Grant's Electricity Play

Grant's 4th grade class put on a play about electricity. It was extremely well-done. All of the kids knew the words to the songs and sang loundly. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa Kerr were in town to see it. Grant did not want Grandma to take his picture, but he couldn't escape her. I'm glad she got some shots of his performance.

Grant making it difficult for Grandma to get a picture.

Right in front where he can't escape the camera.

Grant loves to sing and perform.

After the play, the parents were invited to stay and have a picnic with their kids. I totally forgot about this part of the event, but we stayed and watched Grant eat his food with his friends. I have so many things to keep track of, that I am bound to foget something now and then.

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

When my parents come to visit, they bring us lots of fresh food from the garden. This time they brought apples, persimmons, guavas, pomegranates, broccoli, and cabbage. They also brought fresh honey, beef, walnuts, and pomegranate juice for jelly making. We had asked my dad if he could help us cut down a dead tree in our front yard and he got right to work on it just a few minutes after arriving. Grandpa also brought Kristina a copy of the Book of Mormon in French. He served a mission in France and speaks the languade fluently. He wrote a special message in the front of the book for Kristina. It was very thoughtful.

Emily showing off her new haircut.

Grandpa taking down the tree all by himself. Todd was planning to help him, but Grandpa had it down in less than an hour.

Grandpa loves his chainsaw!

My mom and I got busy making pomegranate jelly. My neighbor, Samantha, stopped by and decided to stay and help so that she could learn how it was done.

Grant loves to garden, so Grandpa helped him plant onions, lettuce and radishes in our very small garden.

My parents are hard workers and I am so grateful that they continue to help us and support us in everything that we do.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Instead of taking health as a freshman, Kristina opted to take two electives--french and theatre. The theatre class got off to a rough start because the football coach was subbing (babysitting) the class for the first several weeks of school until a new theatre teacher could be hired. We almost pulled her out because they were not learning anything and the teacher was going to be showing "R" rated movies. We called the administration and they were not at all aware of this. Luckily, they hired a new teacher quickly and everything has turned out better than expected for Kristina. Kristina tried out for the first play and landed a lead role. It has been a "tradition" for many years at Poly that a freshman is never cast in a lead role. This new teacher did not care about that tradition and said she would cast based on talent alone. Kristina was the only freshman cast in a lead role for this play and she could hardly believe it! She had so much fun making new friends and her confidence in herself really grew by leaps and bounds.

My parents came a long way to see her perform and that meant a lot to her. She loved playing a role opposite a senior--and a cute one at that! She played Helena.


Kristina begging Demitrius to love her.


After the love spell went wrong, both guys ended up being in love with Helena. I think Kristina really liked being fought over by two handsome guys.

Kristina did have two quick kisses on the lips. Not a big deal.

We dragged BRandon and Grant to come support their sister. They got a big kick out of seeing their sister act, sing, and dance. They ended up having a really great time. Then we dragged Kristina out of bed early on Saturday morning to see her brothers play flag football. She was happy once the doughnuts arrived and actually enjoyed watching them play. Whenever possible, our kids will be at each others' events.

Mom and daughter after the show. Lots of friends, church leaders, and teachers came to support her.

Cherry On Top is becoming our favorite hang-out place. It was so great to have G & G there with us!

Halloween!

I spent all day Friday with my kids at their school Halloween parades and parties. Sophie was so excited for her party that she could hardly stand it--and she wasn't disappointed. I think every kindergarten mom sent in a goodie bag or treat. She came home with tons of stuff and said, "I want to stay in kindergarten forever because they have the best parties!"


Emily had fun tagging along. She is already counting down the days until she can go to school.


Thank goodness the Cinderella costume still fit from last year. Coming up with costumes is my least favorite part about Halloween.

Sophie with her friend Khloe.

Here is hippie Grant. I am his room parent this year and I had a lot of fun throwing the Halloween party. I made these breadstick fingers in an attempt to come up with a "healthy" snack. They turned out puffier than I would have liked, but were still freaky.

