Puppies, Puppies, Puppies

Well, we did it! We successfully mated our dog, Asia. The first time we tried it, it was a flop. But this time worked wonders. We have 8 happy, healthy puppies running around now. The sad thing is that she delivered 12 pups total but 4 didn't make it. I have to say it will be fun and sad to watch them grow up and leave us so soon. But we will enjoy them while we have them.

Family Fun at the Water Park

Usually every year we try to take the kids swimming. For the last few years we have been going with my sisters and their families to the Roy swimming pool around the 4th of July. This year was different. That family trip to the pool happened spontaneously when Tom and I asked Angie to babysit while we went to Lagoon for the day. So we missed out but the kids had a blast with Aunts and Uncles and Grandma.

With that in mind, we decided to take the kids to a big water park instead. We picked Raging Waters to host this years family get together. It was a great day! The weather was a little iffy in the morning and when we got there at 11:30am the pools were really cold. But in about an hour or so they started warming up. This was the first time ever I have gone to a park this size and it was not wall to wall people. We could go down the river without bumping into people right and left. No fighting for space in the wave pool. We walked on every slide, no waiting at all. It was fabulous!

The kids enjoyed every minute of it and so did the rest of us. It was a great day!

Sweet Little Angel

My cousin Staci and husband Danny lost their little boy, Bridger, this week. Attached is his obituary. Our heart and prayers go out to their family.



BRIDGER SMITH
Bridger James Smith 09/04/2008~08/08/2009 Bridger was gratefully received by Staci and Danny Smith on September 4, 2008 in Salt Lake City. From the moment Bridger entered this world, he had a way of winning the hearts of all those around him. From birth to the end of his time here on earth, Bridger fought many battles and until the morning of August 8, 2009, he was able to persevere with a smile. It was while in Texas being evaluated for a heart-lung transplant that Bridger faced his final battle in this world. Bridger is a miracle to his parents, to the medical world and to all those who had the privilege of knowing him. We will forever miss our beautiful, blue eyed boy and look forward to the moment we see his smiling face again. We would like to give our love and gratitude to all of our family at Primary Children's, because of your love for our son and dedication in your work, we had an amazing 11 months and four days with Bridger. Bridger we are all better for knowing you. Your mom and dad love you more than you will ever know! Thank you for choosing us! Services will be held at Jenkins-Soffe Mortuary at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 15, 2009, 4760 South State Street, Murray, Utah, with viewings on Friday at the mortuary from 6-8 p.m. and Saturday 10-10:45 a.m. prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, a foundation has been arranged in Bridger's name at Primary Children's Medical Center. All funds raised will go toward sleep chairs in the Pediatric ICU. Online condolences at http://www.jenkins-soffe.com/

Laine's 12th Birthday

Our oldest child turned 12! That is just amazing to me. The time has gone so fast. Only yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital after his birth and now I have a budding teenager on my hands. Ok, enough nostalgia. Time to get to the event at hand.

We had just a small family party for Laine. He was so excited. At the same time a little confused. Because he lives at Rick's house now we only get him every other weekend. His actual birthday wasn't for another week. Usually I will throw their birthday parties after their actual birthday has passed. This year however, we held it a week early. He was scheduled to have another surgery on the 13th and not knowing his recovery with how he would be feeling and what he could and couldn't eat we decided to host his event early. Makes sense right??? He made a killing, as usual. We got him a ramp for skateboarding or biking and of course, the mom standard, clothes. Grandma Wendy made him a book of card games and gave him some cards to he had something to do while recovering from surgery. Grandma and Grandpa Simmons and family gave him a new skateboard and helmet and pads. He also got some other stuff from other family members and of course money. It was a simple party of cake and ice cream and great company. I think he had a ball and was very pleased with everything. Thank you to everyone for coming and helping celebrate.

First yearly visit to the zoo!

