Last Friday was "Girls Night Out" to see the new movie. It was so much fun. There were about ten of us from Church who bought tickets a week earlier. I'm not someone who really analyzes the movies they see, I watch them for pure entertainment value. I had a wonderful time and I can't wait for the next movies to come out!!! TWO THUMBS UP!!!

New Calling

Yesterday was a big day for the family and especially for Mark. He was called to serve as the 1st Counselor in our ward Bishopric which came as quite a surprise to all of us. It was a fun day for us as my parents, Stephanie and her family, and Jonathan and his family came up from Hermiston to participate in the event. Unfortunately for Mark, the work has already begun and while the rest of us were enjoying one another's company at the house, he was at the Church taking care of ward business for the next several hours..... In any event, he is anxious to serve and will, as always, do his very best and we are proud of him!

Graduation Day!

This past weekend Mark graduated from the Probation and Parole Academy and I was lucky enough to drive down to see his graduation in Salem. My mom and sisters watched the girls for us and we were able to have a night away together - our first one in seven years. It was a wonderful weekend and I was so proud of Mark and his accomplishment. He works very hard at what he does - how grateful I am to have him in my life!

Missing Daddy

Mark spent four weeks attending training at the Oregon Law Enforcement Academy in Salem. It was a very long time to be without Daddy. While the girls and I missed him immensely, Mark was having a down day and missing his girls back home. So we decided to send him a little pick-me-up to let him know that we were thinking of him. Hopefully it did the trick and we were able to cheer him up a bit. We are definitely glad to have him home with us now!

Baby Blessing

My brother and his wife (Jon and Natalie) blessed their third baby (Jordan) the first weekend in November. We were fortunate to have most of our family come back to Oregon to attend the blessing. My sister, Shellie, was the only one who couldn't be there but we definitely missed her. My other brother and his wife (Todd and Suzann) stayed for a couple days at our house with their two kiddos. These are some pictures of the kids with Uncle Todd and then with Aunt Wendie.

We then spent some time in Hermiston with the rest of the family. Sunday was blessing day and our whole family went to church together. We took up two entire rows at the chapel. Here are the girls with their adorable Perez cousins.

Sam and Emma with their new cousin Jordan. Their favorite thing to do is hold the baby and they do a great job!

Here is Samantha and her sweet cousin Karlie playing dress-up at Grandma's house.What a special gifit it is to be a part of such a wonderful family. Our girls are richly blessed to have two families (the Edwards and the Perrys) who love and care for them very much.

Happy Halloween!

It was a fun Halloween this year. Emma and Samantha were looking forward to costumes and candy for weeks! Although their costume decisions changed daily, we finally settled on Sam being Snow White and Emma dressing as Little Red Riding Hood. Sam had a preschool party at our local pumpkin patch and wore her costume. Emma dressed up for Kindergarten and participated in the school parade. We had dinner with our good friends, the Rasheeds, and then went to the Trunk or Treat at the Church. The girls went to bed exhausted but extremely satisfied. We'll be serving Halloween candy for months!

Moving Day

In early October my sister Stephanie and her family moved to a new house in Hermiston. We drove down to help them out with their move. After a long day of hard work, you have to lighten things up and have some fun at the same time.

I love spending time with my sisters and my mom. We always have so much fun and we really enjoy being with each other. My four sisters and six sisters-in-law are my best friends!
Stephanie and Silila have a riding lawnmower with a trailer. We hooked it up and put all the cousins in to have some rides. Everyone took turns driving the "tractor" and pulling the kids along. They had the greatest time. Who knew that riding lawnmowers could provide hours of entertainment??? The best part about it was all the memories it brought back to when my siblings and I were kids and our dad used to do the same thing with us on our grandpa's lawnmower.

This is a picture of Great-Grandma Peggy holding the newest cousin in the family, Jordan Richard. He's only a few weeks old.