No, this is not a Mormonad....

...I just thought it could be one when I took it yesterday. Here's the skinny:

• Me
• The slip n' slip
• A running start
• A hill on a decline

I'm sure you get the picture. Long story short...I'm on Ibuprofen and we had to buy a new fence slat for the neighbor's fence. Too bad we weren't filming or we'd be in the big time on AFV.

Six Flags...in 102 degree heat!

Yesterday we went to Six Flags with my parents and sister and had a really great time...despite that fact that is was a sunny, humid, 95 degree day with the heat index somewhere in the low hundreds. We rode the kiddie rides, did the water park, ate overpriced amusement park food, and got a sunburn. So all in all I would say we got the full experience. My parents left with Jenna and Brooke around 3pm and then Kristen and I stayed to ride the big boy rides. We couldn't have asked for better lines...we pretty much walked on all the roller coasters, it was awesome. That probably had something to do with the fact that it was from 3-5pm, the hottest part of the day, and every sensible person was in the water park at that time. We were seriously on the verge of heat stroke. We bought one of those refillable souvenir mugs and refilled it about 10 times in an hour and half and we still felt dehydrated and sick! But, the fun was worth the pain (I guess) and we were able to ride all the big ride in about an hour and half, so it was worth it. I LOVE roller coasters, although I'm realizing as I get older, my body doesn't love them quite as much.

R.I.P.

So on both of the reality shows I love watching, both of my favorite people got kicked off this past week. I'm seriously in a state of denial. It's been a bad week for me.

On Sunday nights I LOVE watching Food Networks reality show The Next Food Network Star. Kelsey was really my favorite person on the show, not to mention the fact that she is a cute little BYU grad and all around sweetheart. Well, I think they really made a huge mistake because she had it all, personality and cooking skills. I'm so upset. (But I still love Bobby Flay).I guess I have no one but myself to blame for Gev leaving So You Think You Can Dance on Thursday night. I didn't vote and I knew in my gut I should have. I'm sorry Gev. I take this upon myself. He is such a sweet guy and a great dancer. He is a breaker and yet he has done some of the most beautiful contemporary and ballroom stuff this season.

Rest in Peace my friends.

A Few Highlights from Alabama

This past week me, Jenna, Brooke and my mom drove down to Alabama to visit my aunt and her family. The drive to and from was pretty unbearable. Only a few hours into the trip on our way down, Jenna had already watched 2 movies and was starting to get stir crazy. She started thrashing around and ripping at her seat belt and yelled out, "I just can't take this anymore!" The sad thing is, 2 hours later, I did the same thing (and every two hours there after for the rest of the week). Here was the highlight of the trip for me...water skiing. I grew up water skiing on my granddad's boat. A majority of my happiest memories as a child/pre-teen involve water skiing or Lake Powell. Sadly, now I only get to ski about every 2 years (it's just worked out that way since I've been a teenager/adult). I still love it though and I love the adrenaline you get when your ski is on and your floating in the water, waiting till you've grabbed the handle and are ready to yell "Hit it!!"
Jenna also got to have her turn trying something out on the boat. She tried the knee board by herself, but was a little scared, so she tried it on my Uncle Jim's back and was still a little too scared, so ultimately she ended up doing it on my back and just about sunk us both!!
Ski bum in training.
This was probably the highlight of Jenna's trip...the Decatur Mall. We went there one day and road their Merry Go Round and then got cupcakes from the cookie store. Pure bliss.
Friday we went to a children's museum called Early Works and had a pretty good time (despite the tantrums and tears.) This was Jenna preparing to play dress up with some pilgrims costumes. I turned around for 1 minute and when I turned back, girlfriend was 1/2 naked. She doesn't quite understand the idea of "dress up" clothes.

The majority of the week was spent swimming in my aunt's pool and by the end of the week Jenna was jumping off the diving board and swimming all around (in her life jacket, of course). We're glad to be home now and I hope my girls will return to their normal, only semi-naughty selves. Instead of the super high maintenance, unhappy little aliens I've been fighting with all week.

Fab 4th

Our Fourth of July started by going to a picnic/pool party at a friend's house near by. I really shirked my camera duties, so this is the only picture I took. What I should have taken a picture of, was all the dads in the pool playing with the kids, and all the moms sitting in the lawn chairs working on their tan. :) It was great.
After the pool party we headed over to this free carnival that a local church puts on for the 4th. It was pretty small and pretty low scale...but free. So you can't really complain about that. Jenna had a great time (Brooke and Matt stayed home. I couldn't pry Matt away from the 2008 Nathan's Hot Dog competitive eating competition...what is the world coming to when that is broadcast on ESPN)? I had a great time too, except for the rubber burn I got on my knee from crawling through those bounce houses!

To finish the day off, we went to Dairy Queen for some yummy treats and headed over to MU to see the big fireworks show. Can you believe it was actually kind of chilly and we needed a blanket? On July 4th!!?? Regardless, the girls were good (once the fireworks started) and they both loved watching them. Oh, and yes, I am aware I only have on 1 earring in that picture...and no, I don't know why, or where that earring is now.
On an unrelated note:
Matt loves baking cookies...especially Gingersnaps. Anyway, today Jenna was supposed to get to help Matt bake them after church. Sadly, because of some bad choices she made during Sacrament Meeting, she did not get to help. This was good in a way though, because it gave Brooke the opportunity to have her first chance helping daddy make cookies. Truth be told, Matt said she was probably more helpful and easier to manage than Jenna!! Ah, 3 year olds.

Update on Matt

Well, it's been a while since Matt has been home from the hospital and he has been bouncing around from specialist to specialist to find someone who can help him solve his health problems. A few weeks after he left the hospital, he went back in for a follow up with his surgeon and then later his pulmenologist and the consensus was that his lung basically looked the same, meaning the dead tissue areas were not repairing themselves like they had hoped. The next week, he saw his ENT doctor and he was worried because Matt's sinus infection (that was first noticed and treated in January), was still present and no amount of antibiotics would cure it. He suggested that Matt have his blood tested for immune deficiencies. The blood tests showed that Matt has an immunoglobulin deficiency (basically, his body doesn't produce the immunoglobin that creates white blood cells to fight infection, thus, he gets every infection out there and his body can't heal). SO, his ENT doc referred him to an Infectious Diseases doctor...who didn't know what to do and in turn referred him to a Hematologist at the local Cancer Treatment Center (I guess this disease is common in cancer patients, so they treat it at the cancer center). Anyway, today Matt had his appointment with the Hematologist and they officially diagnosed him with hypogammaglobulinemia. Click here to find out more about it. Anyway, the "solution" is that Matt will have to receive transfusions of gammaglobulin about every 4 weeks for the rest of his life. So, I guess that's the update. It's good to know FINALLY what is going on with him and why he is so sick all the time. Hopefully these transfusion will be okay on him, they prescribed Vicotin to help with the painful side affects. His first one is next Thursday. Thanks for all the prayers and love and concern we have felt from all.

Life at a Nudest Colony

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a nudest colony? Well, let me enlighten you... Now, sneaking into your Dora tent and eating a 2 lb. brick of milk chocolate...I totally understand that. Heck, I do the same thing except my Dora tent is called my bed. But why naked? What's the deal with the nakedness around this place? I can't tell you how many times I come across this chica half or fully naked doing routine daily tasks such as reading a book, doing a puzzle or brushing her teeth...naked. If it weren't for sanitary concerns, I'd probably just let her roam the house naked to keep from having to redress her five times a day.