Sandy stacking academy awards

Sandy offered to do an eyebrow wax job for Tiana. Notice the red marks BELOW Tiana's eyebrows. Sandy missed by a bit. Nate's response to the effort was, "It's a good thing she didn't do a bikini wax or Tiana would have an inflamed navel! Those of us who lead a normal lifes are lodging a formal complaint to the governing body of the academy awards. We think Sandy is making a blatant effort to sweep the awards. All you have to do to see the basis for this is listen to the story about this and the "David naked blue streak for the hot tub episode" where Sandy intentionly gave David the wrong garage code. It caused some severe blueing of the exposed skin and terrible shrinkage of some otherwise useful apppendage. We wonder if he has recovered yet but I'm sure that will be yet another unfolding story is Sandy's attempt to hijack the academy awards.

This post is under the direct authority and supervision of Tiana. Bob only typed it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

A Chuck Norris Christmas

At the Bob Kay house, we usually get to open a present on Christmas Eve. Justin and Patricia got dad a "Chuck Norris" poster for his office. It is funny! I will put some of the "facts" below the picture. I figured that the "Kay" family could really eat this up. We had a good laugh at this one....



- Chuck Norris can divide by zero
- Chuck Norris counted to infinity--twice
- Chuck Norris doesn't read books--He stares them down until he gets the information he wants
- Chuck Norris is so fast, he can run around the world punch himself in the back of the head
- When the Boogey-man goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris
- The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain
- Chuck Norris doesn't wear a watch. HE decides what time it is
- When Chuck Norris does a push up, he isn't pushing himself up--he is pushing the earth down
- Outer space exists because it is afraid to be on the same planet as Chuck Norris

Hope you enjoy!!!

WHITE CHRISTMAS

We woke up this morning to about 10 inches of new snow. Fortunately after our 14 stake fast for moisture I purchased gas for my snow blower and I needed it. It took me about 4 hours to do our driveway, the neighbors driveway and a widows driveway who I home teach. We are expecting more snow tonight and maybe Christmas eve day or night. I hope it holds off long enough for Shannon and Logan to get home for Christmas with their families. Here are some pictures of our house with the snow and lights.

You folks in warm climates would certainly need coats now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Traditions

I was reading in a magazine about different traditions people have around the holidays and I got thinking about what traditions Jason and I were going to do with our family.  Of course we will be taking bits and pieces from both our families, but I read one we are going to start this year.  I will be making my Christmas goodies on Christmas Eve day and that night before going out for Chinese (tradition with my parents), we will be dropping our packages off at the two closest fire stations and the ER.  I thought it was a neat way to give back to people who work so hard to serve and keep us safe.  So...everybody please share any great traditions you have that you really look forward to.  

There are Good People in the World

With that said I would like to share an amazing experience our Family had on Friday night. Logan decided to take us out for an inexpensive meal at Red Robin. Things were great, Our meal was great, and we had an amazing waitress(I am usually very critical. Compliments of working for a restaurant). I noticed a couple watching us periodically through our meal and really didn't think anything of it. Garrett tries to flirt with anyone. My waitress during our meal asked me if I knew them. I didn't. Well finally we were ready for our check and the waitress brings it out. Logan opens the Bill and all that was in there was a note letting us know the couple seated diagonal from us paid for our meal. WOW!! We were speechless. I didn't think people did things like that anymore. It was a huge blessing for us and I hope and pray they will also be blessed. It made us feel inspired to pass on the good fortune.

A little update

Hello! Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! It was great here with very nice weather! :D Well, thought I'd finally get on and update a little and say hi. Everything is great with us. Chad's still in school and planning on applying to the nursing program at ASU for next spring. I'm working full time at a doctor's office doing billing. And life is busy and at moments exciting, likely to get a whole lot more exciting. Aunt Megan, I guess it's safe to say we're in the runnings for ONE of the 9 in '09! We're looking at June! Anybody else joining??? :D

Mesa Temple Lights...and a little music too!

Last night a group of us - namely Jay, Chad, mom, dad, Kara, Whit, me, Jake, Lauren, Haley, Josh, Jana and Gma M. and Gpa M. - went to see the lights at the Mesa temple and listen to Jana's (my mom's sister) group perform! It was a great night and we all enjoyed being together! Tis the season to be thankful! My family and the gospel is what brings happiness into my life, without those two things I would definitely be a lost soul! Love you all!

Painting Day

So Jay had work off early yesterday and Kara and I are currently unemployed (yes - the economy has taken away our jobs - sad face - don't feel sad for us - we already had a pity party!) Anyhoo - we had lots of fun at Michaels looking at all the fun things to paint. These are the first projects we worked on (and only ones cause it took a long time).


We were very sad that Lauren and my mom couldn't join. They had to work! :( And well...we always miss Mackers! We love you Kenna!

Happy Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Happy Birthday wishes to Lauren! We love having you in our family and hope your day is full of fun! Love you!

Emergency Prep & Fondue

We had a family home evening with Justin & Patricia and the kids and put 72 hr. kits together. We talked about the need to be prepared and follow the prophet. They loved the things that were put into the kits and Trevyn was wanting an "emergency" to happen now! It shows that if you are prepared you will not fear. After the "lesson" we had fondue which the boys enjoyed even more. You were taking your life in your hands when you approched the chocolate pot with all of those forks going.

