Aubrey & Patrick

They are not engaged.....we promise. But here are some photos of aubrey and patrick together!




They know these look like engagement pictures.....but they are not. This is just a post to show off Aubrey's boyfriend. He is a good person, makes Aubrey happy, which is what is most important! There are a least 50 more photos, but those are on Aubrey's blog. And even then, she did not post all of the pictures. Aubrey and Patrick have been together for a month now, and we can already see the joy that he brings to our Aubrey Lynn. He has a personality that compliments Aubrey. And he does treat her the way she needs to be treated, like a princess. We wish nothing but the best for aubrey and patrick.

Wow! It has been a long time since posting anything on the blog! Sorry, Aubrey -- I am not the best at this! We are a busy family, as you can see, by reading my other girls' blogs! To update you from Lakeside, we just had a massive snowstorm that has kept our younger children (Donny and Hannah) out of school over a week! The roads are clear enough (mostly) now for people to travel, but the new junior high and middle school built on Porter Mountain road was flooded! The building sits in a big meadow, that thirty years ago held quite a bit of water. I guess no one discussed the possibility that this meadow would have flooding problems again! At any rate, today the kids could not go to school because the school is flooded. The parking lots had about 3 feet of snow, and staff is there now trying to clean up the mess! Of course, Donny and Hannah are not too unhappy about it! Rumor has it that part of spring break will be cut to accommodate their days off, but our governor declared a 'state of emergency' for our area so they can miss a few more days than normal.

Our family left the mountain last Thursday in the middle of the storm to go to Tempe for Donny's wrestling tournament. We travelled through snow and rain, but the roads were good. Donny did a great job at the tourney, winning 4 of his 6 matches! We were very proud of him!

We enjoyed seeing Heidi, Reyn, and Royce, Aubrey and Amanda as well! It is always awesome to spend time together as a family! Heidi is a gracious hostess, and we appreciate being able to stay at her house as well! Now we are lucky enough to have two places to stay -- with Amanda and Aubrey's apartment as another option.

All firefighters were called in, but Jim missed that emergency as we were in the valley. We travelled back Saturday night, so that he could report yesterday at the department for duty. He called us after church to tell us that they needed volunteers to help fill sandbags to prevent flooding of some of the reservation homes. Donny, Hannah, and I went to Whiteriver for several hours and helped to fill bags, tie them, and stack them -- to be used in Cibecue, Carrizo, and Whiteriver. These communities expect massive flooding because of the snowfall. Already their creeks are swelling. Jim had called our bishop Sunday afternoon, and the bishop asked for all available help in our ward. What a wonderful surprise to have so many people show up in Whiteriver! I had Donny, his friend Taylor, Hannah, A.J., myself; then Bishop and at least 15 others come and fill sand bags. Over a thousand bags were filled in a short amount of time! It was so appreciated! Today the tribe's public works dept. will transport the bags to the areas that need it most.

I am thankful that we are protected and safe thus far, and that we are not dealing with flooding at our own home!

And, the picture of Amanda, Donny, and Hannah is just for entertainment!

Wow.. another long time before I decided to write again. So much has happened in the last few months, let me see...
Heidi keeps up on her blog, so you can always check to see what she is up to. I just want to say that she is a great mom to her baby! He is a happy, healthy, smart little guy! It's hard to believe that he is almost a year old now! We love their family so much!
Aubrey continues to work for one of our doctors up here. She has so much responsibility; it has been fun to watch her evolve in this job -- from simple tasks to running the whole office. I am so proud of her too! She is beautiful, artistic, funny, and deserving of great things!
Amanda graduated in May, and we have spent the summer getting her in to college in Mesa. She
starts August 24th at MCC. She moved into her condo in Mesa yesterday. As of today, she still hadn't met her roommates! I am so proud of her; she is so brave. It sounds like she can transfer her job down to the Mesa store -- that's a big relief for her as well. I will miss having her on the mountain, but I know she will do well!
Donny starts school on August 6th, (Thursday), and I am not ready for my kids to be back in school. He just got back from scout camp, and I think he had a great time! I really missed him this last week. He is so helpful to me, and he is fun to have around. He is playing soccer and football again this year, so he will be busy I'm sure!
And Hannah -- my youngest -- she will be starting 6th grade! It's hard for me to see her and Donny growing up ; they have always been my "babies"! She just went to the school to help her teacher from last year with last-minute preparations in the classroom. She had a good time -- Ms. Jackson was a great teacher for her. She is a bit nervous to start 6th grade, because both of her best friends are in different classes. I'm sure they will survive, but things will be a little different. I am proud of her, and I know she will do great!
Jim is still at the fire department; he is a good captain and a HUGE asset to his department! He does so much for them; he is a dedicated employee and firefighter for their district. He has helped them with repairs at the station, and the new construction on their admin. building. He continues to lead the department and help others to succeed.

