BYU Football

I can't believe it! BYU football season is finally here. My family has had season tickets for as long as I can remember. There is just nothin' like sitting in the stadium looking up at that beautiful mountain with a hot dog in one hand and dippin dots in the other ;-) cheering the team on. Go Cougars!

Sarah Palin named as Republican VP Candidate

Sarah Palin named as Republican VP Candidate.

I do not usually tackle political subjects and I have over the last several months become very disappointed in the political process as a whole. I have felt like virtually every candidate out there is out of touch with what hard working American families are struggling with....that is until today when John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. I have to admit that being a staunch Mitt Romney fan I was a little skeptical at this seemingly unknown Governor from Alaska. It did not however take long for me to be won over by this very real and sincere wife and mother of five. Being a mother of five children myself and am totally blown away by this woman's achievements and desires to make government work the way it is supposed to: For and in behalf of the people. Not for special interests groups or for Hollywood celebrities or for only the rich and powerful. Finally we have someone that in the words of John McCain," knows what its like to worry about mortgage payments and health care. The cost of gasoline and groceries. A person who understand the problems and hopes and values of working people."

I especially loved reading a quote by her in reference to her son who was born with down syndrome “Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up world you live in down there on Earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome.”

Click here to learn more about this amazing woman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

Family Reunions and ER visits

We had our annual Nattress Family Reunion this week up at Cascade Lake in Idaho. We however almost didn't make it up to the lake at all. We decided to go up a few days early and spend some time with my brothers and their families before the rest of the family came up. The first night Jake woke up screaming in the middle of the night and was running a really high temp so we decided to take him into the ER. After waiting for two hours we finally got a diagnosis of an ear infection and were sent home with an antibiotic. About 12 hours later we found ourselves back in the ER with our 3 year old Luke. He tried to jump off the slide on to the trampoline and missed. A few stitches a black eye and a few hours later we found ourselves back at my brothers house again wondering why we had come up in the first place. We decided to stay and finish out the reunion and ended up having a great time. The kids had a great time knee boarding and getting dumped on Uncle Bretts tube and I even got up the first time on the slalom ski after 2 years of not skiing. I wasn't sure I could even get up after that long but it all came back. After a few times back and forth accross the wake my hands started to give out so I had to let go. It was fun to shock my nieces and and nephews who didn't think I had it in me.

Here is a video of my poor Luka :-( You might want to hit the pause button on the music player.

Happy Birthday to me!

As of yesterday August 2nd at approximately 7:30am I am officially 34 years old. So what is that saying? One year older and wiser too. Well, I don't know about being any wiser but I'm definately one year older and still going strong. For the last several weeks Steve has been asking me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him all I wanted was a day out without the kids and no time limit on when we had to be back. My mother was kind enough to come up and watch the kids all day so Steve could take me out. We had a wonderful day at the Bountiful Temple and then he took me to The Roof restaurant on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building for dinner. It was the perfect birthday.

So now you might ask what have I learned in my 34 years of life?

• Chocolate always makes you feel better.
• Never take yourself to seriously
• Laugh a lot....sometimes it's the only thing you can do to keep from crying instead.
• Life goes by too fast so make sure you take the time to enjoy it.
• The only way to have a friend is to be one.
• My testimony is the most precious gift I have ever received and the most precious gift I can give.

Daddy got a drum set

So some of you know that Steve was...is a drummer. When we got engaged he was forced to sell his drum set to help pay for my ring. Well that and we had no place to keep a drum set in our tiny little apartment. Anyway, I have always felt a little guilty about the fact that he has not played since. After years of him "drumming" on the steering wheel, on the counters, on the kids, on just about anything that he could find to keep a beat to, I decided to start searching for a drum set that was similar to his old one. I found one on KSL that was really nice. We went to look at it and to make a long story short...we bought it. He comes home every night from work and plays for at least an hour. He doesn't even stop to eat dinner first. I think he missed playing more than he thought. The boys are already talking about having their Dad teach them. I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into.

Aspen Grove Family Camp 2008

We just got back from Aspen Grove last week. This was our sixth time going up and the kids had a blast. We are all a little sunburned and tired but we had a great time. Steve and I even mangaged to hike Timp....well most of the way. The snow fields were too scary for me but Steve made it all of the way to Emerald Lake. Best of all we didn't get sick this time (four out of the last six times we have ended up driving down the canyon with stomach flu). Thanks Grandpa Petey. We can't wait to go back up in 2010.

Hannah on the high ropes course. She made it look way to easy.