Saturday, October 24, 2009

Scouts and Birthday Party


Last Thursday night was our Pack Meeting.  Andrew had a great time playing games, and was so glad to finally be able to see Jared.  It had been almost two weeks, for goodness sakes!  They played basketball, of course, and this game of blowing a ball back and forth on a table.  Andrew got some awards, and I'm sure they've been lost by now.  Most of his things never get to be put on his uniform because they are misplaced.  Oh well, less sewing for me!

Last night we were able to go out to Jill's house for Hiram's birthday party.  They invited his whole primary class.  I think there were around 12 kids there!  They began with a scavenger hunt around their property.  The kids found items that were later used to make slime and putty.  They did soda geysers, and had a great dinner, opened presents, and had cake and ice cream.  We had a great time, and the kids can't wait to go back.  They were already asking when they could go back before we were out of their drive way!

Ben and I were happy to sit on the couch, even though Haley was bothering us with the camera.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

In Loving Memory...


This is a hard one...

Last Tuesday night, we packed up the car to leave the next morning to go to Utah.  When we woke up Wednesday morning, Ben learned that his best friend, Scott Shimamoto, was missing in a small plane crash.  He immediately left to go search for his friend, and I went to their house to be with Scott's wife, Melissa.  A short time later, we learned that Scott was killed, along with the pilot.  Scott and his family of six little children were our closest friends.  Just a couple of days before his death, Scott and Melissa had brought their family over to our house for another evening of talking and laughing while the children played.

Ben was looking forward to Scott joining him at work to be his partner in just a few weeks.  We have spent years having great times with the Shimamotos.  Whenever Scott was around, everybody was having fun.  Ben gave a beautiful talk at Scott's funeral last Saturday.  It was the hardest thing he's ever had to do, but he was honored to do it for his friend.

Here's some of our favorite photos of some of our times together:

July fourth on our front lawn:

Boating at Cooney:


Ben and Scott went camping with some Boy Scouts, and had a great time fishing and hiking.  Ben was always amazed at Scott's abilities on the water, and also at his ability to get Ben into all sorts of predicaments.  They got lost on their way back from a hike because Scott thought he had found a shortcut.  That shortcut ended up making them shimmy themselves against a rockslide across a mountain.  Good times!



Melissa and I always marveled at how similar our husbands are.  They did the same about us, and even joked that they must have gone together to pick out their wives in heaven and found Melissa and I standing in the same line.  Here is evidence, though.  We have a Christmas tradition with the Shimamotos.  We share going over to each others' houses to learn about Christmas in other countries.  Last year, Scott showed up wearing the same thing as Ben.  I just had to take a picture.  They hadn't even noticed until I brought it up!


Scott, we'll miss you so much.  As we remember our time with you, we smile and laugh, but now I weep as I type this.  We know you'll be watching.  Ben will keep his promise he made to you to take care of your family while you are working for the Lord and preparing a place for your family. 

Until we meet again...

Pumpkin Patch and the Park

The weekend we were supposed to be in Utah, we figured we needed to get the kids out of the house since there was no school.  The weather was finally great, so we headed off to our favorite pumpkin patch.  The kids were offered a ride on the "train", which was very bumpy, but so much fun.

Matthew found a pumpkin he liked, but it was a bit too heavy for him.  He was not happy about that at all.

Andrew decided he could handle the wagon full of kids and pumpkins.  He did it too!  I couldn't believe he could pull all that.

Andrew tried to sneak this monster by me.  I told him that it was a little too big, and made him put it back.

Grace found one she loved, too!  It now is carved with Cindarella, and lights up our front porch every night.  Andrew's is carved with a Storm Trooper, of course, and Joey decided on a dragon.  We haven't carved the other two yet.

Each of the kids had to stop and put their faces through the fun cutouts.  This was their favorite.  Here's Joey as Batman:

We then went to Pizza Hut for lunch (that's our tradition), then we took the kids to the 3D movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".  We went to the bargain show, and it still cost ut $57!

