Calling all saints...

We went to the San Antonio temple on Friday evening, and when we left, with the low cloud cover, this is what we saw. Batman has nothing on us! - S

Funny Brody!

So yesterday I had gone to the store to get a present for a boy who wasn't going to get anything for Christmas. Well the gift was on the kitchen counter when Brody saw it. This was the conversation:

Brody: Mom thanks this is what I always wanted!

Mom: Sorry, it's not for you.

Brody: Kaleb come here!

Kaleb: Thanks mom this is what I always wanted!

Mom: Sorry, it is for a boy who isn't getting much for Christmas,

Brody: Kaleb I can give it to you for Christmas!

What a sweet boy! It was too funny.

Santa Clause came for a visit

So on Monday we hear a knock on the door, and who is there, Santa Clause!!! The kids were so excited!! He brought them a candy cane and a coloring book. So since he came on Monday, does that mean that he will come on Christmas Eve?? I guess we will have to wait and find out. Actually Santa was our Mexican Bishop who had colored his black eyebrows white. It was too funny. Just enlarge the picture and you should see what I am talking about!

This is what Happens when.....

So yesterday I was helping Kaleb take apart his bike so we could sand it and repaint it. Well I couldn't find any of the tools we needed and called Scott a few times to ask where he put them. Needless to say I was getting really frustrated, so my Dad and I took a trip to Lowes. After about a hour and a half, I pulled up with this. I think Scott was in shock, but hopefully now I will be able to find all the tools! Am I awesome or what!!!!

tamales

So, our friends were cooking up a pigs head (which really stinks) to make some tamales. They invited us over to sample the delicacies. They put the tongue and an eyeball out on the tray to cool down before we sampled them. The tongue wasn't bad, just really dense meat. However, I am at a loss of words to describe the pigs eye. Enjoy the video.

piano

Here is a video clip of Emmi's piano recital. She is really getting good.

Derby time

This was the first year Kaleb was able to participate in a pinewood derby. I tried my best not to take over the project completely.

We participated today in the district race, put on by a local automobile dealership. Kaleb was pretty happy with the performance of his first car. We had a great time and Kaleb ended up placing fourth out of all the wolf scouts. The other wolf scout from the troop placed well also. The Weblos scout placed 2nd in his group. Our small group of boys did extremely well.

airplanes and surfboards

So, I had out my drill repairing the fence, etc. The boys love to use tools and begged to use it for their projects. Kaleb built a surfboard and Brody built an airplane.

Monkeying around

So the other day Andrew (our neighbor) was walking by and the kids heard him outside. They love him, so they all bolted outside and next thing we know they are playing with his dogs, then climbing the tree with him. Hope you enjoy the picture. (Yes, we know it is December) - S

Fortune cookies

Our dinner conversation while eating tortellini soup:

Kids - These look like fortune cookies, where's the surprise?

Jennifer - They are filled with cheese.

Kaleb - I can tell fortunes.

Brody - What does my fortune say?

Kaleb - (in a deep and mysterious voice) I'm devilishly handsome.

Jennifer spews her soup across the table as she falls to the floor laughing with the rest of us.

Brody and his turkeys

Jennifer wanted this posted, so I took video of him singing it tonight.

crazy kids

So, the camera was out and the kids wanted to show off for the camera. Here is the picture from this evening.

veggi-tables

What I overheard today.

Brody - Mom, can I eat some vegetables?

Jennifer - Sure, do you want carrots?

Brody - Yes.

Jennifer - OK, but you'll have to peel them.

Brody - OK! (Brody exits in a dead run to the kitchen)

How did this ever come to be?

Lost that feeling

So, a friend in California was joking with me about this, so once I was off the phone I went into the closet and came out dressed like this, to serenade Jennifer (and yes, the navy actually issues these to pilots).

As soon as she tried to get video I had to stop singing...I don't want anyone to loose their hearing because of me. You get the picture though. "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips."

She started laughing, which is what I was going for (at least it was once she started laughing).

The Best Friend Ever!

So here is a conversation I had with Mia today.

Mia "Mom, can I call my friend Drew"

Mom "Sure you can, on your phone." (Beep beep beep on her pretend phone)

Mia "Hi Drew, can you come over to play?... Mom Drew is coming over to play. "

Mom "Who is Drew?"

Mia "She is my pretend friend who is 3. I like her because she is invisible and doesn't make a mess in my room, She is the best friend ever!"

