Hurray--the video at last. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This video is of Christine--age 12--and her experience on the "Leap of Faith" pole. she climbed up a 60ft.+ pole and had to stand up. Nothing to hold on to-just balance on the end of this pole. She's tethered with a harness, etc. for safety and then must leap out and grab the trapeze swing. She was too short to reach the swing and had to free fall back down. When she got our of her harness and came to sit by me she was shaking. "It was the scariest thing I've ever done". Kevin did it the next day and seconded her feelings.

My first Slide Show

Thanks to Em I've now learned how to make a slide show AND add text to the pictures. Enjoy!

Families are wonderful

So, we got home yesterday from the Jeppson Family reunion in McCall, Idaho. We walked in the door at 1:07 P.M. and I had my PJ's on by 1:30--made some lunch and then took a nap. We played very hard for 5 days and had a ball. It was great to see my Mom and siblings, nieces and nephews and the 4th generation kids--over 120 all together. I'll give you the short version: Cabins, lodge, beach, boats, skiing, zip line, climbing wall, horses, wagon rides, eating, bon fires, talent show, awesome pinewood derby racing, auction (made lots of money for the next reunion), laughing, talking, playing. That's about it. The facility in amazing with lots of things to do and room to play. Cousin kids made new friends and it was sad to say goodbye yet again. Everyone was so happy to see Cris doing so well and we had lots of help available when needed. It was great.

As the second generation reaches their 50's and 60's we are touched by the love we share with each other and our children, nieces and nephews (3rd generation). Then there's the 4th generation of super kids. To watch them connect and feel the bond with all 4 generations is very heartwarming. And all because my Mom, Gramma Decker, found the gospel at age 18 and was baptised. There are now over 200 of her posterity enjoying the blessings of the gospel and feeling her influence every day.

Life IS good!! Enjoy the pictures. I've tried to pick just a few.

5th Ward Young Women in days gone by

I thought I'd post these 2 pictures (there's more where those came from) of the 5th ward's new young women's president. Priceless!! Amy will be a terrific leader for the youth of our ward for many reasons. She LOVED camp (the picture says it all) and she's still a kid at heart. Ahhhhh, the boys did love her. How many people can you recognize in these pictures?

I'm off to Idaho for my family reunion. Will have lots to share upon my return.

The Oregon munchkins

So these pictures were taken in June on our Oregon trip. It was a GREAT trip with lots happening. We'll label this trip "Cousins Swap/Cris and Carol's Oregon Coast trip". The short version: We drove (with Riley) to Gold Beach, OR and met Kevin and family at an awesome beach house for the weekend. Thanks again Kevin for the great beach house. Tons of fun at Gold Beach. Then Riley went with Kevin's family to their house for the week while Cris and I drove up the Oregon Coast stopping at every lighthouse we could find. Awesome does not describe it. We ended up back at Kevin's house at the end of the week in time to see Christine's recital which was beautiful. There were lots of adventures but I won't elaborate. We then headed back to Bakersfield with Riley, Christine and Seth in tow so they could spend some cousin time with the Bakersfield group. At the end of that week, Emily and Sherod drove up to Kevin's returning his two. All-in-all it was great! We love these Oregon kids so much and the 9 hour drive is always worth it.

Our next trip is next week when we head to McCall, Idaho for the Jeppson Family Reunion. I will definitely have pictures and tales to tell when we get back.

Signing off with a song: Happy Birthday to my Mom--Gramma Decker--86 years young today.

Today's Highlighted Grandchildren are Bella and Tasha

Our visit with Nick's family in Las Vegas in July was super fun. We were able to see Bella and Tasha dance in their recital. This brings back such fond memories of Emily and Becca and their ballet days. Lori was a super supportive back stage mom with the costumes, hair and make up, etc. and the girls had so much fun performing. Little Miss Bella was a good leader for her group as you can see in the picture and always knew where she was going. Tasha had 3 dances and was fabulous! I was very impressed with the terrific costumes and choreography. Watching our grandchildren grow and enjoy life is high on our list of "things we love". Bella and Tasha are beautiful little girls. Tasha is more like Lori and Bella is a lot like Nick. Fun, fun, fun. We are thrilled that we can visit with them with only a short 4 hour drive.

This is what Gramma's do.

As you can see by the picture, some kids have their Gramma's wrapped around their little fingers. Charlie and I were having fun one day and he was in a really cuddly mood. So he wants me to lay by him and watch Animal Planet. I say OK, even though I have stuff to do--it can wait. The show is not that interesting so he wants to know if we can play stickers. Again, I say OK. "I'll get you some paper Charlie", I say. "No sanks Gwamma, I want to decorate your face". You can figure out what happened next. He also likes my glasses. Thinks they make him look cool. Life is good.