Life Is Precious...Don't Waste A Second

Our family certainly does not need to be reminded how fast things can change in our lives but today we were hit with something that stopped us in our tracks and made us reevaluate how we live our lives. One of our neighborhood and Ward members 8 year old son was riding his bike to school when he didn't pay attention and ran into a cement truck. He was life flighted to the hospital and all indications at the time were that he would have very extensive injuries throughout his body.

It was comforting for me to arrive on the scene and immediately be there with others from our Ward and neighborhood. Offering comfort, help and love to his parents as he was being flown away was hard and yet brought all of us closer. We talked together and planned how we would help them in the coming days for the next 45 minutes. None of us seemed to want to leave the comfort of each other. After the parents left we cried more, hugged and gave support to each other as we realized it could have been any of our kids that this could have happened to.

At the scene of the accident he was given a Priesthood blessing. How comforting that was to know that the power of the Priesthood and the prayers of all of us were with this child and his family. As we left the scene we all talked about how we would discuss this situation with our children.

It's been hours now since the accident and he will need to have a lot of reconstruction to his leg but there is not one bone broken in his body. This is NOT what we expected from the reports of all the possible injuries from those who helped him at the scene of the accident. Cole Larsen has been truly blessed and a miracle has happened today. Many of us have had a hard time today in going on with our daily tasks, but hopefully tomorrow we will be able to continue our prayers but move forward. I have volunteered to bring dinner into the family tomorrow night and hope that I can find other opportunities to help the family as it is sure to be a long recovery for him.

I am grateful for my absolute knowledge that we have a Savior who helps us at these difficult times. I know that prayers are answered. I know that with faith miracles can happen. I also accept that God can hear our prayers and feel our faith but God's will is more powerful. Learning to accept His will in our lives is what is hard to learn but the experiences that we have in this life WILL help us to return to Him if we but accept it.

I've hugged my children and husband a little more today. Maybe the lesson I was to learn from this was that I need to not wait for something like this to remind me that I need to hug and love them more. My family is so precious to me. I've waited so long to have a marriage like I have with Matt. What a wonderful man he is. I am truly blessed to be his wife. My 7 children are a gift to me. I want to spend more individual time with each of them on a regular basis. I need to not let the busy aspects of our lives interfere with that quality time together.

Zucchini Bread and Gazpacho with Nana

Yesterday Nana came to visit us while the other kids were in school. We decided to make Zucchini bread and Gazpacho. Gazpacho is wonderful cold tomato and other vegetables soup. Elijah was excited to help us as we began and even put his own apron. As mom and Nana began to make the food Elijah decided to "help" and arranged the different vegetables in the baking pans. Wasn't that helpful!! Thanks Nana for spending the day with us. Elijah LOVES the bread and doesn't seem to want to eat anything else now.

First Day Of School

It's that time of the year again....back to school time. This summer has been wonderful but we're all ready for school to begin.

Justin starts high school this year at Layton High School. I can't believe he is in 10th grade already. He is excited to continue playing the baritone tuba in the school's concert and marching band. He's going to have to stop his karate lessons because the school games that the band plays at are the same days as his lessons...but hopefully he can start up karate another time.

Jayd is in the 8th grade and as our social butterfly very excited to see her friends again from school. The week before school she attended the volleyball camp and then the first day of school tried out for the school's team. She made first cut and on the 2nd day of try outs she was told she made the team. Isn't that fun!!! Jayd is also interested in later trying out for the basketball team and then doing track in the spring. Yep...she is our over achiever. Chancey happily leaves elementary school behind and goes to Jr High School with Jayd as a 7th grader. She is more confident this year and very excited to start this new phase of her life. Chancey loves having the "block class schedule" which means she only has 4 classes a day instead of the normal 8. Chancey has always wanted to learn how to play tennis so she will be starting some tennis lessons in September for 4 weeks.

