G&G S & Aunt Sarah Weekend

Steve drove down to SP to pick up G&G S for the weekend. They were able to join us for church on Sunday.



It was a big day in that we got a new member of the Bishopric and a brand new RS presidency, me being the 1st counselor. Can I just say that I have pretty much been in Young Women's my whole life and this is all new to me. But I have been told that Relief Society women are just grown up Young Women. I'm still a lot nervous, but I am really excited to work with this presidency and to actually get to know more people in our ward while serving them.



Sarah joined us later that evening in time for dinner with the sister missionaries. Sister Tatuhaha (?) served in SP where she became extremely fond of Sister Louise Spendlove. So it was fun to see them reunite.



And whenever Grandma Spendlove is around, you can't go to bed until a few games have been played. So Apples to Apples it was. However, we didn't know it wasn't one of her favorites. Well, there is always next time.

After the Memorial Day BBQ, we ALL got in the pool. Yes, Grandpa even enjoyed himself. Great Memories!!! Check out all the happy faces!

Memorial Day BBQ

We had made big plans with family coming in to town to spend the Holiday with us. Unfortunately not everyone was able to come (We missed you Stu, Kathy & Fam). So along with Grandma & Grandpa S and Beautiful Aunt Sarah, we invited a few families from our ward over for a BBQ and swimming. The Nielson's and the Zierenberg's came and we had blast.

Cute Girls!

The Kids!

The Boys!

The Girls!

AND cute little Christian!

Student of the Month - Matthew

Student of the Month for the month of May 2010
Teacher: Ms. Boyer
Character Trait: Leadership

I am honoring Matthew Spendlove as a student who exemplifies the character trait of Leadership. Matthew came to Independence about half way through the school year. Matthew quickly made friends and showed many good qualities of a leader in our class room. For example, Matthew steps up to organize group work. He takes charge in a kind yet assertive way. I can count on Matthew to be a good listener and contributes to class discussions. He is always ready to work and is a great team player. That is why I have chosen Matthew to receive this recognition.

This was a surprise for Matthew and he was lucky enough to have his grandparents in town the day of his award ceremony.

Good Job Matthew!

Cub Scout Meeting w/ Grandparents

Matthew earned a few belt loops this month. He is actually done with all his Bear Achievements and so will be rewarded with this patch at the next pack meeting. (side note: I am no longer his cub scout leader :( I now get to serve the RS sister's in our ward) Tonight's pack meeting was extra special since we had GGma and G&G C here with us. I love it when the grandparents get to participate in their grandkids activities. We haven't really lived close enough to have that happen on a regular basis, so this was nice.

All the kids helping with the scout song for the night.Ethan & Lauren didn't make it far because Lauren did a face plant.

Matthew & Jack made a great team.

GGma & G&G C Visit

Lauren was in heaven with a huge cup full of Grandma Cannon's famous homemade hot cocoa consisting of 1% milk (whole milk if Grandma had her choice) Hershey's cocoa, lots of sugar, ice cream and if we had it there would be some kind of cream it too. Look at that face! This is what my mom would give a couple of brother's every morning before school to get them out of bed. There were a few of us that were never converted to the dark side of so much sweet in the morning.

Grandma & Great Grandma didn't know they were coming to get a makeover. Lauren opened shop and went to work right away.

Sorry Mom that I didn't have any fingernail polish remover on hand.

Grandpa did know what he was getting into when he entered the water with this crew and he gave them all a little taste of their own medicine. All good!!!!!

They were in California for Great Grandma's 90th birthday and were happy that they were able to make it to Bakersfield while in California. This was another short visit, less than 24 hours. (They are getting famous for that.) We miss them and are sad that we can't hop in the car and drive 5 hours like we used to be able to visit, now it is like 25 hours.

One more thing we did while they were here was a visit to Famous Dave's BBQ for lunch. My dad who used to be a butcher and could live off of meat and potatoes for the rest of his life said this was better than any BBQ he has had in Texas. WOW!!!

We shared this platter of scrumptious BBQ that they serve up on a trash can lid and then supply you with a nice big role of paper towels. Oh how we love good food! We had chicken, brisket and ribs. Even all the beans, cole slaw, corn, potatoes and cornbread were good.

Ethan's Honor Roll Banquet

Steve and I were both able to attend Ethan's 6th Grade Honor Roll Banquet that was held at Coconut Joe's. We had a nice BBQ lunch. And enjoyed being proud of our son.

