Wichita with the Turners

This summer we got to go to Wichita KS to visit our friends the Turners. He had such a great time. They took us to an awesome space museum, showed us a fun water park, fed us lots of yummy food, and as if that wasnt enough, we then went fishing! It was awesome. Who knew we could have so much fun in such a little amount of time:) Thankyou thankyou thankyou Turners!

Michayla in an astronaut helmut and glove
Sean, Haley, Michayla, Blake and Allyson in front of a rocket
Michayla in an astronaut seat
Blake at the waterpark
Blake with the helmut on, and waving the astronaut glove.

Allyson had the only catch of our family:)
Patrick let Michayla and Blake real in a fish that he caught.



What a fun time:)

I've Been Tagged!

My cousin Mindy tagged me, so I am going to tell you 8 random things about me. I dont usually do these, but since its been an eternity since I posted, I figured it was time.

1. I am Mexican. Ok, so along with this goes the fact the I am adopted. I was adopted when I was 5 months old. This also explains why I am a HUGE adoption supporter. Someday I hope to work in the field.

2. I did 4-H as a kid. Thats right, completely against my will I took 4 pigs and 6 steers to the Navajo County fair. Great money, but boy was I stubborn about doing the work. My poor dad who had to put up with me!

3. I LOVE to learn new instruments. My list is not very long, but it includes piano, flute, oboe, guitar, and of course and most importantly, the recorder. Next on my list is the harp. Might as well shoot for the stars, right?

4. My favorite thing to watch on TV.......the weather channel. I'm actually watching it right now. Can you way weirdo? Of course, I didnt do this before I moved to Kansas. Hopefully I grow out of it when i dont need to worry about the storms any more.

5. I dont like to be on the computer for more than an hour or so. I get bored.

6. I am a sleeper. I need 7-10 hrs a night, depending on my activity during the day. If I dont get it, boy watch out!

7. I have turned into a pet person. I think if I had my choice, we would have lots of pets. Right now, we just have 3 fish, and a dog, who I LOVE. I want a cat, and I think it would be fun to have a rabbit, and a pony. Boy, I sure dont have any future plans, do I?

8. I dont like the ocean. Our poor kids. Neither does Brent. We are lake people. I like looking at the ocean, playing on the beach, and sitting in the sun, but I have no desire whatsoever to swim in the ocean. Although, the Carribean was awesome, since I could see what was swimming around me, and it was crystal clear and white sand.....that I dont mind:) However, I dont think trips to the ocean will be a family favorite for us.

My dear uncle

I thought this was a great short video that sums up my uncle very well. He was an amazing man. I really cant believe he is gone. I dont know if I am going to make it back or not for his funeral, which makes me very sad. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that we can all be together again.

http://www.kpho.com/news/16543893/detail.html

No camera!

Well, its been a while since we last posted, and it will be another while still. During our rainy camping trip, our camera got ruined. It was even in our tent, but ended up in a puddle, and has never worked since then. Bummer.

This summer has flown by! The kids have started swimming lessons, and they are doing great! I am so proud of them. Blake is doing Martial Arts, which really he is a natural at! Michayla is in an art class, and is doing piano. Allyson drives me crazy, but I'm trying to find ways to enjoy her:) She really is such a funny personality. Brent is driving to Kansas City everyday for his internship, which he loves. He even gets to play basketball with the partners during the day sometimes. He loves that.

I might be flying into AZ this weekend. My unlce Jake passed away this morning. He was such a great uncle, and I hope to be there so very bad! He has been in the legislature and the senate the past 10 yrs or so, and was the stake president all while I was growing up. What an example! He has two daughters close to my age, and his wife was my piano teacher. They lived just down the road from me my whole life, so as you can imagine, their house was my 2nd home. Its hard being so far away from everyone at a time like this! He was bucked off his horse just a couple weeks ago. He collapsed in his house this morning, but they dont know what it was from, since all they knew about from the horse fall was broken ribs. Anyway, sure loved him. He was a great man. I'm so grateful to have known him.

