Happy Birthday Tina!

"40 & FABULOUS!!"

As I've mentioned, this year is a big year for landmark birthdays for many of our friends. Last night we got to celebrate good friend, Tina's, Big 40 Birthday at Bonko night. She had to put up with a little bit of "old jokes" & party favors; but, all in fun of course! :} The true celebration will be on our visit to NY together next month..so, I'm not far behind her myself! I thought this would be a good time to tell you more about our friend, Tina. She is such a good person...truly cares for others & will do ANYTHING for her loved ones. I'm not exaggerating either...she cooks a feast about every night for whoever happens to be at her house that night, has taken in many people who have been in their life transitions, will stop whatever she's doing if a friend is in need. We all had to watch her, and her family, go through a scary time in her life when her son, Cameron, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 5. She was a single mom & putting herself through school as well during it all. Though we know not easy what-so-ever, she was so strong & managed to do it all, and be there every day for Cameron! He's now 16 & doing well...which we are so proud of him & his fight as well! Happy Birthday Tina...may your 40's be your best years yet!! We love you girlfriend!!

She just had to wear the party favors!

"You're a WHAT? Get your butt over here girl!" :}

Yea, you made it! :}Roll 'em Baby!

Sure do love Girl's Night Out! :}

We Will Not Forget...

With yesterday being the Anniversary of the tragic 9/11 events, I hope you all took a moment to stop & think about what happened, to think about those who had to personally suffer from the tragedy, and to remember what a beautiful country we live in. 7 years later, I continue to feel just shocked when I watch any clips, still in disbelief this could happen...it's so surreal. I know there's lots of shows & news clips on the event; but, I was in awe of The History Channel's show last night....'102 Minutes That Changed The World'. This was unfiltered, as it happened, from more than 100 eyewitnesses...thier own personal videos, reactions as it was happening. Truly heartbreaking & more reality then I could even imagine. Not that you want to "relive" the moment; but, it is history that we were all a part of & can't forget! Though you knew what was next, you couldn't help but just plea for them to run. You couldn't look at thier eyes on the screen and begin to understand how that person felt at that moment. My heart continues to go out to those who personally had to experience it somehow. I will be visiting Ground Zero next month & can only imagine the feelings we will have knowing what has happened there. I so wish I could have seen The World Trade Center itself; but, will be sure to give my respects to those who were there that day.

Let the Dancing Begin!

Summer break is officially over & Kaley is more than excited to be back at dance class. This year I promised her she could also do cheer class as well as dance. Though I suppose having her take gymnastics would be appropriate if she really wants to be a cheerleader; but, we'll stick with that for now! She wants to be "just like Anjila"...too cute! And nice that she has such an adorable, smart & driven cousin to look up too! :} But, Kaley is not the only dancer in the household...Dylan has been wanting to start up Hip-Hop classes himself. We told him he could if he got his black belt (though we think he was hoping he could be done with Tae Kwon Do & do Hip Hop instead; but, since we are contracted for another year...it's either both, or no dance...sorry bud!). So he begins tonight & is excited to "bust a move". This ought to be fun...right up his alley! To make it even more exciting is the fact his teacher, Terry, was a previous contestant on "So You Think You Can Dance"...even made it a few rounds. We can't wait to see them both in the recitals doing thier thing!

Farewell Grandaddy Eaton...

We knew after Grandmother passed away, that it probably wouldn't be long for Grandaddy, Frank Eaton, to follow her. Those two were inseperable & I can only imagine how much he has missed her these last two months. So, yesterday was his turn to leave this earth. You realize that happens in old age; but, still hard to see a family member/loved one go. We so wish we could have spent more time with them over the last 20 years; but, we appreciated every chance we did get to go back to Florida to see them. My personal memories involve Easter Dinner at the Holiday House (how excited they were to meet thier first Great-Grandchild then and kept wanting to hold Bradon), swinging on thier old swing, and Grandmother trying to stuff more grapefruits from her tree into my bag (nevermind I couldn't actually take them home on the plane with me!) Doug has some fun stories growing up...sounds like they did a lot with their Grandparents. He'll also never forget falling off the back of Grandaddy's truck while he was moving either (back then we didn't seem to see the danger in letting kids ride in the back of the pickup, did we? I think he learned his lesson! :}). Again, we are especially glad that we were able to go visit with them last year...we knew that would more than likely be our last visit. We appreciated the chance to get to see them, and we really appreciate cousin, Scooter, taking good care of them all these years! Goodbye Grandaddy...we will not forget you!