Lilah is the "older sister" now at the elementary school. She is now in 5th grade and was very excited about being in a class with two of her best friends Payden Dicks and Samantha Bernards. Lilah has started running and is hoping to follow Jayd's example and join the track team when she is in Jr High School. She has two years to prepare so we're sure she'll be ready by then.

Olivia is in the 2nd grade this year. She enjoyed meeting her teacher before school began at the back to school night so was very happy to start on the first day of school. Olivia has no problem making friends so we're sure that once again this year will be a fun year as she meets new people in her class that she has not had before.

Abraham starts kindergarten this year. Wow...can you believe it? They have put him in the all day kindergarten class. We think this will be good for him as he seems to like learning better from people other than his family. :-) He is excited to eat lunch at school and be big like his older sisters.

Elijah will be home with mom each day as we do our "house" stuff. We hope to go to the gym at least 3 times a week so he will be able to play with some kids in the day care there for a little while.

Need Shade For Our Back Yard

We have been looking around for different ways to shade our back deck from the summer sun. One of the options we have found seems pretty cool and economical - a retractable awning for our home. It looks like there are a bunch of different manufacturers for them and most seem to have the same basic folding arm and Sunbrella canvas topset up and styling. We are really impressed with the Taylor Made Awning retractable awnings products and prices the most. We would be really interested in hearing has anyone else has had experience with these awning products?

Family Trip to Wyoming

This year for our family summer trip we chose to go to Wyoming. We were able to rent a cabin in Alpine, Wyoming that was big enough for our family. Each day we had fun activities and took lots of pictures so that we could remember our week and share our experiences with friends and family. When we were not out exploring the area we played lots of card and board games in the cabin. This was a great family trip!!!!

The backyard of the house we rented had lots of tire swings and everyone loved playing together on them. There was also a fire pit out back and one night we enjoyed roasting marshmallows and making smores.

On Sunday afternoon we walked down to Palisades Reservoir. The activity the kids enjoyed the most was throwing rocks into the water and picking out their favorite rocks to bring home. It was a beautiful day.

On Monday we drove to Teton National Forest and Yellowstone National Park. It was a little farther than we hoped it would be (3 hours 1 way) but we were able to see some beautiful lakes, amazing mountain ranges, water falls, geysers etc. The animals we saw were 2 gray wolves, buffalo, elk, hawks, moose, pronghorn, trumpeter swans and chipmonks. It was a long day but we were glad we took the kids to see this beautiful area.

In Yellowstone we pasted Lewis Lake and had to stop and play for a while. The kids enjoyed playing at the boat ramp and taking fun pictures of each other. Elijah even picked some flowers and gave them to me.

On Tuesday we found a great river in one of the canyons next to our cabin so we had to go back on Wednesday and play in the river. We wear our dirty cloths and went in the river. We played games in the water and enjoyed just having fun. It was fun watching the children clinging to each other and the river current was strong...but not enough to stop the fun.

The highlight of the trip was Thursday when we rented 4 horses for 4 hours. WOW...we didn't know how much fun it was going to be. All 7 of the kids just could not get enough of riding them and everyone had a marvelous time. At one point Matt had Elijah on the horse with him and suddenly Elijah took off his hat, waved it in the air and said "hee haw". The kids are still trying to convince us that we now need a horse of our own. Not likely...but good try.

Lilah's 10th Birthday

Wow...can you believe Lilah is 10 years old. How exciting!!! This year Lilah wanted to have a party with her friends so she invited a bunch of girls and they had a great time playing games, eating pizza, cake and ice cream. Our good friend Shauni Snow volunteered to made Lilah's birthday party cake when she found out that mom would be driving 3 hours to bring 11 girls home from girls camp the day of Lilah's birthday. Thank you Shauni for helping...the cake was so beautiful.

We also had a family birthday party the day of Lilah's birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Curtis, Aunt Andrea, Nana and Papa Vassel, Karmen, Jauquin and Zeke came to celebrate with us and eat our traditional Texas Sheet cake. Yummy!!!

