Moment's I've Missed

I am new at this blogging thing! There is so much I want to write about, but I never seem to have enough time and I am kinda lame on the computer. (I need Amy around to tutor me) So this will probably be a continuing post.....Moments I've Missed. At least I can go back and account for some of the things that have happened and write them down. This month I missed some really important stuff! So here it is.......

Sophie's Blessing and Ryan's Birthday

I should blog about these separately, except they were on the same day, which was kinda special.

A lot of Julie's family came into town for Sophie's blessing. Her mom and step-dad, her brother, Derek and family and also her father and step-mom. All of our family came as well, so we were quite a crowd!

It is always a special day when we can hear the blessing of a grandchild. Ryan did an amazing job, as usual. This is his fourth little girl and a beautiful one. Sophie's middle name, "Raine" came from my great-grandfather, Alexander Raine Curtis. Ryan blessed her to be a leader and an example, to be pure and listen to the Spirit. I wrote the blessing down for Julie, and don't have it in front of me to refer to, but Ryan gave her some wonderful blessings. I am sure she will grow up to be a beautiful young woman. She is so sweet! It turned out to be a wonderful day.


In the evening we went over to Julie's to celebrate Ryan's 31st birthday. Ohhhh, it is hard for me to imagine I have a child that old! It was a perfect May evening to be outside. All the kids played and the adults visited. Kevin was asking for a beat-down and Ryan obliged! Kevin isn't quite ready to take Ryan on.....!




Ryan has been the greatest son. It is amazing to sit back and watch him raise a family. I think he is much more together than we were....he keeps those little girls of his in line. They all love their dad.

Growing up Ryan was always fun to have around.....always did well in everything he attempted. He was small for his age...which was a challenge. My girls will say (and still do to this day) that Ryan was my favorite. That makes me smile.....I did adore him....I wasn't use to having any boys around since I came from a family of 6 girls! That was probably one reason Ryan was always special. Don't know why, but I thought he was the greatest!

He hasn't disappointed me still. He is a great husband and father. He always does what is right and expects us all to do the same. He's a great example.....he takes his church calling seriously. He is the Elder's Quorum President and I know he is the best! It seems like he is always visiting! Hmmmmm I could say he is like his Father....! Ryan has his fun, crazy side too. He's kinda funny. He can make up insane dances and act like they are so cool and is always up for water basketball and crazy games. Yeah....he is kinda funny. We love you Ry!

Happy Birthday Ry....(Amy, nice picture)

Kate and Maddie's Pre-School Graduations

Yep...these little ones are moving onto kindergarten! I always love to go to these fun programs. These little girls are so dang cute. I know they both loved their pre-school time.

Kate saying the Pledge of Allegience

Kate had her program at her teacher's home. She had quite a few boys and girls in her class. They sang some songs together and then her teacher did a little presentation. They had practiced and learned in class what it meant to be kind. They gave each other compliments and the teacher wrote them down. I smiled when she read Kate's compliments from the other kids.

*She is very good at playing games
*She has the cutest skirts and dresses
*She is good at riding a two-wheeler

Kate's compliments were kind of different from everyone else's.....they described her perfectly. She is so sweet! Love that smile. Next stop kindergarten!

"The Pre-School Graduate"

Maddie had her graduation at a Church building. She had alot of kids in her pre-school. Her teacher was very cute. She got emotional when she started talking about her little class. All the kids walked out with little black graduation hats on. It was so so cute!

Her class also sang some songs that they liked and then the teacher presented them with their graduation certificates. Maddie was so darling. She was sitting up on her chair being so prim and proper.....holding her legs just so.....sometimes crossing them so modestly with her hands in her lap. Julie and I got a kick out of it. At the end of the program they all tossed their hats up in the air. Way to go Maddie....look forward to kindergarten. Love those blue eyes!

Kev Hits the Real World

Yes, it has happened. Kev has a job. He's joined the Boyer Ranks. We couldn't go through another long, hot summer with nothing to do but play video games and swim. This summer Kevin is so busy....and he loves it!