HaPpy BirTHdAy RHetT

ONE YEAR OLD!!! And much too cute for his own good!
We love you Rhett Logan and miss you oodles! You should tell your mommy and daddy that they should move to Arizona so you can be closer to your aunts (favorite aunt Rochelle) and uncles and especially your grandma and grandpa who can't get enough! WE LOVE YOU and think your are the most adorable little man!

HALLOWEEN show

Every Halloween a family in ValVista Lakes puts on a HUGE production with lights, sets, and large crowds! Some of the previous shows have been, War of the Worlds, Star Wars, Phantom of the Opera, Nightmare before Christmas, etc. This year Kip wrote the story and it was amazing! It was so much fun. I have posted some pics. Jake, Lauren, Jay, Chad, Kara and me were all in the cast of the play and did martial arts. Whit helped with spotlighting and 'behind the scenes' stuff. It was a blast. They close off the entire street to cars and everyone walks up and down the streets 'trick or treating'. You can actually see what kids dress up like because they don't have coats over their costumes. LOL. Fun times!

I think we did 5 shows and they were about 25 minutes each. It brought back memories of High School and community plays. I sure miss those days!

The chinese ninjas! Kara and Jay were the bad guys and Jake, Chad, and I were the good guys!

The crew! We all did this production on the spot. It was a lot of fun and we had some laughs with all the mess ups of each performance. Good times!
(For more pics visit my BLOG)

Grandma's Good Cookin'

Hi everyone:

I'm running through alot of sources and thought that I would use my family as one. I am trying to get a little more organized. ( I know don't laugh) I came across a recipe book that is called Dinner is Ready. It is a 30 day meal planner. It has some really good recipes, but I would like some others. Especially some of Grandma Kay's recipes. SO if any of you have one or more of her recipes, can I ask a HUGE favor and get a copy? My family can only stand the same meals over and over again. Except Tate and Paige would love it if I fed them chicken nuggets every night. BLAH!

As for other stuff. We are doing well, although Avery is having a bout of the pukes. Tate is loving school, especially "recess". Paige is antagonizing her older brother. She loves to "get his goat". But is very good and making it look like Tate did something to her to make her cry. Oh the joy of sibling rivalry.

The other day, I was driving home from work. After picking up the kids from the sitters, Tate and Paige were having a little spat. Tate likes to tell me things that happens through the day and Paige will parrot him. Which he absolutely hates! Well, after a few jabs at each other, Tate became enraged and screamed to Paige..."stop it you stupid toilet sucker". I have no idea where he gets his phrases, but I'm sure I will be hearing more from him.

I hope everyone is doing well. We love you.
Todd, Rach, Tate, Paige and Avery

SLACKER

Sorry I have been so slack at posting lately. Our hard drive crashed almost two months ago and we still have not picked up our computer. I am going crazy and feel completely disconnected from the world without it. I am posting from work so this will be short, but just wanted to thank all of you who have kept the blog up and running.

Rhett is almost a year and we can't believe it. He is definately made up of little boy stuff (whatever that is). Full of destruction and aggression. We've already had our share of goose eggs, cuts, bumps, and bruises. It just makes 'em tough, right?

My new work shift is going....okay. I start Friday afternoon at 3 and end Saturday morning at 7. Then Sat and Sun night I work 9-7. Monday is my rough day since I go home and stay up with Rhett all day. Which actually works okay since by Monday night I am thoroughly exhausted and ready to be sleeping at night again. The roughest part is not having one day off with Jason so our family is never really all together. One day..... :).

Anyway, thanks again for all the posting and commenting. If we ever actually get our computer back I will upload some photos.

Prophecies Fullfilled

Holy smokes, General Confernce was awesome. I'm just curious.......after the announcment of the temple being built in Missouri is anyone else currently looking for property there???? Exciting and spooky all at the same time!!!!

Greetings from overseas

Since I've been reading this blog quite regularly I thought it's time that I post something myseft. I'm always excited to read about your adventures and miss being with you - my American/second family ;-)

Currently I'm living in Warsaw, Poland. I moved here last summer and study hotel-management with other international students (classes are held in English langage only). I kind of like being back in school and enjoy the time that I have for myself now - after working what felt like 24/7 at a 5star hotel in Germany. I do, on the otherhand, miss dealing with guests as well the stress I had (stupid, isn't it?). Well, we'll see where it takes me in 2 years when I'm done.

My parents came to visit me in Warsaw last weekend (for the first time). I took them on a tour through the Old Town, which was totally destroyed in WW2. Every single building was rebuilt afterwards and therefore this part of Warsaw looks really historical. We also walked though some neat parks (we have quite a few city parks) and I made them go groceries shopping with me (which is almost like in America or Germany - except I'm not really able to understand what's written on the labels since I hardly speak/understand any Polish -> but that makes things funny). My parents really liked the city and promised to come back before the end of the year.

All right, so this was my first try ever to post something online. Since I'm hardly ever with people whose mother tongue is English I don't get to improve my knowledge and therefore ->Please excuse my language mistakes!!!

Yours, Mareike

Victory!!

