Sunday with the Crandall's in NYC!

Two weeks ago, we had the privilege of being in NYC, along with Brett's parents, Dennis and Laura Crandall, when Brett was called to be Bishop of the Union Square ward. We took the red-eye out Saturday night, changed into our Sunday clothes at the airport and arrived just in time for church. It was a wonderful day spent with Brett and Kimber, and Brett's parents! Needless to say, Kimber and Brett were a little bit shocked and feeling a little overwelmed, but felt the love and support from so many people in their ward, their family and friends. They both shared sweet and tender testimonies at Sacrament meeting. After church, Brett had meetings, but the rest of us went to Brett and Kimber's apartment where Kimber treated us to a delicious dinner. After attending a baptism, back at the church, we found out that all of our flights had been cancelled. We panicked a little (OK...a lot!) because we were supposed to be flying out of Sacramento in the morning to Brazil with Tyler, Allie, Ashley and Brooke! We immediately jumped in a cab, headed to the airport, we called Tyler and Allie, who got on the internet and were able to find flights for us to Vegas. We got in at 1:30 am, spent the night in a sketchy hotel (it was the closest to the airport), and caught the first Southwest flight back to Sacramento in the morning! We had about 2 hours to finish packing and then headed back to the airport with the kids! A little stressful but it was worth it! What a wonderful way to start our 2 week vacation to Brazil! It was great to be able to share the day with all the Crandall's!

Standing outside the church in Manhattan, New York on Sunday, June 22, 2008.

Dennis & Laura Crandall and Mark & Debbie enjoying a beautiful Sunday in New York City with Brett & Kimber!

Ashley in "Les Mis" at Granite Bay High!

Ashley and Jacqui Bloom

Ashley and Mariella Cohen

Blaze Russo, Colin Shannon, and Ashley goofing around

Ashley loved doing "Les Mis" at Granite Bay High School. She made lots of new friends and had a blast! It was an awesome production.

Kimber wins a Gracie!

We are so proud of Kimber and all her accomplishments! Along with the regional Emmy that she was awarded in October, she just recently won a Gracie for her documentary about the Aids epidemic in Africa. On Thursday, Kimber and Brett were able to attend the awards ceremony held at the Tavern on the Green in Central Park. They had a wonderful time celebrating this amazing achievement!

Kimber holding her Gracie Award!

Brett and Kimber posing with the Gracie outside Tavern on the Green!

Brett and Kimber inside the beautiful room at the Tavern on the Green!

Kimber, Sandra Rice and her daughter the night before at the Gracie's Gala. Kimber met Sandra at Girl's State 5 years ago and they became dear friends. Sandra has been a wonderful mentor and very instrumental throughout Kimber's broadcasting career!

Allie in Jerusalem!

Allie is doing a semester abroad in Jerusalem and loving it! Here are some pictures that she sent us! We miss her lots (especially Tyler!) but she is having an incredible experience! If you want to read more about her adventuress, go to allieinjerusalem.blogspot.com or click on Allie on my blog!Allie sitting on the deck outside her dorm room!
Allie in front of the Dome of the Rock!
Allie demonstrating how David killed Goliath! She looks like she knows what she is doing but actually she hit herself in the head with the rock!
The view from her room! Incredible!

Speedy B wins Section Title in 3200!!

Brooke had an awesome 3200 race at Sections on Friday. It was terribly hot that day, over 100 degree weather. So, they pushed the meet into the evening, but it was still miserable. She ran the 1600 and qualified for Masters. Then an hour later had to come back and race the 3200. She ran a smart race and came from behind and passed up all the girls in the last lap. The second place girl tried to chase her down at the end but Brooke held on to the lead! It was exciting! Pretty cool to win 3 league titles and a section title as a freshman! Congratulations, Brooke! We are so proud of you!
Brooke ran the 1600 at Sections and qualified for Masters.
Dad and Brooke celebrating her win in the 3200!
Brooke and Coach Sturgeon...so happy!
Brooke, Brooke Barton, Bradford and Anne Barton after the Sections meet!
Sister Barton and Ashley cheering Brooke on to victory!

Partying with the Howells!!

My dear friend, Liz Skinner, had a surprise toga party for her husband's 50th birthday! Linda and I decided to make our togas, so off we went to Walmart to find material! Neither of us are into sewing, but we were up for the challenge of making modest but fun togas! We were pretty surprised with our creative skills and pleased with the togas (and so were our husbands!) Here we are at the party! Ha! Ha! Everyone dressed up and wore funny togas! It was a blast with over 75 family and friends of the Skinner's. What a great tribute to Mark and Liz! They are truly some of the sweetest people that we know!