Words From Our Grandma Jacqi

"I am feeling so thankful for this beautiful world, all my dearest friends, and the joy of the gospel and all the answers I have received concerning life, where I came from, why I am here, and where I can go. I am so grateful for the missionaries that found me and taught me the plan of salvation. I wonder what they are doing now and if they realize how much I love them."

Thank you for sharing Grandma. We love you so much!!

Our Beautiful Girls

Our four girls are growing up so fast. Jayd is now 13, Chancey 12, Lilah 10 (in 4 days) and Olivia 7. Every four months it seems we need a complete new set of clothing for each as they have been all growing like weeds the past year. I look at their school pictures from last fall and am amazed at the changes I see in each of them. A couple of weeks ago they had a fun night staying at Aunt Heidi's house and having a girls sleep over with their cousins Lexi and Ashley. Aunt Heidi had fun painting their nails and fixing their hair any way they wanted. Matt and I are not ready to have the boys paying attention to our girls but as you can see from the pictures it won't be long before that happens.

Fun At The Pool

Summer is the time for pool days and we certainly had fun at Nana and Papa's community pool with our cousins Lexi, Bruno and Ashley Vassel. Abe and Elijah have become genuine fish this year and Chancey, Lilah and Olivia are seeing the improvements from their swimming lessons that they took this spring.

Curtis Family Reunion 2009

This year Lynne was in charge of the family reunion and she chose a wonderful place called the Heber Valley Girls Camp. Our camp location included 4 cabins with 8 bunk beds each and an outside pavilion having a kitchen area, picnic tables, shower and restroom facilities. What a place!! It was so beautiful. We enjoyed games of uno, Bang, volleyball and horseshoes. Lynne also had jars of candy which we had to guess the number in them in order to win the jar.

We enjoyed a wonderful fireside program and took pictures of the group. All of grandpa and grandma Curtis' children were there as well as most of the grand kids and great-grandchildren. The next day we enjoyed some time at the lake where we were able to use peddle boats and canoes. Thank you Lynne for all your hard work in organizing the reunion. Our family really enjoyed attending. (Sorry the right side of the pictures get cut off a little.)

Vassel Family Reunion

We enjoyed attending the Vassel family reunion and seeing everyone there. Aunt Marety had all her children there as well as the grand kids. Aunt Bethy and Uncle Darien had all their kids and grand kids there except for one. We enjoyed a lovely picnic style dinner and visited as we watched the kids and grand kids playing together. Unfortunately, the kids were in charge of the camera so the pictures are of themselves but there are a few of Tim Smithsom and Jenn's kids. I love the one of Jenn and my kids sitting on our back steps.

Summer Fresh Corn

One of our favorite summer meals includes having fresh corn. The other day I went to the farmers market and got a whole bunch for that nights dinner. The kids enjoyed shucking the corn and then eating them until we were all too full to do anything that night.

Scooby Doo

This afternoon Elijah asked if he could watch a movie. Of course he chose Scooby Doo which is not a surprise as he is EXTREMELY obsessed with anything Scooby Doo. I said he could and he chose Alien Invaders. Elijah then said, "Scooby is scared." I told him Scooby is always scared because he is a woose. Elijah then looked at me all concerned and said, "Scooby is not a woose, he's a dog."

What's He Thinking About?

Elijah and Jayd were sitting at the table this morning eating breakfast together when Elijah said, "Jayd's friends."
"What about Jayd's friends?" I asked.
Elijah replied, "Bailey. Bailey is a nice girl mama."

Jayd and I looked at each other in bewilderment and laughed. I'm not sure why Elijah was thinking about Jayd's friend Bailey this morning but it sure is fun to see how much he is aware of what is happening around him and can communicate this with us. For a 2 1/2 year old his communication skills are amazing and so fun to listen to...except when he is communicating in his new found form of whining...which I promise you will not last long as far as I am concerned.

More Like A Moose

While I was away this past weekend for our annual women's retreat, Matt was home with our 7 kids. At one point in the day most of the kids were downstairs watching a movie together and "watching Elijah" so that Dad could get some things done. Well, the watching part did not last too long and Elijah went up to the kitchen. Elijah loves to play that he is cooking so when he found a tub of butter and a bag of powdered sugar on the kitchen counter he decided to have some fun.

