Rank Advancement and More Merit Badges

Noah received his Life Rank advancement as well as his Aviation and Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badges.

Another Teenager in the Family

 We are "happy as pie (or pi)"

 This is all he wanted for his birthday- so he is very happy

He asked for a temple cake.  I was very nervous about this cake, but it seemed to make the birthday boy very happy.  He spent the morning of his birthday at the temple.

Graduation- A wonderful milestone!

*****WARNING*****

There will be many pictures and loads of parental bragging on this post!

Our lovely daughter has been very self motivated and has excelled in most things that she has attempted. We love her and continue to be very proud of her.

After all of those long years of school and hard classes in High School- we finally get to celebrate!!!

Jump for Joy!

Paint our nails!

Sing a joyful song!

  Smile for all to see!

And receive that coveted diploma.

Valesca wore her accomplishments well: National Honor Society Sash, Medal for Utah Scholars, Medal for Choir, Chord for Math, Chord for Top 10 Percent, Chord for Career/Technical Education, Chord for English & World Language and a Chord for Science.  She also Lettered in Math.

Valesca was listed along with 5 others on the program as earning all of those same types of honors- pretty good-especially when you are competing against 727 other Bingham Miners.

She has been accepted into the College of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah and has received a "Half Tuition Waiver" and the Regents Scholarship. (AWESOME)

Congratulations on reaching this milestone in your life...and HOORAY for the adventures that await you in the future!



A long journey to a NEW bathroom!

Way back in October of 2009( I think) Brad's birthday present to me was " A NEW SHOWER".  October of 2011 we finally started on it.  It has been so long, I cannot find my "before" picture.

 First we took out the ugly green tile, carpet and the toilet.  I was without a toilet for about a month, but I could still use the shower.

 I decided that I wanted to change the cabinets, so I refinished them myself.

 He tiled the floor and added a needed step for getting into the garden tub. Then came the majority of the demolition.

 Everyone helped.  The shower was so dark, and it was too difficult to run any lighting in there, so we decided to put a glass block window in the shower to add some light.

 All hands were helping hands.

 Brad took out the ceiling and the plumbing wall.  Insulation was EVERYWHERE!

 This is the glass block window.

 After all of the demo and prep work, we could finally get started on the shower.  Brad had done the surround for the tub before most of the shower demo.

 This is the shower most of the way finished.  He added a seat and a niche for shampoo.

 Here is the tub mostly finished.  Brad wanted to have the entire bathroom finished before our anniversary trip to Hawaii, but when he injured his back (because of the tiling) the bathroom wasn't complete until the middle of May.

New curtains, lighting, plumbing fixtures, door nobs, linens, decor, sink, countertop, etc..  And one happy wife!  So glad that it is finally done and so proud of Brad and his attention to detail and his talents.  Someday we might even purchase the $200 new faucet for the tub, but for now, we are "happy as pie"!

Seminary Graduation

 Here are 8 of the 9 graduates from our ward and our Bishop.

 Valesca performed in the musical number at the graduation.  Here are all of those that participated.

I made my "sweet" girl a candy bouquet.

 She also spoke in Sacrament Meeting earlier in the day.  We are proud of her and all of her hard work!