Happy Birthday Avery!!

How excited are we to have another two year old in the family?!?!!! We love Avery and enjoy watching her grow up!

Bethany's Baptism Day

"I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain. I want to be the best I can, and live with God again."

Bethany, we are so proud of you for deciding to be baptized. We love you and we know that Heavenly Father loves you too. He is also proud of you and wants you to be happy.

Congratulations, Bethany!!

Way to go Ashleigh

We are so proud of Ashleigh for getting baptized. What a big step to take, and we are happy we were able to be there to support you. We know that Heavenly Father is proud of you, too.

Notice, no pictures of Matt in white in the blog. Your welcome!

November Birthdays!

Happy super 8 to Bethany! We are so proud of you for deciding to be baptized. We love you.

And happy birthday to Dani. Being 5 is sooooo fun! We love you, too!

Last night during Family Home Evening, Matthew was looking through a sticker book while we had our scriptures out reading the Articles of Faith. Well, he started tearing the stickers out and throwing them on the floor. I asked him to pick them up in my nicest voice (I didn't want the sweet spirit that was there to leave) and his immediate answer was "NO". Of course. After asking a few more times I asked him if he wanted a spank, and received the same reply. His answer didn't change when he was asked to pick them up again and he received a swat on the diaper. No response. We went through the exchange again, I think eight or nine times except the only change in response was that Matt would laugh after each spank. I'm talking belly laugh here. Everyone was laughing. What is going on? Isn't my two year old supposed to be scared of Mommy when she is upset, or at least sad to be getting spanked? I guess I am not as scary as I thought I was or am way too soft on my number 4.

Courtney saved the evening and volunteered to help him pick of the sticker pieces. Matt helped her without question. I am grateful to her for being a peacemaker....but now I realize that I need a new strategy for getting Matt to do anything. Suggestions??!!

Overdue Pics

Sorry if "overdue" led you to expect some pictures of Melissa's huge Leggo-my-Preggo belly from years gone by. These pictures are merely overdue in the "I should have posted these a while ago" sense of "overdue".

First up: Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Despite Nathan's and Elizabeth's expressions, our family had a great time at the open house. There were some moments of genuine reverence where the Spirit of the Lord was able to sink in. Cathrine and especially Bethany could really feel it.

Most notable in this picture is Bethany's Evil Genius expression. We tried to get something other than Squinting at the Sun, and what we got was Plotting World Domination. This is how I imagine Mitchell walking around school. Minus the pink blouse, of course, though I'm not up on the latest fashions.

Here's another picture, more indicative of the experience:














Next up: The First Annual International Lingual Exhibitionist Championships










Nathan lost. Bethany won the blue ribbon.


Next up: Dress Like Your Son Day at our stake.

Nathan loves to wear a tie and a backpack to church like his dad.

He doesn't waste his time with futile attempts to keep his shirt tucked in, unlike his dad.

And he's already a better executive secretary than his dad.


This may be my favorite picture ever.




Next up: Y-king the Hi on Labor Day 2009.

There were at least 500 people on the trail that morning, including two EMTs.

Coincidentally, 500 is the number of times that the kids tried to get us either to turn around or to carry them.

We had to use all our best manipulation techniques, but they all made it up and back on their own two legs, although Cathrine technically cheated by scooting on her bum for 20 yards or so. She deserved a Mulligan, though, after she left some skin and blood on a rock she was trying to climb and didn't even cry.
Pioneer stock.

My favorite thing about this picture is how it almost looks like Cathrine has gigantic (though quite shapely) legs.


Last but not least: Nathan and the Enormous Cupcake Outie.

Well, for a second he had an enormous cupcake outie. I didn't grab the camera in time to catch it on film. And he wouldn't let me stick the cupcake back on.

He leaned over his plate and the cupcake stuck to his belly. He started crying because he had just realized that he wasn't going to be able to lick it off. And then he saw the hungry look in my eyes and knew a reverse Zerbert was coming.

