A Look Back.....

One of my New Years Goals for 2017 is to get back in the habit of keeping up my blog.  When Benjamin left on a mission I undertook keeping up his mission blog and let mine have  a break. I loved doing his mission blog, it was a labor of love.  Then when he came home I just took a blogging break altogether.  The last time I posted on this blog it was March 2014. Some time has passed and I feel like so much is happening and I want to document it.  So, here I am with a goal to blog at least twice a month.  Wish me luck!

In the last almost three years life has been full of changes.  These are just some of the moments:

Bailee got married.
Ben left on a mission to Indiana Spanish speaking.
Vacation to Capital Reef and Bryce.
Trips to St. George.
Brooklyn Graduated from middle school.
Brooklyn started High School.
Brooklyn started driving.
Ben did a hospital stint in the mission.
Ben finished his mission..
Bailee graduated from College.
Kyle graduated from College.
Bailee started Choreographing.
Kyle did an internship.
Benjamin started College.
Brooklyn went on her first date.
Brooklyn went on more dates.
Brooklyn got a car.
Linc burned a few things.
Linc put a few fires out.
Brooklyn did her first High School Musical.
Benjamin bought a car.
Vacation to Goblin Valley
Comic Con
Linc rode his motorcycle across the United States.
We saw a lot of musicals.
Kyle got a job at Maverick Corp as an accountant.
Bailee worked at Good Foundations Academy.
Bailee and Kyle moved to Kaysville.
Brooklyn got a few 4.0's.
Vacation to Ben's mission.
Rode to the top of the St. Louis Arch.
Vacation to Nauvoo.
Family Vacation to Las Vegas.
Brooklyn got in a car accident.
Linc and I went to San Francisco.
Linc traveled for work all over the U.S.
Benjamin had a stint in the Hospital.
Linc's mom passed away.
Linc's sister passed away.
I'm going to be a grandma!
Brooklyn turned 17.
Ben turned 22
Bailee turned 24
Kyle turned 26
Linc turned 50
I'm as young as ever!! ;)
Many home projects.
Ben started working at Jordan Valley Medical Center.
I still work at North Star Academy.
New church callings.
We've all grown and changed.
Time has passed.
Seasons came.
Season went.
Mowed some lawns.
Shoveled some snow.
More laughs.
More fun.
More LOVE!

Life is a wonderful adventure!  I am blessed to be enjoying it with my family and good friends.

Where did Summer go?... Here it is via my i-phone

I feel like I just finished one of the busiest summers I have ever had.

There was no time from blogging.

So here is my summer in a nutshell via my iphone!

 

 

Hiking Ensign Peak with the Young Women.

This was such a fun time. 

I have lived in Utah my entire life and never made this hike before.

It's not very far, but it's steep!

The view...Totally worth it!

 

 

Memorial Day weekend at the Grandparents!

It's always fun to gather together with my family for a weekend.

The kids enjoyed 4-wheeling and hanging with cousins.

It was Kyle's first trip to the grandparents...

It's always as crowd, but I think he survived it, and enjoyed the laughter.

 Sometime in June I think...;)

Our family made a trip to Palisades State Park with the Fireman.

It was a great time, as usual.

Kayaking, swimming and visiting with family and friends.

On the way home we made a detour to Cove Fort Historic site.

Kyle had never been there before and we thought it would be fun.

 What would summer be without fresh fruits and veggies from the garden!

This is something I always miss when fall comes.

The picture in the lower right hand corner was my first red tomato of the season!

 Later in June we took a family vacation to Yellowstone.

After going last year, we just had to make a return trip to see the shows at the Playmill!

I think we have become addicts!

It was fun to spend a few days in the park seeing all the familiar sights.

 This summer was a summer full of projects!

It's amazing the projects it takes to have a wedding.

Linc decided we needed a new deck.

This project literally took the ENTIRE summer!

Mostly because he had to work on it when he had a spare moment...

which wasn't often, he traveled for work a lot this summer.

A new back deck needed a new back door to go with it as well.
Grandpa Pack spent a day helping out with the stairs and door.
Neighbor D. Griffiths saved the day late in the game by helping with the railing.
It truly does take a village! ;)

 Here it is looking finished!

It turned out great and I love it!

 A little July 4th celebration!

We met up with our firework fav's the Perkins!

It was fun and loud as usual.

I swear the show gets better and better every year!

 Girls Camp at the Spruces!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

It was a really fun time.

These girls are crazy and I love them!

One morning I woke to find all 8 of them stuffed like sardines in one 5 man tent!