Heaven has smiled down this week in blesse'd amounts.
Last Saturday the fam hung out at Randall and Jana's house. While we were thus engaged in watching football and consuming cooked animal flesh, the subject of those who will spend eternity burning in the eternal pit must have been brought up because we somehow started conversing about the wicked computer salesman that sold me a piece of poo for a computer. Out of the blue, dearest Auntie Jana inquired of the computer's status. My reply was no doubt less than christian...to which she asked, "So, have you called to see if there is still a warantee on the said electronic poo?" I had before wondered what the probability of such an event would be. I was also afraid that after getting my information and giving said poo electronic's serial number, certain ranking officials would knock upon my door and cast me into prison for the posession of stolen goods. I decided to call around midnight later that eve.
I was graced with the voice of a woman less than happy to hear my voice at such an hour...probably cause I found out that they close at 12, but I called just minutes prior. I talked to her for a while about my rainbow computer screen and everything and gave her the serial number.
"You have a warrantee that lasts until December 10th," she said.
...."what?" I asked dumbfounded.
"Sir, you have a warantee that lasts until December 10th," she repeated annoyingly. "We'll send you a pre-paid box to ship the computer to us, where we will repair it and send it back to you. The approximate time from pick up to return will be 21 days."
"Ma'am, if I were there right now...I would hug you," I replied happily.
......*silence*...awkward
Hmmm, maybe I should say something else. "uh.....thanks. That is nice that you will fix it."
So...that's that. Turned out good after all. Thanks for the advice Jana.

Twin Falls Temple Dedication/President Monson

Just wanted to share the expericence that we had in the Temple on the morning of the dedication of the Twin Falls Temple. I was lucky enough to get tickets for Mark, Ryley, McKinley and myself to be in the temple for the 9:00 dedication. We got to the temple 2 hours before the dedication (which means we had to be up at 5:00 AM) to get seats. We were seated in one of the smaller sealing rooms. With a T.V. to watch the dedication on. Mark was really hoping to be in the creation room because the painting in that room is so spectacular, but no luck it was already full. They had placed folding chairs everywhere to allow for as many people to be in the temple as possible. I had several people ask me if I thought the Spirit would be any different in the Temple than at the Stake centers where the dedication was being broadcast they acted like I was crazy to go to all the trouble of getting to the temple that early. I just kept saying YES it will be. Weeellllllll as we sat on those folding chairs trying to be reverant and wait for everything to begin (which for 2 hours is pretty hard for me let alone for my kids) I began to wonder if all those people had been right, about 45 minutes before the dedication was going to start the girls and I thought we better make a trip to the bathroom. We went out into the hall and were directed to the restroom all the way downstairs. (aaauuurrrghhh I thought) So we went down the stairs and around thru all the chairs down in the main waiting area and people sitting waiting. We stood in line for the restroom for what seemed forever. When we got done and came out to head back upstairs to the sealing room and Mark, everyone in the main area was standing I began to panic because I figured we had been waiting in the restroom long enough that the dedication had started I didn't have a watch on so I had no idea of the time. I got in front of the girls and began to quietly excuse us through the crowd of people standing to get back around to the main staircase to get upstairs. I heard a big strong voice and I stopped in my tracks as He laughed. I looked wide eyed at the lady standing near me, she nodded her head and mouthed " yes it is the Prophet" I stood on my tippy toes, there he was in his "street clothes" Suit and tie..... I turned to my girls and motioned for them to come past me. The crowd standing by us was mostly adults they parted and motioned for my girls to come forward so that they could see the PROPHET OF GOD and hear what he was saying. One lady even lifted Mac up so that she could see him better. He was just chatting with people as he walked by and telling stories and laughing, taking the hands of the children along the way. He stopped at one little boy I would guess he was 10 or so he asked the little boy if he was planning on serving a mission the boy said YES! The Prophet laughed and took his hand and said good. I don't know where you will be called but I can tell you it will be the right place for you. The little boy pipped up and said I hope it is somewhere warm. President Monson laughed hard at that and then said so you like the sunshine, me too. Do you want to know how I learned to swim? He then told a story about when he was a young boy and his sister and her boyfriend were swimming in the Provo river and the boyfriend threw young Thomas in the water and told him sink or swim. I couldn't quite hear all the details over the laughter from the crowd but I think that when he got out of the water he punched the boyfriend in the nose and when they got home the sister told their Father that Thomas had punched the boyfriend and when Thomas explained to their Father what had happened their Father said "Well, I would have punched him in the nose too!". He laughed, his shoulders shook up and down. (For a minute I thought I saw the family resemblence.) With that he moved on a little further and then stopped again taking the hand of another child in the crowd. He told another story about one day his wife had asked, "Tom, why do you line your shoes up by the bed the way you do every night?" He said he told her he didn't know.... he said then I began to think about why did I line my shoes up the right shoe 2 inches in front of the left shoe right next to my bed every single night. Then it hit me, I joined the service when I was 17 years old he said and they taught us to do that so when there was a problem in the night we could find our shoes in the dark and get on our way. "Isn't that funny that 70 + years later I still do that, Well, that just goes to show you what a habit will do!" He told the kids make sure they learned good habits because habits are so hard to change. He then said, "When I told my wife why I lined my shoes up do you know what she said to me? She said, "Well, I hope you don't expect me to start doing it!" Then he giggled again. He moved on down the row shaking hands and greeting people all the way to the elevator. As I stood about 15 feet from him watching him and listening to him I swear I could see the Spirit around him..... Even in a dark suit he glowed. Does that sound crazy?????? I could feel the Spirit in that room sooooooooooo strong again.. It was just like the night before at the Youth Cultural Celebration I think I could have reached out and touched it the Spirit was just that strong. (One of the little girls that he shook hands with lives in Declo and goes to school with McKinley. We saw her after the dedication waiting to get onto the bus that took us back to where we had all had to park our cars. I asked if I could touch her hand that the Prophet had touched ..... She had to think for a minute whether or not I would ruin it..... After a few minutes she did let me touch her hand)
We made our way back to the sealilng room. We were sooooooo excited we could hardly stay quiet. ( We couldn't wait we had to whisper the experience to Mark) It was an amazing thing for me and 2 of my beautiful daughters who are at such an impressionable age. They both felt the Spirit and it did make a huge impact on them. A young boy seated behind us heard us talk and asked the hostess couple in our room if he could stand by the door to watch for the Prophet to get off the elevator. They let him in fact they had all of the children in the room stand at the doorway to see him . They did see him, he waved at them and then they came back to their seats the boy behind us said to his Mom, "he looked me right in the eyes Mom" I turned around and said then you better do everything he has said like serve a mission and get married in the temple hadn't you he said Yes, for sure I will." Do I even have to tell you that I have loved to tell every single one of the people who said to me..... "do you think the Spirit will be any different in the Temple,......." YES IT WAS....... WE SAW THE PROPHET OF GOD..... WE FELT HIS SPIRIT...... I do know that those members who were at the Stake Centers felt the Spirit also and that it was a truely wonderful experience for them. We were just lucky no we were blessed so very blessed to be able to have this special once in a lifetime opportunity to feel His Spirit to reafirm that God does lives, and has a Prophet on this earth to lead us Thomas S Monson is that Prophet...... I testify to you that this it true!!!!

