Great Joy

I ♥ reading!!

I've always hoped that our children would love it too.

Can you imagine my joy when I saw this?

Thank you boys!!

Change

Change is not always an easy thing. Just last week the boundaries of 5 wards in our stake were realigned. Thanks to the change our family is now part of a new ward. Yesterday was our first Sunday in the new ward. It was nice. The boys came home very talkative and full of insight about our new ward. It was reassuring to see the excitement in their little eyes.

The ward change has also really motivated Jared to follow through on a challenge issued by his former primary teachers. He really loved Bro. & Sister Rose, they were the perfect teachers for our little Jared. Jared is determined to read the entire Book of Mormon before he gets baptized. Before church he read, after church he read, today after school he read. He is so excited! How grateful I am for wonderful gospel teachers.

Our neighbor, our friend

The night before Chris headed off to the missionary training center, he stopped in to say good bye to the kids. It was kind of him to do that, as our children have grown very fond of him over the years.

Sara will certainly miss her personal jungle gym!

Chris was always willing to play legos or Wii with the boys.
In fact, he is letting them borrow his 'fancy' legos while he is away.
They are thrilled!!

His clothes are all labeled and packed,
he is ready to go!

See you in 2 years Elder Knutson!!

Happy Birthday

The great thing about being married to an engineer is that instead of setting my birthday cake ablaze with candles he wrote my age in binary. What a great idea!

Momma & the princess

cake courtesy of Cassie*
age displayed in binary with candles by dad
Can you guess how old I am?


my family, my greatest joy

I love her laugh!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

*Thank you, thank you, thank you Estes family for always looking out for our little family. We love you!!

Breakfast for dinner YUM!

Yes, we do enjoy a little wackiness from time to time.
But mostly we just like to have fun!

Daniel & Chris
Sara & Jared in the background

the princess

A special day at the temple

Chris & his mom, Sue

Chris & Bryan


Thank you Chris (soon to be Elder Knutson) for allowing us the privilege to share in your special day!

Mysterious

There's a mysterious visitor in our mist...who can it be???

Science Fair

Daniel got 3rd place in the science fair.
Way to go Daniel!!
We are so proud of you!

*Special thanks to Chris with his fancy camera that took all the action shots for Daniel's display board. And Dad for lovingly guiding Daniel through the science packet.

Gift from Aunt Teralee

Thanks Teralee!!

The kids love their new aprons.

Pima Air & Space Museum

For his birthday last year, Bryan got a family membership to the Pima Air & Space Museum. It's been such a nice thing to have. We popped in for a visit and enjoyed a lovely time. It was Chris's first time. We sure are glad he could join us!

Good times

The kids put on a puppet show for family home evening.
I love it when the kids give the lesson and come up with
creative ways to make gospel learning fun!!

Ah! Good times!

Apples, apples, apples

Janei, Lieschen, and I got together and had a little fun with apples
this week. We played with a couple of new recipes for bottling apples,
making pie filling, and apple jelly. Of course, Daniel & Janei's daughter
did an awesome job of coring and peeling all the apples.
Us moms struggled to keep pace with those two!

apple jelly

Adding apples to our stash of peaches and pears.
Canning with friends is so much better than canning alone.

Brothers

David & Bryan

Salt Lake City, UT

photo taken Monday, September 28, 2009

3 generations of Kemps

Grandpa Kemp, Bryan, Terry, David

Orem, UT

photo taken Monday, September 28, 2009, 7:42am

Waxing crafty

Because Jared's teacher is pregnant, the class hosted a baby shower for her. Charlotte & I put together these pacifiers as party favors. We used glue like frosting from Michael's, lifesavers, gumdrops and ribbon. Of course, I "borrowed" the idea from last year's room mom.

(Hint~let the frosting dry overnight before packaging them up.)

He's a bear!

Daniel fought the bear (aka Bryan) and emerged victorious!

Daniel has officially earned his bear badge.

Way to go Daniel!!

Got milk?

Jared & Daniel sporting milk mustaches.

Good times!

Sunday afternoons

Sunday afternoon naps are the best!

It's a party!

Once again the boys did a fantastic job with their reading goals.

Way to read Daniel & Jared!!

the Fam & Chris showing off their oreo smiles

Peaches & Pears Galore

A friend told me about a great deal on fruit. So, I called my pal Charlotte and together we decided to hop in on the deal. We bottled, we jammed, we buttered, we wanted to cry but didn't, we laughed & joked, and overall had a good 'ol time. Our kids loved the play dates, our husbands supported our crazy idea (& even helped!), and now we get to enjoy the yummy 'fruits of our labors'!

Day 3: Peach Jam & Pear Butter

(I forgot to get a picture of what we did on days 1 & 2 at Charlotte's.

Hey Charlotte, wanna do it again next year?

Just Because...

Thank you sweetie for a lovely surprise!!

Tender Mercies

A couple of days ago Bryan came home from his presidency meeting and mentioned a video that Pres. Theis recommended we all watch. So we did. As we watched the video my eyes filled with tears as I realized, I know them! Victor and Katrina are an amazing couple. I'll always be grateful for how they touched my life when I was a BYU student.

Our cuties

Thanks Janei for a morning of picture taking fun!!

our mouse babies

handsome oldest brother

handsome older brother

the princess aka pretty girl

Trip to the Gila Valley

Grandpa & Grandma had to head home on Monday. Since it was Labor Day, we thought it might be a good opportunity to take a day trip down to the Gila Valley. While we were there we drove by the temple site, drove up Mt. Graham for a picnic, and visited a lovely orchard with all kinds of yummy apples. What a great Labor Day!

checking out the progress on the new temple

at the orchard after picking apples

Grandparent visit

Grandpa & Grandma Flores dropped in for a visit on Saturday. It's always so nice when they come to town. The kids love it!! As always, Grandpa brought along his box of science experiments and the boys had some serious science fun. In the afternoon, we watched the Pink Panther with Grandma. We ended the day with a competitive game of Monopoly Jr.

On Sunday, we had a very inspiring family home evening about the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. As a little girl I interviewed my dad's mom for a 6th grade history project. Tho it didn't realize it at the time, that experience has become one of my most treasured memories with Grandma Sara. I really wanted our kids to have a similar opportunity for a great memory with their Grandpa. So, at the conclusion of family home evening we pulled out the mp3 and recorded my dad bearing his testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. It was an amazing experience! I'm so grateful we were able to do it.

playing Monopoly Jr.

Grandpa with his grandbabies

Singing during family home evening

Camping Trip

We've had an incredibly busy summer and didn't have a chance to squeeze in a family camping trip. This weekend was our first 'non busy' weekend so we packed up the car and away we went. We didn't go far just over to Gardner Canyon. The weather was perfect!! It kept threatening to rain while we were setting up camp and we were getting a little anxious cooking in the rain. Thankfully, it didn't rain until well after dinner when we were settled for the night. In the morning after breakfast we took a short hike and enjoyed Heavenly Father's creations. There's something about being in nature it's just so calm and peaceful. It's rejuvenating!

Jared with his new cool stick &

Daniel displaying his freshly caught crickets.

Rain

It rained this afternoon and we love the rain!

The kids put on their swimsuits and set out to have some fun.

It was fun until the rain turned to hail.

Then it was not so fun anymore.