Halloween day was crazy with clarinet lessons, flag football games, cooking and cleaning, a birthday party, shopping for mock trial clothes, feeding the missionaries, temple baptisms, friends over for trick-or treating, and WAY too much candy! I was completely exhausted by the end of the night.

Emily in her kitty costume--she was a turtle by the end of the night due to an accident. Thank goodness for a full box of spare costumes.

Emily and Sophie.

A Poem by Kristina

High School

High school is kind of like a collage

There are so many things to do

So many different sights, sounds, smells

Experiences

You want to squeeze the most fun you can out of these four years

It can sometimes be overwhelming

Balancing school, sports, clubs,

Life

That's why, like a collage, you need

Something that you can hang on to

Like a guide, or a strength, or a

Focus

When my life gets crazy with

All the things I have to do

Piano, mock trial, tennis,

Theatre

I remember the things that are most important

I remember what really counts

Family, friends, church,

Love

That makes it easier to keep going

To get good grades and still have the best time possible

Fun, friends, activities,

Focus

High school is like a collage

BYU Homecoming!

Every October for the past ten years we have had a family reunion during BYU's Homecoming celebrations. My parents, their children, and each of the spouses graduated from BYU and so BYU is the perfect place for a reunion. As our children have gotten older, it has become harder and harder to pull them out of school for a week in October. This year Todd and I decided to go alone for the first time. Our kids had already spent a week at BYU camps this summer, so we thought they had been sufficiently "indoctrinated" for the year. We flew into Salt lake and met my parents. Unfortunately, my two sisters couldn't make it this year. We shopped, ate, relaxed, visited family, picnicked in the canyon, hiked "Y" mountain, attended a fabulous Homecoming Spectacular show, and took plenty of pretty pictures! The only disappointing part of the trip was the football game. The best part was getting to spend uninterrupted time with Todd. It is so hard for us to get away, but always worth it when we do!

Me and Todd with my parents in front of the cougar.


My mom took a lot of great pictures of the beautiful fall leaves and also got a few good shots of me and Todd.

My mom, Jacqueline, and me. Jacqueline is one of the few converts that my dad had in France. She contacted him after 40 years and came to visit him. She then decided to serve a mission and was sent to Salt Lake. Every time my partents come to Utah they pick her up and take her around with them. She is such a sweet lady and we enjoyed spending a couple of days with her.

Just one example of the beautiful fall leaves--something we don't get in California.

Todd and I hiked "Y" mountain together. I had never done it before--I am not much of a hiker--but I was very proud of myself for making it. The view was amazing.

We met Todd's brother, his two sons, and our niece Kelsey (who is a BYU student) for lunch.

This was taken at the beginning of the game when we were still happy.

Time Out For Women in Riverside

This past weekend Time Out For Women came to Riverside. I went with my sister-in-law June and we had a great time--even staying up until midnight talking was a rare treat for me! I wasn't originally going to go because I didn't really feel like I needed it and it is so hard to schedule a weekend away for myself. Todd and Brandon already had a beach campout with the scouts scheduled and then Todd wanted to go to the BYU game in San Diego Saturday afternoon. I really love going to BYU games and so I needed to decide how to spend my weekend. June needed another person to go to get a group discount, so I signed up for Time Out. Kristina obliged when I told her she would be babysitting all weekend for me. I really appreciate her because she never complained, but did request dinner out when I got back. I thought that was a fair deal.
Anyway, I feel like a new person after going to this conference. I have been to women's conferences many times and always come back on a spiritual high, ready to take on the world. But this time I came back transformed. I'm not sure what happened, but I feel like a weight has been lifted from me and I truly understand how Christ's atonement applies to me. It would take too long to write down all of the things I learned and felt. Every speaker and performer was amazing. All of them said that they felt there was a special reason for their being in Riverside that weekend. Michael McClean stopped in the middle of his singing on Friday night and said he felt impressed to change directions and talked about something different than he had planned. I wondered who that person was that needed a special message from Heavenly Father. And then I thought, what if it is me? Do I believe that Heavenly Father knows me well enough and cares about me enough to inspire and tailor a message just for me? Yes, and He did. I wish this had happened to me sooner, but I am so grateful that I took "time out" from a busy weekend to feed myself spiritually--and I will never be the same again!

