NEW BLOG FOR THE NOLDENS!!!

Wow…we’ve got a whole new look and even a new address for our Family Blog. 

Cody, our son and website specialist, is now hosting our family site on his server, and has helped me migrate away from Blogspot to start using WordPress…a little bit more sophisticated “self-hosted blogging tool.”  Now, we can get a little bit more fancy if/when we want to since Cody knows the Ins and Outs of web design.

Check it all out and give me feedback if you have any suggestions, problems with viewing anything (like videos), or if you just want to say you like it.

Thanks,
Shayne

Church Luau

Our Activities committee has been working on this party for months and the work paid off…it was a GREAT time!  We had a huge (polynesian) potluck dinner and then polynesian entertainment…mostly by members of the ward who had been practicing dances all summer long.

 NOTE 1:  Check out the dance videos at the end!

NOTE 2:  My camera stinks when I am doing distance and the lighting isn’t that good…so some of the photos aren’t that great.

Above: Donovan getting ready to party.

Above: Megan and her friend Kanise.

Above: Ashley and her friend Ramsey.

Above: Elder Mundt couldn't quite figure out how to wear the lei.

Above: Donovan went a little crazy with the self decorating :-).

Above: Liz trying to get Donovan to hold still for a photo.

Above: My favorite girl Kadison and me.

Above: Kadison again...she's so cute!

Above: Liz with Kallie (Kadison's sister).

Above: Breonna, Eileen & Mikayla.

Above: Bishop Buck getting into the spirit of things.

 

Above: The Young Women that spent the summer practicing their dances...they did great.

Above: The Relief Society women and their dance...very impressive!

Above: Everyone got in on the action on a few dances. You can see Megan and Kanise in the background on the right.

 

Above: The Elders doing a "Slap Dance." Check out the video below!

Above: Breonna and Mikayla all decorated.

 

VIDEO #1: 

THE ELDERS DOING THE SLAP DANCE!

VIDEO #2:

 THE PRIMARY GIRLS DOING “TINY BUBBLES”

VIDEO #3:

THE YOUNG WOMEN’S DANCE

VIDEO #4:

THE RELIEF SOCIETY DANCE

VIDEO #5:

THE MEN DANCING

VIDEO #6:

HITOMI LEADING A SONG

VIDEO #7:

THE FINALE – GOTTA WATCH!

Frank’s Birthday

Another year…a little older.  It happens to the best of us…just ask Frank.

Above: The big party for Frank. Sandi, Larry, Seth and Hannah joined us for a BBQ, cake and ice cream and some presents. Cody was home from college still and Christie Browne was visiting from Utah too...so we had a great big partay!

Above: Hannah, Megan & Christie

 

Above: We dared only put a portion of the candles on...we needed to comply with local fire codes :-).

Above: Gotta love Georgia!

Above: Oh, yeah...a Braves tie!

Above: A large BD Card from Grandma Browne.

 

Above: The missionaries dropped by later to bring Frank a birthday gift.

Above: Elders Lee (Utah) and Kilpelainen (CA)...they're awesome.

Above: They brought him a little tree with (DARK) chocolate-dipped strawberries!

Above: Elder Kilpelainen...what is that evil look??!! :-)

Above: Christie

VIDEO!! Click on the link below to see Frank and the large card from Grandma Browne!

Frank opening his Large Card from Grandma Browne

Misc. August 09 Events

Despite the fact that school started on August 3rd, we’ve still managed to have some fun in August.  Check it out…

Note:  There are 3 Videos at the bottom of the post.
Note:  There are 2 pages to this post.  Click on the Arrow after the last photo to see more.

Above: This was Donovan's 1st time at getting to help mow the lawn.

Above: He wasn't so sure about it.

Above: Megan ran for VP of her Freshman Class this month. She didn't end up winning, but it was a really good experience for her. This is the family pitching in to help fill goodie bags to hand out the week of elections. The slogan on them said: "I am bribing you for your vote. If you want Honesty...vote Megan Searles."

Above: Another shot of the family at work.

