Foul ball

Last week at my softball game I caught a line drive with the inside of my thigh. It hurt for a week. Not good times.

Weekend With The Wheelers

This past weekend my brother Greg, his wife Jessica and their three kids came from Houston for a weekend visit. On Saturday we went to Medina lake. This lake is a beautiful lake in the Hill Country that is not too far from Bandera, the cowboy capital of the world (at least that's what they claim), where we had a great lunch on our way home at the Old Spanish Trail restaurant.

Greg and Jessica enjoying the sun.

Tori could have played in the water all day. Notice how clear this lake is--it was also the perfect temperature.


Charles is proud to show of his newly acquired swimming skills.


At the restaurant in Bandera they brag about their pancakes being as big as your head. Charles had to see it to believe it.


Charles and Victor waiting outside the restaurant in Bandera.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Part II

Okay, I said I would post a video of me screaming. Sorry the quality is so bad, it was taken with my digital camera. In case you can't tell from the video, that is me on what is called the "Big Swing." You are hanging from a rope attached to a body harness and you are hoisted way up and then you drop and swing. Enjoy!!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I know that is a corny title but it really does fit this post. This past weekend I was able to go to a reunion at Badger Creek (BYU Idaho's outdoor recreational facility). I worked there in the summer of '94. I met up with three of my friends and we all enjoyed a break from our daily grind of raising kids and keeping house. We were able to spend time in Jackson Hole as well as attend the reunion. Badger Creek is at the base of the Teton Mountains and is one of the most beautiful places I have seen. The mountain range is enormous and the surrounding area is beautiful as well. There is so much life out there. We were able to spot a moose, a coyote, an elk and a deer. There were also a million mosquitoes out there and the toxic repellent with deet didn't even slow them down.
Here are a few pictures from the trip.


Me, Kelly, Leah and Caroline at Grand Targhee where a few of us took ski classes while at Ricks.


Me on top of the power pole (you have to climb the pole and stand up and leap off the top and try to hit a tennis ball while in mid air).


Me and Caroline climbing the wall.


After you get yourself up the wall you get to stand at the end of this little platform and jump off and take a zip line to the ground.


Me in some of the beautiful wild flowers.


Leah, Kelly, Caroline and Me getting ready to horseback ride.


Kelly and Me under the antler arch in Jackson Hole.

I was going to put some video on but couldn't figure it out with out Joes help. So, stay tuned. I may or may not scream like a girl in one of the videos, but I guess that's okay since I am girl.

I want to be.....

Today I started running errands at 9am with all the kids in tow. These were not pleasant errands either. The kind where you are getting in and out of the car a million times to do returns and drop offs. Speaking of drop offs, why is it that our public library has to be connected to a high school and when you want to drop of a few books you have to trek across part of the school grounds to do so. Anyway, after several hours of this we finally hit our last stop which was Costco. Of course the boys want to sample everything in sight. I don't blame them, it was now noon and they were hungry for lunch. Tori has finished her bottle and thrown it down in the cart and is now starting to protest being strapped in and not able to run free for 3 hours. After checking out and waiting in the food line to get the boys a hot dog and pizza lunch to take home ( I know very unhealthy) but some days I just don't have the energy to go home and think of what to make for them. This was quick and easy, at least that's what I thought until they told me that the pizza would be out of the oven in 5 minutes. Couldn't they tell me that before I told Joey he could have a slice of cheese pizza for lunch. So for 5 minutes I tried to keep Tori from screaming and Joey and Charles from trying to dispense all the ketchup, mustard and relish from the self serve dispensers. We finally got to our car and I am trying to load all the groceries into the van and get the kids in and this middle aged lady pulls in and parks by us and gets out of her car and asks if she can walk the cart back up to the front of the store and she is helping me with the groceries and then as I am putting Tori in the car she is trying to get Tori's bottle unwedged from the seat of the cart and the side of cart, I have no idea how it got so stuck. She was really sweet and exactly what I needed at that moment when I had zero energy left and didn't want to have to figure out where to put the cart after I was done with it. So, the reason I am posting about this is because I want to be like that when my hands aren't so full with my own kids. There have been a few times when a nice lady has given me the little help I need or just words of encouragement when I am out with all my kids. I am thankful to those that offer their help and want to someday have the opportunity to offer my hand to others.

Independence Day

The Fourth of July is one of our favorite holidays. We have been lucky to live in some excellent cities for the 4th, including four years Philadelphia and Washington DC. Provo, UT also knows how to celebrate our nation's birthday, and we've always enjoyed being there.

This year, we got a flavor for Independence Day in San Antonio. Texans are generally very proud of their country and, on top of that, San Antonio is a 'military town' in many ways. There were countless things to do and we sampled a few of them this time around.

Here are a few pictures of the kids at the beginning of our day:





Many of the military bases around town open their gates to the public for various ceremonies, concerts, and firework shows. We decided to attend the "Salute to the Union" at Fort Sam Houston, near downtown. Fort Sam is one of the oldest Army bases in the country, and the historical buildings there are fascinating. The ceremony at the main parade ground was short and sweet, but included a flag ceremony, military band, some remarks, old men dressed up as George Washington, and a 50-shot cannon salute to each of the 50 states. I felt sorry for the band sitting in full fatigues, but they were great. The boys and Tori were not thrilled with the cannons, especially since we were only about 30 yards away from them, but by the time we got back to the car they had decided that the cannons were "cool."

Here is a video of a few cannon shots:


And a picture of the boys with the ordnance guys:

A shot of the military band in their fatigues--even the piccolo player!

Joey (born in Olney) found his Maryland flag.

We then followed the old men dressed up as George Washington, who turned out to be members of the Sons of the American Revolution who were dressed in authentic uniforms from the Continental Army.

Here is a picture of the boys with them:

The boys couldn't take their eyes off of them, especially the guy carrying around the large copy of the Declaration of the Independence and a quill. The boys were excited to actually read the part that we always recite (we hold these truths to be self-evident...), even though Charles was confused about the s's looking like f's.

Anyway, we followed the SAR guys downtown to the Alamo where another ceremony took place, with another band, in front of the shrine (the old church with the well-known facade). They rang the bell for the 13 original states and played a lot of great Souza pieces (with a very random "Rock Around the Clock" thrown in there, probably just to see if we were paying attention). We hung out at the Alamo for a bit, spent some time on the Riverwalk, grabbed some lunch, got caught in a huge downpour, stopped by Central Market in Alamo Heights (which by the way, has the best selection of Spanish cheese outside of Spain I've ever seen--but if you're looking for pickled eggs, you're out of luck), and got home a few hours before our church ice-cream social and firework viewing.

We took the kids over to the church lawn, which sits on a hill, where we could see the Sonterra firework show. The boys enjoyed their SECOND serving of ice cream in one day and we enjoyed a pretty good firework show without it being too loud for the kids. It started raining just as the fireworks ended and we made it home without getting soaked. We and our lawn are happy to finally see some significant rain.

Of course, it was a great day--but any day that we live in this country is great. The older I get the more I appreciate how uniquely blessed we are to live here, the more grateful I am to those who sacrifice for our freedom, and the more honored I am to be able to teach my children and watch them learn to love their country. I love my country. God Bless America.

More Tori

Here is another video of Tori talking to the camera before she went to bed last night. It seems like bedtime is one of the only times she's not spinning around the room shaking her head around like a maniac.

You will see that she has a little more 'tude in this video than in the last one--and there were several moments I had to edit out where she went full diva on me--but overall it's a pretty good snapshot of our girl.