Watching Alexis Grow....

There's no doubt our newest niece, Alexis, would be a UNR Wolfpack Fan in that household! We've enjoyed going to those games with Steve & Kerri in the past....we'll never forget the one year when we took over the tailgating lot, and were filmed by Fox News (though I don't believe they actually played it...we still thought it was fun! :}) Our kids also all had the Baby Wolfpack Onesie. We have one picture of Bradon in it, as well as one with Kaley in it, on the same chair...they're exactly alike! We'll have to pass that back down to them now! Glad to see they are getting her out there too!

How fast she is growing!

Happy Happy Birthday...Yea Yea Yea!

(and that would be how you would sing the family birthday song!)

Happy 60th Birthday Phillip!

Sunday night we got to get together with the family again for a nice Mexican Fiesta over @ Cathy & Jim's house. This time was to celebrate cousin, Phillip's, big birthday. Of course, we ate well & enjoyed more family time together (as always!) We also got to hear our nephews, Jon & Spencer, show us their talents at the Cello. They are such a musically talented family....glad someone from the Leach side got that gene in the extended family! (because we know it's not me! Have you heard me sing before? yea, exactly! :})

You're always guaranteed a good dinner & good times at Cathy & Jim's house!

Kaley is sure to get tight squeezes from Grandma Leach!

And she is sure to get into the dress up clothes & "her" baby things there too!

We all love to get our turn holding Haiden! :}



Jon & Spencer showing us what they've learned...we're so proud of them!



Thanks again Duffins for hosting a wonderful night!

OUR UTES ROCK!!

UTES BEAT UNLV 42-21...YEA BABY!!

As I mentioned, we were very excited to begin another season of Utes Football! Last night was the first home game at Rice-Eclles Stadium. There was a flurry of red & tons of true UTAH fans all around us!! We were pumped & ready for the '08 season to begin!! We had something to prove after last year's game against the UNLV Rebels, so we came out strong! It was an excellent game & a perfect night for some football!! We not only look forward to watching the team do thier thing; but, we also enjoy seeing our cute niece, Anjila, represent our team, and our family, out on the field! She is in her 2nd year as a Utes Cheerleader & we couldn't be prouder!!

(I had to borrow a few pics from her site :})

(these were actually from last season....hopefully we can get some more close ups this year!)

It's also fun to share the Utes passion with good friends Tina, Dennis & Char. Along with thier friends, they always make the most of the day with some tailgating. Which is always a blast! Good food & drinks, surrounding yourself around tons of fans that are pumped up for the game...it's awesome!

This was a bunch of fans anxiously watching the end of the BYU-Huskies game...oh what a game that was too! That was quite the ending I'd have to say! Ok, as a true Ute fan, I have to admit who we were rooting for! (sorry Mom & Dad!) No really...I do like to see Utah represented & like BYU to win as long as it's not against us or anything that messes with our conference stats! :}

It was also fun to see Kelly & Nicole before the game (Kelly is Doug's regular golf buddy). They had some family in town there with them too, from Maryland & Deleware...Unlce Clair was a hoot!

We can just picture watching Bradon there in a game sometime in the future too!

The sea of red begins to pile into the stadiumGod Bless America & the game of Football! :}

Look who else we ran into....

Steve & Peggy Powell, the truest Utes Fans I know!! Seriously, they have a complete room (and more) dedicated to The Utes...it's so cool, we love it! And then seeing my sisters...that's always fun! :} Doug & I excited to be able to attend another season!
You know what this means.....TOUCHDOWN!
Always have to get a few rounds of The Wave in...I like it when it goes by the student section! After the game they had a fireworks show to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the stadium (really, all ready?)

GREAT JOB UTES...KEEP IT UP!!