The end result of this fun was that Dale enjoyed some of the tub of butter and the powdered sugar was ALL over the kitchen floor. Not in one spot of course but EVERYWHERE. I'm told that little feet marks of powdered sugar were everywhere. Matt of course found Elijah and was less than happy with the babysitting abilities of our children. As Justin relayed this situation to me on Saturday night I asked if dad had a cow when he saw the mess. Justin calmly replied, "No...more like a moose." I guess I can be grateful that my kitchen is clean, my husband did not leave and that all 7 children are still alive.

Abe's Boogers

In church yesterday I noticed Abe had his finger in his nose. I asked him to get it out. He pulled it out and showed me a booger at the end of his finger. He said he was putting it back into his nose because he didn't have anywhere to put it. Do you know how difficult it is to laugh quietly in church. I have to admit I was laughing so hard I started crying. I'm just so grateful he didn't think to eat it.

Jayd's 13th Birthday Party

So what happens when you put 16 girls together in one house? Can you say major noise. Today Jayd celebrated her 13th birthday with her friends. After lots of games and tons of pizza they decided to have an eating contest on the floor with the cake and ice cream...with no utensils. That was fun to watch!! I had made 2 cakes for Jayd as I knew with all those girls and our family we would need them. They were fun to make.

Graduation From Pre-school

Today was Abraham's graduation from pre-school. Mrs Tresa was so amazing with him and really helped him alot. The cute little girl in the pictures with Abe is his "girlfriend" Beau. They try to sit next to each other as much as possible and Abe has told us that he is going to marry her. Isn't she adorable. Abe's pictures today started out with him mad because of what he was wearing but finally he decided to smile for me after one of the other mom's made faces behind my back.

Jayd's Track Meet

As Jayd went into Jr. High this year she decided that she wanted to try new sports and see what she likes. Last summer she did a week each of Volleyball and Basketball training camp and then tried out for the volleyball team. She made the 1st cut but not the team...but good job for trying. She hopes to do both these camps again this summer and try out for both teams.

This spring Jayd decided to try track with her good friend Bailey. Each day after school she practiced with the team and really showed good dedication and hard work. We finally got her some good running shoes and that definitely made a difference for her. Jayd competed in the mile, the medley (her part was the 400 or 200 meter) and this last meet was asked to fill in on the 4x100 relay also because one of her team mates was injured. On the mile Jayd came in at 6 minutes 54 seconds and earned 2nd place for her school. Because of this she will be competing this week at the North End District competition. Her medley team also placed for this competition so we wish her luck on both these runs. Great job Jayd!!

Western Caribbean Cruise - Days 7, 8 and 9

Day 7: Today we are were supposed to port in Cozumel Mexico but because of the Swine Flu we were told that the ship would not be going there. We were definitely disappointed. This day ended up being a full day at see instead on our way to Key West, FL which is where Carnival decided to take us instead. Another restful day with sleep, reading and just enjoying our time together.

Day 8: Today we have docked in Key West, FL. There were some very large yachts docked by our ship so I took a picture of them. One even had a helicopter on top of it. We walked around Key West and finished our shopping for the kids. I liked Key West as it reminded me most of Martha's Vineyard. The people were very friendly. We loved watching the ski boats, catamarans, sail boats and yachts as they passed our ship while docked in Key West. We marveled at how blue and clear the water was here. The sunset was beautiful was we started back toward Miami.

Day 9: Today we docked in Miami, FL at about 7:30am. We were off the ship and on our way to the airport by 9:30am. Our flight home was uneventful and we were so excited to see our kids when we got home that night. We are grateful that we were able to take this trip together. It's weird to think we have been married just under 2 years when it feels like 10 years. We needed this and can't wait for whatever trip we decide to take next year together...that is if we can find people to stay with our 7 kids again. ;-)