I thought it was pretty funny, because Mia is the one who could care less if there is a mess in her room, it is Emmi who hates it!

Just to let everyone know, it was not me (Jennifer) who took a shower with a roach, it was my husband. I would have screamed and ran out of the bathroom until Scott killed it.

Shower anyone?

You know how some days you would like a little company in the shower? Well, today was not one of those days for me, yet I had a little company anyways.















This beauty crawled in and wanted to shower with me. I know, lucky me! It was so big I didn't want to crush it because it would have exploded roach guts all over my body, so I showered with it. I made sure it kept away from my feet. It fell on its back trying to climb the wall, then the water swept it to the drain. No, it did not go down the drain, did you see the size of that thing? It was about three inches long! It got stuck at the drain and I think drowned in the constant flow of water. Poor roach. It received the same honors as a dead pet fish, the single flush salute.

Come one, Come all

So, here is a little video clip of Emmi, showing off her amazing talents (you should see her rollerblade and read a book).

A guest in my own home

Mia was talking back to me this morning. I had her sit down and I told her she should not talk back.

Her response...."You are not the boss, MOM IS!"

Well, at least my kids know.

Run like the wind

So we decided to sign our kids up to run a 1K family fun run for Thursday, 30 October. The base put it on and hey, it was free and the kids each got a T-shirt. So, after 0.78 miles Brody was the first one to cross the line at 8:28, Emmi at 8:30, Kaleb at 8:58 and Mia around 12:30. It was a lot of fun and we were impressed with some of the effort.

Sorry, no pictures this time. Maybe we'll get some for the thanksgiving one.

Wuv, twoo wuv

Thursday Mia decided it was time she took destiny into her own hands and headed to the front door. When asked where she was going, she replied simply "To the castle to find my true love."

When told she needed to stay inside, her response was, "But Mom, I have my shoes on!"

When told she could go in the back yard she stated positively, "Our house is not a castle!"

Now, for the rest of the story (thanks Paul Harvey)...

Later in the day she diligently worked drawing a picture. When she was done she asked for some snacks to be put in her backpack. When asked why, she stated she was going on a trip and "I have a map to my true loves castle."

When told she couldn't get married until she turns 25, she replied "I will have lots of birthdays there."

We sure love our little princess. I just hope she waits for a lot more birthdays until she marries her prince charming.

Happy Halloween!

Well at 6:30 Halloween Morning, I get awaken by Brody saying, Kaleb is puking! Oh what a lovely day it is going to be! Kaleb always seems to get sick at the most inconvenient time. I know I should be feeling sad that he is sick, but I had so much to do! I had a birthday cake to deliver, (good thing I had finished it the night before) a house to clean, grocery shopping to do, a dinner to make and a sick child to take care of. Well being the kind mom I am, I did leave my sick child home alone so that I could deliver the cake and go to the store. By the time I left he had stopped puking every 15 minutes and actually didn't puke any more thank goodness. Since Kaleb was feeling better after some good ole chicken noodle soup he helped to clean up the house. ( I am a horrible mother I know) Then it was off to making dinner. Every Halloween I make a special Halloween dinner. This year we had Scarecrow bean dip, Boo Bugs, Sea monster Sandwich, and a special Witches Brew. We had the Missionaries over, and we all enjoyed it.


After dinner, it was off to Trick or Treat. We went up our street then up to the Church for a Halloween Dance and trunk-or-treat. I have to say it was the best activity I have ever been too. Scott and Kaleb stayed home and the rest of us went to the party. Mia danced all night, and Emmi had all of her friends to play with, and Brody was my little buddy, we danced the YMCA, Cotton-eye Joe, Thriller and all kinds of fun stuff. There was also a hula hooping contest, which I won! ( Yahoo! Thank you wii fit hula hoop) All in all it was a pretty good day even if it started out a little rough. Kaleb is feeling much better and I did let him Trick-or-Treat on our street.

TIME OUT!

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the seminar "Time out for Women," but Jennifer had the opportunity to attend last weekend. She organized the entire trip, 17 ladies went, Jennifer ordered the tickets, reserved the hotel rooms, and collected all the money. She left Friday morning and got back about 10:30 Saturday evening, and had a great time. The good thing is, she came home! I thought maybe she would take the opportunity of not being chained to the kitchen stove and run. Lucky for me (and the kids who had to eat my cooking) she came back.

