You'll never guess what happened!

Go to http://www.freezerjam.blogspot.com/ to find out what it is.

So Cool!!!!

(We love you and miss you and pray for you everyday, Scott!)

I think this guy has Olympic Fever. What do you think?

Three posts in one day-

(it was the easiest way I could think of to do it)

Today is a sad day for me. I am kindof in mourning. I know it is a silly thing to be sad about, but everytime I think of it I want to cry. As I sit typing this, my Mom is packing up all the stuff in my Grandma and Grandpa's house in Corvallis, Oregon. They haven't lived there for quite awhile. My brother, Eric, has been living there and taking care of the house and yard, but it has still been their house. After today it won't be anymore. My cousin Lisa and her family are moving in tomorrow. It will still be in Grandma and Grandpa's name, but none of their stuff will be there. They have lived there for a very long time. I think they moved into that house when Mom was in junior high school.

Grandma and Grandpa's house is the place where I have always gone to visit them. It is a wonderful place. A place that used to grow Christmas trees. All the trees are giants now and totally unsuitable to be a Christmas tree, but when I was small it was a magical place where I knew Santa could come and feel welcome. Their house is a place where we could tiptoe out into the backyard and see deer eating the apples off the trees. It is a place that has daring squirrels that will throw nuts at you and try to scare you out of their tree. It is a place that has walls of hydrangeas that are taller than I am. It is a place that we took baths in a big metal washtub in the backyard. It is a place that Grandpa built me the greatest swing ever. It is a place where you could find frozen cherries and frozen blueberries in the freezer to snitch. It is the place that I lost my pocketknife when I was about eleven or so. It is the place where I spent most of my birthdays when I was young. It is a place where blackberries grow wild, and if I would go pick a bucket full off the bushes across the street Grandma would make me a blackberry pie. Their kitchen is a place that always had wonderful smells coming from it and if you sit at the kitchen table you could watch the hummingbirds in the garden outside of the window and play a game of panjandrum with Grandma. Of course, I haven't actually had the chance to do any of those things for a very long time, but in my mind I guess I felt like I could . After this weekend I won't be able to anymore. It will be someone else's house, with their furniture and their dishes, and their things. I am sad.

Finally, the post about the family reunion!

When we arrived on Thursday (Aug. 7) we found that Jackson and Ryan were already there. They came up with Sara and Isaac. Mat and Kati were home with a sick Haleigh. The boys immediately wanted to hold Andrew. Ryan was especially enamored with the baby. All weekend he was right there "helping"me with the baby. He would even run in from the other room just to tell Andrew how much he loved him. When I fed Andrew we had some interesting conversations about what he was doing under that blanket. Ryan also confided in me that he wanted his mommy to have another baby. Jackson told him that it wasn't going to happen, that his mommy would never have another one. Ryan said he knew that, but he wished she could.

David in the yellow shirt and Nathan in the blue. (I'm pretty sure I got that right.)

Samurai Sara and cute Uncle Spence

Keri and Spence with Emma

Emma Loved Grandma's hat!
















Everyone loved the glow in the dark parade and games.

(sorry, my camera doesn't take very good pictures without the flash)

There were lots of crafts to keep the kids and their mommies busy, and everyone had a good time just being together.

Everyone had a good time at the talent show. Sara and Isaac performed "Sweet Little Buttercup" from Three Amigos. It was great! If you want the experience of seeing them perform this, look it up on youtube but imagine Sara and Isaac instead of Martin Short and Steve Martin (two martins, how about that?). They did the dance step for step, exactly the same as the movie. Fantastic! One of the other highlights of the program was Grandma and Grandpa singing a cowboy song about being reincarnated as poop. I never knew they were so talented!

