So much catching up to do!!

It's already been 2 weeks since our trip to Southern California for Scotty's graduation and I haven't posted a thing!!! So, in an extra long post...let's play catch up!!We had an amazing time on our oh so quick trip to Kim's in June. Even if it was only 48 hours, it was so well worth the trip! The ocean air calls to me! I couldn't believe how grown up little Scotty is! He's like a man now! Time is sure playing some cruel tricks on me these days!

After all the festivities were over, we packed our small bags and headed back to the desert heat. I wish I could say our trip home was uneventful, but just 60 some miles from home, the transmission on our Suburban went out!! It took us 2 hours, but we were able to limp our car home where it sits waiting for a new transmission :(
And then came Independence Day! Our family normally reserves our summer vacation to Southern California to cover the 4th of July holiday, but because of Rich's ever-changing work schedule, he was on call for our favorite holiday of the year! After shedding a tear over my homesick ache for the ocean air and extended family to celebrate with, I pulled myself together and appreciated what I DID have to celebrate with my family here. It turned out to be a great day. Jared and his girlfriend of almost 1 year, Megan, spent the day with us swimming and cooking and eating snowcones and homemade cookies and watermelon. When it finally got dark enough, we headed out front to join our neighbors for one of the best fireworks displays this neighborhood has ever seen! Although illegal, so many of our neighbors had gone all out to purchase the "good stuff" out in Moapa and we watched fireworks for almost 2 hours!!! It was great and the kids were in awe :) Of course just when the festivities were winding down, Rich was called to work, so our night came to an end. The day had been perfect. We flew our Colors in honor of this great country, and felt so much pride in doing so. Rich had put together a montage of patriotic music that he piped through the neighborhood during the fireworks and it was quite moving. So even though I missed my California family, it was a great holiday. I hope yours was as well!I couldn't resist this picture of our cute little "Libby" - short for Liberty :)

Totally unplanned & totally amazing!

I have to admit that this Easter weekend was one of the most amazing family weekends I've experienced in awhile. In years past I've gone to great lengths to do everything "perfectly", from turning the house into an Easter wonderland, to coloring eggs & decorating cookies, setting up the "perfect" Easter baskets (complete with the jelly bean trail that Mr. Cottontail left behind in his hurry to get to the next house), and preparing a gorgeous Easter dinner after church on Easter Sunday. Well this year, I let all the "perfect" go and had one of the best Easter's ever!
Elissa & her boyfriend Zach, complete with Subie the pup (who I'm sure went home with a belly ache after eating Mr. Cottontail's jelly bean trail!), came down from St. George for the weekend. It was a big step for Zach, as he's never spent a holiday away from his family! So we felt honored that he would step outside his comfort zone to spend the holiday with our family!
Sunday brought lots of wind and just enough sunshine to send the little kids out for an egg hunt after church. You have to love the looks on their faces while they're hunting for those colorful little things :) After the hunting of eggs was completed, we were surprised by a visit from Rich's oldest son Jared and his girlfriend Megan. 2010 is the first time since we joined these 2 crazy families together almost 8 years ago, that ALL of the kids have been here together on Easter! Totally unplanned, totally unexpected and totally amazing! My heart was so full of love and satisfaction as I sat down at my table to eat an Easter dinner with a family of 12! Ok, so that's a stretch of the truth, we could never fit all 12 people around our table, so there was a little lap and floor eating going on as well :) Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day spent in faith and overwhelming gratitude for a Savior who gave his life for this humble family, that we may be a family always and live with him again one day.
Now....enjoy some pictures!!!

Lest We Forget...

As we go through our day, bar-b-queing, spending time with friends and family, may we take a few moments to remember the reason we are enjoying this beautiful day off of work and school. May we take a few moments to give thanks to those brave men and women who have laid down thier lives so that freedom may prevail. Without their sacrifices we would not be the truly remarkable country that we are today. In the words of our former Commander in Chief "May God continue to Bless America!!!" Memorial Day Poem

By: Kelly Strong

I watched the flag pass by one day,

It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,

and then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform,

so young, so tall, so proud,

With square cut hair and eyes alert

He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him

had fallen through the years?

How many died on foreign soil,

How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots planes shot down?

How many died at sea?

How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,

when everything was still.

I listened to the buggler play

and felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

that Taps had meant "Amen".

When a flag had draped a coffin

of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,

of the mothers and the wives,

Of fathers, sons, and husbands

with interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard,

at the bottom of the sea.

Of unmarked graves in Arlington,

No, freedom isn't free!

Naughty Bunny!

The Easter Bunny came to our house yesterday, and he left behind some great goodies in the Easter baskets! Although he did leave behind a messy trail of jelly beans that he must've dropped along the way! Naughty bunny!

After all the baskets were explored and almost all the candy eaten =/...it was time for Parker and Hailey to put on their new Easter clothes and off to church we went for a very moving and awesome reminder of just exactly what this day is all about. "I am the resurrection and the life." We are so thankful for the Atonement and the knowledge that we will be in his presence again one day.

Back at home once again, it was time to hunt for all those eggs that that messy bunny hid....Parker and Hailey were joined by their cousins "big Hailey" and Dylan for an egg hunt to remember!

At the end of this beautiful spring day, we sat down with part of our family (Elissa was in Utah and Jared and Courtney were at their mom's this year) and enjoyed an Easter dinner just before the phone rang and Rich was called to work. We are so very thankful that he was able to spend the day with his family!

"Egg"ceptional!

Parker and Hailey had so much fun getting ready for E.B. (Easter Bunny)! They dyed eggs till they were covered with every color possible, then they decorated them all with stickers, and finally - the set up! It's all in the presentation! I'm pretty sure E.B. will be totally impressed wtih the effort put into these beautiful masterpieces!

Hope your families had as much fun as ours!

He died for us...

I hope that we will all remember that Easter isn't really about baskets and bunnies, colored eggs and candy. Although we are living in a tumultuous time, we were given the gift of repentence on this most sacred day. I am so grateful for my savior, grateful that he loved all of us so much that he suffered and bled on that cross, and died for our sins. I am grateful for friends and family that know these things to be true and live their lives as examples to the world. I am grateful that I live in a country where I am free to celebrate His resurrection on Easter Sunday. I hope you all are grateful too.

Auld Lang Syne...

FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS - HAPPY 2009!!!

The Tusko's spent a quiet night at home with our family ringing in the New Year! Sparkling cider for all and watching the spectacular Vegas fireworks - ON TV of course. You'd have to be half crazy to venture down to that mad house! Hope yours was happy and as uneventful as ours!