I took this picture from Mom and Dad Sperry's driveway. SOOOOO Beautiful!

Mount Timpanogos Temple

September 2011

Here is Jared and Max both attempting to make Max a lap dog! Hmmmm . . . It didn't work!

September 2011

ArE yOu ReAdY FoR sOmE FoOtBaLl??

So pretty much the entire months of September and October (and even part of November) were devoted to football. We loved it. It was a family event and we would all go to every game we could! Jared was AWESOME and worked so hard to be amazing on and off the field. That's one of the big reasons that we support football the way that we do . . . it trains these boys to be good people, hard workers, and to have fun! So . . . I took approximately 8,000 pictures of this season (and NO! That is not an exaggeration!) so I will filter through and add some of the best. Kate, Abby, and Michelle also got little cheerleaders outfits and cheered at all of the games. That was CUTE! So you will hopefully see a few of those on here, too.

Jared would practice five nights a week during the summer and have a game every Saturday. If you want to get into good shape . . . play football. These little guys worked H.A.R.D.! The funny part about Jared . . . He would practice every night for at least 2 1/2 hours. These weren't just "let's play football" practices. We are talking "most-of-us-wouldn't-be-able-to-move-for-weeks"type of practices. He would do this, then come home and throw the ball with Tyler. When it got chillier, Tyler and Jared would be out for at least an hour after school every day, they would go to football for up to 3 hours, and THEN they'd come home and spend an hour or so watching game plays from pro football players on the Internet. So . . . the boy LOVES his football! LOVES!

What was so much fun . . . it was a family event each week. Jared was on the same team as his cousin, Matt, so the cute cousins got to play together almost every week. (Yes . . .even at practice.)

And here is our cute little cheering squad. They sure had a great time together each week. I don't know who was more disappointed when football season ended . . . Kate or Jared! :) Jared had so much support. Grandpa and Grandma Sperry, Grandpa and Grandma Hatch, Uncle Jim and Aunt Amy and all their kids, and even Uncle Wynn made it to one of the games.

Boy! Are those Sperry boys cute or WHAT?! :)

Matt and Jared getting ready for an awesome season . . . (with some random lady in the background.)

How sweet! :) This sure made his week. We got to keep this sign

in our yard for the whole week! It brought a smile to my face every

single time I saw it! I'm pretty sure Jared felt the same way . . .and Ty, and Emily,

and Jenny . . Oh and Kate and Hunter, too! :)

August 2011

Girls Camp 2011

I've had the amazing opportunity to attend girl's camp with my girls for the past THREE years! How lucky am I?!! The them of girls camp was based around President Uchtdorf's "Happily Ever After" talk and we based each day around a different Disney movie. It was a great year and I'm so glad that I got to spend it with my cute girls! :)

Ty and Jared went rock climbing with Uncle Dale and his boys. :) The girls stayed back and played games.

The first day of school for the older kids.

Hunter's first day of kindergarten. :)

The day before Hunter started kindergarten, I found out that I would be teaching 6th grade at Valley View. I am able to teach 1/2 time in the mornings (miraculously the same hours as Hunter) What a crazy adventure it has been! I spent the week getting a classroom ready and have loved every second since! The craziest part . . . JARED is in my class! What a great boy he is and what a huge blessing my little 1/2 time job has been. I joke that I work full time but am only paid 1/2. :) Don't let that fool you, though! I truly LOVE it! I am so grateful that I get to do what I love! I will note here . . .just for posterity . . . that Hunter gets out 20 minutes before I do. Fortunately for both of us, we have a great group of people that work at Valley View and have made it possible. :) He goes to lunch and as soon as I let my kids out for lunch, I go get him. He hangs out in my room with me while I prepare for the next day and then we go home together. I couldn't have hand picked a better situation for my family! Mondays were my only concern because of early out day. Hunter gets out at 10:40am, but I teach until 11:55. Luckily, Grandpa and Grandma Sperry are able and willing to spend time with Hunter on Mondays. Our lives are just filled with so many amazing blessings . . . and this is just one of many! :) 

More Family Reunion (July)

Every year the family hikes to Ruth Lake. It's one of the most beautiful spots on the planet and we LOVE it. Our kids love to climb the rocks and jump off the edge. This year Madi (Jenny's BF and our adopted daughter) was the one brave soul willing to jump off. She ended jumping too close and cut her leg up. Poor kid . . . but she won the bravery medal so I imagine it was all worth it. You can see the snow in the picture so you know that it wasn't an easy jump. I love the look on her face! The little boys did get in the FREEZING cold water and it was extremely entertaining to listen to them egg each other on. This year, a big group of boys went rock climbing. Unfortunately, I didn't send a camera with them. :(

IRON CHEF: PEPPERS

One of the highlights of every year is the Iron Chef competition. This year, as always, was just amazing! EVERYONE participates . . . the young and the old! It's so much fun to hear of different recipes being tried throughout the year just to prepare for this main event! The youngest participant this year was Matt (11 years old). He found his own recipe, practiced making it at home, and then recruited his cousins to help make the final product. It was delicious! I love how everyone participates and makes it a big deal each year. Chris and Lesa were in charge of it this year and they did an amazing job. LOVE this tradition!!! :) The wives all get to be the judges and boy-oh-boy is it hard to decide! I don't remember who wins from year to year . . . but I do remember the delicious food. Let's hope that this is one tradition that never dies! :) (and in case you are wondering . . . next years ingredient . . . . HONEY!)

