BVN Sweetheart Feb. 14, 2009

On Valentine's day, I awoke and made heart-shaped pancakes for the family and a pork-roast meal for the evening. We never once sat down to eat these meals together as the teenagers had a basketball tournament all morning, Carson had a noon basketball game, Jessica was sick with a fever, and Brad was sleeping after working the night shift at Children's Mercy downtown. The dinner was on the table at 6:30 and only Hunter and I were home and AWAKE to eat. I ate in 2 minutes and rushed to follow Brandon over to his date's house to take pics.

The big boys ate the pancake breakfast on Sunday, and we finished the rest of the dinner meal for Sunday lunch!

THAT'S HOW WE ROLL!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Valenties Day: 2009 WARD family

VALENTINE PHOTOS HERE wit the Patti Ward family

Lenexa Kansas Stake Gold & Green Ball 2008

Google Photo Albums Here

Lenexa Kansas Stake held a Gold and Green Ball, featuring live music, dancing, and families having a great time. Jessie wore a beautiful dress and the rest of us dressed in our finest dress up clothes. We danced and had a fantastic time.

A snow storm cancelled school and we had a fantastic time sledding in Corporate Woods although it was quite frigid.

Brandon's Homework Drawing!

Brandon drew this several years ago 

and it stays on my FRIDGE!

Good bye Isgett family

Hold On

Friends come and go,

but with a precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle,

because the older you get,

the more you need the people

who knew you when you were young

Brian and Lisa Isgett will begin their new journey in North Carolina and we wish them well and are grateful to have had them live close.

LAST of NINE PINEWOOD DERBY RACES

January 30 marked a banner day for Brad and Carson! After making 9 PINEWOOD DERBY cars, the boys finally got it right.

In our LONG history of the event, it began with 6:30PM  weigh/check-in with a start race time at 7 PM. Our minds expected the same timing for the LAST race for our Cub Scout era. 

Experience has taught me to not freak-out when my husband and Carson are putting on the souped-up wheels as we drive to the family event at 6:50 PM--plenty of time. 

However, this year the cub leaders decided to have the weigh-in at 6 PM and RACE start at 6:30PM. Thank goodness for Mormon standard time because when we swooped in at 7:05 PM, only the FIRST race had begun and after all was said and done--

CARSON (and Brad!!!!! who am I kidding) WON FIRST PLACE with a VERY thin "skateboard" car!

I am working on a slideshow of all 9 races for the boys 

so look forward to some goofy pics of friends, family and fun at the RACES!.

Jessie is a SUNBEAM

Our last child became a "sunbeam" (name of the 3-4-year-old sunday school class). We were so proud to have her join this group and continued to reinforce how much fun she would have in the class all throughout the month of Dec.

It came time to go to class and this was:

Jessie's reaction:  (click here for You-tube--It is WORTH it!)

Bishop's Storehouse/Cannery

My parents have been working over 35 hours a week at the Missouri LDS food pantry and dry pack cannery. At the cannery, staple foods such as rice, flour, beans, wheat, sugar, flour, oats, etc. are stored in bulk and made available for long-term canning for members of our faith. Workers join together to store and seal the food in cans and consequently, get a life-sustainable product for much cheaper.

Recently, an increase in activity has been experienced at these facilities due to the economic downturn. LDS members in good standing receive basic free food to help sustain them during challenging times. Volunteers assist the people in obtaining their basic needs.

My parents are often humbled by those who they serve and have increased their love and compassion for people who face insurmountable circumstance that are often unforeseen.

I am proud of their service.

School Construction--BVN and VPE

The first 6 pictures are of Brandon's High School-Blue Valley North which is in the middle of a $2 million dollar renovation. The first was taken BEFORE the construction and the others, during.

One week ago, breaking news appeared on the TV and reported that 6 workers were taken to the hospital with injuries due to a scaffolding collapse at this school. Miraculously, no one was killed or severely injured. You can see the height of the structure in the 3rd picture that collapsed and how many feet the workers fell.

Carson's school, Valley Park Elementary, is also getting a FACELIFT--a new office and many additional classrooms to accommodate for the overflow of children. The last picture is of Carson's elementary school.

REMEMBER WHEN.......a trip down memory lane!

Anyone recognize this? Change is long overdue for this corner, although many memories come to mind when seeing these images. This is the OLD UNITED SUPER grocery store where as a 16-year-old I would shop for my Mom--always throwing in a TREAT for myself! I loved POP TARTS. I would walk in with a BLANK check and fill in the amount. Couldn't get away with that payment now.  This site became CHEROKEE SUN FRESH which closed about 6 years ago. It has sat VACANT ever since. Next to this spot, sat TG&Y store-- back in the 70-80's's! My friends and I used to ride our bikes and fill a bag with PENNY candy! We got quite a stash!  My favorite was Banana BB Bats suckers and POP ROCKS! They are building at Walgreens Pharmacy!

The 3rd and 4th picture is the site where WINCHELL's DONUTS used to be. After seminary, the gang used to go to Winchells to grab a bite. I remember there being an accident involving ice and a car running into a sign! I sure hope the seminary kids don't go to this site TODAY!

The last 3 pictures are of construction of the new Stonegate Pool. The old pool is where Brandon and Hunter learned how to swim and when I was young, I swam in the summers. As a teenager, I used to meet my friends there and hang out all day and eat Suzi-Q's. The city of Overland Park is currently building a state-of-the-art pool on the site planned to open this summer! Should bring in the crowds. 

And that is a TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE!

Cooking up a Storm

Malia Deshler and Jessie help make some  cookies with Mom. Jessie loves to help all the time when I cook. Malia is the oldest daughter of Chad and Monet Deshler. Funny thing, I used to babysit Chad when he was a baby for Don and Carol Deshler! Crazy that we now have daughters that are friends!

SKATE CITY with the middle schoolers and CARSON

We took Carson and 7 friends to Skate City Friday night for a birthday party. The boy has reminded me once a month that he has not had a birthday party for YEARS! (which is true) Last year, I planned a party, but ended up having an emergency appendectomy on his birthday and the other years just slipped by. I'm sure he will need therapy sessions for that--oh yeah he goes to therapy for his Tourettes! 

The rink we went to was the SAME rink that I skated at when I was in Junior High. I wasn't a COOL kid so I did not hang out there on Friday nights like so many other teenagers! Friday night was littered with skater dudes performing their righteous moves to impress the chicks. Our little group of 10-year-olds was dwarfed by the crowd, however managed to have a good time.

Kyle Connoly and Carson Bishop

Colby Bullock    Carson Bishop   Karina Leon  Peter Bagley    Kyle Connolly

Don't Fall Carson

TRICK CANDLES

Sarah Wheeler
Jacob Forred   Dylan Bailey

Christmas Concerts

Brandon and Hunter both performed in Christmas concerts over the holiday. Hunter had several solos on the alto sax. Of course, he never told me he was playing a solo. I only learned when he stood up to play!

Typical Boys--NEVER tell their mother anything.

Enjoy the music of the season on our YouTube Account by clicking Below!

Brandon's Christmas 08 Concert Band--Greensleeves

Part 2 of Brandon's Concert

Hunter's Jazz Band concert at Crown Center