Wakesurfing on Utah Lake

Thanks for the new board-shorts Jimmy!

Luvin' the Lake

Clearly it's our passion: Wakeboarding for Jimmy, Wakesurfing for me. Nothing like laying out on the boat all day under the sun, jumping in when it's too hot, the smell of sun tan lotion, music blaring, yummy munchies, kicking it with friends...what's not to love?

Daniel getting some AIR!

Jimmy and our niece

Me and friend Adrienne

Jimmy getting some air

Ruthie! First time!

ME Wakesurfing

He loves his big muscles

katie doing a grab

Jimmy throwing a tantrum

Daniel wake-surfing

White Trash Softball

This summer has been our first experience playing softball in what I call the "white trash leagues" instead of the BYU intramurals. And it was A BLAST! The highlights were men taking their smoke breaks in between innings, asking for oxygen after running with their big beer guts from 1st to 2nd, the crazy amount of swearing at the refs and then going to get a beer with them after the game...oh and of course...Jimmy's OUT OF THE PARK HOMERUN last night under the lights.

Yeah--softball is great! Here is my man in action.

I'm pretty sure this is Jimmy and my favorite picture of him because it just says "MAN" doesn't it? The dirt on the shirt, big muscles, sweaty arms, dragging of the feet, crooked grin...

...gotta love those manly men.

MANIs & PEDIs

Because we looked like this we....

...went and did this!

Boys-don't knock it till you try it! Nothing better than a massage, manicure, and pedicure after being in the dirt and grime for 4 days!

Handcart TREK

So dirty. So cold (it hailed). So long (25 miles). So sore. So dirty. So many meetings. So dirty. So much work. So many blisters. So so so so dirty. BUT...

SO WORTH IT.

Jimmy and I were a Ma and Pa for TREK. To be honest, we were almost burnt out by the time the actual TREK came because of the number of meetings, activities, parties, phone calls, fliers, texts, etc that we had to do. (we got the calling 7 months ago!). But in the end, it was worth it. Such a spiritual experience and I was in such awe watching my husband take over as the Pa of our 10 kids and make it work. He is so incredible!

Push Jimmy!

It was really really dusty!

Our family crossing the river

Pa and Blair

During the ho-down the first night

It was always dusty so we pretty much lived for 4 days with our hankys like this

Can you see the dust above?

We look so clean! This is us before we left on the trek waiting for our kids to arrive.

Sushi

1 year ago our brother and sister in law invited us to sushi with them at a really fancy restaurant. I've been eating sushi ever since I lived in So. Cal when my dad worked at a Japanese bank. Jimmy, however, had never tried it before and although quite reluctant, we joined them. That was the beginning of our sushi obsession. There is something about that raw fish, slimy pink stuff that you can't recognize, and seaweed taste that is irresistible. This is our 2nd restaurant we've tried in the past week with a bunch of our friends from the ward. 50% off! Woo hoo!

Jimmy, Katie, Melissa, Steve, Jack, Jenny, Nicki, Adon

A question to all the Mormons out there: so Nicki visit teaches me, I visit teach Melissa, and Melissa visit teaches Nicki. Wouldn't you say that this counts as visiting teaching for the month?

Please--Tell me you've researched it

So I finally hunkered down and read about the new Obamacare plan. Why did I wait so long you ask? Because I knew it would just get my blood boiling and make me again google "places to live where socialism doesn't exist."

I'm so scared to raise children here. Does anyone else care that our country has NEVER been in so much debt? In fact, if you added up ALL THE DEBT that all the other presidents have accumulated, it STILL wouldn't equal that of our oh so great dictator. And who's gonna pay for it? Not us--but our children and grandchildren. SAD! Anyone hear of "planning for the future?" I thought we worked hard so that our children were better off? Isn't that what makes us America? I guess this is the "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" presidency.

So I've actually never been seriously political and have found myself either too bored or unknowledgable about issues to be adamant about certain legislation. And then--this election started, I took an intense economics class, and now everyday after watching the news I just sigh and say, "signs of the times."

This is an article from Fortune Magazine about the health care plan: http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/107408/5-freedoms-you-would-lose-in-health-care-reform.html?mod=insurance-health

Ignorance sure is bliss and I understand why lots of people would rather just ignore the issues going on in our country (heck--isn't that how our president got elected anyway?) and won't click the link above. But in case you wanna know what this 2,000 page Obamacare legislation entails (because it's actually really going to affect you), take a peek!

Sigh--that felt good. Nothing like a venting session at 8:30 in the morning. ;0)