True Blue BYU!

Before:

After:

A Whole New Clubhouse for the kids!

It might not be perfect- but the kids don't care :)

Ryan!

Urghhhhhhh! Why?!

Yet- Sean was willing to help his Mom because he thought it looked so boring to do all by myself, and he wanted to help his brother not be grounded for the rest of his life. Always something positive right.

YM/YW Flour Tag

All I can say is- FUN! You put a cup of flour in a knee high nylon and tie it off. Then you play capture the flag or tag (the kids don't care they just want to get "dirty") It was a hoot and as you can see thoroughly amusing for the adults.

Grandpa Hoggard Visit

On Thursday Grandpa jumped on his Harley and drove down to our house. He arrived around 4 and just visited. We enjoyed Shiloh BBQing in the backyard and goofing off , the kids even made him his favorite cookies- sugar cookies. The next morning we packed up some cookies for him and off he went back home.

It was a very fun visit- Thanks Grandpa!

Emma's First Day of First Grade

On August 17th 2009 Emma entered the first grade at American Heritage Academy in Cottonwood, Arizona. She was so thrilled to finally start school again that she woke up at 5:30 got dressed, made her bed and was ready by 6:15. The next two hours were complete torture for her. She was way excited to have Ms. Plapp be her teacher. She did get a "first grade" haircut- I about cried when they chopped 9 inches of hair off- but it is what she wanted. GOOD LUCK EMMA!!!!

Ryan's Second Birthday

Yipee! Ryan turned two. We had doughnuts for breakfast and decorated the house with Mickey Mouse. He was spoiled the whole day with gifts and cards and lots of love from his family. He loved every opportunity to talk on the phone, and we were able to go to triward Elders Quorum BBQ at the lake. He just figured it was a huge birthday party for him and was as happy as ever.

Here are a few snapshots of his wonderful day. We sure love you Ryan!!

Here are his first presents - still being all careful.

By the last he was tearing it up

(We are hopeful of a bed transition soon)

Another very successful present- boys sure love to build and destroy and build. . .

Here is his birthday cake-complete with burning candles!

He had them completely blown out before we had the song sung. Silly kid!

Happy Birthday Ryan Lawrence Hoggard

Multi Stake Youth Conference 2009

What do you get when you combine the youth from 5 stakes in Northern Arizona? A Whole lot a FUN!

We met up at Fort Tuthill in Flagstaff on Friday night to set up camp. YES- we slept in tents and used port-a-potties. Then we hiked a mile for dinner and a huge barn dance! Imagine 500 youth in a barn with loud music- it was the neatest thing ever! The leaders I hung out with were awesome and despite my belly I danced. I stayed up half the night listening to teenage girls giggle and because I forgot my pillow.

On Saturday we woke and had a stake fireside, breakfast, and then were "herded" into groups of Ten. I was lucky enough to be a captain of 10 and took my group who were from Cottonwood, Flagstaff, Holbrook, Winslow, and Page to 5 different stations for group activities and lessons. We bonded and I gave them each a dog tag I had made. After lunch they went and cleaned a trail for a service project, I went to a leadership training meeting with Sister Dibbs (Pres. Monsons daughter!) We cleaned up camp, had dinner and for a finale we went and listened to Michelle Bear sing and Sister Dibbs talk. It was a wonderful experience- one I will not forget!

I am so proud of my 9 girls! As well as our stake- we truly stood out and were leaders as well as the loudest group- so full of spirit- way to go Cottonwood!! A weird thing to is the church sent down a camera crew from Salt Lake to film the entire conference. Maybe we will make it into a movie :)

**The only bummer deal was that I didn't get more pictures- but I did walk nearly 10 miles! I love the enthusiasm of the youth and how much they influence my life to bad they will never fully understand the impact that they really do have on not just us leaders but the WORLD.