HHS Homecoming Pageant and Elders

I am not ashamed to admit that my baby sister has just won the title of Homecoming Queen at Hurricane High School after singing a stellar rendition of Shania's It only hurts when I breathe. Congratulations Sammy girl!This picture turned out fun with the motion blur.

This is a picture of the Royalty. . .

Sammy and Mom, who is absolutely pleased as punch and proud of our girl.

Sammy and her best friend Charlie Ann Olson.

Sammy with another girl and Alex's sister Clarissa, who won best talent, with The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

The Elders are doing well, from all I gather. They have been very blessed with teaching opportunities and finding new people to teach. We are continually proud of them. John was apparently missed by a tree that fell down in a major storm to hit right next to his apartment. We're glad you're safe, John.

Annettey's Fam!

Annette sent me the following news from her family down in Arizona:

Cook Family Highlights (August 25, 2007)

Dan has successfully and officially completed the first
year of the three year Pharmacy Program at Midwestern
University in Glendale, AZ.  He is now enjoying the last
break of classes which lasts a total of 5 weeks before he
starts a rotation at a Pharmacy site in AZ.  After two
rotations this fall/winter he will endure more class work.
And then five more rotations in which he can request through
application as to where he would like to go to gain
experience. He has already requested two rotations in
Independence, Kansas where his sister's family lives. He is
interested in applying for a rotation in Maryland where
another of his sister's family lives.

As for me, Annette, I am willing to try different places to
see where we eventually will want to live in the long run.
"Somewhere not as hot as here!", I always add.  Dan
currently works at Walgreens in Avondale, AZ as an intern
where he has had some interesting things happen with
customers.

Annette has had an adventurous summer that isn't over
yet.  The temperatures have exceeded 117 degrees here on
occasion.  I often make my opinion quite clear that I
would never live here by choice due to the blasted heat. 
Our A/C unit doesn't keep up during the more part of the
day and so all I have to do is just sit there and sweat. 
The inside temp. reads 85 degrees and I'm sure you all feel
sorry for me now.  So Dan up and bought an A/C window unit
which will be installed soon.

I taught my first sewing lesson a few weeks ago.  I
showed my student how to make pillowcases and her next
project is making pj shorts.  Yea!

We just returned from a visit to Provo where we bought
peaches and pears.  So like Jenny, I took on the task
of canning peaches.  The next day I got really excited
when I realized I was capable of making Strawberry
Freezer Jam like Grandma Grace has served me for years. 
I was very happy when it turned out.  Today Dan helped
me can half of the pears.  We will attack the rest when
they are ripe enough.

While we were in Utah we visited the Museum of Ancient
Life at Thanksgiving Point.  Tira was scared of all the
dinosaur statues.  James loved flipping sand and water
everywhere in the Erosion Pond.  Dan was the photographer
of the event.  I was fascinated by the 16 foot wide turtle
that was completely preserved when they found it.  I
would really recommend going to the Museum if you haven't
been yet because it was tons of fun not only for the kids,
but for the adults as well.  The money we paid to go was
well worth it.

James Caden is now 3 years old and is learning the art 
of potty training.  He is preparing to start preschool 
at a local elementary school on Sept. 4th.  He must be 
potty trained to go so wish us luck!

James is into trains, cars, and trucks.  He absolutely 
loves Nursery and takes care of Tira while they are there.  
James is a great help to Mommy around the house, 
especially when it comes to mixing food together.  James 
knows all his letters and their sounds, which makes his 
parents proud.

Thanks Annette:  I'll be glad to hear your future updates!

Jesse quote

I know I already posted about the mish's today, but this quote I just received from Jesse is priceless. I'm so proud of how he is learning and growing. He is talking about a service project where they cleaned a new member's garage for her. "The talents of organizing and cleaning that I've been blessed with (not that I actually use them to bless me or my family--sorry 'bout that) came in handy."

missionary update

Jesse and John are doing great. John says it takes him maybe 5 seconds to fall asleep at night. It sounds like he has a ton to do, being districk leader and all. I spell it that way because that's how we pronounced it in Hawaii. I remember on my mission I would fall asleep just before my head hit the pillow.

Jesse is doing well also. He has several people he is working with, and he just barely got a new companion unexpectedly. We hope they are getting along well.

Both elders are doing great and grateful for everyone's prayers.

Party Party Party It's the weekend.

My innocent husband went out to mow our lawn yesterday morning, and he discovered a very big problem. The front half of our lawn was converted to a swimming pool full of rocks and grass without our knowing about it. So we started digging around and about 4 hours later discovered a leak in the main water line to our house. After consulting a plumber, we will be replacing the entire line. This means we get to call blue stakes, bring in a backhoe, and the whole nine yards. So the lesson in gratitude I am gaining is that it is a privilege to be able to wash one's hands in one's own sink. And I really like brushing my teeth with running water. I told my friend about it at church today, and she said the main water line is much better than losing a sewer line. A root grew into one at her house, and their sewer backed up into their basement. I am even more grateful now!

Happy August Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the following people this month, especially my hubby:

3 Alex C.
4 Spencer Y.
17 Meagan C.
22 Samuel N., Chris Y., Micheal C.
29 Wally C.

Boy, we have a lot of different C last names in the Bramall clan!