Most Recent Happenings

It has been a little while since doing an update on everyday events.  Here are a few over the past few weeks.

We made it through Halloween.  I ending up getting a costume for Mary and some Harry Potter glasses for Drew.  Alexa made her own and Camille decided she was through with costumes. 

Because we had already done treat or treating at the ward party on Friday before Halloween, we carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening.  We used the patterns that we bought a couple of years ago and they turned out well.

Camille started singing in a group called "Nuttin but Treble" the first part of October.  She sings with a couple of her friends, and their mothers come and get her for practice.  They sang with the Chamber Singers before Halloween.  They are singing for Scrooge in December.

Camille turned twelve last Sunday.  She is excited to be in Young Womens.  We had Aunt Karen and Uncle Kirk come and celebrate with her.  She made here own cake and decorated it too.

We went to Porters for Thanksgiving this year.  We stayed at Grandma Binghams for two nights and also had Thanksgiving dinner at her house.  On Friday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Porters.  Part of the day included making graham cracker houses.  The adults built most of the houses and then the kids decorated.  The older teenagers got more creative with their home building.  Alexa also put together some guessing jars for the party.  It took a while to count out all of the Nerds for the one jar.  

We came home late Friday night after watching the Parade of Lights in Preston.  We decided to decorate the aspen trees out in front of the house.  Jeffrey helped me move all of the colored bulbs to their own area of the light string.  It took a long time to do that on several different strings.  It will take a couple of days for our finger tips to recover.  It was a beautiful day to put up the lights otherwise we may have chickened out.  We will do it a little different next year.

We are grateful for doing things together as a family.  I hope we are making happy memories.

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today my world came tumbling down around me.  As much as I knew about what was coming with Katie's death, nothing could have prepared me for the reality of it all.  I have nothing to compare my loss of Katie to.  I can be in a crowd surrounded by family and friends and feel utterly alone.  I feel like Lehi traveling through thick fog for what seems like a very long time and still only have small glimpses of the fruit I am trying to get to.  There are days that I just push the survival button and continue moving on.

I know that I have been blessed beyond measure.  I know that I am not alone.   The kids are doing well and just have to endure the failings of their dad. I know that there are many people praying for me and my family.  I know that Katie is still very involved in our lives.  I know that we will get through this loss.  As she said in a letter to me before she passed away, "Life it not to be lived on a rock pile."  We have to continue on and live life.  We need to be happy and joyful.  We need to live life to the fullest.  Some days are easier than others.

I am grateful for the knowledge of the gospel that I have.  I am grateful to my Heavenly Father to be born into a family where the gospel was lived and taught by wonderful parents and brothers and sisters.  I am grateful to my Savior for His sacrifice for me if I will repent and live worthy of it.  I am grateful for the scriptures that bring us hope and comfort.  I am thankful for living prophets today that help show us the way to live and be happy.  I am grateful for the Holy Ghost and the role he has played in my life to bring me comfort and peace.  I am grateful for wonderful family and friends who are there to help me and my family.  I am grateful for the 17 1/2 years that Katie and I were able to be together in this life.  I am grateful for the knowledge that I have that Katie and I are married forever and that I will be able to be with her again someday.  I pray for the Lord's help as I strive to endure to the end.

I love you Katie.

The Past Two Months of Activites with Kids

Life is we what are presented day by day.  It is hard to believe in some ways that it has been two months since school has started.  I decided I had better post a few pictures of what has gone during this time.   I will start with the first day of school pictures that Katie always liked to get.  I did not get one of Mary before going to preschool.

Another thing that has taken up most of Jeffrey and Brandon's time is marching band, drumline, and now Jazz Band.  They started back the first week of June with a week of camp at the high school.  In July they had a week camp at ISU and then another week right before school started again at the high school.  They performed in the Eastern Idaho State Fair Parade.  We had Grandpa Porter and Jonny, Aunt Karen and Mandy and Mike, and David and Julianna and family there to what the parade.  Here are some pictures from that time.

Jeffrey and Brandon practiced everyday at 6:45 in the morning until harvest break.  The marching band was also the pep band during the football games.  They loved being involved with Mr. Brady and the other students.  They have learned discipline and leadership skills taught during the ISU camp.  I never had to get them up for practice.  Here are some pictures of their performance during homecoming.

They performed for drumline during the last home game of the season.  They have a drumline class during school and so we don't have any early morning practice for that.  Here are a couple of pictures from their performance.

One thing Katie and I talked about doing was taking the kids to a BYU football game.  I got tickets for homecoming against San Jose State.  We got there pretty early before the game.  It was a late night game, not starting until 8:15 because of the time ESPN broadcast the game.  It was also a little cold, but the kids all did great and enjoyed being in the crowd.  Mary stayed with her cousins while we went to the game. 

There were more things that the kids have been involved in such as Jeffrey and cross country, but I do not have pictures.  Hopefully it does not take me two more months to report on their activities.

Day 5 of our Trip

After a three week break its time to continue the family trip log. We left our hotel and headed to the beach near Palm Coast.

We headed to Jacksonville and through the city.  I did not get very good pictures of the city since I was driving that day. 

We headed to north to Georgia and to Savannah to see some of the cobblestone streets and homes in the city.



We left Savannah and headed to South Carolina and to Charleston.



Outside of Charleston we headed to Boone Hall Plantation.  This is called a working plantation because it is old but is still being farmed today.  It was a verying enlightening experience to learn about the past with the slaves and crops that are still grown today.  We took a bus ride around the plantation where you could see the different crops that had been grown and what is grown today. 

We got to go into the mansion and see a few of the rooms.  It is still used as a home today with a brother and sister staying there on the second floor when they come to visit.  We could not take any pictures inside the mansion.

These are live oak trees that are very old and strong.  It is amazing how far the branches can grow out from the trunk of the tree.

This area is also a salt water marsh with the tide coming into the plantation.



There were 8 slave cabins where you went from cabin to cabin and saw and heard about the slave trade and how they lived and survived.  It was very sad to think that some people treated others so poorly. 

This was the lane leading into the Boon Hall Plantation.  This is one of the most filmed views of the live oaks anywhere.  You can see the Spanish Moss hanging down from the trees.   Thank you Janeen for researching this particular plantation for us to see.

We wanted to go to Fort Sumter, but did not have the time to get there.  We headed to Columbia for the night.  Before we got to our hotel for the night, we saw the captial and the University of South Carolina football stadium.  Like the other nights, it was late before we got to bed.