2011

I never have the time (or patience honestly) to blog anymore. I feel guilty about that because I really do want to keep my family and friends up to date about what's going on with us.

So, here's to New Year's Resolutions!!

I figure if nothing else I can at least post pictures! (Now that I have found my camera after it being MIA for the last 6 months.)


I took these pictures of the kids on a very foggy, Cache Valley day. We had about 45 minutes to get them done. I told the kids, "Just smile when I say smile, pose when I say pose and DON'T give me any attitude!" They did a great job!



Christopher - Sophomore



Shannon - 7th grader



Ellie - 2nd grade


Shelby - almost 3 years old.



The kids all made a haul this Christmas. Mostly clothes, a few gadgets and gizmo's, girlie stuff and snow apparel - which is essential when you live in Logan, although the folks at home are getting way more snow than us this year.

Matt got himself a new suit for work and church. He got a new calling a few months ago - Assistant Executive Secretary to the Stake Presidency. He is enjoying it, mostly because it's a ton of computer work, phone calls and scheduling verses having to be to a million meetings! He also has been hard at work managing Lovell Studios. He has done so much to help me stay organized and made my life SO MUCH EASIER! He takes care of all the stuff I hate doing or am not good at and keeps track of all the business aspects of what we do. I love it! He is at every performance setting up the equipment, doing sound control and taking down equipment afterwards. He is such an amazing support and help to me, I am so grateful. I couldn't do it without him and I'm so happy that he WANTS to do this with me!

Christopher has settled back in here nicely. Although he misses his Payson friends a lot... He is a great kid with a good attitude and is trying his best to keep good grades in school so when he gets his driver's license in February he can DRIVE the car. I don't know how I feel about that. Nervous..., but yet won't it be nice to have someone ELSE run all my errands???

Shannon is growing up a little too fast for my liking. What happened to my little 12 year old? She turns 13 on Monday. THIRTEEN. Just saying that out loud freaks me out! As much as we kid her about officially being a teenager, she knows it's true. She prefers to keep to herself and we have to DRAG not only information but a SMILE out of her. The eye rolling kills me. But she is still my sweet Shanny Paige. She is responsible, works hard at school, helps around the house and has a ton of friends.

Ellie-bellie is my little ray of sunshine. She is turning 8 next week and is so excited to get baptized! She is always happy and positive and cheerfully singing and skipping her way through life. She is an excellent student and does all her homework and reading without being reminded or asked. She mother's her little sister to death, makes friends wherever she goes and is currently in rehearsal for the "Wizard of Oz" (playing a cute little munchkin). She got a scooter for Christmas and rides it all over the house (wood floors are great for inside play). She has to contend with Shelby over her possessions and usually looses... but sacrifices for the good of the family. She and Christopher are in competition for the messiest rooms in the house.

Shelby is turning 3 at the end of this month. She is the most active little kid I have EVER had. She's in to EVERYTHING. Nothing is safe around here unless it is locked up. In fact, it's so quiet at the moment my mommy instincts are telling me that she is in to something. (Brb).... Whew. Just innocently watching TV. I don't know what I would do with out the Mickey Mouse ClubHouse TV show. That is the only program she likes to watch. It is on from 9 am to 10:30am and I get a lot done during those hours. Shelby loves to sing and dance. She knows what buttons to push on my piano to get certain songs to play. She will spend hours in the music room either playing the piano or singing and dancing along with her favorite songs. She loves candy and lippy (lippy = anything that goes on your lips. Chapstick, lipgloss, lipstick, vasaline, ANYTHING). She doesn't just put it on, she puts it on, layer by layer by layer until it.is.all.gone. So, if you leave your "lippy" laying around (or even if you don't, she will usually find it and take it) Shelby will have her hands on it and it will be consumed by her. She counter acts her naughty-ness by being too adorable to stay mad at. If she thinks she is in trouble, she will say, "Mommy, I love you!!"

Works every time.






I have been staying busy teaching and singing. A.LOT. The group that I sing with, Lilium was booked a ton during the holidays. We sang ALL OVER the valley from rest homes, to retirement places, Walmart, to the Tabernacle, work parties and ward Christmas parties. I absolutely loved every single minute! Getting paid for some of these gigs wasn't too bad either! I took a nice and much needed break once the kids got out of school and just spent it at home being LAZY. It was heaven.