Tap Dancing

Mia's new favorite thing is Tap. Our friends the Grajeda family gave her the tap shoes and a leotard, she is loving them! I guess I should put her in tap classes. What do you think??

Kaleb's New Suit

So I must be the blogging queen today, but I figured I was on here, I might as well update everything that has been going on. Kaleb got a suit for Church, it was on clearance and I just couldn't pass it up. He looks so sharp in it, I thought I would post his picture.

Baby Quilts

Since we were going to our friends babies blessing, (which I had know about for weeks) the night before I decided to make a couple quilts for her twin girls. Scott was kind enough to help me, and we were able to finish and go to bed about 1 am. They turned out so cute, Emmi and Mia wanted to keep them. I guess I will have to make a couple more, maybe for Christmas!

Seaworld Fun!

So over the weekend we went up to San Antonio for a friends baby blessing, and while we were there we decided to finally go to Sea World. We have had 4 free passes all year and just haven't gone. We all had a great time. There was a ride called Journey to Atlantis, and it was a blast. There wasn't a line so we were able to go right on. Here are some pictures and a few video clips of our day!



This was the first show we saw with the seals and a huge walrus, it was so funny! They all were trying to find out who had been eating all the fish. Come to find out it was the owner of the store, the walrus! Mystery Solved!



This is the first ride everyone went on. The good ole log ride. Kaleb was a little scared, and really didn't want to go on any other roller coaster type rides. This log ride had 2 pretty step areas.




Here was the flamingo area, I had to get this picture for my Mom! There were at least 100 flamingos. It was pretty cool.



Here is a clip from the Shamu show. It was so neat! The other video is when Scott, Emmi and Brody went on the Journey to Atlantis ride. Kaleb decided he would have fun in a different way!



Last but not least, when Emmi and Brody saw what Kaleb was having fun doing, they decided to also. So here is an action picture. Mia didn't want to do it a second time, I am not sure why?? (p.s. you can click on the picture to see it a little bigger)

Honey, What's for Dinner???

So yesterday I was busy reading a book, and it was time for dinner. I told the kids they could make dinner, but that they could not make sandwiches because they had that for lunch. Well they couldn't think of anything so Scott decided to be creative and make up something of his own. (Of course there is always the back up food like corn dogs, chicken tenders, fries, ect...) Lets just say, I won't be asking him to cook for a long time!!! He took minestrone soup and put biscuits on top, but the biscuits didn't cook all the way. Brody and Scott liked it but the rest of us didn't!

Fresh Air

On two occasions now I have had flashbacks to my youth. I think Mia may have a hereditary breathing disorder which runs in my family; namely the females.

Last week and again tonight Mia was misbehaving and I disciplined her by grabbing her and forcing her to sit in my lap. Regardless of how loosely I hold her, if I do not let her go in the matter of a few seconds she develops some bizarre breathing problem and starts screaming (through her sobs of course); "Dad, your chocking me!"

I remember my sisters (you know who you are) doing the same thing, even if I was holding on to their ankle. I must have an amazing grip to squeeze their lungs through their ankles. Flash can run fast, Spiderman can climb walls, I can suffocate people by touching them. Amazing, isn't it.

Let's get physical

So, Jennifer was talking on the phone the other day to our friend Chiko. Many of you know him. They were discussing his life. Obviously others in the house were listening to what Jennifer was saying.

Jennifer - "Blah blah blah... That's because the relationship isn't physical."

Kaleb - "Like MATING."

When Jennifer relayed the comment we almost had to call the paramedics for Chiko.

That kid of ours is getting too smart for his own good.

Invisable Mom

Some one sent me this in an Email, and I really liked it. I hope you Moms out there like it too.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of what we are building.....

It all began to make sense, the blank stares,

the lack of response, the way one of the kids will
walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be
taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the
phone?'

Obviously, not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking,
or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in
the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am

only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can
you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands;

I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask,

'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to

answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a

car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that

once held books and the eyes that studied history
and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now
they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be
seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner,

Celebrating the return of a friend from England ...

Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and

she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I
was sitting there, looking around at the others all put
together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry
for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice
turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said,
'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me

until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one

sees.' In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the
book. And I would discover what would become for

me, four life-changing truths, after which I

could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals

- we have no record of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a

work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no

credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by

their faith that the eyes of God saw
everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich

man who came to visit the cathedral while it was
being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on
the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why
are you spending so much time carving that bird into a
beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see
it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece

fall into place.

