Spokane to Vernal to Pocatello..

My sister's family is about to finish up their medical residency in Spokane and they just accepted a position in Pocatello, Idaho! In early December Jenny's husband interviewed at the hospital in Vernal and we got to visit with them for the weekend while they were in Utah. (although they ended up choosing Pocatello instead)
Here we are at the Utah Fieldhouse of Natural History. We saw dinosaur bones and ran around with cousins!


This was a field trip I had been wanting to do, albeit without Jared.
It is pretty amazing that this corner of Utah really is Dinosaurland--a huge reservoir of prehistoric fossils.


We soaked in as much cousin time as possible before they left to go back to Spokane.
--even tub time.. Ella climbed in after I took this photo and then there were four.


Jenny's and Amy's birthdays are in December and our celebration for them was Saturday morning pre-airport departure. It was grrreaat to see the Spokane-ites around the holidays. Now we are counting down for them to move closer to this neighborhood in June!

Giving Thanks

The jar of blessings idea from the Friend Magazine helped us remember what we were grateful for during the weeks before the holiday. Some of the blessings the kids wrote down were temples, scriptures, apples, and seasons.

Turkeys at our Thanksgiving feast! potatoes, rolls, and homemade stuffing and gravy ... mmmm!



Here's a tradition I remember from when I was growing up in Tremonton-- the city coloring contest! In November a book is published with a coloring page from every business in town. They are pretty cute and original. We can turn in each page that is colored for a prize (like a cookie from McDonalds) and then they are judged in each age category.
At least one year when I participated I had my picture in the newspaper with the big group of winners.

Jordan especially loves to draw and color right now! Here is his hard work:


Back at home decorating for Christmas was fun! Cousins came over to play while my sister, brother-in-law, and Jared helped put up lights on the house. Good cold fun with hot cocoa afterward...

Attorney at Law

Way back on the 31st of October, Jared participated in the Utah State Bar swearing in ceremony.

Jared prepared for this day by getting a business up and running from which he offers legal services. www.deseretlegal.com He has also been working with First Financial Advisors as an estate planner, and at Coldwell Banker as a real estate agent.

In this picture the Utah Supreme Court Justices are lined up at the table at the left. The "candidates" are standing with hands raised to take the oath. It was fun to have some pomp and circumstance since Jared has missed his graduations. I was a bit amazed to see all the new lawyers entering the job market, since it has been pretty dry for us.


We ate some cookies and punch afterward and spent a little time with Jared's parents.
Tessa sure loves her daddy! We are all proud of the things he has accomplished!

A Family Blessing

A Family Blessing

by Terence George Craddock

May the years unfold gently,
while richly filled
with happiness, prosperity, and peace.
May you ever strive forward, with love
and friendship at your side.

Never forsaking the noble ideals,
the goals our Lord gave in Grace,
to ease the suffering;
of mortal man. For the dream
is the tie to life.

Never loose sight of the Lord’s Love.
Always walk in his ways.
Returning to the path if erring footfall
by chance causes thee to stray.
For man’s ways hold many thorns
that pierce unguarded flesh.

No comfort is found there no security.
Only great pain... torment... distress...
before the grave. Man’s works
crumble perish with coming age.
We seek through life’s journey
slowly understanding - is distilled
through the words and grace of God.

For life’s toils end
in this world of shadows -
upon the breath of a warm wind
to carry us home above the plains.




Love this family. Love these photos.
It is a blessing to be on this journey together.
May we all seek the Lord's blessing to carry us through.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Halloween 2011

Jared says I should get a new camera, but I say you can handle my fuzzy low on battery photos. So here goes...
Two awesome wizards at Uncle Ron's party--

Jared's brothers let him join in last minute on their Homestar runner costume gig. "Lawyer Greg" This one is for posterity!

This was the first time I made it to Uncle Ron's! Everyone's costumes were amazing. Jafar, Mary Poppins, pirates, super heros, etc. I wore Jared's old Star Trek uniform.
The kids got to find a prize in the giant pile of leaves. :)


Then Monday, we walked to the neighborhood Trunk or Treat with Grandma and cousins.
Jared was a judge this time.


Then we went to visit Grandmother Harston. Linda went with us to knock on some of her neighbor's doors --sweet ladies that ooh and ah over the kids. That was fun trick or treating!


P.S. Here is Renee and Grandmother with Baby Ruth. I think Ruth is the first Harston Grandbaby that looks like a Harston (not a Hatch or an in-law...). It is sweet to see the gene in a new generation.

Birthdays

Here are some of Michael's and Jordan's fun birthday moments.
The first gift was from Cam and Haylee in between wedding celebrations.
--handmade wizard wands!
Hopefully you can see some of the "craftmanship" in the photo.

We got to use a free Groupon at Chuck E Cheese's. It turned out to be a pretty fun night!


I made cakes! kind of. A little planning and forethought with some helpers yielded...

In between Halloween get-togethers with both sides of the family, the boys got to have two parties. Lots of celebrating!

Target shooting with Grandpa!

Since Michael picked out his Lego set from Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma created something unexpected by wrapping it in 10 different packages. It was a hit with all the kids to keep unwrapping and unwrapping...!

Wedding

Cam and Haylee are married!! It was such a beautiful day, and fun to be with lots of family!
Here are a few photos:






The reception was really lovely and dancing afterward!
Jordan really enjoyed partnering with cousin Beckah. :)

Yea for growing families!