Ellie's 12th Birthday!

The Cake~Bella Sara, Autumn Horse

Ellie's friend Anna, gave her a "makeover" from her mother's Beauty School here in town.

She got her nails painted and her hair done.

She had a blast, and thought it was fun to be pampered!

Some of her cousins at her Birthday party!
(Ray, Porter, Andalyn, Ellie holding Maylie, Bekah, and Weston)

Ellie opening her new CTR ring. She was so surprised!

Grma & Grpa Berg gave her the 3rd book in the Dragon Slippers trilogy, Dragon Spear! It was even signed by Jessica Day George for Ellie's birthday!

She also loved the new tennis racket her Great Aunt's Charlotte and Kathryn gave her. She took lessons this past summer.

This was her favorite card, from her cousin, Brieanna!

She loved the silver fox tail Grma Susy, and Grpa Blaine got for her too.

Emily and Andalyn eating the cake.

Family, just visiting!

Grpa Berg giving Ellie her 12 yr. old Birthday spankings!

Ellie's Friend Party

Landrea, Ellie, Anna, and Jenna in the hot tub!
The weekend after her birthday, Ellie got to invite some of her friends up to Miss Codi's house in Kamas and have a GIRL"S NIGHT OUT!

They had fun playing balloon volleyball, watching movies,(The Last Unicorn, & Monsters VS. Aliens) eating pizza and popcorn,and hanging out in the hot tub!
The next day Landrea took her to Fright~Mares at Lagoon!
She had a fun 12th Birthday!

Primary Program!

We recently had the Primary Program in our ward. It was a wonderful meeting, all of the children sang beautifully and did a great job on their talks. It's one of my favorite meeting of the year. The spirit is always so strong, and there is never a dry eye in the audience after it is over. This year marked an historic time for our little family all of my kids were in the program this year. Ellie just barely got to be in it, because she turned 12 the next week. It was nice to sit on the bench next to my husband for once, and not have little ones asking "Momma, why are you crying?". I fully enjoyed the talents and antics of my children from the audience. I should have taken a picture! They all looked so precious, all dressed up in their Sunday best. What a blessing families are. I'm truly grateful for mine!

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Just Stuff !

This week it actually snowed! So we got a little taste of winter!

Thank goodness it didn't stay long! It is a beautiful day today!

On Monday for Family Home Evening we went up Pine Canyon
to have a picnic and enjoy the fall leaves.

We ate fried chicken, chips, rolls, and drank fruit punch.

Daddy even got to go with us!

After dinner we all went hiking and picked some fall leaves to take home. The fall leaves were awesome and the colors were amazing!

This month Ray started preschool at Headstart!

He is excited to be in school!
I also started working at Headstart as a bus/classroom aide. It sure takes some getting used to, but I love being able to teach again!

We had a water pipe break in the front lawn, and Uncle Brad,brought his tractor over to help dig it up. The kids thought it was fun to ride in the tractor scoop!

Ray, Ellie, Weston & Bekah

Apple Pickin'

The apple tree next to our house, was burdened with apples this year so we took advantage of the abundance of fruit and picked them for FHE.

Bekah loaded apples into her pockets!

Weston got up into the tree, but didn't want his picture taken.

Lyn picked from the top, on his new ladder!

We ended up with 9 big boxes of apples, which made 96 bottles of applesauce and we still had some left over for the horses to snack on.

Gappmayer Reunion!

This year for the Gappmayer Reunion, Aunt Carol and family were in charge. So after we had lunch. We had a show and tell of sorts. Where all of my Mom's siblings were supposed to bring anything they had from their Grandparents or Mom and Dad. It was really interesting to here all the stories behind the memorabilia.

My mother, Ella brought a picture of my Grandpa and Granny Gappmayer, and also an Shawl that Grandpa Cox had made.

Aunt Jane brought on old roasting pan that was always full of oatmeal raisin cookies when she would visit her Granny Cox.

Also a beautiful needle point picture that Granny cox had made, Aunt Carol had one of these needle point pictures made into a pillow.

Aunt Lois brought a lot of things, my favorite were these christening dresses, Granny Cox crocheted the lace on the bottom of the dress. It was amazing!

Also the old chamber pot, is a funny thing to be passed down. Aunt Lois and some of her other siblings remember using it in the old house when they visited Granny Cox.

Aunt Donna, my mom's oldest sister. Had some great stories to tell about times past.

Aunt Carol took the time to scan in a bunch of the old pictures to her computer and gave us all copies, and also gave each family copies of some of the histories she has gathered.

For the Family Auction, Aunt Carol gave away these African Violets,which were one of Granny Cox's favorite flowers.
( I happened to win them and gave them to my Mom for her birthday.)

With the help of my friend Rachel, I made this cute bag for the Auction!
Instead of kids game this year, Aunt Carol's family rented a Bounce House!

The kids all had a blast playing in it for hours!
The also had a pinata!

The kids loved that!

So all in all it was great Family Reunion. It was fun to see everyone that came, and we sure missed those who didn't. Maybe next year!