T's Award

Last week we received this letter in the mail informing us that Taylor was nominated by his teacher for the "Oquirrh Pride Award". I thought you would be able to read the letter better than this, so I will just tell you the important parts of the letter. To be nominated for this award you had to show certain "character education traits; Caring, Respect, Integrity, Citizenship, and Responsibility." Taylor was chosen for his "fairness/justice." His teacher wrote:

"Taylor has a strong sense of justice. He knows what is right. I have been impressed with how he treats everyone with equality and fairness."

We also had to keep this a secret from T so that he would be completely surprised today. We were so good, I usually give hints, but this time I didn't let one thing slip. I even waited in the car until I knew he was inside before I went into the school to wait for their assembly to begin.

I even made sure to video tape Taylor receiving his award. I was kind of annoyed because the lady presenting the awards had been talking into the microphone perfect for all the kids before T and then she didn't talk into it at first when T got his award. At least you can see him come up and kind of hear why he was present with this award and then you see him pose for the school picture.

This is the award that Taylor received!

This is Taylor with his teacher Mr. Raubenheimer. Mr. Raubenheimer is originally from South Africa and has brought a lot of experience with him as well as a lot of new things for the kids to learn about. He has been wonderful with Taylor and we have seen Taylor's grades continue to get better and better since having Mr. Raubenheimer as his teacher.

We took a few pictures at school of Taylor holding his award along with his other treasures that he received with the award; a water bottle, a pencil, and a band bracelet. None of them really turned out so we tried taking one at home where he wasn't distracted by all of his friends. This one turned out perfect.

Taylor we are so very proud of you and your willingness to treat others the way you want to be treated. You have such a strong sense of right and wrong and your not afraid to listen to your instincts and not just follow along with the crowd. I am constantly amazed at how strong of a personality you have and your bravery to speak our for what is right.

We love you tons and am so proud to have you as our son!!!

Austin's Homecoming

Now that is has been almost a week since Austin came home, I am finally able to sit down and write about his day. It was interesting to watch how the Air Force system works and I was amazed at how many times they changed his arrival time. He was supposed to be home in March and then he was finally able to come home on April 23th. They changed his arrival time four times and he was finally home just after 5:00 pm. I was so nieve when he left and had no idea what he was in for, I hope he did, I just figured that he would be there safe and sound on base. However, those silly people over there attacked the Air Force Base. I guess I can understand why, but didn't they put it together that the more they attacked the more bombs we could find and attack them right back. I'm going with we left the biggest punch.

Here we are waiting inside the hanger on Hill Air Force base... Here is Susan and Richard (Austin's Aunt and Uncle) and in the background is some of the Hunt family, they have on the black jackets, it's not the poor guy in the gray shirt that I should have probably cropped out. Who is also related to Kenny and their son is Austin's best friend (I'll show him later).

There was all four of our major news channels up there and the lady from channel 4 found Katheryn and wanted to interview her. They did a live feed for the 5:00 news where she interviewed Katheryn, Seth, and Kelton and the rest of us had to stand in the background. I did get to see the clip from the 10:00 news and there was a nice shot of my butt, at least it was shot from far away. I know, back to Austin, this is not about me :)

Everyone needs to forgive me because this amazing group of people have an official name, but I can't remember it. Every member of this group is a veteran and they meet and make sure our soldiers can get off the plane safe and they provide a buffer so that anyone who wants to protest our returning soldiers can't get to them.

I just had to take this picture because I loved how the flags were blowing in the wind. Once the plane was in place the motorcycle group rode over and made a path for the soldiers to walk down and there were flags the whole way down for them to walk through.

This is the airplane that was chartered for them, it was huge!! I don't know who this guy is but there wasn't really a way to get him out of the picture. He really should have been watching where he was walking, couldn't he see I was taking a picture here?

Yeah!!! Finally, here they come off the plane. We were ordered to stay behind the motorcycles but no one listened and Katheryn really didn't listen, she was clear to the front, almost to the plane itself. At that point it doesn't matter what you say, a mom has the right to get to her son as quickly as possible!

The lady from channel 4 was able to catch up with Katheryn and Austin and interview them both once Austin was off the plane.

This is Austin's best friend Taylor Hunt. I was so happy that his whole family was there to greet Austin and welcome him home.

Arrangements had been made to have a firetruck meet us at the edge of Grantsville and drive Austin into town. Here is Austin visiting with Karen (grey sweatshirt), Christy (red vest) and some of the Hunt family while we were waiting for the firetruck to arrive.

It finally made it and they loaded Austin up on top of this big truck along with his mom, brother, and most of the rest of the family. There were two other smaller trucks and Kelton rode on one of those. We promptly shut down Main Street and anyone who was coming into town had to wait behind our impromptu parade. All of the firetrucks had their lights and sirens going and they were honking. The rest of us followed and honked our horns all the way down Main to Apple, up to Cherry, over to Harris and all the way down Harris to Susan's house.

This is what it looked like from behind when all the firetrucks pulled up in front of the house.

