Thank my lucky stars!

Jill informed me that I need to jump on here and let people know that I have successfully passed all my classes and returned home to the US for a short visit. I plan to do a lot of shooting and some other fun things while I am here. It was sure good to see Jill and Holdyn again, they love me.

Family Fun

I know these aren't the best posts but I wanted to get some pictures up

for Ben... WE LOVE AND MISS YOU BEN!!Here is Holdyn..... she is still getting used to the feel of grass, there are not many

soft lawns you want to walk barefoot on living on St. Maarten.

Here we are at the Washington Cemetary, visiting Charlton's Grave.

We brought some fun Caribbean decorations to put up!We made it up to SLC to visit Great Grandma Oakeson!

It was sure great to spend some time with her!

We also made it up to visit Grandpa Palmer... Holdyn was instantly attached!
She also latched on to Austin... he sure is a great cousin!

We had a sort of reunion with my parents and brothers and sisters...

everyone was there except for Ben.... he was REALLY missed!

We went swimming and had a BBQ at my brother Brad's house.
We Had a BLAST!!!Holdyn felt right at home in the water!
Here we are with a few of the cousins.

Today we had a serious game of Dodgeball in the backyard!!
We also celebrated Boston's birthday while we were all together.
Here are some fun shirts we painted on for my parents.... they turned out cute.

Anyway, it is GREAT to be home. But, we cannot wait until Ben flies in on Thursday,

life just isn't as fun without him!

I forgot what I was missing!!!

It has been a VERY busy week but here is a quick summary! My mom flew down to St. Maarten for a few days and helped us get ready to move to our new apt, and to fly home with Holdyn and me. It was a quick but fun few days!! THANK YOU for all of your help mom!!

Then we said a very sad goodbye to Ben! Who we are still missing VERY badly! Ben will be joining us in one week!!! We LOVE YOU BEN!! Our trip home went well.... it was 3 different planes and 13 hours.... but we survived.... Holdyn only slept 1 HOUR!!! But she did great. I can't complain. We finally made it to Las Vegas where my dad picked us up and drove us to St. George! It was SOO nice to be home!

After we moved to St. Maarten, my dad bought this car... Holdyn really likes it!

We were also met there after our long day of traveling by Holdyn's Auntie Mindy!! After a short night we got up and got ourselves ready to our family Reunion! We drove up to Beaver Mountain. It was about 10,000 ft. elevation and I was at sea level the day before..... so I was short of breath for the first day or two....oh and it was COLD!! It felt great to have to put on a sweatshirt!!! We did some hiking.

Holdyn had fun with Grumpa Baker and his hat! She also had fun in this little chair and her cammo overalls. She went on a few four-wheeler rides..... and LOVED it! She played with her cousins! Here she is in the trailer just chillin! Here I am on the fourwheeler near Mt. Belknap. The shale mtn in the background has been a favorite to climb for the last 17 years.... sadly I wasn't in any kind of shape to make it up this year. It took some getting used to but Holdyn finally decided it was better to wear the hat and long pajamas.... than to be cold! After our 4 days camping we went to Fredonia to say hi to Grandma and Grandpa Cluff. Here is Holdyn with Ben's Mom. Here is her cousin Emma. Then we were able to catch up with some friends for lunch. It was GREAT!!! Thanks guys!

Well, that's a quick summary, tomorrow we are driving to Salt Lake City to see Great Grandma Oakeson and then up to visit the Palmer's. (Charlton's family) Then, this weekend we are having all of my brothers and sisters and families get together for a mini reunion. We are having a BLAST and staying very busy. But we REALLY miss Ben! We are praying for him to do well on his upcoming finals! Then we will see him next Thurs!! YIPPEE!!! Thank you gals there (Candace and Hillary) who are taking care of him and making sure he is fed! I owe you bigtime!