I love you all my dear, dear family.......

Post some pics

Hello dearest family! I am anxiously awaiting pictures of the wedding this past weekend of Matt and Molly. I was so very sad I couldn't make it up there for the occasion! (being that I started a new job and couldn't get the time off). So...please post some pictures ASAP! Congrats Matt and Molly!

Twin Falls, Temple Dedication

Just wanted to share a couple of experiences that we had during the Twin Falls Temple celebration and dedication. With my calling in the Stake I have been lucky to be involved with the Youth Culture Celebration it has been overwhelming most of the time to think that over 3200 kids ages 12 - 18 from 14 different stakes would really be able to come together and perform for the Prophet in song and dance the history of our area and wrap it all together with the theme of "The Living Water" practices started early in the year and took up most all of the mutual nights. Looking back the kids had much better attitudes than the adults most of the time. They were excited to see the Prophet of God and have him speak to them. The celebration took place at the Filer fairgrounds all I could think of was how dirty everything would be. We met a couple of times at the fairgrounds to run thru things before the weekend of the dedication. It always seemed to be complete chaos.... The weekend of the dedication rolled around and the amount of time and work that had gone into this experience began to show. 3200 kids all in costumes that had to be made/begged or borrowed/ 2 of the numbers involved all 3200 kids they had 2 different flags one had 3 streamers in it(representing the water) all had to be sewn, that was over 9000 streamers for the flags in just that number. Then each person had another flag for the end number so 3000 more flags. The arena had been transformed into a beautiful, peaceful setting. It had a huge beautiful waterfall and pond, the ground had been covered with sod and was green and lush.... Several stages had been built... big enough for all 3200 kids to be on all one time. For me as I stepped into that arena the 1st time on Friday night I was very humbled to know that so many people had given so much of their time, talent, and resources to make this happen. We had 3 dress rehearsals from Friday night to Saturday night when it was finally performed for President Monson.... it was awesome to see the youth support each other and really come together ...they wanted to do the very best job they could for the Prophet. President Bill Mendenhall who had been our Stake President in Declo was the President in charge of the YCC he had been fighting cancer and passed away on Thursday before the dedication. It hit our kids hard because they knew and loved Pres. Mendenhall he was amazing with the youth... So the mood in our Stake camp was pretty sober Friday night.... Saturday as time neared for the final performance the kids were excited, it was crazy, it was hot, everyone was tired. We lined the kids up the last time to walk them into the arena and get them in place and sat down for the Prophet to enter. You could feel the excitement. They were ready.... I sat in a set of bleachers on the side with some of the ladies I serve with and my favorte sister Sandie and husband Dave...... there was some excitement behind us we turned to look and there was a bunch of cars all lined up. I realized this is it, this is the Prophet. (we still were not sure if President Monson would be coming or if it would be one of the other memebers of the 1st pres.) They started unloading men and women out of the cars into golf carts to bring them into the arena. As they came into the arena it was silent you could have heard a pin drop.... well maybe not over the roar of the waterfall.... No President Monson.... My heart fell. I was sad the kids had worked so hard and were so excited to see the Prophet.... then the golf carts went back out and more people began to get out of cars. I saw President Monson.... I could tell it was him. Must be the family resemblance> :) I got so excited I wanted to scream or jump up and down. I was snapping pictures as fast as I could (I will try to get some downloaded.) They brought him into the arena the kids were in awe... You could feel the spirit..... IT WAS SO STRONG I REALLY FELT LIKE I COULD REACH OUT AND FEEL IT THE SPIRIT WAS AWESOME. HE REALLY IS A PROPHET OF GOD. I KNEW IT WITHOUT ANY DOUBT ...... He walked across the stage to his seat the sun was going down and shining brightly on the stage he had on sunglasses he chatted with the kids as he walked he smiled and laughed. The introduction began and it was soon time for him to speak to our kids. He took off his sunglasses and placed them on Elder Brent Nielsen,sitting by him everyone giggled. Then he went to the pulpit and talked to the kids. He told them stories and laughed He joked he let them know he is a real man who loves the Lord and has given his life to serve him. He let them know how important they are and that the Lord loves them...... He gave them all a blessing it was AWESOME..... I sat with tears running down my face. The spirit was so strong... I was so grateful for my heritage, especially for my parents and for the gospel in my life and the blessings that have come from the Gospel. After President Monson was done talking they took him back in the golf cart went back around to the front of the arena and got him seated and the program began. It was fantastic...... The kids did a great job.... at the end the Prophet was suspossed to leave while the kids again sang the song "Living Water" which was written for this program He wouldn't leave he stood holding onto the railing listening to the song and waving and smiling at them the song ended the kids didn't know what to do no one had planned on the Prophet still being there!!!! They all started waving their flags and yelling, "we love you President Monson" IT WAS AWESOME.

