Sunday, June 27, 2010

Father's Day

We had such a great Father's Day this year! Breakfast at Gil and Becky's house and the Zoo after that with the family.

Amos is such an amazing father. In Cam and Izzy's eyes he does everything bigger and better than everybody else. It's great to see their relationship and how much of a hero he is to them.








Monday, June 21, 2010

Tausha's Bridal Shower

Amos' little sister Tausha is getting married in October. A few weeks ago I went to her Bridal Shower.
We are very happy for her! Scott is a great guy! Perfect for Tausha!



Becky, Tausha, Amber, Kenzie, and I.

One with Leslie, Amos' mom.



Can't wait for the wedding! It's going to be fun!

Bee's Game

It's finally warmed up enough for us to go to a Bee's game. The kids love going. It's a lot of fun.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

New Kid

Cam decided he didn't want long hair anymore. It was kind of sad, but he looks really cute!

Here is his before picture:

Here is the after picture:

I'm still getting used to it.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Moab- Memorial Weekend





Once again this year we went to Moab for Memorial weekend. This year everybody took their kids. Izzy and Cam had a lot of fun playing with their cousins and friends.

As usual, there's so much to do in Moab. It's hard to fit everything we want to do.

It was very hot there this year. Last year we got rained on and the temperature was only in the 70's. This year, it was 95F on Friday! Super hot.

So, not really thinking, Amos, Cody, and I decided to go for a jog on Friday, while the kids rode their bikes. It was insanely hot! It's hard to run through rocks and sand...add the high temperature and you have a miserable run!

After our run we decided to go to town. Of course we had to go to the winery and brewery. That is always a fun part of the trip. The kids liked going into the shops and looking/ buying some of the local crafts.


On Saturday we went river rafting. And that turned out to be a disaster! Cam and Izzy both don't want to go again for a long time. Next year we may have to figure out something different to do.







On Sunday we rode Slick Rock...well I should say, Amos, Rusty, and Cody rode the trail. The other girls and I rode the practice loop. It was fun! After what had happened on Saturday I was really "chicken". I had to take slow. Amos and I both looked at each other and promised to do it without any injuries.



After our ride we went on a short hike. It was sooo busy! It took us to a little water fall. The kids had a lot of fun crossing the water creek. It was so hot that it did feel nice to get wet!







Overall it was a great trip! Can't wait until next year!

Race for the cure




I'm so behind on my blogging this year! The Race for the Cure was in May. This year Camilla and Sarah couldn't come, but Joanne, Kacey, Tia Gi, and Fe came with Jenn and I.

It was a lot of fun as usual. A lot of people. It's hard to believe so many people's lives are affected by breast cancer.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Useless

I thought I had been through a lot of hard things in my life, but this last weekend during our Memorial trip to Moab I had the scariest, hardest one ever!

Last year we went with just adult friends, this year we decided to take the kids. We were having a great time. Friday was a hot beautiful day and Saturday looked like it was going to be the same. We were all going river rafting. I thought I was in great shape, a lot stronger than I've ever been...I was sooo wrong about everything!

We were having fun with the kids. We made it down about half way, when we went over some big rapids and Amos fell in the water. I felt the raft start to tip and I didn't know what to do, but it leveled out again. I looked back to tell Amos that we were lucky, little did I know that the reason it leveled off was that he was no longer in it with us.

I started panicking! I couldn't stop the raft! There was nothing to hold on to! The river kept taking us! At first we couldn't see him. He was under water. The kids were screaming. I started yelling trying to get Rusty's attention (he was in a raft not too far in front of us). I was hoping he could help me, but he couldn't hear me over the water noise. Finally I saw Amos come up, but there was nothing I could do! I tried to get to the back of the raft and hand him the paddle, but I wasn't fast enough.

I was finally able to get Rusty's attention. He stopped and a few seconds later I was able to hold onto a branch and stop my raft. Cam and Izzy were crying and yelling for their dad. I was doing my best to stay calm, but I had no idea what the end to this ordeal was going to be.

We couldn't see him. I had no idea if he was ok. I was terrified! Cam and Izzy kept asking me what they were going to do without a dad. I kept telling them that everything was going to be ok.

A few rafts went by. I asked them if they saw Amos and they said no. I was starting to get really worried. In the mean time another raft capsized in the same spot Amos fell off. I watched this girl go under water 3 times before she was able to get out to a rock ledge. I was really hoping Amos had gotten out too!

After what it seemed like an eternity, but really only an hour, Amos finally came floating down the river holding on to a log. He told me that he thought that was it for him! He was swimming as hard as he could, but wasn't moving. Somehow he managed to hold his breath the whole time and get out of the water. Rusty was finally able to see him and tell him the only way out was to jump back in. While he was trying to work up the courage to jump, this huge log came floating right by him. He knew that was his chance! He held on and it all worked out. The log took him down the river to exactly where I was with the kids.

I have never felt so helpless and useless in my life! All I could think was that maybe if I was stronger I could have helped him steer the raft. So many things went through my mind!

When we got off the raft, the adrenaline rush was gone and I was ready for a meltdown. I hugged Amos and thanked God for sparing his life. Then, of course, I had to call my mom and cry, away from the kids and everybody. The strong Erika was gone, the tears rolled down my face, and I was so thankful everything turned out ok.