Great ending to a wonderful Spring Break.

Spring Break is OVER!

Jay and I took a trip to Washington Utah to visit our son and his family. It was our first trip since they purchased this BEAUTIFUL new home.  So excited for them.

Unfortunately the weather was not optimal (rain)

So we took a trip to Grafton and Springdale.

 What a wonderful day it turned out to be.

 Grafton is a little ghost town about 40 miles outside of St. George

The little cemetery was quite interesting.

Scenes from the movie 

"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"

 were filmed there.

We took pictures inside the old houses that still stand in the small ghost town.

The houses and school house that were built using clay bricks 

reminded me of the Show Little house on the prairie. 

Jay and I inside one of the old houses

Jay and I in front of the little one room school house/church.

Jay and I in front of the cow pasture.

After visiting Grafton, Halle insisted Going to Springdale so we could eat at a little Mexican Restaurant she had been to before called Oscars...

GREAT plan. It was AMAZING and so quaint. 

The food was FABULOUS, and the atmosphere was INCREDIBLE.

Ahhhhh Jay's such a good sport when it comes to taking photos.

The most BEAUTIFUL red heads on the planet.

It started to rain while we were eating and then it became a

DOWN POUR!

Which just added to the whole experience.

As you can see J.J. and I are thrilled.

The PERFECT ending to a much too short Spring Break!

I know I say this often but it's true and it's our anniversary so I'll say it again... 

"Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same." 

I'm so grateful that I married this man, he is my rock. 

Back in the day, before GPS, maps and routes, Sailors had to navigate by the North Star- one true point in the sky that showed them where they were, Where they were headed and how they'd get there. 

Jay is my 

"NORTH STAR"

He has always bean the steady, calm, clear mined one in our relationship. 

I have loved watching him be a Daddy to our children,  his family always comes first. He always found the time to coach whatever sport was in season so he could spend more time with our kids. He took the time to really listen to all of us and has always been there ready to jump in and help.

He is such a great example, always providing financially for our family making it possible for me to be a 

stay-at-home mom, and making it possible for our children to be involved in any sport they wanted. He always believed in having our kids work beside him so they could learn the value of hard work.

Today our 4 children have all grown up to be wonderful, successful people making great contributions to the world and I believe it's a result of  a great Father who always cared and worked hard giving them an amazing example to follow. 

Most of all I'm so grateful that he has ALWAYS honored his Priesthood and is always  worthy at any time to step in and give a blessing when needed, I think he looks the most handsome to me when we are in the Temple, looking over at him all dressed in white takes my breathe away knowing that this is what heaven must look like and knowing that he'll be my eternal sweetheart, together forever.

I Love you Jay, Happy anniversary sweet heart.

Once in a while right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairytale

~

our life together!!!

                                       

.

Family Reunion 2014

Linford Family Reunion 2014
Green Manor ~ St. George Utah

**
Love one another; as I have loved you"
(John 13:34)
On this simple phrase hangs the success of every marriage and FAMILY.
In the light of Christ's love we see our family's
 DIVINE POTENTIAL.
We love them with all our heart, soul, and mind.
And as we do our
 "ORDINARY"
family is transformed into an
"EXTRAORDINARY"
one.
**

All because two people fell in love.

The weekend begins...

This house (The Green Manor) is PERFECT! 

**

 First things first.

The Pops and Grammy store must be set up before everyone arrives.

The store is a family favorite.

Linford Bucks had to be earned by participating in the various family activities throughout the week. 

Each activity was worth a certain amount of Linford Bucks.

The kids were so excited to start earning their Linford Bucks.

The Bank is OPEN. 

But items in the store can only be purchased with 

"Linford Bucks"

**

We had a private swimming pool

 and Hot Tub

 Loved by all, even in the St. George heat.

Tennis anyone???

The Tennis Court was AWESOME. 

Even the spectators had a BLAST!

The kids were all pretty good at tennis and had a great time. 

Until...

 All the balls ended up in the field behind the court.

so we found another good use for the tennis court. 

Our morning workouts..

WHAT ELSE!

When you have a fitness guru (Ashley) in the family, you must have workout time, 

who cares if you're only 3yrs old

 They all LOVED the morning workouts!

Really they did! 

that's just the way we roll!

 Growing-up Linford style!

Linford taking a much needed break on the swing.

He needed it after all that morning tennis playing and work outs!

Breakfast is ALWAYS fun at our reunions.

 Pops is the breakfast chef  but always has the help of quite a few family members.

Everyone LOVES Pops oatmeal pancakes!

**

We had a Private room for all of the couples and a bed for 

EVERYONE! Woot Woot!

We put these little goody packages on every grandchild's pillow.

 Each had a witty saying that went with the candy

Each child also had a "secret cousin", 

and put one anonymous gift with a little love note attached on the pillow of their

 "secret Cousin" each morning. This was a lot of fun.

The bedrooms were ADORABLE, takes you back to the early 1900's.