Above: This is Mikayla on the 4-wheeler out in our backyard. We have made a couple more trails out through the woods to make it more fun.

Above: Frank had just spent a couple of hours working on a new trail here. The kids were trying it out.

Above: There was a church dance in August with a Decades theme. The kids could dress up in the clothes of one of the recent decades. The 80's are always fun to imitate, so.... (L to R: Dane, Megan, Liz & Laura)

Above: Liz in her 80's getup. I don't remember looking like that in the 80's!!

Above: Liz and Laura...showing off Liz's makeup skills.

Above: Dane, Megan, Liz & Laura

Above: Christy Browne visited our family for a week in August. It was fun having her around.

Above: Liz and Christy

Above: Christy and Megan

Above: Cody

Above: Cody and Liz being silly.

Above: Liz is one funny girl!

Above: Liz is getting better and better at cutting hair. We can't wait until she gets training and can do cool stuff for all of us.

Above: The after photo (Megan)

Above: We are still having fun with our new puppy Sophie. We just wish she would get the potty training stuff worked out quick.

Above: Sophie's 1st bath (Cody and Ashley).

Above: After Sophie's bath...with PJ.

Above: What would we do without Liz???

Above: She's so cute!

VIDEO #1: Click on the LINK below to watch Donovan riding the 4-wheeler.  This is Donovan trying out the new trail that we made.  We had a hard time getting through this dip our first year here…but we finally decided to level out the edges and now we can go through it and further out into the forest.  Notice how brave he is at first and then he gets a little bit intimidated by the end (it gets kind of narrow by the creek). 

DONOVAN RIDING THE NEW TRAIL

VIDEO #2:   Click on the link below to see PJ, Cody and Liz posing for what they THOUGHT was a photo, but turned out to be video instead (I thought I was taking a photo too at first).

PJ, CODY AND LIZ HAVING FUN

VIDEO #3:   Click on the link below to see us having fun with Sophie.

FUN WITH SOPHIE

Blue Willow Inn with Cody & Christy

It’s fun to take visitors to The Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle for some good “down-home Southern Cookin’.”

Above: Shayne, Frank, Cody & Christy.

Above: Cody and Christy in front of The Blue Willow Inn.

 

Above: We were all soooo full after dinner...we decided to take a walk around the quaint little town to make us feel better. It is really beautiful and peaceful there...rural Georgia at it's best.

Above: Cody and Christy in front of the well where it all started..."Social Circle."

Above: Frank and Shayne

Above: Gotta watch out for slow children!!

Above: We thought this was funny. It was an empty building...the no drugs, no surgery thing must not've worked out.

Above: It thought my Monticello buddies would like this. There is a Monticello Georgia about an hour from where I live...we see the signs all of the time...it is weird.

Another BBQ with the Nolden Family

Grandma and Grandpa Noldenvisited in early August…so, of course, that called for a family BBQ!!

Above: Mikayla holding Sophie.

Above: Mikayla and Grandma with Sophie.

Above: Liz with Aunt Sandi.

Above: Liz and Grandpa.

Above: Frank with his parents.

Above: Grandpa Nolden

Above: The master BBQer.

Above: Sister and Brother...at it again ;-).

Above: Sandi, "The paparrazi are everywhere!!" Liz taking her photo through the door.

Above: Larry...it can't be THAT bad ;-).

Above: Almost ready to eat.

Above: Sandi let Liz practice her Makeup Artistry on her...she looked beautiful!

Above: Close-up on the eyeshadow...

Above: Let the feasting begin...

Above: Liz can't miss a photo op...

Above: AAAWWWWW...Sandi just has a way with animals.

Above: Megan and Grandma Nolden deep in conversation.

Cody and Eric were there…I promise…they were just a little late for dinner because they went to downtown ATL to visit Coke World…so they missed out on all of the pictures.

Cody and Eric at Stone Mountain

Cody got to visit for a couple of weeks in August!  He’s always a lot of fun to have around.  His childhood friend, and now BYU roommate, Eric, also was able to visit for a few days while Cody was here.   They got to visit Stone Mountain for the first time while they were here.

