Emma does it again!!

Emma recieved the Citizen of the Month award last Friday. This is an award that is voted on by her classmates. Her class decided she was the one deserving of the Citizen of the Month award. I think that is quite a compliment for Emma.

You will notice from this picture of Emma and her teacher that she has a fun teacher this year. We are looking forward to another great year. Way to go Emma!!

Emma "Paula Deen" Summers

So Emma has been working on one of her goals in the Faith in God book. She had to plan and prepare 5 meals for our family. She did a great job and of course she had a blast doing it. She loves to cook anyway and frequently helps me out in the kitchen. It was an interesting experience for me to give up command of my kitchen so to speak. I don't share my kitchen very well so I had to just let things go that I would normally want to "fix". It was strange having to figure out how to tell a 10 year old how to cut tomatoes or make a white sauce.

Emma made BBQ beef cups, taco salad, mini-pizzas, pork roast and homemade rolls for Sunday dinner, and chicken alfredo. She also made dessert pizzas, and they were yummy. Fortunately for Emma I am a very simple cook so all my recipes are very easy to follow and make. Plus Emma does take direction very well. I do think though now that she has had this experience she will want to be spending more time in MY kitchen now that she is "experienced". I guess I am going to have to get used to sharing my kitchen with my sweet and talented daughter.

Here are a few pictures of the cook in action.




Doesn't she look like a pro? I really did have fun cooking with her and teaching her the little that I know about cooking and baking. Actually I really do have fun doing all kinds of things with Emma. She is a sweetheart and a real joy to have in our family. Not to mention all the great food she makes.

Boys, Tools and Bugs!!!

On Labor Day weekend, Jake and I drove to Southern California to see his best friend Jarrod Dean get baptized. We left at 6:30am and arrived at 10:oo am. We visited with my dearest friend Niccole, had lunch and then went to the baptism. Jarrod's family had an open house afterwards and a lot of the members from my old ward were there and it was so fun to see so many people. Jake had a blast hanging out with all the BOYS from our old ward. Sunday we got up and went to sacrament mtg and headed back to Las Vegas by 10:45am. It was nice to get home early enough to enjoy the rest of the day with Matt, Emma and Brandon. Although I did have fun just hanging out with Jake for the day.

This is Jake and his best buddy Jarrod Dean.

On Monday, Labor day we were busy cleaning out our office and under the stairs to better utilize all the space.

This is Matt and Jake with the TOOLS working on fixing a hole in the closet under the stairs.

Friday night Matt found a praying mantis outside. So he put it in Emma's ecodome and the kids checked out the BUG for awhile. Well, Emma and Jake checked it out Brandon didn't really want to have anything to do with it.

Here is a picture of the lovely praying mantis. I actually do think they are pretty cool.

Goodbye for now Grandpa Farrell Summers

Matt's sweet Grandfather passed away last Thursday night. We got a phone call about 3am from Matt's dad to tell us the news. So we packed everyone up and drove to Northern Utah, Tremonton to be exact, on Friday. We spent most of our time at Grandma and Grandpa's house talking with Grandma Summers and with other family that stopped by. We helped with getting things ready for the funeral also.

It broke my heart every time I saw Grandma Summers cry. She loved Grandpa Summers so much and already missed him so much it hurt. If I have my numbers correct they were married for over 65 years. What a life they had together. Not to mention all their posterity. They had 6 children, 33 grandchilren and I can't count the great granchildren but there was a lot. At the funeral just the family filled up almost the entire chapel if that gives you a better idea. The number of people that came to the viewing the night before the funeral was amazing. The viewing was to be from 6-8pm. It went well past 8:30pm and the line never had a break. It was so neat to see all the people whose lives have been touched in one way or another by Grandpa Summers. He was the only Grandfather I ever really knew. He is a wonderful grandfather to have. I will miss his laughter, his hugs and his stories of his beloved family.

We were able to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Summers in July this summer. I took this picture of them, aren't they so darling. I love that they are holding hands. Grandma Summers told me a few times this weekend that Grandpa would always say, "We could have a million dollars, but if we didn't have family we wouldn't have anything." Grandpa Summers will truly be missed.