Happy Birthday to two of my heroes

Happy Birthday to my baby brother Brent.  Here are just a few reasons I love Brent:

  He literally saved my life with his bone marrow....twice

He is almost always smiling

He has a HUGE heart

He looks like Wolverine...hahaha (not in the photo, but he does in a few others!)

He came and sat by my bedside everyday while I was in the hospital for 10 days

He is always willing to help others

He is a fantastic leader & leads by example

Thank you for always being true to who you are! Our lives have been so blessed to have you in it.  I hope you have the BEST birthday ever!! 

I love you!

Happy Birthday to THE best grandma EVER!  I am SO blessed to have the most wonderful grandma!  I just LOVE her.....here are some of the reasons I love her:

She is there for you when you need her

She is so proud of each of her grandkids....no matter what mistakes we have made in our lives

She is the defaniton of Chirst like love

She is one of the kindest, most loving people I know

She loves and cherishes every minute of being a grandam

Her eyes light up when any of her grandchildren or great-grandchildren enter the room

She is SO fun to watch ANY sporting event with

She has such a strong testimony - she makes me what to do my best

Thank you grandma for being such a wonderful woman, grandma and mom.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I love you!  There have been many times in my life when your unconditional love and support have helped me to become the woman I am today.  Thank you!  I love you and hope you have an amazing birthday!

Phase one complete

We are officially done with the first step of MANY in becoming foster parents - hopefully adoptive foster parents.  We had our interview with the Utah Foster Care Foundation and it went well.  We will start the classes to become licensed in November, then we'll have the home inspection and we can officially become licensed.  Yeah!  We are excited to have the opportunity to open our home to children who need a safe place to stay, to be loved, encouraged .  We know the road won't be easy and that there might a few minor pebbles, as well as some HUGE boulders along the way, but we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the time is right.  We know that will have the opporunity to change lives as well as be changed for life!  Let the journey begin!

I LOVE saving money....

I stopped by Albertson's today on my way home and stumbled onto some GREAT savings.....too good NOT to share!

I spent $55.....and SAVED $92.10!!! I LOVE IT!!! Life cereal for $1 a box, Quaker Instant Oatmeal $1 a box, Quaker Chewy granola bars $1 a box, Motts 6 packs of apple sauce $1.40 a box, I LOVE saving money!! :-)

Dixie State vs. Hawaii Hilo - Men's Soccer

I just love this guy!!

Just a few of the photo's from the game

Kasey and I had our date night this week at the Dixie State Men's soccer game. Brent's team took on Hawaii today and played a FANTASTIC game......until the 90th minute!! Yes the 90th minute AS THE WHISTLE BLEW Hawaii got one in the back of the net!! We were all speechless...it was a great game though and Brent played AMAZINGLY!

SC Ivins vs. SC Slash

So close.....not sure what he was doing there though

Making their way to the goal

J with a great throw in

Most Saturdays you can find us at the soccer field. There are two team's in the SC soccer club and today they played each other. It's fun to watch these boys who practice together and work so hard have a great time playing each other. SC Ivins won 2-0. J came SO close to scoring....I know if he keeps playing hard he'll get one in the back of the net.

Team in Training.....

Last weekend was the St George Marathon.....and as I was making my way downtown to J's soccer game, we watched countless people continuing down the road, so close to the finish line - hours behind the lead runner, and I was surprised by how choked up I became. I found myself AMAZED at the willpower of each runner I saw continuing on....one foot in front of the other....til they crossed that finish line. For most, it was just about finishing....being able to say they finished the race!

It was inspiring! So inspiring that I decided right there that I needed to do something - I have been SO blessed in my life, blessed with a family that loves me, that sat by my bedside day in and day out through out TWO bone marrow transplants and countless months of recovery. So many friends have spent hours on the phone -making sure we were alright, fasting and praying for my health, others brought meals, cleaned our home, tended J for hours at a time, and helped whenever needed. How do you ever say thank you for the COUNTLESS hours over the past 10 years that have been spent tending to me and my family!

I love to run.....I can solve all the problems of the world while my feet pound the pavement and running a marathon has always been goal of mine - something to accomplish at some point in my life. Well that time has come! I have teamed up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and joined the "Team in Training" and have begun unofficially training for the Rock n' Roll Seattle Marathon on June 26th, 2010. (Officially training kicks off in January) As I run each day, my thoughts are drawn to all that we have been through, all that loved ones have gone through and all that our dear friends who have lost a loved one to cancer have gone through and continue to go through. Teaming up with the Team in Training is my way to say thank you! Thank you for all your love, your prayers, & your friendship!! You will never know what it has meant to me!

So here's to pounding the pavement....one foot in front of the other!!

SC Ivins Soccer & The Dixie State Soccer

Since the boys have been working so hard at practice and in their games, Kasey decided to have today's practice at the Dixie State Men's Soccer Game. It was a perfect day - clear skies, sunny & 74 degrees....a perfect night for college soccer!

The boys had a great time at the game watching Dixie win 4-0. We will definitely be attending more home games as a team!

Webelos Badge and Religious Knot

J had quite a pack meeting! He earned his Webelos badge, several activity badges, Leave no trace award and he is one of the only boys in our ward to earn his religious knot....way to go J! We are so proud of him and his hard work in cub scouts! Only a few more months and on to boy scouts he goes.

J conducting the flag ceremony

J talking about how he earned all those activity badges

J's Leave no Trace award

Brother Killpack congratulating J on all his awards and hard work

SC Ivins Soccer

Soccer is in full swing again! Most Saturdays you can find us on the soccer field floating between J's games, as well our three SUPER cute nieces games. I think we average 3-5 soccer games on any given Saturday. I LOVE this time of year.....we start out going to games wearing shorts and t-shirts and end the season wearing sweaters, coats and gloves....I LOVE IT!!!

General Conference & Cinnamon Rolls

Rolling to dough before putting it a bowl to rise for an hour

All risen and ready to fill

Rolled up and ready to let rise again

Yum....ready to bake

SUPER YUMMY!!!

Kasey & I love conference weekend....but Jonathan not so much! So a few years ago I decided to try a new tactic to get him to be involved and listen to conference.....thus the idea of making cinnamon rolls WHILE listening/watching the Sunday morning session, we then enjoyed them while watching the Sunday afternoon session. It's AMAZING how well yummy cinnamon rolls can encourage a 10 year old boy to listen to TWO sessions of conference!