Swiss Days

Swiss Days was pretty fun this year. It was different to have it all in the valley. Aside from the traffic problems, I quite liked it. For starters, Lainee was able to put the family float in our driveway and just pull out. No crowds and a place for the kids to run, get a drink, etc. Our street was chaotic, but most of the valley was the "parking lot" for all the activities. The float turned out cute and the kids had fun. Kallan was at a football game and Jadon was at All-State Choir practice, but Wes & Tiff made it. Thanks to Lainee for keeping the family together and doing a float!!

We had Amanda ride on the float and everybody was cracking up because SHE was filming everyone from the float instead of those watching filming her.

I did the candy store on Friday down at Heritage Square. Claudia was in charge of "hands on" this year and did a nice job. There were a lot of kids and they had a good time! We went down to the city office for the dinner afterward and got there at the end of the line and didn't get a lot of food because they were running out. There were A LOT of people there! More than I have ever seen. The evening weather was beautiful for those who stayed to the concert and fireworks. Britton and Kameron sang in the choir. Then we went home and finished the float and watched the fireworks from the driveway.

Saturday, I helped with the demonstrations going on. I picked a good job this year because I got to be inside with the air conditioning. I also made some Chess Pie for the Drama Club to sell at their face painting booth. Jadon even sang on the stage there by their booth after the other activities had wrapped up. I left from demonstrations and went to Kam's game, then straight to Women's Conference. I'm still needing a nap for recovery from the weekend! I spent all day Thursday making salsa.

All in all, I thought it was a great weekend!

A couple of funnies.......

Last week the Sister Missionaries started the discussions to Amanda and Jadon's friend, Shelbi Post. They had dinner with us, too. We asked the sisters where they were from and Sis. Goolsby responded, "Phoenix." Britton said, "My brother served his mission there." I quickly said, "No, that was Philadelphia." "Oh, yeah!" Said Britt. "I knew it was one of those 'F sounds.'" We all started to laugh, and I reminded him, "Or, 'PH!'"

Kameron has been helping me make salsa on occasion. He is getting really good at it. He does the blended salsa which has green onions in it. I usually do the pico with the diced tomatoes and onions. The other day while he was chopping green onions, his eyes began watering and he said, "Mom! Are you cutting onions?" "No, honey! You are!!" It was pretty funny!

On the way to Britton's ball game yesterday, he was whinning and complaining to Paul about having to go play football because he wanted to go to Swiss Days because it was his favorite holiday.

Then on the way home, after he had that really great game, he said to Paul. "Dad, every time I whine a lot, I have a really good game. You better get yourself a big pair of earmuffs because I am going to be doing a lot of whinning."

Kam was complaining about choir and choir practice the other day (surprise!) Evidently he was upset because his teacher said something to him, so he told me that he 1. Wasn't going to sing at Swiss Days, and 2. That he was only going to lip sync. I wish I would have had my camera so you could have seen his grumpy face.

Just a reminder here that several times a week, I am reminded by my boys that I am ruining their life and torturing them by making them: take piano, have to go to football practice, going to choir practice, having to clean, never getting to play, blah, blah, blah. Yes, it's true! My goal as a mother is to ruin their life and torture them. It is good that I have finally come to grips with my true role in life and realized what my work is all about. =) I am at peace with my role now because I see potential and know they really can grow up and be grateful. Look at the first few. This is where you begin singing, "I will survive!"

Football updates

The boys are doing really well in football this year. Kallan's team has lost the last two games. Britton and Kameron split their last two. Kallan is the center because he is good at hiking the ball and also because he is tough and not afraid. He comes up against some pretty big boys on the line. I told him to have the "Wyatt Parry" attitude-- he thinks he is bigger and meaner than he is and plays like it.

Britton has been doing a great job. Paul said that he had at least 5-6 sacks, several unassisted tackles and was in on a lot of tackles. He also plays fullback and blocks for the runners. Paul said it was one of his best games (and I was at Swiss Days)!

Kameron's been playing really well, too. He went from hardly playing to starting and playing defensive end. The photo is of his sack for a loss last week. (Can you believe I got a GOOD play on film? I usually miss them!) He did really well this week, too. Was in on a lot of tackles and nearly had a sack for a huge loss. It's been pretty fun watching them. Kam's team lost in overtime yesterday.

Update on Paul

Paul actually minded the Dr. for one day. He stayed off his leg the day after his surgery, then it was back to work. I told him that I had no sympathy if he didn't even TRY to obey. He is getting better and improving. The swelling is going down. He never says anything about having pain so either he doesn't have any or he is afraid that I won't have any sympathy anyway because I told him so.

Here are some pictures of it all.
The picture on the bottom is after the cauterization and before the veins were stripped. Top left photo is day 2 after the wrap came off. Top right picture is one week later after the stitches came out. (I don't know how to move these photos around and fix them to be in the right place.)

It's a GIRL!!!!!

We couldn't be more excited and happy to share that Whitnee and Misi are having a GIRL! I'm wanting to go out shopping right now!!! I'm hoping they make pink volleyballs and basketballs because I don't think Whitnee's going to love dolls, barbies, and dance shoes just yet! ;o)

Check out her blog for the information and photos!

