I'm Feeling Very Olympic Today...

...How could I not after that awesome win by the U.S.in the men's relay! Those of you who didn't see it, you have to go back and watch. Chad and I were screaming at the T.V when they pulled off the win. The best part was beating the French, who were favored to win and were talkin' smack about the U.S.A. Oh, it was great!! I just love the Olympics. Chad and I always seem to get glued to the T.V. whenever they are on, which is fitting, since they remind me of him. During the Sydney summer games, back in 2000, I was at Ricks college. Most of you know that I got the idea to take Chad a big pitcher of Orange Julius when I found out he was "under the weather". We were in the same ward and had talked a few times, and I knew I was being pretty forward by going over to his apartment unannounced. Well, the next night my roomie Candace and I were watching the games in our apartment, when I heard a knock at the door. There was Chad with the empty (and cleaned) pitcher. He asked me out for the following day, and we have been inseparable since!! That means that I have "dated" Chad for 8 years!! Wow, time flies!

FIRE!!

For those of you who caught the news last weekend and saw the big fire in Utah County, well unfortunately it happened on the mountain just east of where we live and as you can see by these pictures that I took, it was a little too close for comfort! There was a couple subdivisions, and a highway in between us, but at the time I took the one above from my own deck, it was headed our way! This one I took from my neighbor's porch, just across the street from us, where it looks crazy close, but it really wasn't. It was about this time that I started kicking myself for not getting my 72-hour kits put together weeks ago!!
After the first couple pictures, and we put the kids to bed, I let my curiosity of the fire consume me (pardon the pun) and I headed up a few streets to get a better look. The fire had calmed down quite a bit, but you can still see the glowing spots all over our mountain. When I was satisfied that it wasn't heading for our neighborhood, I went back home with a grateful heart. Then, as Chad and I were heading to bed our Bishop called (it was about 11:00 at night) to ask Chad to be on alert in case anyone in our ward needed help to evacuate. Yeah, that helped me relax!! Thankfully, we never did get a call back and when we woke up the next morning we found that the fire was contained and all was well! It really made me think of how important it is to be prepared, so if a disaster strikes you don't feel so helpless. I hope if it happens again, I will be more ready.

"The Devil Store"

On our last trip into Wal-Mart, Chad and I splurged and bought these little camping chairs for the kids. Not just for camping, the kids had to try them out as soon as we walked in the door! It has become Keek's favorite spot to play video games, and the other two's favorite spot to sit and chill. Some of my family give me grief for shopping at Wal-Mart and call it the "Devil Store," but it is cheap, has everything I need, is very close to my house and more importantly, there isn't anywhere else to shop down here!! Bash the "Devil Store" if you will, but we like it and don't see that changing anytime soon!!

Reason for lack of posts lately...

We rented this game for the Wii over a week ago and have not been able to turn it off! It is unbelievably addicting, so be prepared to play awhile if you happen to turn it on. Me, Chad and even Keek have been really enjoying it and I'm sure my little Sam and Emmi will to when they get old enough. We loved it so much that when we had to take it back to Blockbuster we ran over to Wally World (Walmart) and bought our own copy. Has anyone else played this? Or are we the only ones addicted?

My favorite quote by C.S. Lewis

This is one of my all-time favorite quotes. I looked all over and finally tracked it down on the internet. I thought it was worth sharing... enjoy!

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of–throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." C.S. Lewis

A Little Lady in Wyoming

Saturday, Chad, myself and the kids spent 8 long hours in the van to make a trip up and back to Star Valley, Wyoming. It was worth it to see the special lady above, Chad's grandmother Isabelle, turn 93. We had a big party for her and got to see lots and lots of family. Chad's little brother Tyler (and Russ) helping Sam across the monkey bars.

Grandma Hunsaker had 6 boys and 1 girl. My father-in-law Kirk is second from the left and is also second from youngest. Sadly, Grandpa Hunsaker died shortly after Chad was born, so I have not met him yet. But, from what I hear he was a great person, like his sweet wife. Well, our little bunch of the family tree with the birthday lady, except 1 who couldn't make it. As you can tell Emmi had spotted the cake was not interested in taking a picture. This is the best one I have, sorry!
They went all-out for the kids and seemed to jump from one activity to the next. The favorite had to be the pinata and all of its yummy candies. Keek's about to take a big swing.After the pinata finally ripped opened, look who got right in the middle of it and grabbed all the suckers her little paws could hold!! I caught ya Em! Twice we also caught her outside trying to crawl inside the big oven thing. We had a good time and the kids did really well in the van considering we don't have a DVD player anymore. Happy Birthday Grandma, we love you!

Summer Means...

Sparklers. The 4th wouldn't be the same without them. How can something so simple be so fascinating and dangerous? (Yes, my big brother J, will not hold one because they scare him!) My boys weren't scared, but you can see by the pictures how intrigued they were by the lights. God bless the U.S.A! Swinging. As we have been able to spend more time at the park lately, we have discovered Emmi's love of the swing. It is by far her favorite thing to do in the summer. Here she is with her Aunt Kristin at our 4th of July barbecue. Swimming Lessons. This is the first year I have put my boys in swimming lessons and I am glad I did. They are both well on their way to knowing the basics of swimming and staying out of danger, which will put their Mama and Grandma at ease. I was able to put them in a different class, but at the same time. I put Sam in his best friend Eden's class (pictured above) and Keaton in his best friend Tanner's class.

Keaton with his teacher during a lesson. Sam, Keaton and Tanner The Beach. Okay, we haven't gone to the beach, but to the reservoir which is just as good to us! The boys bring their buckets and dump trucks and go crazy playing in the sand and splashing in the water. We go with Sidni and her kids and make a day of it. Sidni's youngest Maddix and Emmi playing in the shade. We are so lucky that Sidni shares her huge canopy with us, so we don't bake in the sun. T-Ball. Keaton has finished his t-ball games for the season and is already talking about playing next year. Nothing is more American or summer-ish than that!!