My Full Time Job

The last couple of weeks have pushed me over the edge and I have realized I have said "yes" to way to many things. The biggest of them all was the school fundraiser. I counted how many hours I put into this last week I had worked the equivalent of a full time job! The 2 weeks previous I was only working part time. I won't bore you with the details, but will only tell you that the day of giving the grand prize winner a helicopter ride was all worth it!
This little first grader had over 60 sponsers and had raised over $475. He had gone to every house in his small town with his older sister. His mother works full time at our school and this helicopter ride (I was told) was something this little family would never be able to afford. As I called up this little boy and announced him the grand prize winner, I had a hard time holding my composer as I watched such a sweet humble little boy come to claim his prize. The studentbody was estatic. I asked this boy who (besides his parents) did he want to take with him on the helicopter ride and he said, "my sister".
The whole school went outside to see the helicopter land in the back field and come pick up this boy and his family. I watched the teary eyed father board, I myself got a little emotional, and as I looked around many of the teachers were wiping their eyes as well. It was definetely my "payday"! Oh and by the way, we reached our goal plus about $3,000 more! Hurray!

BYU Football - Fui and Curtis

Bryson and Garrett had the chance to visit the locker-room before the UNLV football gamewith the Heywood cousins. I guess with as good as BYU was and as bad as UNLV was - UNLV would likely not refer to their efforts as a football game ... with an ending score of 52-7, but it is sure fun again to be going to the BYU games and watching big offensive outputs. We were able to get this close to the players courtesy of George Curtis - a lifting buddie and mentor to Rob Heywood - who has a long history of weight training with BYU and its athletes.

Preceding the game the kids all went to the store "Fanzz" and purchased Curtis Brown jerseys (#6) and had the chance to have their new hats and jerseys autographed by the big guys. Seen below is a picture with recently returned missionary sophomore running back Fui Vakapuna (#1 - hence the multiple #1's being held in the air). Fui is averaging 6 yards per carry and 9 yards per reception this year. The amazing thing is that with as good as he is, BYU has so many offensive weapons both passing and rushing, that he has only had about 8 carries per game. Because of a high ankle sprain Fui didn't play in the UNLV slaughtering, but I'm sure he'll be playing in the Air Force game this weekend. Pictured below are the kids with senior running back Curtis Brown. Curtis is a stud and, just like Fui and the other players that spent time with the kids, he was great with the kids. Curtis only played for 2 1/2 quarters and racked up just under 150 rushing yards and a touchdown for the day's effort. BYU put up more than 300 rushing yards in the game in addition to more than 270 yards passing - for a combined 570+ offensive yards (and that is with trying not to score in the 4th). Curtis passed up Heimuli in this game and ended up less than 200 yards short of Jamal Willis' all-time BYU rushing record. After the Air Force and Colorado games these next two weeks Curtis should be in sole posession of the all-time BYU rushing record.

The Kauai Bible

Thanks to our tour guide, Kristen, we had so much fun on our trip to Kauai. We were on the go all the time! Kristen commented that she wondered what she had spent more time doing: planning for this trip or actually going on the trip itself. Paul and I were the beneficiaries of her planning. We joked with Kristen about bringing the "Kauai Bible" with us, otherwise known as "The Ultimate Guide to Kuaui" book. But, it really helped us find our way around the island!



We were glad Kristen brought her book when we went on the Jungle Falls hike. We would never have even found the trailhead without it. There are a lot of cool things on the island, but people don't know about them because nothing is marked. Here is Paul getting ready to go on the rope swing. This place was awesome, and we had it all to ourselves for along time.



Cory did a great job blogging about our fun trip! If you want to see some cool pictures, go to Cory and Kristen's blog at http://edwardsfam.blogspot.com.

A picture's worth a 1,000 words (and $300)

Of course this picture is priceless because it is of Cory and Kristen. But, it was also the last picture I was able to take with our camera before it was ruined in its"waterproof" pouch. Kristen somehow convinced us to go kayaking in the open sea for 17 miles down the Napali Coast while we were on "vacation" in Hawaii. You have no idea how terribly nervous I was to do this and while Kristen was saying "What an adventure!" I was praying we wouldn't die (literally). I felt somewhat better knowing we had a tour guide. But he was a too busy trying to reinacted the moment of "Kiss the Girl" from Little Mermaid with his new Hawaiian fling to even know that the rest of us we there.

The only thing that this tour guide said to me was "Angela, stop worrying about the paddling and look around at the beautiful scenery." I had a hard time doing this because I was afraid we were going to huli (that means flip over in the water). Now that its over, I'm glad we did it! I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a real adventure... just don't take your digital camera, remember to take something for motion sickness, wear lots of sunscreen, and be able to relieve yourself at sea (or hold it for 12 hours- I don't think I'll share my personal experience about this one.)