Ethan with his certificate from American Elementary

Ethan showing off how handsome he looks in a suit and sporting some Vans to go with it, along with his Principal Bray and his teacher Mrs. Nicholson.

Happy 6th Birthday Lauren!

My sweet little baby girl is now 6 years old and only wants to be at least twice her age. Lauren is the funnest little girl to be around 95% of the time. If you catch her on the other 5%, I'm sorry. She knows how to make us all happy. I love just looking at her beautiful big eyes and oh so cute smile. She is quite the energetic entertainer and has brought so much love and laughter into our home. One of the things I love about her most is that she loves to snuggle and give lots of hugs and kisses. Since our move, she has been the most sensitive. She really misses her friends, her house, her room and everything about Texas.

I hope she has a wonderful birthday and that this next year is a happy one for her.

I love you Lauren.

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday

5th Birthday

Lauren's 6th Birthday

Here is the sweet thing on her last night of being 5 years old. When you see your kids lying in bed so sweet and peaceful and realize how big they are getting, something happens to a mother's heart.

Lauren is finally able to wear her birthday shirt. It says, "It's My Day, I'm the Princess." She is on her way to school with some of those yummy usually pink, but we got yellow frosted soft sugar cookies you buy from the grocery store bakery. Yes, I bought the goodies this time.

Lauren just happens to share the exact same birthday as our cute little neighbor girl Kya, who lives right across the street from us. Since they both turned 6 today, we took all the kids to the Ice Shack after school for snow cones. Yes, more sugar.

It's party time. Lauren asked for pepperoni pizza for dinner and was so full of all the sweets from throughout her day that she didn't even feel good enough to eat her pizza. But of course she felt better when it came time to open her presents.

Happy Happy Birthday Lauren!!!

Apple Valley Pioneer

So all you have to do to get this kid on fire is to have a reward or opportunity to score points to win and you have him lite. For TWO AND A HALF WEEKS Matthew wore this to school. They were studying the Apple Valley Pioneers and each student earned points for dressing up and working on other projects that were pioneer related. He got points for the hat, the jeans, the button up shirt, the vest, the bandanna, the belt, the dark shoes, carrying his books over his shoulder and his lunch in a bucket. He went ALL out every day. I don't think there was anything he left out. Then when it came time for the projects, he did it ALL on his own. He built a diorama of a school house, he wrote a letter with charcoal, he made a list of school house rules with a quill pen, he built a covered wagon, he practiced "I've been working on the railroad" to sing to his class and more. He was also given the pioneer name of Mark Allen (funny since we have a friend in Katy with that name) and played a part in a family of boys.

And yes, he earned the most points in his class. Congratulations Matthew on all your hard work!!!

Great Grandma's 90th Birthday Party

Grandma Cannon turned 90 this year, so of course we had a party. My cuz Korry ordered these super cool T-shirts for the family to wear. Awesomeness!!!! We had a nice dinner with just the family. {We sure did miss all the rest of the crew that weren't able to come. } Then EVERYONE else came to celebrate with dessert. I am not sure how many people showed up. Grandma has a lot of people who care for her and love her.

She is one of the most giving, unselfish, charitable, kind, Christlike ladies I know. However, Alzheimer's doesn't always bring out her best character traits these days. We love our Grandma/Great Grandma Rachel.

The Cannon Party Crew!

Grandma's Three Rugrats!

...and Their Wonderful Spouses!

7 out of 12 Grandchildren and their Honeys!!!

8 out of almost 21 Great Grandchildren! Me & My Bro Ryan!

I think Lauren took over Sophia's Makeup Parlor, maybe it's because she needs a little more practice.

Rachel with the letter "C" potato chip.
The kids were on cake duty. Nice glasses Ethan!

Grandma's Superific Neighbors. The Rea Family (Pat, Gwen, Michelle & Matthew) has lived next door to Grandma since forever and have taken such great care of her. They have been like family to all of us.

Just a girlie picture-me, Gwen, Kay, Grandma & Chris

Dinner Time!

Eating on the Grandma's infamous tree swing.

My Dad presenting Grandma with a huge Cannon book my Mom put together for her.

Fun Times-Tracy & Kevin

and of course time at Grandma's house is never complete w/o a game of crochet.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

I love you!!!!