Now it's back to school, back to teaching, back to WORK. It's going to be a busy month with all the birthdays and such. Matt is taking me to Florida in a few weeks and I can.not.WAIT!!

When you want to make a difference...

Upstage Theatre for Youth is an organization that is totally dedicated to the youth of Payson (where I'm from peeps)and its surrounding areas. The board members are not paid and everything is run entirely by volunteers.

I was involved with several productions in the early developing stages (music director) and I cannot believe how totally AWESOME Upstage has become over the years!! The plays are so well done, you can't help but sit back and say to yourself...

"These are just little kids!? They totally ROCK!!!"


Every part of Upstage Theatre is a way for kids to learn and grow (participating youth are between the ages of 5-18 years old). The directors are often youth who started as cast members. When the kids are 18, they are encouraged to try directing or assist in directing. The backstage is also run by the youth. The crew behind the scenes, including those in charge of props consist of youth who learned the ropes from the crew before them. They are given opportunities to help in the building, designing and painting of the sets under the supervision of the directors. Costumes are usually provided by parent volunteers of the cast, but the youth have often been employed to help with this task as well. Cast and crew members are responsible for tickets sales and also help with concessions during intermission.


At present, there is only one aspect of Upstage Theatre that they must hire someone to do and that is SOUND. For several years, Upstage has been trying to purchase their own sound equipment but because they don’t make enough profit off of their productions (and with the economy the way it has been) they have been unable to reach this goal.

Chad Hymas



and Jason Hewlett


are both donating their time along with their amazing talents and abilities to bring Upstage Theatre's goal to fruition! Please support this wonderful cause by coming to "OF SOUND DREAMS" on May 1st 2010!! Help support an organization that gives back to the community, that offers the chance for children to learn and grow, to use their talents and build their self esteem!


OF SOUND DREAMS

May 1st 2010
Payson High School Auditorium
1050 South Main Street
Payson, Utah

Tickets are $10 each
Group passes (of 4) can be purchased for $32 (A STEAL PEOPLE!!!)

Advanced tickets can be purchased at:

Family First Credit Union in Payson (inside Walmart),
Payson Market,
Stadium Cinema's in Payson,
Boothe Brother's in Spanish Fork
or you can go HERE and purchase your tickets online through Paypal.

It's COMING.....

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
at The Old Barn

March 5, 6, 8, 12, 13*, 15, 19, 20*, 22, 26, 27

Shows are at 7:30pm
*Matinée and Evening performance on these days. Matinee's are at 2:30pm




I am playing the part of the "Narrator" in this production and HAVING A BLAST!! Shannon and Ellie are in it as well, playing the children I am narrating to at various times through out the show. The cast is full of awesome, amazing and talented people and I am SO happy that I get to work with them all!!!

So.

Family, friends, random google searchers and blog stalkers....


You've GOT to come!!


Seriously, last year this show SOLD OUT every night but ONE.


It is limited seating (200). So if you wait until the last minute...


You'll be S.O.L. ("Sorry Out of Luck")


You can reserve your tickets ONLINE

OR

by calling in your reservation (435-458-2276). A certain number of tickets are reserved for online purchasing, as well as phone reservations. (Meaning: if you try online to get tickets and they are sold out you can still call and probably get tickets.)



BUT DO IT NOW!!!



Please??





end self-promotion blog post.

Happy Anniversary!

Three years ago today I drove through a snowstorm to marry this guy. To say that I am a lucky girl, is an understatement. To say that I'm grateful for him, isn't enough. To explain how my life has changed would take... awhile.

Let me put it this way:

I went from this

:(

to this

=)

when he came into my life!

It has been a great three years!! I love him so much and I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father blessed me with such a wonderful guy. He is my best friend. His love and support means everything to me. In everything I do, he is right by my side and I couldn't ask for more.



Thank you Matt for all that you do for me, I love you!!

The Graduate

Last Friday was the official day of reckoning for the last two years of our lives. Matt received his Master's of Business Degree from Utah State University!



My husband the MBA Graduate.



I'm so proud of him!!


Matt's sister Connie and his mom and dad on the front row and my parents on the back row.

New radio jingles as promised

Here are two of the jingles that we've been working on for my friends' store Sugar n'Spice. Go to the Lovell-Studios website (http://lovell-studios.com/b2evolution/blog5.php). You will have to click on the individual attachments to hear each jingle. Let me know what you think!

