Capitol Reef!

Zack and Tucker

Cutie Kate
Zack loved climbing sideways on the rocks

Zack and Aubrey



We finally made it out of town! We went to Capitol Reef with our friends the Calderwoods. Jake and I hadn't ever been there, so it was fun to explore and see new things. It was really nice to get away and have some good old family time. The kids loved hiking until they got tired, but they did really well. Their favorite part was sleeping in the tent. They love sleeping in their sleeping bags.

Anyway, we went on a few hikes. Nothing too strenuous due to small kids and a pregnant person. Now you can all see how I look hugely pregnant. I know I look like I'm due any day, but I still have ten weeks. So you definitely won't be seeing pictures of me right before I'm due. I'll probably hide out in the house to save further embarrassment:)

I hope you're all going lots of fun places this summer. I definitely recommend Capitol Reef for a couple of days of fun!

One Year

It will be one year on Sunday. One year of missing my sister. One year of wishing she was here. One year of trying to move forward, not backward. One year of trying to really believe she won't be coming home in a few days.

Humor me while I share some of my memories of Linz. She had a love for life that I've never seen in anyone else. Nothing got her down for long. I remember her complete acceptance of everyone. She saw the good in everyone, no matter what. She somehow managed to make everyone feel loved and like they were her best friend. I remember how much fun Zack and the cousins had with her. She loved to play with the kids and would drop anything to do so. That's definitely a lesson I need to learn. I remember when she would call me at random times from school just to talk. I remember running the Ogden Marathon with her. Neither of us had a very good race that day. We vowed we would run it again after her mission to redeem ourselves. I'll be running it next year and hopefully Linz will be next to me. I remember water skiing with her. She was always ready and willing to come out on our little boat. I'll never forget skiing with her in the early morning in northern Idaho. The water was glass and it was a beautiful morning. Linz managed to get up her first time ever on one ski. So not fair:) I remember riding bikes with her when she asked me what I thought about her serving a mission. I encouraged her to go, and I'm glad I did. I remember her letters from her mission. She always took the time to send something extra for the kids. She was such a good missionary. Still is.

I miss her. This has definitely been a rough year. But its been nice to know that she's pulling for us on the other side. I know she still lives. I've felt her close by many times. I'm so grateful for the Savior and the atonement. I would fall into a ball and never get up again if I didn't have that hope. I look forward to the day when I can run into her arms for a much needed hug.

Remembrance:

I won't forget my days with you
Your memory will not leave my view.
For you have changed my life, you see;
And in my heart you'll always be.
Your friendship is my greatest prize,
It warms my heart like summer skies.
In darkest moments of the night
Your friendship brings a guiding light.
And now I see through all my tears,
I'll never lose you through the years.
No matter what, we'll never part,
For I have locked you in my heart.

Painting and Organizing the Trailer

As some of you may be aware, my new trailer got used a bunch of times before I had a chance to organize it at all. After several jobs and the trailer starting to becoming little more than a pile of tools, one on top of the other, I decided to undertake getting the thing organized. It took the better part of this weekend as I had to do a couple of coats on the floor paint and had to build all the shelving. Much better! I think I can now actually find the tools I'm looking for without digging through piles of random fasteners and small tools. I did a flake finish floor on this with paint that has sand mixed in so it isn't slippery and then built all the shelving out of CDX plywood so it should last a really long time. Future plans for this are to add a bench/desk area above where the saw is sitting, add more lighting inside, and add an area for a small heater to keep the glue and compressors warm on the way to jobs and microwave for lunch.

Anyway...for those if you who haven't checked out my latest website, please take a look at it (link is on this page). The site is now up and running. I have a handful of photos I still need to put on there of some recent jobs I'm just completing and will get them on there soon. Check out the links and the different sections that show the range of work that I do. Thanks for those of you that have helped keep this business running.

If any of you are considering doing any construction related work, now is the time! It is really inexpensive to build or remodel right now so let me know if you are interested in me working with you on your project. - JAKE

Easter and stuff

We had a great easter with major candy overload for the kids. They got to do an easter egg hunt in Farmington. Zack informed me before he started that I was not allowed to help him and he could do it just fine himself. Fine then. He loved it though and both he and Kate got plenty of eggs. Then we had a BBQ at my parents followed by an indoor easter egg hunt due to weather. The kids shoved their mouths full of candy as fast as possible. Actual easter Sunday was spent at home in Midway because I had to work that night. We had a nice quiet day with more candy left by the easter bunny.

