Rendezvous at the Lake

This past weekend we went on a last-minute camping trip with the Anderson's. We met them at Roosevelt lake.  They brought the boat and we brought the camper and a tent.
We arrived Friday evening and made a campfire and cooked foil dinners.
After a not-so-great nights sleep (there were some loud campers nearby), we got up early ate breakfast and then we played! We all had a blast swimming, tubing, knee boarding, and cliff jumping.

Greaden caught  a fish! He's a Survivor!!!

Just kidding guys. It was already dead.

Braunsen and Caleb on the Tube.

Sarah and Greaden on the tube.

Eliza and Jewellana on the tube.

Sarah and Macey

Caleb drove the boat!



Don't push me!!! I'm thinking!



Gaelen jumps!

Ruth Jumps!!

Greaden, Braunsen, Caleb and Sarah. ''If you go, I'll go!"

Greaden Jumps!

Caleb Jumps!!! and Gaelen Jumps again!

Sarah Jumps!

Braunsen Jumps!!!

Eliza Drives!

Caleb Loved the Knee board.

Sarah loved knee boarding too!

 I attempted to wake board but I was a bit rusty and only managed to to stay up for a minute. Adam would have loved to go wake boarding but his back was somewhat sore from his accident and we thought it would be wise not to risk injuring it further but, we still had so much fun watching the kids play. Sarah and Caleb both did great on the knee board and Sarah even stood up on it for a few seconds before she wiped out!
The lake was so beautiful. It was clear and clean and the water temperature was just right and there was hardly any traffic on the lake.
The best part trip was spending time with the Anderson's. The trio had a great time with their cousins and Adam and I always enjoy visiting with Heather and Gaelen.
It was a great way for us to officially end a fun summer.
Bring on Fall! We're ready!

Blessed

On Tuesday morning Adam was driving on the I-40 to deliver a trailer load of supplies to Gallup for work. There wasn't much traffic and he was cruising along at a good pace. At around 7:00am he noticed a semi coming up behind him and it looked like the semi was going to switch lanes and pass him. Then, he felt it slam into the back right corner of the trailer and the trailer broke off from the truck. Then, the semi hit the back of the truck and spun the truck sideways and Adam was pushed sideways down the interstate for quite a ways. As Adam gripped the steering wheel he looked out the passenger side window at the grill of the semi.  He just knew the truck would flip and that the semi would roll right over him. Miraculously, his truck stayed upright until both vehicles finally came to a stop.
As Adam got out of the wreckage unharmed, and assessed the damage of the truck and trailer (both of which were totaled) he realized and knew without a doubt, that his life had been preserved by divine intervention.
As a family, we are so grateful to our Father in Heaven who daily answers our prayers as we ask for his protection. We are grateful that that we still have a husband and father who provides for our family and leads us in righteousness.
We have been truly blessed.

Let's Build a Tree House

At the end of last school year the trio sang a song in a school concert titled "Let's Build a Tree House"

"Let's build a treehouse way up high, a secret kind of hiding place where I can touch the sky. High among the leaves where it's cool and green, a special place where I can go just to sit and dream."

This song is ignited a spark in the kids. They just had to build a treehouse in the backyard this summer. We have one tree that's big enough for a tree house. It's an old cottonwood tree at the back of our property.  It only has one main trunk so we weren't sure if it would work, but then a friend in our ward who is a lineman, gave us some old  power poles.  Adam was able to pick up some lumber at a good price, and the kids and I drew up the plans.
We worked on it every chance we got. We all pitched in. Even Grandpa Gurr got in on the fun. It was a great summer project for our family.

 

 

The tree house didn't turn out exactly as planned...It's better than planned! The kids love it. It has two stories a swing and a slide. The kids like to go up there to read, pretend, and spy on the neighbors!

 

"Let's build a tree house in the back yard, if you help me out I know it won't be hard. We can make a ladder that we can pull inside, a secret place where I can go just to stay and hide!"

Labor Day Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating the Taylor Sweetcorn festival and memorial day with lots of family and friends. The fun started on Friday afternoon when the primary children came over to put together a float for the Taylor Sweetcorn festival parade. Everyone worked hard and played hard and the float turned out great!

On Saturday morning we took the trio, along with our nieces Macey and Jewellana to the Taylor airport where they got to enjoy a Free introductory flight in an airplane! The pilots told the kids a little bit about how the airplane worked then they took them up for a 15min flight over our community. I was a little nervous when my kids boarded the plane and I reminded the pilot that I was placing all my eggs in this one basket. SO DON'T CRACK THEM! Then I checked his blood pressure and gave him a sobriety test. (Just Kidding! But I wanted to!)

 

 

After the plane ride, we quickly drove over to the parade route where we set up our float and got the primary kids loaded on it. All the kids had a grand time waving at all the spectators on the parade route. Along the parade route we saw Grandma and Grandpa Quist who came up for the weekend! They hopped on the buggy and rode in the parade with us.

This was the float our primary kids put together! It turned out great.
"100 Y' EARS Of Statehood!"

We loved Taylor 8th ward's float. Awesome job guys!

Once the Parade was over, we went to the rodeo grounds where the kids enjoyed the chicken Chase, tug-of-war and races.

We walked around the craft fair for a little bit then went home and took naps and waited for the Hulses to arrive.
When they arrived that evening, we had a fun barbecue and the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. After dinner, We went on a buggy ride and hoped to see some elk. We didn't see any, but we did see some antelope. Amazingly, we were able to get everybody ready for 9 AM church on Sunday.
 After church Ben and Susie along with their boys Braxton and Kent and my sister Angela arrived. We spent a fun afternoon and evening playing games and visiting. Monday morning brought a fun surprise when my sister Amanda and her and husband Nathan joined us! We had breakfast then, we all went on a buggy ride to knucklebutt canyon where we hiked, climbed big rocks and trees and had tons of fun.

 After the ride, we came home and had pizza for lunch and then it was time to say goodbye to the Hulse family. We played a few more games, and that evening we built a campfire in the backyard and made foil dinners and peach cobbler. My parents and Amanda and Nathan headed home after dinner but Ben and Susie were able to stay for another day of fun and games. I am so grateful that so many of my family members were able to come up and enjoy the weekend with us. We had a blast!