'Lysha's Theme

This video is of my beautiful little sister Alysha, while we were visiting in Idaho Falls. She composed this song while she was just tinkering on the piano. She is really shy about her talents and I was very lucky to capture this. By the way, she is self-taught!

Hopefully someday I will be able to get her singing, because she has a gorgeous voice too. I will have to be more sneaky for that though.

This next video is of Hyrum trying to be like Aunt 'Lysha.

Monsoon Season

*I added a video to the end of this post*
It is monsoon season here in Arizona right now. Monday started out sunny and hot as usual. By 4:00 pm it had was overcast and I could tell it was going to rain. I went out to set the sprinklers so they didn't come on and while I was out it started to sprinkle. I told the kids to get their shoes and come out and play in the rain with me. With in a few minutes it was pouring and we were drenched.

This is our backyard. If you click on it for the fullsized picture, you can see the rain drops.


Here is our new swimming pool. Okay, you got me, it is just a puddle that formed in our side yard.


This is a view from our balcony over our backyard.I think it is beautiful. It has been monsoon season for a while here, but the rain has only been coming at night. This was the first storm that started before sunset.



Our front yard. The green grass is kindof an optical illusion. Only about 50% of it is actually grass, but it looks good! Our awesome neighbors to the east of us (to the left from this view) mowed our lawn a few days before 'cause they know we don't have a lawn mower yet.


The kids got bundled up in their warm clothes once they'd had a hot bubble bath after they got soaked.


Just watching the rain pelt everything outside. We opened the door so we could hear it better. The screen door was still closed so it kept the rain out.

Now here is a short video of it.

Advice

This is my first blog. Everything else on here has been impersonated. They may have been words that somewhat came out of my mouth, but I surely didn't take the time to post. So here goes the official first posting . . .

I feel A "desire" to share two pieces of advice I have received in my life. The first one I received at a very young age. Me and my dad were reading Reader's Digest. There was an article about life lessons or advice for life . . . something like that. My dad was explaining them to me because I was rather young to understand. One he explained to me made such amazing sense I have always remembered it. I also have always tried to follow it and pass it along whenever I can. Here it is: "Never refuse a mint." What great advice! I pass it on, not as my own, but as great advice.

The second piece of advice is an accumulation of different experiences and different people's way of saying the same thing. I'll share a few . . .

At my dad's work one year they passed out turkeys to all the workers for Thanksgiving. One worker accepted his, turned around, put in back in the box with all the turkeys and grabbed a bigger one. I believe this was the last time they offered free turkeys.

Before I got married and was dating I read in a book some advice about going on a date. It said if you are not paying for the dinner or movie or whatever it is, then don't complain about it. Even if the dinner is horrible, prepared badly, or poor service you still don't complain. It explained that even though the person paying may have had no fault for what went wrong they still may be offended. After all they spent their money for your happiness and if it doesn't go well they feel bad.

My favorite radio host was a guy named Chuck Powell (at least that was his radio name). He had a show called The Morning Ritual. Every week he did a bit called "that guy." He would pick out an annoying thing about another person, and then talk about "that guy" for a couple of minutes. There was "that guy" who takes family board games way too seriously, or "that guy" who actually thinks the stripper digs him. One that I thought was quite funny was "that guy" who complains about the free food at a party. You know, that guy who complains about the nuts in the brownies the host is offering everyone. I think you get the point.

So the second piece of advice, as I have summed up in my head, is "Don't complain about the free food."

P.S. Thanks babe for posting all my other gibberish . . .

Puppy Love

Well, I just looked at some of the video I shot while I was in Idaho Falls. I need to cut it down some, but here are a few still shots of Josi and my sister's dog, Beauregard or "Beau". Josi absolutely loved him.

Rubbing the sides of his face.

Giving him kisses.

Here she was telling Kleyn (who lives with Beau) that his name was Beau.

Now she is giving him a long hug.
He is the sweetest dog I have ever met. He just laid there and let Josi pester him. She still talks about him every day.

Flying

If you forget to check in early on a southwest flight and you know you will have to sit in the middle then look for the couple that is together but sitting apart hoping nobody will bother them and they get the whole row to themselves. . . They will move together and viola you have an aisle or window seat!

Chairman's Challenge 2008

I just learned this week that Ben and I get to go to Niagra Falls, Toronto, Canada this October with Ben's work. It is something they do every year for the plant managers (and their spouses) that meet all of their budget/financial goals. This year Ben normally wouldn't get to go because, 1. he is just the assistant manager and 2. the Phoenix plant isn't meeting their goals. But, his boss pulled some strings and got us invited because of all the sacrifices he has made to be in Salt Lake this summer. I am so excited! They pay for everything, the flight, the hotel (a really nice one), and they give us spending cash. Last year we had dinner with everyone else each night (one night was a dinner cruise in San Diego Bay) and one day we had a meeting that we all went to for an hour or so and another day just the employees had a short meeting and then we had the rest of the day to ourselves to do what ever we wanted. This year they are going to take us on a boat into the middle of all of the falls (like this).

