Summer Update

We have had an adventure-filled Spring and Summer.

Hudson played basketball this winter and Rick was his coach. They only went 2-6 for the season but they had a lot of fun and did a great job.



School finished up in May. Here is Landon with his well-loved kindergarten teachers Mrs. Paul (l) and Mrs. Hugley (r). Special bonus that Mrs. Hugley will be moving up to first grade this year and again be Landon's teacher.



Just a shot of Kathryn and her boys
Kathryn and the boys tried to have a good adventure at least weekly this summer. Here they are at the zoo up in a "treehouse" at girrafe height and at the children's museum.



Kathryn accompanied Rick to a meeting on Oahu this April while Grandma watched the boys back home. Here's a shot at dinner overlooking the lagoon.


Landon turned 6 in February and had fun party with his brothers and friends at an adventure park in Scottsdale.


And Keaton turned 4 a little later in the month and had a fun party at the railroad park (his favorite place). Here he is blowing out the candles on his train birthday cake made by Grandma Gray.


Landon played baseball this spring and took to it very well (he's a natural). It was a coach-pitch league. They went undefeated (we think - no one kept score) and did well enough that the coach tried to line them up to play the 7-8 year-old age group teams but had no takers. Here he is enjoying a beverage after a game...
And with many of his teammates (Landon is third from the left) and his coaches (head coach on right, assistant on the left)

Rick and Kathryn got dressed up for a Mayo Clinic black tie event this spring.

In July, the whole family spent a week in the San Diego area, mostly going to Legoland California. Hudson spent the weekend before at a church camp for 3rd and 4th graders and had a great time. We picked him up from the bus and loaded him for the drive to San Diego! We spent a day each at Legoland, their waterpark, and their aquarium. We also spent a day at the ocean and on the final day sampled our favorites.

Here are some pics at Legoland...



And at the water park...

Lunch for the stair-step boys...

The whole family in 3-D glasses before a movie...

Riding one of the favorite roller-coasters (Technic)...

Our boys built an incredibly cool castle out of legos: OK, actually it was 99% built and glued together and they just let kids add on to it.


At Legoland


A day at the beach for Landon...


And for all of us...

At "Mini-land" where they've built several cities out of Legos including New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., and more.



In August we went to Michigan to visit Grandma and more family. Here are the boys with second-cousin Madison and Marti and Mark's dog Gunner:


Keaton at Hardwood lake on the ranch in grass about as tall as him.


Landon threw a tennis ball for Gunner to fetch about 100 times and exhausted both of them.

Grandma read a lot to them, especially at night.

With the Harmons: Ed, Cathy, Hannah, Faith, Eddie, and Donnie.

Lunch on a chilly day with cousin Callie and Grandma

Hudson liked going with cousin Caleb shooting targets

With cousins Callie and Caleb

We built a fort in the woods tucked behind some trees. All was done with Landon and Hudson pounding many nails (and no fingers).

And we spent a day swimming at heart lake




We've been very blessed. Best quote from these seasons:

Landon after Rick heated up the hot tub on a chilly spring day, lying back in the warm water with his head back and eyes closed: "This is my life...and I LOVE my life."

Winter Update

Lots has happened since our last update. We'll take it month-by-month...

Hudson had his 8th (yes 8th!) birthday in September. He had a blast with several of his friends at a place called Makutu's Island.

The boys had done a summer reading program through our library which allowed them to earn tickets to an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game. We went in September and although the hometown team lost, it was a fun game and a fun family experience.



Labor Day weekend we ventured to Los Angeles to Knottsberry Farm amusement park. Although a lot of the lines were long, the boys (and their parents) had a great time. Keaton, of course, liked all the train rides, Landon liked the water rides, and big-stuff Hudson got to go on Ghost Rider - a big wooden roller coaster - with Rick. It's a really fast coaster and like most wooden roller coasters it beats up the riders a little. Hudson appeared to be scared to death the whole ride but got off with a smile on his face saying he loved it. The photo that they take on the first big hill of the riders was priceless: Hudson looked white as a sheet! He was a brave guy though and handled it a lot better than many adult women we saw getting off it.



Back to school this fall was a bigger deal, as Landon joined Hudson at Desert Sun Academy. They have red, white, and blue shirts for their uniforms and although the picture below shows them in different colors the first day, they have coordinated their colors on their own every day since then. Landon has the same Kindergarten teachers as Hudson has and seems to really like school. He's really impressed us with how well he's done. He, like Hudson was, is now into writing and illustrating homemade books at home. Hudson continues to do very well in school and enjoys second grade. His teacher is pretty strict so she's not his favorite but he still enjoys it. He's reading at a 5th grade level and is very into reading (likes the Hardy Boys mysteries right now) and is also on a second-grade basketball team. Keaton misses his brothers during the day but likes having his mommy (and the toys) to himself all day.


October brought Halloween and Harvest festivals at some local churches. At the first one, Landon add his hot dog and candy so fast and bounced on so many bouncers that he threw up on the way home (Kathryn knew it was coming luckily so it was into a bag). He paced himself at the second one and everyone had a wonderful time. Keaton was a puppy, Landon a pirate, and Hudson a firefighter.

November brought NASCAR to town. Hudson, Landon, and Rick went to the 400 mile race and sat directly opposite the pits. Hudson's favorite had a great race and was in the top 5 when he ran out of gas and had to pit one lap before the finish and dropped way back. Landon's favorite driver did pretty well, finishing in the top 10, and Keaton's favorite (though he only heard about it later) crashed and was out of the race. It was a good time (and loud!)

December brought a very sad time for our family. Rick's sister Bonnie, who had battled leukemia for about a year and a half, went home to be with the Lord in early December. She had undergone a bone marrow transplant a year prior but suddenly developed a severe infection and lost her transplanted bone marrow. Her husband and three teenage children are having to adjust to a huge change as we all are to a lesser degree. Bonnie was a fantastic Christian woman and it was amazing to see the impact she'd had on so many lives at her memorial service. Nearly 1,000 people attended. She will be so missed but walked worthy of the calling she'd received.

And, of course, December brought Christmas. It was a wonderful day. The kids had a great time with gifts they loved. Aunt Kerry and Grandma Gray were around Christmas morning. The atmosphere was a little tempered for the adults because of Rick's sister's death, but the joy of the boys overcame it all.


We're looking forward to what God has for us in 2011 and can't wait to connect with all of you.