It was almost as if I heard God whispering to

me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices
you make every day, even when no one around you does. No
act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn

no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me

to notice and smile over. You are building a great
cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction.

But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the
cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness.

It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn

pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a

great builder. As one of the people who show up at

a job that they will never see finished, to work

on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say

that no cathedrals could ever be built in our

lifetime because there are so few people willing

to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't

want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home
from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in
the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand
bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens
for the table.'

That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument

to myself. I just want him to want to come home.

And then, if there is anything more to say to his

friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals.

We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And
one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel,
not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has
been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible
women.

Great Job, MOM!

Week three away from home

For the third week in a row I haven't been around on Saturday. This week was a clean-up effort in Galveston, Texas. We met here at 2:45 am for the drive up. This time I was blessed with being a passenger. That was a relief because I was pretty tired.

















We were greeted by wild views on our way onto the island. However, the pictures are from on our way out, not in.





We met up at the church at 8:00 for our work assignments. Our first job involved removing downed trees from the back yard and flooded appliances from inside the house. The house had water rise to about 4 feet in it. Everything in the house is ruined and molding. The neighborhood looked like a landfill. Across the street we helped empty a garage and clean a back yard. These pictures show some of the debris littering the curb.


At our second area we moved flooded appliances again, removed wall paneling and moldy sheet rock. This house had water inside to about 5 1/2 feet. The house is built about four feet off the ground! The neighboring house was build ground level and the entire first floor was flooded, clear to the ceiling. The wallboard is all molding and the entire neighbor hoods wreak. We wore masks to help protect us from the mold. We also had rubber gloves to keep our hands clean.



Here the trucks are removing the building debris from the curbs. We were told a separate truck comes by to get the appliances. It was sad to see such conditions, yet amazing to see the resolve of the residence. They rolled up their sleeves and went to work. At this particular place a Lutheran group was busy helping gut another house just down the street.

We had an insurance adjuster stop his car, get out, and come up to thank us for the volunteer work we do. He commented on seeing our yellow shirts all over the town helping clean up the community and just wanted to show appreciation. That was pretty cool!

Here is a story for you. The church building we met at is just a few blocks from the Gulf of Mexico. The church ground is fairly flat, but the church is on a slight mound. That mound was just enough because the surrounding houses flooded, but the church had no water come in! How cool is that.

Mia, Mia, Mia

So last week I went through all of the kids clothes and got rid of the ones that didn't fit anymore. Well that night when Mia went to get her pajamas on she freaked out because her drawer was almost empty compared to how it was that morning. I tried telling her that all the clothes that I had taken out were to small and that I would get her some that fit later. Well, she wasn't very happy with me for a few days and I was telling my friend about what happened, and that I needed to go shopping to get her some new clothes. My friend has a daughter that is 5 and desperately needed to go through her clothes. She told me not to go shopping yet and we went and cleaned out her daughter dresser. Oh my goodness, after we were done Mia had more clothes than she has ever had her entire life! ( I love my friend, she saved me so much money!!) When Mia got home from preschool I told her I had a surprise for her, she could have cared less, but then I pulled out 3 garbage bags full of clothes. She has been in Heaven ever since, 3-4 outfits a day! She also had a bag of shoes and boots. Mia loves boots, and now she has 5 pairs! Let me tell you, the next morning Mia came out in her pajamas and boots, it was the funniest thing. I asked her if she had slept in them, but she said no, that she just put them on before she came out. I wished I had gotten a picture of it. I did get this picture of her though. She is definitely a girl!

Storming mess!

Saturday some members of the church decided we wanted a cool new yellow shirt, so we loaded up at oh-dark thirty and headed up to Houston. My chainsaw needs an award for all the trees it chewed through. Sorry I don't have pictures, but here are some details.

We showed up at the stake center where the hundred or so volunteers received assignments and supplies. The assignments ranged from moving people out of their homes to tarping roofs and removing trees. The missionaries had scoured the local areas asking people if they needed help, and those people along with local first responders were the houses we tackled. Our crew went to four different houses removing downed trees. Two sites had trees strike houses. One resident decided to keep their trampoline from blowing away by letting the wind drop a tree across it. That wouldn't have been my method but it worked! It was hot, a lot of work, a VERY long day, and a lot of fun. I wouldn't be surprised if we are asked to come back in a week or two when Galveston is opened up. We might need more shovels than chain saws there.

