Church Service Project: Mulch

We got to help spread mulch around trees and bushes at the church in November.  It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.

Frank - Ready to spread some mulch!

The missionaries helped out too (Peterson & Delgado).

 

 

Mikayla working hard...

Donovan and Ashley getting busy...

PJ (wheelbarrow) with Elders Eversole (Left) and Kilpenlainen (Right).

Left to Right: Elder Peterson, Eileen, Elder Kilpenainen (behind), Frank, PJ, Elder Eversole, Liz & Megan.

PJ ready for a ride!

Donovan did some work, but he had a lot of fun too. That's Elder Delgado also climbing the tree.

Donovan loves to climb trees...

Liz and Megan - it doesn't look like it, but they actually got a lot of work done too :-).

The Sister Missionaries getting some Service in (LtoR: Snoddy, Penrose & Leavitt).

VIDEO (PJ getting a wheelbarrow ride):

Spreading Mulch at the Church from Shayne Nolden on Vimeo.

The Amazing Frank

So, on Facebook, everyone is listing something they are grateful for every day until Thanksgiving.  Below you will see one of my contributions.  I liked it so much I wanted to keep it on the blog for all to see .

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Today I am grateful for my AMAZING husband.  He is the most kind, patient, understanding person I know….one of the most Christ-like people I know…and he inspires me to be a better person EVERY DAY.

Frank is intelligent and a hard worker…he is definitely self-motivated…he accomplishes everything he sets out to do and does everything to the best of his ability.  He has natural leadership abilities.  He is an incredible employee and if you were an HR Manager…you would want ALL of your employees to be just like him . 

I COMPLETELY trust and RESPECT Frank…he gives me no reason not to.

He is an awesome Dad that brings a calm and peace to our home that is missing when he is gone.  He sees the great potential in our kids and works daily to help them achieve that through patience and kindness.

Frank is frugal, but not cheap …a great combination.  He is smart with money…which is a blessing.

Frank is one of those people that is NEVER down…he is perpetually “UP” and even when he thinks he is having a “down” day he is positive and kind.

Frank is the kind of spouse that ALWAYS has MY best interest in mind…not his.  He takes such good care of me!!

I hope that all of our kids can find a spouse just like him.

WOW…how did I get so blessed?????!!!!!  I am one lucky girl!!! 

Family Portraits

We have haven’t had family photos taken for 2 years now…and everyone was starting to look sooooo young in our old one…so, we took care of that in August when Cody was visiting from BYU.

I really wanted to do one of those cool outdoor photo shoots where everyone is lounging in the grass and standing on some old bridge or something…but it didn’t quite work out the way I planned for different reasons.  But I think they still turned out pretty good.

Left to Right: Cody (23), Mikayla (13), Shayne, Ashley (10), Megan (14), Donovan (9), Frank, PJ (11), Liz (16).

Back Row: PJ (11), Mikayla (13), Ashley (10). Middle Row: Liz (16), Cody (23), Megan (14). Front Row: Donovan (9), Shayne & Frank.

Left to Right: Megan (14), Mikayla (13), Shayne, Ashley (10), and Liz (16).

Left to Right: Cody (23), Frank, Donovan (9), and PJ (11).

Cody, Age 23

Cody, Age 23

Cody, Age 23

Cody, Age 23

Liz, Age 16

Liz, Age 16

Liz, Age 16

Liz, Age 16

Liz was our hair and fashion consultant in between takes. The photographer caught her at work.

Megan, Age 14

Megan, Age 14

Megan, Age 14

Megan, Age 14

Mikayla, Age 13

Mikayla, Age 13

Mikayla, Age 13 ****If you don't see photos of PJ below, be sure to click on the arrow or the "2" below (1 2 >) to see more family portraits****

Mikayla, Age 13

PJ, Age 11

PJ, Age 11

PJ, Age 11

PJ, Age 11

Ashley, Age 10

Ashley, Age 10

Ashley, Age 10

Ashley, Age 10

Donovan, Age 9

Donovan, Age 9

Donovan, Age 9

Donovan, Age 9

Frank and Shayne

Frank and Shayne

Frank

Shayne

Most Recent Entries

I did a HUGE “Blog Update” this time and all of the NEW entries don’t show up on the sidebar to the right where it says “Recent Posts.”   You will probably see most of them if you scroll down below here, but may miss some at the bottom if you don’t click on “Previous Page.”

So, here are links to EVERYTHING that is NEW as of today:

1.  Halloween 2009
2.  The Church Halloween Party
3.  Carving Pumpkins with the Missionaries
4.  What’s Up with Cody
5.  Megan Turns 15
6.  October Happenings
7.  Donovan – Botanical Garden Field Trip
8.   High School Spirit Week
9.   Sunday Family Walk
10.  South Carolina Temple Trip
11.  PJ Gets the Priesthood
12.  PJ turns 12!!!
13.  September ’09 Happenings
14.  Liz’s 17th Birthday!!!
15.  Ashley in School Talent Show
16.   Hanging out on Sunday Afternoon
17.  Megan Plays Volleyball

Halloween 2009

We LOVE Halloween at our house.  Here’s the gang dressed up for 2009…

Above: LtoR - Donovan, PJ, Seth, Frank, Shayne, Megan, Mikayla, Hannah, Liz, Ashley.

