It's Here!

That crisp bite in the air has arrived!

It was 48 degrees when I took kids to school this morning.

 I was really hoping for a more gradual change from

 Summer to Fall.

 But I love it! This is my favorite time of the year.

 I love the pumpkins, red leaves, bales of straw, scarecrows, and yellow chrysanthamums!

It's time for some hot soup!

Saturday Scrubbing!

It took our family 2 Saturdays to scrub

the siding on our house!

Welcome to the South.

Yes, it's gross...but everyone gets mold on their siding.

I thought we would just rent a power sprayer.

But no, no, no. Not us. We have to do things the harder way.

We made up a solution of clorox, comet, and powder laundry detergent. We bought brush scrubbers with long rods and an extention ladder.

So with our latex gloves
on our hands, and protective eyewear on our faces, we got to work. The kids scrubbed the lower section, I took the middle, and the brave Mr. Stoner climbed high on that ladder and scrubbed to the roof. Here he is...working hard. We are so glad we did it. It was a lot of work. Our house looks SO much better!

Summer Swim Team Fun!

Lauren, Matthew, and Benjamin all joined a swim team this past summer. It was so much fun for all of us. I loved that by 10 am these three kids had swam laps and burned up lots of energy!

The bonus was social time with so many friends.

I also loved the routine of practice.

No sleeping till noon every day of the summer!

This is Ben and Ben. They are good buddies.

They both wear green goggles.

Mr. Stoner....doing his best to work as a time judge.

Lauren especially loved hangin' out
with friends before, after, and during swim meets.


Matthew with all of his friends
after swim practice.
Good times!



Go Ben Go! I loved all of the cheering from
family and friends at the swim meets!

I love this picture of Daddy and daughter!

Pellegrino

This is what happens when you surprise your husband with a bottle of Pellegrino mineral water for his birthday (because he really likes it) and then he puts it in the freezer to "chill" it and then he forgets about it. Note to Mr. Stoner

You can't put a glass bottle in the freezer and forget about it.

This is what happens!

Three September Birthdays!

They are each a year older!

Benjamin turns 8 this week.

Lauren is 14 today.

And Brock is a whopping 40!

Aren't they cute!

This is a really exciting Birthday for Lauren!

Our determined age for a cell phone is 14.

She has been counting down the days.

She's been telling us for months that she is the last girl at her school to get a phone.

Making three wishes all at once!

I decided that I would only make one cake this year.

Trying to make three takes way too much energy.

Look how cute they are!They grow up so fast! I love you three!

VW Game!

Does your family play the game?

Well...mine does. Sometimes it drives me crazy!

Everytime I am driving my kids around I hear "red one" or "blue one" or "yellow one." This is followed by a punch to my arm! They are quick to spot any volkswagen! Especially Lauren. She gets me all the time. All the kids have learned that they can only tap my arm...no punching while I'm driving.

PINK ONE!

Youth Conference...a highlight of my summer

I was so happy to be a part of our

youth conference in July!

We met with 4 other stakes and had nearly 600 youth attend.

The greatest part of the conference was when our visitor,

President Elaine Dalton, arrived from Salt Lake City.

She is the General Young Women President.

It was amazing that she came to our Youth Conference.

She was so personable and spent time taking pictures

and visiting with everyone.

It was an experience that the YW will not soon forget. Here is Jessica with some of her friends, and Sister Dalton

Jessica had a great time dancing!
This is her friend Trey.

Here I am with my Stake YW Presidency and Sister Dalton

There were two dances, a service project, workshops, and games at Youth Conference.

Here is Jessica getting ready for one of the dances.

I was asked to direct a youth choir to sing the theme song

"Strong and Courageous"

It was a great experience for me.

The choir sang right before the closing testimony meeting.
The youth did a great job and really added to the spirit of the conference.