A visit with Grandma & Grandpa Olson in Park City!

We were in Park City working on the new place this past weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Olson were in Utah visiting Mary Ann at her cabin in Wallingford so they came over to visit one afternoon. Tyler came up from Provo to spend the weekend with us. We gave everyone a tour of Vintage and took them to dinner. It was so fun to spend the weekend with Tyler, and we felt lucky to be in Utah the same time as Grandma and Grandpa and had a great visit with them!

Karen and Deb's last day of walking!!

Karen & I have been walking partners for 13 years! She is one of my dearest friends and truly the kindest, sweetest, most caring and happiest person I know. It is so much fun to walk and talk (sometimes we do more talking than walking:)!) every morning with such a positive person who is always upbeat and fun! She and her husband, Brad have just left for a church mission to Uganda for 18 months! I miss her a lot, especially early in the morning, and I'll miss her next winter on the slopes! But I'm so proud of Karen and Brad and excited to hear about their adventures in Africa! They are such great examples to all of us and I know they will be incredible missionaries!

PS Brad, I miss you too!! I didn't mean to ignore you...I just don't have a picture of us together!

PPS And btw...I can't believe I posted this picture of me and Karen first thing in the morning! I hope you don't mind Karen!

SFL League Championships!

Sister Motley's Baby Shower!

Our darling Young Women had so much fun planning and organizing a surprise shower for Sister Motley and baby Kyle! The week before the shower, we made 2 cute diaper cakes at mutual! The girls had so much fun putting them together and decorating the cakes! And then with Sister Newbold's help, we tied a quilt for the baby. Sister Motley went into the hospital that night and had Kyle the next morning! So...for mutual the next week, we said that we were meeting at our house to work on "humanitarian quilts" and Bro. Motley convinced his wife to go and show off Kyle! The girls arrived early to help decorate and set up for the shower. Finally, Sister Motely arrived with Kyle and she was completely surprised! It was great! We played a couple of shower games, passed Kyle around, ate some yummy goodies and had a fun time! Now we can't wait for Sister McNaughton's baby to come!

Meet of Champions!

I ran in the Meet of Champions Invitational, in the 1600 and was the only freshmen. It was really fun to have my grandparents, cousins, parents, and siblings there.
~Brooke

BYU Blue & White game! Go Cougars!

General Conference & President Itinose!

Tyler's mission president, Pres. Itinose was called to be an Area Authority at conference this past weekend. Pres. Itinose and his wife came for the weekend for conerence. Thursday, President called Tyler and told him that he had tickets for the Saturday morning session with Elder Hunt, Elder Wilson, and his daughters Melina and Mariana. What a wonderful experience it was for Tyler, Elder Hunt and Elder Wilson to be able to spend time with Pres. Itinose and his wife and be at conference when President was called to be a Area Authority!

Here are Elder Holt, Elder Hunt and Elder Wilson at conference! Enjoying the great seats thanks to President!

The boys hanging out with President and Sister Itinose, Mariana and Melina at the hotel before conference!

Celebrating Suzanne's Birthday in NYC!

I took my high school girlfriend, Suzanne to New York City to celebrate her birthday! We have been talking about doing this for some time and Mark just finally insisted that I should make it happen on her birthday! What a perfect way for two friends to celebrate! We had a great time shopping, touring the city and seeing the sights, reminiscing about the good old days at Tempe High school and spending time together! We got to spend time with Brett and Kimber and see their new place...it is darling! One night, we met up with another girlfriend from high school, Julie Floyd, who lives in New York City! It was so great to be all together again! Saturday was Suzanne's birthday and we went to WICKED! It was still incredibly awesome...the third time! It made me remember how grateful I am for dear friends, and the opportunity to make wonderful memories with them, and for my dear, sweet husband who cares so much about others, especially my friends...so grateful that he is someone who makes things happen! Happy Birthday, Suzanne! I love you!

One of our favorite Park City traditions~The Deer Valley Seafood Buffet!

One of our favorite things to do in Park City is go to dinner at the Deer Valley Seafood Buffet! It is truly amazing! The Crandall family joined us, along with Mariana and Melina, President Itinose's daughters and a couple of other friends! We had quite a large group so we took over the back room! While we were at dinner, President called his daughter, Mariana. When he heard that they were at dinner with our family, he asked to talk to Tyler. What a treat for him to talk to his mission President! It has been really fun for our family to get to know Mariana and Melina while they have been at BYU! And we are anxious to meet the rest of the family in June, when we go down to Brazil! It was a fun night! We all ate so much that we could hardly move! Everything tasted delicious! And we just had to take a picture with everyone in front of the fireplace...it's a Deer Valley tradition!!