Above: Cody and Eric in front of Stone Mountain.

Above: Cody and Eric riding the tram to the top of Stone Mountain.

Above: Cody and Eric taking in the 4D movie.

Above: Cody and Eric on top of Stone Mountain with the city of Atlanta in the distance.

Above: Looking out from the Visitor's Center at the top of Stone Mountain.

 

Liz and the Paint War

Our Stake Center (or regional church meeting place) is up in Gwinnett County (we define location by county down here in “The South” )…a 30-40 minute drive from where we are. There is a large congregation of LDS youth up there and Liz hangs out with them whenever she can. Before school started they had a Priest and Laurel “PAINT WAR.” They obviously had a LOT of fun…check it out:

The Crew BEFORE the War.

The Crew DURING the War.

The Crew AFTER the War.

Liz helping a fellow soldier.

Liz and friends...

Young Women Camp 2009

Liz, Megan and Mikayla got to go to Young Women Camp in July.  They do Stake Camp every year here.   It was held at a local camp facility where they had cabins for the girls, a swimming pool and a dining hall….no roughing it this year . 

They all seemed to have a great time.  Liz was a YCL (Youth Camp Leader) for the first time this year.  It was a medical theme:  ER – Eternal Rewards.

For those of you that don’t know…every year our church puts on a week-long camp for the girls that are ages 12-18.  It is done regionally.  The goal is for the girls to have fun but also to have a spiritual experience.

Above: Liz (back center) with other girls from our ward.

Above: Liz (center) with Kaley & Kadison.

Above: More of Liz being a YCL.

Above: Liz and her YCL friends looking at a very interesting bug or something...

Above: Liz is always doing someone's hair...she's good at it...it's one of her talents.

Above: Our awesome, fearless Girl's Camp leaders: Betsy & Hitomi.

Above: One of the camp activities.

Above: The girls getting inot the activity. That's Megan in the stripes.

Above: Mikayla and friends in the dining hall.

Above: Hanging out in the cabin (Mikayla laying down and Megain in stripes).

Above: More hanging out in the cabin.

Above: They had a cool water slide for the girls. This is Mikayla getting ready to go down the slide.

Above: The water slide.

Above: Mikayla and her friend Janna canoeing.

Above: Mikayla and Janna riding a paddleboat.

Above: Megan & Eileen doing the paddleboat.

Above: Mikayla and friends in the pool.

Above: Liz and her YCL buddies.

Above: Hitomi (middle in the white) and the Buck girls (Lydia, Ferree, & Sariah) getting ready to head home.

Meet Sophie (our puppy)…

OK…so Frank and I were NOT too excited about getting a dog. We had decided that we wouldn’t get another one for various reasons. But most of the kids wanted one SOOOOOOOOO badly that we finally caved in and got one. We realize the benefits that come from the kids learning to take care of something dependent on them and all that good stuff….soooo….

We actually spent a lot of the summer going to the pound to find that dog that we couldn’t live without. It’s so heartbreaking to go there and see all of the sad dogs and cats that want to go home with you. Unfortunately, we could only save one…and what we found was SOPHIE. They speculate that she is probably a mixture of lab and hound dog. It will be interesting to see how she grows up and how LARGE she gets . She is terribly cute!

Above: Hi, Sophie!!

Above: …lounging in the grass (that needs to be cut very badly).

Above: …and lounging in her little bed…

Above: Ashley and Sophie. She loves to nibble…we need to break her from that habit really quick. It’s cute now…but soon I’m sure it will be a problem.

Above: Donovan with Sophie. They have had a ton of fun with her already. It makes it worth it to see how happy it makes them all.

Above: We couldn’t find Sophie anywhere…we have to keep tabs on her since we are still “potty-training” her. So, we found her completely asleep on a huge stuffed animal the kids gave to her to play with. She’s still very much a puppy and plays hard for a while and then sleeps quite a bit…just not enough at nighttime yet.

Above: Sophie asleep on PJ’s lap.

Above: VIDEO ALERT!! See Sophie in Action….

Above: All of this playing is making me TIRED!