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Last night was the "Cougar Tipoff" and Matthew had a great game-3 3-pointers, 11 points! I think he was so excited to finally get to play and Linz only hyperventilated a few times! He's worked super hard and sacrificed lots to play and you can tell how much he loves it. I love this picture of him because you can see how HARD he's playing- Lynn tried to tell me that's how he looks when he's working out with Shaun-he totally does!!! Way to go Matthew, we can't wait to see you play!










I stole these pictures off of Chelsea's blog- how cute are Emma and Logan??? Sophie didn't get to come to the game on account that she's 18 months old and quite the terror- but she's our little terror and we love her anyways!

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Hi Emma and Sophie-

I loved the pictures in your Halloween outfits- I will show Grandpa as soon as he comes home from the office. Logan left on Sunday so I have been so sad and missing my grandbabies, but you will be here in FIVE DAYS!!! Here are some pictures from our train trip this summer- it was so much fun, even if we did get stuck on the tracks for a bit!

Hugs and Kisses- Grammie

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For Christmas of 1995 we decided to surprise our girls with a dog- they hadn't asked for one, we just fell in love with the Johnson's golden retriever and thought that it would be a fun edition to our family. We had no idea at the time what that puppy would come to mean to our family! When we told them we had to go pick up their present they were sure we had bought a jet ski- imagine our concern that they would be disappointed when we showed up with a puppy! Thankfully, they were so happy when we walked through the door with that fat little puppy- it was love at first sight. They never thought their dad would let them have a dog to go with our three cats, but I had caught him a moment of weakness and he grudgingly said okay. I'm not sure how we decided to call her Emmie, but it seemed to fit her perfectly and our adventure began! Whitney put the adventures here in pictures!

Emmie immediately taught us lessons- when we only had her for a couple of weeks the girls were home alone with her and someone left the side gate open. When they discovered her gone, we got a tearful phone call and everyone started looking- she had simply disappeared. We drove up and down street after street and brought home some pretty sad little girls. We decided to paint big signs and we hung them on the busiest corners of our neighborhood and then Lynn suggested having a family prayer that someone would see the signs and would call. Several days went by with no word and then one morning I got a phone call. Someone had a message on their answering machine from someone that had found Emmie- they had written the number down wrong! This person got in the car, drove to find the sign and our phone number and called to relay the message- we were overjoyed to say the least and learned the power of family prayer.

It was not an easy relationship for Lynn and Emmie to begin with- there were times when we weren't sure who was going to win! She had a stubborn streak and refused to be house broken and it would drive Lynn crazy when she had an accident in the house. She loved to dig holes in the yard and systematically went through the backyard and chewed up every single one of our Malibu lights, not to mention burying anything she could find of the girls- clothes, toys, you name it. She could pull a dishcloth off the counter with cooling cookies and eat them all. And she knew exactly which shoes were expensive and loved to chew them up. But at about a year and a half old she seemed to finally decide to behave- and not a moment to soon! She loved to play catch, but would refuse to give back the ball and she would chase up and down next to the pool when the girls were swimming until she had to jump in to join them. They would put her on a raft and she would let them push her all around the pool. Sometimes on hot days when the girls were at school I'd hear a splash in the backyard and find her swimming in circles to cool off. She was in all the first day of school pictures, dance pictures, Halloween pictures- she was included in our family Christmas pictures and anything momentous we had to document. Emmie was our hero too- one night while Lindsey and Whitney were home alone during the summer with all the doors open a man came into our backyard and was hiding looking in. Emmie started barking like crazy and the girls hid in their room and she went into the backyard after the man. He kicked her and ran for the front, but her barking alerted the neighbors who chased him down the street. Emmie loved our neighborhood and our neighbors. She would never step off the curb unless you were with her and said okay- until our neighbors moved in across the street. It they were outside and she was in the front yard she'd run madly across the street to say hello. We had a family with three little girls a few doors down and she loved to go and visit them. But most of all, she loved to go for a walk every night with Lynn. She didn't wear a leash and knew exactly where they would go. When she got a little older and we had gotten Trixie and P-Kitty sometimes she would only go part way and then turn around and come home on her own while the rest of them finished the walk. I think she always missed our old house and neighbors- for a week after we moved she would go to the front door at night and put her nose on it wanting to go home.

