Family Reunion Info

Peggy sent a much much prettier version of this in an email but in case you didn't get it here are some of the things she has put together so far. Your imput is much needed. Please get her the amount of people who will be attending from your family by the 1st of Feb. so she can get things figured out. She is also mailing out the email she sent so you can have a hard copy. Please note all the deadlines.
Food
1. each family will assigned a
meal and be responsible for
bringing every-
thing….everyone will help
prepare, clean up , etc.
2. (Rexburg is only 5 minutes
away)
3. everyone’s name goes in a
hat. 2 or 3 people will be
drawn out for meal and 2
or 3 for clean up. Those
individuals would work
together to accomplish
their assigned task.
4. Other???

Activities:
1. One major activity could be
planned for Friday and
saturday
2. possibly a cultural activity
(ex: BYUI play, musical)
3. White water rafting for
those that want to
go...with an alternate activ-
ity for those that choose
not to.
4. Rent quads to ride on the
dune
5. Horse back riding trip
6. Friendly competition of
foosball/ping pong/pool
7. Bonfire on the dunes
8. Traditional game of early morning
8. Humanitarian Aid projects
9. Family History
10. Talent Show
11. Other????

Sunday:

1. short church meeting (kind of like a home evening)
2. Each family plan a Sunday appropriate activity
3. Sunday would also be time for a family member

Financial:



1. Total amount divided by the

total number of individuals

attending

2. We can opt to clean the


lodge ourselves or pay

$250 and the lodge owners

will hire someone to clean

it for us.

3. Other???




Suggestions

2011 Reunion will be held at Three Peaks Lodge.

Located just outside of Rexburg in St. Anthony, ID.

Information about Three Peaks Lodge can be found at

threepeakslodge.com

Check In Time: Friday, August 19th at 3 p.m.

Check Out Time: Monday, August 22nd at 11 a.m.

December 2010

Sorry I am so late on this. But I am excited for a new year and for us all to be in the know of everyone's lives. I will be quicker to get the blog updated in January so please get me all your entries at the beginning of the month.

Steve and Sharon

December was a good month for us. Basketball kicked off around Thanksgiving as usual and I worked every weekend til just before Christmas. Business was busy as usual as deductibles were met and everyone wanted one more procedure before they have to pay up again!

We went to Disneyland for Christmas this year. Brittany and Kai met us there. The weather behaved for just three days and gave us a good vacation. We quickly figured out how to use Fast Passes and spent a lot of time on our feet. The kids were tired and had to sleep in on the second day!

Brittany and Kai got engaged for real and have set a date for sometime this Spring. They were all lovey-dovey the whole time which grosses out Kelly.

Christmas Day was spent at Universal Studios. The park was fairly empty and all the rides had short lines until about lunch time. By then, all the Asians, Indians, and Jews (oh, my) had shown up and then it was a mess the rest of the day. We left and took a drive down Hollywood Blvd and saw the stars on the sidewalk. I wouldn't let anyone out of the car....not the best part of town.

We flew back home just in time to catch the bad weather hitting in Western Colorado ready to meet a new year!

Brian and Jessica

Where has 2010 gone?! It has been a big year for us and December was one of the busier months. We started off the month celebrating my mother’s birthday in Park City and had the added bonus of seeing the Weavers while in Utah. We then headed to the Midwest for Christmas – 3 days at my dad and step-mom’s in Chicago and then 3 days at my mom and step-dad’s in Madison. I loved having Brian along for the festivities and it was great for him to get to know my (much smaller) family better…my 4 year old nephew calling him Uncle Brian was a nice perk. We were also able to stock up on Wisconsin gear while we were there (Brian now owns several items of red clothing…who would’ve ever thought that would happen?!). We wore a lot of that gear a few days later at the Rose Bowl. My sister Kristin joined us and I think we had a fabulous time…I say “I think” only because everything has been clouded by the Badger loss. Maybe I’ll be over it by the next newsletter. On our drive back from LA to the Bay area, Brian and I enjoyed reminiscing about our 2010. It will be a hard year to top, but we think we can do it in 2011.

Mom and Dad

Wow! where did 2010 disappear to? We so enjoyed the holidays and having Jeff and Mark and families here for several days. Peggy and family were able to pop in occasionally and visit. Unfortunately, the snow didn't arrive down here in the valley, but it definitely was cold. It was fun watching a new sport for us - hockey. How they endure all the banging around we'll never understand. We are looking forward to finishing and starting new projects during the rest of the winter.
Wishing you all a successful and happy 2011.

