Gone too soon...

Our beautiful, sweet niece... Leah... passed away one week ago.  

It has been so difficult accepting this tragedy. 

(My niece Ally put it best...) "At this time of suffering and heart ache, we are grateful for the plan of redemption- the plan of happiness. We know we will be with our beloved Leah again. We know that families sealed together by the power of God cannot be broken. We know that Leah is encircled about in the arms of our Father in Heaven. My Mother says she can see Grami welcoming Leah and giving her a swift pat on the butt. We will always remember Leah for her tender heart. She felt so much. For her kindness and her motherly love. For her laugh and her sense of humor. She was over at the house for Thanksgiving, just a few days before her passing. She was happy and kind and had all these productive plans and righteous desires to help her get beyond her struggles and enjoy life with her family and her two children. All she wanted was to be a good mother and a kind daughter, and she was. We all love her very much, and we will miss her sorely."

My heart breaks for my sweet sister and her amazing husband and their beautiful family.  We have always been so close and I claim her 5 daughters as my own.  Leah spent so many summers with us and especially spent so much time with Ben when he was little.  He was her shadow!  

 I need to record a little of the time we spent with her over the past 30 years... Oh LeeLee how we love you and will miss you!

   Aunt Lisa with Leah!

On our Wedding Day..with our LeeLee

Leah with Tyler as a baby

   With Tyler and Brad 

Leah with her Ben...

                                           

And more recently...

   With her beautiful children

 With her beautiful Mom

 Five forever sisters on Thanksgiving 2011

 Leah... You have been a gift in my life.  I love you forever and always!

Our 4th Eagle Scout!

Noah had his Eagle Board of Review tonight and all went well!  He is our 4th Eagle Scout... we 

just have Ethan left to go!

Now we need his Eagle Portrait to hang up with the other boys!!

   Here is Tyler at 13 years old... our youngest Eagle so far!

     Brad finished his Eagle at 16 and Ben finished just before he turned 18!  (Love the sideburns Brad!

He told me I can't say anything about long hair anymore after I let Ben have his beard... But he looks so handsome...don't you think?)

For his project, Noah collected items for the Afghan Orphan Project.  School supplies, backpacks, shoes, clothes and soccer balls.  The Afghan Orphan Project has teamed up with Fedex to ship the items to U.S. Soldiers stationed in Iraq and the Soldiers deliver the items to orphans and needy children.  They love to get soccer balls and Noah was able to collect 25!  We were so grateful to all who were able to help with his project!

 Congratulations Noah!  You worked hard and did a great job!

Brad and Cami are having...

A Boy

We are so thrilled for them and can't wait to see this adorable little guy!

You two are going to be awesome parents!  We are so thrilled to add another Dixon

boy to the family!  We Dixon girls sure love our Dixon boys!

Disneyland!

Ethan and I were able to fly to California to meet Linda, Jennie, Chad and the kiddo's for a wonderful few days!  (Thanks so much Dad for making this trip possible.  We appreciate it more than you will ever know!)

Disneyland with a some of my favorite people!

Aunt Lisa with Taylor... who knows I think she is perfect in just about every way!

 We all had so much fun watching Levi's excitement... especially to see Buzz Lightyear!

          These cousins have had so many great memories together!  What a blessing!  Here's to many, many more...  Thanks for inviting us for a wonderful few days!

                                                                                                                                                                                    

I will never forget walking in Downtown Disney and seeing the St. Louis Cardinals tie Texas Rangers in the 6th game of the World Series.  Then Chad used his charm to get us a private room in the ESPN Zone for the 10 of us to have a late dinner and watch the extra innings of the game.  It was so fun to see the Cardinals pull it out!  Kate and Levi slept right through our cheering and screaming... I don't think any of us will ever forget that night.  So fun!

One of Ethan's favorite parts of the trip was the plane ride!  He wants to be a pilot someday...

Such a great trip!

"Taming of the Shrew"

Tonight is opening night for Noah!  He is one of the leads in the Lehi Jr. High production of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew"!   Good luck Noah, break a leg!

Noah has always been a bit "dramatic"... We are proud of him and all his accomplishments and how hard he has worked in the many plays he has had the opportunity to be in!
Here are a few pictures from last years show "Peter Pan"...

Fall in Nebraska

So glad our "Nebraska" family is enjoying the beautiful fall weather!

We are missing you!

"Just before the death of flowers,
And before they are buried in snow,
There comes a festival season
When nature is all aglow."

~Anon~

Such beautiful leaves!

Halloween with best friend Paisley... We love you Kalvin!

Welcome Home!

Brad's good friend Brendan returned home from serving his mission in Washington DC!

 Heather, Brad, Brandon and Brendan!  The 3 "B" boys, best friends in High School!  Heather, High School English Teacher with a positive influence that helped get all three on missions!

Brian (another teacher and great friend) Brad, Brendan and Heather right before Brad left on his mission to Boston.  (Brandon was serving in Scotland) While Brad was serving in Boston, Brian moved there to work on his graduate degree and they got to see each other often!

Welcoming Brad home from his Mission!

In High School!

   We were privileged to hear Brendan speak in Church yesterday.  What an amazing testimony and love for the Gospel.  What remarkable experiences he had in Washington DC!  We are grateful for missions and how they change lives...  the missionaries and those they serve!  I am so grateful for good friends and the positive influence they have on our children!  Special thanks to Heather and Brian for sticking with these young men and being such good friends and support as they grew up and made the decisions to serve missions and marry in the Temple!  You were there for it all!  Now we will watch as Brendan finds his eternal sweetheart and celebrate with them in the Temple, too!

Fall Beauty...

James and Ethan were able to go on a Scout Campout this weekend!  They had a GREAT time...  They went on a 5 mile hike through this beautiful scenery!

AMAZING!  Fall in Utah is just amazing...