Cousins are the Best

Right before school started, I took a quick trip to the Bay Area to attend my cousin Carol's daughter Kerri's wedding. I rode down with my parents and my sister. It was just like old times, the family vacation with the four of us in the car. Val met us there as he was already in the area on business. We attended the wedding and reception, visited with Steve and Barb (Val's nephew and wife) and spent time with my favorite cousin Blake.

He is absolutely one of the funniest people I have ever met and I could talk to him for hours on end. It was so good to see him again and to visit with him and my aunt and uncle, Roma and Boyd. It was a great weekend getaway.

Kerri and Matt during the ceremony.












Raegan and I celebrating at the reception. Don't worry, it's only sparkling cider!





Aren't the colors pretty? I loved the
decorations.


Raegan, Blake and I at the Santa Cruz pier. We had a great time talking, laughing and having lunch.

Ready, Set, MOVE !!!

July and August have been incredibly busy months for the Steed Clan. As many of you know, all of our married children have been preparing to move into new townhomes. Dan & Tara and Wade & Shayla have been living with us the past few months and Travis, Liz & Baylee have been living with the Olveras. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that we were all eager for their new homes to be completed! After months of waiting, the wonderful days finally arrived!


Travis, Liz and Baylee were first. They moved into their new home on July 24. This is their beautiful new living room. Baylee loves crawling all over her new home!

Wade and Shayla were next, moving in on July 28. Here they are in their beautiful new kitchen. (They've only been married 3 1/2 months. Aren't they lucky to have a brand new home!)



Finally the big day arrived for Dan and Tara. They moved in on August 7. Here they are in their beautiful blue bedroom. Tara is thrilled to have brand new carpet. (The carpet in her apartment was kind of icky)



Congratulations kids! Dad and I are so proud of you. You have all worked very hard to be able to buy homes. I know it is hard to work, go to school, and have a mortgage, but I promise you that someday it will all be worth it. You guys are the best!

Our Nation's Capitol

My sister, Raegan, invited Kelsey and I to accompany her and her girls to Washington DC for a week while her husband, Kirt was there on business. We jumped at the chance and off we went. What a wonderful trip. It was so fun to travel all over the DC area with my sister and nieces as we took in all the amazing things Washington has to offer. We did it all - the monuments, the White House, the Capitol, Arlington Cemetary, the Smithsonian, Mt. Vernon, the Holocaust Center, Amish country, a baseball game, the Pentagon, a play at the Kennedy Center, the list goes on and on. I think the highlight of the trip for me was our trip to Gettysburg. We had the most amazing tour guide. He drove the van and gave us a two and a half hour tour of the battlefields. What a storyteller - he really brought the battle to life for us. The girls loved it. I learned so much. Kelsey loved the Holocaust Center. She had really been looking forward to going there. All in all it was an incredible trip. We had so much fun with Kirt, Raegan and the girls. We so appreciate them including us in this great adventure!

Raegan and I at the WWII Memorial. I had never

seen it before and it was very impressive.

We walked down King Street in Arlington and

got caught in a RAINSTORM. Look at us -

we're soaked to the skin!

Camden Yards - Baltimore Orioles vs. LA Angels

The Angels won 6-5

We are wearing our "Come Fly With Me

DC '08" t-shirts!

The girls at Gettysburg with our

awesome tour guide, Jeff Kelly.

All of us at Gettysburg. In the background is the

field where General Pickett led the famous

Pickett's Charge.

Mount Vernon was very interesting. I really

enjoy touring old colonial homes.

Our group in front of the

Washington DC temple.

Hayley, Elise, Erica and Kelsey strike a pose at

the Roosevelt Memorial.

Kelsey and I in front of the pool by the Jefferson

Memorial with the Washington Monument in

the background. Kind of a cool shot!

Kelsey and I at the Pentagon. This is the ONLY location

they will let you take a picture! The tour was very

interesting, particularly the section of the building

damaged by the attack on 9/11.

Berry Hill Farm

Last week Val had to go to Louisiana to his office for a partners' meeting and I decided at the last minute to tag along and spend a couple of days with my friend Sandy, who just happens to be his partner's wife. Sandy and I have known each other for 17 years, and from the first moment that we met, have felt that we were sisters born into different families.
She lives about 40 miles north of New Orleans on 10 acres out in the country where they have a blueberry farm. Her daughter Amanda and granddaughter Claire live next door. Here are Sandy, Claire and I by the Berry Hill Farm sign.


I spent two wonderful days with them picking blueberries, going to lunch, talking, sorting berries, laughing, going to dinner, watching movies and having a great time. We made blueberry cobbler which was absolutely the best thing ever! I brought home a ton of blueberries and froze them so I will be making cobbler all winter long. YUMMY! I thought I should share the recipe so here it is:

BLUEBERRY COBBLER

5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
4 T sugar
3 T flour

Toss berries with flour and sugar until coated. Pour into greased baking dish (9x13)

Mix 1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
1 C milk

Mix well with wire wisk and pour on top of berries.

Combine 1/2 C rolled oats
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1/4 C butter or margarine

Cut butter into mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of cake mixture.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until top is golden brown and edges are bubbly. Cool slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream.

FUN ON THE FOURTH !

The 4th of July is one of our favorite holidays. Last year we were at Lake Powell and our kids were upset. They made us promise to stay home this year and have a blowout celebration. We did our best to make this year a memorable one. We got up at 6 a.m. to run the Centerville 5K Fun Run. Val, Shauna, Travis, Wade, Shayla, Dan and Tara all participated. We had a great time running together. Val finished first with the rest of us close behind.

We then joined up with Liz, Kelsey and Baylee for the awesome Centerville parade. One of my favorite parts of the parade is when the jets do their fly-by. A friend once said to us, "that is the sound of freedom" and I couldn't agree more. Thanks to our military personnel for the great job they do defending our country and the freedoms this holiday is all about.

After the parade, we had lunch and then met my parents and my sister's family at Cherry Hill for a cutthroat round of miniature golf. Raegan and Kirt won with the lowest combined score. Next on the schedule, home for Astro Bars. Then Kelsey provided an exellent demonstration on how to perform CPR on children and adults. It was very educational and we all hope that we never have to use it! We watched the Red Sox beat the Yankees (woohoo) and played a game of 5 Crowns. Then it was outside for volleyball, badminton, and a wicked game of FrisbeeFootball. Grandma Steed and Sheri and Kate Thompson joined us for a delicious barbeque. Thanks for being our chef, Val. His barbeque is the best!

Then it was time for our annual fireworks show - "Circle of Fire". My neice Lara and her husband joined us for that. Between us and our neighbors we had an awesome show. Thanks to the people in surrounding neighborhoods who provided a incredible "illegal" fireworks display. All in all it was a great day. Happy Birthday America!

Congratulations, Kelsey!

June 30 through July 3 Kelsey attended drill camp. This was her third year at BDT (Basic Dance Training) For the third year in a row, she was selected to participate in Top Corps. Teams can enter several girls. Camp directors teach them a challenging combination to perform. The top 25 is selected. They are taught additional choreography. Then the top five performers are chosen. Kelsey made top 25 all three years and top five her junior and senior year. I guess all those years of dance lessons are really beginning to pay off. She also participated in the camp drill down and was one of the top five finishers there also. It was a great way for her to finish her last camp. This picture is of Kelsey, Kailey and Marynn with their drill down medals. Viewmont had three of the top five finishers!

Top C.O.R.P.S.

Top five finishers

Kelsey, we're proud of you!