The next day, we went out to our favorite park.  It's in the next town over, but it's worth the drive.  It is huge and set up like a castle.  The kids absolutely love it.  We had sandwiches left over from the trip we never took, so we made it a picnic.


It's been a rough week, but we're still plugging along, trying to keep busy.  We're looking forward to Halloween.  The boys were just invited to a party at their favorite girl pals' house next week, and tomorrow is a playdate with Ryan and Reece, followed by Hiram's birthday party. 

I'll try to be better about blogging.  I just haven't felt like doing anything lately!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

This Week...

We haven't done a whole lot this week, just normal stuff.  I'm trying to teach myself to quilt and to play the guitar.  They're both very fun, but I don't have time to devote to each one.  One of these days, probably when I'm 50, I'll have time.  But I just have to keep reminding myself to enjoy these kids while they're little -- even though I don't get much free time.  I know I'll miss it when it's over.

Matthew learned how to say "get down!" and "No!" this week.  Now I just have to teach him how to say them softly.

We're getting ready for our trip to Utah this week.  We leave on Wednesday, and we're looking forward to seeing our friends the Grahams, and our cousins!  I have all these ideas about fun things to do: The Children's Museum, The Zoo, Thanksgiving Point, Lehi Pool.... but I'm sure we'll just be playing at Lindsey's most of the time because we won't be able to tear them out of the house!  Let's just hope I remember my camera...

Stay tuned!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Trip to Uncle Sam's


This past weekend we took a trip to Wyoming to visit Uncle Sam.  The kids had been dying to go, and we decided to take Shoji to visit her friend, Mojo.  Mojo is Sam's dog who comes to stay with us when Sam goes out of town, and they have become great friends.  This time Shoji was on Mojo's turf, and she loved it!  She was free to roam around and go wherever she wanted, with no leash!  That's how a dog should live.

We were very impressed by Sam's work.  He and his partners built this house, and they're building another huge one down the road.  The bigger house will be used for weddings and other events.  I can't wait to see it when it's all done.  It is beautiful! 

The house Sam lives in is one that he and his two friends built, and is on the same property.  It's in a little valley with a view of the mountains.  It has a little creek running through it.  It's a really nice piece of property.  I love the porches on the house, the hardwood floors and open floor plan.  The front porch is awesome!  Here are some pictures:



This is the big house they're still working on:


This is inside Sam's house.  It's really beautiful!  Nice job guys!



Matt had to check out the kitchen.


This is Adam, another builder and the kids' new friend.  He was so nice to humor them with a game of Operation.  The kids really enjoyed his company!


We took a walk on the property over to the big house, and stopped to look at the shop and barn.  Grace had to hold on to her Sam.


Matthew was trying to immitate the boys throwing rocks.  But then his hands got dirty and he didn't like that.  He's trying to clean them off.


Here's Shoji enjoying herself.  We're going to have to buy some land so she can run free again.


There were some old buildings built into the side of a hill.  The boys decided it made a great slide.  Good thing they dressed in their newest jeans!


This is the maze of doors the kids loved.  It was in the back of the barn.  Sam and his friends had set them all up to stain them.  They almost all got tipped over from the kids running through them, but all survived.


After riding on the 4-wheeler (no pictures, but I got some video) with Sam, he took the boys up on the hill behind his house.  That was one of their favorite parts of the day, after the 4-wheeler, of course.


Sam took us up to this great spot in the mountains that had this waterfall.  There was a walkway, bridge, and some lookout points.  It was really a beautiful waterfall, especially with all the changing colors.





This was just a weird rock out in the middle of nowhere, so I snapped a picture.  Right after this rock, we got to Shell, WY, and Sam bought everybody ice cream.


The kids were tuckered out!  It was a great day, and we'll do it again soon.  The weather was cold, but we have plans to go back when there's snow.  We scoped out some really great sledding hills.

Thanks for all the fun, Uncle Sam!  We loved visiting you and seeing the great work you do.  See you soon!