Man! This is becoming REAL!!! =)

We couldn't be more proud of our beautiful daughter and sweet son-in-law. How we love them!

Football Season Begins

Paul's Surgery

Paul had a little surgery today. He is having the varicose veins taken care of in his leg. Today's procedure was to cauterize the main vein feeding the damaged ones. He has to stay down for 24 hours and no sitting or standing for 48 hours. He also has to keep his leg wrapped for 48 hours. On Friday he will go in to make sure there are no blod clots, then rewrap his leg.

On Monday, we will go back in and they will cut and take out the damaged veins in his lower leg. It will be the same procedure for recovery on Monday-- in bed, then no sitting. He cannot travel and distances for 2 weeks and has to limit his sitting time for 2 weeks.

Can you say, "fun??"

Paul's first SEP

On the Thursday of my seminar, I asked Paul if he would help me by going to Kameron's SEP. This is the first one he's attended out of 7 children and years of them. Usually, they're a pretty simple experience. I'm just glad he was there this time to have the full experience.

The teacher asked about setting goals in reading and writing. For the reading goal, the teacher asked Kameron if he could read 20 minutes each night. He said, "well, my dad grounded my brother for 2 1/2 hours one night. So if I get grounded, I can just go up in my room and read."

So during the writing goal, the teacher asked, "what could your dad do to help you reach this goal?" He said, "I don't know if he can help me that much cuz he's on his laptop all the time."

All I can do is laugh and laugh! It's stinking time that he had to go through this! This must be one of those gifts that come back to you.......

Football

Kallan, Britton, and Kameron all had their first games on Saturday. It was fun to watch them play. It was a very hot day out, but they all did great! I think Kallan and Britton's teams lost in close games. Kameron's team won, but he didn't get to play very much.

This week's events

This past week I have been hosting 5 friends who are in town for a training seminar. Three of the ladies were with me at Mentor Training. They will be going home tomorrow.

I taught the lesson in RS on Sunday.

Jadon and Britton are in full swing at play practice and I have been going to the school to help with the set. Paul and a bunch of people went to the school on Labor Day and we got the back frame of the set built.

Mykelle & Volleyball

Mykelle has had tournaments the last two weekends. The weekend before in SLC and last weekend in Vegas. I fed the team on Thursday on their way down to the tournament. It was a lot of fun! Jadon even sang for them. They fell in love with him!

The team has been doing pretty well. Mykelle hasn't been playing a ton, but that is another story.

What she has been doing is becoming a good friend to the other setter who is from Brazil and has been lonely. Mykelle has talked to her a lot and she has asked a lot about the church. It's becoming a great missionary experience for her.

Weekend in SLC

The last weekend in August (the day after my seminar) we headed to SLC for the weekend. I rode up early with Gavin and Lainee to try and catch Mykelle's volleyball games. I was able to catch the last one on Friday. From there we went to the Snow Canyon Football game against Orem. Gavin & Lainee went down to Jacob's baseball games and met us at Orem for the FB game.

Saturday we watched Mykelle's volleyball games, then went to the BYU football game on Saturday afternoon. We are turning Amanda into a football fan! She loves football now! Even from the backrow at Cougar Stadium. After the BYU game, we ate at the Mayan and watched the divers.

Sunday we went to Music and the Spoken Word. Following it, we saw the sister missionaries singing on the steps and Mykelle saw Aniela Ebisch there singing. She is now a sister missionary on Temple Square, but was an exchange student at our house for a short time in 2001.

After our fun meeting with her, we went to tour the Conference Center. We ran into a group of Chinese people who had just begun their tour and the Sister said she would love a translator. It turned out to be a really neat experience with Amanda essentially teaching these great people through interpretation. At the end of that tour, they began asking a lot of questions and Amanda helped translate the answers. That little group wanted to stay with us as we toured Temple Square, so we found a sister missionary that spoke Mandarin and she took them through the North Visitors Center, the Tabernacle, and the South Visitors Center. They asked a lot of questions and we had NO clue what was going on. We just chatted with the companion and had a great time. At the end of that tour, they all wanted to go see the Beehive House, so I took them over there figuring that Amanda could translate for that tour, but upon our arrival, the Couple Sister that was there asked if there were any young sisters that spoke Mandarin and one had just walked in. At the end of the tour, Amanda said to us that she felt like she should cry and there was something she could feel in her heart. Paul and I were in tears and told her that it was okay to cry.

Since then, she has been asking a lot of questions, is nearly through reading the Book of Mormon, has scheduled to meet with the Sister Missionaries, and is reading everything she can get her hands on.

Sunday in Relief Society when they were asking for good news, she raised her hand and nearly jumped out of her seat and said, "I have good news!" I was wondering what in the heck she was going to say! She said, "The sister missionaries are going to start teaching me soon!" Pat was in tears, and everyone was just so happy for her. It was the sweetest thing!

It has been a privilege to see the miracles and the Lord's hand in her life teaching her and preparing her to take the gospel back to a country that needs it so much. The Lord really is getting the gospel into China-- it's just in His way! What a joy we feel at being able to be on the front row watching it all unfold!

My First Class

Just a small report on my first seminar. It went really well. There were about 30 people there. I was glad to have that first one over and am ready to do some more. I hope that those there came away with something to help them.