Late Breaking News

Well we have had a very busy week. After almost seven months out of work CRW will start his new job on the 18th, here in the city. I am sorry we will not be returning home. His new job is here and so here we stay for now. He will stay busy . . . his job averages 5-10 hours over time each week.

CRW also has a new calling, he is the new Elder's Quorum President. I think he will do a great job and will serve well. One thing is for sure he will get his fair share of moving people. His first move is this weekend and he was only set apart today. Things seem to keep going in the church whether your ready or not. Everyone at church today asked me if I was ready for this and I told them I have the easy part I just have to become a single parent again. We are ready to serve and look forward to all the new changes for our family.

The girls and I look forward to going home for a visit. We fly in on the 20th and leave on the 31st of August. We would love to see you all please call so we can work that out. 

R-

Summer High . . .

The girls are at it again with a new hobby. This last week at a friend's birthday party they went rock climbing at a local joint. The wall is 40 feet high . . . "Do you think you can make it up there?", I said. "I'll give you each an extra $5 bucks if you can get to the top!" - a little incentive never hurts. The birthday girl went first . . . she got about 15 feet up the wall and had to come down. Fearing this might be a set back to the girls' bravery I turned to Lulu and Red, and restated, "If you get to the top I will give you the extra money!" I could see them rolling it over in their minds, thinking if the climb was going to be worth it or not. A few other girls went but only got to about the 15 foot mark also, my hopes were falling. Lulu was impressive and made it to the 30' mark on her first try, and Red not to be out done by her sister made it to the same spot her sister did. The smallest girl in the group was the last to climb and made it to the very top first try! Pressure was on now that one girl had done it (she had not gotten the monetary incentive my two had), and Red rose to the occasion - she shot straight to the top on her second try (she likes money - and does not like being out done). Red had also not worn the right shoes and did it in "Crocs" which was even more amazing. Lulu made it on her third and last attempt - she decided that she wanted the extra money too. They both loved it so much that they have invited another friend to go climb this week. I think we are going to have some professional rock climbers later on in life if they keep this up. 

(The first picture shows Red reaching the very top.)-CRW

Summer Days . . .

Talk about being to busy to blog. We have been enjoying summer and the sun. We spend just about everyday at the park and passing the time with friends. The summer has gone by so fast I can hardly believe July is half way over. I just got done with an Achievement Day Camp. Monday to Wednesday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m then Thursday 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. It was a long, but good week. I was able to take Red with me and leave Pei Wei with friends. I am an Achievement Day leader for the 8-12 year old girls in primary. Every July the Primary President has camp for the Achievement Day girls while everyone is off with the Young Women to girls camp. It was a lot of work but everyone had a ton of fun. Red felt so special because she is only six and they let her go. It is just like going to girls camp except they don't sleep over night. The girls, as one of their requirements, cook dinner for their families Thursday night. We then watched a movie of all the pictures I took to recap the experience thanks to CRW. At the end of Thursday night my sweet LuLu was in tears and cried the whole way home because camp was over and it wouldn't be the same EVER AGAIN. The girls learned a lot, made a lot of cool stuff, had a lot of fun, and made a lot of memories.

In just a few days my little Pei Wei will be four months old - I know hard to believe. I have a doctors appointment on Monday so I will post just how big she is. The girls think she is a chubba bubba. She is full of smiles, happiness, and goodness. She is the best natured baby I have ever had and a sheer joy to be around and raise. As you can see she has big blue eyes which is a switch since the other two have brown. Still not a lot of hair. OK who am I kidding she has no hair ie: the bow. Eat your heart out - she has been sleeping through the night since she was five weeks old and continues to do so. She takes her naps every day at the same time and the girls now can predict when she will poop. What can I say she is a very predictable baby. What a great baby, way to go Pei Wei.

The picture I posted of Pei Wei we took this Sunday out on the back deck. The picture of Red is one I snapped at girls camp. The picture of LuLu is from her dance recital I thought it was a good picture of her once again thanks to CRW.

R-

 

2008 Dance Recital . . .

Lulu had her annual dance recital last night . . . Enjoy! -CRW

Tragic Tale at the Park . . .

We went to the park today . . .  the weather was beautiful, we had a picnic, and the kids were having a great time. That's when it became a tragedy.

The park itself is about 1.5 to 2 miles in length and has a large pond, lined with lily pads and yellow irises, that runs through its' center. Around the edge of the park is a gravel bike / jogging trail that winds through the trees, under roads and over bridges. It is very beautiful.

I brought the girl's  bikes, which they were enjoying on the trail by racing ahead of me and then waiting in the shade for me to catch up. We had just rounded one end of the park and were heading back on the other side of the park when my heart sank. Lulu had again ridden ahead of me to wait in the shade, to the point of beginning about 500 feet in front of me, when I saw her turn off the path onto the grass by some large trees. Getting into some shade on a hot day is not tragic, nor is it tragic to ride your bike on the grass at this park, unless you picked the spot that Lulu turn onto. That spot was 15 feet in elevation above the pond and had a very steep slope down to the ponds edge. She had meant to merely turn around and face back my direction, but as she turned onto the bank's slope she gained speed too quickly, and instead of turning all the way around only made it as far as pointing herself straight down the hill. Living in a world where we drive all the time, and make judgements about others speeds and distances, I quickly calculated that there was no way she was going to stop and knew she was going to end up in the pond. I started running before she was even down the hill. I was not the only one aware of her, another walker closer than myself started running for her, and a kayaker on the pond heard her scream going down the hill and started sprinting for her in his boat. I didn't know how deep the pond was, and didn't know what I was going to find by the time I got there (I was calculating in my head how much time was passing so I might know how much air she might have). Let's just say my heart was skipping a few beats. The other walker got to her first before I had even covered half of the distance that I needed to. He fished her and her bike out of the lily pads and reeds. When I reached her she was crying, covered in mud and water weeds, wet from head to toe. She was so scared that she was sobbing, so I just gave her a big hug. The walk (she wasn't going to get back on that bike) back to the car was the MOST tragic as we tried to clean the mud off her and her bike. It's hard to get mud off anyone when they are soaking wet, sobbing, and the only thing you have handy is that really cheap one-ply toilet paper they have inside those scary concrete bathrooms they always have in parks. Anyway that was our big tragedy of the day. 

Hopefully tomorrow will be a little less eventful. -CRW

Just Playing Around . . .

I saw a cool picture that someone had done of two people kissing so I figured I would try and duplicate it. I got my brother and his girl friend to stand in. Anyway this is what I came up with . . . -CRW

What she is made of . . .

Peiwei's personality is really starting to show - enjoy it! -CRW