Guess what happens next...?

It's a M I R A C L E !! Nothing happened...he made it home in one piece!

C R E A T E

There is a video by Dieter Uchtdorf, a member of the twelve apostles for our church, entitled CREATE. I will share this with this post in case you haven't seen it.



It always lifts my spirit and soothes my soul. I experienced that again today.

Gracie received a Christmas gift from her Grandma Vasher that was a scrapbook kit. She has wanted to make her own scrapbook since that time and I have been saying no not today, not today - the mess it would make once she started. Today was the day. She found some pictures and sat down and got busy. She had the spirit of creativity and her joy was infectious. She created the most beautiful scrapbook complete with contrasting papers and embellishment. She is so proud of her creation. And she should be.

Her joy brought me joy. My heart is happy. She has a bounce in her step. All seven year olds should always have a bounce in their step. So should 46 year olds.

Hey old man!

Happy (early) Birthday to Andy!

We whisked away on a little getaway -it has been a while since we had a getaway. We drove to San Jose Tuesday evening after work and landed in all the twinkling lights of Las Vegas.

We saw some great shows and had some great food. We saw Terry Fator at the Mirage on the recommendation of Kyle - "mom, he won America's Got Talent!" He was great and super funny. I had a side show with the lady at the end of our row. She had a little to0 much to drink and tripped up the stairs when she left and then stood with all those who had served in the military. When her friend asked why she was standing, she said "I don't know, everyone else is". We laughed pretty hard and all we had was a Diet Coke and a pretzel.

We were lucky enough to snag some tickets to the Jersey Boys at the Palazzo. The show was fantabulous. The language was harsh, but we were stuck in seat 32 and 33 with no where to go. We stomached the first bit of rough language and then it was fine. I think we represented the average age of attendees, which made me feel a bit old. The music was fabulous and the play was great!

We had our fill of Gonzalez y Gonzalez, cold stone and Krispy Kreme. Thanks Andy for a great few days! Ready to take on this last semester of school and Kyle's senior year!

How did THIS happen?

I am sitting here wondering how this happened? If you know my family at all, it is as if we have two families - the first four children and then phase II. The first baby of the family - Kyle - is going to be a senior this year. I dropped him off at the airport (really, slowed down and kicked him out of the car) to spend two weeks with strangers playing basketball. He is flying to Salt Lake City today to practice with the Utah Pump n Run team before they all head to Las Vegas for the Adidas 64 tournament next week. Alli (the oldest of phase I, really the oldest of them all) is picking Kyle up at the airport and taxiing him all around this weekend just like a real grown up too (she better be, she is having her second baby in just a few weeks). Kyle will then fly to Los Angeles to play in the best of the summer Pump brothers tournament. Two weeks without his mom - again! This is the second time this summer he has been gone for two weeks. The baby of my first phase is all grown up! *sniff*

The oldest child of phase II is downstaird watching season of "Chuck" while the real baby of the family (Grace) is cleaning the back family room. Whoa - what happened!

Catching up

Take a seat and get caught up in the lives of our family. This is as far as I can get today! I will catch up on our trip to Arizona and Joey's updates soon!

4th of July - Utah style

The 4th of July was a great, fun, marvelous day!

Nate, Liesel and Kendyl ready for the fireworks extravaganza!

Just burn those marshmallows!!! It's faster that way.

Fireworks extravaganza courtesy of Uncle Gary (producer)
Nathan Abbott and Kyle Vasher (directors)

This is a great show! I give it 5 stars!

We love Uncle Gary's new fire pit - don't we?


Ohhhhh, roast those marshmallows - then s'mores

Aunt Gracie and Katie - remember when Gracie didn't want to be an aunt?

Uncle Matthew saves the day!

The old man still has it - playing horse.

A friendly game of horse begins.

Kendyl likes her taco time!

Katie's turn to sleep through some fun - at the parade! I think this is where the onion festival float came through (hehe Mr. Francom)

Kyle trying a Katie smile.

Not sure what this pose is.

200,000 here - and all to see us.

Hey look - there is someone we know! Hi Lindsey, Kanyon and Christian.

Waiting for the parade to start! Look at those firecrackers!

Utah Day 2

Day 2 (for me) in Utah

We spent the day at Seven Peaks water park. I don't have a lot of pictures because I was having so much fun playing in the water and getting kicked in the head by Kyle as we went down the slides. It was a great day! When we were done, we completed the great day with some great pizza at the motel and a little bit more swimming.

Kyle is a bit disoriented after his turn down the freefall
Gracie, Katie and Kyle T. take a minute to regroup before heading back into the water.

Ta Da! I am not sinking with this thing on - let's get going!

If you look right in the middle you can see Gracie's blue life jacket and Alli and Kyle T.

Grandpa hasn't lost his touch.

So far so good for Kendy's first waterpark experience.

Off to Utah...

Utah - Day 1

Mmmmm - need I say more? Can you ever really have too many rolls with cinnamon butter?

Gracie gets her first beauty salon haircut - fixit after Mom cut it...oops..isn't she cute?

Kyle - Camp MVP! Congratulations!

Matt's team with their age group championship!! Congratulations!

A walk on the wild side in San Diego at the AWHONN convention

AWHONN stands for the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. This is our standard setting organization for nursing. It was a fantastic conference as we listened to and learned from the greats in obstetric nursing. It was inspiring, motivational and reminded us all why we do what we do - and that we LOVE it!

It was great to go and get to know our new director, Pat, and spend time with all of my closest friends - thanks everyone! We had a great time and I will remember always!

Group picture - that lion looks scary - at least to Michelle and Mashell.

At the president's reception - a walk on the wild side. Kyle is mortified that I was actually on the dance floor - sheesh...

Me and former boss - the wonderful Michelle G.

Me and my poster at the start of the presentation time.

Me and my two great friends - thanks for coming! We had a blast!

Getting to where we are going.

Letty, me and Mashell at the first day of the conference.

Me and Letty down by the water...don't know what the area is called - it isn't a boardwalk, it isn't a pier - but it is where the cruise ships dock...

Pat and Letty in little Italy of San Diego - looking for some food.