Take a moment to say Thank You this 4th of July!

How grateful I am to live in the United States of America! I am proud of my husband who honorably serves in the United States Air Force. And to him I say Thank You!



I hope that everyone takes a moment to remember that despite our differences in beliefs and politics this is still the greatest country in the world. Our differences make us strong and unique. Everyone stay safe this weekend...and say thank you to someone who serves their country. I am proud to be an American! (Living up to my promises...I'll post later with our 4th activities!)

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Makes a Joyful Noise

We went to see Mo-Tab last night and it was incredible! No one in our family had seen the choir in person, except John (and that was when he was a small child). We were so excited. My friend Mari watched Sam, since they didn't want kids under 8 going...I was a bit miffed by that, but he probably had more fun playing with Spencer and Lauren than he would have listening to the choir. Thank you Mari!

The other good thing thing about my friend Mari watching Sam is that she took this picture of us before we left:



Our seats weren't great...We didn't think it would matter except we forgot about the little acoustical director thing at the top of the risers, which directed all the sound towards the front, and so it was actually really hard to hear them even though they were loud.



We we didn't care for a little while we listened in our places until the intermission...



...when we spotted many empty seats on the lower level and went to get one This was our view from our "new" seats. The sound was so much better and the Spirit so much stronger.



The choir sang many songs, but the family favorites were, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again." This picture is an indication of how strong the spirit was during their signature piece "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again." See the tears streaming down John's cheeks?



We had such a great time. I am glad we had the experience...too bad it took us this long to be able to see and hear them!

Emma-Rose's Last Volleyball Game of the Season

No great pictures, but I wanted everyone to know that Emma-Rose had her last volleyball game this morning. Her team won and we are so proud of her! Emma-Rose has had a hard time finding her little kniche (when you have a sister who tries everything before you, you kinda feel like there are no new experiences for you to try...silly I know). But since Katie has had so much fun playing volleyball (and is really good at it) Emma-Rose wanted to try her hand at it as well. She has found a new passion. Emma-Rose knows how to play like a really team member. She tries to make everyone feel good about their skills and tries hard to keep the energy up for all the girls. Emma-Rose is also a pretty dang good player. She just needs to work on her over hand serve. We love that she has found a sport she likes and can't wait to find her on the court for years to come!

Father's Day

DISCLAIMER:So I haven't followed through with my last promise to keep up with the blogging and rather than a long catch up post, you are going to get a few shorter posts that will briefly tell you what we have been doing. And again I promise to be better at it that I have been! (And oh yeah I am totally changing the dates to make myself look better!)

Happy Father's Day, John!



We hope you had a great day! Just a selfish moment...I wanna tell you how much I love my sweetheart! He is amazing. He works so hard for our family. He sometimes does the things around the house that I want/need him to do, LOL. But he is my best friend. I love to spend time just hanging out with him. He is a great father and the kids love to do the Daddy stuff with him. Everyday he tells me he loves me and I am sure that I don't tell him nearly enough how much I love him and proud I am of him. I love you.

Anyways, I digress. For Father's Day, we grilled some chicken and hung out at home.



John got a griddle from the kids, which means lots of pancakes and french toast in our future! He is truly the master of those meals! He loves it!



We love you John!

Just what you wanted

So I know that I totally suck at this blogging thing. It really looked like it was right up my alley...I love to scrapbook and thus to keep records...we don't live close to family, so I love the idea that I can keep our families updated on the happenings in our daily life...But none of this seems to keep me motivated enough to blog. That being said...I have a new resolve to keep all of guys intimately acquainted with my family's life. Geez just what you wanted, huh?

To get everyone up to speed here are a few things that have happened in the life of the Stringhams recently.







Spring Break 2009 found our family traveling to separate ends of the country. Katie and I took a trip with her class to New York City.











We got to go to see the Phantom of the Opera and it was the highlight of her trip!






John took Emma-Rose and Sam to Utah to see the Stringham clan. The highlight for them was the Jazz game!



Katie played Club Volleyball and Emma-Rose played volleyball in a city league. They are both getting really good!



We had band concerts, piano recitals, and awards ceremonies. Each of the kids won numerous awards for honor roll, attendance, music prowess, and citizenship. School is finally out and summer in upon us. I promise to blog more and keep you up to date on the Life of the Stringhams (just what you always wanted, huh?)

Welcome to the World!

My dear baby brother is a daddy! I can hardly believe that Christopher is a Dad...but it is true. He and his sweetheart Kara had a beautiful baby boy this morning at 10:55am.



His name is Jackson Christopher Strobel. He weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 3/4" long! Welcome to the world, Jackson! Your Auntie Jen can't wait to meet you!

Happy Halloween!

So for Halloween my children all decided to go their own ways. It was the first time in the history of our family that they didn't all trick or treat together.

Oh well, I guess Katie decided she was too big to walk with her brother and sister, but not too big to trick or treat all together. She went with her friend Aaliyah. Katie had a hard time deciding on a costume this year and finally decided to go as E.T. dressed for Halloween. Apparently the sheet with the eyes cut out of it was a big hit with the parents...it was just dorky enough to be funny!

Emma-Rose decided that trick or treating with Mariah would yield much more fun. She was Tinkerbell to Sam's pirate.

Only my faithful Sam decided to be a family guy and walk with Dad. Our little pirate really played the part with his constant "arrr."

They managed to net pounds of candy...for which my hips will be forever grateful. They had loads of fun...what mom can ask for more than that?

Hope everyone else enjoyed their goblins too!