My AWESOME Carl's Jr. Birthday Dinner!

So ... I'm pretty much addicted to CJ's low-carb six dollar burger (that is really only $4.19 or something) .... so dang good. And also, I'm very addicted to not having to yell at my kids to mind their manners while at a fancy restaurant (notice the very FEW pics of kids - they are playing, and hence, not disturbing my good eats). So, despite Kendra's disbelief at my choice - here we are at Carl's Junior for my birthday bash :>! Thanks for coming with me, guys - you're the best! Oh ... and, I have to admit - watching Missy Dee eat a full on bacon cheeseburger is pretty addicting as well. Gotta love her!

Our 12th Anniversary

Look at us love birds - 12 years ago today ... and still goin' strong! We may be a bit chubbier ... okay, a lot chubbier - but more in love today as well. AND .... we've done quite well for ourselves these past 12 years. See for yourself:

And now ... we have a hard time believing it ourselves! ...

We have been so blessed!

Final Cut

So - these are the colors, pretty much exactly, that we chose for the outside of our house. We set all of our choices in stone tomorrow - so there's no turning back (without a hefty fee, anyway). So - let me know now what you think ... not that you'll change my mind ... but, it would be good to know! :) We chose almost all of the accents (garage, trim, pole, gutters) to be white - and then the door and shutters black. We're not TOTALLY set on the siding color ... is this about the right darkness of tannish/beige? Should we go darker? We're so excited!

Too Hot ...

Despite the fact that we had hair all curled and fixed for church this morning, the kids just got too hot on our picnic lunch today - and cooled off in the drinking fountain! We sure had a fun afternoon together.





Here are some of the highlights ...

The twisty slide with Uncle Jeremy and the tire swing with Daddy -

A big fun tree to climb -



Krystal thinks she's a photographer and needs to take pictures non-stop. She doesn't do too bad of a job - here's one she took of me and Ty ... and the other one is of her saying, "No fair!" because her turn to take pictures was over.

Ended up being a great way to spend a HOT Sunday afternoon!

At work I was asked to participate in a training for Sand Tray Therapy. Sand Tray is used mostly with children and individuals with lower cognitive functioning. It allowes the therapist to communicate with the client through play. I have always been skeptical of therapies that use symbols to mean different things (sometimes a cigar is just a cigar), but I decided to try it, because I do see value in sand tray as a way to help facilitate communication.

The training was basically a role play with me as a client. I was asked to create my world in the sand using different toys. I went to the stockpiles and slowly began going through each item. I saw a toy of a guy on a motorcycle, and thought I always have wanted one, so I put the motorcycle in the sand. I saw a figure of Harry Potter, and since I love to read and just finished book 7, I put that in the sand. I came to a teddy bear and felt compelled to put it in the sand, but quickly passed over it. I found a gorilla, palm tree, baseball bobble head and a peace symbol that I put in the sand (I thought to myself I have always wanted a gorilla as a pet, I love palm trees and who doesn't want peace?) I then thought I needed to grab that teddy bear, even though I don't have any particular reason. So I placed the teddy bear back in the corner. I was ready to begin.

The therapist started asking questions about the objects I placed in the sand. I had stories that related to each of them, except the teddy bear. The therapist started asking about the teddy bear and why I felt it didn't belong. I didn't really have an answer for her. Finally she asked "is the bear aware of any other object in the tray?" I told her that the bear was watching the bobble head. The bear was content to sit back and watch. Kind of like a grandpa.

When I said this, my unconsious mind blurred with my conscious (if you believe that kind of thing) I realized EVERY thing I put in my sand tray reminded me of my Grandpa Lundgren. Grandpa used to take us to the Sand Dunes with his moped, he used to read the newspaper with us on his lap, he took me to the zoo when I was a kid, and I remember holding his hand in front of the gorilla enclosure, we sat underneath a tree when he took me fishing at Henry's Lake. I realized that the teddy bear represented my Grandpa, and the bobble head represented me.

Grandpa is aware of me. He has been with me even though I can't see him. He continues to serve me and others through the veil.

Just wanted to share that experience.

Much Better

We took Krystal to the Orthopedic Physician this morning. After looking at her x-rays and checking out her arm, he told us that her breaks are not as serious as originally thought. So - hooray!!! He just put her in a soft cast (a hardened carrier that her arm rests in - and then wrapped with a velcro-ed ace bandage) at a 90 degree angle. It's so nice, because we can take it off to bathe her as long as we keep an eye on her arm so she doesn't use it - and then put it right back on. He thinks she'll be all healed in 3 weeks. So, other than being a little more grumpy then usual today - Krystal is feeling fine. Much less stress. She spent an hour tonight telling us, "Dad ... I love you two many! Mom ... I love you two many!" Over and 0ver - (you don't think she means "I love you TOO many", do you?) haha. Man, we love her!

The Break Down

So, Krystal broke her arm ... fell out of a swing, and broke it - in 4 places no less. The doc just called a little while ago and said that he noticed another break just above her elbow on the x-ray, so he scheduled her with an orthopedic physician tomorrow morning. Apparantly 3 breaks wasn't QUITE enough for us to get our little 2 year old, who is in pain, in to have her arm fixed for several days to a week (the soonest appointment anyone had available). I'm so frustrated. After spending from 9 pm to 1 am in the after-hour clinic and hospital, I waited for them to call with the results (which came at 2:30 am) and have been up and on the phone all day long trying to get her taken care of. I am honestly so sick of the run around. Why do these kinds of things have to happen? I hate stress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor little Krystal. She's got to be in a lot of pain. I feel so bad for her. Keep her in your prayers. Hopefully, by tomorrow, she'll be able to feel a little better.

Please take our poll

Michelle and I can't seem to agree on what we should do. So I thought it would be fun to conduct a poll and see what y'all think.

Should we keep our condo and rent, or should we sell?
	Keep it
	Sell It
	Who cares, football starts in under a month
pollcode.com free polls

This Post is For Aaron - or Anyone that Plans on Visiting Spanish Fork

¡¡Este es para todo usted amantes de Tenedor españoles - en la lengua verdadera de Farkers español!! ¡Cada uno necesita al hueso en su español, y tendremos una fiesta cuándo nos movemos en! ¡Ole!

Makes Me Smile

Gettin' help in the kitchen has its rewards! Bottoms Up!! Makes me smile EVERY time.