Zach's Baptism and 8th Birthday Celebration

Zach goes over the program before his baptism.

Zach blows out all his eight candles. Yea!!!

Worn out Andrew takes a cat nap on Grandma's lap.

After returning from Branson, we went on up to Collinsville to be there for Zach's birthday and baptism. He has been very excited about both. Eight is a very special age for him -- he got to get baptized and he got to go into cub scouts. He went to cub scout day camp all of the week starting on his actual birthday. He told me about hitting the target in archery and showed me the pet crickets he got at camp. Their names are Cricket and Potter.

Zach's baptism was a very good experience for all of us. I didn't get many pictures taken though; I'll have to ask Amy to share her pre-baptism photos with me. Most of the family on both sides were able to attend. Mike Phillips baptized him, Alan gave a talk on baptism, Mike Jacobs gave one on the gift of the Holy Ghost, the females in the family sang, and Zach shared his testimony. Zach gave his dad a very special memory too. After the baptism Mike knelt down in front of Zach; Zach threw his arms around Mike and hugged him tight for a long time. It was great. After the baptism, we went back to Mike & Amy's to eat and visit. We also had cheesecake (Zach's request for his birthday cake) and he got to open presents and go play with his cousins. All in all -- a good day.

Branson Trip -- July 2009

At the toy museum, Alan looks for a fire truck like he had as a child.
Carolyn tries on a "hillbilly" hat.

This band at Branson was very talented and funny.

If you ever read "Shepherd of the Hills", this is the author's painting of the "trail that nobody knows how old".

We went to Branson, MO again this year. It's a fun get-away for all ages. We enjoy the activities there and also enjoy watching the families there. You rarely ever see people fussing at one another; they are just enjoying one another's company. We signed up to attend another sales presentation, knowing full well that we couldn't buy a condo in Branson. They sure are pretty though. We didn't think much of the place we saw this time -- wouldn't have bought into it if we'd had the extra money. We did get good hotel prices, two free tickets to see the Haygoods, and two tickets to Silver Dollar City. If you ever go to Branson, we recommend seeing the Haygoods. It's a family act with 7 brothers and one sister. They are tremendous. They play all sorts of instruments, sing, dance, do comedy -- and it's all very high energy. Silver Dollar City has rides, demonstrations of how to do all sorts of crafts, shops, and many music and/or dance acts that you can stop by and see for no extra cost. The tickets we got were two day tickets although we only went one day.

Family Visit

Look how Andrew is growing!

Dan & Zach show off for the camera

Mike shows off his halo

Did you know sparklers could be so smoky??

One of our Fourth of July fireworks

Hug-a-bunches are SO SCARY!!

We had all the "kids" (except for Aaron of course) here for the weekend. It was a good visit, although it's never long enough. The time just goes too fast. We don't live close enough. I'm going to give you an interesting assortment of photos from that visit.