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!

First Day of Third Grade

The trio had their first day of school on August 9. Eliza, Sarah, and Caleb were so excited to return to school after their summer vacation. They are in third grade this year which makes them "Big man on campus" and it means this is their last year at Taylor Elementary. Next year they will move on to Taylor intermediate. Eliza's teacher is Mrs. Christiansen. Sarah's teacher is Mrs. Hamling. And Caleb's teacher is Mr. Rogers. I know they are going to have a great year! Good luck guys!

100 Years of Love And Legacy

On Friday, August 4th we traveled to Pine, Arizona for a family reunion at camp Lo Mia. The reunion commemorated the hundred-year birthday of my grandma Erva and her twin sister Eva who were born on August 8, 1912. When my dad was just 13 years old, his mother (Erva) passed away. His dad made the decision to move with his 9 children to Mesa, AZ and married Erva's twin sister Eva who's husband passed away several years previous. Between the two of them, they had 12 children and in the years that have followed their posterity has grown to over 170 descendants! I've always loved having so many cousins, and was excited for my own children to get to know them and their children. The reunion was amazing! I wish I would have remembered to bring my camera! We played games, rode a zip line, shared memories and ate tons of yummy food. My kids formed friendships and made memories that will last forever! I learned so much about Erva and Eva and I am proud to call both of them "Grandma". I am grateful for their examples, for their lives and their legacy. I am grateful for families and for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ which makes it possible to be with our families thruout eternity.

My very talented cousin, Jerry Ferguson posted several reunion pictures on-line. These are some of my Favorites:

My dad and all his living siblings along with some of his cousins.

The Cub scouts did a great job with the flag raising.

Waiting in line for dinner while trying to stay out of the rain.

Eliza and Elliot, New BFF's

These are the pictures Adam took with his phone, just before the Talent show:

 I am thankful to everyone who worked so hard to make the reunion a success and can't wait for the next reunion!

More Family Fun

We spent the first part of the week of July 23 spending time with my parents and my sister Lydia and her family up at Green's peak. We played lots of games and went on hikes and had an all-around fun time with everyone.

Emmalee, Eliza, Conner, Sarah, Megan, Caroline 

Sarah figured she needed a GIANT stick for her GIANT Marshmallow!

Sarah and Caleb in the tree house they built with their cousins.

On Wednesday we drove over to Greer and took all the kids on a hike to Badger pond. When I was a kid, we spent a week or two every summer camping in Greer. And every day while we camped, we would go for a hike to Badger pond with my cousins.
This hike with my own kids brought back so many memories of those summers so long ago. Badger Pond was just as beautiful as I remembered it and the raspberries were just as yummy as they always were.

Eric with Grandma and Grandpa.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the trail.

Emmalee, Eric, Daniel, Eliza, Carolyn, Sarah, Conner, Caleb, Meagan

 We all had a wonderful time, and hope to go back soon.

The last part of that week was spent here in Taylor, celebrating pioneer days with Adam's parents and some of Adam's siblings and their families. We enjoyed the parade,went on some fun buggy rides, and played a hilarious game of Balderdash! (P.U.F.F) Hahaha!