Davis earns his Webelos Badge

I don't know if any of you know this, but I have a pretty darn cute little Scout that lives in my house.  I love it when Davis puts on his Scout uniform (mostly because I am glad that all the blood, sweat and tears I have put into sewing patches is not going to waste!)  I think he looks so sharp and I love that he thoroughly enjoys the Scouting program.  Ethan watches eagerly awaiting his turn to be in Scouts and I love that as well.  

It's hard to believe that he became a Cub Scout as an 8 year old and now he is almost 11 years old and will be getting his Arrow of Light and becoming an official Boy Scout.  Time flies.  

He earned his Webelos badge after a lot of hard work, but enjoyed every minute of it.  

Nice job, Davis boy.  

Trend Setters!

Ginger and Gillian were on an ASA Volleyball team this year and it was so fun to see them improve their skills and have so much fun in the process.  Don couldn't commit the time to coaching this year, so the girls were bummed, but at least they had their best friends on their team again!

Their team struggled a little in the beginning, but really progressed as the season went on.  Way to go Trend Setters!

A Mother's Example Lives On

While we were in CA during our stay at the beach house, I was helping Jason (Ginger's husband) with his children before church on Sunday morning.  I came across this paper posted on the fridge.  Jason had found it during their move to this new house and put it up as a reminder.  Although I burst into tears upon seeing it, I loved seeing it, in Ginger's handwriting, and felt happy that Jason had put it up instead of tucking it away somewhere.  It's no doubt that Ginger had done some special Family Home Evening lesson as she discussed the rules for their family.  Then she had everyone sign it.   "Be a good example."  And Ginger definitely was.    

Feel free to double click to see it better.

10th Annual "Z" Reunion

Every year my entire family crams into one 'hugemongous' house on the beach and we all have a BLAST together.  There were 60 of us this year and we were sad to be missing the few that couldn't be there.   I love this picture!!

This beach house is RIGHT on the sand so we spend most of our time down on the beach and in the ocean.  

When I was younger,  my sisters and cousins and I would sit on the sea wall at night and try to avoid getting splashed on our legs by the crashing waves.  Always exhilarating and full of squeals of laughter.   I love that my girls and nieces have continued that tradition.  

Everywhere you looked there were babies, toddlers, little kids, big kids, teenagers or adults.  It was non-stop playing, eating, talking, walking, swimming, watching, laughing, crying, or just enjoying being together.

Here are two of the newest grandbabies...Claire and Porter.  So stinkin' cute!

I'm not sure we can get together as sisters without playing "Beauty Parlor".  We were cutting and highlighting and styling as usual.  

Our reserved week lands on Mother's Day every single year.  Don always feels bad that I don't get to be home where he and the kids can spoil me, but I always assure him that there is no place I would rather be that week!  I look forward to our beach house reunion all year long!  I love this picture with my mom.  Can you believe this woman has 11 children and 40 grandchildren?  I hope I look that good in 30 years.

Here we are (most of us) crammed in together to watch home videos that some of the families make over New Year's.  

It's hard to believe that we've have been coming here consistently for 10 years.  Davis was just a baby when we first started and now he's almost eleven!  We used to go off and on as kids with our cousins, but now it's a set tradition that none of us want to give up!!

One of the highlights of our Reunion is to gather for Family Home Evening on Monday night for our Family Talent Show.  It is a riot every year to watch and see what the kids have come up with.  There are some amazing talents mixed in with some.... well, not so amazing talents. :)  It is always a really special night that we all look forward to every year.   

Cousins, Cousins, and more Cousins!  I love that my children have cousins their age who are their best friends.

Sadly, our week at the beach house always comes to a close and then we have to start anticipating the next year all over again!  

I love my family.  

Don's new toy... the IPad

Don has wanted an iPad for quite a while now.  But, if you know Don at all, you know that he would never just go out and buy something like that for himself just because he wants it.  He'll go out and buy something for me immediately, but he is very careful and methodical about spending $ on himself.  Well after months of wanting an iPad, I tried and tried to convince him that he deserved it and that he should go out and buy it. One morning before work, he let me know that he was finally ready to get one and he really hoped it would be very beneficial in his job.   Well, that VERY afternoon I got an unexpected call from one of Don's co-workers.  She told me that their entire team at work decided that they wanted to pitch in to buy Don an iPad to show their appreciation and that she knew that Don was considering buying one for himself.  She asked me to somehow discourage him from purchasing one!   So after months of trying to talk him into it, now I had to try to talk him out of it!  Ha!  Thankfully, Don is used to my issues with spending $, so he wasn't surprised at all when I asked him to hold off with buying an iPad until the end of the month when he got his commission check.  Worked like a charm.  

A few days later he went to a big meeting with his team and when they were out for dinner one of his reps stood up and read a very sweet letter before presenting him with his brand new iPad, which they had inscribed, "Don Spangler, Most Loved Regional Manager 2011".  So thoughtful and so generous.  

 Don LOVES his new iPad.  And he even lets the kids play with it... on their birthdays.  :)