Family Pictures 2008

On November 28, 2008, we went to Lake Las Vegas to take our family pictures. We had Stephanie, Steven, Matthew, Kayla, Jeremiah, Quinn, Heather, Rykker, Braxton, Brad and me all dressed to match! We took some great pictures and I picked the one above for our Christmas Card. Yes! That's right - I did a Christmas Card and letter this year! Every year I say I am going to do one and then time gets by and I don't get it done. This year I finally did it!
See the slide show for all of the pictures from that day!

The Many Faces of Kooky Kayla!

 

THESE PICTURES WERE ALL TAKEN ON THANKSGIVING 2008!

Thanksgiving 2008

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at my Mom's house.
It was a small gathering. We were glad that Aunt Patty could come. Steven came home for Thanksgiving too. We had a nice quite day with good food and good people. Phil & Tracey, Kenny & Kerry and all of my kids were there.

It was a fun day.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

CHS Fall Choir Concert - November 5, 2008

This year the Fall Choir Concert at Chaparral High School was a little later than usual but very well done. I thought all of the choirs did a very good job. Ms. Gardner should be very proud of how well it went. I know the kids all miss Ms. Borovicka, but Ms. Gardner is working hard to make a great program this year. We will be watching for more great things to come!

There are pictures of all of the choirs and a picture of Kayla and her friend Casey, Kayla with Grandma, Kayla with Jeremiah and Stephanie and Ms. Gardner as well. Of course, I did not end up in any pictures because I was the photographer and forgot to have someone snap my picture too!

Matt's Day at the Temple - November 8, 2008

On Saturday, November 8, 2008, Matt went to the Temple for the first time. Many were there to be with him. Bishop Andersen and Sister Andersen, Craig and Vonnie Call, Melissa, Jessica and Roger Elmer, and, of course, Stephanie, Jeremiah, Brad and I. It was a great day. After Matt's session we were able to go down to the atrium and take pictures while we were still dressed in white. It was the first time I had heard of being able to do this. Matt took the opportunity to go the Temple several times more before he reported to the MTC. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to be there with him. We are very proud of him and the decision he has made to go on a mission.

Zappos.com's Halloween

At Zappos.com in the corporate offices we did all of our Halloween celebrating with a pumpkin carving contest, costume contest (individuals and groups) Team Decor contest and trick or treating in the office for children of employees and children from the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation. The legal dept. won first place in the team costume contest and as of this writing I have not heard who one the Team Decor contest. We were the Justice League with Wonder Woman (Amber), Batgirl (Lisa), Robin "girl" (Rebecca), the Wonder Twins (Millie & Donna) and I was Super Girl. I kept telling everyone I was more like Super Old Woman but we had a great time. Our department was decorated like the Hall of Justice and Metropolis. It was fun to see all the children come through in their costumes.

Jean and Brian's Wedding

On October 18, 2008 we attended the Temple Sealing of Jean (Jeremiah's sister) and Brian. I love going to the Temple and watching these young people begin their married lives the proper way. We took pictures at the reception with our new Nikon digital SLR. I have wanted one for a long time. It is so much easier to take high quality pictures without worrying about the 35mm film being developed or coming out right. We could see on the camera if we got a good picture or not. Watch the slideshow for all of the pics we took. Congratulations Jean and Brian!

Twins' Blessing Day

We traveled to Cedar City on Saturday October 11 to be there for Braxton and Rykker's Blessing on Sunday. It was so great to spend time with them. They have grown so much. Almost all of Quinn's family were there. His parents and all but one sister could come. They have so many kids and grandkids. What was even more special was that all of Brad's grandkids were there. Shayna and Nyah traveled to Utah for an event in her family. Then she had her cousin drive her to Cedar. It was also very special to finally get to see Derringer. He is adorable. Here are pictures of all of them.


The blessings were wonderful. Quinn did a great job. There was food afterwards and everyone had a nice time visiting.

