Restore Honor Rally, Washington, D.C.

The boys visited James Madison University on the way out of town, so Tanner's absence from school would be excused with a college visit.

Here the boys are in front of their mascot, DUKES.

Are you guilty?

One of the unusual sites you too can see downtown.

Can you believe this is our Capitol?
I thought they were in the middle east.

The stage was set in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

"I have an idea."

The permit was for 300,000, while only 100,000 were expected.

A local congress woman said over a million people.

Moses

Half confederate, half union?

No, half colonial, half modern day.

The boys know so many people who would have liked to have gone, and felt honored to represent more than themselves.

This is the last time the mall can be used for large public gatherings.

Disturbing Image

I'm not sure if I'm ready for Sawyer to be 20 years older, needing to shave!

Making Mush 'shrooms

Sawyer found these beauties growing in the yard.

We 've had a lot of rain.

He thought it would be fun to tee off of a mushroom.

And he tried them for stools.

We no longer have HUGE mushrooms.

But funny memories instead.

Soccer Season

The boys wanted to try soccer this fall.

Cooper's only played one season, but thought he should be the goalie.

After seeing how much bigger Cooper seems to be than the other boys, perhaps he should be goalie.

Sawyer's never played, but will always play with intensity.

Miller's just excited to be included in the activities with his water bottles, ball and cleats.

Cross Country

Porter decided to join Tanner this year on the cross country team.

His 2 mile run was 16 minutes.
Not bad for 2 weeks of practice.

He can only go down!

Tanner ran 2 in 14 minutes.

Not impressive, but considering he had an asthma attack, and cramps from eating too much lasagna beforehand, the time's not that bad!

Go Dragons!

Personal Preparedness

"We are very much aware that we live in difficult times, perhaps as difficult as any recent period in history. The economy in general seems to be out of control; there is high unemployment in many areas. Inflation is running rampant in many countries of the world. Personal debt is staggering.

We have been taught that we should build our reserves over a period of time, that we should not go into debt to do so, that we should buy those things we use and use them on a rotation basis, that we should use common sense in preparing ourselves to be independent and self-reliant. We are deeply concerned about the welfare of our people and recognize the potential privation and suffering that will exist if each person and family does not accept the word of the Lord when he said, 'Prepare every needful thing.' "

Presiding Bishop Victor L. Brown

1980

I visited the Columbus, Ohio cannery and filled over 200 cans of product for others. I brought home about 20. I've canned 40 quarts of (free) tomatoes. Yet I feel so inadequate in providing for my family. May the tides of trouble hold off a little longer for people like me.

Building Boys

Cooper wanted to enter the church talent show with a LEGO display.

His creations were varied, colorful and plentiful.

This is his skyscraper.

He made three houses.

Porter was his main assistant.

His display was the favorite of all the children there.

My favorite?

The fact that Cooper's self-esteem grew by leaps and bounds.

Back to School Conversations

"I really like my new shirt, but these snap buttons aren't very easy to do!"

SAWYER, 1st grade

"I don't want to wear the black tennis shoes. Isn't it more important to have happy feet?"
COOPER, 4th grade

"I had a nightmare about Miss Ball, and making a good example, so I couldn't wear my tee shirt today. It had to be a collar shirt."
PORTER, 7th grade

"Mom, did Aunt Jenny make those coconut marshmallows, or did she buy them, because normally I don't like marshmallows but I liked those."
HUNTER, 9th grade

"Does the brown shirt look good?"

TANNER, 12th grade

Tying Knots

Tanner's been teaching himself how to tie different kinds of knots.

For different occasions.

And different shirts.

Four in hand knot.

Prince Albert knot.

Half windsor knot.

This is the windsor knot (wide).

The end.

Passing Through

He's alive!

He's been spotted!

He was here for all of 10 hours.

Zach's on his way to Utah - well stocked.

Thanks for dropping by!

Summer Rain

We had a little rain the other day.

My husband was stuck at work until 9 p.m., as this road was his way home.

These are pictures from the local newspaper, but he drove by this car, floating away from the dry cleaners parking lot.

We're glad he got home safely.
Obviously there are a few drainage issues!

Sweet Summer Surprise for Porter!

Porter received his standardized test results from the State of Ohio.

I'm not surprised he did well.

We both were surprised he received a perfect score in math.

I didn't know it was his strength.

The other arrows are the district's average score, and then the state's average score.
Perhaps he should be in charge of balancing the checkbook.

Sweet Summer Surprise for Cooper!

(Don't look too closely, because I handed him the wrong letter), but Cooper did receive a letter this summer from his school district informing him that he was invited to participate in their gifted and talented program. Now, I really don't care whether or not school districts think my boys are gifted and talented, but having three older brothers that were invited to participate, put a little pressure on Cooper. He's worried about whether or not his OAT scores (Ohio standardized test) would be high enough, and they were. I'm thrilled that he's received a boost to his self-esteem. I just want my boys to do their best. But I'm grateful it was enough.

Impromptu (Yet Terribly Truthful) Video by: Me, Tanner, Guest Blogger

Green Thumb Gardening

A good friend called me and said he had too much produce.

Did I want to come and pick tomatoes and whatever else I could find?

Are you serious?

Did Porter pick a pint of peppers?

Not quite.

But we did glean two HUGE boxes of tomatoes, some corn, cucumbers, squash and cabbage.

Can you imagine how BIG this tomato was?

I had lots of helping hands!

A cornucopia, rather counter, full of produce.

I made yummy pot pie - the fresh corn was the best!

Delicious salad!

And salsa that was to die for.

And, 48 quarts of tomatoes.

Wow.

Call me again.