Susan's Ward had put up flags all over the front yard and Karen had tied ribbons to the tree and the fence. She also put up the bouquet of balloons. This was the beautiful sight that Austin got to see when they pulled up in front of the house. Everyone did a wonderful job making sure Austin was recognized and thanked for his service.

Thank You Austin for all you have done and all you have yet to do for each one of us.

Moon Lake in Spring

I received an email from the owners of the Moon Lake Resort and this picture was attached. You would link the snow wouldn't make me want to be up there, but instead it makes me miss it even more. I really want to go up there this Fall. It's cool all day, there's usually a thunder and lightning storm every afternoon, and it's when the berries are ripe so the bears start to come around. Really it's magical up there anytime it's open.

Moon lake I miss you!!!

Easter

"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."

(Luke 24:5-6)

I love easter and all that this season brings. I love seeing the green grass, the flowers starting to bloom and time to remember all that my Savior has done for me. I know that Christ was resurrected and that he lives. I know that through him I will be able to live again as well. I am always amazed at how deep my feelings run when I think of Christ suffering and dying for me. He was willing to go through all that pain so that little ol' me can one day return to live with him again. I know that I will be blessed to spend all of eternity with my family. I am blessed to have been able to gain this knowledge through prayer and the quiet whisperings of the Holy Ghost.

Christ freely did this for each and every one of us! I am so thankful that we have such an amazing big brother who is the perfect example for us to follow. I'm thankful to be able to repent when I make a mistake. I am also thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who not only provided a Savior for us but the knowledge that he knows our names and our needs. It is comforting to know that I can turn to him in prayer and know that he knows me and hears me. I am so thankful to have God in my life and to receive all of the blessings that he blesses me and my family with every day.

Thank You

When I started this blog I never really thought that anyone but my poor family would really look at it and then occasionally say something nice so that I wouldn't hound them to read it constantly. As I wrote I realized how much fun I was having telling the different stories that have happened in our lives over the years. I have this obsession with checking my stats and seeing who my readers are. I'm pretty sure the stats part of it is just my numbers thing, I love seeing numbers. I just checked and there have been 1,229 page views so far (since I started). I know it doesn't compare to other blogs, but then I've always been told to not compare myself to others. I still do compare, though.

I want to thank all of you out there that check in and read about my crazy life and my embarrassing moments and even those occasional normal times (whatever those are). I love seeing that there are many of you from Russia, Poland, Indonesia, and all over the United States. I never thought that people all over the world would be interested in what some housewife in Utah would be doing.

Thank you, everyone, for taking time out of you lives to read about mine.

So Far This Morning

I have had such a productive morning (since you can't hear me you have to imagine the sarcasm that is dripping from my voice). First I actually woke up on time, even a little early. That in itself is a miracle, maybe even a slightly larger than small miracle. Really, honest truth. Kelton was even up and ready for the school bus on time. I'm fairly sure that he would have preferred that I was still asleep though because he got a little lecture from me on personal hygiene. My poor son!

After Kelton left, I thought I would be good and try to catch up on my reading for Sunday School and started reading through all the random chapters in Mark and Luke (I'm really behind). I even kept track of the time and woke Taylor up on time so he could be ready on time. That's when all that good motivation ended, it just stopped right there dead in its tracks, I had fallen asleep with my Bible open on my lap. Taylor woke me up and was trying to convince me that if I didn't feel well then he could stay home and take care of me. I quickly reminded him that he has to go to school and that he only has a half day anyway.

I walked in the door from dropping Taylor off at school all ready to start dishes and finish up my laundry. So, I sat down and got caught up on what everyone had added since yesterday on Facebook, checked my email and now I'm writing this random post. I am listening and occasionally watching The Price is Right. The good news to this is that so far no one has bid one dollar higher than someone else, yet. I hate it when they do that, I think there should be a rule that bidding one dollar higher should be banned.

Okay, now I really need to get to those dishes since they are pilled high. I made cookies and Steak Stroganoff last night and I have a total mess on my hands. At least laundry is almost done and I was even a mean mom last night and made the boys put away their laundry, my bed was actually cleaned off and ready for us to go to bed last night. That was a true miracle. I need to get all this done and get our clothes ready so we can go to the Temple tonight. It all needs to be done this morning because Jason Priestly is on The Talk this afternoon and all of a sudden I am sixteen again and can't miss it. Did I mention that Kenny has met him? He has! Kenny was on a business trip to an Indy car race and Jason Priestly was there and they were just chillin in the winners circle. I'm not jealous, nope, not at all. I was just at home, sick and big as a whale pregnant with Taylor. Oh, and lets not forget that Kelton was a toddler and I was on and off of bed rest so I had to go stay with my sister so she could take care of Kelton. Nope, no jealousy here (once again since you can't hear my voice, you need to know I'm being sarcastic and Kenny and I joke about this all the time. I promise).

