Tyler John Ballif

Our little nephew, Tyler John was born on October 5, 2007. He was a perfect spirit. Tyler was born with some very significant health problems. He had a poorly developed brain along with a large amount of water on his brain. He also suffered from a major heart deformity. He brightened all of our lives. He brought with him a very real and special spirit. He taught us all to better appreciate and understand the Plan of Salvation and helped us all to see the eternal perspective. He passed away on October 29, 2007. He lived a miraculous 24 days and with his presence taught each of us something more about love and the value of family along with a strenthened testimony in our Heavenly Father's plan for us. For me personally, I have had a stronger desire to obey God's commandments hoping to, one day, prove myself worthy to meet Tyler in the next life and be able to join with him as a family. It has been hard for our family, especially his parents, JP and Mary, but thank goodness for the gospel that offers us comfort and peace in our time of sorrow. Thank Goodness for our Savior who sacrificed on our behalves and made an atonement not only for our sins but, also, our sorrows.

A-I-T

Hooray, Hooray, Hooray for AIT (sang to the tune of "go home with Bonnie Jean")


Marc has officially finished all his training today. He graduates from Basic Training on Friday October 5, and will then be sent to AIT in Ft. Rucker. The reason for the jolly song at the beginning is because my weeks of endless worry and no communication are about to come to an end!! Marc will get his cell phone on Friday this week and will be able to call me each night before lights out. This is so exciting for me!! It has been so hard to sit and wonder when or if I'd talk to him. These last 10 1/2 weeks have been a very big challenge with only snail mail and very occasional phone calls. But we are on the downward slope now with only about 8 1/2 to go!! Feel free to join in the refrain...Hooray, Hooray, Hooray for AIT!!


These pictures are not of Marc but they are of his battery. This just gives us all an idea of what basic training is all about.











































More highlights of the best moments of Basic Training that Marc can remember coming soon!!

Oh, the first snowfall of the Winter

I just wanted everyone to know that we had our first snow in Salt Lake City of the Season. It always makes me want to start singing along with Karen Carpenter..."oh, the first snowfall of the winter, was a day that we all waited for..." You get the picture. It didn't stick but so exciting nonetheless!!




"The first snow of the year is just about the best snow, (very high) I'd prefer the wet snow. (very low)Well I'd say any snow is a pretty good snow"

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Howard

On Sept. 15th, we celebrated the life of our Grandpa, Howard Maurice Ballif. He has had an amazing life filled with endless years of dedicated church service. On Sept. 21st he turned 100 years old! He is the sweetest man, and we are so happy to be related to such an stalwart man who paved our way in the church.

It was a great night to celebrate his life and be with family. We missed Marc, he was the only one of our John Paul Ballif Family not there, but our thoughts were with him. I was fortunate to get some updated pictures of our Ballif Family.

Here they are, in Ballif terminology-- the whole "Fam Damily"

Mom and Dad Ballif

Jimmy and Marie Ballif Family

Big "toofy" grin, Tim!

Maury and Daniela Ballif Family

Barb and Craig Allred Family.

Those crazy little "girl-o-s"

I didn't get a good picture of the Jp and Mary Ballif Family but I got something better. A "Battle of the Gut" shot. You decide who wins.

JP, although he comes in at second place, is finally joining the ranks of guts. His brothers are all so proud of him. Way to go PJ.

Here's my last family shot of Jake and Rachel Fulton. Notice the sported Red U shirt. The only ones in the Ballif Family that don't live by the phrase, "I'd rather be dead than red." They are great and we love them just the same.

Lou Lou and Annie with a cousin.

Mimi's new haircut!

So cute!!

Our cute Annie with our cute Kayli!

Some of our neices and nephews. Timmy with the big "toofy" grin, Kylie, Maren, Erica, Michael and Allison. They're a silly bunch. 6...

And 3 more, Annika, Joshua and Andy

And Kayli, makes 10 all together!

Annie and Me. We had a laugh trying to get us both in the picture and looking good. This is the best we could do. Hope you enjoy it.

Okay, everyone can really ignore this last picture of me.

It's mostly for Marc since he hasn't seen me in over 2 months. He asked for pictures so I had to come up with one. I Love You, Marc.

Marie's Trip to Seattle!

I decided while Marc is gone to spend less time at home, alone, and more time out and about seeing things I've never before seen!! So I ended up here in Seattle visiting my sister Amy, her husband Tim and our little neice Amanda. I've had a great time visiting them and have done many fun things including visiting pike place and even driving over an opening bridge thing! So cool! But I think my favorite part about this trip was buying Amanda her first pair of sunglasses!

Sunday we went on a drive to see the beautiful Seattle Temple. I had never seen it before and I absolutely loved it! The grounds were so beautiful with some of the most beautiful statues and flowers ever.

This is one of my absolute favorite statues!!

A very nice man took this of Amy, Amanda and me. He didn't really get the zoom idea. But nice of him nonetheless.

Some of the flowers just across from the temple on the grounds. So many beautiful colors! And very green here. But of course, "It rains nine months out of the year in Seattle."

One of those cool bridges!!! We saw it on our way home from the temple.

Proud of our Private Ballif

On July 2, 2007 Marc was sworn into the Army National Guard. This has been a hard decision for us to make but we are sure it was the right one.

Marc is now away in Oklahoma at Basic Training. I am very proud of his decision to serve our Country.

Marc will soon be headed off to Ft. Rucker, Alabama to complete his Advanced Individual Training (AIT). He entered the army in the aviation unit as a crew chief of an apache helicopter. He is so excited! His lifelong dream is to be a helicopter pilot. If he gets selected after applying, Marc will be able to fulfill that dream and become a helicopter pilot. We are so excited about his position as a crew chief because of the experience it will give him while also making our possibility greater of being selected to take the pilot's course.

Trip to DC!!

Marc and I went to DC for a week last January. We had a blast!! Marc has a passion for history so he loved seeing all those monuments that are a major part of our American history. As for me, the Lincoln Monument was my favorite. We had so much fun! We'll be going there again. It's impossible to see it all! Stay tuned for pictures!

Lake Powell is our Favorite!

We went to Lake Powell this last July. It has been a family tradition for about the last 22 years straight (correct me if I'm wrong, Mom). It is our favorite place. This is the whole group who made it this year. It was fun having Grandma join us!!

June 29, 2006

On June 29th 2006 Marc and I were married in the Manti Temple for time and eternity. This was the best day of our lives. We love it down there in Manti and are so glad we decided to get married there.