I will share the experience we had in the temple for the dedication when I get some more time.

I want you all to know how much I love you all. I would truly be lost without my family. You are more precious than anything to me. I am so grateful for the opportunity of having a temple in our area and so thankful for the blessings that the temple brings in our lives. For the knowledge that families can be forever!! I want you to know that I also KNOW that President Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and brings great happiness if we live it.

Update on the Wicked One

So I thought that I would give a little update on the happenings of the computer scandal. I had had a particularly unhappy day this last week at school, probably because I had left early in the morning and forgot to take a lunch with me...resulting in a foodless period from 7am to 9pm that night. I was slightly cranky, and what better to alleviate this crankiness than to get myself worked up on the phone with the man that I had prayed the last week would be pummeled by an erant condor dying in flight. I dialed up the number and amazingly enough, I heard a voice on the other end. "Hey Jacob! Man, where the heck have you been man?! I was wondering where..." Me "Alright let's get one things straight! I drove out to Africa to meet you, informing you previously of the time and location...and waited there for hours all the while calling at least 20 times!" Wicked One, "Ok, now hold on there. I told you to call before you came driving out..." Me, "Yeah...I talked to you at noon, and then again before I left! Now, I will report you to craigslist (yeah, like that would do anything) and I have already contacted the police and will call them back if reparations are not made!" Wicked One, "Ahh, now I was gonna be nice(debatable) about this but I ain't gonna take these threatenings. Now, you threatened me and that's not cool. I won't ever answer a call from this number again." Then he hung up. Dang, as long as I "threatened him" I should have made it worth it...like told him I would raise an army of finger-eating ninja rats to hunt him in the night or something.

HAPPY (belated) Birthday!

Happiest Birthday wishes to Makenna! This post is a day late (shame on me!!) but that doesn't mean I didn't think about my wonderful sister all day long! Love you lots Kenna and miss you like crazy!

Pres. Monson

Hey all,
We had a great day at the temple dedication. Jackie and I got to go to the temple and sat in the largest sealing room. They had about 1000 chairs set up in the rooms of the temple to accomodate as many people as possible and had 4 sessions. We attended the 2nd session and then went back home for dinner and then I went back after the last session to help tear down the audio-visual equipment. (Really, I just helped carry stuff up and down stairs and the old legs got pretty tired.) When I got back to the temple, people were leaving and going home. I got to the front door and there were quite a few people hanging around by some chained off area. Me being the intelligent person I am, realized they were waiting for Pres. Monson to come out so I waited also. I had my cell phone with me so when he came out I took a couple of pictures which I sent to most of you. It was neat to see him interact with the crowd and pay attention to all of the kids.

He would say well I got to go, and then see a kid he hadn't seen yet and say "I need to shake this little boys hand" and would do that. That happened many times. Once after he said he had to go, a spanish lady who had been crying profusely, said "Hasta lu ago". Pres Monson turned around and smiled and went over to her and her family, bent over very close to them and said something to them and then started singing a song with them. While he sang he bobbed up and down and waved his finger in time with the song. The whole family beamed and lite up like they were on fire. There was a house across the street with a man and woman looking out a sliding glass door and Pre Monson saw them and waved with both arms and they responded in like manner and then ran and got their camera. They were taking pictures and the photographers with the Pres. were taking pictures of them, it was rather comical.

Here, I was in the crowd and never got to say a word to him and he is our cousin. I just couldn't think of a good way to get his attention. A young man in the youth celebration the night before got close enough to tap him on the shoulder and immediately a security man had him grabbed and hauled away explaining that you just don't do that to the prophet. They are very careful about his security.

I can testify that he is a prophet. The spirit around him is so powerful it almost a tangible thing.

Love you all,
Bob

HAPPY Birthday Chad!!