Wow -- time continues to fly by! We have another senior in high school, getting ready to graduate and to go to college! Amanda graduates May 21, 2009 from Blue Ridge High School!

We are so proud of her -- she has worked to get to this point. She has been attending our community college as well, and should have acquired her CNA (certified nurse's aide) by the time she graduates. She has been accepted at ASU, and we are working on getting the money together so she can attend in August. She will be looking for a place to live, either on or off campus, and a job to work part-time. There is a lot to do to help her get there! It will be exciting to get her to college and to the valley; she has always been independent and I think she will do great there! And she will be able to visit Heidi more often as she will live in Mesa/Tempe.

Here is a picture of her with one of her good friends, John, for one of her dances last year. When I get her senior pictures I will post one on the blog.

Our other kids are doing great too! Aubrey is busy with a pretty important and VERY STRESSFUL job: managing her doctor's practice. She started out answering phones and making appointments just over a year ago -- because she is a hard worker and trustworthy and nice to the patients she has continued to be promoted! We are proud of her too -- she continues to work hard and wait for her missionary -- then we'll see!

Donny is running track this year, something new for him. He is part of the 400 relay team, and they are most definitely the number one team of any junior high they compete with. They are doing great! He is also in high jump, long jump, the 200, and 400 races. He is really fast! He is doing good in academics as well -- he has a great grade in Spanish! He seems to understand the words and conversation; he converses with me in Spanish at least once a day. Today he went to Flagstaff on a Scout overnighter; it is COLD up there and I worry about him - but I'm sure he will be fine. He is a fine priesthood holder, and I am proud of him too.

And Hannah -- what a gal! She is involved in her school's talent show -- with a song and skit that she wrote! She is very willing to perform in front of her whole school, and she does a good job! She is very smart; she tutors other children in her class and is very helpful to her teacher. She helps me at home as well. She just finished playing basketball and seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Thanks to her brother and practicing at home she scored quite a few points in the the season!

Jim continues to serve as captain at White Mountain Apache Fire & Rescue. Despite their financial struggles, they have really good firefighters and they know how to fight fire too! They had 7 structures in 6 days; sometimes they have a "run" of fires. Today they fought a brush fire in the Whiteriver area. He does a great job with his crew; they work well together! I think rope rescue is his favorite thing, and he gets plenty of practice!

Aubrey's new blog

Which is....

www.makinsweetmemories.blogspot.com


if you want to be invited to the private blog, just leave your e-mail address and then we will delete it once she adds you.

but yes, her blog is now private.

As you can see, my grandson continues to grow. Heidi has a bunch of wonderful pictures on her blog -- I just want to post my current favorite. Royce has a funny personality, and he is a lot of fun these days!

We don't get to see him as much as we would like to, but take full advantage of holding him and talking with him when we do get to see him!

Heidi and Reyn are terrific parents; again they set the most wonderful example for the other kids. We are really proud of them!

This picture is from a body recovery Jim had to do last Sunday, in the Salt River Canyon. Unfortunately, the body he recovered is my good friend's husband. He drove over the side of one of the cliffs (accidently). It has been very sad for her and her family. I am so proud of Jim and the work he does! He had to rappell (?) down 450 feet to get to the car, and stabilize the car before the body could be extricated. He had three other firefighters with him, and they did a fantastic job of bringing the body up to a place where a DPS helicopter could load him. They had to haul about 300 lbs of equipment down the side of that steep mountain, and haul it back up. You have to be in real good shape to be able to do that! It was a dangerous job for sure, and I know that only professionals could handle what they had to do. They had to use extrication tools to pull the roof off the car to get his body out. White Mountain Apache Fire & Rescue - Technical Rescue Team did a great work, and my friend is so grateful for them.