Still here just not much time to blog

I know what you're all thinking,

"A new blog post from the Lovell's!!! It's about DANG TIME."

What can I say?? Life is BIIIIIZZZZZYYYYY!!!

(Ahem, that is an understatement at the moment.)

I didn't think it was possible to have so much going on and still remain standing at the end of the day (albeit swaying back and forth from exhaustion).

I'll give you a sampling of my day yesterday:

5:50am wake up, get Shannon up, eat breakfast, get dressed and semi presentable

6:30 say goodbye to Shannon, teach lessons

7:30 get Ellie up and ready for school

7:45 finish typing up information flyer for Piano Gallery (I'm coordinating the Clavinova Fun Fest for them. Me and my big mouth.)

8:00 get in shower

8:30 ask Matt to take Ellie to school because I am running behind schedule

9:00 meet with Piano Gallery contact to discuss out going flyer

9:30 go Visiting Teaching

11:30 home and lunch for Shelby, read stories and put her down for nap

12pm work on Sugar n'Spice jingles (four of them, music and lyrics)

1:30 realize I have to teach in about an hour and I haven't prepped yet.

1:31 start prepping for lessons

2:30 Shelby is up from nap so I rehearse for my up coming performances. This Saturday I'm doing a performance for a Stake Social event and next Saturday "Lilium" is performing for Smithfield's Chamber of Commerce "Night of Giving". It is a BIG deal!! I'm so excited for both of these performances but extremely anxious about doing not doing well!

3:00 teach

6:00 done teaching, fix dinner, eat, immediately set up for recording "Sugar n'Spice" jingles and put final touches on all the music and lyrics.

8:00 Sugar n'Spice owner arrives. (She's one of my BFF's and so this is where things got really, REALLY FUN!!!!) Begin recording sale jingles.*

10:30pm done recording. B.L.A.S.T. Funnest thing I have done for two weeks (or more). The jingles will go on air this weekend and I can't wait to hear them because they turned out awesome!

*HUGE SHOUT OUT to my amazing husband, Matt. He is the guy that is behind the scenes doing all the recording work and editing. I couldn't do any of this with out him. I will post the jingles for everyone to check out as soon as he finishes the editing. (If I know him he will have them done by tonight!)

11pm get a text message from one of my wonderful students letting me know she got a part in Sky View High Schools play "Oklahoma!". How cool is THAT?! Made my day. : )

11:15 in bed

Just a day in the life that is mine (ours) right now.

I auditioned for "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat" last month and was given the part of NARRATOR! I'm so excited (and nervous) about this! The production will be in March and YES I will let you all know when, where it is and I hope that you all will come!! OH! And cool news! The directors have asked Shannon and Ellie to be in the show - at the beginning (no children were cast in this production) and they are THRILLED!!

I have also started a class (Well Prepared Pianist) that is once a month that is helping me learn all the things I don't know, how to be a better teacher and ugh! TECHNIC! I felt like such a beginner at my first lesson. My teacher is great and I know I am going to love it (I already do!).

Matt finished his last class in October... his MBA is in the BAG!!!!! I'm so proud of him for all the hard work he put in to accomplish this goal. He will graduate with his Masters of Business early next month (December 11, let me know if you can come!). Way to go honey!!!!

There is so much else going on that I haven't even mentioned!! Matt has been working hours every day getting our website up and running. Please check us out!! Lovell Studios is keeping us all busy with lessons, teaching, performances and recordings... Matt is the business man behind it all and I just let him run with it. He does a great job and I am so thankful for all that he does to help me!

I love this stage

I love when babies learn to talk. This was at my mom and dad's this past weekend. On the way down to Payson we taught Shelby to say, "Oh dear!". This is her showing off her skills to everyone. Thanks mom for capturing this on video!!!



Now everything that comes out of her mouth is of course, "oh dear". It's still cute. Even after the 100th time. =)

The Sister Pact

For all of my reader friends and family out there I have a new book for you...




"The Sister Pact" was written by one of my very good friends, Cami Checketts and it is being released on Saturday August 1st.