So, I have to get a passport and soon. This is the first time I will ever have one and that, in itself, is a little exciting.

Craters of the Moon

On Saturday, the 26th we packed up the kids and drove to Craters of the Moon, an hour from Idaho Falls in Arco, Idaho. The AC in my car had stopped working a couple of days before that so it was a long hot drive. Even though it was pretty hot that day, there was a nice cool wind so it was quite perfect. We were all glad to get out of the car.



This was our first stop in the park. It was just a flat loop but we learned about the two different types of lava, aa (pronounced 'ah-ah') and Pahoyhoy (pronounced 'paHO-ehHO-eh').





We had to get Alysha in the picture too, but Josi was ready to go, so she was already headed down the trail.







It has it's own sort of beauty. It is wierd to think it has taken 2000 years for just this sparse growth.







Here you can see Josi heading up the group. She and Kleyn practically ran down the trail. Even Hyrum wanted to do his own walking. It was pretty easy here, with the paved trail. I think they used asphalt to try and make it blend in some. The trail to the caves wasn't so easy. A lady in front of me tripped an twisted her ankle and skinned her knee. Fortunately, I was prepared and had a little first aid kit, with antibiotic cream, Hello Kitty bandaids and alcohol wipes. That didn't help her ankle much.

Here is Josi way in the front again, followed by Kleyn and then Kaelynn with Kaleb in the pack, and then Alysha. I was lagging behind to get the photo.

Here we are taking a break inside one of Indian Tunnel. Hyrum didn't want to sit still, even for a picture. He was a little scared of the sharp rocks. It was a little treacherous, but Josi and Kleyn were little monkeys and didn't want help. We made it out with only a couple of scrapes. Even Kaelynn and Kaleb got out unscathed with that baby pack.

We left after only two stops and we only explored the first two caves, Dewdrop Cave and Indian Tunnel. The kids were quite ready to be done so we left the last two caves, Boy Scout Cave and Beauty Cave, and the Devils Orchard Nature trail for another trip. Hyrum fell right to sleep and Josi finished her water.

Cruisin'

While we were visiting my brother in Idaho Falls he got out my dad's "Trike". It is technically my brother, Andy's now, but it will always be my dad's. He built it from the back half of a VW beetle and Harley forks. He started it when we lived in California and finished it in Utah. So, I was in Kindergarden when he started it. We took a few rides down the street and back.

The kids had a blast. It made me feel like a kid again. Shortly after he finished it, we were in the Burley, Idaho 4th of July parade. The four oldest (me, Danny, Andy and Sarah) all had matching outfits my mom made for us. It was so much fun and probably the most exciting thing we had ever experienced.

In the photos are Danny (driver) his wife Kaelynn and their boys, Kleyn and Kaleb, my sisters Janae, Alysha and Tonya, and me and my kids, and Janae's dog Diogi.

Tautphus Park Zoo

While we were in Idaho Falls we went to the zoo with my sister Alysha and my sister-in-law Kaelynn and her boys.


Josi was looking good in her shades and her backpack borrowed from her cousin, Kleyn.






Kaleb and Hyrum were riding in style in their stroller.





Josi and Kleyn climbing up to get a better view of these blue macaws.






The first thing Josi wanted to see was the monkeys and elephants. They don't have any elephants, but she was so happy to see all of the monkeys. We even got to hear a howler monkey sing to us.











Josi and Kleyn checking out the Emus.

Here are Josi and I.

Josi wanted the bird in this exhibit to come to her.

Time for lunch. We just packed some PB&Js, goldfish, fruit snacks and water. Here are the kiddos and Kaelynn.
For a quarter you can get a handful of food pellets to feed the goats in the petting zoo and the ducks on the pond. This was the kids favorite part I think. Here are some pictures of Josi with a goat and Alysha helping them feed the ducks.

A Day Behind

So, I took our car in yesterday to get the AC fixed. I took it in at 10am and got a ride to my brothers apartment, where we spent the whole day. At 5pm I hadn't heard from the dealership service department yet so I called to see what was going on. The lady that answered couldn't find the guy that knew, so I called again at 6pm. By then they were just closing up but he told me what needed to be done and that I should be really glad that it was all still under warranty ($2200 repair, yikes!) Thank heaven for warranties. The only trouble was they didn't have all of the parts there and they couldn't call to see if anyone else had the parts because they all closed at 6 too. He said if no body had the parts and they had to order them, they wouldn't have them until next Thursday. So the day ended with me pretty upset, because I can't really stay that long, but there is no way I could drive down to Arizona without AC. I was even crying on the phone with the repair guy, pretty embarassing, but I couldn't hold it back.
Well, this morning I got a call and they told me that they had found a place in Salt Lake that did have the parts they needed and I could bring it in today and they would get it done. What a huge relief! So, now the plan is to leave tomorrow morning and hopefully get to Phoenix that night. Everyone please pray for us that we don't have any car troubles and that Hyrum doesn't get car sick! I know we will need it. We can't wait to see Karin's family again.