In the morning he goes to weight training at Mountain View High School in anticipation of making the wrestling team. He comes home for a quick shower and then gets dressed for work. Max hired him this summer to help him catch up at the office. He is learning the ropes! There are a lot of things to do......the first day he worked for 20 minutes and then went to lunch with me, Max and Ryan.....hmmmmm tough job! But really, Max has a ton of things for him to do. It is great! There is not time for sitting around wondering what to do on a hot summer day. He's bringing in the bucks!

Two nights a week he trains with a former Olympic wrestler who teaches him additional wrestling skills. By the time dinner comes around he is pooped! That's what I call a good summer. Way to go Kev!

A Memorable Memorial Day 2008

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day in Arizona is usually hot and sticky. We lucked out this year and had the most beautiful weather ever! We had a cold crunch on the weekend but by Monday it was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold. The kind of weather you can sit outside and enjoy!

We had a big Memorial Day get-together planned with all the kids and grandkids....a neighbor or two and Scot's family from California. We had a blast swimming and eating all day long!

Some of the fun times:

Drew loved these battery-operated fish that swam in the water

The only two little boys in this family of girls, girls, girls!

Sophie finally has her first swim in the pool

Ryan Boyer is famous for making up goofy games (or dances). He made up this fun relay in the pool for all of us. You had to jump on the raft at one end of the pool paddle down to the end, making sure the raft touched the side, then paddle back for the next person to go. (That's kinda normal, I guess!) The clincher was that you had to carry one of the kids on your back as you paddled as fast as you could! We laughed so hard......there were a couple of people that had a pretty hard time with the whole concept (we won't mention any names) Unfortunaltely, we have no pictures. We ran the relay again with just the adults. The two strongest swimmers below!

We always have a ruthless water basketball game at all pool parties. For sure it really gets rough......hair pulling, scratching, pinching....anything goes. There is no mercy!

The girls loved playing seahorses under the fountains

A break for popscicles.....weird that everybody wanted orange?

All in all a great day!

Happy Birthday Amy

Well it is another Boyer birthday! The last but not the least. Amy (aka Jarv, Jarvis, The Jarvinator) turns 26 years old today. Amy is so petite, wears a size 12 (kids) and looks like she is 15. She is often mistaken for Zack's sibling instead of his mother!


The thing I admire most about Amy is her motherly skills. She is an extraordinary Mom. I have never heard her complain or raise her voice at Zack. She is constant and ongoing every single day as she takes care of Zack's every need. Zack is a lucky little guy and Amy adores him. She is devoted! She never trys to hand off the duty even though it would be convenient because she lives with me. Yes, that is appreciated, although I love to spoil Zack.

Amy is always happy and talkative. We all know she cannot just give the Reader's Digest version of anything. When you start a conversation with Amy, you are in for the long haul (he he he) She will talk, give her opinion whether you want it or not and then re-tell the whole situation. There is no loss of words when she is around. She always kind of giggles when she talks....it's nice to live with a happy person.


Amy is Kevin's second mom. Kevin probably won't admit it (maybe he will) but he loves having Amy and Scot live here. It adds a little drama and company to this dull household with just mom and dad always around. Kevin's friends love Amy and she loves to get into his business.
Amy is always in the middle when Kevin's friends are over......trying to see what they have been up to......what advice she can give them and most of all who their latest crush is. She is a meddler! Kevin loves it. Well, yes Amy is a good example for Kevin and she expects him to tow the line. I love that...I need all the help I can get and Amy certainly fills in for me when I am just the "old" mom!

Amy is so talented. Besides taking care of Zack everyday, she works part time from home with some close friends trying to get a business off the ground. These friends rely on her to do all the computer design work. She is really great on that keyboard. My neighbors and ward members are always after her to do their flyers, invitations, YW programs and any computer-type stuff they can't handle. Amy does it in half the time....she is good to have around. She has taught me this blogging thing while she is living here. I am still not good....but much better and still learning.

So these are a few thing I love about Amy
*She is always happy
*She has a great smile...lots of teeth!
*She takes a real interest in what Kevin does and doesn't do
*I think she will take care of me when I am drooling on myself at 80
*She has tiny feet
*She finally gets the family and church thing for real
*She is Max's personal shopper....so I reap the benefits
*She has a pretty positive attitude
*She is the greatest mom...which means I will have great grandkids
*She is the Jarv!