I finished reading it yesterday (got my copy early - the perks of being a friend of the author!) and I LOVED IT! It has all the elements of a good suspense novel: Heroism, romance, danger, mystery and did I mention ROMANCE?? :) Cami is a terrific writer and you'll find yourself unable to put it down.

Here's a brief description of what you're getting with "The Sister Pact":

Savannah Compton is devastated when her sister and best friend, Allison, falls into a coma after a tragic accident. Or was it an accident? Even with a charming and handsome detective at her side, it seems Savannah may never discover the truth. But if she doesn’t her family could be in even more danger. And Savannah’s past holds its own secrets that could change everything.

Now she must prove her innocence to the one person who is beginning to matter most. Join Savannah as she struggles to summon faith and rely on hope, even in the darkest of circumstances, and learn how the bond between sisters can overcome anything.

If you'd like a chance to win your own copy of "The Sister Pact", go to Cami's website. The book will also be available at Barnes & Noble, Deseret Book, Seagull Book, Wal-Mart, and Costco. And no, you can't borrow my copy. GO GET YER OWN!

Updates on everyone...

The first summer month is almost over. Yikes!! We haven't even set up our pool yet! But of course, with all this rain it hasn't even been an OPTION.

We are trying to stay busy - so I, wait... I mean THE KIDS don't get board. Shannon joined a competitive soccer team out in Richmond and is loving it. They have 2 hour practices twice a week and she is required to practice AT LEAST 30 minutes every day but Sunday. She is thrilled!! We did find out (after spring soccer season ended) that she has a knee problem called Osgood Slaughter Disease: inflammation of the patellar tendon where the knee meets the top of the tibia (shinbone). The condition is caused by stress on the tendon that attaches the muscle at the front of the thigh to the tibia. She gets pretty sore after practice but with the help of ice packs and Ibprofen she is good. She is just growing up way too fast and her body can't keep up! The symptoms (swelling and tenderness) subside after treatment and rest and should go away after she stops growing.

Ellie is counting down the days to when the pool is finally up. She is quite the little swimmer and wants to see if she has graduated out of having to wear a life jacket (yes, I'm THAT paranoid). She is one of my biggest helpers around here and as of this week, has asked me to start calling her "Cinderella". I'm not quite sure what she means by that...

As for Shelby, where to begin?? We have little "incidences" every day. Multiple incidences actually... I think I just threw away all the markers in the house due to the last one.



Pictures are worth a thousand words.


She has learned to climb, which means I have had to do a mandatory re-decorating that involves all chairs, stools and benches. This added to all the dowels, locks, gates and other baby proofing items makes my house quite the Safety Zone. She is talking more and more every day (though I confess I can't always understand WHAT she is saying). We are at 17 months now and you know what that means... NURSERY is just around the corner!!

Christopher is still living at his dad's house in Payson. I see him every time I go down there. He loves hanging out with his friends and is the typical teenager: Texting, xbox, movies, friends, late nights, computer games... His voice is so low now that I don't recognize it when he answers the phone. KIDS GROW UP SO FAST. =(


Matt is still busy with school. Only two more classes to go!!!! We try to make the most of the weekends he does have off and the nights that he doesn't have to study. He works so hard and is doing really well. I'm so proud of him!!


I am busy with teaching, though the summer months are not quite as hectic as the school ones. I feel a more laid back pace lately, which I really am grateful for. Young Women's keeps me busy as well. We are getting ready to go to camp in two weeks and I don't have to take Shelby with me this year. YEAH!!! I'm speaking with the YW presidency in sacrament meeting this Sunday (I should be writing my TALK instead of updating the BLOG. Can you say, "PROCRASTINATION"?).

I found out this week that my foot is broken =( It's a long story... Back on May 1st when I was down at BYU's Women's Conference I rolled my foot off a curb as I was running to get to my first class. DUMB. It hurt like crazy and almost made me cry. ALMOST. But I limped my way through the day and the next and the next... It took a couple of weeks before the pain went away and I thought that I was better. But then I'd step on it wrong and it was like I was starting all over again. After awhile the aching and pain was so constant I couldn't stand it, so I finally drug myself to the Podiatrist. Apparently I was born with an "extra" bone in my foot called he accessory navicular. The way that I rolled my foot when I hurt it caused the accessory navicular to break off of where it had fused to the normal navicular bone. I'll have to wear a cast for 6 weeks and then see where the healing process is. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid surgery (they will have to remove the extra bone completely and reattach the tendon if the cast doesn't work). The cast itself isn't that bad - that is to say, it's annoying but it isn't slowing me down. : )

I'm off... it's Friday and after teaching 1 lesson (YES ONLY ONE) I'm playing with the kids for the rest of the day.