Peggy and Roger

The holidays were interesting.....I decided that because adults are so extremely judgmental and don't mind basing their judgement on gossip, adult children have alot tougher time with divorce then younger kids do. They don't seem to care who made the decision or to even talk about it....they just want to judge. Kind of a sad deal but it's life.

We got to see Mom and Dad, Jess and Brad before Christmas. After Christmas we had the pleasure of spending a little time with Jeff, Lisa and family. I always cherish the moments when we get to visit with family. We would love to be closer to everyone so we could visit more often.

Alexis turned 9 on the 31st and we had a slumber party starting on the 30th and then cake and ice cream with all the girls that spent the night and a couple other families. It was great fun. I forgot how girls act when there are that many together. Lots of fun!

Becky is putting up information on the reunion. Other then the location the flier is packed with ideas. We are definitely in need of in put from everyone. We want to make sure everyone has a total blast and enjoys the vacation.

Miss you all!

Becky and Christian

We are ready for 2011 and to see what it will bring for our family. December was a great month. I had starting getting paychecks and Christian started getting unemployment. That was a huge stress reliever. Christian has been working hard to find work however, with the holidays it seemed most opportunities were dwindling. We are hoping the new year will pick up and the jobs will become more available. I have been learning a lot about taxes at my work and business has really ramped up with the tax season fast approaching.

Brenten was excited for Christmas break this year. He was even more excited when he asked if i got a Christmas break and I was able to say yes. My work gives us 2 work days off. It was so nice to be able to hang out as a family. We had a fun time. We didn't really do anything too exciting but we did get a lot of family time in.

This year we have been very blessed with all the people who thought about us during the Christmas season. The Brenten was amazed at all the nice things people did for us. It was humbling for Christian and I and at times a little over whelming but it was an awesome learning opportunity for the boys. We were able to teach them what service is and what amazing blessings it can give ones family.

I hope you all had a great month and hope to hear from you all at the first of February.

November 2010

This is the perfect picture, except that I didn't turn it, because this is usually how Brian looked over Thanksgiving. One of the kids were usually jumping on his back.

Brian and Jessica

It’s hard to believe that it’s December already…the Christmas decorations in the apartment are a helpful reminder, but it seems crazy that 2010 is almost in the books! The beginning of the month was low key and involved lots of football (real and fantasy), work, and different projects here and there. Brian now realizes how cold the apartment can get during the winter months and we’ve been getting good use of the space heater and electric mattress pad. Now before people comment on the fact that we live in California, I just want to remind those of you who were in here in May of the baseball game. And considering it’s been getting down into the 30’s at night, the lack of insulation, single pane windows, and extremely inefficient heat makes it pretty darn cold inside… Anyway, I got Brian some slippers so at least now his feet are warm!

The highlight of the month was our trip to Boise for Thanksgiving. I had so much fun getting to know at least part of the Sawyer clan better and it was the first Thanksgiving in several years that I have spent with family. Not only was the dinner fabulous, but I loved being with the kids, seeing some snow, getting a little black Friday shopping in, and attending a very entertaining production of “White Christmas” at the Boise Little Theater (entertaining probably not in the right way…I almost had to separate Brian and Christian during the show). We also got to be super crafty – Brian working on various projects with his dad and me discovering my inner craftiness making Christmas decorations. I could try to claim mad crafting skills, but it’s not too hard to do when you have custom made wood decorations available with experts helping you to design them! It was a really great time and we look forward to visiting with more of you in the future!

Now…time to do some Christmas shopping

Mom and Dad

Having 21 seats filled on Thanksgiving made it a great day for us. We so enjoyed having much of our family here for most of the week. It seemed there was always something going on for entertainment.
After typical winter conditions it was comforting to hear that the Weavers made it home safely.
Dad has been making good use of his/Brian’s CNC. His is always on the lookout for new ideas. Mom has been excited that huge progress has been made on the deck.
We wish you all a month full of fun and laughter.
Love, Mom and Dad

Steve and Sharon

Thanksgiving came a week early for us this year. The girls came home when they had free time and one of them brought her bff Kai. We had turkey dinner, went to a dumb Harry Potter movie, and bowled. Then, as fast as they showed up, the kids were gone! We decided to go to Disneyland for Christmas vacation instead of doing the usual thing. It will be a good opportunity to soak in the 60-70 degree heat while standing in line for hours! And we will LIKE IT.....

