Does Anybody Still Read This Thing?

So, we've taken a little "blogcation" (is that a word? If not, someone put it on Wikipedia and give me credit. Just a little flash of brilliance.) We haven't really what you call "updated the blog" for awhile. But we really have thought about it over the past 2 months. But here are some highlights of the recent past and some stuff going on right now, with a little glimpse into the future, just in case we don't do anything for a few more months. We've got a lot going on:

-Well, school has been going great for the 4 oldest. Drex is in 5th grade and his first year in ELP as well, which he loves. He is also playing the trombone for the first time in band. Just wants to be like his Grandpa Ras! Braden is doing great in 2nd grade. His teacher this week called him a "role model" to the other kids in class, a perfect kid and someone that all the other kids want to be friends with. We're very proud of him. Sadie is turning into quite the little reader in 1st grade this year. Both she and Braden are also missing front teeth right now, which is very sweet. And Abbie, who is in Early Learners, loves it and is doing great. She is learning to write her letters and practices everyday. Her favorite thing to write is "DAD". Oh wait, that's what my favorite is for her to write. Slight confusion there.

-Amy loves having much of the day with just Jo and Rae Rae at home. Jo pretty much rules the house while she is the oldest kid home, and it's all Amy can do to keep her from ripping Atlie's face off or from trying on every peice of clothing in the house. She gets that from her dad. No, confusion again...

-Drex and Braden are playing fall baseball right now. I guess that is a slight benefit from Fall in the AZ. They are both on the same team with our beloved Coach McGrath at the helm. Braden is playing up with the older kids and is doing great. Both Drex and Braden have had the chance to pitch as well, and Drexy even has played a bit of catcher, which he enjoys. I mean really, besides the pitcher, catcher is the position that gets the most action, so that's fun. But the Green Monsters have won every game so far.

-BYU is currently 5-0 and ranked in the Top 10 in the nation. Out of everyone in the family, you may be surprised to find that Amy is the one that is most excited about this. She is the one that let's me know what is going on in Cougar Country, listens to Bronco every chance she gets, and is breaking down film for the game this weekend. I don't even know who we're playing. Hold on while I ask her..........she said we play New Mexico on Saturday. Hold on...............the game starts at 3pm AZ time. That's good to know. She also just indicated that she already has the chips ready and the beverages on ice, so we should be good to go. Everyone is invited to come over, she also just mentioned. Anyways, even though she is the die-hard fan, she still let me take my 5th annual BYU football/Utah trip with my bro-in-law Mark this last weekend. As usual, the trip was perfect, except for the actual coming back part. I was very sad about that. I love Utah. I went to my first live session of General Conference as well. It was heaven. But we went up to the game on Friday night in my current favorite spot in the country, Logan, UT to watch Amy's Cougs roll the Aggies. We did a temple session there in the beautiful Logan Temple as well as ate at the happening hot spot, Arctic Circle. They have Lime Ricky's there. Apparently you can get a version of that at Sonic, but it sounds pretty shady to me.

-While Amy forced me to go to Utah, she took the kids up to her parents house in Prescott and they all had a gay old time. (Do people still say that? Was that Scooby? No wait, the Flintstones.) Besides all the kids either getting over sickness, actually getting sick, or would be sick soon, they had a blast picking apples, playing in the tree house, and playing with Grammy's 2 new kitties. Apparently their names are Morris and Oliver (also pretty shady). There should be plenty of pics below if I will ever shut up long enough to post them. I'm like crazy returned missionaries who make the Fast and Testimony meeting go longer because they sing their testimonies. No, I'm not actually. Keep reading.

-Some people may or may not know that this coming week I am going in for a bit of surgery. I currently call it the surge. I also like to make a lot jokes about it, which those close to me get mad at me about. But it's just a little elective weight loss surgery. The same thing my mom did a year ago. We're excited, but some of us (me) are getting a little anxious about it, so that's why we (me) make jokes. And no, I won't share those here. But Wednesday morning in Tucson should be fun!

Please refer back to the title of this post and see if it applies to this actual post.

Anyways, those are the highlights. (Really, that's all you did the last 2 months?) Yes, we're boring people. Ooo, ooo, except our very successful garage sale for the Humanitarian Project our ward did a month ago was also a big deal. The kids did a great job in helping us reach our goal, and sold a lot of cookies and lemonade that Saturday morning. By the way, people buy crazy stuff all the time. Even at 5:45 in the morning on a Saturday.

Who loves and misses this song?

Anyways, enjoy the pics. My kids are squishy I just learned recently. I think that's a good thing. And let us know how you're doing.

Matt