First summer camping trip

This past weekend we loaded up the camper and went SOUTH. Not too far though, just down past Delta to the land of DESERET. We stopped at the old Fort and there, we stayed. I don't know what the appeal was?? It could have been the big mud puddles...



Madi and Ellie taking a "mud bath" in the big mud puddle that developed after the first cloud burst. After this, they of course needed to take a dip in the canal that was close by.




Shannon cooling off/washing off the mud in the canal.




Shelby REALLY wanted to go swimming too. The water was pretty clean. No visible floaties. That means it's safe, right?



We went on multiple exploring trips with the 4-wheelers.

Shannon at the Great Stone Face which is said to resemble the profile of the prophet Joseph Smith.




Shelby was constantly climbing up on the pink 4 wheeler. I think she's trying to claim ownership....



One day we took a long ride out to an old volcano. We found a really cool trail that took us all the way up to the top.


Matt and Shelby going up the trail at Pahvant Butte.




Cool and very LARGE lizard that scurried under Matt's machine.




Inside a really cool abandoned cement building on top of Pahvant Butte. We later found out that it was originally constructed to be a windmill plant (back in the 1920's) that was to supply electricity to the local residents. It was never completed.




On the top of Pahvant Butte. This volcano erupted about 15,500 years ago. The explosion produced this crater on the south face of the mountain.




Matt and I on top of Pahvant Butte.




Shannon spent much of her time exploring and looking for lizards.



On our way home we stopped to tour through the museum in Delta (yes, museums are COOL). We also stopped to see the Morrison Charcoal ovens just outside of Leamington.





Inside the ovens.



We sort of got rained out which sent us in the direction of my sister's house in Santaquin. We stopped over there for a visit and they took us on a beautiful ride up Santaquin Canyon.


Chris, Brenda Matt and Shelby up Santaquin Canyon.




Shelby always falls fast asleep on these rides.


We had a great trip!! Went by way too fast, but I'm sure glad we were able to go.

Relay For Life

The Relay For Life (cancer fundraiser) was this past Friday. This was the night that I've been working towards for the last 5 months and it was AWESOME!!


"Lilium" Carey Heaton, Me and Dawn Garrett. My dad (the botanist) helped us choose our group name. Lilium is the Latin name for Lily - a 3 petal flower.


My brother-in-law asked me clear back in Jan/Feb if I would be willing to sing as part of the entertainment in the park for Relay's festivities. Heck, YES I said! I called up my girls, Dawn and Carey (my singing partners) and they were totally on board. Every time I went to Payson we rehearsed, we discussed song possibilites, parts, wrote parts and practiced-practiced-practiced. They came up here and we played... ahem, I mean practiced. We even got another gig to sing at The Peteetneet 2 weeks before the Relay (but I've been to busy and LAME to blog about it. Sorry. I really am gonna try to do better.)



In Front of the marque at The Peteetneet. We were pretty excited to see "Lilium in Concert". Made us feel special...



This shot made my thighs burn...


The Peteetneet concert was a good run-through for the real deal. We had everything covered, ready and under control for the Relay except... the weather.

Anyone living in Utah for the past 3 weeks can tell you, it has rained pretty much every day. EVERY DAY!!

Friday night was noooooooo different. We were supposed to go on stage at 8pm. But as luck would have it, they were running 30 minutes behind schedule. Kelly V (the performer right before us) got drenched when it started pouring rain right at 8 o'clock.

Dawn, Carey and I huddled under a canopy making some last minute costume adjustments... BLACK UMBRELLA'S. Oh yeah, we were going on NO. MATTER. WHAT.

Just as Kelly V finished up her last song it stopped raining. We got up there, wiped the water off our stools and music stands and away we went! It was so much fun!! I don't remember what song we were on (maybe Loathing from WICKED) when I thought to myself, "I love being up here!!! This is such a BLAST!!" It helped that the audience seemed to enjoy each of our songs and there were a few sweet fans (little girls on the front row) that kept our spirits up by saying things like, "YOU ROCK!!!!" or "I LOVE YOU!" or "YOU'RE THE BEST SINGERS IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!". (I might have just imagined that last one.)