There was also a trip to Toad's Family Fun Center. They have mini golf, race cars, an arcade, laser tag, etc. We were there for about, hmm I'd say eight minutes, before I had a total breakdown and became "that mom". You know, the one you see in the store or somewhere screaming at her kids. The one that makes you wonder why she ever had kids in the first place because obviously she doesn't deserve to have them. The one who is so out of control that it almost makes you want to call DCFS. Needless to say, I don't know if anyone had a good time there because I sure didn't. I left and took Andrew and Aaron back to the house and we missed all the fun. I definitely wouldn't recommend taking a three year old and a five month old there. I'm sure it's a great place for about age five and up. I couldn't even put the boys in the stroller and walk around, because it isn't very handicapped accessible. I can't imagine needing to get around there in a wheelchair.

Anyway, the rest of the time was great, and it was so good to spend time together. We really missed you Mat, Kati, and Haleigh!

Josh got stung by a hornet yesterday (August 20). On the neck. I think it's because we are hosting the best hornet condo on the block.

I don't know how well you can see this. I took this picture while I was standing on the lawn. I wasn't about to get out the ladder and get closer, so I just zoomed in with the camera. There are six nests. They are each about the size of a half of a small cantalope. We also have a nest in the crawlspace above our garage. We have a vent there that is supposed to have a screen inside it so they can't get in. I have already sprayed this nest. I used about half a can of spray to make sure they were taken care of, but there are still tons of them out there. I don't think there is a screen and the nest is up in there out of reach of the spray. Mike made arrangements with a guy he knows (an exterminator) to come have a look and see what needs to be done. I've kindof had the thought that unless they are a problem we would leave them alone, but now there are so many of them that something must be done.

Emma begged me to cut her hair. I took some scissors and hacked at it for awhile. This is what happened-

I guess it doesn't look too bad.

Here's how it went-

These are the kids who came.

Everyone making their pizzas.

After the pizzas and opening presents everyone went to their own corners. This is a picture of the boys getting ready for the night, and Mom trying to get the little boys to sleep. Bedtime is 8:00pm and this pic was taken about 10:30pm. Can you say a miraculous transformation by Aaron into a little monster the next day?

Making crepes for breakfast. The hungry hoardes await.

That evening Mike got us a sitter and we hit the town (Salt Lake). We went to the Gateway and ate at Z'Tejas. It was yummy! After we ate we decided to walk to the bookstore and the kitchen store. Z'Tejas is at the very south end and the other stores are at the very north end. When I was in the kitchen store I overheard the cashier asking a customer if she wanted a validation. That reminded me that we forgot to get one at the restraunt. We went back to the restraunt for a little validation. While we were walking down the street we heard a guy say, "Excuse me. I think you dropped something." We turned around and who do you think we saw?

Our favorite Philadelphians! What are the odds?

Boy, were we suprised! It was so great to see them. They got to meet Andrew and we got to visit with them for a minute before they had to go meet up with Isaac's family. It made us really excited to be together with the whole family this weekend!

P.S. Mike's arm is feeling much better.

So, Mike's arm started to hurt him around Monday. In the muscle on the top of his left arm. On Wednesday it really hurt. So much so that he called me from work and asked for his doctors phone number. I didn't even suggest going to the doctor, so I knew that it hurt pretty badly. Mike called the doctor, but they couldn't see him until next Tuesday. Wednesday night Mike couldn't even move his arm, and it hurt so bad that he didn't sleep at all the entire night. I told him on Thursday morning to call the doctor again and see if they had any cancellations for that day or maybe they could just squeeze him in. He got in about 10 a.m. He has severe tendonitis in the muscle that runs under his armpit. They gave him two shots, one a steroid and one a pain killer. He fainted during the first shot. He also has to go back for more steroids next week and he has a prescription for Lortab to help with the pain. Fun stuff.

All my children are having sleepover birthday parties tonight. Josh invited three almost teen boys, Ben invited four teen boys, and Kim and Emma each invited two of their friend. Out of the twelve invited, probably only two of the boys will sleep over and all of the girls. Three of the other boys will come, but they can't sleep over. The kids all decided to have a build-your-own-pizza dinner and crepes for breakfast. I'll let you know how it goes.