Lou gets a car . . .

Mark took a lot of pleasure over the years in being able to give each of his kids an old project car to work on. Wanting to help my kids feel like part of the family and give himself a way to bond with them he gave each of them an old car as well. He put a lot of thinking into the type of car, the amount of work, and their own individual personalities. He's a great dad and my kids are so lucky to have him as a part of their lives . . . and boy do they know it!

This is a picture of Lou and her step-dad Mark the day he gave her her 1962 Cadillac De Ville.

Grandma buys new boots . . .

Brenden wearing his "new boots" with shorts . . .

When I was little girl I my grandma always took us out for a new pair of cowboy boots early in the fall. Maybe I don't really remember one specific time, more like a picture book image of the cool boots; sitting on the floor at the feed store, the smell of new leather, the time my little sister wanted a certain pair so bad that she insisted they fit even though the paper was still in the toe . . .

I bought Trinity her boots over the years, my gosh it was sooo much fun, she always had to have pink.

So when fall started approaching I did the grandma thing with Terri's boys for the first time, they settled on Ropers like their grandpa and their daddy. Those little ropers were the cutest boots I had ever seen. The boys had so much fun, it was a really good time with them. I hope they always remember "new-boot-days" the way I do.

Trinity and my niece Emma with the matching pink boots I bought them one fall.

Hayden and his daddy Steven decked out in cowboy gear.

September 2008 . . .

Well of course we got married that month; and it seems that we are happier with that decision every day, the bumps in the road seem like pebbles compared to life without each other.

Hannah turned 16, I got her a guitar and Mark gave her a truck . . .

My little Rock n Roller . . .

John Iverson, Hannah Sue and her Step-dad Mark with her '49 Ford.

Trip to Lagoon 2008 . . .

So, I have this good friend Dave, gotta love the guy . . . but if Crazy Dave can get something wrong . . . well, he will. So one fine fall day Dave called up and said hey, let's take the kids to Lagoon . . . I've got hotel discounts with rooms for 20.00, and tickets to Lagoon for 10.00 each.

Wow! we thought, we could take the kids on one last summer fling and keep it affordable. . .

LOL, NOT!

Dave forgot to mention that he got fired from the hotel chain the week before, and that you had to buy the Lagoon discount tickets online prior to arriving, so no, nothing affordable about this last minute trip :)

BUT, we had a blast and really, the car ride with the kids was the best part. They were laughing and telling jokes the whole way, the 5 hour drive seemed like it went by in minutes. I played The Cube with them (a future/ fortune telling game), they thought it was brilliant (the game not me of course), and are still making jokes about it. Mark and I dropped the kids at the park the next day and he and I spent the day sight seeing Salt Lake, we had a wonderful dinner at Bucca de Beppo. Consequently though, the only pictures are from the car ride!

Gus and Lou, yes Gus wore that white hat for half the car ride . . .

Hannah Sue . . .

The happy Dad . . .

The Mom . . .

Mark and Katy take a trip . . .

Now my idea of a vacation is Mexico, Monterrey, Florida . . . when Mark suggested we take a little trip down to San Diego, just the two of us, I thought oh how romantic . . . lol . . . I pictured us sitting on the beach maybe strolling through Sea World . . .



Well, I soon found out that a vacation to Mark means picking up an antique car, or in this case A PLANE! It wasn't what I imagined, but we had such a good time.



This is my most favorite picture of mark, he's not a big guy, but he's solid muscle.




Mark and his friend Steve right before we headed back.

We stayed a night in Riverside and then another in Jackpot; had a lot of fun in Jackpot, looking forward to going back there again.

August 2008; Dallas & Jill's Wedding, and we got a new Family member!

My good friends and neighbors Dallas and Jill got married. The wedding was amazing, overlooking the city and foothills and right before sunset.

The kids fell in love with being in love that day.

Ryan and Jill after ceremony.

My beautiful kids at reception; Lou, Kenny, Hannah and Ryan in front.

And then, Mark's daughter Terri had little Weston, and our wonderful family grew by one more!

Terri and Steven with Hayden, Brenden and little Weston.


Grandpa and the littlest one . . .

July 2008 . . . river rafting & ice cream cakes . . .

Lou, Hannah, Gus & me (Katy)

The kids were still getting to know each other, and man was it hot! River rafting was the perfect answer, they went in the water stinky and sweaty on one end and came out friends on the other; I wish I had pictures from those days . . . mom failure there.
Gus and Ben both had Birthdays in July and my kids quickly adapted to the Lester family tradition of ice cream cakes.

Here's some more family river/picnic pictures:

My happy husband

Lou and Kenny . . .

Terri and Ben . . .

Steven and Brenden . . .

Ryan and Sophia (his best friend)

Gus and Terri - I love this photo with the watermelon and the green grass and the river in the background . . .