Grandma's Visit

Grandma Kerr flew down on Monday afternoon for a quick visit. She gave our FHE lesson and taught us how to make cinnamon rolls. Emily (who hasn't spent a lot of time with grandma) finally warmed up to her when they started baking together. Sophie was home sick from school, so she was able to help too. Tuesday evening we took grandma with us to see the BYU Ballroom Dance team perform and then went out for yogurt. Wednesday morning she flew home. We are grateful that grandma takes the time to pass along to her grandchildren what she has learned and what is important to her. Since we live so far away, we appreciate the efforts she makes to be such a wonderful grandma!

Emily wasn't feeling well either, but she didn't want to miss her chance to help.

Made with love and lots of brown sugar!

Grandma is famous for her homemade cinnamon rolls. Hopefully, they will turn out just as good when we make them on our own!

Answers from Conference

I look forward to each General Conference. I love how our prophet and the apostles speak to a world-wide audience, yet I feel like they are speaking to me personally and answering my inner most concerns. I missed the Saturday morning session of conference due to football games and a clarinet lesson. Monday morning I began replaying Saturday's talks on my computer. That left me inspired to plan a special Family Home Evening lesson directed to our younger girls. I got out the new nursery manual, read the lesson on prayer, read scriptures about prayer, filled bags with items that we can be grateful for and things we can ask for, and printed out the coloring activity. I was so proud of myself for trying so hard to put together a nice lesson. Well, the lesson was O.K., but the kids did not really listen like I thought they would. They were restless and more interested in getting to the "treat" part of FHE than listening to me. The evening ended with me sobbing and telling the kids that maybe someone else should be their mom--not pretty! I am overwhelmed by the task of teaching and training five children who are at very different stages in life. I wonder whether what I am doing is really making a difference. And then this morning I started to listen to Elder Bednar's conference talk, looking for something that would help me. He talked about consistency. He talked about his own family's experiences with family scripture study and they sounded just like ours--kid's poking each other and saying, "He's looking at me!" He said that what the kids will remember most is the consistency of family prayers, family scripture study, and FHE. He said it is like a beautiful painting. When we are up close, the brush strokes don't make sense, but when the painting is completed (with thousands of brush strokes) and we step back, we will see a wonderful masterpiece. That was an answer to my prayers. I am too close to daily living, that I can't see the bigger picture. I see messes and crying children, mountains of laundry, and lots of driving around town. But I also see a father teaching his children, a mom who is always available, daily family prayers and scripture study, and one-on-one time with children who need special attention. I felt peace knowing that if I step back, I can see a beautiful picture forming. We aren't perfect, but we are consistent, and that is enough. I am so grateful for apostles and prophets who give us hope and guidance for our families specific to the times in which we live.

Kristina--80's Style!

Kristina insisted that this is what we wore in the 80's! I told her I NEVER looked like that--except for the big hair. She went to her first high school dance last weekend and had fun dressing up.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Kristina is taking theatre in high school and auditioned for a Midsummers Night's dream last week. To her complete surprise, she was given the role of Helena, one of the four lead lovers in the play. She is beyond ecstatic to be the only freshman with a lead. In fact, she is beyond ecstatic that she gets to kiss a cute, senior boy who will play Dimitrius. (I need to read the play to see how often this happens!!) I seem to be the only one concerned about this. She has never kissed a boy and so her first kiss will be on stage in front of a lot of people (or during rehearsals--what if she thinks she really needs to practice this part over and over?) I have spent so much time trying to keep her away from boys and now she is kissing before she is even dating. Everyone I talk to has no problem with this since it is just a play. Maybe it's just because I am the mom and she is supposed to be my baby. They had their first rehearsal today and the senior boy came up to Kristina and said, "Hey, I guess we're going to "mack." (I guess that means kiss.) What?? That's my baby you're talking to!

