Halloween

It starts with the perfect pumpkin... Olivia kept yelling at Mercedes to clean her hands off! Guts - yuck!
Believe it or not, there are thieves in Arizona! We started with 5 pumpkins, one per kid. Sounds logical right? Well aparently some body thought we were over our pumpkin quota - and they stole 2! Stole 2 pumpkins! It was sad, but we managed to have fun carving anyway!
Two of my favorite things to do - Carve pumpkins, and pick out and cut the family Christmas tree! Thanks for the great memories Daddy!


For the first time in FOREVER we were able to Trick or Treat with the Hensons! What a treat! They are by far the biggest "perk" to moving here! We love them tons!


We had a great Halloween and loved the socializing at the Ward Trunk er Treat too! Who ever had the idea to serve Pizza wins the "smarty pants" award! Dean ate at a ward party! OMHeck!



I love catching these little snapshots into the "real" Dean! This is the man who has banned the word "booger" from our home!

Missy Baby gets Married

Mr Cassidy Moss marries Miss Melissa Ross

Introducing Mr & Mrs Cassidy Moss

October in Salt Lake City is apparently a bit windy!

Dean & I in the underground SLC Temple parking garage. We were married October 16, 1987 - it was nice to be in a Temple so close to our own Wedding Anniversary.

Here we are at Missy and Cassidy's reception

(Dowlin was hanging out with his other cousins, Taylor and Seth)

Mercedes was in Missy's line - as a brides maid. I copied Mercedes dress for Brittney and Olivia. Zachery was the doorman

This is Olivia with Caden (Jason's) and Payton (Devin's)

Scott, Dad , Jenni & Taleen

I had a wonderful time seeing family and friends that I havent seen in years! I love weddings! :)

We were able to sneak in a quick visit with Great Grandma Taylor before we had to leave Utah! What a treat! She is living in an assisted living village, just a few minutes from Bob and Jan's. Right by Mt Timpanogas Temple, in Pleasant Grove.

Great Grandma is doing well as she can for a lady in her 90's! We are so glad we got to see her!

Mercedes 14th Birthday!

What a day! Mercedes turned 14! we went out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Taylor to Applebee's where we gave Mercedes a little box with a cute bow on it! Suddenly it began to ring! Yes ~ she got her 1st cell phone! Heaven help us all!

In Arizona 9-12 is in HS. And K-8th is in Elementary school ~ this is going to be a hard year for Mercedes, after all the freedoms she enjoyed in Jr High in Kansas, she's stepped back in time to "specials" and she's not happy! But she is playing Volleyball and Softball for Western Peaks Elementary! :)


She also gets to start going to Church Stake Dances! This is her 1st dance ~ with her Daddy! (yes, I got Dowlin's) We are very proud of her!

Football Injury

Well - I just found another thing to add to my ever growing list of
"Things I never want my kids to experience!" BROKEN BACK


As I mentioned in previous posts, Dowlin began weight training and practicing as soon as we got here with the HS football team. All was going well! He was playing with the Varsity players in the passing clinics all summer.

August 2 - 1st week of full pads, he came home in a lot of pain. He had gone up to catch a pass and was hit in the air, hurting his back. The coach and trainer took him out for 2 weeks. He iced and heated, and waited. 1st day back - hit again. Out for another week - obviously not ready yet... He practiced 1 week, played 1/2 the 1st game - hit again - Mom said "No more!" We went to his Dr. the next day, he couldn't move! The pain was so bad. He gave him some muscle relaxers, and I made an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon at the CORE Institute, they work with Willow Canyon HS.

It was Labor Day, and Dean's Bday, so we headed North to Sedona, and Flagstaff, then East to Snowflake for the weekend. Dowlin was "ok" but pretty dopey. (Kinda funny, we met a "Healer" at the hotel pool... Lol - It's a different story, ask Dow if you want a good laugh. I'm just going to quote a little tidbit for your amusement - healer, "repeat after me...(balh blah blah)" -healer, "Ok, we're done." Dowlin, "Ok, we're done," HA HA! Hilarious!

When we finally got into see Dr Greene, it was clear that he would be out for the season. Xrays were hard to see the spine, but he ordered a Radioactive Full Body Scan which took about an hour. (it was pretty cool - if you've never seen a 360 degree Xray) It confirmed that he had fractures in his spine. (L4 I believe) "Out for the Season" are tough words to hear for a guy who loves football!
Options - Permanent damage, or paralysis - you decide.

After weighing the REAL options, we decided to wait out the months of recovery - not do surgery.
UPDATE - Dowlin was in a hard, removable only for shower, cast for 6 weeks. And we defied the "No Spohomore drivers" rule with a note from the Dr stating he should not be made to walk extreeme distances or carry heavy back pack on his back. (lol - I win!)

This has been a very disappointing thing for Dowlin, as you can imagine. He will be unable to play Basketball this year as well. We are hoping that by February or March, he will be well enough to tryout for Baseball.

UPDATE - Dowlin has healed remarkably well! He did miss Basketball, but made the JV Baseball team and so far no problems other than an ache here or there! He's even ramming into guys and sliding head first into home plate - We're wondering if it was his back or maybe a head injury he got in football, LOL.

Fun Fact - The Texas Rangers and KANSAS CITY ROYALS have their Spring Training here in Surprise! This is at the Royals/Rangers Stadium. The kids get to use it in the off season - cool huh!

Brittney's Birthday

Brittney turned 10 on September 16! She walked away from summer with a killer tan! She is a Cheerleader for the Pop Warner football team the Cobra's - what a busy schedule she is keeping!

July Birthdays

Dowlin turned 16 on July 21! Where does the time go? He has spent this summer working out at his new High School, and playing football. What a great kid!

Olivia turned 1 on July 25! She was lots of fun to watch, she's a joy to us all!

Kids keep cool!

We have quickly learned to survive in Arizona - WATER is a must! Thankfully we have Cheri to be our "Follow me to Fun" tour guide!

We went to this "splash pad" to play for the afternoon. Ya, we packed lunches and lot of water to drink - Otis even brought us popsicles! The kids had tons of fun!