The area we provided our service in, through the home-teaching network, had accounted for the members and their needs within a day of the hurricane hitting. Talk about a good system!

Weather Threats

First we faced Gustav, then Ike. Neither one gave us anything, unlike Hurricane Dolly which dumped more rain in two days on us than Idaho gets in six months! On Wednesday we were expecting a direct hit from Ike, so we boarded up our house and prepared for an evacuation notice from the military Thursday morning. However, through the night the predictions had shifted far enough north it appeared we were out of harms way and the evacuation order was never issued. We did have the house boarded up already and figured it was better safe than sorry, so we left the boards up until Saturday morning. (Ike made landfall Saturday around 2:00 AM) Here I am taking down the last of the boards from the windows, these west side of the house. Jennifer decided she doesn't like living in a cave. The lack of sunshine makes her somewhat lethargic and depressed. Talk about a different mood once the boards were removed.





We didn't even see a rain drop from Ike. However, we did get some hot weather! Jennifer took this picture on our back patio in the late afternoon; 107 DEGREES! The kids all played in the hot-tub (we keep it around 90 degrees in the summer) for a few hours. Then, soaking wet they wanted to come inside. Jennifer told them they needed to stay outside and dry off a little before coming into the air conditioned house. Five minutes later Brody was sound asleep in the driveway!

Turkey Butt

Yesterday Mia was in the boys room building with their blocks. Jennifer and I sat on the floor talking with her. The other kids were in school. Out of the blue Mia said, "I'm a Turkey Butt!"

When we asked her what that was she just got a devilish grin and shrugged her shoulders. How bizarre.

Today Mia again was playing in the boys room, and Jennifer was laying on the floor watching her build a block house where again out of the blue she says, "Get out Mom." Where does she come up with these things?? Crazy Girl

They're back in school!!!

Well, three down, one to go. Monday Brody had his first day at school. Kindergarten is all day here and he has been a little grouchy at home. However, he says he loves it! He made some friends, but he says his best friend is his teacher.

Emmi is now in 5th grade, which is ran like middle school here. She has five teachers and six classes. Her first and last class are in her home room.

Kaleb is in 3rd grade. Both Emmi and Brody go to school in a different town, only Kaleb is still in Kingsville. We tried to transfer all three to the neighboring town due to the better school and smaller classes but they couldn't fit Kaleb in. We are all a little bummed, but at least he has some of the same friends as he did last year.

We were looking at having three kids in three schools, scattered clear across town. Instead we decided to transfer them. Because Kaleb didn't make it we now have three kids in two schools; not ideal but better.

Home again, home again

Well, due to the changes in my training we decided to take some vacation. Three weeks and 5,656 miles later we are back home. We left Thursday, July 31st and made it back yesterday afternoon. It was good to see so many family and friends, but it sure feels good to get back to our own home.

We didn't want to drive this many miles without a little something for the kids, so before we left I installed a 17 inch video system for them.




It turned out to be a little more trouble than I anticipated; I had to add support brackets to the roof beams. I ended up removing the entire roof and side paneling inside to properly install the equipment. Luckily, a friend came over and we spent all night on Wednesday installing everything (I figured I could sleep during the drive anyways). The best part is we were able to connect the Wii to the system and play it while driving. Jennifer liked it once we bought Aerosmith Guitar Hero.


Approximately 41 hours into the drive we were leaving Missoula, Montana heading west on I-90 towards Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. It felt like home seeing the pine forested mountains and the clear blue water. The cold, dry air definately felt like home too! I woke up during part of the drive and felt like I was in the desert, my mouth was so dry I could barely speak!



Our first planned stop was Moscow, Idaho to visit some family and friends. We stayed with the Weaver family (seemed like de ja vu) and was able to visit Jennifer's sister and our nephew. Jennifer's sister made an awesome cake to celebrate her son's and Emmi's birthday, which are two days apart.





After a few days of hanging out there, we decided to move are adventures along and headed south down highway 95, then 55 (I'll always enjoy the scenery, especially around new meadows and the Payette Lake area). We spent the night in Boise with my sister. The next day we continued south to Twin Falls, were we went through the open house of the temple there. I was suprised at how simple yet beautiful the temple was.