Happy birthday today Chad! We are so happy you are in our family! :)

Woe unto the wicked

So after 18 months of saving money Lauren and I attempted to purchase a computer. I, being the moronic miser that I am, decided to get on Craigslist in hopes of finding some amazing deal. My first hint at not purchasing the item should have come when he told me to meet him at a circle K in downtown Phoenix, but no no...my dumbness reigns supreme. He showed up, whipped out the laptop, and let us play around with it for about 90 minutes to make sure nothing was wrong with it. Everything seemed to be working splendidly and the deal he was going to give us seemed fantastic. "I will be here if anything goes wrong," said he. "Just give me a call and I will fix it right up!" Ah, what a kind gentleman. Man, people sure are thoughtful these days. "Why sure!!! I will purchase this perfectly running electronic machine from you. I will give you cash right here!" I said. So we traded computer for money and left. Upon our arrival in the ghetto (home) we noticed that the wireless internet was not working. "Ah, that's alright. I'm sure we can fix it." The next day when we turned it on, the screen went a million different rainbow colors, and has looked ever so pretty from thenceforth. I called him up and planned to meet with him so he could fix it like he vowed. What do you know? We drove out to Africa to meet him again and he wasn't there and would not answer his phone. He hasn't answered since. I am planning an undercover buyer sting where someone is going to pose as the buyer. I will walk around the corner and throw a ninja star at him and demand my money back. I'll keep you posted on the happenings. The moral of the story...I am dumb.

Kay Family Fantasy Football

If there is anyone interested in playing some fantasy football please send me an email. We still have 6 openings for anyone who wants to play. Send me an email and I will send you an invite. Hyasakite@hotmail.com

Justin's Xrays

Here are some of the xrays that Justin had taken before and during his surgery. The head of his humerus almost broke completely off and then that part split into two different pieces. The Dr told Patricia that he put the bone together and took it apart about three different times because he didnt like how it looked.
In her great sense of humor, Trish said that Justin has a great admiration for the character Wolverine but he is trying to be like him in an expensive way. Besides....Justin's name is not Logan so he cant be wolverine!
The boy is a lightweight just like me when it comes to anesthesia. His surgery started at about 9AM and they didnt get him up to his recovery room until about 6PM. Patricia told him that the Dr. wanted to have a therapist come and move his arm while part of the block was still there. Justin opened his glazed over eyes and as they rolled towards the back of his head he said, "I dont want that..." It sounded like someone had wrapped his tounge in about 6 inches of gauze!
We are all grateful that he is ok and that things have worked out. If you hear him ever talk about riding another motorcycle, make sure and give him a nice punch to the LEFT shoulder!
Logan

FAMILY REUNION LEFT-OVERS

Hey all of you family fun lovers. We somehow ended up with a beach towel. It is blue in color and has 3 large orange fish on it. You can claim it by notifying us and then working at the fair Aug 11-16. The fair work is negotiable. The fair is looming large and not looking very fun. With Justin's motorcycle accident and resultant shoulder surgery, I have been put back in the traces making bread and using other forgotten talents. (No, swearing is not one of them @><&**)
Love you all.

MIRACLES

TODAY I WITNESSED A MIRACLE. I WORK IN A DOCTORS OFFICE WITH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE, INCOME, AND LIFE STYLES. AND SOME HAVE LIFE A LITTLE EASIER THAN OTHERS AS YOU CAN EXPECT. BUT SOMETHING THAT YOU CANT EXPECT TOO OFTEN THESE DAYS IS A SIMPLE ACT OF KINDNESS.

JOHN CAME IN THIS MORNING NEEDING A PRE-PHYSICAL SO THAT HE COULD BE CLEARED TO HAVE SURGERY IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS THAT WHEN WE PULLED UP HIS ACCOUNT WITH US WE DISCOVERED THAT HE HAD A 100 DOLLAR BALANCE. THE GIRL NEXT TO ME WHO WAS CHECKING HIM EXPLAINED THAT WE COULD NOT SEE HIM WITH OUT HIS BALANCE BEING PAID.

HE THEN EXPLAINED THAT HE WAS ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY US, BUT THAT HE COULD PAY US 5 DOLLARS A MONTH TO PAY THE DEBT. SHE SAID THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THAT WE COULD DO AND THAT THE ONLY WAY HE COULD BE SEEN WAS TO DO AS SHE ASKED PER HIS INSURANCE, AND PAY THE BALANCE. HE EXPLAINED PLAINLY THAT HE JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY. SO HE TURNED AROUND AND SAID THAT HE WOULD WAIT TO TALK TO THE DOCTOR ABOUT HIS SITUATION.

IN THE MEAN TIME ONE OF THE PATIENTS FROM THE LOBBY CAME UP TO THE DESK QUIETLY AND HANDED US A 100 DOLLAR BILL AND SAID THE DEBT FOR THE MAN WAS NOW PAID. SHE REPLIED AND SAID "YOU ARE AND GOOD CITIZEN SIR" AND ALL HE COULD SAY WAS: "NO IM JUST LUCKY". HE THEN TOOK HIS SEAT TO WAIT WITH HIS WIFE.

