The King Family: It's the Kings!

Happy 53rd Birthday Dad!
As part of a plan to stay more closely connected to our family and friends, we decided to start this blog. Hopefully it will serve as a journal and a way to keep all of us up to date on eachother. We love you all and hope that you enjoy this blog as much as we have enjoyed creating it!

Here are the latest stats on the family: Todd is currently employed at Vitalsmarts (a Communications company with 2 best-selling books). He travels all around the world and trains corporations and individuals on "Crucial Conversations", and "Crucial Confrontations". Valorie is cute as ever and doesn't look like she could have 8 kids! She keeps up on the yard (all 2 acres), and all 5 teenage boys, plus her 4 grandkids! She is an amazing woman. Brittani and Ryan have 3 kids: Apsen (3), Rex (23 months), and Lindsay (11 weeks). Ryan worked hard starting a seminar division for a stock company Spread Trade Systems, and has currently moved on to the next thing...we're not sure what that will be yet. Brooke and Mikel have 1 little boy Adam (10 months). Mikel works as an accountant for Summit Energy in Park City. As you all know it's the accountant who runs the company, so he stays busy! Greg (24) is attending UVSC and currently on the prowl for a cute girl of his own. He just finished a successful summer as a manager in Anaheim, California for Preventative Pest Control. Christian (21) returned from his mission in June, and is attending UVSC with Greg. He is also on the prowl, and he works for Thanksgiving Point in their catering/banquet set-up dept. Sterling (19) graduated from Pleasant Grove High School in May. This past summer he sold pest control with Greg in Anaheim, he currently works as a paint prepper for Rocky Mountian Collison Repair. He is planning on a mission this coming Spring. Michael turned 16 on Friday! He has his license, and he plays as starting lineman for the Pleasant Grove football team. Matthew turned 13 in June, and recently got his cast off after he suffered a broken arm early in his football season. His arm got tangled in an opposing lineman's helmet (ouch!). Christee turned 11 in June and is the aunt of the year! She takes great care of her neices and nephews who adore her with their whole hearts. They call her Ki-Ki. She is the cutest 5th grader at Timpanogos Academy. So there's the crew!

The Whole Family at Pearl Harbor

This summer we took an awesome vacation all together to Hawaii! Dad got everyone 1st class tickets to Hawaii and we stayed in a beach house on the North Shore of Oahu. It was the best 10 days of our lives. We soaked up lots of sun and sea water. Our house was right on the beach and it was perfect for snorkeling with sea turtles. A rare monk seal even came to sun itself on the beach right in front of our house! They aren't as nice as they look! Ryan almost lost his calf to the monk seal's jaws when he and Rex went to take a picture with it. One of our funnest adventures was swimming with sharks (in a metal cage of course) through North Shore Shark Tours. Brittani brought Lindsay (who was only 4 weeks old) so Lindsay became a world traveler! Also, Brittani broke her tailbone jumping off the cliffs at Waimea Bay. Other than that there were only a few basketball "foul" injuries. There was plenty of surfing by Greg and Sterling (who were excited to show off the surfing skills they learned in Southern California). Michael, Matthew, and Christee captures tons of crabs, fish, and other sea objects to study (then turned them loose). Dad was a trooper and snorkeled all day! Mom kept us laughing and very well fed. Check out this link for a great house to rent in Hawaii http://bali-ho.com/ Here are some pictures of our adventures:

In the Hot-tub, Dad with the Ukele