Matthew's Mission Call

On September 4th, 2008, we finally received the much anticipated Mission Call for Matthew. We invited the Bishop and his wife and kids, Melissa, Craig and his wife Vonnie, Dave, and of course Stephanie, Jeremiah, Brad, Kayla and I were there. Also Matt's friends CheyAnne, Chelsea and DJ came to witness the event. Steven was on the phone to hear Matt read his papers and announce that he would be going to the Spokane Washington Mission! We all shouted as he told us because Steven served in the Tacoma Washington Mission. We are so excited. Before he opened his papers we sang "I Want to Be a Missionary" and had a prayer. It was a great moment.

He reports to the MTC in Provo Utah on December 10th. We have much to do to get him ready! Matt had a map that he posted everyone's guesses on. He took some last minute guesses too and the only one that was close was Kim - she guessed Washington! Good guess Kim!

Labor Day Weekend

On Labor Day weekend Brad and I got in the truck which was hitched up to our 30 foot trailer and headed off for a long weekend getaway! We went to Panaca so that we could visit Brad's Auntie Audrey. She has been going through treatments for Cancer and we wanted to see her. After visiting with her and Barbara Ann who stays with Auntie at night we headed over to Bev and Jack's and parked in the driveway to sleep. My kind of camping. We brought the dog - Cowboy - with us so we slept out in the trailer instead of in the house. The next morning we had some breakfast with Bev and Jack and then headed over to Cedar City to see Heather and the babies. Quinn was working so we missed getting to see him. We enjoyed holding the babies and helping to feed them. They are sooooo adorable.

We left Heather's and headed out for something to eat and some fuel before heading up on to Cedar Mountain. It was dark by the time we got up there and we could not really find a place to camp so we ended up just pulling off the road to sleep for the night. We slept pretty well and woke to rain in the morning. With it looking like rain for most of the day we decided to head back down to dryer ground. We made another stop and spent more time with the babies and then headed out to Gold Butte (an area out between Mesquite and Lake Mead) to camp. We found a nice place to pull off the road and made dinner. It got really windy during the night. So much so that at times I thought we might blow over. We did not sleep very well that night but the wind died down somewhat in the morning and we slept in. After breakfast we took the dog and got on the four-wheeler to go for a ride. We rode for about 15 to 20 miles and only ran into 4 guys while we were out. 2 were out riding and they had a dog with them as well. It was so fun and we had a great time away!

Les Miserables at Tuacahn

On August 9th Brad and I went to see the musical Les Miserables at Tuacahn. It was the first time we had ever seen the play and it was a great production. I always love the shows at Tuacahn because of the natural backdrop of the red hills behind the stage and the use of the scenery. During the scenes of the French Revolution they had men up in the hills hiding behind rocks with authentic explosions and smoke. It made the scene seem so much more real! Very effective. The singing was wonderful and brought tears to my eyes several times. I loved it!

Happy Birthday Stephanie and Jeremiah!

On August 10th we celebrated Stephanie and Jeremiah's birthdays together. It was fun to watch them celebrate together. There was even some debate about how old Jeremiah is. We are happy to have him in our family! We celebrated with dinner at Grandma's and some of Jeremiah's family was there too. We had plenty of cake and ice cream to go around.

August 8th Visit with the Twins

Brad and I went to Cedar on Saturday to see the babies and visit with Heather and Quinn. Pat and Louis were there and have been there helping. It was fun to see how they are doing and hold them. I got to feed Rykker some of a bottle and try burping him and Brad gave Braxton some of a bottle and burped him too!

Great pictures of the Twins

Quinn's sister Katie took these fantastic pictures of Braxton and Rykker. They are so sweet!

Megan and Jackie's Wedding - August 2, 2008

On Friday, August 1st Beverly, Jack, Debbie, Brad and I all piled in the Explorer and headed out for San Diego, California to be there for Megan and Jackie's wedding. We had a nice ride with no mishaps and a few jokes here and there. Upon arrival we checked into our hotel (Days Inn) and met up with the rest of the family who were already there. Then we headed to Mission Bay Park to participate in Megan's bridal shower. The guys all hung out in another part of the park with the kids and played games and ate pizza while the ladies played shower games and watched Megan open her gifts.

Saturday we went to the Temple and were there for the lovely ceremony. It was my first time inside the San Diego Temple and it is so beautiful. It amazes me that Steven is a worker in that beautiful Temple and is there every Tuesday serving the Lord.

