GO TEAM TARA & TRISTEN!

I'm so proud of my two girls for their participation in a triathlon on Saturday, September 24th. They, along with approximately 400 other mommies swam 300 meters, biked 11 miles and then ran a 5k! Tara has participated in a half marathon and few other runs. But for Tristen this was her first experience! This was really out of her comfort zone, but she persevered! Both girls trained really hard, however the final couple of weeks of training they were both sick. They came in 6 minutes apart from each other! This is something I could never imagine myself doing EVER, so I am even MORE impressed and proud of their efforts!!!!

CADE'S BAPTISM

Saturday, September 17, 2011 was the day Cade Michael VanLeeuwen chose to be baptized by his father Adam. For our family, it was a lovely event and a new chapter in Cade's life.


The VanLeeuwen family raise their Ute flag with pride. This was also the day of the BYU/Utah game. Disaster for BYU!!!! (may of been their worst game ever!!) Victory for the Utes!!!

BYU vs. University of Texas

Grandpa made a promise to his granddaughter Sabrina a year ago that if she practiced her piano for a year without complaining he would take her to the BYU game in Texas......and she could bring a friend! She chose her cousin Jessica, also our granddaughter, so of course, I had to go along!! Not a big sports fan, but a big fan of being with my granddaughters!! Dennis invited two of his buddies, Ron Beach and Gordon Christiansen. So this odd group of travelers journeyed to Austin, Texas for the game. The loss was disappointing, but we still laughed until we cried, which is how I measure fun! It was especially delightful to hook up with my cute nephew, Greg Stout, who is a student at UT and his mother, Sherrie Russell. We had a great visit!!

Sabrina and Jess chilling in the Governor's receiving room at the Capital!
The boys touring the Alamo.

The Texas fans, for the most part, were very cool and gracious!

Redd Family Reunion

For a year Dennis, along with a committee of his cousins have been planning a REDD Family Reunion in New Harmony, Utah where his great grandfather, Lemuel Hardison Redd lived until they moved to Mexico. There were nearly 500 people in attendance including the following you see pictured. It was a great success and our family enjoyed learning a little more history about their dad's family.Dennis with five of the six, Tara, Travis, Tristen, Treavor and Tiffany all drove to New Harmony for the day. Telisa, don't be sad! You would of come, if you lived in Utah!!

The actors who portrayed Dennis' grandfather, Lemuel Hardison Redd with his two wives, Keziah Jane Butler and Sariah Louisa Chamberlain. The Peters' line came from Sariah and Lemuel. We are all wondering why Lemuel's parents chose the name Lemuel. (apparently they hadn't studied the Book of Mormon too closely!?)
Aunt Tara with Redd William Van Leeuwen! This is the family line where Tristen chose the name Redd for her son.

Jessica helping with donation collections.

I was asked to take the family picture! Here is 1/8 of it! If you look closely, you can see some our immediate family.

Hot! Hot! Hot!!

A dream come true for Telisa...meeting her alter-ego Arial!







Time out for BODIE!

Three brave moms, one set of tired grandparents and 13 kids spent a weekend in the blistering heat of St. George in August. Lots of laughter- check! Lots of food- check! Lots of noise- check! Highlights- Potty training for Redd, 1st birthday for Indy, Little Mermaid for the big people, swimming, shopping, training for a triathlon (Tara and Tristen only!) and dancing in the basement!!!

I'm happy to report that we had no car trouble this time!!!!

Summer Fun! Had Me A Blast!!

After attempting to wash the grape popsicle off Bodie's face and hands, he somehow managed to get stuck on the cabinet knobs!!

Telisa and Bodie with her childhood friends reuniting. Once they were rollerbladding up and down our street, building club houses, shooting hoops for hours on end, passing notes back and forth in class. Now they're facebooking, blogging, changing diapers and wiping runny noses and asking themselves,"Where did the time go?"

Bailey swinging on the new swing Grandpa installed this summer!!

Tatum and Zane Lopez running through the sprinklers!

My Kim with Connie VanLeeuwen!

The two Jessicas! Jessica Beus and Jessica Evans!

Kourtney and Whitley- best buds!!

Stout cousins!! Mikel, Tiffany, Stephanie, Tristen, Ashling, Tara, Travis and Andrew!!

Stephanie and Mikel!! Our lovely nieces!

Grandpa Dennis and in his newly installed swing he made for his grandkids!

We love Stephanie's laugh!!

Telisa and Sabrina just chilling!

Since we were blessed with some out of time family visitors this summer, we had not one, but three backyard water adventures this year. I rented some rather large waterslides/ bouncy inflatables. They were a hit! Here's a few photos! Honestly, I could show about sixty more!! Stephanie, Mikel and Telisa -good times!!!!!!!!! Thanks for coming!