Logan sings...

Last night Logan performed in his first high school choir concert. He looked mighty handsome in his Tux too! He seemed to walk a little taller being in his Tux! They sang 3 songs and did very well. It is fun to see my kids really enjoying themselves and Logan looked like he was having great fun!

Apples....

We went last Saturday afternoon to pick apples with Grandma Lockhart. Of course no outing would be complete without Steve taking over 250 photos of the event! I must say he did get some cute shots of the kids! I am grateful for the enormous photo collection I have of my children. Sometimes the photos and memories are all we have left... I miss my Jonny!

These are a few of my favorite shots from our apple picking adventure.
The slideshow below shares more of the kids having fun.

Artist at work....

Emily has been enjoying the coloring project she received in her birthday box. I think some of the big kids have enjoyed it just as much too!

Emily's Birthday Box....

Emily received a package in the mail from her grandparents in Washington. She even read her name on the box "Emily Marie Murphy" although it really said "Miss Emily Murphy"

She was delighted as she pulled each treasure out of the box. The trick was for the photographer to keep up with the presentations.

Even the big kids have enjoyed watching, sharing, and helping Emily enjoy her birthday box treasures!

From Grandma's Pumpkin Patch...

The kids got to pick their pumpkins from Grandma Lockhart's pumpkin patch this year. She had some really good-sized ones too. Emily was thrilled to pick out her own pumpkin. She didn't go for big, just for the one she liked!

My new wall...

I found this set of vinyls on a website my friend asked me to look at doing for her. I fell in love with the highlighted special that was on the homepage and had to order it for my wall. I went through the thousands of photos on my computer to find my favorites to enlarge. I went by another friend's business and bought frames and then off to TaiPan Trading company and found the wrought iron piece at the top. It has just made the whole room come together nicely. I just need a few embelishments around the room before I am done, but I LOVE my new wall!

A visit to Jonny's grave...

We went last Sunday as a family to Jonny's grave so everyone could see his headstone for the first time.

Emily sat down and traced every letter on the headstone

Brothers....

I have been working on a new project for my wall in my family room and going through photos for that project. This is one of my all-time favorites of my children. We have over 30,000 photos on my computer (not exaggerating) and this is one of the top favorites. It captures so well the love between these two boys and their personalities too! It can be overwhelming, the volume of photos I have to go through for projects, but I am so glad that my husband is a man of MANY shots! I miss the big hugs Jonny gave! I miss my boy!

Love this shot....

I took this shot a year ago. I was walking behind Steve and Emily and just had to take this photo. I have now blown it up to have it on my wall.

Back to School 2011

The kids have been back in school for awhile now. Logan started high school this year, Kristina is in 8th grade, Carson and Katie are now in 7th grade! They are loving school!

Jonny's Headstone

Jonny's headstone was finally placed on Sept. 22nd. Steve has driven by his grave everyday on his way to and from work, hoping to see work being done on the headstone.

We are so very grateful for how well it turned out. We are grateful to all those who generously donated to Jonny's memorial fund. We were able to have exactly what we wanted for his headstone because of the many kind donations. Some we were able to thank, but many we don't know as the donations were anonymous through the memorial fund. We can only hope they know who incredibly grateful we are!

She is my sunshine...

Emily's sweet smile and happy face lifts my spirits every day.

She is quite the character too. She talks with such expression and uses her hands and body in her expression of joy or frustration. You would think she was a teenager at times with the drama she can portray.

I just love this girl!

Katie plays b-ball...

Katie is playing with on the Autumn Faire YW basketball team this year. She is having fun. It was fun to watch her and the team play. They played a very good game and were beat at the last minute of a very close game!

Logan's Eagle Project...

We finally have finished with Logan's Eagle project. He has two merit badges to complete and he is an Eagle Scout! Logan was able to complete Jonny's project he had planned and had approved to do and then he was in the hospital on the day we scheduled to do it.

Logan had 75 storm drains to label in West Boise. We had a good turn-out and all the drains were labeled in about 2 hours.

When Steve and Jonny picked up the project supplies from the Boise Watershed they stopped and found one of the drains on the map and placed one of the medallions. I am so glad they did that. Jonny did get to prepare all of the paperwork and did get to participate, even if it was only one. Jonny will get a posthumous award called "The Spirit of the Eagle" which is award to young men who qualified but passed away before receiving their Eagle Scout Award.

One more Eagle project to go for Carson!

Happy 14th Logan!!!!

September 1st Logan turned 14! He didn't want much, iPod Touch, DVD player, Computer.....Ha! It's ok to have wishes I told him!

This was the first time I haven't made a cake for a birthday in years.

There was just too much going on.

So some wishes do come true.

He got a camera for his Digital Photography class he is taking at school, a microscope kit.
He got an iPod touch from his grandparents too.

Logan did get some fun stuff and plenty of yummy treats, and some gift cards too.

Baseball fun...

We had bought tickets for the Boise Hawks and got the entire family plus two friends in for really cheap through one of the local Groupon-like sites. We went on Logan's birthday and part of his gift was to bring a couple of friends along to the game.

The bonus for the day was the free hats we were given when we entered the stadium! Emily put her hat on and immediately asked her Dad if she looked cute!

Fun row of kids!

Grandma Lockhart came along too!

Katie is always willing to pose for the camera!

Humphrey Hawk!

Carson wanted a photo with the Hawk and the Hawk stopped and posed with him.

Boise won the game and we had a great time!