Which would drive just about anyone to hysterics.

We solved this problem the Man Way. After I realized that I couldn't just wipe it off with the cupcake, I squeegeed it off with my finger and fed it to him. I guess we could have used a spoon. But I'm pretty sure my hands were clean.

The most disturbing part is that I actually went and grabbed the camera instead of consoling him, prolonging his agony another five minutes while I tried to get him to do different poses and expressions. "Okay, now turn your head and stroke your chin like you're thinking real hard. No? Okay, just point to your belly with one hand and do a thumbs-up with the other one..."

This is the kind of thing that can only happen when Melissa has to leave the house to go to Sam's Club in search of her sanity.

Happy Anniversary Hunny!

Today is Dan's and my 6th wedding anniversary. Since he's off hunting and I have some time on my hands, I wanted to post a little note :)

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful man as my eternal companion. I have been blessed in so many ways since our marriage, and I am grateful for marrying into such a wonderful family. I love all the Court family. And of course, I love you, Dan...thanks for marrying me! Happy Anniversary!

October Birthdays!

'But I can't wait until I'm 8, for then I'll be baptized you see.'
We are so excited for you to be baptized, and are so proud of you, Ashleigh.
Happy Birthday!


Happy Birthday, Grandma! We love you.

September Birthdays!

Kendrey started off our month turning 12. Welcome to Young Women!

Congrats, Matt, you made it to 40!

Cathrine turns 11! Hooray!!!

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth! We're so glad you'll be 4!

More Reunion Photos

Grandma playing frisbee

Marshmallow Gun Squad

Eating snowcones that Grandma made.

Family Reunion

I thought that everyone would love to see the best of the Grant and Lynda Court family. This is it. We had a lot of fun at Shawn and Jeanette's cabin and we are grateful for their willingness to let us use it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The endless card games, the boys and Kendrey playing poker, the canoes on the pond and the marshmallow guns were some of the reasons we kept busy and had a great time. Of course we had a wonderful time during family home evening as we learned about our ancestors and played Family History Memory. Mom made each family a new family history binder with additional names and stories from the binder she made us last year. We love and appreciate her for her efforts to help us know our extended (and long deceased) eternal family.

Hewlett's Cabin

We had a great time in Utah on the 4th of July. I think mom and dad had a good time too. I'm glad we could all go to Dan Clingo's together for the second year in a row, it's nice to have so many family members in one place. The adults had an enjoyable time talking amongst themselves and the kids loved having so much room to run around and be loud. I'm just glad that it was Dan's house and not mine.

Bryce Canyon Trip

We went to Bryce Canyon in June, and despite the weather, we had a wonderful time! We went to Inspiration Point, hiked up to a cave, and had fun with the girls on 4 wheelers.

Our trip to South Dakota was filled with fun things that we didn't do when we lived there. Like the Alpine slide, riding horses and doing tourist things with friends. Courtney and Spencer loved riding the horses (as we narrowly missed a severe thunder storm, but it smelled great). We don't get nearly enough of that in Vegas, the random thunder storm, that is. Time at the lake, the mini golf course and the mommoth museum all added to our wonderful time there. Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park and riding 4 wheelers all were parts of our vacation that are irreplaceable.

We stopped at Martin's Cove on our way to South Dakota last week. What a wonderful experience. Realizing that the pioneers pulled the same kind of wagons without being on a smooth trail (and having to watch out for snakes). And every day for months! Well, once we really started pulling we didn't wear our jackets for long, it was quite the workout. It was a three and a half hour trek, part of the way gratefully without the handcart. The cove was peaceful and reverent and the missionaries there told us stories of the pioneers and there hardships. Courtney, Spencer and Matt all got to ride most of the way back to the finish (it actually made it easier to ballance). As we parked the handcart we were grateful for our own challenges and then climbed back in the car for our seven hour drive to South Dakota.

Elizabeth and Dani