MOMENTS LATER JOHN CAME UP TO ME AND ASKED IF HE WOULD BE SEEN, AND I REPLIED: YES, A PATIENT IN LOBBY PAID YOUR BALANCE. HE BECAME VERY DISTROTT AND BEGAN TO WEAP. I PAT HIS BACK, AND THEN HE TURNED TO THE MAN AND THE MAN STOOD UP AND HELD HIM AS CRIED IN HIS SHOLDER. REPEATING, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

THIS WAS ONLY THE FIRST OF THE GREAT DEEDS THAT I WITNESSED THIS MORNING, BUT WAS THE START OF A CHAIN THAT LINKED ALL MORNING. FROM AS SMALL AS JUST OPENING THE DOOR FOR SOMEONE TO A LADY STANDING AND LETTING AN ELDERLY LADY TAKE HER SEAT. IT SEEMED TO BE ONE AFTER ANOTHER. LET US BE OUR OWN SAVIORS IN OUR OWN WAY FOR OTHERS, BECAUSE ONE SIMPLE ACT OF KINDNESS DOES MAKE A DIFERENCE AS YOU CAN SEE.

Fishing Pictures

What a FREAKIN AWESOME family!!!!

I just wanted to say thanks to all who made the reunion a smash hit! I have said it before and I will say it again. It is like Christmas in July to me. I really do look forward to these reunions as much as I do Christmas time. Thanks to Dane & Jan for letting us trash the place. As we were doing the academy awards on Saturday night I thought about Grandma and Grandpa Kay looking down. I imagined Grandma Kay laughing while covering her mouth and trying not to let her shoulders bounce up and down so much. I also thought of Grandpa Kay looking dumbfounded when he heard about the "flour story" possibly for the first time! What a hooooot!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Today is Machelle's birthday. I just wanted her to know that I didnt forget about her. I cant find a good picture of a birthday cake like the other cake pictures on here so I just thought I would put a picture of our little fam! Her parents came up this past weekend and helped us with the picture. I think that our children might have some serious ADHD cuz it was DANG hard to get a picture. This was the best that we got.
Love you babe!

I'm Engaged!

Hello Family, this will be my first official post on the family blog, thought i would take the opportunity to tell you that i am getting married. She is fantastic and i know you all will love her. Her name is Molly. I proposed on the 4th of july. One of the first chapters of scripture we read together was alma 32, about seeds. We spent the day out at my bosses parents- we took a walk through the meadow there and i told her we should plant our own seed there. We get down and dig a hole, i tell her to hold out her hand and i pour out some seeds into her hand, along with the ring. She was super suprised. It was a fantastic week. Now we'll be doing some long distance stuff, she is from utah, going to paul mitchell hair school. Great gal, she's a real catch.

Independence Day

I thought perhaps in honor of Independence Day we could post some stories, pictures, or even just little facts about members of the family who have been in the service. I know Grandpa was, but I am not even sure which branch or what he did. Instead of commenting on this post, please make a new post and share any stories or memories you have relating to this topic. For the younger generation you could even post some fun memories you have of the fourth out at Grandma and Grandpa's. Hope to hear lots from all you bloggers!

Happy, Happy Birthday Rochie Dear!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! JUST CAUSE I AM A DAY LATE DOESN'T MEAN I LOVE YOU ANY LESS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!

I caught you a delicious bass

OK, so they aren't bass they're bluegill. I did catch a bass, but Justin didn't have the camera handy so no picture of the delicious bass. This is at my favorite place to fish. It is called Halverson Lake and it's actually pretty close to where we live. The fishing is AWESOME starting around the middle of June because they are spawning and they will bite at almost anything. You catch a fish with just about every cast. It's tons of fun. They aren't real big (unless you catch one that hasn't laid her eggs yet) but you catch so many of them and they are pretty good little fighters so it's worth it. For once in my life I caught more than Justin....and NO it wasn't because he was helping me get my fish off the line. I'm a big girl and can do that myself.
Anyway, just wanted to share the fun pictures. I'm Sooooooo excited for the reunion. Can't wait to see everyone and play hard!

Reunion update?

Hey everybody! I am wondering if there is any updates on the reunion and if it will consist of same activities from last year (water activities, skits, etc)? Is it Friday and Saturday? Also, it may be a little late for this suggestion, but at my Mortensen reunion we are doing a silent auction and the money goes towards the next years reunion. Does that sound like a fun idea? Just throwing it out there...

Yes or No???

Most of you know that Machelle and I do some photography on the side. It is a fun job that lets us spend some stressful time together. She is very creative and put together a blog for our photography that we can show potential clients. I have been digging through older pictures to find some more that we can post. I ran across one picture that is particularly "striking." However...I dont know if the picture would help attract potential clients. What do you think? Should I post the picture or not?

Med Cruise

Hey all, Jackie and I just returned from a wonderful vacation. We visited 7 countries and in some stopped in 2 cities. The cruise line was Holland America and it was the best for food (I really needed that) and friendly staff. Jackie about got run over by a motorcycle while in a pedistrian cross walk in Naples, Italy and then by a taxi in Lisbon Portugal as she crossed the street. The drivers in Europe are kind of crazy. Our trip started in Athens Greece where I was able to cross off another of my bucket list entries when we saw the Acropolis.

We then went to Turkey and saw the old city of Ephesus of the Bible times. It was a hugh city at that time and was near the sea. It is now about 5 miles from the sea and is being excavated and rebuilt as they try to fit the puzzle back together. It was destroyed by earthquakes. Here is a picture of Jackie in front of the library. (There was supposed to be underground a tunnel to the "cat" house across the street so citizens could go to the library to study or read with help from the "librarians". Sorry but that picture got posted on the top of the page.

We saw Santorini which is as pretty as the pictures show it to be. There were 3 ships in port when we visited so the narrow streets were very crowded.

