Update on the Family

Becca: She is loving first grade. She wishes school was longer!

Anna: She is enjoying her "combined" class of 4th and 5th graders.

Lizzy: She is loving her drum lessons and school. There is never a quiet moment in the house now with her new drum set.

Emily: She just got her drivers license and is loving her freedom of driving. She went on her first date with Layne Mckenna and got a 4.o for her first term in High School.

Patrick: He is out of the CCM (MTC in Peru). He had is first baptism the first Saturday that he was in the field. He is serving in Espinar Peru at 14,000 feet with 3 other missionaries.

Nikki and Darrin: Darrin registered for the LSAT and will take that in December. Nikki is working at Farmington Elementary in resource.

Mom and Dad: Mom is loving that she doesn't have to run all over the place and sends Emily to do her errands. Dad stays busy at work and doing stake things.

Happy Graduation!

Nikki graduated from Utah State on May 2 (with pink eye and all!). We drove up to Logan to be with her and support her. She got a letter that night from Davis School District saying she was a finalist for a job with the district. Her next step is to be interviewed by Principals. We are excited for her in this great accomplishment.

The White envelope has been opened....

After waiting for a long time for everyone to come (well it sure seemed long) Patrick was finally ready to open the call.
He sait in the corner while everyone gathered around to watch him.
We had several phones around so people could listen.
As he was opening it up, Nikki hung
up on Jaimee so we had to wait another minute while we
called her back.
We were finally ready ....He read line by line and finally
got to where he will be serving the Lord for the next two years.
It was on the second line but it sure seemed to take a long time
for him to get to that part! :)
He has been called to serve in the Peru Lima Central mission speaking Spanish. He leaves August 19th.
We are all very excited for him!!!

The White envelope has come...

We got a phone call from the post office this morning saying that Elder Patrick Welch had an envelope waiting for him. Dad and Anna picked it up and it is now sitting in our kitchen cupboard (so no one can peek). Patrick is coming home tonight and will be opening it at 7:00. We will keep everyone posted!! :)

ENGAGEMENT!!!!

So...lots of you have wanted to see pictures from our engagement and hear the story.

Darrin told me that we were going to the capitol for an awards night for engineers. He picked me up at 6:00 for dinner. We went to Dairy Queen (he didn't want me to think anything so we went to a cheap dinner!) While we were at dinner he got a phone call from his dad saying the doors were locked and they were trying to get in. They found the highway patrol to let them in. Darrin has been working for a long time to get the okay to be in the capitol after it closed. He had to have a background check and fingerprints done. I know he is not a criminal-that is good! :) So, Darrin was trying to take his time and I was trying to rush him so we wouldn't be late. We got to the capitol and walked in. I was worried to be in there because no one was around. I thought we were going to get in trouble.

We walked across the floor and up the stairs to the landing. There was a table with a rose sitting on it. I didn't think anything about it and continued walking up the stairs. Darrin pulled me back and got on one knee and asked me to marry him!!! :) Our families all stood up and cheered after it happened. It was fun to have them there watching it!
We are getting married June 10th in the Salt Lake Temple.

That was the short version of the story!! :)

Updates on life!

So, I decided it was time to update our blog!
Emily got her driving permit and has been driving around town. She has been doing pretty good with it but, it is a good thing that she still has a while until she turns 16! She needs the practice :)
I (Nikki) just finished my first week of teaching all day at Farmington Elementary. It was a lot of fun. I was grateful when the bell rang on Friday though! It was also parent teacher conference last week so I got to listen to those.
Patrick started his mission papers.....we are excited!!!!
Lizzy is busy with play practice for a city play called Seussical.
Anna turned 10 on the 30th of January. We gave her and her best friend (they share a birthday)a surprise party. We had like 20+ girls up here. It was crazy but she had a good time.
Becca just got first grade homework (yes she is still in kindergarten!) She was pretty excited to come home tell us all about her new homework. She is one smart girl.
Mom and Dad are staying busy as well just being the mom and dad of six busy children!!

Accident....

Nikki, Anna, and Becca were in their first accident on Friday. The girls were so excited to go to school with Nikki early. We left and got to the bottom of the dirt road when mom called and Nikki forgot things for her first graders. So, we turned around and were heading back up the hill when our neighbor was coming down. The road was icy and we both slide into each other. His car was totaled and our truck has some damage to the front. We are all okay except Nikki's left hand is really sore.