OH NO!!!!! Its October!!!!

OH NO!!! It's October and I know I'm not the only one panicking. For lots of reasons. There has been so much going on with all of us and Russ just reminded me that I'm so organized. Okay, so no. I'm not. But there is someone who is and his name is Alan. He put this little 4 minute video together for us as a reminder of the love and laughter we enjoyed at the reunion. Enjoy --- and I hope those of you who weren't there will get a taste of what you missed. 

https://youtu.be/QpIJA4Tgi-M

Love you to all.  All.  ALL! ♥

Busy Summer Already

Hello All,

It has been a whirlwind already this summer. Everybody is hopping and keeping up pretty well.

Happy May Birthdays to Sierra (28th), Megan (2nd), Dianne (11th), Kylie (23rd), Aunt Joan and Beau (5th).

Happy June Birthdays to Jared and Thayne (5th), Sean (6th), Doug (RIP 8th), Graham (10th), Gale (20th), Archer (27th), and Ethan (30th)!!!!

Tyler Barnard (Eric's oldest) and Kimber Clemons (Dom's second oldest) graduated at Firth High School in May and left almost immediately for Hawaii where they will start University of Hawaii in the fall. Kaylee graduated at good ole Blackfoot High School in June and has plans to attend college in the fall as well. 'Not sure what the final decision was as to where that was; either BYUI or USU.

(Ryan and LaBretta would want to post pictures here) 

Also on that front, Cal moved to Boise to start BSU this fall. He and Jan made the move into a nice trip from Las Vegas that included some camping and sight seeing. They have some great stories to tell!

(Jan and Cal would want to post photos here)

Cal has been traveling around Idaho and Alaska the past few weeks visiting lots of family and friends along the way. He is bunking at our house til his house is available on July 1st. I would imagine that all of you are on the 'visit list'!

(Cal has a neat video and some photos to post here)

Jer and Lisa are working to get her shop in shape. It's a nice spacious place and business is good! Jer's cabinet business is going gangbusters too. Lots of work to do and he's looking for some good help if you happen to know someone that is interested. Kaden is moving pipe this summer and growing like a WEED! He's nearly as tall as Lisa already. Libby and Brock are enjoying their summer and spending some days at their grandma Fellows' house helping her with little things.

(Pictures please!)

Jared and Leilani are both busy with new church callings (Jared: High Council and Leilani in the RS Presidency). Whitney and Makenna both spoke in Sacrament Meeting in the last month and did great! Swimming lessons are underway and life will pick up momentum there with Girl's Camp in future weeks and Day Camp for Easton. AND.....don't forget, we are having a FAMILY REUNION there in August (7, 8, 9)!

(Pictures please!)

Nate finished up in North Dakota at Schlumberger around the first of May. He and Quincy moved to the Boise area and started looking for a house to buy. It is now June 13. They have been in their house in Nampa for almost a week painting and ordering carpet and putting things together. It was fun for Lani and I to help a little bit with that. Nate is working for Advanced Concrete and Quincy will start a new job in a few weeks. (I can't remember the name of that place!)

(Nate and Quincy could post pictures of the transformation of their home here. Here is one that I have of that project.)

Sean and MaryDawn also moved in June to a larger place where they will live til Sean graduates BYU in December. While MaryDawn is looking for work, Sean is doing a 5 week cultural internship with BYU across Europe from May 11 til June 21. He has visited Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany, and the next few weeks will be in Vienna, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland. He says he wishes he could spend a little more time in these places than just a day or two. They have seen a lot of history and he has sent me a few pictures (below).

As I said, it is only June 13th and the rest of the summer looks just as eventful! Puleeeeeze post pictures of things going on with you all!

I'm currently updating the Family Directory again. When you get your new one (email), please discard the one you are currently using. ;-)

We'll see you in August!

Loves, Charlene

Late and Early

Hello Loves,

So sorry for the 'ever-so-late' late post! So much has been happening on our little piece of the planet! Here is an overview to bring you up to speed with our bunch... buckle up!

The holidays were a hub-bub of baking, building and being together and fun, fun, fun at the Drapers for our New Year's party for 2015! Lots of food and laughing; we had a great time and Jared and Leilani are wonderful hosts. It was memorable time for everyone.

Party time --- Looks like Nate needs a nap

Too much fun for Sean and Jer too... (can you believe Jer actually called me Grandpa Duncan!!??)

Everybody gets in on the action!

