Dad's Birthday Fun - Parent's Wedding Anniversary Present

Dad and Mom arrived from England to find a Party to celebrate Dad's Birthday.




When it was time to light the candles, it took extra hands to get all of them lit. I'm amazed that the smoke detector didn't end up going off when they were blown out.



Evan loves hats and found one of his cousin's and had to see how it fit.



Todd was asked to use his creative abilities to 'disguise' the anniversary present for dad and mom.




Mom asked if it was a year's supply of chocolate...to which one of the siblings answered that it would be more than a years supply.

Basketball Party

Thanks to Coach Lou and Coach Mike, they held a party for the team to celebrate the great season and all that they had learned.



Each of the kids received a certificate of achievement for their participation.



They then had fun shooting hops and generally having fun.

Austin's Birthday

It is hard to believe that Austin is now 8 years old. It seems just like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital.



He loves to read and will often be reading two to three books at the same time.



His grandpa and grandma Draper came down and celebrated with us by going to dinner and then having cup cakes.

Final Basketball Game

The pre-game show consisted of chasing Evan and Elizabeth around the gym...

Then it was the start of the game...it was a very physical game and our team would end up



having to go out every once in awhile for getting an elbow to the face or falling down.



This mainly happened to Austin, but when the coaches needed him, he would get back into the game.

Half-time was spent chasing Evan and Elizabeth once again around the gym...they had more fun running around then in watching the game.



The rest of the game went really well with both boys doing their best to keep on their guys and used all that Coach Lou and Coach Mike had taught them during the season.



All the players were given a medal for their participation...and the boys both thought that was pretty cool to get something like this.



Since it was also Austin's birthday, we brought the treats for the team...we had fun singing to Austin and then everyone enjoyed the extra large cup cakes, especially since there was enough for parents and siblings.

Basketball practice

The boys have had a blast learning how to play basketball. At their last practice, the parents got to play during the scrimmage game.


Geoffrey and Todd played against each other and Austin and I.

The only problem was a little boy who kept getting on the floor trying to get at Todd or myself. Todd finally helped him up and let him put some shots in the hoop.

New Experiences

For the first time ever in my life, I have gone skiing. Todd and I have always talked about doing it ever since we got married, but something always came up so that we couldn't go. At the beginning of the season we thought that once again it wasn't going to work out, but circumstances changed and we were able to do it.
Salt Lake County has a winter wellness program that offers night skiing at Brighton Ski Resort for a very reasonable price. Luckily they offer lessons, otherwise I would never have gone back. After the first time, I wasn't sure that I would ever want to try this again. But I couldn't let the mountain beat me and I needed to do it for Todd. He has been so great in the last little while, that doing something like this wasn't very big.
The second time on the slopes went much better and I did a lot better during the lesson. The third time I was able to handle the speed and not get really freaked out. Now if I could just ignore the skiers and snowboarders coming down the hill behind me. I must say that even though Todd will always be faster on the slopes than me and be able to do a lot more runs, it has been great having these evening every other week to spend time with him. We have the car ride up and back and then usually stop in for dinner somewhere. Having this time together has been needed and helpful with all the unexpected things that come into our life in the last few months.

Christmas Eve 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas visiting with family and enjoying the time together. Before we could enjoy the travel to Logan and the festivities there, we had to do the traditional wrapping job. This entails disguising the present as something else. Todd is very creative in his wrapping jobs. We have now done a moose, snowman, turkey, camel, air plane and a boat.

We spent Christmas Eve with Todd's side of the family having dinner and passing out the gifts to the great-grandchildren of Grandma Gessel.