New Calling

Two Sundays ago, I was released as ward primary president and put in as a counselor in the stake primary presidency. It was very unexpected. Luckily I had everything organized, every calling filled, the primary program ready to go, and a temple field trip planned. It was easy for me to hand things over under such good circumstances. I was sad to have to leave all of the precious primary children and other leaders and teachers that I have come to love. Yesterday I attended my first ward conference from 9-12. Afterwards I had a presidency meeting, so I didn't get home until after my own ward had started. I didn't feel like going to church for 6 hours so I went home and fixed dinner for the missionaries and my family. Todd did a great job getting everyone ready for church. He always handles the kids so well and always supports me in any calling that I have. I am excited to get to know more people in our stake. I already love working with the new presidency. I love how our church offers us so many opportunities to serve and to grow. Although I feel so inadequate, these new opportunities help me to turn to Heavenly Father for support, strength and inspiration.

Grant and his cello!

Grant is a passionate kid and when he wraps his mind around an idea, he doesn't let it go! A couple of weeks ago he ran into the kitchen after school and told me that he wanted to play the cello. The school had had an assembly that day trying to get the kids excited about playing a string instrument. Grant saw the cello and decided that he would like to try it out. During the past few years, I have been down to the music store many times to purchase or rent different musical instruments and it is a big pain--especially if the kid really isn't serious. I immediately called my neighbor who teaches band at our school and asked about the strings program. She told me that the school might actually have instruments that the children can check out for the year--free of charge. We went down yesterday and Grant was fitted for a cello and off we went. No hassle--no money! I love how cute he looks with this huge instrument on his back. I love his enthusiasm for life and his love for music. I can't wait to see how this turns out, but whatever Grant chooses in life, he will succeed!

It's bigger than he is.

Jorgenson Reunion in Vegas

Yesterday we drove to Las Vegas for the day to spend time with Todd's brothers and sisters. Originally, Todd's dad was supposed to have been in town, but he didn't end up coming since he will be moving to Vegas from Hawaii in a couple of weeks. The kids decided to get together anyway and we had a really nice time being together. We celebrated Eric's birthday and watched the opening BYU game against #3 ranked Oklahoma. What a game! Almost all of Todd's siblings and spouses attended BYU, so we had a really great time cheering and screaming and holding our breath. BYU beat them by one point! It was a really great end to a really great day!

Six out of seven Jorgenson siblings: Karin, Catherine, Eric, Kirk, Todd, and Craig.


Eric blowing out the candles on his birthday cake!

Karin and Catherine--the two girls in the family.

Kristina with her cousin, Zoe. They had a nice time catching up.

Karin's girls, Kaylee and McCAll. They are the last two children in Karin's family--#7 and #8. They are beautiful and sweet girls.

Sophie's 1st Ballet Class

Sophie has been begging me for over a year now to let her take a ballet class. I told her I would sign her up for a class when she started kindergarten. Yesterday we went to the dance supply store and bought her shoes, tights and a leotard. Walking into that store brought back so many memories for me. I spent many, many hours dancing and I actually miss it. One of my goals is to get brave enough to take an adult class. It has been almost twenty years (and five kids later) since I have danced. Sophie LOVED her first class and I think she will be really good at it!

Sophie trying on her ballet slippers.


She's all dressed and ready to go!

As I did her hair, I remembered all of the times my mom did my hair. I hated the "no bangs" look, but Sophie looks like a natural born ballerina.

So cute!

We didn't know she could wear a tutu, so we need to go back to the store for that. You can't be a ballerina without a tutu!

Transitions

School started yesterday and after such a huge weekend, I am not sure we were really ready for all of the important transitions that would take place on the first day of school. Kristina entered high school, Brandon started middle school, and Sophie started kindergarten. Grant entered 4th grade. Seminary also starts tomorrow. I am not sure I can do this. I can't believe I am the one who needs to wake my child up for seminary. I still remember my mom coming into my room at least twice to get me out of bed in the morning for seminary. It helped to know that breakfast would be waiting for me. I will get up and make breakfst for Kristina if it kills me--and it probably will. Each of my children seem to be adjusting well to their new environments and I am enjoying a few quiet hours with Emily during the day.


