Some Super Cute Kids

Here are some super cute pictures of my niece Stephanie and my nephew Heston. Stephanie just started her 1st day of 1st grade today. She loves school and reading so I know she is having a fabulous day. Heston starts kindergarten on Tuesday and is so looking forward to it. Oh my how time flies. I can still remember the day both of those kids were born. I am super lucky to be their aunt. Happy first day of school!!!!!

Stephanie Marie Coon Age 6
Heston Dennis Coon Age 5

Look! These two really do care about each other. I think Heston is excited for school so he can be like his older sister.

Here is Taunya with her kids Stephanie and Heston. What a cute new hairdo!

Tag...your it!

I have been tagged by my good friend Vanessa. Here's what I'm supposed to do: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts and then tag 5 other people.

Joys
1. My Family
2. Reading
3. The Outdoors

Fears
1. Losing another family member
2. Anything near my ears (First, thanks to an episode of Star Trek. Second, thanks to the girl who got a lady bug in her ear at Kamp Kenyon. Poor girl but scarred me for life.)
3. Speaking in Public (hate it)

Current Obsessions/Collections
1. Twilight Saga - I may be done reading it but can't stop talking about it. Anyone know of another good book?
2. Vegetables (love my dad's garden)
3. Olympics (mostly gymnastics and swimming)

Surprising Facts
1. I have performed at halftime for the Phoenix Suns (me too!)
2. I can load and shoot a musket
3. I once wore two different colored shoes to school (Not the time at Mesa Jr. for band - I mean on accident to college. Very stressful time.)

Five people I tag next are:
Jenny
Amanda
Anyone else that is reading and wants to participate.

Things I did this weekend...

1. I finished reading "Breaking Dawn". I was sad this was the last book in the Twighlight series but it had a great ending. For those of you that are not hooked yet watch out. Once you pick up the series you won't be getting much sleep.


2. I went on a date.


3. Payton, Amanda and I had a sleepover at my house Friday night. Since I ended my date early I called Amanda and had her bring Payton over. The sleepy little girl did not fall asleep until around 4 just to wake up at 8. As you can see below she looked tired but she wouldn't fall asleep.

3. Dad and I picked all the vegetables from the garden. We picked beans, peppers (bell and Anaheim), tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and more beans. Dad must have planted at least 20 green bean plants.

Dad and I had an audience. The goat had a front row seat.

This furry little bumble bee decided he had to be in the flower of whatever plant I was currently picking beans from.

4. I learned how to cook Chili Verde tonight although I used chicken instead of pork. It was a lot of fun. I roasted the Anaheim peppers and peeled off the skin. Once I did that I chopped them up and added them to the stove with the chicken and potatoes. It was so easy. With all the Anaheim peppers we picked, see below, we should have plenty to make this yummy recipe again.

5. I got Payton up Sunday morning at about 11. I thought she was being a little too quiet but thought she was just really tired from lack of sleep. She didn't sleep much at all the night before at my house. Oh no, she was being quiet because she was up to no good. Of course, being the great aunt I am, I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. I am surprise the pictures turned out. The camera was a little shaky from my laughing. Amanda on the other hand dove right in and got her in the bath. I think we all learned that her arms are longer then we thought. Time to move more things out of the reach from the crib.

6. I went and visited my new ward (it is actually a branch). I have been at my new house almost two months and decided it was time to give it a shot. It is a little closer to home which is nice but I will miss everyone at the old ward.

Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel

What an adventure I had. The Parley's 7th Ward, my singles ward, went on a pioneer trek. We did a rather "short" trek in comparison to the youth but that was just fine with me. We left on Friday August 1st and got home Saturday evening the 2nd. We trekked a total of 11 miles with 6 miles being walked the first day. I would say the first day was by far the hardest. There were a lot of hills to walk up. That alone would have been difficult but adding a couple hundred pounds with the handcart (think of the handcart plus all of our gear) made the task even more difficult. They saved the last hill for the best part although I didn't admit that it was the "best" part until it was over. We did what was called the "women's pull". For those of you that have never been on a trek this is the time when the men leave and the women pull in silence. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It was to represent when the saints were approached by the US government to fight in the Mexican American war. The men and their older sons only had moments to go before they were to leave their families. The women had to keep moving. Wow. What a humbling experience. It was the hardest for us physically but the men had a hard time with it emotionally. They told us we were inspiring. Hope you enjoy the pictures. You can click on the picture to enlarge.

"My Family"

Dana and ShannonTaking a rest
A Pioneer Game
Showing off the bloomers. Here we are. We made it!!!!

So Much to Do, So Little Time...

I am still part of the blogging world but I am just running a little short on time. Hopefully I will have a couple of new posts up with pictures in the next day or so. I have some really cute ones of my nieces and nephew plus some from the pioneer trek I went on with my singles' ward.

My mom, for those of you that know her, had knee replacement surgery on the 5th of August. She is in a lot of pain but considering what she went through she is doing well. She is keeping her attitude pretty positive. Thank you Aunt Cris for being there for us! She has done an amazing job. It has freed up a lot of time for my dad to get the basement completed so Amanda and Payton have more room to move around.