New Family Blog

They finally did it. Justin and Shannon Hyer have a blog. Please check it out.

www.jandshyer.blogspot.com

Got Toes?

Rhett has a slight obsession with toes. If you have 'em, he will find 'em. The willing victim is Olivia, another baby in our ward. She was kicking her legs and he grabbed ahold. After he had taken advantage of her little toes for awhile she pulled her foot away. This sent Rhett into a screaming fit. She promptly put her leg back up for him to chew on and he was happy as could be. Pretty darn funny!

Incoming!!!

So...I finally decided to fork out the money and book my plane ticket to our Mortensen reunion. I knew I could stay through the next Wednesday, but was having some issues getting work off long enough to stay for the Kays the next weekend. Long story short...I finally got everything figured out and I will be coming to the Kay reunion! I am so excited. The last time I was in Idaho was right before Jason and I took off to Boston. I can't wait to see everyone. Plane tickets were too expensive for Jason to tag along so it will just be me and the Rhettster. We have TWO layovers each way. I am absolutely dreading the flights. Hauling all Rhett's crap along with him is going to be a challenge. My layovers are only about 40 minutes each so I am going to be running through the airports. Wouldn't it be great if someone could follow me and video tape the whole thing? I just hope he makes it through the long leg (Atlanta to Denver) without having a total melt down. Unfortunately he has already begun to throw tantrums that I hear rival a certain once young blonde, speaking German with a southern accent. Lucky me. I am sure my parents have just been waiting to witness the day when payback would hit. :)

Rockin at Lagoon

Justin and Nathan were so cute, they planned a little suprise trip for Tiana and me (or at least they tried to keep it a suprise...). Justin found a great deal on airline tickets from Boise to Salt Lake so he bought them and tried not to tell me we were headed. I caught him on an off night and he spilled the beans and I was SOooooo excited! Anyway, we had an awesome time and it was so hard to leave. These are just a few pictures from our trip to Lagoon.
Sorry for the yucky quality of this one....I couldn't get the scanner to work so this is a photo of the photo....Nathan gave the people in the old time photo place our permission to hang this in their studio. He even offered to sign a release so it was "official". I'm still not sure why they didn't have us sign anything. This has to be the BEST picture they've taken since they opened....
Standing in line for Rattlesnake Rapids. This was before we started to "Flutter flutter". We were almost adopted by a little 4 year old girl while we were waiting in line for the Log Flume. It was so weird. She was staring at me so I smiled and started talking to her about how hot it was. She put her hands together like a butterfly just under her chin and told me that I needed to flutter flutter. That's when the craziness began......I have never wanted to be on the log ride so bad in all my life.
Sorry that this one is sideways.....its amazing enough that i figured out how to post a picture in the first place. So we all wore our camelbacks so we didn't have to pay $4 for a bottle of water but they were going to make us take them off to get on the Rapids ride....one very omnipotent (teenage) Lagoon employee let us know that he has a camelback at home and it won't go anywhere if we strapped the belly strap......so this is what we got. Isn't it beautiful??? And don't worry, the Lagoon employee was right, we didn't lose our backpacks. Good thing we strapped them on tight.
Just wanted to say that I LOVE our family. I get so excited for the reunion and for any other reason we have to get together and be silly.

California Sunset

Thought you all would like to see what a California sunset looks like. We had a day at Disneyland and a day at Universal Studios. We still have two more days of Disneyland and one at Sea World. So that will keep us busy, which will make it even harder to come back to reality. But we do miss our boys and are excited to see them soon.

Some sights in Cleveland!

Whit and I decided one evening last week to drive to a lookout at Lake Erie to watch the sunset. We walked down and out onto the rock path that went out about 50 feet from the shore. If you look behind us you can see another lookout in the water that is like the one we went out on. It was so spectacular to see a beautiful sunset with my honey!This weekend we spent about 4 hours walking around and touring through some neat historical sights in downtown Cleveland. The next few pictures are in front of the Soldiers and Sailors monument which honors those from this county who served in the Civil War. There were about 9,000 names of those who served in this county alone in the Civil War. The tour guide was very knowledgable!

This is a cool statue/water fountain that we just had to get a picture of. Yes, I am a dork (most of the time! :) )
A fabulous lookout near the bike path that Whit takes to work. Isn't it a lovely sight? I think so!

OHIO....2400 miles later!

Whit and I finally arrived in Ohio on Tuesday last week. 2400 miles! We stopped at Notre Dame University to walk around their campus. The campus at Notre Dame is absolutely beautiful!


This is in front of our new 'home' away from home for this summer during Whit's internship. I interviewed for a job on Wednesday and 1 hour after my interview I got a call with acceptance of a job. I am working as a data entry specialist and it is very very very mind numbingly boring- but I am happy and grateful for the job success and it is perfect for me - actually - because I don't have to be on the phone or talking which helps my voice. Whit is doing well thus far in his research and internship and we are loving our time together.
This is Whit and I at a NASA open house for the public yesterday due to the 50 year anniversary of NASA GLENN research center. It was very neat to see the many different projects at NASA.
On our way home from church today we saw a street with my name and had to - of course - get a picture! Hope all is well. We will keep you posted with more pics and updates. We don't have access to internet at home, only at the library, so posting has become a little harder to do often but nevertheless we will keep you all updated. Love you all and miss you!

Posted by Rochelle at 4:43 PM