Brandon leaving for school at 6:45 a.m. with his friend Carlos.


Sophie is all packed up and ready to go. She has been waiting for this day for a long time.

Grant with his awesome, new BYU backpack---and old clothes. He didn't want any new clothes for school.

Kristina and her $80 canvas tote bag. She bought it herself, of course.

Emily wanted to go to school too and she insisted that I pack her a lunch!

Sophie is in the same class as her good friend Khloe from church. They are having the best time together!

Milestones

Sunday was a very special day for our family. Kristina received her Patriarchal blessing and Brandon was a ordained a Deacon. Huge milestones in our childrens' lives. We are very proud of the decisions our children are making. They are good kids who are trying very hard to do what is right. It was an emotional day! Todd also gave each child a Father's blessing before school started the next day! We are so grateful to be members of a church that has real priesthood power. It blesses our lives every day--it was just more obvious to us this past Sunday.


Kristina with the Patriarch and his sweet wife. We had never met them before and they made us feel very comforable and loved.


Mom and Dad with Kristina!

Mom and Dad with Brandon after his ordination.

Brandon turns 12!

For the past couple of months, I have been asking Brandon what he wanted to do on his 12th birthday. He never gave me a response, so I thought a day with the family would be fine. I made his favorite ice cream/hot fudge/oreo cookie crust dessert and we gave him a 150 foot water baloon launcher and a new hiking backpack. Around 10:30 on the morning of his birthday, I found him very sad. He told me that what he really wanted was a birthday at the beach with his friends. What??? Why didn't he tell me that sooner when I would have had time to plan something? I am ALWAYS up for a trip to the beach so I decided that I could pull a beach party together in a few hours. I called three of his closest friends and ran to the grocery store to get hot dogs and stuff for s'mores. We ate the ice cream pie before heading to Huntington Beach. It was cold, but the boys played in the water and then built forts in the sand. All of the fire pits were taken and so we stopped for dinner on the way home and then made s'mores in the pit in our backyard. Brandon had a really great birthday--thanks to me!!!


Brandon, Carlos, Trevor, and John. 7th grade boys are a little strange!

All of the boys having a great time together---no drama--that was nice!

S'mores in the backyard

Mom with her baby---he is such a great kid!

The boys had more fun burning marshmallows than eating them.

Sophie

Yesterday I was telling Sophie how much I would miss her when she went to school next week. I told her she could call me anytime and I would be just around the corner (we live next to the school). She said very seriously, "But Mom, I don't have a cell phone!"

She is too cute and I will miss her very much while she is at school, but I know that she is ready for new adventures.

Trip to Utah

Thanks to Uncle Eric, we always have a nice place to stay on our way to Utah. He has a cabin in Brianhead and we love staying there. We were there on a Sunday and so we went to church, which was held in the little town hall near our cabin. They hold one meeting each Sunday for all of the vacationers in town. During Sacrament meeting, Emily (who was just recently potty trained) started peeing all over the floor. We were on the front row and I wasn't sure what to do. I told her to stop (she's 2) but it just kept coming and coming. I wrapped her dress around her and tried to work my way through the crowded row. My other kids told me later that that they each got wet as I passed by them. So much for being potty trained. Emily wore diapers for the rest of our vacation. This week we are back to potty training and I think we are just about there! We'll see how church goes today!

On our way to church.

After resting and enjoying the mountains for the rest of the afternoon, we finished our drive to my brother's house. He was kind enough to let our family stay in his basement for the week.

Monday morning we dropped Brandon and Grant off at BYU's All-Sports camp. This was a week-long camp where they learned a different sport each day--soccer, baseball, football, gymnastics, and basketball. Members of the different BYU sports teams were their teachers. Both boys had a great time, but were very sore by Friday.

After dropping off the boys, we immediately went to drop Kristina off for EFY. I was so excited for her to have the same great experiences I had had when I was a teenager attending EFY. She was going without a roomate, and so I told her about the great friend I had met at EFY the year I didn't have a roommate. Her name was Jill and we ended being great friends and roommates in college. Kristina's week wasn't as rosy as I had hoped it would be, but I think she came back spiritually strengthened and that is what I wanted the most.

