Brothers

I just took this picture tonight and thought it was so cute I had to show everyone. Ben and Josh in our upstairs hallway reading a book together. Too bad they always can't get along this well.

Fireplace

We finally got our new fireplace. We ordered it about 7 weeks ago and last week they came to install it and it wouldn't fit! The gas line was hitting the insert when they tried to put it in, so they took it all away with them to "modify" it. I was so bummed!! Today they came and put in the unit and I am so excited...I'm ready for it to get cold now!

NERVOUS!!

I think one of the biggest things to strike fear in a mother's heart is the fear of your child failing. Let me explain...Saturday was soccer day. For the 3rd quarter of his game, Chris was put in as goalie (he's never been that before). I was so worried that he would miss the ball and his team would be upset with him and he would feel bad! I even yelled at him from the sidelines "Just grab it! If you get kicked it will only hurt for a minute!!" Nice mom huh? To my relief he did very well. There were 3 attempts at goals and he ran up, dived and caught every ball...no one scored on his watch! Whew!!

Chris had a good game .... he even scored a goal!!! Here he is just seconds after his goal (YES!!)

Josh also had a game on Saturday and he also scored a goal! It was a great victory because the boy on the other team that was defending the goal was our bus bullie who periodically likes to bully Josh and his friend....Josh plowed right through him and scored a goal! AWESOME!

Here is Josh with the bullie (#10)

14 Years!!

Yesterday Chad and I celebrated our 14th Anniversary. We have actually known each other for 18 years! Wow!!! Would we do it all over again? In a heartbeat!

Here's our first date...all the way back in 1989!

Prom...like the hot pink dress?

And our wedding day!
Here is the highlight of our reception....the cutting of the cake! Enjoy...our boys think this is hilarious!

Click To Play

Chicago

This past weekend I spent in Chicago with 4 of my girlfriends from St. Louis. We had so much fun together! Here are some highlights from our trip!!

Me and Holly taking our picture in the reflection of the big giant jelly bean (see below).

Fun at Navy Pier



Top of the Sears Tower at 10:00 at night!



Walking the 'Magnificent Mile' we came across the Lego store...here is me with a life sized Lego Darth Vader (my boys were so jealous...their 2 favorite things--Legos and Star Wars-- all in one!).



River boat architecture tour...very fun!

Church Aid

This past Saturday, Chad and I (with a couple of the young men) had the opportunity to go to a place about 1 1/2 hours from here called Findlay. They have had severe flooding and the church has stepped up to give disaster relief. We have never participated in a relief effort by the church before and it was a neat experience. 4 semi trucks were drivin in from Salt Lake with cleaning supplies that were needed for the clean-up effort. These are all put into buckets with the churches name on them and then passed out to whomever needs them. Our job was to take these buckets and go to a person's home (or business) that had requested help and help them with whatever they needed. It was so sad to see these homes that had been completely ruined by flood waters (basements were completely submerged and they had about 2-3 feet on the main level floors). Every bit of sheetrock and flooring and furniture had to be thrown out. The homes were completely gutted. The church was one of the main helping forces there, taking referrals from the American Red Cross. We were also all given shirts (also from Salt Lake) to identify us as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Ready to work

Mormon Helping Hands

Getting more buckets