Happy Birthday Amy.....we all love you to death!

A Weekend with Nana

Riley in her 1st grade classroom

Whew! It was a fun and busy weekend at our house. It all started with Ryan and Julie leaving town, headed to Utah for a Temple Sealing. "Nana" was lucky to have Riley, Maddie and Lucy stay with me. (Thanks Cari for tending Sophie during the Temple Session)

Since Julie was gone I got to attend Riley's end of the year classroom program "Here Comes The Sun." It was so darling! Riley had a little speaking part, explaining what she had learned in her classroom. Everything was yellow, even the refreshments. She was so cute! She is growing up so fast. Next year she will be in 2nd grade and be baptized!

Of course Riley, Maddie and Lucy needed company to play with sooooo Emma, Kate and Lindsey came over to spend the weekend too. Ryan took Drew to the Fathers and Sons campout. We had a houseful of girls!

On top of that Kevin had his big 9th grade end of year dance/year book signing party at Stapley Junior High and I was in charge of the refreshments on Friday Night. Yikes! He will be in High School next year.

Kev-Dog trying to be cool!

"The Girls" ready for pancakes!

So the Fam pulled together to make it all work. We had so much fun. We swam, swam, swam, watched movies and had a big sleepover with pancakes for breakfast and more swimming Saturday. We have had the solar blanket on our pool, plus the heaters on. Our pool is sooo warm. It is the greatest! Max got some great one on one time with the grandkids while I left for a few hours to do the refreshments for Kevin's school. Lindsey and Amy made sure everything went smoothly. The kids were all so good....they love to play together....so they entertain each other. We had a houseful and loved every minute! Girls Rule!

"Chicken Fights"

"Goose"

"Scooby"

This is a classic picture of Maddie..she always wears her goggles!

Oh Yeah....we love Amy, Scot and Zack living with us too!

Happy Birthday Maxy

We have so many birthdays in May. It is a tough month to get through! Didn't someone think of this when we started having babies??????

Anyway.....Happy Birthday Max!! You are a great husband, father and grandfather. Max and Ryan flew to Newport today for a full day of meetings so we did not get to celebrate properly. A lot of the people in the Ward filled his e-mail box with so many loving, kind, sweet messages for his birthday. They love their Bishop! We love him too! Have a great birthday!

Happy Birthday Kev-Dog

Kevy....Kev-Dog.....Kevster.....Happy Birthday! Today Kevin is 15 years old! He kind of looks it too. That has not always been the case with my kids. For some reason Kevin has grown like crazy the last few months. That's a good thing in our family.


Yesterday morning at 8:00 a.m., while doing yard work.....Amy and I decided it would be fun to throw together an impromptu surprise party for Kevin. I swore I wasn't going to do anything this year. But.....the weather has been so gorgeous and our pool is heated soooooo we took it on.

Wondering how we pulled it together so fast? We walked over to our next door neighbor's house and talked to her 15-year old daughter (Kevin's friend, Emily) and asked her to text a few friends. At 8:30 last night I had a ton of kids over here I didn't even know. The beauty of texting!!! Anyway, we had such a fun time. Pizza, drinks, snacks a fire and a little music.

Now, for a few comments about Kev..............
He has been such a fun kid to have around. Unfortunately, he is the youngest so he has to take alot of grief from the older ones.....but he kinda lives in his own world, since he doesn't have a sibling to pick on. We all keep him in his place. He is a pretty sensitive and obedient child...most of the time. I don't have any complaints. He is patient when he has to listen to my corrections or concerns. Amy and I watch him like a hawk.....friends and all.

I think his favorite birthday present this year is from his Dad. Old Dad finally caved in and let him have texting on his phone. That was a tough one for Max. But Kevin waited patiently until he gave in. I have to hand it to Kev....he really didn't give us too much grief about it. He was pretty much the last one of his friends to have texting.


Kevin has done alot of new things this year...He ran track and wrestled for Stapley Junior High. I think he has decided to try and perfect his wrestling skills. He is being coached at ASU twice a week so that he can possibly make Mountain View High School wrestling team. Hmmmm don't know how I really feel about that! He has started to take guitar lessons. He got a new guitar for Christmas and is doing pretty well on the lessons. They never practice enough. The thing he most loves to do is play basketball....on the court or in the water!