Jay and I slept in the Carriage house behind the main house, with the 8 oldest grand kids. It had a loft with a bed for each of  them. They made cute signs, it reminded me a little of girls/cheer camp.

This sign hung on the front door of the the carriage house and the kids really enforced this one.

NO PARENTS ALLOWED!

They loved it and they were so good.

We had a BLAST having them captive.

The girls made this one! It hung on their side of the loft.

 The boys made the following signs.
 You can see the
"BLUE BLOOD"
brain washing coming out in the boys!

The signs seem a little harsh, however they all spent most of their time in the carriage house all together.

**

For down time we played word puzzle games customized with Linford family names and clues, 

it tested their knowledge of the family just a bit. 

These word puzzles earned them "Linford Bucks" for the store.

However there wasn't much down time.

**

Jay made this, EVERYONE including the adults LOVED it.

It was a little surprising how many Linford's and McBride's hit the 50 pointer.

Ahhh yes... 

 The badminton games!

 These boys have got some serious  badminton skills.
So COMPETITIVE, so FUN!

Good ole' competition is always fun and adds a little spice to this family of ours.
Good thing we've bred some
OUTSTANDING
athletes.

A little  badminton "guitar".

Luckily there was a little time just for relaxing.

3 of my pretty little ladies.

 Snacking is ALWAYS part of the day.

 These little "sweeties" sure do love each other!

More of our "lovely's".

Major
 "hair affair"
This pic was taken right before Jackson took the boys to get hair cuts for tomorrows family photo shoot.

The "Littles" sure got warn out!

And so did their moms.

Oopsie Daisey someone found an electronic device... 

CONTRABAND! 

Holy Cow 2 electronic devices!

Double CONTRABAND!

Pops Phone and Grammy's Tablet.

We had skit bags full of props.

We had the most WONDERFUL talent show.

Jayson and Brigitte are so talented, It's hard to explain exactly what they did, but It sure was GOOD! Hehehehehe.

 Phoebe did a cheer/dance routine, J.J. did the whole alphabet in his Donald Duck voice, and Daphne did a Lyrical Dance. 

Harper did Hip Hop, and Linford and McCartney did wonderful tricks with the giant Frisbee,  

J.J. and Hewitt wrote their own rap and performed it. Mack did the Chicken Dance, 

and Andi and Halle did AMAZING tricks with the basketball

 and then...

 EVERYBODY danced! 

Oh yeah we all had a BLAST with the laser pointer/flashlights purchased with Linford Bucks at Pops and Grammy's store. 

(Case in point, Macks head.)

Some of our CRAZIES in the pool! Having such a BLAST! 

If I've said it once I've said it a million times...
It's just the way we roll!

At least Harper has found a way to escape the craziness.

Let the battle begin.

Water balloons EVERYWHERE!
We filled approximately 300 water balloons and it was one of the highlights of the day.

It was so hot, Linford didn't even mind getting doused by his mother with a huge bucket of water.

It looks like Harper may have gotten caught in the exchange. I love his expression.

 (He's in the background)

I was so busy taking pictures that I didn't realize how much havoc Ashley was dishing up.

It looks like Jordan is on the RAMPAGE as well.

It ooks like Jay is going to attempt catching this Balloon. Good Luck Jay.

Halle doesn't even realize that Jayson has just hurled a balloon at her, She's is going to get Blindsided. Probably not the first or last time this will happen before we are done.

Ashley found a little treasure in the bushes, and everyone is waiting with anticipation.

They all wanted an opportunity to hold the little amphibian.
 I love the look on Andi's face, Linford looks pretty pleased as well.

Ahhhhhhhh!

This is NO sissy girl.

Tender moments.

I'm so glad our children's spouses love each other.

And that all of our children LOVE their siblings littles.
Aunt Ashley is DEFINITELY a FAVORITE!
She's just so full of LIFE and her positive attitude is INFECTIOUS!.

And the Silly String war begins.

This look on Harper's face says it all.

Crazy FUN!
McCartney is trying to get the heck out of there...Smart girl.

We started with a whole case of silly string and it was gone in under 20 minutes.

 It was such a BLAST!

 Definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.

 It didn't take long for Phoebe to figure out how to use the spray can, and she was off.

 Jay can dish it up so he surly did deserve this.

McCartney is ready for ACTION! And some retaliation.

Mack Is such a show off!

 A picture is worth a thousand words.

And it's all gone!

I LOVE this family of mine. They are truly the light of my life, Time together just makes me love them more.

“If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more precious and beautiful as time goes by. Eternal marriage is just like that. We need to treat it just that way.” F. Burton Howard,

And so it is with family as well. 

We must shield it and protect it, and NEVER abuse it!

**

BTW

We had a family photo session and after it was over I took a few photos of my own of these Beautiful People!

I was quite happy with the result. Hope the professional ones turn out just as good.

So I'll end on this note.