Leaving my baby in a dorm room for a week. Only four more years and we will be dropping her off for college. Help---it's going way too fast!

Buying BYU's famous fudge.

Mom and dad got to spend a lot of time with our two little girls while the other kids were at their camps.

Todd took Bryce and our boys to the Timpanogas caves on Friday afternoon. Brandon didn't think his legs could make it, but they did! We had a wonderful week spending time with family, relaxing, reading, and letting our children experience BYU.

More Summer Fun....

I am supposed to packing and cleaning for our trip to Utah, but I want to quickly record another fun day I had this week. My friend Julie brought her kids up from San Diego and we spent the day swimming, eating, and shopping. Julie moved to Riverside the same weekend we did. We met at church and hit it off right away. Moving to Riverside was not easy for me, and meeting Julie made everything better. We served in cub scouts together, took the kids on walks, hosted parties, and just helped each other out. I was really sad when she moved on, but our friendship has just gotten better over time!

Kristi and Julie

Abby and Sophie

Emily, Abby, and Sophie--ready for cartoons while Julie and I sneak out for a trip to Tai Pan.

Annual Beach Trip

For the past several summers, my friend Michelle and I have gotten together for a special beach trip. I met her twelve years ago when we moved to the desert and she has been wonderful friend to me ever since. Our annual beach trip is now a much anticipated tradition. Usually we go to Laguna beach, but this year we went to Huntington so that the kids could have better boogie-boarding waves. I think Michelle and I had the most fun out in the waves. We laughed and played like we didn't have a care in the world! I haven't had that much fun in a long time! After five hours at the beach, we went to Subway to fill up our 8 starving children and then walked along the pier. After showering at my house, we headed to Cherry On Top for some frozen yogurt. It was one great day! I am already looking forward to next year!

Kristi and Michelle

I loved Emily's matching boogie board and swimsuit!

Emily had tons of fun with this pail of water. I couldn't resist the "bum" shot.

Sophie and Virginia always look forward to seeing each other.

Group picture along the pier.

Pioneer Day!

Last night our stake celebrated Pioneer Day with a big BBQ and lots of fun games-cake walk, horseshoes, volleyball, baseball, fishing, darts, etc. The Primary children had a little parade. I had borrowed my neighbor's wagon for our ward to use and made signs for the children to hold. I am so grateful for our pioneer ancestors. What a great legacy we have in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I am honored to belong to this church and I hope that I can be as faithful as the pioneers were!

Sophie with her bonnet and food. She looks cute in whatever hat she puts on!

Todd didn't know he would be leading the parade--they saw him with the wagon and recruited him at the last minute--not really dressed for the occasion.

Sophie in the wagon!

Emily was happy relaxing in the grass and eating her dessert.

Shut the door!

On most days, I have at least 8 children in the house (or outside swimming)--sometimes more. I love having kids over to swim and play, but I can't stand it when they run in and out of my house! I try to lock all of our doors, except the one that leads from the outside to a small bathroom they can use. However, our house has five sliding doors and some kid always manages to get in and unlock the other doors. Yesterday I almost went over the edge after yelling "shut the door" a million times! I realized that I sounded just like my dad! I guess when you pay the $500 electricity bill in the summer you get pretty uptight about the cold air escaping and the hot air coming in. Finally, I just sent all of the extra kids home and told my kids to be good while I took a nap.

San Diego Beach Trip!

Nothing makes me happier than spending the day at the beach with a good friend and my kids. We have been going to the beach this summer about once a week with different friends. This week we headed to San Diego to visit my good friend, Julie. Between us we have nine kids! The kids were so well behaved and everyone got along. The day was way too short! We'll have to do that again real soon!

Sophie and her friend, Abby.

The boys wanted me to take a picture of their work of art.

As soon as I took the picture, a huge wave surprised them and flooded everything. Good thing I got a picture!