Summer of "Run"

We had some fun "run" experiences this summer. I don't know where they got their love of running (definitely NOT from me!) Must be that Macfarlane blood. Well, wherever it came from, some of our kids decided it was time to push their bodies and run.

Kyle ran a marathon for the first time! He trained for only 2 months and off he went. He did great! He says it was to check it off his "Bucket List," and has no plans to do it again. But, I wouldn't be surprised to see him try to improve his time. He learned alot.

Tiffany and Andrew gave in to the urge to run, bike, and swim. They both entered a triathalon with Donna Mercer. All three did great. Tiffany is ready to go again and trying to get Kyle to try a triathalon now. I'm so proud of my family. And I'll keep cheering from the sidelines.

Andrew, Tiffany, Donna, and Donna's friend

Taylor Turns 1!

While Andrew and Tiffany were here for Kyle's graduation, we also celebrated Taylor's birthday. (We actually celebrated 3 days early...but, shhhh, we won't tell him.) It was fun celebrating before they had to head back home. So, what's 3 days?
We went swimming and then let Taylor enjoy his cake and ice cream. And boy did he enjoy it!

He sure loves the water!

It was pretty funny...seven adults all following one baby around the pool.
We all had fun just watching Taylor.

He had to go on this slide. And he went several times!

Taylor eating his cake.

I'm not sure if Taylor got more cake ON him
OR
IN him. But, he sure had fun!
And we loved watching him.

Happy Birthday, Taylor! We sure love you!

Kyle Graduates

I can't believe another one of our kids is ready to leave the nest and try the life of an adult. Kyle graduated from Timpanogos High School! It was a beautiful day and we had lots of wonderful family support. My parents and Tiffany and Taylor drove over from Colorado. Larry's parents came and lots of aunts, uncles, cousins were there to celebrate with Kyle. Thanks family!

Kyle with Grandpa & Grandma Mercer

Kyle with Aaron, Lauren, Ryan, and Devin

Grandma Macfarlane & Grandma Mercer helping with the Graduation Feast!

Ashley had the cutest eye patch decorated in honor of Kyle.
Thanks Ashley! We loved it.

Congratulations Kyle! We are so proud of you. Kyle is planning on going to BYU. He's excited for the next stage of life. We know he'll do great.

Cinco de Mayo

We don't usually celebrate this holiday, but the guys at XangGo did. They called it Cinco de Mustache. I had to share these awesome pics of Larry.

It looks pretty good for a fake.

End of School Year

As I'm sure all of you have experienced, the end of the school year brings a onslaught of activities: end of year concerts, prom, awards nights, and all sorts of ways to celebrate the end of another school year.

Here are a few of our highlights:

Kyle and Amber on Prom night.

We had a little extra excitement with Prom this year. We had to rush to the ER after Kyle sliced open his finger while preparing lunch for his date and the others in his Prom group. He called me up and said, "Mom, I almost sliced my finger off!" Just what every mom loves to hear. It wasn't as bad as he made it sound. He almost cut off the top of his finger to the first knuckle, not the whole finger! But that was bad enough. So, they gave him some shots to numb him up, he got stitched up and went back to his Prom activities.

Devin's end of year band concert was themed "Through the Decades." Devin had to dress up like the 80's. So, on came the parachute pants and the pastel blue shirt. I wish you could see it!

Kyle's ward friends at seminary graduation.

Kyle's last team ballroom concert. He's had so much fun with this, it's sad to see it end.

Devin also had a Freshman Finale. Mom wasn't there to take pictures. He's off to high school next year!

Big Island of Hawaii

For Spring Break, Larry, Devin, Kyle and I went to the Big Island of Hawaii. Kyle is graduating and we wanted to do something special with him. Time is running out before he leaves the nest.

We had a great time. With two teenage boys, we were very active. And they aren't kidding when they call it the BIG island. We tried to see it all. I think we get points for a valiant effort. We saw a couple of black sand beaches and even a green sand beach, yes green.

We celebrated Kyle's 18th birthday there and Easter Sunday. We swam, snorkeled, hiked, explored, the guys all learned to surf, we kayaked, went to a luau...I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It was go, go, go!

Devin getting ready to snorkle.

Don't you love my Easter baskets? Much easier to pack.

First black sand beach.

Visiting the volcanic crater, Kilauea.

Street sign swallowed up by lava.

Exploring a lava tube.

Here's the green sand!

I don't know why, but I love petroglyphs. So, I dragged my boys on some hikes to seek them out.


Up close and personal with some sea turtles at our second black sand beach.

Devin surfing!

Kyle...lookin' good!

Enjoying a luau and the end of the trip. Aloha!

Updating Life: February and March

Okay. So, I'm really bad at regular posts. I guess it's because I'm really bad at taking pictures unless it's an "event." So here's a little update on what's been going on in our life:

February:
Larry and I flew over to Colorado to surprise Tiffany for her birthday. Andrew had recently started his internship with a construction company in Denver, Colorado. Colorado is a little farther than Idaho, but family is there. So we were excited that he found an internship and also that it was near my parents and brother.

I was missing Tiffany and Andrew and little Taylor keeps changing so fast...it was time to see them. Tiffany was totally surprised and we had a great weekend visiting, checking out their news digs, exploring Denver, eating out, and celebrating Tiff's birthday.



March:
March was Ballroom Month after many hours of practicing with their partners and with their teams. Devin and Kyle competed in the National Amateur Ballroom Competition at BYU. They did great! They both made it to the semi-finals in their individual competitions. Their teams also placed. Kyle's Latin team took 8th and Devin's Latin took 2nd and Standard took 1st. Good job boys! We are very proud of them. Tiffany, Andrew, Taylor, and Larz all came to see them compete. Kyle is finishing high school and this was his last team competition. He may still compete individually with his partner until he goes on his mission.

Devin's Team
Devin had black hair for the Latin Dance


Kyle and Partner