Sunday Sunshine for My Sweetheart

I miss you! We thought we'd share our sunshiney Sabbath with you! Whether I'm cooking, playing games, feeding boys, playing with the dog, we always are thinking of you, and missing your sweet spirit.
Tanner's self-portrait.
Did his haircut make him look any different to you?
Playing a borrowed game from Natalie Nixon.
Ranger waiting for his ball to be thrown out the window. It was a beautiful 75 degree day.

Snow in Huntington

This blog is for Sawyer who also asks each day if it is snowing. I know that family in New England and Utah will not think it a big deal, but it is for him. So Sawyer the answer tonight is "Yes it is snowing in West Virginia." It took me about a hour to get home (normal drive is 10 to 15 minutes). The cities do not plow or treat the road. It would have taken much longer, had I waited in line like a good sheep, but the lane on the right was not being used and I passed 100+ cars, who all waited in a single line to get over the bridge. A good citizen let me over into the center lane with about 10 cars to get to the light to begin the journey up the bridge and across the Ohio River. Still, I had to sit through two more lights be before I began.

Marshall University

This is especially for Sawyer who asks everytime I call, "Where are you in West Virginia?"

The top photo is looking from the parking garage all the way to downtown Huntington. The tall buildings are about a mile away, and a few times I have taken a walk all they way down and then back. The second photo is the bridge I cross from the parking garage over to the building in which I work. It is the same building where the basketball teams play their games. The next photo is of the football stadium from the top of the parking garage. The fourth photo is the steel factory on the other side of the parking garage. Welcome to Huntington.

Scout Sunday

Today is Scout Sunday. This is Porter as a brand new Webelos Scout. He personifies pure excitement at his advancement, and is already for recognition at this month's pack meeting. I remember thinking about being a Mom for the first time, and reading the verse about the mothers of the stripling warriors, "We do not doubt - our mothers knew it," and wondered if I would know what I needed to know to be a mother. Then to find out my first child was a boy. Now I have six boys. They smell a little bit different, collect things I'd rather not find in their pockets, and love scouts. Through the scouting program I've become a better mother. As you sit down with your son and teach him things, or listen to him explain something he's suppose to know, you grow together, you learn to appreciate their strengths and interests, and you love them more.

Hutto Hippo Tanner

Here is Tanner's freshman basketball photo. He has recently been moved to the JV team for the remainder of the season (three more games). He was sitting on the bench more and more, we're not sure why as they were winning when he was playing. He literally was playing 40 seconds in a game, and even sitting at practice while two other squads played against each other. The varsity coach wanted him to get more playing time so he moved him onto the JV squad, which only had 8 other players. His first game he probably played 9 minutes in one stretch, more than I've ever seen him play. We're grateful for the switch. He really had a positive attitude and I'm sure he's being blessed.