand that she wasn't being lazy. She just asked for my help. The stuff in the dryer was still HOT, so it wasn't really sitting there "a while," it was just time to move it. Thats all. So don't try and read into it too much.)

Lets just say, wet socks.

Ever stepped on the spot of the rug where someone spilled their water and you get a surprise wet sock. Well, as it turned out the washer decided it was as sick of the laundry as Angie was so it just stopped doing it. Wouldn't life be so easy, if life were so easy? Well just because the washer stopped it didn't mean that the clothes would stop getting dirty. Kids have got to eat. When the kids eat the clothes get dirty.
So we called the babysitter and hit the Bubble Hut for a couple of hours getting all the laundry done in one shot. Besides the cost the fact that we got it all done at once was great! Plus we got a few tips on the art of using the laundry mat from a few different people in both conversation and from observations.

Lets just say that we didn't feel like we "fit in".

Here is the valuable tip we offer: use several of the small dryers instead of the huge ones. The big ones, though convenient in that the y fit all the clothes, cost too much and are deceptive in their efficiency because you fill them up too much. The small ones give you 3 extra minutes for the same quarter and they make you feel like you can't fill them up too much. So you don't.

It's for real

Well I guess it's for real. And I don't know if that is good or bad... We got our first pay check today from Provo School District. It was so awesome, we decided to go to celebrate the loot for FHE... Grammy T came with us to share in the spoils too. She's behind the camera, hiding if you ask me; being "helpful" if you ask her.

Anyway so there we were with our coupon in hand, sharing a meal by the Pizza Factory as a family. Good stuff. So glad they finally came to P-town.

Usually the little chickens have a lot to say at dinner and a bunch of songs they want to rehearse, and tonight didn't disappoint. Rachel wanted to tell us about her topic of discussion in preschool: a story about a guy named Paul Onion. I obviously missed this one in my childhood and listened and watched as her face crunched up as her brain processed what she had said..."Er, Paul Bunyan," she corrected herself with a hint of question. It was great.

After dinner we came home and made Titles of Liberty. It was neat to see the ideas the girls had as to what they thought was the most important things in this world to them personally. They made them from green and purple paper, crushed and rubbed with a brown crayon to make it look dirty. Then they worte on them promises to Choose the Right because they loved so many things but mostly mentioned the love they had for all of their family members.

We have great kids!

whatafreak'nweek

We've had a good week this week. But it was far from uneventful. We went to a concert, one of my THS soccer games, that got canceled after we got to Pleasant Grove, had Friday off from school and I broke up a fight on Thursday, getting hit in the process. Angie was observed by the people who control the grant money, at R-kids. And probably worst of all: I had to go to the dentist. Wheeeew! Yeah it was a great week.

At least we got to go to the Purple Turtle since the game got canceled. And, at least the kid who hit me didn't get the weapons he had, out of his bag till the school officer searched him. It could have been worse, it definitely could have been worse. We could have eaten leftovers from the fridge had the coach from PG called on the telephone, (oh yes, I have a telephone!) and the game been canceled before we all drove out there. We don't try to think of the alternatives to the mess at school with the fight. Plus I got my teeth clean and had no cavities!

How could I forget! Our car was broken in to. For the second time this year, this time my church bag was taken. We had two calls this week from people who said they had found my scriptures at a gas station in PG and my bag just off the freeway on-ramp here in Spanish. What the Crap? I didn't realize it was even gone till they called.

Typing to stay positive!

It seems that no matter what has happened through the day all I can think about is Steph and her family as I fall asleep the past few nights. Her story is one that sends chills up the spine and tears down the cheeks. I sat on the couch last night after the kids were in bed and started to watch a video posted on cjanerun.com about Steph's cool family tradition with balloons. 

I had to stop only one minute into it so I could have The Misses join me. It was awesome to see all the people around the world take interest in Steph and her family. (this was the goose bumps part)

But then we went back to the blog and read the post for September 1. 2008 The Jolly Porter's Update and then the tears started falling, or running, or streaming, or gushing. 

What an incredible look into what is going on!

I can't believe the support coming in and how positive Sheph's siblings have been through it all. The reality of it all just hit me in the eyes and I couldn't stop thinking (code for crying) about it, the old cliché "it'll never happen to me" became an utter lie to me. I hope I never look at life like this again, it can and all you can do sometimes is keep your head up.

-Mr. Man