Daddy ain't driving this time. We are going to fly down and meet Britt and Kai there. Kelly is going to be moving back home since she is taking all of her classes on-line now. She is hoping to get a job in town somewhere. We are excited to have someone else to do dishes....:)

Steve

Christian and Becky

I can't believe the year is nearly over. I don't know if I am ready for it or not. I guess it doesn't really matter since it will happen even if I am not ready. This month has been searching for work. Christian and I have been so busy trying to figure everything out. Thankfully I was blessed with a job rather quickly. And they let me start after Thanksgiving. I work for an online tax company out of Provo. It is a bit of a drive but so far they are great to work for and I can come in when it works for me so I can pretty much miss the rush hours and have some time at home too.

Christian is trying to figure out his Mr. Mom role. He has requested a moo moo for Christmas. Should I be worried? He is doing great though. He did say homework is no fun. The hard part is him feeling like he can do everything he needs to job search. He is trying hard though and we are working things out so we can both do what we need to do.

Thanksgiving was great. It started and ended with bad roads but the in between was great. We spent a whole we up in Boise. It was so awesome to see so much family. Christian was able to network a little at Boise State and see if they knew of anything and visit with some old friends. I got a lot a crafting in and had a great time hanging out with everyone. The kids of course had a great time and didn't know why we had to leave grandmas at all.

October 2010

Rachel and Mark

In a wild October where our Saturdays were dominated by one sport or another, we managed to sail through it without any injuries or missed games or practices. Alex wrapped up football with a 5-3 season. He is getting better which is good because he is not getting any bigger, yet. He promptly started basketball and has already played some games. They are 1-1 so far. Emily also started basketball and they are 2-0. She has really picked up some defensive skills this year and discovered her competitive gene. When she puts her game face on, it is really on. Lauren played soccer for her second season and was a defensive menace. It's nice to see her be a menace somewhere else other than home. She gets to sit out basketball this winter mainly because I am tired of driving kids everywhere every evening. I think I am losing my mind and the tires on my car are almost bald!

Mark and I continue to work away at things. Mark started a pergola and enjoyed it so much that he got a second chance at starting it after the wind blew it down one night. It still isn't finished but maybe some nudges in the right area can get us to finish it. We put the lawn to bed for the winter and most of the grass is in but we still have a ways to go before the yard is finished. As for me and my free time (laugh)- Mark says I am nesting but I am NOT pregnant so I don't know what he is talking about. Okay, I did paint the kitchen, the music room, the hallway, and the living room but I am not nesting- just getting things done. And by the comments I am getting, it is looking nice. You will have to come visit to see it since the kids broke my digital camera. Apparently cameras don't like being left outside overnight in the sand and wetness.

I am excited to see people for Thanksgiving and other Holidays but not looking forward to the darkness and cold. Maybe the parents and I can find lots of projects to do to get us through the dark months. See most of you soon!

Mom and Dad

Hoorah!!! Canning season is over, and it is comforting to have the pantry full. Dad has the garden all cleaned up and ready for spring.
We have enjoyed watching Lauren play soccer, Emily – basketball and Alex – football. They are all very aggressive and that makes them fun to watch. It brings back memories of watching our own kids play years ago. Where has the time gone???
We took a quick trip to St. Anthony to check out the place for next year’s reunion. We were impressed with what is offered and hope you will all be able to come. Then we turned around and drove to Dietrich to support Peggy and Roger at their wedding.
We are looking forward to seeing many of you here for Thanksgiving. If you don’t come, we hope your holiday is special and football goes your way.
Love, Mom and Dad

Peggy and Roger

Life has changed as it always does. I married Roger on the 16th of October in the small town of Dietrich, ID. We are excited for our new life and the fun and challenages it brings. We are sorry for not inviting everyone but we just wanted it to be very small wedding with the kids and invite everyone when we are sealed. None of my kids chose to come but Rogers kids were there, Mom and Dad as well as Rogers brother who lives right there in Rupert. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect fall day.

There are four new members to our family. Alexis is 8, She's ambitious most of the time, loves to barrel race, read, and really loves school. Hallie is 16, plays volleyball, a nd is a little boy crazy right now. Dustin is 17, loves to hunt, drive big machineryand be outside. Roger (cowboy Roger as Brenten and Landon call him). We all love to ride and work on the ranch. It's a lot of work and Roger has a crazy schedule (I don't get why the cows can schedule things better..haha)so I'm hoping to lighten the load at least a little at home. We do get a chance to work together. Just a great time to bond and spend time together alone and as a family.

We had dinner at Mom and Dad's with Mark, Rachel and family. It's always enjoyable to visit with them. The kids are kick and keep us all entertained.

We had a chance to see Becky, Christian and family a week ago. It was fun to watch them in their primary program. The boys did awesome. Brenten was one of the only ones that memorized his part and Landon sang is lungs out and even had a solo a couple of times!

