Raptors Baseball Game

Dad's company had a Century Link night at the Raptor's baseball game. The rest of the family was out of town so Me, Dad, Kyle, and Don (Kyle's Dad) went to the game. It was a beautiful night and we had a fun time. The Raptor's even won the game. It was a fun way to the spend the night with my favorite guys.

How Do You Treat Others?

There are two people I work with who have vastly different personalities and ways of going about things. It seems they are currently not seeing eye to eye on anything and things are fraught with tension. They have met to work things out, but it has only seemed to brew more dissension. I hate to see someone who I see as a really nice person be hurt by another person's sense of self importance. I'm hoping is doesn't do lasting damage or cause them to leave their position here because I think they do a lot of good here.

I am currently reading the book "Time Untime" by Sherrilyn Kenyon. As I've mentioned before she is one of my favorite authors and I've quoted from her in the past. So far found I have found this book to be somewhat hard to follow. I rarely if ever don't finish a book I start, but I have been known to move into a mode where I read, but somewhat dissengage from the book. A lot like I did back in the day when I would be required to read something really boring in college. Despite being in that mode the following passages reached out and grabbed me the other night. Maybe because I have been hurt and betrayed by someone I totally trusted and felt was my friend. It is a hard thing to get over. Also, because there are things I have done that I have later regretted or felt I could have handled better. I guess it all comes down to the way we treat others and my desire for us to be aware of how our actions affect the world around us.

Maybe this doesn't make sense to anyone else, but I thought I would share this in case it strikes a cord with anyone besides me. If not, that's okay because I keep this blog mostly for myself anyway.

"Life is messy. It's not easy and it's definitely not for the timid. Everyone has a past. Regrets... Betrayals... Life isn't about learning to forgive those who have hurt you or forgetting your past. It's about learning to forgive yourself for being human and making mistakes. Yes, people disappoint us all the time. But the harshest lessons come when we disappoint ourselves. When we put our trust and our hearts into the hands of the wrong person and they do us wrong. And while we may hate them what they did, the one we hate the most is ourself for allowing them into our private circle. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have let them deceive me? We all go through that."

"If we're lucky, we find the one person who will hold our trust and keep it sacred and safe against all attackers. That one soul who will restore our belief that people are decent and kind, and that life, while messy, is still the most wonderful gift anyone can know. But until that day comes, we have to try and remember that (our faith) is something we carry inside ourselves. That touch of the divine that lights a fire inside us that burns out the past and consumes the pain until nothing is left but a warmth that allows us to love others more than ourselves. A warmth that only grows when we do right even while others seek to do us wrong. Peace is knowing that one life, no matter how trivial it seems, touches thousands of others, and learning to respect that about all people. While you may not mean much to the world, to those who really know and love you, you are their entire world. And is the knowledge that no one can hurt you unless you allow them to. The only power they have isn't something they've taken or demanded. It's what we give them by choice. And while it is imperative that we value the lives of others, it is equally important to value our own.

"The truth is always simple, but the path to it is overgrown with thorns and lined with traps. Our fears and our emotions cloud even the brightest day and the clearest truth. You can't replant the garden until you've overturned the soil. And nothing new can grow until the old dies. We can't change what we've done, but we can always change what we're going to do."   -Sherrilyn Kenyon

Relay For Life

The Relay for Life was quite eventful this year. We started off with a major wind and rain storm. We were able to get the canopies lowered fast enough to escape major damage. We all huddled down and held them from blowing away.

Later that night Dad and I were pulling Gracie and Ella back to the trailer in the dark and the path dropped off and the wagon tipped over sending them both flying. They were covered in dirt and both obviously very upset. I couldn't tell how badly they were injured in the dark so we just scooped them up and headed for the trailer. I called Kyle and told him to get Emily over to the trailer ASAP. Once we got all the dirt off it turns out they were more scared than injured. Of course by that time the trailer was full of pretty much our whole team. I think Dad and I were as traumatized as they were. It was awful.

 

Despite all the drama we had a fun time raising money for the American Cancer Society. It is such a good cause and one that is close to my heart.

 

Today I found out my cousin Shane has stage 4 cancer in his stomach, appendix, and colon. It was so devestating to hear this. He is only in his early 40's and has so much to live for. It is such a helpless feeling to know you can't do anything about it other than pray.

 

Each of us has our own reasons for caring about the fight against cancer, but it seems that we all know someone who has personally battled this disease. In the last few months Tish Reynolds, Janet Hawkes, and Patty Jones have all lost their battle with this disease.

 

My family originally started participating after the Petersen's lost Vone and then Claude to cancer. Since that time my sister Janalee and best friend Britney have both become survivors of thyroid cancer and my Grandpa Farrell suffered from prostate cancer which contributed to his death. My friend Karen is a survivor and my friend Alayna is currently battling brain cancer and just had a 2nd tumor removed. Kyle's aunt Peggy and Grandma Willis were also victims of this horrible disease. Craig's brother Bruce is currently fighting against cancer. Unfortunately these are just a few of our friends and family who are winning or have lost the fight to this disease.



