sometimes I get crafty

update for you!

we haven't been up to much.

but we have been enjoying our summer.

work pretty much kills us so we sleep pretty well at night.

but our highlights include:

-jeep getting broken into, all for my elephant lunch bag retail value: ~$15! (picture of window)

-multiple work trips down to cedar city/st. george for steve

-hanging out with family (lillroses, cristen, thompsons, cluffs, lymans...)

-only getting sick once! (steve, in jackpot, nv. NOT a pretty sight!)

-several field trips with my summer camp (cowabunga bay, home depot, bouncing off the walls, bowling, parks, pizza party, airborne and a few others i can't quite remember...)

-a couple Make-A-Wish events, made possible through friends and family who helped out ever so willingly (betsy, tanner, cristen, rand and stevis) pictures here OR here

-AND i also rode my first horse, ever! wasn't too awkward either! (see picture here)

needless to say, we are looking forward to our first and only vacation this summer: the lapierre family reunion!!!!!!

Rykert

i'm pretty sure most of you know that i stayed on at make-a-wish as a wishgranter volunteer. this means i meet the families and help to arrange the wish and all its added extras.

i just completed my first wish where i was the one in charge.

this first picture is of rykert and my wish partner jayme. rykert's wish was to go on rides. so we sent him to Disneyworld! the family had a great time and he loved it!!

either right before or after the child's wish is granted, we do what is called star-raising party. this is rykert and his dad decorating his star before it gets hanged in the hall.

i love doing these wishes cuz you get to meet so many amazing families and see them in one of their best moments despite what they're going through.

stiches

so, precisely two weeks ago today, steven called me and said he had some bad news.

what you need to understand is usually when he says he has bad news he's going out of town for work and overnight. that's what i was expecting. instead he informed me he cut his finger and superglue would not hold it so he got stitches. i was actually relieved he wasn't leaving....

it took 5 stitches to close it up. as i understand it he was hammering something and it was right near the boom of the machine. one of the times he hammered his hand and it slid his fingers to get cut on the boom. it's his pointer that got the stitches but his thumb also got cut.

the nail damage. so far.

more nail damage.

he got the stitches removed on monday. the skin wasn't completely closed on the top but the doctor said the membrane underneath was closed enough it wouldn't be a problem.

oh and right after he got home after getting the stitches i got rear-ended on my way to work. nothing bad, we were stopped at a light and the guy had been stopped but was trying to get in the next lane and was too close to my car. we pulled into a parking lot where i saw some none-existent damage to my jeep (and i didn't care about his cuz he rear-ended me) but he called the cops. so i was late to work so my supervisor drove for me. and all the kids asked where i was and were actually concerned about my accident. of course they imagined it worse than it was. it was a lovely day....

things have been happening. kinda....

sophie got bridget to sleep! she was so excited!

while in texas i taught the kids to do handstands against the fence. this is trav practicing inside

the first real snow of the winter!

some lake (not sure which one) on our way down to arizona for thanksgiving. i have NEVER been on a road trip where we stopped more than twice so needless to say it was the longest trip ever...

guess what! we moved!! this is our new apartment. the pantry is big enough to hold everything that a lot of our kitchen cabinets are empty. it's great!

this is our living room. also a lot more room than our last place!

the bedroom. this room is not necessarily bigger but with all the space everywhere else it sure feels like it is

and lastly our vanity/closet/washer and dryer.

i LOVE my new apartment!!!

circus!

a couple weeks ago steve worked on a machine that the circus was using. as a thank you he got some coupons for discounted tickets. and they were some pretty darn good seats too. betsy, tanner, and cris joined us for all the fun. and i'm too lazy to arrange the pictures in the correct order but basically they're all arranged backwards, give or take. enjoy!

the elephants are my favorite part. so there's more pictures of them. they're pretty flipping sweet!

this is the baby elephant that's a little over a year old. his name is unfortunately barack. but he is cute so i couldn't hold it against him, not like he chose the name anyways...

tightrope walkers. at one point they made it completely diagonal and they climbed up it. quite impressive.

this is the strong man guy. he's laying down and his legs are holding up the barbells. i think he was holding 1800 + lbs for a few seconds.

tigers!

doing crazy things in the air!

this was technically the beginning but whatever. this is the procession in...

and a few videos for your entertainment

and just as an fyi: i forgot to bring my camera to albuquerque so i don't have pictures of the week. however, i am sure there are some betsy and laree will ever so willingly post eventually

carnival!

this past weekend was the truck pulls at the utah state fair. after the pulls were over we did a couple rides and walk around to see the animals and crafts. this is the ferris wheel...

cris and rica (?) joined us for the day of fun. they were on the ferris wheel with steve and i.

scenes at the top of the ferris wheel.

this sculpture is made entirely of butter. gross and intriguing at the same time.

there were metal bars in the way so i couldn't get a picture of the whole thing so i took them in parts instead.