I'm heading back to college here soon and hopefully will be able to find a job in the Twin Falls area that will help me be closer to home. Until then, I commute and stay at the Middleton house during the week and home on the weekend. I try and sneak down once during the week but that makes for a very short night.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Love,

Roger and Peggy

Becky and Christian

Can you all believe it is November already. This year has really flown by. We had a crazy month. I have to say it is definitely crazier than usual. Softball is officially over. Soccer is over for the boys which also means I am done coaching. They learned a lot and had even more fun. I liked coaching more than I thought. That being said I am glad to have my Tues, Wed, Thurs nights back and Saturday mornings. I don't know how you all do it with so many kids in different things. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

Peggy came down for a visit and we got to hang out with her Roger and Lexi. I wish they could have been here longer but we had fun. I even dragged them to a ward Halloween party. We had our primary program so a lot of stress was relieved from me once that was over.

We loved Halloween. The kids looked so cute and I feel we lucked out because the kids wanted to be stuff that we already had costumes for. Aside from a couple of bags of candy it was free. I love that. Cait loved trick or treating. She was confused after the first couple of houses and after that she raised her hands in the air and yelled "YEAH" after every candy. I think that is my favorite. I love when they get it and are so excited even for the little things.

Just before Halloween Christian got laid off. That has really thrown us for a loop. Christian knew there was a possibility but I really didn't think they would do this before Christmas. That is okay though. We are excited to see what life brings. Christian didn't love his job anyway so now is his opportunity to find something that he can like a little more and perhaps give him more opportunities for growth. So he is currently job searching and in the meantime I am also looking for work to try and get us by.

We are excited for Thanksgiving and going up to Boise.

Have a great month,

Becky Weaver

Pictures are not uploading right now for some reason. i will try again because we have some pictures from Africa that you will want to see and a few from Hawaii too.

October 2010

Mom and Dad

Dad had the opportunity of being a bachelor for a couple of weeks, while Mom went to Utah to tend grandkids. Before spending a week with Brenten, Landon, and Caitlin, she made a surprise trip to St. George and just appeared on the Harding doorstep. Spending a couple of days babysitting while Amy and Will worked was a fun time for her. Wearing some of the hats that moms wear, she was soccer mom, housekeeper and entertainer of kids. Although they were all sooo good, it was wonderful to be home again with Dad. After all, “there is no place like home.” Dad was left with a “to-do” list and was able to get most of it accomplished, along with taking care of the outdoors and making sure the dishes were clean before Mom came home.
We finally finished up the canning and have our food storage up to par again. It is a lot of work, but so rewarding once the shelves are filled.

Brian and Jessica

September was quite the month! Before Africa, Brian had a work trip to Taiwan and we went to Colorado Springs for a quick weekend (we won’t talk about the reason for the trip – the BYU vs. Air Force game). Two days later we were off! This was my first real international trip, so the travel alone was exciting for me. We eventually got to Uganda and met up with Scott (who works and now lives in Africa), Brian’s travel buddy Peter, his wife Kelly (who is also Scott’s sister), and Scott and Kelly’s parents.

The first two days were quite the adventure! Brian, Peter, Kelly, and I were driving to the other side of the country to do a gorilla trek. I can’t go into the details here, but let’s just say that the adventure started with our “trusted” driver hopping out an hour into the trip for a “family emergency” which left us with some random guy no one knew anything about, followed by getting lost on several “short cuts” which led us to almost run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, followed by a 7 hour trek through the mountains (part of which included a torrential downpour with hail) which allowed us to sit about 10 feet away from several gorillas, followed by another exciting drive to a different national park, and ended with an armed guard cocking his automatic riffle at us…two times. It was quite the introduction to international travel!

The rest of the trip wasn’t as exciting, but included so many highlights – game drives at various parks, staying in some beautiful lodges, shopping in the market, visiting an elephant orphanage and giraffe center, etc. In Kenya, and probably one of the highlights of the highlights, we went on an early morning hot air balloon ride (thanks Brothers for the gift!). It was spectacular! After our flight, we had breakfast out amongst the zebras and wildebeasts. We also managed to cross over into Tanzania so we could add another country to our lists (Number 54 for Brian, 8 for me). The trip ended with a tour of the Kibera Slums in Niarobi…very eye-opening and emotional for me. Overall, it was a fabulous trip and we are both looking forward to our next adventure abroad!

Peggy

I don't have a lot to add but since Becky has texting....she can "encourage" me to find something to put in. Just kidding Becky! I need a swift kick to do things lately. I appreciate you taking care of us all.