Miss Cache Valley pulled the girls around the track
and then let them all try on her crown.

 

Our team name stands for Anderson, Bunn, Comish, and Petersen.
The last names of our cancer survivors.



Dad relaxing while holding down the canopy.

The girls with Miss Cache Valley

Everyone got quite involved with the chicken dance.

Dad modeling the baby towel

Staying out of the rain.

Gracie with her treasures.

24th of July

Kyle's sisters, Kat and Kari, pulled together a last minute BBQ on the 24th of July. We had a delicious dinner and  Darren and the boys let off some fireworks. The boys had fun playing with sparklers and smoke bombs. When it got dark the neighborhood was full of people letting off the big fireworks in the sky. The neighbors across the street put on a nice show for us. It was so amazing to have them going off right above our heads. We were completely surrounded by fireworks. It was a neat way to celebrate our pioneer heritage, even if I did have to work all day. When I think of the struggles they went through I know I don't have things too bad. I will take my life over their struggles any day. Back in their time if Kyle had the health problems he has now, he would have died long ago. Thank goodness for modern medicine and the progress it has made in the last 100 or so years. I am so grateful for my ancestors and the sacrifices they made to come to Utah so I could be raised with the gospel in my life.

I Love this picture of Weston!

The boys begging for more.

Setting up a smoke bomb display

The boys each got to a take a turn lighting a tower.

Kari enjoying her burger. It
was so tall she had to eat
it in pieces.

The boys love the fireworks, but not so much the noise.

This is what you call
sharing the swing.

The captive audience.

My Memories Software

You may recall I gave away a copy of this cool digital scrapbook software a few months ago on a website called www.MyMemories.com. It is extremely easy to use. It comes with lots of album templates.  You can just choose your pictures and the software will add them to the albums they already have created. Or you can do what I did in the Wedding Album I created and loaded below and start with one of their templates changed the colors, and added a few embelishments. What in the past would have usually taken me several hours to complete took me just over an hour and most of that time was spent choosing what pictures to use.

You can also purchase additional scrapbook kits to use with the software if they don't have what you are looking for, but I found plenty of options for what I needed. 

They have generously offered to let me give away a free copy of their software to 1 of my readers.  Just visit www.mymemories.com and browse around.  Then come back to my comments and tell me your favorite digital paper pack or layout.  On the 22nd I will randomly draw a number and the person who made that comment will receive a code to download the software totally free.

If you aren't lucky enough to win the contest you can use my code to receive $10 off of your purchase of the My Memories Suite V3.  The code is: STMMMS70839

When I Grow Up...

There is a woman I work with that I find fascinating. To begin with she is just so darn cute. Her hair cut is darling, she is beautiful, has a fun sense of humor, and a great sense of style. The most amazing thing about her is that I don't think I have ever seen her when she doesn't seem genuinely happy, even when totally stressed. She just has one of those personalities that radiates kindness. She is incredibly intelligent and amazing at her job. I am sure she has her struggles just like everyone else, but even when she is upset or not feeling well she is still so nice. I don't think my description has come close to doing her justice. I think if you met her you would understand what I am trying to say.

Then there is another woman whom I have known her whole life. She is amazing. She has always gone out of her way to make other people happy, often at the expense of her own happiness. She is very Intelligent and an amazing mother. I so admire the way she is raising her kids. They are darling, but can be a challenge and she has sooo much patience. You would have to ask her husband's opinion, but I think he would agree with my assessment that she is a wonderful wife and homemaker. She like the other has cute hair, is beautiful, and has a great sense of style. I've been with her through some of life's major hardships and she always has a positive attitude and looks at the good side of things. Once again my description doesn't come close to doing her justice.

They are both younger than I am, but when I grow up I want to be just like Kelly and Natalie.

July 4th Fun

 

We spent the 4th of July in Bear Lake with my family and The Petersen's. We took Kyle's parents Sea Doo's. We were only able to get one of them to run but we had a great time. We went down to the beach and spent 2 afternoons having fun. It was kind of a bummer there were no fireworks because of the high fire risk. It was a nice break from work and I always enjoy getting to spend time with Nat and Em's kids. They are a lot of fun (and work).

The kids created a ship out of a big box Jan brought up.

The kids loved their whale.

Kyle getting ready to launch the Sea Doo.

Fun at the beach.

The kids loved going for rides.

Gracie seemed to enjoy naping on my lap.

Garrett helped me take the Sea Doo from the dock over
to the beach to meet the others. By the time
they showed up he was ready to get off.
He wanted me to find him a babysitter on the beach.