They love each other! :)

July 24th Holiday at the grandparents.

This is tradition for my family.

We always spend the weekend of the 24th in Indianola.

It's rodeo time and we love our small town rodeo!

The kids really like to cowboy up and make a showing!

Plus....Funnel Cake and other Rodeo food!

Yum!

We also celebrated Kyle's birthday at the grandparents.

Bailee made him breakfast and his birthday cake.

 Brooklyn celebrated her 14th birthday!

I can't believe how fast she is growing!

I'm so glad to have her around...she is the only thing keeping me from being an empty nester,

which I am NOT ready for!

She had a great time celebrating with friends.

Daddy also surprised her by decorating her door!

 Bridal showers!

So fun!

I have more pictures...but limited myself here.

She had two showers, one hosted by my family and one hosted by the DeYoungs!

They were both a lot of fun and got is into the wedding spirit!

 Bailee and her mommy and mommy in law!

 Summer also brought moving time for Bailee.

She really moved out along time ago for college, but her room has remained intact...

until now. :(

It's finally time to pack up all her belongings and make her permanent home somewhere else.

We also started another wedding project of building some shelves for backdrops.

 They turned out so cute! 

Linc built them,

I painted them,

Kyle and I wallpapered them!

Bailee and Brooklyn also cut tons and tons of fabric for tassels for the wedding.

 I spent A LOT of time in the yard!

It needed beatification before the wedding!

I have never loved my yard so much.

I also spent a lot of time in fabric stores...

looking for fabric for tassels,

fabric for skirts,

lace for tables.

It was endless!

Sweets candy shop was also a wedding shopping stop. 

 I ironed and ironed!

Really...I pressed 11 round table cloths and

2 banquet table cloths. 

I will say this... I watched myself a few Hallmark movies in the process.

Bailee, Kyle and I decorated jars...

addressed wedding invites,

shopped for candlesticks, which Kyle painted.

And, Bailee and I may have taken a shopping break or two for sustenance.

We had a bridal shoot and...
 THEN WE HAD A WEDDING!!!

It was fantastic and a super great day!

But.....

It deserves a blog post of it's own!

Coming soon....

 

And finally, I attended my first college football game!

I know...

Better late than never!

I really went for the Band.

Out new Son Kyle plays in the Weber State marching band.

It was lot of fun and he rocked it!

It was also a summer full of weekly emails from this boy..

Elder Paxman!

I love Mondays! 

I am always excited to hear how my missionary son is doing,

how he is growing and how the work of the lord is progressing.

 

That's a summer wrap!!

It was a crazy busy summer.

And We loved every minute!

We truly are blessed, our family is growing and we're healthy and happy!

 



She's a BIG girl now!

My first born is officially an adult!

She's a big girl now, today she turned 21!

I can't believe how fast the time has flown.

We started here...

 

And now she's here...

She was beautiful in the beginning and she has grown even more beautiful every day.

Not only is she beautiful on the outside, but she's beautiful on the inside too.

We are so proud of the young woman she has become.

I really could have scanned and scanned

there were so many fun cute pictures of her over the years I would have loved to post...

But, I restrained myself and chose just a few.

So...pardon the grainy and sometimes off color, these pictures were before the digital age.

 

He was a proud papa then and he still is today.

 Look at those chubby cheeks.



 

She loved her tubby time from day one.

 Yes, there were times when she wasn't always dolled up

she didn't always wear ruffles, pink, high heels and make-up.

She could sport about anything and look adorable.

 

Don't mess with this girl.

 

I had to throw in a picture with her holding her best friend ever..

Barney.

This girl loved Barney.

She sang with him,

danced with him and

slept with him.

He went everywhere with her.

 

It has been a wonderful 21 years.

Raising her has been a blessing I will be forever grateful for.

We have loved watching her sing and dance her way through life with a smile on her face and a spring in her step.

I have loved the midnight phone calls that started with

"Do I have a story for you?"

Every minute being your mother has been wonderful.

 

We have watched her grow both physically, mentally and spiritually.

Each step has been fun and a blessing to be a part of.

Now she starts a new phase in life. Eternal Marriage and her own family.

I can't wait to watch and support this phase too.

 

Thank you for being my daughter and my friend!!

For being and bringing so much joy

I LOVE YOU!

 

Happy Birthday Bailee Boo!

 

The Best Two Years

Today we dropped Elder Paxman off at the Mission Training Center in Provo.

It was a good day.

Yesterday we spent quality family time and went out to dinner at Ruby River, Ben's choice.

We then went to the Stake President's office to see Benjamin set apart as a full time missionary.