Basically-

-getting married

-remodelling a house

-unemployed once again -yet another child that thinks I'm the worst because who knows...

-Financially strapped because I tried to help someone one of them out and got stung

Thats the excitement of it all. I'm excited for a fresh start which may not include my kids very much, which is heart wrenching, but should bring new and exciting

adventures. I'm excited for all of you to meet him. Brenten calls him Cowboy Roger.

He runs a 14000 head calf ranch not far from Twin Falls. That will put me closer to some of the family and not too far away from Mom and Dad.

We were able to visit with Becky, Christian and boys for a day. Lunch was great and watching the kids interact with all the baby horses we went and saw was so cool. They loved being out there with them. Brenten is a natural. Landon and Cait warmed right up to them. Those big faces looking at you is kind of intimidating when you are that small I am sure.

Hope you all have a great month!

Take care,

Peggy
The Weavs

It has been an exciting month for us. Again more softball and soccer and it has been going great. We took first in our league. We are now in tourney. Wish us luck. The boys are still loving soccer. Brenten is really getting the hang of it. Landon tells us how awesome he is every week.

Peggy and crew came down for a quick trip and took us to a baby horse farm. The kids loved it. And we had a nice time chatting.

Christian and I took our first trip with out the kids. We went to Hawaii with his parents. It was awesome. The weather was perfect and so was all the fun. I felt like we did so much. We went to the PCC, Pearl Habor, snorkeling, shopped, played in the waves, and went to lots of different beaches. We have tons of pictures on face book if you want to check them out.

Mom was awesome and came and stayed with the kids while I was gone. She did the whole soccer mom thing. The boys didn't even want us to come back because they knew that it meant that grandma would have to leave.

The rest of the month was trying to get back to normal life and recovering from all our fun.

I think of you all often,

Becky

September 2010

Brian and Jessica

Brian and I have been really busy with work/projects this past month and can hardly believe that Africa is 14 days away! We managed to fit in a trip to San Diego to visit a few of Brian’s friends from North Carolina who now live in SoCal, plus another friend who was in town. I continue to enjoy getting to know the people I have heard so much about and it’s never a bad idea to spend some time in San Diego! Our days of flying under the radar in our new ward are officially over. We both spoke in church this month and received our first callings – it’s off to the YW presidency for me and the primary for Brian! Those Valiant boys are darn lucky if you ask me and I have already enjoyed some of the time I have spent with the girls. Brian is squeezing in a trip to China for work before we head on vacation…oh, and we’re going to Colorado for the BYU vs. Air Force game on Sept 11. It should be a great setting considering the day, and I’ll be sporting my BYU t-shirt while yelling over and over “Go Cougs!” (I still feel the need to repeat this to myself…like I have to convince myself it is okay). I’m looking forward to my Badgers cleaning up in the Big Ten and my Packers dominating the NFL. It could be a very good season for us Wisconsin natives J Now let’s just hope neither of us get eaten by a lion while in Africa so we can enjoy football season!

Mom and Dad

August was very typical for us – canning produce, which is always rewarding to see the storage room full – but not a whole lot of fun. Now we are waiting for the peaches and pears to come on. Dad has been enjoying his CNC and was involved in making 60 toy kits for a humanitarian project our ward did. He also dealt with medical issues and is getting them resolved by losing weight – down 18 pounds already!!! He was supposed to have cataract surgery, but that is on hold because of arterial disease in one eye. In November they will see how things are and decide what to do next.
Not a very exciting month, but we are still kickin’ – so that is a good thing.
Hope all of the greatest kids in the world have a wonderful school year!!!!!
Mom and Dad

The Weavs

Wow!!! September really flew by. I even forgot to get the newsletter posted. But here we are. Trying to get on track.

Christian and I are in our 2nd season of softball and doing great. I think we are in first place right now. Just rec league. I am feeling so much stronger and faster so that is great. And I feel like I can control my hits a little more.

Brenten and Landon are playing soccer and loving it. Brenten is starting to learn a lot of skills. Landon doesn't like the idea of bunch ball but will get the ball every once in a while. I don't know if we should encourage the bunch ball so that he will get in there and be a little aggressive or if I should support him "spreading out".

Brenten is a first grader now. He loves his teacher and is doing great. He is really reading very well.

Landon is doing preschool but we are doing more of a joy school so it is me and a couple of other mom's doing it. He really seems to be liking it.

I think that is about all for now. September is an exciting month for us. Christian and I are going to Hawaii for the first time. Great picts next month.