12/12/12- Master Jillian Thackeray :)

Well... I officially suck at blogging! Perhaps I can get caught up over Christmas break! Life is busy right now! But good! Someone just posted on Facebook, "Stop saying 12/12/12 only happens once in a lifetime. Every day only happens once in a lifetime. That's kind of how time works!" Valid point... However... one note of interest on this day... 12/12/12! I completed my last class at GCU! I have a Master's Degree! It has been a LOT of work! But I'm soooo glad I did it! :) more to come... But for now... 12/12/12 is a memorable once in a lifetime thing for me! Glad it happened on a date I won't forget! Wait... Who are we kidding? I don't forget dates. ;)

Recap of Summer and an Update on Life! :)

I started with some of summer! Here is the rest of it! Yes, I realize it's October! Better late than NEVER! :) 

WARNING: Picture OVERLOAD! :) 

The first trip home HAD to include a cabin trip! However, there was hardly any time to get over there! There was a LOT going on! So we headed over for one night! Jaclyn came with us and we had a good time!

This was actually a cabin trip the second time around! :) "Friends" trip to the cabin and Jenny and the kids and Susan came along! Everyone left except for our family and Calvin... and this is what happened! :) Classic!

Tracy gave everyone "BYU basketball camp shirts" so we posed for a picture to send them... as you can tell by the 4 frames... it took a couple to get done! Look at everyone's faces! Priceless! :)

We took in a few swim meets! They prepared us for the Olympics! :) Troy and Wade did great! Always fun to watch!

I took this picture and won a picture contest (I think I already posted about this though...)

And here's one from my phone of Wade... also thought it was pretty good! Look at the wingspan!

Troy had his PAL basketball camp! We got to watch him play a little bit!

Wade had baseball and basketball! So really I got to see a lot of sports! That was fun!

Mom had class on Tuesday nights in Redding! One week Troy, Wade, and I went and did all the shopping! Then we went and saw Men in Black in 3D. Troy loved it! He was talking about it days after!

4th of July... probably my 2nd favorite holiday! We had it at the Spencer's this year. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Dianne were out of town. While I wasn't happy to not have our traditional 4th of July at our traditional place! It was a GREAT time because we were with all of our family! We had our traditional 4th of July program, ate great food, flag cookies (enough said), and the kids played baseball and had water fights!

We did fireworks out in the Spencer's field. We also watched the Fowle's fireworks... so we had quite the show!

Next up after 4th of July.... the much anticipated Quincy Tournament! There was a TON of build up to the tournament and it exceeded every expectation! Such a great time! We had over 700 pictures! I narrowed it down to the following... SORRY for the overload!

Batting practice at the batting cages in Medford! 

Our jerseys all lined up... ready and waiting for us...

Our hosts for the weekend! Such a beautiful place!

Tent city!

The playhouse... turned into bedroom!

The pond...

The pool...

Pickleball and basketball courts!

Hanging out waiting for everyone to arrive!

Callie and I

Getting ready to go to the games!

Hair time...

Loaded up on the truck... and they're off!

Most of the kids!

Coolest jerseys ever! :)

Getting ready to play...

Warming up!

Pre-game pictures!

Pre-game pep talk! Game faces!

Batter up...

Game time!

Game time!

Our cheering section!

Post-Game chat...

I don't know..

Back to the house for breakfast after our early morning game!

Siblings!

Hanging around chatting! :)

The only time little Blair will let me hold him! It was photo-worthy!

The swing was a big hit!

As was the canoe...

And paddle boat!

Troy and Calvin... so cute!

Back to the fields to watch the "kids game."

Troy and Calvin... not looking too impressed!

Until... they got to bat! Troy boy!

Cal-buddy!

Waiting for our next game to start!

The announcer and organizer of Team T-N-T!

Ready for our next games!

We went 2-2 for the weekend! A great first tournament! Our last team huddle!

We stayed after to watch Cindy's team play for the championship! They recruited Tandy! And... they won!

Afterwards... Rosemary kindly shared her shower at her hotel room! The Gold Pan... or The Bed Pan... whichever you prefer!

That night we all hung out and roasted s'mores!

And chatted! Always something exciting to talk about! :)

Our family photo... I decided to choose this one...because Mitchell's eyes were closed in the other... he was mocking our hands on the hips pose! He looks like a creeper! :)

And finally... our TEAM picture! So many Thackeray's! So much fun! :) Looking forward to seeing others next year! Hopefully we can double our numbers next year! There's even been talk of two teams?! Such a great time! The motto on the way home was, "We had SO MUCH FUN!" and that we did!

The day after we got back, we had a single sistas dinner at a restaurant in Midway called Tarahumara! It was delicious! Salsa bar, delicious food, delicious desserts! LOVE our get togethers!

Genna and I went to dinner and walked around BYU...

Then it was off to the Ute Stampede! One of my favorite rodeos!

In the middle of the rodeo... DOWNPOUR!

Trying to hide under the bleachers... yet still SOAKED!

Afterwards it was back to Aunt Patty's to hang out in the pool house and relax by the pool!

Then... it was back home for a couple of weeks! Home sweet home!

In the morning these purple flowers came out.. and by the afternoon they disappeared! Dad claims the cows ate them all... I think they disappeared once it got warmer!

For Mitchell's birthday we went to the Weed golf course and did a little golfing! Good times! :)

We celebrated Jane's birthday! Love the family get togethers!

There was the Old Timer's rodeo! Fun to see the hometown people!

I substituted for the 12-13 year old's Sunday School class. Object lessons and candy! Always a hit! :)

YES! I read ALL of these books this summer! One of the greatest parts about the cabin!

The LAST summer adventure was Grandpa's 80th birthday celebration! We gathered at the cabin! We enjoyed playing games, going to Sawyer's Bar and Forks of Salmon and cleaning the graves of our relatives, hanging out at the river, trips to Mule Bridge! Mom made a slide show of pictures Grandpa's life! So fun to see! We had a great time!

Well! That was summer in a nutshell! It was a GREAT summer! Somehow it manages to pass by in a flash! Like... blink... and it's OVER! So sad! Good memories for sure though!

School started and first term is almost over! Crazy how time flies! I am enjoying my classes! 8 more weeks and I will be FINISHED with my Master's Degree! ALSO excited about this! :) Volleyball is going well! We have vastly improved from last year and the girls are playing well! It's been a fun year thus far! So that's the update on my life! In the words of Rosemary, "Life is good!" :)