We also do log sawing contests. This year Wynn and Heather beat us all! (I'm pretty sure they beat us all every year.)

We also do the stick pull. This year I am posting the dads beating the sons because I don't think there are very many more years where this will happen. :) Grandma even participated this year! Lots of laughs during this time. I love it!

And the CHUG-A-LUG! Oh how funny! I loved this part . . . the watching part! HILARIOUS! :)

Everyone that wanted to was able to participate, but when it was all said and done . . .CHRIS was the champion! I'm not sure how he did it, but I think he chugged four?? Hats off to him.

Sperry Family Reunion 2011

Be prepared for LOTS of pictures. Love this reunion!

A yearly family tradition is to build rockets and launch them. This is always a very scary thing, but those Sperry's are adventurous souls and it's what they do! Last year Katy's car got hit by one of these rockets . . . so needless to say, I am a bit paranoid. Jared almost got hit TWICE by one of the rockets this year. It about gave me a heart attack! One fun thing about this year . . .Max made himself the designated rocket fetcher. He watched those rockets, and then hunted them down like a good dog! :) As you can see, he is firmly planted in almost every picture! :) Pretty fun to watch.

Every year each family gets a day where they are in charge of all activities and meals (except for lunch). This year our family did an obstacle course/races with lots and lots of different activities. We sure had fun watching the kids compete. The oldies even jumped in and participated. In fact . . . we did very well! Since noone is on here to argue, I'd say we WON!! :)

We LOVE LOVE LOVE games! Countless hours are spent playing games . . . grownups and kids all get together to play! We love it! This year, Emily and Alex got a double family in Pinochle. If you don't play pinochle . . . You should start! It's the best. We are training a new generation of Pinochle players and as you can see, they are quite good at it! It's hard to say who will win but it's always worth trying.

Time is not wasted! We learn new skills. Wynn, Maddie, and Ella learned to hula hoop. Jenny learned how to play badminton (sorta), and  Hunter learned some MAD scooter skills (jumps and all). Heidi appears to

be practicing for the chug-a-lug.

More July

This is our ward party. Every year the ward reserves the pool for a night! It is always a blast! Jared did about 3 million flips off of the diving board.

 Katelyn finally braved the slide on her own.

 And Hunter continues to have a good, healthy fear of the water. :)

 Jenny even had a good time this year! We have lots of very cute girls in our ward! :)

July 2011

STADIUM OF FIRE!

David Archuleta AND Brad Paisley were there! Pretty amazing!

Emily ended up working so we had one extra ticket. Our cute niece Katy met up with us and enjoyed the show. We used to go to Stadium of Fire almost every year and then we started having little ones. I'm so glad that this a tradition that we can start up again.

 

I just  thought this was pretty.

We stopped by to see Chris and Emily before we headed to the stadium. Cute kids!

Occasionally this summer we would take our kids over to the PG football field to release some energy. (Sundays can get really LOOOONG)! We did see a few amazing sunsets! :)

 This Sunday we invited the Weights to join us and the kids ran around doing cartwheels and playing soccer. The adults just sat and visited! :) Lots of fun and an excellent way to spend an evening.

 Grandpa and Grandma Sperry have the best view of the PG City fireworks. For the last 2 years we have gone over there to watch them. So much fun! And we didn't have to fight a crowd to get out. :)

 This year I was camp director for our ward. We chose a Disney theme and ran with it. It is pretty amazing how you can find gospel principles in ANY Disney movie! It was awesome. :) For our camp kick-off I made a bunch of Cars and Mickey/Minnie Mouse cookies! :) I thought they turned out cute . . . though it completely burned me out for the year. I don't think I'll make sugar cookies for a while!



A little more June

In the summer, when the weather permits, we like to set up the projector in the back yard and have movie nights. We have lots of really great memories with family and friends! This year we only did it ONCE. So sad, but it was so much fun. We watched the Justin Bieber Movie under the stars and just enjoyed the warm summer night!

Michelle, Abby, Kate, Cooper, and Hunter

Jenny with her cute, goofy friends and their Justin Bieber doll . . . that actually sings!

Katy's Mission Farewell

I did blog this below, so I won't go into detail. Such a fun couple of days. We are so proud of her! She is an awesome missionary! :)

AND . . . my all time favorite picture!

Max, the human dog. He sure makes my boys happy.



June 2011

June found us with even more fun! We spent the 1st weekend up at the Summerhays cabin! We had the best time. Of course, now we NEED a cabin. :)

 Yep. Jenny in shorts with snow. :)

 Kate and Hunt enjoying the great outdoors. Ty gave Hunter a mohawk for the weekend and I still am not a fan.

 Cute boys.

Tyler took the little boys on the Fathers and Sons Campout! Can you say HAPPY BOYS?! These two boys love nothing more in this world than spending time out in the great outdoors with their dad! So stinking cute!

We took the kids to Seven Peaks with the Weights. Always a good time! :)

 Ty took the 3 youngest to the Strawberry Days Rodeo. I will admit it . . . not a fan of the rodeo. I grew up going and I always felt so sad for the animals. I know it's weird . . . but it's just the way it is. SO . . . everyone wanted to go but me and they all had my blessing. I sat at home and relaxed. :)

Jared got to walk in the parade with his football team. I would post a picture . . . but trust me! By the end of this "Year at a Glance" you will be football pictured out! :) (Plus, I could never get a good shot of him in the parade . . . so you see just the back of his head.)