The other pictures are from the fishing activity we did for family night. Zack was so excited to go fishing and so mad that we didn't get any fish. Kate dressed herself for the occasion: black shirt, pink pants, red cowboy boots, and a purse of course. You never know when you'll need your purse fishing. How did I have such a girly girl? I'm going to need major help raising her because a girly girl I'm not. Anyway, if anyone ever wants to go fishing Zack will be happy to accompany you.

By the way, my pictures will apparently always be out of order. They always come in just as words and I can't see them until I preview it. By then I'm too lazy to fix them. Oh well. Also, in Zack's easter picture he was doing some kind of dance. He cracks me up. Another side note; at church Sunday Zack started saying all of the colors with an 'o' after them (orange-o, black-o, white-o, etc). After he finished he said, "I said all of the colors in spanish mom!" I love it. He'll be happy to teach spanish to any of your kids who haven't quite mastered it yet:)

It's a...

It's a girl! Another little pink thing! We're excited. Well, I should say, everyone's excited but Zack. He keeps insisting that its still a boy. So sorry. Time to get out the girl clothes and start thinking of names. We've made it halfway!

Miracles

Do you believe in miracles? I know I do. I've seen many in my life, both big and small. We saw a lot of miracles in our experience with Linz. The big miracle of Linz being saved didn't happen, but that doesn't mean we weren't blessed with a lot of other miracles. These miracles help us get through our days. These miracles are what we focus on when things get tough. And when things get really tough we hope for future miracles.

We've also been blessed with many miracles since my mom has been sick. Our lives will never be the same. Our testimonies and understanding of the gospel is forever changed. While we've been grateful for the miracles we've seen, we've continued to hope for the ultimate miracle of my mom being healed. We've prayed, fasted, and hoped with all of our hearts. I know many of you have joined with us in those prayers and even fasting, and so you're also a part of our latest miracle. Is my mom completely healed? No, but I would say that she's halfway there and I see no reason why she couldn't be completely healed at some point. She had her latest round of tests this week. They looked at her stomach and saw that the tumor is 50% reduced. A miracle? Yes. That rarely happens and pretty much never happens that quickly. Then they looked at her liver. The liver is the real kicker in all of this. Liver cancer doesn't go away. It pretty much never gets smaller and if some of the cancer is killed it just turns into scar tissue. In other words, when you're looking at CT films you're always going to see the same amount of spots. With the liver you're just happy if you don't see any increase in spots. Unless you're my mom. Her doctor called the second he got her CT results because he was so excited. Why? Well, a lot of her spots are gone, and the ones that are still there are smaller. That doesn't happen, not without a miracle.

So to those of you who have been praying, fasting, and hoping with us: Thank you. Please keep it coming because it's working. We're 50% of the way there. Why not go all the way?

And most of all, my gratitude and appreciation to a loving God who hears and answers prayers. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for giving us more time. Thank you for loving my mom.

He's Home!

My brother's home from his mission! Okay, so he's been home for almost two weeks now, but since when do I post anything on time? He served in the Ohio, Cincinati (I just realized I don't know how to spell that, how embarassing) mission spanish speaking. He spent two years teaching illegals as much as he could before they headed back to their home land. Missions are tough either way you look at it, but he had an especially tough mission dealing with Linz and my mom. He's definitely a trooper for sticking it out the full two years. We love having him home!

And yes, we believe he's adjusting quite well. The day after he got home he was working and two days after he got home he was on a date. One of his first questions was, "Do I get a cell phone?". And then my mom decided to give him the ultimate welcome home gift. She's had yet to actually throw up with all of the chemo, just lots of nausea. Well, she and Greg were eating a nice quiet dinner together and, you guessed it, puked all over Greg. Needless to say, neither one of them finished dinner. Welcome home Greg!

Here are some pics from the airport. So sorry that they're in reverse order. I'm too lazy to do it over. Also, please note how dutiful Zack and Megan were in holding their sign up. I believe it said, 'Hola Baby'.

Also, please note that the bum didn't come down the escalator. No, he had to find a sneaky way down and just walk through the airport. How rude of him to deny us those beautiful escalator pictures:)