My Little Family . . .

Lindy and Martha at the BYU Basketball game.

It's a Small World. Summer 2009.

Elijah, Just over a week old. December 2008

James and I waiting for General Conference to start. October 2009

On Phillip's 8th Birthday Martha took him on a date to the temple. Sept. 2008. James had some school commitment to attend, was so sad he could not be there.

Cute Little Miss Lindy, aka "Lindy Bug"

This is Elijah and Lindy poolside eating peas for a snack.

This is a picture of Phillip (left) and Luke (right) at the Veteran's Memorial Pool in Provo, Summer 2009

This is Elijah, he got ahold of an open bubble bottle and spilled it all over himself and then crawled around in it.

Phillip and Luke at a BYU Basketball game. Fall 2009

Luke's Orange Belt Testing

(above)

Luke's One Steps

Luke's new belt

Another One-Step

Adventures at Disneyland

While in Idaho for a little family reunion we all went swimming. Look, a 3 generation picture.

My Attempt at photography. 

I opened up this corn and was completely enchanted by the little baby corn tucked in so snuggly growing inside.

So . . . it could be James' great-great-grandfather, but it's not.

The Mormon Battalion adventure started today as James joined in as an 'extra' for a film being made for the MB Visitors Center in San Diego.

And - If you're watching the Spanish Broadcast of General Conference in October - you might catch a glimpse of James in a movie between sessions (don't know which day) introducing the LDS version of the Spanish Bible. He stood in as a model for the apostle of Jesus Christ, Matthew.

Triathlon and Birthday Party - June 2009

Birthday Party!

We have a new 7 -year-old.  

Here is his birthday cake which he decorated himself. We had a simple party with some neighbors.

James and I participated (not competed) in a triathlon in Pleasant Grove on Sat. June 13. It was a great experience. 5k run, 8 mile bike and 500 yard swim.

James and I stayed together the whole time and finished together. 

James is growing out his hair and beard for a role as an extra in a Mormon Battalion film that is being made in the end of July for the San Diego visitor's center. 

Tribute to Mom

This Mother's Day my siblings and I put together a song with a spoken message from each one of us for my mom. The concept of the song was born a few years ago, but the task of capturing one such as "mother" was overwhelming and the inspiration to write the song could not be forced. One of my sisters was the one who thought of the idea and wrote the first two lines, which was the spring-board for the rest of the song. The inspiration finally came last week. I am grateful to have this project done, it has consumed my thoughts and spare time for over a week, tomorrow I'll be doing laundry all day. The instruments I used to play and also to record with are sub standard for recording a song, but it's what I have and, like mom's always do, I knew she'd look past the flaws and appreciate the love that was behind it. 

My sister and her 2 daughters helped me sing it. 

This is a shortened version of the song, I took out the spoken messages from each kid. The original is 9 minutes long.

I hope all of you mothers had a good Mother's Day and felt loved. I did.

Irish Dance

Irish Dance

The boy's belts started breaking so I wanted to get them some similar to what I had as a kid. I think mine were rainbow pattern or something. The problem is I didn't ever see them in Wally World and I don't go shopping very often in other places so . . .

in the Sewing dept of Wally World I picked up some Nylon strap by the yard and some D-rings.

I got 1 yard cut for each belt - about 84 cents. Then a package of D-rings was 88 cents for enough to make 2 belts.

I sewed them and melted the other end with a flame to keep it from fraying and Wha-la . . . inexpensive belts in a variety of colors.

If I were to do it again, I think I would go to a craft store with a bigger variety of nylon strap. These work just fine, but I might choose a heavier, thicker strap if I had a choice.

P.S. "Wally World" is my affectionate name for Walmart.

Basketball Music Video

Phillip and Luke are in the Jr. Jazz basketball league for a few weeks this spring. Somehow they both got "00" as their jersey numbers.  They are fun to watch and melt my heart at their good sportsmanship in encouraging each other and everyone they play with and against. 

Crank up the volume and . . . Enjoy!

October to February Family Fun

I am so grateful for my family. Although not all of my family is pictured in this video, the feelings spread to all of my dear family and friends. These pictures aren't in chronological order, but they are limited to the months of October 2008 to February 2009. 

We've had a lot of fun.

-Martha

We just returned from our quick trip to Boise.

This is a video we made for my niece, Haven, who is turning 5 on Monday. 

We had a great trip.

Thanks everyone.

Baby Blessing Day

We only had a few days to pull this together since the weather finally cooperated for out-of-towners from the north.  There are so many that we meant to invite but didn't get the chance, it got so crazy.  We didn't know it was really going to happen until just 2 days before. Thanks to everyone who was able to come and make this day so special for our family.    

Sweet Family

Merry Christmas from the Willis family. 

Lindy waited in the car with James, Martha, and Elijah while Phillip and Luke finished sledding on New Years day.