Dinner at Big Boys

This post is dedicated to Cory and Brady. To Cory because he is obessed with taking pictures of expensive food, and to Brady because you have become his "intern". We hope you can appreciate this fine meal we ate in downtown Kalkaska, Michigan.
After a long day of driving with Mom, Dad, Ryan, and the boys, we pulled up to a famous Big Boy restuarant. I wish I could have captured the atmosphere a litter better in my pictures, this was a fine diner that allowed only the best dressed! Infact Mom and Dad were all ready for the occasion with Dad's suit and Mom's dress. Luckily the diner let the rest of us in with just our regular street clothes. We were sitted in a fine little booth with crumbs left from the guest before to tantalize our tastebuds. When my salad came I was so pleased! A pile of iceberg lettuce with a big slice of cucumber on top, the blend of these flavors make my mouth water.
You can see the excited look on Dad's face when he received his meal - stir fry! With 2 pieces of toast sticking up at a 90 degree angle, making his entree look like a masterpiece.

Ryan's double bacon cheeseburger was a spectacular piece. It was so shiny with the grease dripping off the bacon, it glistened in the sun. Ryan even added his own touch by putting the ketchup across the french fries in a criss cross manner.

Not only was the food inspiring, but so was the conversation. It is nice to eat with four little boys who were so patient in waiting for their food. They sat so quietly and never said a word unless they were spoken to and they never teased each other or Uncle Ryan. We fit right in the Big Boy crowd and didn't stand out a bit with my four boys, my brother, and my parents dressed up with nametags.

Editors note: I actually have to say we had a blast at dinner. It was so fun trying to sneak in pictures of our food without looking weird (hint, hint Cory). Thanks for the inspiration Cory and Brady for this post!

Memories of Michigan

Our trip to Michigan was so fun. The only thing that would have made it perfect would have been to have Paul there too. But he was at scout campout at Lake Powell with a bunch of 12 year olds and scorpions. Luckily I had Ryan along to help me with the boys. We could have never survived the airport or airplane without his help. Here are some of our favorite memories of our trip:

Playing in the lake (the boys especially like having Ryan throw them in the water)
Grandma's cooking! YUM!
Our road trip to Traverse City and seeing Lake Michigan.
Minature golfing at the Pirate's Cove

Stopping at a sandwich place along the way to Petoskey (at an old barn) where we

got to feed goats, eat cherries, and try homemade blueberry doughnuts.

Celebrating Ryan's b-day with a delicious Dominican dish.
Listening to Grandpa's famous Chipmunk story. (This is the most requested bedtime story at our home.)

Collecting Petoskey stones

One of the biggest highlights of our trip to Michigan was collecting Petoskey stones along the shore of Lake Michigan. They weren't that easy to find. But luckily with a spray bottle and a little lake water, we able to uncover quite a few treasures!
How to find a Petoskey stone:
1: You can only find them in Michigan.
2: They don't stand out among the other rocks, only after in rains can you initially see their beauty.
3: If it is not raining, you can spray a bunch of rocks with water.
4: Once they are wet, you will be able to see rocks that have fossilized coral in them.
5: Take the rock and get it polished. The missionaries like to carry one in their pockets and rub the rock until it becomes shiny and you can see its beauty.
6: Take Grandpa with you, he can find them without even getting the rocks wet!

Bonafide at Aspen Grove!

Bonafide: this was our family motto at Aspen Grove. We had t-shirts with Bonafide across them and a big 81 (thats right there were 81 of us). You may be wondering why would that be a family motto? Well I found out it means that you are proven and true, plus Paul and his cousin Brett thought it sounded cool. They got the idea from a movie, any guesses which one? This picture (above) is of all the Elda's great grandkids. It was impossible to get a good picture of all of them, I love seeing all the different little personalities.
After looking back at our pictures of Aspen Grove, I was so sad to see I didn't have pictures of a lot of things. For instance, Bryson doing the dunking booth (on a dare) and seeing his face after falling in the cold water. Or watching the boys get a hug from princess Bhelle as she gave them a Christmas present from Grandma (she did her Christmas in July). And Paul and the boys staying up late playing games in the old cabin while Mommy slept in the lodge (and saw a mouse). That could have been a pretty funny picture too! But here are some of the moments we captured: Mckay after a morning at Rompers, he loved going to his class.
Oops, I can't get this picture to rotate. This is Garrett at the Aspen Follies. Our family took 2nd place, and we aren't bragging or anything.
Eating a meal in the cafeteria. One of the best parts of Aspen Grove: no cooking!
Paul and I did the ropes course one day with a bunch of the adults. That is another plus about Aspen Grove, it was a vacation for Mommy and Daddy too, because the kids went to their own classes and did lots of fun stuff as well.
Garrett and three of his cousins getting ready to perform the last night at Aspen Grove. They were the CUBS and had the neatest little cheer.
Tanner dancing with his 2nd cousin, Emma. His older cousin Allie was teaching him some moves.
Bryson having a little hoe-down with his cousin. Of course Bryson wouldn't dance with a girl!This would be a really fun Edwards' family reunion (hint, hint!)

