Joseph's Baptism

Our Joseph was baptized on Saturday, January 31, 2008. Brad baptized and confirmed Joseph. The witnesses were Grandfathers Wendell Waite and Vern Waite. Those who helped with the confirmation were Grandfathers Wendell Waite and Vern Waite, Uncles Blake Ballard and Jonathan Waite, 2nd Counselor Cody Okuda, and Hometeacher Michael Ulshafer. It was a beautiful day for all of us. I am so proud of Joseph and his decision to follow in Jesus' footsteps.









Brad and Joseph all dressed in white.

Healthy Habits Plate

I love these plates! I thought I would mention them because every mother wants their children to eat more vegetables. What a great idea to motivate children to eat more fruits and vegetables?! If you are interested in getting one for your family click here. If you go to simplyhealthful.blogspot.com, you might win a free plate. Good Luck!

So You Think You Can Dance?

Whenever he hears a good beat, Benjamin loves to get his groove on. The kids were playing the soundtrack from "High School Musical 3" and Benjamin couldn't help but boogie when he heard the music. The only challenge is for me to grab my camera fast enough to capture him. Angelina is his elegant dancing partner at the start of the video.

Christmas with the Ballards - 2008

Joseph, Allyse, Angelina and Joshua in front of the Christmas Tree.

Benjamin wouldn't sit for a group photo, preferring his solo shot on his new train.

Angelina loved anything that has to do with High School Musical.

Josh got a thrill out of the Indiana Jones Lego set.

Benjamin had fun climbing all over his siblings' gifts.

After the thrill of it all, Angelina just wanted some love from her new Care Bear.

The hit of Christmas for Benjamin was clearly the train.

Angelina posed with her Christmas haul.

Joseph was very pleased with his Lego set, swords and armor. If being a knight were still a job, I would expect him to be one when he grows up.

Allyse immediately changed into some new clothes she received. She was very happy with all of the pink gifts.

Josh had his presents organized for his picture. He seemed to really enjoy the fun things he received, especially the Legos and a Weird Science set.

Julene was very surprised with her new bicycle. She especially likes the color.

Since we don't buy sugary cereals but once a year, Angelina wanted Lucky Charms for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snacks.

Benjamin was a very happy boy.

Angelina loves having her picture taken.

Vegas Snow at Night

December 17, 2008 proved to be an unusual day, even by Las Vegas standards. At lunch, I was driving back to my office from UMC and noticed that there was snow mixed in with rain. By early in the afternoon, it had turned to mostly snow. By 3:00 p.m., the snow was coming down heavy, and although it was not yet sticking on the roads, the office was closed and we were sent home. Driving home was slow but otherwise uneventful.

It snowed intermittently for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. While it wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick on the roads nor for the snow to stay around for much more than a day, it was beautiful while it lasted. The following are pictures from around the neighborhood during a break in the snowfall.

Looking down San Esteban.

One of the better decorated homes in the neighborhood.

Another home with fun Christmas decorations.

Looking from the back of the house to the northwest.

Looking from the back of the house to the southwest.

Josh's Marshmallow Birthday Party

Joshua wanted a marshmallow party for his 12th birthday, so Julene put together a bunch of marshmallow activities for Josh and his friends. After building things out of marshmallows, they had a contest to see who could stuff the most marshmallows in his mouth. Instinctively, I knew going into it that the best photos would come from this contest.

Joseph gave it his best effort.

Josh's friend Devon has an innovative way of connecting the marshmallows into a large mass without actually having them in his mouth.

The undisputed largest mouth went to Josh's friend, T.J. Little wonder since he is nearly as large as me, and he is only 13.

The highlight of the party was making a playing with marshmallow guns. On the previous Saturday, I cut enough PVC to make about 15 guns. The kids assembled their guns, picked up bags of ammo and went outside for an old-fashioned shootout. The party might not have been very politically correct, but it was a lot of fun.

Ethan and Joshua looking for more marshmallows to shoot.

Joseph shooting Josh's friend at point blank.

Allyse joined the marshmallow mayhem.

Angelina was the only one who figured out that the real fun was in eating the ammo.

Another highlight was the S'mores cake that Julene made. I'm not quite sure what was in it but it was pretty good. Mixing chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers can only be good.

Happy Birthday, Joshua!

Accessorize

Even if she is just getting a banana before bedtime, Angelina is always stylish, accessorizing her pajamas with beads.