Severe Camping Adventure

Being the very smart Arizonans that we are, we decided to go camping last night with a few families from our ward . . . during severe thunderstorm season. We've been planning this trip for a while, and the forecast looked like the weather was going to cooperate. The forecast started to change this last week, though. The news said that Thursday was supposed to be nice, with a small chance of rain, but that there was a chance for severe thunderstorms Friday. We decided to play it safe, and only stay last night, and then come home before the storms. There was only one problem . . . somebody forgot to tell the weather about our plans!!

We had a great day yesterday (besides the fact taht Michelle was completely exhausted from preparing for the trip all by herself while I was working in Kansas City). The campsite was awesome--it had a huge playground that the kids loved, and a sand beach and swimming area in the lake that the kids played in. Michelle made awesome dutch oven pizzas for dinner, and then we topped it off with SMORES and dutch oven apple cobbler!! Before we headed to bed, we checked the weather radio to make sure it would be safe to sleep out there last night. The forecast said that there was a 20% chance of thunderstorms, but that there should be no severe weather. With that update, we felt very confident and safe camping for the night. If only we had known then what the next 6 hours would bring.

At about 3:00 in the morning, Michelle and I woke up because the rain was pounding mercilessly on our tent and the thunder was rolling continuously. Michelle immediately suggested that we get in the van and drive home for the night. I felt like it was already too late for that, and that we just needed to ride out the storm. The rain was really coming down, and we would have been drenched to the bone just running to the van. After about 30 minutes of constant downpour, the water started coming right through our brand new tent--the roof and the floor. I checked on the kids and discovered that Michayla's bed was getting soaked. At this point, I started laughing out loud and saying, "we are the dumbest people in the world!" Then it got even worse.

The rain storm wouldn't have been too bad if not for the non-stop lightning strikes all around us. Each time after the lightning would turn the night sky and the inside of our tent bright yellow, we would count to see how close it was to us (this must be the type of methods the Kansas metiorologists use to determine what chance there is for severe weather), and some of the lightning must have been directly above us. With the rain pounding on the tent and the lightning booming in the sky, we could barely hear each other in the tent. By this time, Michayla realized that she was wet, and crawled into bed with Michelle and I. Michayla couldn't sleep because she realized that we left Sarah (our dog) outside at home. Michayla and Michelle were shaking with fear, I was laughing because of how ridiculous our circumstances were, and Blake and Allyson were sleeping soundly as if they were home in their own beds.

To make a long story not quite so long, we made it home alive. The 3 other families all had similar experiences in their own tents. We all had puddles inside our tents (one puddle was deep enough that a diaper was actually floating in it). We all also had at least one kid who slept through the entire thing.

Except for the crazy storm, we had a great time. We were in great company, the kids had a blast, and we got to do all of the fun camping activities. Still, we've decided that we're not going camping again in Kansas unless there is a 0% chance of percipitation.

2 Years Down!!!

I officially finished my 2nd year of law school on Wednesday. I feel pretty good about all of my finals, but that doesn't mean much when it comes to law school exams. By the time I finished my last final, we were all worn out. Here's a picture of me, Michelle, and Blake resting a little after my last final. I will start working for McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips, a law firm with about 50 attorneys, on Tuesday. I'll be commuting to Kansas City, KS all summer. Here's a link to the law firm: http://www.mvplaw.com/

To celebrate the end of my 2nd year, we finally went to see Wicked. We have been wanting to see this show for years, and it was well worth the wait. The singers were amazing, and we loved every second of it! Michayla went with us to Wicked. She saved up her money to help pay for her ticket. Michelle decided to do her hair with curlers before the show, so Michayla decided she wanted to also. They both looked absolutely beautiful. I kept getting these wierd looks from people thinking "how in the world is that guy hanging out with such good looking ladies?"

They wouldn't let us take any pictures inside the theater, so this is the best shot we could get for our memories.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

I never knew how true this was until I moved to Kansas. Not just the flowers are in bloom, but ALL of the trees, bushes and I swear even the rocks bloom here in Kansas. At least thats how it feels to my allergies:) Anyway, as annoying as it is to have constant runny nose, and itchy eyes, it is absolutely gorgeous and very fun to take pictures of. Here are just a few from our many outings around town.