4-Wheelin' in Moab

Over Mother's Day weekend we took a 4-wheeling trip to Moab with some friends. It was a blast. It was the first time we've ever done something like that. If I wasn't with others who I saw climb certain rocks, and go certain places, I never would have dared to do it myself. But I was amazed at what those Jeeps could do. The jeep we rented only had 100 miles on it. And after jeeping for almost 8 hours we had only added another 14 miles to the odometer (you can tell how fast you go while 4-wheeling). We jammed out to 80's rock music on our satellite radio, and jeeped all over Moab. Can't wait to do it again!

OUR BROTHERS' KEEPER

Last Sunday we sang a special hymn in church--"Lord, I would follow thee." To most, there's probably nothing special about it, but what made it special to me was that I got to pick it. The week before, during testimony meeting, our ward chorister had said during her testimony that she would be happy to take requests for songs to sing during sacrament meeting. This particular hymn happens to be one of my favorites because of one phrase it contains, "I would be my brother's keeper..."
My big brother Cory, who passed away 7 years ago, was my hero and best friend. He used to tell me that he was his brother's keeper--and since I was his only brother, I knew he specifically meant me. But he was that way with everyone. He took that phrase to heart.
So, after the ward chorister said she would take requests, I decided to take her up on her offer. That very next week was not only my brother's birthday, but the anniversary of his death. So I asked her if we could sing that hymn. The following Sunday, while the congregation sang in unison a hymn about following the Lord, there was one person paying special attention to the words. And with tears in his eyes, and a lump in his throat, he sang a song about a man whom he loves, and whom he misses dearly. And with gratitude remembered a man who truly was his brother's keeper!
So this Memorial Day I hope and pray that you will also remember with fondness those loved ones who have passed on before you. That you will strive to carry on the legacy they left for you. And that somehow and someway we may all try a little harder to be our brothers' keepers!

Beware Kidnappers

Last night the wind was blowing really hard, and Kaden came down saying that he was scared. He said he was afraid that kidnappers were going to crawl in his window and take him. We reassured him the best we could that he was safe--that he was upstairs so they wouldn't be able to get to his window, and that mom and dad were right here. Hesitantly, he went back upstairs to his bed. A little later when Kristen went to check on him she found him still awake. In a very serious tone Kaden asked, "Mom, if a kidnapper tries to grab me, do I have permission to kick him in the privates and in the face?" "Yes," Kristen replied, "You can do whatever you need to." "Cool," Kaden exclaimed, "I've never kicked anyone in the face before." ( I hope he's never kicked anyone in the privates either! :) )

Relaxing Sunday

We took a drive a couple of weeks ago and played at the park. I loved this picture of my chillins. Dad doesn't look thrilled with Katelyn's enthusiasm for the bronze child. I even took a shot of the blossoms in front of Dad's new office.

Pinewood Derby

Caleb had his first official pinewood derby race as a cub scout. OK, so I have to admit, we got a little help. I don't have any tools or machines to cut the car from its original block, so I bought a pre-cut car on the internet. Now, we still had to sand it, paint it, put the wheels and decals and weights on, and tweek it just right to make it lightning fast--we just didn't have to cut it. It's amazing what you can get online. We named the car "El Fuego", and then let him loose to burn up the tracks. Caleb ended up taking 4th place overall. Kids had a great time; Dads got high blood pressure and humble pie. Typical pinewood derby!

My turn

I feel like the luckiest wife in the world. How many husbands do you know that blog? Well, this is Carlan's baby, but I figured I better join in the fun once in a while. Life feels like it just gets more and more busy all the time, but some how I have managed to go to lunch five times in the last two weeks!! (Two of which were with my 91 yr. old visiting teachee, Erma) After dance one day Katelyn said to me "Mom I want to go to Meeki Laka Luca". When I had no idea what she was talking about she finally said "you know where the boys talk like that". She wanted to eat lunch at Bajio. I guess I need to watch what I'm teaching my cute little 3 yr. old. She is so precious, and growing so fast.

LAVA HOT SPRINGS

For Spring break this year we decided to go to Idaho to a place called Lava Hot Springs for the weekend. As you can tell from the name, the town is famous for its natural hot springs. The native Indians were the original ones to discover them (probably to relax their muscles after a long day of chasing buffalo and rowdy kids). Eventually a small town was built around them, and now they are a tourist attraction. And when they say “hot”, they are not kidding either. The motel we stayed at had it’s own private hot springs pool that we got to use for free. It was 105 degrees. The public hot springs cost $5.00 per person, and they were about 109 degrees. For fear of melting our children, we decided to stay and play at our motel. It’s amazing how hot the water was. You couldn’t stay in it longer than a few minutes without having to get out and cool down. Our pool was right next to the river, so a couple times me and the boys went down and sat in the river to cool down. Kaden and I even put our heads completely under. The river water was from snow run-off, so it was pretty cold, but it didn’t seem that cold because we were so hot from the pool.

Kids by a hot spring

Caleb & Katelyn enjoying the hot water

Kristen and kids in pool

Boys getting ready to cool off in the river

Later, after swimming in the hot pool and playing in the river, we decided to go the community indoor pool to swim. It was a regular pool with normal temperatures, so it wasn’t so hot. But it did have diving boards, a basketball hoop, and a climbing wall that you could climb and then jump into the water--so the kids really wanted to go. It was a lot of fun also. I must say, however, I was afraid that gills and a fin were going to start growing out of my skin! I don’t think I’ve been in the water that much in the last 2 years combined. We were prunes!

Caleb climbing the wall

Carlan & Katelyn playing basketball

Kaden doing a flip off the diving board