UK, here I come..........but first.......

Next week, I will be in the United Kingdom and getting ready to go to Paris for the day. But, it is not next week, yet. I still have to help with Youth Conference THIS WEEK. I have a VERY busy day. But, it is all good. It will be a relief to just get everything started. We have decided that I am a professional worrier about these things. I know it will be great.

New Babies....

We love babies in this house. We have had six of our own, our youngest 3 s have at least 15 babies between them, and they are constantly "adopting" more. They love to play with Baby Jace Jorgensen, they think of the twins as babies, they are anticipating the new Baby Jorgensen, and they love to run into new babies to play with all the time. So.....when I told them today about the new Youngan (sorry saw this on another blog and lifted it...cute) they were SOOOO excited. Katie and Sarah are their most anticipated guests and they love to go to the Youngs. Very much excitment. So, I was telling my sister about it and said how awesome Lynetta has been about exercising recently. So, Emma's mind went to work. She yelled from the back seat, "START EXERCISING, MAMA!!!" That's all it takes to get a baby for us, I guess. I don't know how I would feel about walking at the track so much if that were true;)

Anger Management!!

Emma and Lily have been really at each other's throats this summer. It has been difficult, to say the leat. Yesterday, Sunday, we were at Mamaw Clara's after church and Emma got upset and started yelling at someone. Lily got right in her face and sweetly reminded her....."Emma, Emma, anger management...anger management." We couldn't imagine where she had heard this, but weren't surprised when she said......Sarah Beth. Of course...she teaches them so much.

Sweet 16!!

So, today was Taylor's 16th birthday. He has been dreaming of this day for at least a year. He told us last year on his birthday that he was going to get his liscense first thing on the morning of his birthday and then go on an all day date. This is his year. Well, we did make it to the DMV to get the liscense. No problem. He passed easily and immediately got Zack's 1970 Chevy truck and took MARY CATHERINE to Cracker Barrel. I'm not sure this is what HE had in mind, but it sure was cute. He does have a date tomorrow however with Ashley Abbott from Vidor, TX and one later with Elaine Newton. His sisters are so excited and tell him they want Elaine to be their sister-in-law. Too much planning ahead for my , but I agree she is a great ....as is Ashley. Couldn't have picked 2 better first dates myself! Alex and a date, Lauren Manuel, will be doubling with Taylor and Ashley tomorrow to Buffalo Wild Wings, ice cream, and bowling. Sounds like alot of fun. Yes, I am paying for this first date....he got me by saying that it is in lew of his party. Oh well, can't really argue with that. It's all good!!


This is Taylor and Mary Catherine exactly 2, yes, that is correct, TWO, years ago on Taylor's 14 birthday. If you notice, Taylor was actually a little shorter than Mary Catherine. They both had baby faces. Things have been changing very quickly at our house over the last 2 years. I will post a new picture of the two of them tomorrow along with a few details of the date!!

Weekend Wrap Up

I am trying to catch up on sleep around here. I an effort to do anything, almost, to allow our kids to go to EFY, Zack and I left our house at 6:00 PM Friday night to drive 5 hours to San Antonio. That may not sound so bad, but we picked up the kids--6 of them--and turned around and came straight home. We arrived back at our house at 6:00 AM. We got immediately in bed, but Zack's family was all in town for a family reunion, so we weren't there very long and got up to go entertain. We had a great time reconnecting with family we haven't seen in quite a while. And after a long nap on the couch this evening, here I am awake after midnight, blogging!!

In my opinion, Especially For Youth--EFY is worth almost any sacrifice. My kids come home so changed. Granted it usually doesn't last forever, but it is so good for them to have the things that we have tried to teach them reinforced by kids that are just a little older than them. I don't know how they do it. They inspire these kids to do more than they wanted to before. Mary Catherine has been reading her scriptures, having a wonderful attitude, and making some great decisions. She is in a great place. I am so thankful. Taylor was online today downloading the Book of Mormon from lds.org. He wants to load it onto his phone. Wow! He has been telling me about his favorite scriptures.

I was asking the kids today on the way to church what it is about EFY and how do they inspire the kids to do so much changing. Alex said, "they don't do anything.....it is just EFY." I don't believe that. It is all what you do that invites the Spirit or drives out the Spirit. I can feel a different spirit in my home with these changes that have happened. I feel like it is my job to do nothing that can take away from that spirit. I want to even discipline in a way that allow all of us to feel the Spirit. I am grateful to be able to recognize the difference in our home. I want to use this time to help firm up some goals we have been working on as a family. It is soooo good. I think we are moving in a good direction. It's nice to be able to say that with all the worries of having a house full of teenagers. Sarah Beth is watching her older brothers and sister so closely.

I enjoyed Sacrament meeting today. It made me think so much about Trust and Faith. I hope that as my children hear others bear their testimony about a gospel principle, they will think...I want to feel that, too. I know that if "Brother Young" tells me that he feels blessings from attending the temple regularly then I want to be inspired to attend more so I can try that out. If we trust those around us and believe when they tell us that the gospel works for them, then we will be moved to do those things in our lives. I have done that throughout my life and it has helped me achieve more than I would have thought by myself.

Zachary Boys

I love this picture from Destin. I took it on purpose, because when Alex was 2 and Taylor was just born, my Mamaw Musie had a dream of two men in white shirts walking along the beach together. She didn't know who they were and asked someone who told her that they were the Zachary boys. They said that they were great missionaries and everyone knew them. I have always thought about that through the years. They are great boys and best friends. I think I will frame this and put the story with it and put it in their rooms for them to remember who they are and what influence they can have. I makes me miss my Mamaw. So glad we got the picture but even more glad that I have these men in my life.

We are home!!

We got back from Destin tonight. We had a WONDERFUL time. Here we are on the first night as we walked to the restaurant down the beach from our condo. We were amazed at the weather when we arrived. It was just beautiful. It was actually cool. We ran into Mrs. Kathy Clark, her husband, and grandkids. She was Alex and Taylor's second grade teacher and we have known her for years. It was so exciting to run into her.

Zack and the four older kids were able to go para sailing on Saturday. They were very excited, but a little scared, too. They said once you were up it was relaxing and beautiful. They were really high up.

Kristy, my SIL, and I took Emma and Kate, my niece, to get their hair wrapped. They have been swinging their wraps around their head. We hope it doesn't break and fly off their heads!!

Anyway, the para sailing was a hit. It was expensive, but definitely worth the money. They came home so excited.


The s had such a great time with their cousins. We have decided that we have to go every summer on a family vacation. Their is nothing like going somewhere together. What a great tradition we hope we have started.