Happy Birthday Jordan

It's been an incredible 20 yrs to have Jordan as such a wonderful son. He has become such a great young man and we are looking forward to what the next 20 years bring. I know that the growth can be as profound as the last 20.

2 wks old

8 mos.

2 yrs

4 yrs.

That's Davy Crockett and Red Stick-6 yrs

8 yrs.

10 yrs-#23 is Michael Jordan's no. Jordan's BB idol.

12 yrs.

15 yrs.

16 yrs.

Aloha High School-18 yrs.

Service with a smile-19 yrs.

The right place to be-19 yrs.

Jordan has always kept us on our toes. He is Mr. social-not afraid to approach any chance to make a friend. He is always willing to lend a hand and help others. He is a innovative thinker and likes to think outside the box. I know with all these talents and abilities you will be able to accomplish anything you decide to do. Happy Birthday Jordan.

Texas Bluebonnets

Each Spring the Bluebonnets arrive in Texas. It's one of my favorite things, and it's our tradition to take our picture with them. We go with the Boyers so we can take turns taking family pics. We found a great huge field with Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush. After the picture session we head to Bellville to a park that actually has teeter totters or see saws (whatever you prefer to call them). It's a great time to enjoy the beauty of Texas and the company of great friends.

Special request

On Sunday April 12th (Easter Sunday) it is Jordan's 20th birthday. I know many of you drop him a note through our missionary letter but I thought I would ask if you haven't already, could you send a note to him for his birthday? His address is Elder Jordan Kenneth Torbit
750 W Christie
Banning, CA 92220
This is his physical address. He will be there at least the next month. I'm sure he would enjoy hearing from you. Thanks for taking the time to make his day special.

Spring Break

Time out for Women

My new flower bed-hopefully, it's going to take lots of work

the fine art of mixing concrete. There are many opinions as to what the correct consistency is.

Almost done.

The rodeo midway

The winner and her prize

We really looked forward to Spring Break-no schedule and no school. Yeah!!!! We started with a women's conference "Time out for Women" Great speakers and great music and a chance to recharge. On Mon we worked on our garden boxes (see post two down) and we dug out a space to put in a flower bed. Tues Ken and I helped one of the scouts in our troop with his Eagle Project. He was building a split rail fence between two buildings. Due to rain the mud was horrible, but everyone pitched in and he got most of it done in one day. On Wed we finished the garden boxes and then headed to the Houston Livestock show and rodeo. We just went to the Livestock portion. We went on the sky ride which took you in chair lifts over the rodeo. It was cool to see everything from that perspective. We checked out the AGventure area with lots of baby animals and Paige even won a stuffed animal at one of the games. We came home tired but enjoyed the day.

Camping at Huntsville State Park

Taylor and Harrison with some male bonding

Amy and Paige working on sand figures

The "dining room"-grab a chair!!!

Working on their casting skills

A park resident

Silly girls on a log



At the end of the week we headed to Huntsville State Park to meet up with Amy & John and many friends. It was nice to just relax and hang out. We did a few crafts, ate great food (Thanks Boyers and Knies) the kids participated in a fishing clinic and just took it easy. We did check out the local wildlife. A bit scary to be that close to a crocodile. We had perfect weather-chilly evenings and mornings and warm during the day. We even got to build a fire since we had gotten rain and the burn ban was lifted. And at the end we used confetti eggs to "encourage" the kids to help clean up the campsites. It's too bad reality and its schedule was waiting to start the next day.

The Garden

Over the years I have attempted to grow some vegatables. Mostly tomatoes, nothing like a fresh tomato sliced and a bit of salt. I have never been very successful. In fact that is Ken's joke every Spring. "Are you going to try tomatoes this year"? Well after seeing a friend's garden and remembering that my dad did grow boxes with great results, I decided to go for it. This way I don't have to try and deal with Texas clay. So here are our garden boxes. Ken built the frame from landscape timbers. We lined them with weedblock to keep the grass out and filled them with planting soil. The kids each got to pick what they wanted to have in the garden. (Better chances of help) We got some plants from seedlings and some we went to the seeds. We have 4 types of tomatoes (Paige & me), jalapenos (Taylor's choice), cucumbers(Lexi's), Orange bell pepper, squash, watermelon, carrots, corn and beans. So now we wait. We'll let you know how the garden grows.

Pictures from the mission field

Jordan just sent us some pictures from both his 1st area and his current area in Banning. Thought I'd share some.





Visiting Big Falls in Banning National Forest on p-day

Elder Torbit and Elder Rose in front of the Redlands Temple

A cool shot of the Redlands Temple at night. I love the perspective.

Elder Torbit and Elder Aguilera (new companion) with his box of goodies from the Young Women in our ward