She loved the girls and no matter how long they had been gone from the house she would greet them with cries and wind around their legs. She was a little bit neurotic and at times a little bit jealous, but she was devoted to our family. As the girls grew older and started to leave for college, Lynn and I started to rely on Emmie and Trixie to fill the empty spots they left. We would take them everywhere with us and they loved to go to the office. Quite often in the summertime we would take them with us when we got Baskin and Robbins ice cream- they would sit in the back seat and share a vanilla ice cream cone, each of them licking from a side- I'm sure people walking by thought we were crazy! We watched as her snout started to turn grey and her legs a little wobbly. She would at times still grab a ball and want us to chase her, but those times started to get fewer and fewer. When we would go out to the front yard to take a walk around the cul-de-sac with the dogs she would lay on the front grass and watch as we went around with Trixie. She would rarely come downstairs when we left hoping to go with us- it was just too difficult to get down the stairs and into the car for her. She would have been 13 years old this November.

Lynn and I returned home from New York last night to find that Ryan had to carry her downstairs several mornings while we were gone and she had developed several hot spots and was having trouble walking. I left her at the vet this morning and when Dr. Watson called he told us what we've been dreading to hear- it was time to let her go. We called Whitney, met her there and we sat on the floor with Emmie and spent some time saying good-bye. Lynn told her we would see her in a bit, Whit patted her and gave her a kiss, and I held her sweet face in my hands and gave her a kiss on her snout.

She put her head in my lap, closed her eyes and went to sleep.

She was a good dog and we will miss her.

Hi Gina-
We had a great tour given by Sister Halladay at the Smith Farm. She told us stories about the cabin the Smith's first lived in and about when the Angel Moroni visited Joseph. She told us in Joseph's words the First Vision and bore her testimony- what a sweet spirit! Best of all, she finished the tour by singing her mission song with her companion- she said there was no way you would believe she did that! It was awesome seeing her in this setting- she's going to have a great adventure here! After a teaching appointment we took her out for Thai food with her companion, SIster Nielson, and the Pinegar's- we left her with a big hug! All my best- Susie

Hi Family-

We had a wonderful day today! We met up with Matthew's grandparents at the Peter Whitmer Sr farm and they gave us a tour of the log cabin where the church was organized. They are an amazing couple with such great knowledge of the church- we loved them, Matthew! We stood and looked out and imagined all the people coming to see the Prophet Joseph and the excitement that they must have felt over the Book of Mormon.












We then went and saw where the first Book of Mormon was printed, Martin Harris's farm, the temple, and ended at the Hill Cummorah. The visitor center there is beautiful and has some great displays and videos. Two very sweet sister missionaries showed us around and shared their testimonies then we watched the Joseph Smith movie. Afterwards, we took a walk up at the top of the hill- it was a beautiful view and we thought about Moroni walking there and Joseph finding the plates.















Love to you all- Mom and Dad

PS- I miss my puppies, it must be time to go home!

Dear Jon-

Lynn says thanks for the idea of going on the jet boats up the Niagra River through the class 5 rapids. I just want to thank you for giving Lynn the idea so I could be terrified and clean out my sinuses with the thousands of gallons of water that went up my nose. Please, next time keep your ideas to yourself-

Susie

Hi Everybody!

-flew to Rochester
-drove to Niagra Falls, Canada
-went on Maid of the Mist
-got soaked
-saw IMAX movie about the falls
-got back to the hotel right before a big storm blew in
-hung over our 16th floor balcony to get a picture of the falls at night!!!
-will never do that again
-miss our soft squishy bed at the St Regis and Harold and McKinley
-love you all

mom and dad