Max is 10!

10 years ago, my life changed forever when this little guy entered the world, ready to soak up all the knowledge he could. And now he's so big! September 25, 2009 was an event-filled day! Max started the day off by opening the presents from Grandma Connie that had been tempting him for days. A new Bionicle!



Then at school his name was called by Mrs. Martin, the principal, to get a birthday prize, and here's how he "walked" up to the front:



His class won a reading contest, so they got a popsicle party that day. If I had known, I would have brought a chemical-free popsicle, but since I didn't know about it, and it being his birthday and everything, I let him have it. He enjoyed it, but had a nice rash the next morning.



After school, it was final party preparations for the big Lego party. Look at the cute invitations!



I didn't get very good pictures of the party because, well, ten 10-year old boys don't sit still much! We played "Random Lego Building" and "Guess How Many Legos Are In the Jar" type games, opened presents (he got so many gift cards which made for a cool shopping spree at Toys R Us the next day!), then they watched the new Bionicle movie while I made Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes. Overall, the party was a great success!



One happy boy!



Isn't he handsome? What a joy he is to our family. So funny, smart, creative. It's a new adventure every day with Max in the family. We love him so much. Happy 10th birthday, son!

What we've been up to

I'm really bad at this. I know. If I had more time, I'd be a better blogger, if I cared enough about it (does that sentence remind you of anyone?). But enjoy all these photos!

Well, we started Conference weekend by, well, by skipping Conference to go see these people! I like these people a lot. I wish more of these types of people would come visit.



I like these people too.



And a little Kloepfer family tradition--cinnamon rolls for Conference!



The kids played Conference Bingo, and of course, Lily made a fort for the event.



Max made sure his new Bionicles got in on the Bingo action.



The Bionicles listened intently (as did we, of course).



We were truly fed by the Spirit!

And check out all this food I bought the next day, all for $37.40! 2 peaches, 16 bananas, some lovely mixed greens, 1 jalapeno, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 orange pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 cucumber, 3 avocados, 1 head of cauliflower, 1 bunch of broccoli, 5 corns on the cob, 3 huge tomatoes, 1 bunch of cilantro, 1 eggplant (eggplant? who buys eggplant?), 5 lemons, 2 grapefruit, 8 pluots, a bunch of grapes, 2 limes, 1 watermelon, 6 pears, 12 apples, 1 cantaloupe, tons of strawberries, 5 lbs. of onions, 10 lbs. of potatoes, and a bag of Fritos. Are you kidding me? I LOVE Jordan Market!



And then we had the Pinewood Derby. Max (aka Dad) made a great car this year which he aptly named The Devastator. Very sleek.



Look at the Devastator--way out in front! He came in first in the first heat, but ended up 4th overall. I swear the scoring is not as accurate as it could be. Fun night, though!



And other than that, we're deep into the school year, homework, work, art classes, scouts, etc. Just trying to keep our heads above water!

Long Overdue

Not just blogging, but the awesome trip we took to meet up with some college buddies back east. We will NOT wait that long again to vacation together, because I love these girls, and their families!

Once upon a time, there were some friends, of the best kind. (BYU in the '80s was awesome!)





Then they all got married, made babies, moved far away, and waited way too long to meet up again. 20+ years go by, but true friends never change.





We were missing a couple friends on this trip, but will get the whole gang together the next time. I have many more pics to share, so stay tuned!