This 4th of July weekend Tom and I decided we should do something. We didn't have many plans for the weekend since Laine and Kaylee were with Rick this weekend, so we decided to throw caution to the wind and go to the zoo. (I know, so adventurous of us.) Can I just say that I love the zoo. I really should look into getting a family pass there each year. I could go at least 3 or 4 times a year. It is always such fun. I think Chesney and Jaycie's favorite part was the park. They told everyone they went to the zoo and played on the playground. Cute little stinks. I can honestly say a good time was had by all. I can't wait to do it again.

3 years and counting.

It is official. Tom and I have been happily married now for 3 years. WOW! I must say that time does fly. It really doesn't seem like that long. But, I could not be happier with my choice of life mate. He constantly still makes me smile and laugh. I know if I am having a hard time with anything he will be there to let me blubber on, beat up on, or just chew out depending on what the situation may hold. And incredibly, he takes it all in stride. I know I can count on him for anything and he will do his best to make sure I am happy at all times. I truly love him with every fiber of my being. Thank you Tom for choosing me. I love you!

Saratoga Splash was really a SPLASH!

My sister-in-law, Karley, and I decided to try out our craft skills and do a booth selling our good at this years Saratoga Splash carnival/festival. We had been preparing for this event for the last two months. We had a little bit of everything to sell. We did burp clothes, flower clips with head bands, tutu's, beaded spiders, glass etched candle holders, stroller blankets, and several other items.
The weather report for the day was thunderstorms. Well, usually out here we get dumped on for about 10 minutes or so then it goes away so we took precautions against the anticipated rain. Everything was going really well for the first few hours. We were doing pretty well with our sales. Considering it was very overcast and not that many people were wandering around. The carnival officially opened at 11:00am. By 1:00pm the sky started getting really dark. We prepared ourselves to sit out a rain storm. Within like 10 minutes the storm hit. We sat through about 10 minutes of down pouring rain just like everyone else around us. Then out of nowhere the wind picked up. I would say it got up to at least 40 mph. Disaster hit. The wind was so strong that it was trying to uproot our staked down canopy. Karley was on one side trying to hold it down and I was on the other side. Both of us decided it was time to try to pack it in. A hard feat to accomplish since both of us were busy trying to hold the canopy from flying away.
I tried to call Tom for help. But of course the electrical storm was interfering with my phones power and it would not stay on long enough for me to get a phone call out. I asked our neighboring tent dweller if I could use his cell phone. His worked, but unfortunately Tom could not hear a word I was saying. In desperation I was yelling HELP into the phone hoping he would at least hear a portion of what I was saying and get the point. Luckily he took my phone call as what it was intended for and was on his way to help. Now the bad part to our rescue. Due to the road construction and people trying to get out of the weather, it took him 20 minutes to get through the intersection so a whole 30 minutes before he made it to our aid. Our event was only a maximum of 10 minutes from our house.
In the mean time we were stuck. Everyone was scrambling to get their stuff cleaned up so basically everyone was on their own for the moment. While we were busy holding on to our booth, the next big catastrophe hit. The top frame of the canopy decided it was not going to hold under the stress anymore and bent, collapsing on our table and ruining several items we had set out on it. So now we have a collapsed canopy, rain and wind pouring in from all sides and little tutu's and stuff flying across the field. AAAHHHH! We had to try something so I was able to get the front two posts of the canopy down to their lowest level. Now that it was at an angle the wind wasn't as willing to carry it away. I ran to Karley to help her out.
Next problem, due to the fact that it was the back end that bent we couldn't get the pole straight enough to dislodge the peg and lower the back ends. Finally a man came up and offered to help us get unstuck. We were fighting with all our might to get the poles straight enough to get them down. Needless to say it eventually took 6 or 7 firefighters, 3 police officers, our good Samaritan and us two to get the thing down. At this point Tom was still stuck in traffic.
We started throwing things into boxes and the back of the car as quickly as possible. It was a real mad dash to get it done. With the help of all those involved we got everything but two items into the car by the time Tom showed up. Both Karley and I looked like drown rats. Just soaked from head to toe! All that was left to do now was drop off stuff and survey the damage. Karley told me she had burp clothes and tutu's all over the house trying to dry them out.
So our first entrepreneur adventure was just that. A real adventure!