Now that I have shared all my random thoughts and have successfully procrastinated for another half hour, I really will go and get my work done. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Smoke Detectors

I have a love hate relationship with most smoke detectors. I like that we have them and that they will go off and save our lives if we have a fire. I hate how sensitive they are and how they can just go off because they want to. Really, they have this mind of their own and will go off even when there's barely any smoke. We have several stories that include smoke detectors that cover the span of many, many years. Our smoke detectors here in our apartment are very sensitive and I'm always worried that the neighbors are going to complain about our stupid detectors. Because of our most recent experiences with our smoke detectors here it reminds me of my most memorable story that involved not only a smoke detector but an entire alarm system.

We had moved into a home in Salt Lake City just a few months earlier and the home was our favorite home so far that we have lived in. Taylor was just little and he had one of the neighbor girls over and I was making them lunch, grilled cheese sandwiches. All of a sudden the smoke detector starts to go off. I jump into action and start to do the only thing I know of to do, swing the broom in front of the smoke detector so it will move the smoke away. Only this is different, the broom isn't working. That's when it dawned on me that it had triggered the alarm system. I knew the house had an alarm system but never gave it a second thought. The sandwich that I was cooking was barely black, not even really burnt, but it had set off the entire alarm system. In my confusion with the noise I called Kenny. Who else would I call but my husband? Don't all husbands know all and can fix everything? Here is how our phone call went and you have to keep in mind that the alarm has already been going off for a few minutes before I called Kenny and it was still sounding in the background of our conversation.

Kenny: Hello

Me: I need your help, the alarm is going off!!!

Kenny: How did you do that? I can hear it.

Me: I was cooking grilled cheese sandwiches. How do I turn this off?

Kenny: I don't know! I'm in the middle of test driving a car and I need to get back to the shop.

Me: If you're already out driving then come home, I need your help!!

Kenny: You don't understand, this car is ready to die right here on the freeway, I can't come.

Me: Fine!

I hung up and walked around in circles trying to figure out what to do. I couldn't handle the noise and was beginning to wonder what the neighbors were starting to think. This stupid alarm had been going off for over 15 minutes at this point. Kenny called back a few minutes later when he was back at work and suggested that I call the alarm company. Duh! That was an obvious suggestion, why didn't I think of that? Oh yea, I have the house screaming at me. I found our phone book and looked up the number to the alarm system company. Here is how this conversation goes (with the alarm still sounding in the background):

Poor Guy: Hello, bla bla bla company how may I help you?

Me: I am having a problem with the alarm system in my house.

Poor Guy: Ya, I can hear it. Did you enter your code to turn it off?

Me: I don't have a code. We are renting this house and I haven't activated the alarm system.

Poor Guy: Then why is it going off if you don't have it activated? Just put in your code!

Me: I DON'T HAVE A CODE!!!!!! Please tell me how to turn this off.

Poor Guy: Why is it going off in the first place?

Me: I burned a grilled cheese sandwich and that set off the smoke detectors.

I'm pretty sure I can hear chuckling on the other end of the phone but with the alarm still going off I can't say for sure. I know he was laughing at me.

Poor Guy: Um, we need to have you unplug the system. (He then continues to talk me through where the system should be located and how to cut the power to it.)

Me: It is still going off, that didn't stop it.

Poor Guy: It must have a back up battery in it, you are going to have to open the main box and pull out the battery.

Me: huh?

At this point I have to move several sheets of sheet rock (those suckers are heavy) so I can reach the main box and then this poor guy has to talk me through opening up the box (which required using tools, so he had to wait while I went back and forth to the garage) and removing the heaviest battery I have ever held. Finally, there was silence! I'm pretty sure I have permanent damage from this experience. I think the guy on the phone could have come away with some damage as well, that is how loud the alarm was.

Once we have the battery out I thank him and hang up. I know everyone in the office that day got a good laugh out of this one, they had to have, I'm still laughing about the day I burned a grilled cheese sandwich, yelled at my husband to get home, and then had to explain that I had set off the alarm from burning a stupid sandwich. I then did have one neighbor come over to see what had happened and why the alarm had been going off for so long. Note, she didn't come over until all was quiet. I'm glad it was something silly and not something serious.

I had to share this story because it was better than the time that I set off the smoke detector making french toast while my mom was in the shower and had her hair full of shampoo. That one is a much shorter story and it isn't as funny because I was the one getting yelled at instead of the poor guy at the alarm company. I really have gotten better over the years and now the only time we really have to worry is if Kenny is baking a pizza or french fries.

In general, we are both much better and I really am thankful for the poor guy who just happened to be the one to answer that phone call. I'm glad that he could help and talk me through disconnecting the alarm system. Kenny and I were talking about this over the weekend while we were remembering things that have happened while we have been married. I'm sorry to say that I still need to forgive and understand that he couldn't come home that day. I understand the car was ready to break down and leave him stranded, but if he was already on the freeway and heading in my direction, I still think he could have made it to the house. Okay, maybe he couldn't, but it's hard for me to think that because I just wanted him there.

Kenny, thank you for being so patient with me and my emergencies!!