Making Christmas candy!

Jared and Leilani are busy with work and callings, but find time to spend with family. The kids are growing up fast with Kenna getting her driver's permit, Whitney entering "teen-hood" this year when she turns 13, and Easton playing all kinds of sports.

Doug passed away unexpectedly in late January. Ryan, Tammy and I joined Calvin and Mom in LasVegas for his memorial. We met his family members and found great support and love there. I wish I had taken photos while we were there, but it was a fast trip and alas, I did not. The photo below was one that was used for his memorial photo frame; I took it a few years ago when they visited. Doug was very loved and will be missed immensely by those who knew him well.

Doug and Jan

Doug and Cal

February and March were unseasonably mild here and we had a lot of visitors come during those nice weeks. Old friends and family graced our home where we made new memories and reminisced about the good ole days.

Lots of birthdays during those months too -- Marty, Molly, Tyler, Caleb, Steven, Lisa, Quincy, Libby, Lani, MaryDawn, Alex, Abi, Mallori, Ryan, Kaylee, Payton, Corrine, Alex and Delia were among them --- if I have missed someone, know that we love you!

Wrestling matches, basketball games, and track meets kept everyone busy. Here's a few pictures... Brock on the mat and Makenna on the field.

Brock

Kenna

On April 10th, Alan and I drove to California and visited Russ! (Thanks Russ for your hospitality and a wonderful dinner. It was a nice visit and I'm glad you were able to make that work. Hope to see you soon (....reunion is coming up!)

After our quick visit with Russ, we drove to San Francisco where we attended Jef and Dave's wedding party. They were wed on April 10th and surrounded by lots of love and support that weekend. Some of you may remember Kathleen Hamilton (Katseanes) and Roxanne Caldwell --- they said to tell Cal and Russ hello --- so "Hello!"

Dave, Jef, and Gunther

The next weekend, we had a baby shower in Blackfoot for Melody and Beau. Was a fun time and nice to meet her sweet mama. Thanks to all of you who came and made that special for her. Of course she looked great and was a wonderful sport to allow that so close to her due date. Wes and Brennan had a 'boys day' and joined us later, all smiles. You would not have known that they are currently dealing with the serious curves that life continues to throw them. Hopefully all things will even out and it will be smooth sailing...soon.

The weekend following the shower, on April (23rd and 24th), MaryDawn graduated at BYU Provo with her Masters in Public Administration. (So proud of you MD!) It was a celebration of grand proportions and it was nice to be able to be there along with Nate and Quincy and members of MD's family! Sean and MD are moving to a larger apartment this month, so there will be a new address for them in the directory. Also, Sean is leaving around the 17th of May for a 5 week European internship. It will be a whirlwind of culture taking him places that include several cities in 12 countries. Can't wait to hear about that.

Sean and MD

Graduation at the Marriott Center, BYU

MaryDawn

Charlene, Quincy, Nate, Sea, Quincy, MD, her brother, his wife and their boys, and LaDawn (her mother)

In the beginning of May, Nate and Quincy started looking to buy home in the Nampa-Boise area. After making several offers, they got one accepted and are now working through the process of inspections and appraisals. They are looking forward to having their own place and putting down some roots. Their new address (along with several others) is in the new and improved Woodland Directory. Nate is working concrete and Quincy is working at looking for work presently.

Jer and Lisa are busy with their businesses. The Woodsman is hopping busy and they recently bought a salon in Preston and are calling it Trends. It's a nice place and Lisa has used her talents (and Jers) to make it an upscale, modern salon.

This is Trends; located in downtown Preston, Idaho

Their family is always busy and getting into some kind of trouble! ;-) Kaden has grown a foot since any of you have seen him and Brock and Libby are close behind. Hope we get to see more of them this summer!

Happy Late Mother's Day to all the mom's out there....and Happy Birthday to Janiel, Eric, Wes, Whitney, Hayden, and Noah (and those I have missed!).

Stay tuned for more to come; summer has begun here and the world just keeps on spinning... I am working between play days these days and Alan is loving his garage and the shop he has built there. He always has a project in the works, here are a few of the latest ones...

Quincy manning the chopsaw

Quincy and Alan building a TV table

Garden Boxes!

Essential Oil Box --- I love it!

Please take time to post your pictures and goings on of graduations, new babies, moves in and out, things you love and things you don't, places you've been and places you want to go. Much love to you all, hope to hear (and see) from you soon!

Love to you all!