Elder Gwilliam

My nephew Andrew is the first of the Gwilliam grandchildren to go on a mission.

I was lucky to be able to attend his farewell in Utah.

He went into the MTC on August 28th and is headed to the mission field in St. Petersburg, Russia.

 

 

I'm so happy and proud of Andrew, but also can't believe he is old enough to be a missionary!

We all love reading his blog and hearing about his experiences in Russia.

 

Back To School

School started so early this year none of us were ready for it.

 

Kaitlyn's 1st day as a Junior in High School.

 

 

Logan's 1st day as a 7th grader.

 

Fortunately, whether we were ready or not, we all survived

the first day of school.

Trek

For Youth Conference this year our stake did "Trek". 

The youth dressed like the Mormon Pioneers and spent Friday night and

Saturday reinacting the life of the pioneers. 

The youth from our ward that attended Trek.

The handcarts the kids loaded their stuff on and then pushed and pulled around

Briones park for the weekend.

                                 Each company was given two babies to name and take care of.

                          Sadly, just like the real pioneers, not all the babies survived the trek west.

                                              I loved seeing all the kids in their Trek outfits -
                                                                  they looked great.

Julie, me and Deanna.

Deanna and I went to help with the dinner on Friday night.

Julie was in charge of Trek this year and stayed for the whole thing - overnight and all!

                                               Hailey with Kaitlyn and their companies baby.

Matt and Julie worked so hard to make Trek a memorable/spiritual experience for the kids.

They did a great job and I know it was an adventure Kaitlyn will always remember.

Hwy 1

 

 

 

 

 

We decided before school started we wanted to take a quick trip down Hwy 1.

We stopped at Monterey and took advantage of the scenery, shopping and food.

 

 

yep, that's Logan climbing the rocks.

I think Mike and Logan sampled every restaurants clam chowder
before we finally picked a place to eat.
 

 

The next day we drove to Pfeiffer Beach.

It took awhile to find it, but it was a beautiful place to relax on the beach.

 

 

 

Sweet Sixteen

 

Kaitlyn had some friends over to help celebrate her 16th birthday.

(Kaitlyn, Madisen, Lauren and Aylish)

 

(Kaitlyn, Emma and Madalyn)

 

Tommy and Shelly even helped Kaitlyn celebrate.

 

 

They are such party animals!

The girls had fun posing in the photo booth.

 

We had to take a family photo booth pic too

 

Still can't believe she is 16 -

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!