After the ceremony we waited for the Bride and Groom and took pictures. Then went to a restaurant for lunch as a group while the Bride and Groom took more pictures. Back to the hotel and then on to the wedding reception held at a friend of Jackie's family who live in El Cajon. It was a lovely day with great weather and a beautiful bride.

Opening of the Wedding Gifts

After the celebration of Matt and Ruthie's birthdays we all sat around and watched Stephanie and Jeremiah open all of their wedding gifts. They got a ton of stuff and I forgot to take a picture of all the gifts. It really looked like Christmas in July! They have a lot of thank yous to write!

The Twins are here! - Born July 25, 2008

On Friday, July 25, 2008, Brad received a telephone call from Quinn saying that Heather was going in for a C-Section and the Twins were coming. As soon as we could we left work and got on the road to Cedar. We got there a couple of hours after they were born and got to see and hold them both. Bev and Jack got there before us and we all enjoyed visiting and admiring Braxton Lois and Rykker Bradley. They are great! Braxton was 5lbs 15oz and Rykker was 4lbs 15oz. We are so happy they are here!

Matthew and Ruthie's Birthday Dinner

This year we celebrated Ruthie and Matthew's dinner together. It was yummy as usual. Grandma always makes great dinners. It was fun. We had cake and they blew out their candles together. Matt turned 19 on July 25th and Ruthie turned ???? on July 23rd. I don't want to write her age in case she would rather I did not publish it!

Stephanie & Jeremiah - Wedding Day - July 12, 2008

The big day finally came. All of the planning and preparations culminated in the wonderful wedding day.



I spent Friday preparing the food and getting all of the last minute stuff done. Then Saturday we got ready and went to the Temple. We spent about an hour outside (overcast and not as hot as it had been - yeah!) taking pictures. The professional photographer took some wonderful pictures. The pictures posted here were taken with our Kodak digital camera.

I felt very blessed to be in the Temple with my oldest child helping her to prepare to be sealed for time and all eternity. The ceremony in the Temple was wonderful. President Gary Earl sealed Stephanie and Jeremiah and his wife Diane (Aunt Diane to my kids) was there too. It was a very emotional time with all of us shedding tears of happiness. After - we waited outside for the bride and groom to exit the Temple as man and wife. The bride and groom stayed for a few more pictures and we rushed home to get the food and take it to the church.

We had lots of help from Holly's sisters and Katie's husband Richard who just returned from Iraq. They were all great and kept the food and punch in great supply. Everyone enjoyed the food and many stayed for the whole time of the event.


Millie and her husband Brent took hundreds of pictures. I was so grateful to them for being there and they took some great shots. There were so many people there I cannot name them all but I am so thankful for all who came to celebrate with us.

We had speeches by the best man, the father of the groom and the father and step-father of the bride. Then the bride and groom danced together and afterwards Jeremiah danced with his mother while Stephanie took turns with her dad and Brad.

They cut the cake, threw the bouquet and the garter and we all blew bubbles at them to wish them well on their way. What a great day!

Here is a link to a scrapblog I made.

Groom's Dinner

The Groom's Dinner was held the evening of July 11, 2008 at the Chapel on West Charleston. Jeremiah's mom—Elaine—and her friends put on a great dinner with chicken and rice, stew, broccoli salad, jello salad and some delicious fresh fruit and cream puffs. Everyone had a great time. At the end we had everyone introduce themselves and how they knew the Bride or Groom and tell a funny story about them. It was fun to get to know each other better and hear the funny things everyone had to say. After the dinner, Stephanie, Brad, Kayla, Matt and I went to the Galleria Chapel to make some final touches on the reception setup. Holly and Ryan came too and we got everything in place in preparation for the big event!

Kayla's 17th Birthday Dinner

We held Kayla's Birthday Dinner on Sunday, June 15, 2008 at Grandma's house. Her birthday is June 13th. Here is who was there—Grandma (of course), Uncle Tim, Ruthie, Kathrine, Me, Brad, Stephanie, Jeremiah, Matthew, Shalene and Hannah Grassie, and the Guest of Honor—Kayla! Ruthie and Kathrine also brought their kittens and there is a picture of Kayla holding one of them. We had a great dinner and everyone enjoyed Kayla's birthday pie.