After the open house we finished the day when we arrived in Pocatello. There we had a little birthday party for Emmi (it was her birthday after all).



The next evening we had another party of sorts. We went to the park to let the kids play for a while. After that we went to eat at "The Bus" (don't ask). Then we headed over to Liz's house and made smores in her fire pit. It was messy and a blast. The kids ended up soaked becasue they ran through the sprinkler to get wet, then would ring their shirts out and drip over the fire to put it out! What a sight. As the sun fell in the sky we moved the party over to Ralph's house and brought in the Wii. It was quite a sight seeing all these adults with controllers in their hands and smiles on their faces, looking like little kids in the candy store! Mario Kart was definatly a hit.

From there we drove south to my parents house. They live near Logan. That was then our base of operations for a while. We did short overnight trips to the Salt Lake, but would return back there. My parents house is always a nice treat. The weather was perfect (50's or 60's at night, 90's in the day), the kids did a variety of crafts (a sock horse, dream catchers, bubbles, etc), there was a new sandbox, the zipline, the stream and pond, the trampoline, and there was an abundance of cousins for the kids to play with.



I kept busy for a little while. Sorry I don't have any pictures of it, but my little brothers motorcycle has an electrical problem that caused a wire to melt, which took a few more wires in the wiring harness out with it. The problem was that the wiring harness got torn apart all at once and it didn't get put back together the same. I spent a while trying to sort out were the wires were supposed to be connected and spliced, but I must admit I failed. However, I believe the problem was fixed (at least hope). Besides that, we determined a way to protect the new harness from the same problem, so even if the problem was not fixed he will only blow a fuse, not a wiring harness.

One afternoon we did find a little snake around the pond. Mark caught it and all the kids had a chance to hold it. They were so excited.


Mark, I hope you don't mind, but I'm posting this video clip of your daughter singing "Do as I'm Doing." It is too funny not to share. Don't worry, I can sent it to you if you want it.

We were able to go spend an evening with Jennifer's brother and his family. It was really good for the kids, they were able to see cousins on both sides of the family this trip! They had a really good time chasing the dogs around the house and playing with the cousins. We were going to head out on his 4-wheelers but unfortunately he blew a tire on the trailer and our plans were canned. Michelle got up and made us some amazing blueberry pancakes for breakfast. The kids wanted some the next morning, but too bad for them, I don't measure up to their Aunt.

Oh, here's a funny story. We went down and saw Jennifer's Aunt Dani and her family. We went to the park that evening. At the park was a see-saw that you stand on instead of sit on (it is the reddlish domed toy immediately behind Jennifer in the picture). We decided it would be fun to try it together. Of course I (being the competitive type I am) tried to make Jennifer bounce higher in the air each time we went. One time she flew up and thought she would fall forward, so she wanted to pay me back by jumping off when I was in the air, then causing me to crash down with no counterbalance. She jumped off and I did come crashing down, but unfortunately for her she didn't get completely clear of the toy and it came up and smacked into her knee, HARD! That thing swelled up the size of a golf ball almost immediately. Of course, being the nice, kind, loving husband I am, ran to get the camera and save this priceless photo before I helped her hobble to sit down. She was trying so hard not to cry.

Luckily my brother-in-law is an RN and we spent the night with them. He looked it over and wrapped it. The next morning it was barely giving her any trouble at all.




Oh, we went down to Provo to visit a return missionary who served in our ward in Texas. He is really awesome and Jennifer would love to see him as part of our family (hint-hint Emily). Anyways, we had dinner and dessert with him and Michae, a daughter of our Bishop. The kids had fun at the park because there was a duck pond. Some ladies gave them bread to feed the ducks, they couldn't have been happier.




We finished the trip by heading down to Mesa to visit Jennifer's grandmother. This was the first opportunity I had to meet her. We spent a few days there, even went to her ward. Mia is such a social being it doesn't matter were we are, she want to go to nursery on Sunday. If she even thinks she won't get to go she throws the biggest fit. When we pick her up afterward and ask her how it was, she says it was great and she got to play with all her new friends! What is amazing is that she can rattle off a handful of names of the kids. We had a great time there but were anxious to get home and be in our own beds. So one more all-night drive and around 1:00 yesterday we pulled into Kingsville. Although I didn't miss the humidity, I am glad to be home.