I hate to see Kevin get much older. I love having him at home. He starts High School in the fall and that will be something to live through. But generally he has great friends and we love them all. We especially love the fact that Kev is our caboose! Happy birthday Kev.....we love you!

Kevin's Eagle Project

Whew! It's done....over....complete.....finished....wrapped up.....what else can I say? Kevin's Eagle Project has ended!

About a month ago Maury Tanner (our good friend) mentioned that Kevin should do his Eagle Project up at Camp Lo Mia, which is a Young Women Camp outside of Payson, Arizona. It always needs some work. Maury thought it would be a good idea to plant some beautiful, green sod in front of one of the buildings that the girls use to complete various service projects at Camp. We kind of made a snap decision and jumped into the project right away. Thank heavens for Maury, because he pretty much knew what had to be done and how. Long story short.....he got us going!


Kevin had alot of work to do. The site already had a sprinkler system installed. That was our good fortune. Kevin had to clear the ground, bring in dirt to level it, put in curbing and lay roughly 3,000 square feet of sod. In order to do this he had to raise 2,500.00 (alot more that we anticipated at first!)

Kevin, with Amy's help, made a flier and gave it out to people in our Ward boundaries outlining what he inteded to do and asked for donations. Several wonderful people donated generously! That gave Kevin a really good start! Plus, Kevin's family in Utah helped him alot with donations. That encouraged Kevin to get going and he realized that he could really accomplish this project.

Our family set up a Monday night and Max, Kevin, Ryan Bennett and I went up to preview the job ahead of us. To be honest I think we were a bit discouraged at the job we had ahead of us. I think it was a little bigger than Max anticipated. Thank heavens for Ryan Bennett, who kept an encouraging word out there and knew a little bit more of what was going on than Max and I did. He kept on moving forward and that helped us alot. We started removing all the weeds, and big rocks from the site. Max, Kevin and Ryan started marking the boundaries of the sod and digging small ditches to put in the curbing. By the time we left on Monday night we were a little more encouraged.



Max had the task of arranging for the heavy equipment and locating sod (150 miles away) to be delivered at specific times. We had to arrange for a backhoe to come and spread the dirt load and arrange for a trucking company to pick up and deliver the sod. It took alot of phone calls on Max's part. What a great dad! Kevin you're lucky.



In the meantime, Kevin had to make calls to leaders and youth to head up teams to level the ground and to lay sod and for clean-up. He did a great job.

Our ward had planned a Youth Conference up at Camp Lo Mia and Kevin's Eagle Project was going to used as the Service Project for this Youth Conference! So we automatically had help up there......about 50 youth and 10 leaders.

The day before the project was due to start, Max, Kevin and I went up to make sure everything was set to go. The topsoil had been dumped and leveled and the sod was due to arrive. Max and Kevin began to install the curbing while we waited for the sod to be delivered. It was such a beautiful day up in Payson. I want to say it was almost fun doing all this hard work! Well, the sod was delivered and a backhoe came to unload it from the truck. Kevin took charge and got it all unloaded into the proper place so it would be easy to lay the sod. We were lucky Maury was up there also.....he kind of has a take charge personality and knows how to get things done! I know Max appreciated that too, plus Maury is Kevin's Teacher's Quorum Advisor. It's good!




Come Saturday morning the kids had a great breakfast and then they all came down to work on Kevin's Project. It was so much fun. Those kids worked so hard, along with their leaders. Kevin tried really hard to direct them and keep them on task. Again, Maury was right there to help him. Ryan Boyer, Ryan Bennett and Scot and Amy also were there to help Kevin. It went so smoothly. Some of the kids were die hards and stuck to it until the end. They did a great job!


It was really satisfying to sit back and look at a job well done. It changed the look of the building so much. Hopefully they will take care of the grass up there so it can be beautiful for the Young Women when they start to attend girl's camp this year. I was proud of Kevin. He stuck to it and really did a great job organizing the kids and raising the money to pay for all the material and equipment needed to pull off his project. Thanks to all who helped! Good job Kevin! For me......I am sooooooo glad it is finished!