Zuppa's

After graduation we headed to dinner at Zuppa's. Now I know that Zuppa's maybe not be worthy of a graduation meal but Joel was working there and we wanted him to be apart of the celebration. (we were having family pictures the next day and Joel HAD to be there for that. With it being graduation weekend he could only have one day off.) It was actually a lot of fun and really great food! Joel in his work get up.

I didn't get very good pictures of this event but I still wanted it recorded! :)

Ace of Cakes...BLAKE!!

Blake has earned quit a name for himself as the CAKE BOSS! He loves to decorate theme cakes for people's birthdays. Amazingly he is pretty good at. I have to laugh a bit because the quality and taste of the cake is really not that important...it is ALL about the look! ;) Not only did we celebrate Tyler's graduation but we had Joel's birthday, Steve and my 27th Anniversary and Blake going through the temple all in a 2 day time frame. Blake is making this cake for Joel's Birthday. It is in the image of "TEX " ..Tyler and Kaylee's dog that Joel loves.

The Masterpiece! Joel, Blake, Tyler, Grant and TEX the dog.

While Blake created the cake the girls were busy making headbands. I have a crafty bunch of kids and I love that!

Joel blowing out the candles!

Happy 25th Birthday Joel!

Kaylee Turns 23....Blake and Another One Of His Famous Cakes!

Posted by Tyler: I guess Kaylee's Old Man Rivers jokes about me finally caught up to her this week as she turned 23! I can't really believe it, but we have almost been married for 3 years now! Kaylee is such an AMAZING person & I am so grateful for her everyday. She is one of the most kind, hard working, and talented people that I know. She is always teaching herself new skills - knitting, baking, sewing, quilting - it really is AMAZING because she seems to excel at all of them (okay, well Kaylee is not so good with balls but I think we can overlook that)! Anyway, I am not sure what I did to deserve such a wonderful wife but there is no doubt -there is none better!All that Kaylee wanted for her birthday was a nice dinner, so I skipped my soccer game (for those of you who know me, yes, this was a sacrifice) and did what I could. I marinated some tri-tip steak in a balsamic & rosemary sauce and we had grilled red potatoes and asparagus - I have to say that it was very good! Then on Friday we had Carly & Joel and Blake & Caroline over for a cake, wii, and Catch Phrase party! Blake has become quite the cake decorating master and showed up with one of his most impressive masterpieces. Due to Kaylee's knitting obsession Blake made a giant cupcake, complete with knitting needles & yarn! As you can tell from the pictures it really was very impressive - thanks Blake!

After cake we downloaded Tetris Party onto the Wii in honor of Carly's old e-mail address: tetris521! It is usually kind of hard to get Carly involved in the Wii parties, but she was into this one. All I can say is that I hope Carly & Joel can still be friends after Joel claimed the Tetris King title!

For those of you who haven't had the honor of playing Catch Phrase with Blake Williams, all I have to say is that you should make it a life goal! Every time we get together for these parties we try to do a round of Catch Phrase and every time Blake is the most entertaining part of the game. In recognition of the fact that 1) you probably have to know Blake to think this is funny AND 2) you probably had to be there; nevertheless, let me share a classic Blakeism from last night's Catch Phrase party:
Blake: Okay guys, this is another religious one. This is when you get on your knees at night.
Blake's Team: Pray!
Blake: Yes, but the active form...
Team: Praying!
Blake: [as time runs out] Oh wait, NO - it is actually an INSECT! I forgot to read the WHOLE word before I started! It was PRAYING MANTIS!
Anyway, maybe my mom will at least get a kick out of that but it had us all on the ground laughing for a couple of minutes! Thanks Blake for always providing the comic relief!
Posted by Tyler and Kaylee at 1:23 PM 0 comments

California Reception and Rose Parade 1-2010

The Goodman's hosted a wonderful evening for the kids. The church was decorated like nothing we have ever seen before. The happy couple. The sign in table.

They even had a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Fabric was draped all along the walls. Big beautiful floral arrangements were everywhere.

It was a bonus for us to get to see my Nephew Jason and his family. The kids loved the chocolate fountain.

The Goodman's are loved by many. There was a steady stream of people and they all raved about what wonderful people they were. It was really fun to see where Joel grew up. I think by the end of it...we were ALL glad that the last party was over! The kids had three beautiful events.

The next day we got up bright and early to go see the Rose Parade floats. Steve and I were both thrilled to go. Steve grew up watching this parade and his grandfather lived just a few miles away from this when he was alive. It was a trip down memory lane for him. I just took it all in.

The floats were amazing. It is hard to believe that literally EVERYTHING on the floats are natural or flowers. It really is true. I would love to be apart of making a float one year. I was a little sicking to think about how much money must have gone into making all of these floats. It was beautiful though...I am so glad that we went.

The Goodman's and Steve.

On the flight home....I actually feel asleep. I knew I had to hit the ground running into the new chapter of our lives....moving to Canada! CRAZY!!

December 2009 in the blink of an eye!

December was pretty much all about Carly...Just ask the other kids! ;)

We were able to enjoy the morning of December 18 th in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple with Carly getting her endowments out. What a wonderful and rewarding time as parents to see one of your children enjoy the blessings of the temple. I am not sure that anything can really top this experience. This was the first time we met Matt and Kay Goodman from Tristan, California. They are wonderful warm people and what an addition to our extended family. They were a joy to work with. We are thrilled to have Joel Pierce Goodman join our family.

Carly and Joel leaving the temple. We met up with all of our kids and the Goodman's at Olive Garden. It is one of Carly's favorite places to eat.

Count Down to Carly and Joel's Wedding

We are on the final countdown to Carly and Joel's wedding. Only 18 days left! We are thrilled with Carly's choice and look forward to having Joel become a part of our family. We have been blessed to have Kaylee Join our family and now Joel is a huge bonus. Tyler and Carly have chosen wisely....let's just hope the rest can be as picky! Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Carly and Joel. The fun tidbit is that our photographer is a girl that I taught when she was in YW in our Desoto ward. She is now grown with a family of her own but it has sure been fun to reconnect with her. She is a darling girl and has turned out well....she must have had a really good teacher as a young woman. :)

This is the picture that made it all the way to the announcement.

This is a really trendy picture. I like it.

It is surreal to me that Carly is old enough to marry. I love/hate my kids getting older. I love them making lives for themselves and seeing them succeed....but I hate them leaving home. I guess they know where to find me.....or at least I KNOW where to find them!