Sparks were flying!

Hey, I'm talking about the sparklers on the 4th of July! But, who knows? Maybe there were sparks flying between Ryan and Erica's roommate. I'm hilarious! After coming home from Boise to a terrible rainstorm, we were worried that are outdoor activities wouldn't work out. But luckily the weather warmed up a bit and we were able to enjoy Scott and Natalie's famous dutch oven cobbler and do lots of fireworks. Then, of course watch the fireworks in Midway.
Garrett is pondering how this sparkler thing really works. Okay,we all know Garrett better than that, he is planning is next move on how to tease Uncle Ryan.
McKay was a little hesitant to hold a sparkler, but decided it was pretty fun!
Tanner can't contain his excitement.
We love having Erica around. She is so cute the the kids. Even Jessica's kids loved Erica.

Our trip to Idaho

We had so much fun staying with the Edwards' fam in Boise! We are very jealous of their swimming pool. How would it be to have a swimming pool so close? This is where Tanner mastered the art of doing front and back flips in the pool.
The boys loved going to the Boise Hawks baseball game and then watching the fireworks afterwards. We even did some rock climbing at a local park. (Bryson is the king of the world!) Not only do we like the swimming pools in Boise, but they have amazing parks. The kids were in heaven. We had a delicious BBQ and to top it off, Scott made this amazing Peach Raspberry cobbler. It was delicious. Thanks for the fun weekend guys, we miss you! Now our boys want to move to Boise.

Our Big Camping Trip and Hiking Timp

The first week in June, we decided to take the boys camping! We had big plans to go to Calf Creek Falls (remember this hike brothers?). But when our plans of pulling out of Heber at 2:00 fell through and we were leaving at 6:00, we decided to go somewhere closer. We ended up just going up above Aspen Grove and it was beautiful! We almost had the whole campground to ourselves.

We decided to hike up to Timp. caves on Friday. Choosing to go at 2:00 in the afternoon wasn't the smartest idea. It was very hot and the hike was all up hill in the sun.
Here are the boys in the caves with some girls we met. Their Mom (who was with us in the cave) was wearing a Dairy Keen sweatshirt. Come to find out she one of the MaWhinney's and was here visiting her parents.
Look how high we are - 6730 feet above sea level! They said the biggest problem is when people fly in from California and try to do this hike the same day. People can get sick from the elevation change. (Ask Paul - he felt it the next couple of days - it didn't help to be carrying McKay on his back the whole way either).
Okay, this is one of the best pictures I've taken. I am right up there with Natalie's picture taking abilities with this picture. Look at the tiny road in the background. Thats a pretty impressive hike!
Luckily we had a hydration backpack from Costco (thanks to Paul). The boys loved getting drinks of water from it. We went through lots of water!
We did it! The boys didn't think they were ever going to make it. But with a lot of pitstops along the way, they did it!

Memorial Day

Mom and Dad asked us to go and decorate the graves will they are on their mission. They had even drawn out a map of where to locate the graves in the cemetary - of course I found the map a couple days after Memorial Day. Anyways, I was very proud of myself when we pulled into the Spanish Fork cemetary, I walked to the right graves without a problem. It was fun telling the boys a little bit about their great grandparents.
Lehi cemetary was a different story. I thought for sure I knew where I was going. First off, we could find the cemetary. So, we had to asked two different people how to get there. Next, I couldn't find Grandma and Grandpa Edwards' grave. I called Dad twice and walked around in the cold wind trying to find it. After a while I was successful. But we didn't take any pictures because we were all freezing at this point and couldn't wait to get in the car.

After decorating the graves, we decided to take the boys to Cabella's (the new outdoor sporting goods store) in Lehi. The boys loved it (especially Paul). It is now right up there with Costco on his list. Paul found the cot he had been coveting that Jason Danley has on their campouts. The picture above is taken inside of the Aquarium tunnel. McKay's favorite part was the stuffed animals, especially the bears. He kept running over to them and growling.

Our Family Faces in Florida

We decided to get family pictures at the resort. But McKay and Tanner both had accidents the night before. McKay fell out of his stroller and Tanner fell out of his bed and hit the nightstand. I asked the photographer if we could angle the kids so you wouldn't see the wounds. She said not to worry that she would "photoshop" it out. I guess she forgot! Oh well, I guess our picture has character.

Grandma and Grandpa with all their boys. The picture with all their girls is much smaller!
What handsome boys we have!

Here is all the family. There is one person missing, any guesses?