Proud Wife and Little Sister

Okay, so I am kind of feeling like a hypocrite right now. Just last night I was having a conversation with some of my friends and we were talking about how much it buggs when people just brag non-stop on their blogs about their great lives. (a bragspot instead of a blogspot!) This is kind of one of those posts, sorry ladies!! :)

First of all, Scott and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this past weekend. Yea for us! I am 'seriously so blessed' to have such a fantastic husband. He is so good to me. My life since marrying Scott has been more than I could have ever imagined. Thank you Scott, for putting up with my antics, being my best friend, worthy priesthood holder, and eternal companion. I love you!

Scott wake-surfing at Lake Powell last weekend

Now on to the proud little sister part. Both of my big brothers are pretty awesome, and for very different reasons. My oldest brother, Mike, has always been a good example to me. When we were growing up, he was my protector. I have always looked up to him for lots of reasons. Anyway, about three years ago, he joined the Navy Reserves. On Sunday he was commissioned as on officer. The ceremony was awesome and I really am proud of him.

My brother Mike (on the left) being sworn in as an officer in the US Navy

Last but not least...The video below is pretty self explanatory. My big brother Tom has always been the one in the family who could do anything he set his mind too. He has no fear and is crazy athletic, especially when it comes to extreme sports. From motocross motorcycles, to snow skiing and snowboarding, extreme snowmobiling to mountain biking, and water skiing to wake surfing and wake boarding; he can do them all, and can do them all EXTREMELY well. (It has often times been frustrating to Mike and I how good he is at everything.) Anyway, I caught some of his wake boarding on video this last weekend while we were at Lake Powell and have to share.

Tom showin' off some of his skilz!

Ouch!

One little boy
Swarmed with angry hornets
Six stings
Thankfully he's okay

K-man was outside on his Grandma and Grandpa's deck and sat down on a step. Unfortunately no one knew there was two hornets nests. They did not like him invading their space. He got stung six times, poor kid. Three on his right hand, one on the bridge of his nose, one on the back of his shoulder, and one on his leg. We were SO LUCKY he didn't have an allergic reaction, because it could have been BAD. He was such a little trooper though, he cried for about half an hour and then calmed down and chilled on the couch for another 45 minutes or so trying to relax. He's one tough cookie. Needless to say, he is now afraid of ALL bugs. Hopefully we can get him over that.

Mormon mommy montra...

So much to do, so little time!

I really think that should be our motto.

Okay, now I have that out of my system...We are leaving in three hours, and I can't wait!! Road trip to NY baby. I still have a ton of things to do before heading out, so I really shouldn't be blogging, but I needed to take a breather and relax for a minute. That, and Kyle was in desperate need of his Little Einstines fix. (Yep, I'll admit it, I'm letting the TV babysit my child for the next twenty-five minutes.)

Although this weekend involves a ton of driving, we are pumped. We're driving today up to Rochester, NY, where "home base" will be. Tomorrow will be spent in Palmyra, NY, seeing church historical sites and the famed Hill Comorah Pageant. Saturday will be a fun filled day on the US/Canadian border exploring Niagara Falls. Sunday will complete the whirlwind weekend with driving back to VA. We're going up with two of our great friends, the Loveridge Family (Lynette's parents, bless their hearts, are hosting us all at their home), and the Christensen Family. Hopefully good times await!

Okay, I've got to get back to packing and cleaning, wish us luck and safe driving!

Grandma Sandy's Visit

Thank you SO much mom for coming to visit. We always love to have you here.

My mom was in town from June 26th through July 11th. She was here for all of our birthdays as well as the Independence Day activities. I love it when my mom comes to visit. We talk and laugh and work together so well. She is always a help around the house, and did dishes the whole time she was here. IT WAS AWESOME!! Such a treat for me. - We didn't really "do anything" while she was here, and yet we had a blast. Our time was filled with morning walks, birthday parties, a 4th of July BBQ, shopping, sewing, speed scrabble, and puzzles. PERFECT! She is so easy going and just fits right in while she's here. A nice addition to the family for a few weeks.

Below are some fun pictures from her visit...

4th of July - Waterslide Fun!

Playing 'Space Shuttle' w/ Kyle (I'll explain another time!)

Kyle's comforter during fireworks. (He's a little daredevil and afraid of very little, but the fireworks scare him to death. Go figure!!)

Playin' with play-dough!

Great Read...

Lynette let me borrow this book to read. She gushed about it and told everyone she knows how much she enjoyed it. (Which is saying a lot for Lynette because she's not much of a reader!) Wow! She wasn't kidding. What an amazing, almost unbelievable story. Yet it is TRUE.

Some of you may remember this story in the news. It happened back in April of 2006. There was a van from Taylor University (a Christian college) that was hit on the freeway. Five students were killed instantly, one survived, three staff members also lived. The identity of the two girls this story was about was accidentally switched at the scene of the accident. (One girl's purse was next to the other girl 50 feet from the van and they were enough alike in coloring, and build that she was positively identified with the wrong ID.) So to make a long story short, one family buried their daughter while another family took care of an attended to their daughter struggling for life and in a coma in an ICU. After five weeks and the living girl starting to recover it is discovered that she is actually the daughter of the other family, and the family taking care of the girl in the hospital had actually lost their daughter in the accident. It sounds totally unbelievable that the identity of the girl in the hospital wasn't discovered any sooner, but because of the accident her face was swollen, she was in a coma for weeks, and the two girls had so many of the same traits. Also, the family who ended up burying the "wrong daughter" had not identified the body because staff members from the college had done so and they did not want those haunting memories of seeing "their daughter" that way.

So that is the story, in a nutshell. What is amazing and inspiring about reading the book is how much these two families relied on God and Jesus Christ for comfort through their ordeals. Their faith in the Lord carried these two families through the whole ordeal. I would recommend this book to everyone who can get their hands on it. I'll probably be getting it for a handful of my relatives for christmas this year. It is THAT inspirational.

Anyway, thanks Lynette, for giving me the opportunity to read this book. Even though these families were not LDS, they believe in God and Jesus Christ, the Atonment, and life after death. My faith has been given a boost and I have been totally uplifted by reading this book.

Slave Labor...???

I'm not sure weather to call this slave labor, or future blackmail! Currently Kyle LOVES to help me with the laundry. "I be a big big helper mommy! I do da yandry." I had to catch the moment on camera for future reference. He actually put this whole huge load of whites into the washer all by himself. (It was no small feat, he was stuffin'!) He gets away most of the time without even cleaning up his own toys (I'm not patient enough), so when he asks to help me with the laundry I figure this is one habit that I'd love to foster.

He said something that was super hilarious while loading the washer that I just have to share. Although I should probably be embarrassed to share, it is no secret, so hopefully you can get a laugh out of it like I did. He loads the washer piece by piece of clothing, one of the items he picked out of the basket was a over the shoulder boulder holder. Without missing a beat he said absentmindindly to himself, but out loud..."woah! its a big one"... and then proceeded to add it to the machine and move on. It was funny, because I haden't heard him make a comment about any of the other items of laundry.

The "Fruit" of my labor!

Hooray!! Today I harvested my first Cherry Tomato of the season! These plants have seriously become my babies. I started four tomato plants from seed back in March, and they are actually growing! The bushes are full of little green tomatoes. I can't wait to eat more. (My mom and I promptly rinsed this one off, split it in two, and enjoyed out little fruit.) I can't wait until we get a fence up and can put in a whole garden!