 

 

Above: Liz was "The Queen of Everything"

Above: Mikayla and Megan got their outfit from the kids book, "A Bad Case of the Stripes." Mikayla was the kid with stripes and Megan was the doctor treating her. Megan's friend Melissa was a nurse and trick-or-treated with us later.

above: PJ was a too scary...I regret letting him have this costume now.

Above: Ashley was a zombie again...she always goes all out.

Above: Donovan had a great outfit planned, but at the last minute decided to throw this ensemble together....he wasn't even sure what it was.

Above: Seth (cousin) was a soldier

Above: Hannah (cousin) was a Falcon's cheerleader

Above: Frank and Shayne went as Mustard and Ketchup this year. I told everyone it was because he was my "main squeeze" :-). Frank said it was because he was always trying to "Ketchup" to me.

The Church Halloween Party

We had Trunk-or-Treat at the church again this year.  We were excited because we won best decorated trunk AND best carved pumpkin…Woot Woot!

Above: Frank (mustard) and Shayne (ketchup) manning the trunk.

Above: Sandi getting Hannah ready to trunk-or-treat.

Above: PJ money bags

Above: It's a little fuzzy...but this was the festivities going on after it started raining on our trunk-or-treat.

Above: Hannah Banana

Above: More playing (Donovan and Ashley)

Above: PJ and his balloon.

Above: Donovan and Seth...finally, we can tell them apart.

Above: Shayne got a lot of dancing in running the cake walk.

Carving Pumpkins with the Missionaries

The kids had a blast the other day when the missionaries teamed up with them to carve pumpkins for Halloween…

Above: Working hard on their creations...

Above: Megan with Sister Leavitt

Above: PJ with Elder Kilpelainen...they were practicing smiling with no teeth showing...

Above: Mikayla with Elder Peterson

Above: Liz with Sister Snoddy

Above: Donovan with Elder Lee

Above: Ashley with Sister Penrose.

Above: Liz and Sister Snoddy came up with a spiritual pumpkin - CTR (which stands for "Choose The Right")

Above: PJ and Elder Kilpelainen did the most abstract pumpkin. We are all still scratching our heads over this one :-). It's "Mullet-Man." You can see the nose and mouth off to the left...with the mullet flowing off into the other direction. hehehehehe

Above: Ashley and Sister Penrose went for straight traditional...

Above: Mikayla and Elder Peterson went with "Traditional - with a little flare."

Above: Megan and Sister Leavitt made a Frog. You can see the tongue and it's legs (on the side).

Above: We all had to admit that Elder Lee's pumpkin was the most impressive. He was huddled over in the corner the whole time and came out with a masterpiece. He carved BYU with the BYU Cougar mascot in the middle. Wow. I think he has done this before!

Above: Elder Lee's creation lit up.

What’s Up with Cody….

Cody is doing amazingly well at BYU…studying/working hard…but also having a lot of fun:

Above: This is Cody with a group of friends this summer at the Manti Temple in Manti, Utah. They drove down from BYU for the pageant.

Above: This is a cool photo Cody took of a double Rainbow over the "Y" at BYU.

Above: Cody had a fun Halloween-theme group date recently. He took a girl named Whitney.

 

Above: Cody and Whitney.

 

Above: Cody and Whitney.

Above: The party group...

 

Megan Turns 15!!!!

I can’t believe Megan is 15 now!!!  Megan’s birthday is on Halloween…and now she can get her driving permit…which means we will have two teenaged drivers in the house…now, that’s scary!!

Megan and her "cake." She wanted Pumpkin Bars instead of a regular cake. They are soooo good!!!

Above: I think Megan liked her gifts. (Hannah and Aunt Sandi in the background)

Above: Megan has decided that she wants to go to BYU for college...she got a few items of BYU clothing.

 

Above: Cute hat...

Megan Blowing out the Birthday Candles from Shayne Nolden on Vimeo.

October Happenings…

Here are some other things we did in October…

Above: We went to see the movie "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs" (cute movie)...and had to get a photo in front of the 2012 poster...

Above: Liz has dreams of FAME!!!

Above: Megan made these cute "Orange Pumpkins" filled with ice cream for the missionaries when they came over to dinner in October.

Above: The Elders enjoying their treat. (LtoR: Kilpelainen, Lee, Peterson).

Above: The newest group of Missionaries LtoR: Kilpelainen, Peterson, Lee, Goodrich, Snoddy, & Leavitt.

Above: Shayne, just before church...Liz had used the straightener to curl her hair...is that an oxymoron?

Above: Megan woke up on her 15th birthday excited to go take the test to get her driving permit! Then she realized she hadn't gotten her attendance report from school...which is required to take the test...and it was Saturday! Bummer!!!

Above: Megan is in the basement and gets to paint her ceiling tiles to release some of her creative energy!