Summer Traditions

Every year we look forward to July for our extended summer vacation. We spend every July 4th with Devon's family in Provo. Devon's dad has been involved with Provo's Freedom Fest Balloon Event for many years. We love to come enjoy all the good food and watch the balloons. You have to get up very early because the balloons have to take off before it gets too hot but it's always worth it. This year was even more fun because my friends Lauren and Louisa and their families were there. These are girls I have known since elementary and junior high school. They're the kind of friends that you can go long periods of time without seeing or talking to but then when you do reconnect it's like no time has passed. This kind of friendship is not easy to come by and I'm so grateful to have a few. Below are a couple of pictures from that morning.





The night of the 4th my girls got to go to Stadium of Fire at BYU's Cougar Stadium. They were especially excited to go because the performer this year was Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. I have been told that Jenna spent a fair amount of time during the performance trying to figure out how this could possibly be the real Hannah Montana because she's supposed to be in the TV. Devon's sister, Ali, couldn't for the life of her figure out how to explain the concept to her--me either. They said they had a great time with the exception of being ridiculously hot, which was entirely my fault. In the past when I've attended Stadium of Fire I'm always cold on the walk home. It cools off at night in Utah, and being from Arizona, 65-70 degrees warrants pants and sometimes a jacket. So I dressed my girls in jeans and sent jackets. Well, we had some cloud cover roll in which kept in the heat making it 93 degrees by the time they got home at 11:30. I felt so bad when they walked in with their bright red cheeks and sweaty little bodies. Leave it to the nerd from AZ to dress her kids in jeans in the middle of the summer.

Also in July we get to spend some time in Bear Lake, Idaho with my family. We can't get our fill of the beautiful weather and water. We will be headed there this week so I'll post about our adventures later.

(Just in case anyone in my primary presidency happens to read this--thanks!! My awesome counselors take over for me so I can enjoy a month-long vacation. Quite the luxury for which I am really grateful. I hope they still like me when I get back.)

Some Comic Relief

Devon has the best calling ever. He team teaches the Sunbeams with his good friend Bret. And they are awesome teachers because they're calm and patient and it takes a lot to ruffle their feathers. I visited their class once and I have never laughed so hard at church. Nearly every week Devon comes home with some hysterical story. I thought I would share a few because they're too funny to keep to myself.

This week they had a visitor. They asked her what her parents' names are. She said, "My mom's name is Michelle. My dad is big and fat and sleeps in the same bed as my mom and snores like a big bear." Classic!

They also have this teeny tiny girl who is a major talker. You never know what she'll come up with next. The week I visited their class the lesson was about the Holy Ghost and this little girl proceeded to tell them all about her nightmare about a ghost and then lifted up her dress and said, "Look at my new underwear." She also said to Devon in the middle of class, "What the heck did you do that for?" This week Bret saw her at our ward dinner and said hi. She turned to her dad and said, "We're here to eat, not talk" and stomped off.

I dare you to try and convince me that your calling is more fun.

Warning--This Is Disgusting!!

I was thinking to myself last night, "We've been really lucky this year and haven't had any scorpions in the house." My immediate next thought was, "Oh no. I've totally jinxed myself." Well, I did indeed jinx myself in the worst way. (Those of you who don't live in Arizona now have two reasons to be really glad you get to miss out on our summers.)

Today my girls were playing on the floor when Grace said, "Mom, there's a scorpion." She showed me where (crawling on the carpet about three feet from where her head had been) and I went to the bedroom to get one of Devon's shoes. Upon my return I found the scorpion and went to kill it when I realized that it did not look like most scorpions I have seen. It's back was white and bumpy. When I took a closer look I realized that it's back was covered with babies! I freaked!! I knew I couldn't smash it now for fear that the babies would scatter and being that they were the same color as my carpet they would never be found again until they were big enough to come out and get us while we slept.

I called Devon to see how soon he would be home from work and he was going to be a while so I called my neighbor and business partner Amy whose husband happens to be my home teacher. She graciously volunteered her husband to come get it for me. He sucked it up into my bag-less vacuum, dumped it outside and made sure it was good and dead. We couldn't really account for all the babies but he smashed the stuff that came out of the vacuum really well and I vacuumed the carpet after he left. I am so grateful that he was willing to come do what should have been a really simple task but left me frozen and shaking. My skin has been crawling for an hour.

After it was all over I was really mad that I hadn't taken a picture of our lovely house guest. But lucky for you I found a picture that looks exactly like the friend I had in my house today. Enjoy!

Girls' Day Out

Yesterday my girls enjoyed what most females would call the perfect day. They got their hair done at the salon and then spent the afternoon shopping. My sister gave them really cute new cuts that they both love. I forgot to take before pictures but they both had hair to the middle of their backs so this is quite a change. What do you think?

In Loving Memory

My dear friends, Doug and Brittany Kunz, lost their sweet one-year-old Daxton on Monday. He was such a beautiful baby with rosy cheeks and blue eyes and will be greatly missed. While it is little comfort at the moment I'm grateful for the knowledge that they will be with him again someday. I have been amazed by their strength and faith in the Lord through this difficult time.

If you happen to know Doug and Brittany and would like to help a fund has been set up in Daxton's memory through Wells Fargo. You can call this number 1-800-869-3557 or go to a local branch and donate to the Daxton Douglas Kunz Memorial Fund. The account number is 9612719972.

Life

This weekend the girls and I went shopping. They both had money to spend and Daddy was golfing so we had a girlie excursion. Can I say that I love my kids?! Guess what we brought home: six books and a board game. The board game was purchased by Grace and was The Game of Life.
I'm hoping that each of you have the same fond memories of this game as I do. My brother and I played this game all the time and I was excited to rediscover it with my kids. But things didn't go so well for me. In case you've never played, you get a job and kids and other random grown-up things happen to you as you move around the board. Well, true to life, I got no kids plus I got schooled!

My brother was just saying the other day that he couldn't believe my dad never let us win when we played games with him as kids. I have to tell you that I'm too competitive to let anyone win either, even my kids. I know, sick and twisted. I figure I'm teaching them how to be good losers, right? Unfortunately, I did not let them win today--they beat me fair and square. I guess I'll have to try again another day but if I get no babies next time I'm done!

p.s. This really has nothing to do with the game but I had to record this for my own sake. Grace's spending money came from various people for her baptism. She wrote thank you notes to all of them this week. When I looked them over I noticed she started with "Thank you for coming to my baptism" and then "I (a picture of a heart) $." She was watching as I was reading these so of course I couldn't bust out laughing like I wanted to. It was really cute. I'm hoping that the recipients remember that she's only eight and eight-year-olds do silly things like stating that they love money.

You Have to Buy This

I have to tell you about my friend William Joseph. He and his wife Lisa lived in our ward for a little while--she's the one who taught us to play Settlers and started our crazy addiction--thanks Lisa! Her husband William is nothing short of a piano prodigy. While living in our ward he was signed with Warner Bros. Music and started his career. I saw him a few years ago when he opened for Josh Groban and was blown away. He just released his second CD titled "Beyond" and was featured on the Dr. Phil show. He and his wife are the nicest people and have three little kids. I'm so happy for them that he gets to live his dream as a musician. I can't imagine him doing anything else but not every musician is so lucky. Below is a clip about his new CD which you can can buy at Amazon or other such places. I promise you will love it!