Briana's first formal dance!

Briana went to her first high school formal dance tonight. It was a Masquerade Ball and she was the prettiest belle there! Here she is with her date Hank Garrison - he is a senior.

Briana and her best friend Lizzy

Briana went with this group all day to Boise and played before they all got dressed up as you see them now

Briana at the dance with friends

Thanksgiving 2006

We just returned home from a wonderful Thanksgiving shared with family and friends. We were missing Ben and Vanessa who were on a cruise to Mexico with Ben's family. Stephanie & Ryan entertained us and of course our annual Thanksgiving dinner with our friends the Hovorka's was fabulous! Here are a few photos from our adventures.

On Friday we shopped, ate, went to movies and I took the Hovorka's Christmas Card photo up in the canyon.

On Saturday we enjoyed the unforgettable BYU vs. UTAH game with the Hovorka's at the Pizza Factory. "Way to go John Beck & Jonny Harline!"

On Saturday, we ended our family get-together with an evening at Temple Square where we ate on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building at "The Roof" where our view was amazing! Then we went and saw the Joseph Smith Movie and lastly enjoyed the beautiful Christmas lights on Temple Square. What a great holiday vacation - the only thing missing was having Ben and Vanessa with us!

New "Fall Do"

Honeymoon Happiness

Steph & Ryan wanted to share some honeymoon photos from Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast - They had a wonderful time.

Wedding #2

I heard once that if you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments. Although stressful at times, these past few months have been absolutely joyous occassions. Important everlasting tender mercies from the Lord that have brought me immense happiness. Each new life experience teaches me something new and helps me grow in some new way. I'm so grateful for my loving husband who has walked with me hand in hand through this amazing journey. There were many times he could've thrown in the towel but instead showed forth patience and long suffering in helping me achieve the duties of "Mother of the Brides". I am also thankful for Briana who has somewhat put her teenage life on hold as her parents have been crazy busy with two weddings! The good thing for you Briana....is that when it's your turn...you get ALL OF THE ATTENTION!! hehehe... And lastly - Thanks to my family and friends for your undying love and support. I truly love you all!

Congratulations to Vanessa & Benjamin and Stephanie & Ryan!! May all of your dreams continue to come true!

August Happenings -

Just a quick update on our busy lives....Cheri started back to school this week...the summer is over! It was a great one though! She spent last week in Utah helping Stephanie finalize all the wedding plans. Everything is going good and right on schedule!

John was just called as a member of the High Council. He is very honored and excited about this new calling. He loves his job again....but is learning lots about Accounting! He was also appointed to the Hospital Foundation Board. So, when he's not working...he's volunteering EVERYWHERE! That's why we love him!

Below is an update on the girl's - Hope you all have a great "Back to school"!! We love you!

Here are the "Happy Honeymooners" in San Antonio, Texas - they spent the weekend touring the fun city - they especially loved the River Walk and the Alamo!

Only 10 more days before Stephanie is reunited with Ryan who is back in Iowa selling DishNetwork. The wedding plans are coming along great and Steph is moving into her & Ryan's apartment this week. She is so excited and soooooo in love!

Here is our happy "Junior" in High School. School starts next week and Briana is this years Junior Class President, Cheerleader, Dance Team Captain, and the lead in the Musical....she's smiling now...but I have a feeling she's going to be stressed out! We are so proud of her...isn't she gorgeous???

22 years of of happiness!

We celebrated our 22nd Wedding Anniversary with a white water rapid rafting trip down the Payette River. We had a blast! I think we are ready to invest in some rafts, canoes or kayaks and continue with this new sport! The weather was perfect, the company great and the water refreshing and beautiful! We spent about 6 hours on the river with a lunch break on the side of the river. Here are some pictures of our adventure. Briana commented that we didn't take any of us going through the rapids....I had to laugh and tell her it was because we were paddling or holding on for dear life! We could only get the camera out when things were calm! teehee....

Here we are resting a bit on the side after making it through "Howard's Plunge" which is a level 3 (5 being the hardest white water rafting rapids)

notice our wet hair?

Our guide and his son from Boise - they were both LDS and great people!

We had water war games going on between us ad the other boats in our group. John of course was a great shot!

Putting the boats away

Stephanie & Ryan's Wedding Proposal

On July 23rd Ryan flew Stephanie out to Spokane to meet his family. Ryan comes from a family of three. He has an older brother named Russ who is married to a girl from Fruitland named Taryn. They recently had their first child - a beautiful girl named Claira. Russ is in the military and they live back east at the present time. Ryan is the middle child and he has a sister named Candace who is Stephanie's age. Ryan's parents names are Steve and Bev and they are both converts to the church. Bev is a pediatric nurse and Steve works in the computer industry. Stephanie absolutely LOVED his family!

Ryan took Stephanie to the Nishinomiya Gardens in Spokane Sunday evening. They danced under the Gazebo and Ryan sang her favorite song to her from the movie My Best Friend's Wedding - "The way you look tonight" and then dropped to his knees and proposed. Stephanie says it was the most romantic thing she has ever experienced!

Ryan was sneaky and had found out from Vanessa and one of Steph's girlfriends the ring she had wanted and had purchased it when he was up for Vanessa and Ben's wedding. So, you can imagine Steph's shock when he pulled out the ring she had been eyeing for quite some time but had never told him or showed him!

Although there was no video going for this engagement...here are a few photos of the ring, the happy couple afterwards and the beautiful gardens they were at! Enjoy!