It was an amazing time. The crowd grew and grew (no, I'm NOT making that up!). In fact my brother-in-law later told me that they have never had such a big crowd stick around for the music before. (Insert BIG SMILE here) I loved every minute!! We weren't able to do our slide show due to the weather, but everything else went off without a hitch. It didn't rain a single drop our entire performance (PRAYER WORKS). 10 minutes after we left the stage... it was a DOWN POUR.






My dad (who is fighting Multiple Myeloma) holding Shelby in the audience.

The Relay was a HUGE success!! They raised over $34,000 dollars (last year it was onlt $14,000)!! I am so grateful that I got to be a part of it!!!

KEANE

I waited for four years and they finally came back.


My favorite band. Tim, Tom and Richard. I love these guys!


I became a huge fan of KEANE when they exploded onto 101.9 with "Somewhere Only We Know." I bought their fist album "Hopes and Fears" and fell in love with their music! They have since released two more albums - Under The Iron Sea and Perfect Symmetry. Both awesome!




At the concert. The ushers were so very nice at showing us to our seats but kept telling us that we couldn't take pictures. (Seriously, what was up with THAT?!) I slyly took this picture when no one was looking...

Actually, there were sooooo many people taking pics and videos with cameras and phones the ushers finally gave up. But this is the best I could do in the low light and my little camera. Sadly, shortly after this shot, it (camera) pooped out on me. :(



I wish I had been this close.




Me and Matt at the concert. Matt Kearney was one of the bands who opened for Keane. He was incredible! I think I have added a new favorite to my list. He sounds so much like Cold Play...



My friend, Rochelle and I. I tried to get her to go with me four years ago and she couldn't. I'm so glad that she was able to go this time!

What a great night and AMAZING concert!!!!


A huge, HUGE thank you to my sweet sister-in-law, Lori and brother-in-law, Scott who watched the girls for us so that Matt and I could go. The girls had an absolute BALL with them!!!! Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!! Love you!

I am a happy girl

Two of my very good friends from Payson came up to spend the weekend with us. It was a "working" visit and YES, we WORKED until our little voices were RAW (not really, but we did work hard).

I am singing with Carey Heaton and Dawn Garret, two amazing voices and wonderful friends of mine, at the Relay For Life in Payson on June 12th. We have been working over the last few months to get our songs ready and have been trying to practice as much as possible. But when you live 150 miles apart that is difficult to do. Having them come up here this weekend was a BIG HELP to our progress not to mention a total BLAST!!! Oooohhhhh, I LOVE having friends and family visit us! (hint, hint, hint....). We were able to get all of our songs recorded, rough versions of them at least and we practiced our guts out. It was so much fun - I just love these guys! We got a little wild and crazy with the Karaoke singing one night (Carey - s'okay if I post your ABBA dance? Lol!) Dawn's daughter, Meg also came up which was fun as well! I thought she would be totally bored, but she wasn't! She sat there and listened, watched or practiced right along with us!




On Saturday everybody took a break to go and support Shannon and Ellie at their very first soccer games! Shannon has never played until this year but has caught on quick and is loving it.


Shannon playing Goalie


Ellie was really excited about her game, but didn't know what to expect (all her practices have been rained out so far)! At half time she came up to me and said, "Mom, soccer is HARD." Yep.



Because the weather has been so horrible lately the field was still pretty mushy and she got her pink soccer socks dirty... she was NOT happy about THAT.


We all got a sunburn... it was awesome. FINALLY Spring is here.


After the soccer games we came back to the house and got to work... after that is, we went to lunch and did some necessary shopping. Matt was home from school and was anxious to help us do some recording. He waited and waited and waited... so patiently until we were ready to lay down some tracks!! We worked until MIDNIGHT. It was exhausting but also so rewarding to be able to hear our hard work pay off.

Matt at the controls...


It's been a great weekend. I am so grateful for these two girls - they are such wonderful examples to me and are both so talented!! Thanks to their families who sacrificed in order for them to be able to come up here this weekend (Brandon and Kirk - you guys are SUPER-DUPER!) Thanks girls for making the drive and sacrificing YOUR time and energy to do this with me!

We always have to do a "crazy face" picture. It's tradition.