Mission Preparation

My son, David Matthew Kitchen, is preparing to go on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He has had a physical and is all clear by the doctor to go and he has had his wisdom teeth removed. He only has to go back to the dentist for the final sign off of his dental work, then fill out some paperwork, meet with the Bishop and Stake President and they will submit his papers! He turns 19 on July 25th. We are so excited to see where he will serve.

The Twins

I have wanted to post this for awhile and have been so busy doing things for the wedding that I have not had the chance. This will be a better posting if I post what Heather wrote in her email when she sent us these pictures. She said:

"When we went to the ultrasound last night they did print us out some pictures that are amazing. I have attached 2 of them to this email. I hope they turn out. Sometimes they are hard to look at because they pick up everything that is i there, including the placenta.
Baby A is on the top. You can see his face really well. The thick line in front of him is the cord
Baby B is on the bottom picture. He is harder to take pictures of because he always has either his arm or leg in his face. You can see his eye and nose and his arm is right in front of his mouth. You can also see his other hand by his eye. He is always chewing or sucking on something. He is the only one we have seen suck his thumb."

We are so excited for these baby boys to arrive. They will be coming soon!

Now At Last

Here is the video of Kayla singing "Now at Last" at the final Spring Concert May 16, 2008. She had some boys from the group carry her out and set her on the piano. Stephanie played the piano.

Wedding Announcements

We spent a couple of hours on May 27th putting together Stephanie and Jeremiah's wedding announcements. We had a lot of fun and I forgot to take pictures until the very end so all I have are pictures of Stephanie and Jeremiah. We had lot of help though. Kayla, her friend Christina, Jeremiah's Mom - Elaine, me, Stephanie and Jeremiah. It went very quickly with all of that help. We had a little assembly line going. The announcements got mailed out during the next two days and we are getting the reply cards back every day!

Uncle Glenn's Birthday

So - on Saturday, May 24th we had a real nice time celebrating with Uncle Glenn. It was his birthday. Brad is not sure how old he is but it is 80 plus! He looks great. His brothers Larry and Dean were there as well. We had a nice lunch at Mom and Jack's. Linda brought lots of cakes for us to enjoy. We sang "Happy Birthday" and he blew out the candle. A great day for a Great Uncle.

Larry and Linda Lee...
Glenn looks a little choked up. I think his eyes were watering from all the fire!
Here he blows out all the candles!
Brad's brother Regan was there. Here he is with Aubrey - Kurt and Tammy's little one.

Dane and Robin's Wedding

On May 23, 2008, in the St. George Temple, we witnessed Dane and Robin being sealed for time and all eternity. It was a great ceremony and we were very happy to be there to share in their day. They held a luncheon at the church across the street from the Temple. It was very nice.

Here is a slideshow of the pictures I took.



We then traveled over the hill to Panaca and their wedding reception that evening. It was a great time to visit and enjoy the new couple.

Steven and Kim

It was fun having Steven and Kim here for the weekend. They came to see the final Spring Concert and to go to Mrs. Borovicka's retirement party. We had a nice visit and they stayed until after Sunday Dinner at Grandma's house. They make such a cute couple!

Chaparral High School 2008 Spring Concert

The next event was the Spring Choir Concert at Chaparral High School. The kids were great. This was Marsha Borovicka's final concert as after 23 years of teaching at Chaparral - she retired. Here is her picture. I know she was proud of the kids.

Expressions did a great medley of songs from Mary Poppins, the Classical Broadway Musical. The choreography was done by Cathy Allen (Dance Instructor at UNLV) and she brought in five girls to dance with the kids. Marsha even played the role of the "Feed the Birds" lady. It was great and brought tears to my eyes.

The performance was great and the kids did a great job singing and dancing. You can see Kayla with Marsha and on the left below. You could tell they really enjoyed the performance as much as the audience did.


Then Kayla sang a solo of a song I had never heard before. She looked stunning and sang so well. In my opinion - she had the best solo of the night! (Of course I would say that - I am her mother! But its true.) I will try to post a video of her song soon. Her sister Stephanie played the piano for her after listening to the song and writing it out.