2nd Annual Rencher Invitational

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MITCH!
For Mitch's Birthday we held the 2nd Annual Rencher Invitational at Lakeside Golf Course. It was a blast! We had about 35 participants. Thank you everyone for coming! It really is such a treat for Mitch to share his favorite activity with his favorite people.

Ben was excited for the tournament to begin. He loves golf with his Daddy!

Of Course Mitch brought Mr Dabbles & Mr Elephant for good luck.
(This was Mitch's second round of golf for the day)Kelli with her handsome caddies.
Seth literally took one for the team. Andrew's ball seemed to have a fatal attraction to him. OUCH!

This is what we like to call "open face".

The Three St00ges themselves.

Nice address, Woody! Classic form!

The serious golfer and his lovely wife, Sara

The other half of the Serious Foursome - Cherie & Allison

The Anderson/Bingham clan.

Doesn't this photo make you feel like Levi is about to break into song at any minute?

Mrs. Prego & Mrs. Leggs & their husbands.

The Dream Team!

And last, but not least, the winners!

(Don't tell, but I rigged the teams -I may be blonde, but I stil know how to win!) We can't forget our spectators!

After the tournament we had Salmon dinner, cake & ice cream at Cherie's house.

What a birthday! We love you Mitch!

The next day we cheered on the runners for the Centerville 5k Freedom Run.

And how can you celebrate the 4th without watching the parade! Cute Lauren was the star of the show!

But take a closer look and you can see how great Jenn's reaction was to Lauren's Debut.

Son of a Mitch

Father's Day was especially fun this year now that Mitch is a father. When I was pregnant, Mitch would make up names for Ben since we weren't sure what his name would be exactly. One of which was the "Son of a Mitch". Ben is very lucky to be the "Son of a Mitch" (Mitch's phrase, of course). There are a few characteristics that Ben & Mitch share:

- Ben has his dad's olive skin color.

- Ben has his dad's easy-going temperment.

- Ben sleeps like his dad - once he's asleep, a train coming through the house wouldn't wake him up.

- Ben bites on his toungue like his daddy.

- Ben sweats like his dad - I had no idea babies had the capacity to sweat as much as adults, but Ben has shown me otherwise.

- Ben is very social. He loves to be with people. Whenever he is in a room full of people he is generally very content. Whenever we are home alone, he seems to be a little more fussy. He just loves to be social, just like his dad!

- And last, but not least, Ben & his dad are the best things that ever happened to me!

Mitch can barely leave the house in the morning because he loves spending time with his little guy. Nobody can get Ben to laugh as hard as Mitch can and nobody can get Mitch to smile as much as Ben can. Even the very sound of his dad's voice makes Ben come to life. They have many fun memories ahead. I'm sure they will always be good pals. Thanks for being such a great daddy, Mitch! We sure love you!

SLOWING THINGS DOWN

My dad got a new toy . . . hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Memorial Weekend

When I was 5 years old we had Eric, an Indian Placement Student, come to live with us. Eric lived with us for so long that our family considers him another sibling. He was so much fun to be with. He was crazy & spontaneous - once he decided to just run up the mountain and he did - up to the very top of the one in front of our house. Another time he decided he wanted to ride his bike to Monument Valley from our house (a trip that would take 7 hours in the car). We loved having him in our family and I think he loved it too. Eric served in the Marines and served a mission in Antonio Texas. He decided to go back to the reservation in Monument Valley and learn more about his Navajo people. He was giving tours there and selling his hand-made Navajo jewelry with his birth family. A few years ago while he was working, he was struck by lightning and killed. Eric was buried on the reservation in the middle of the valley. As sad as it was to lose Eric so suddenly, I'm confident that if he could have chosen his exit from this life, lightning would have been it. We miss Eric so much that it's hard to think about it. But I know that we will see him again and that brings me great comfort. Because of the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I will see Eric, Tanner, Irv and all those I love again.

This year Logan decided that visiting Eric's graveside would be a great way to spend Memorial Weekend.

ARCHES
We visited Arches National Park on the way down. Ben was excited for the hike to Delicate Arch.

MONUMENT VALLEY
We spent Saturday in Monument Valley. The Navajos built a monument to Eric at the location he was struck by lightning.

Eric's grave didn't have a head stone, so the men built one from the stones they could fine near by. Eric was burried at the location he had planned to build his home. The site is stunning. Once we were finished fixing up the grave site, Logan talked to Eric's sisters & mother about how Eric's death helped him solidify his testimony of the Plan of Salvation and his love for the Savior. Logan was serving in Sweden on his mission when Eric passed away, so it was especially touching to hear his testimony and his love for Eric. We sang "Go My Son" at the grave side. We really do miss that crazy Indian and we love him so much. On the way home we visited Arches again and had lunch at Balance Rock.

Cookie Connoisseur?

I used to be a Cookie Connoisseur of sorts. My mom got me started at an early age. Almost every day after kindergarten, a couple friends and I would jump up on the kitchen counter and spread flour all over while we mixed the cookie dough. I became really quite good at baking them. I would use my cookies as payment for rides home from school and saying thanks for being taken to a dance etc. Once I talked a rental company into letting the Student Body Officers use a generator to light up the "V" for $30 rather than the $70 they normally charged just by offering my killer cookies.

Unfortunately, it seems I have lost my touch. My killer cookies have become cookies that could kill. The other day my brother in law and sister were coming over for dinner. I decided to make some of my "killer" cookies and they turned out to be more like oatmeal mush than oatmeal cookies. I decided to call my sister Mollie who is a bit of a Martha Stewart in the kitchen and get a better recipe. Here's how my second attempt turned out:

I called Mollie back and realized I had forgotten a very important ingredient: FLOUR!! I made the same recipe again and they turned out a little better.

Maybe now that I'm working at home I will get my cookies skills back up to par.

One Fish, Two Fish!

One Fish

Two FishRed Fish
Blue Fish!

Some have two feet

Some have four

And if we look hard, we might find more!

Some are mad

And some are glad

And some are very, very bad!
Why are they mad and glad and bad?
I do not know, go ask your dad!

Some are tall, some are small

And some look like a little doll!
Not one of them is like another.
Don't ask us why, go ask your mother!

(Strawberry Lake, May 7 2009)