It was a wonderful experience for all of us.

He was given a really powerful blessing.

I didn't know what to expect as this is our first missionary, but I really enjoyed our time there.  The Stake President really took time to visit, offer good advice and share insight for Benjamin.

This photo is of my kids before dinner.

 Here we all are after the setting apart.

 We then came home and a really thoughtful friend Julie Nokes brought us homemade dessert.

Chocolate Mint Brownies with Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Covered Strawberries.

It was such a nice thing for her to do and we loved it!

This morning we went to Kneaders for bottomless French Toast.  Delicious!

Then home to finish packing.  I really wanted the packing done a few days ago.  Linc insisted that we just put it all on Bailee's bed and pack on Wednesday morning.  I couldn't figure out his thinking.  But, this morning it all made perfect sense.  Elder Paxman didn't have to report to the MTC until 1:45.  Dad's thinking was that packing this morning would keep us all busy and keep our minds occupied.  It worked!  We really just enjoyed each other, with no time to sit, think, and worry.

Elder Paxman before leaving home.

 Elder Paxman's nerves definitely started increasing the closer we got to Provo.  So did mine for that matter.   Upon arriving we saw the neatest sight.  Hundreds of missionaries lining the curb of the MTC waiting to greet the new incoming missionaries.  To get the full story see Elder Paxman's mission blog.

 We shared some quick hugs and some "I Love Yous" and that was it.

 Then he turned and walked away without looking back.

It has been an emotional day.

I am so glad he has chosen to serve the lord in this way.

I know his life will be blessed as he blesses the lives of those he serves.

The Lord is hastening his work and Elder Paxman gets to be a part of it.

Called to Serve on December 5, 2012

I have discovered that I am maybe not the most patient person in the world.

All that waiting for Ben's mission call to come was pure torture.

On Sunday December 2nd our bishop checked Ben's mission call status and told us it had been issued.

Living here in Utah we knew that meant it would be delivered on Wednesday.

Finally.

So Wednesday morning about 10:00 a.m. Ben went to check the mail.

There was mail there all right, just not a mission call.

I told him I was sure the mail he had just gotten from the mailbox was Tuesdays mail.

Our mail NEVER comes before 1:00 p.m.

But.... The doubt began to settle.

So he tried to keep himself busy for the day.

I went off to do my regular Wednesday bowling with the girls.

When I came home I drove right up to the mailbox and opened it.

YES!!  The big white envelop was sitting right there before my eyes.

I reached in to retrieve it and at that moment Benjamin came running out of the front door

yelling.... "Don't touch that".

We were so excited to see that big white envelope with the return address of 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

However, watching it sit on the living room table for 4 hours until our family and friends could gather was again TORTURE.

We hung a huge world map on the wall and everyone put up their guess.

Each orange paper is someones guess.

Also family and friends that couldn't be present were able to give out there guesses.

Immediate family, Linc, me, Bailee, Ben and Brooklyn got to make two guesses each.

One stateside and one foreign.

 Finally at 7:00

with friends and family present some via phone, the big moment had arrived.

 I swear I have never been so nervous in my life.  Well maybe that's an exaggeration..

Either way he was SO SLOW opening that thing.

Bailee was telling him he better hold it out of her vision or she would read over his shoulder

probably faster than he could.

He finally get's it opened and scans... silently.

He then says... "Oh Wow."

I look at him and say read it out loud.

Elder Benjamin Paxman

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

You are assigned to labor in the Indiana Indianapolis Mission.

You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish Language.

You should report to the Provo Mission Training Center 

on March 13th 2013.
No one had guessed it right.
I was the closest with my stateside guess of Kentucky.

 We were all so excited for him.

It's also a bonus that he gets to learn a foreign language.

The waiting was all worth it.

He is so excited and ready to go forth and preach the gospel.

I know he will make an amazing missionary.

Many thanks to all who have supported Ben through the years.

It truly is a miracle to find ourselves at this point in his life.

Family and Friends in attendance:

Linc, Myself, Bailee and Brooklyn

Darla, Megan and Kaela Snodgrass

Desiree, Krey, Savannah and Sierra Geis

Eva and CourtneyRae Shoell

Amanda and Sam Paxman, Mckayla, Quaid, Evan and Aiden Burr

Ken Graff

Eric Vance

Aaron Bailey

Joel Nielsen

Grandma Paxman via phone

The Gublers via phone.

Grandma and Grandpa Pack were working in the temple but called as soon as they were out.

Many other family members were informed via text asap.

Many ward members popped by as well.

We are blessed to have so many people who care and love Ben.