Milestones . . . .

Lots of things have happened since my last post: Curt finished his last radiation treatment (hip, hip, horray!). That has been a feat in itself. It only took 45 trips to Provo--now that summer is about over I'd sure like to have it back. Oh well. We have had family gatherings, parades, etc., etc. We also enjoyed a surprise 30th anniversary party--which I don't have any pictures of. Our kids arranged a surprise party for Curt and I. The little kids even knew about it but no one let on. We were so shocked! Chris took us to Spring City to see his job while everyone gathered in our garage. We were both so surprised to see everyone there. Lacey made us a video (which was totally awesome), we had cake and ice cream, the garage was decorated with tables and pictures, and Shelly (Landon's mom) had put together a quilt with pictures of some of our most precious moments as a couple (I'm going to take a picture of it and put it on my blog later.). I still get teary-eyed when I think about it. Thank you all! This first picture is of Lyndsay (Lacey's sister-in-law), Lacey, and I waiting for the KENNY CHESNEY concert to begin. It was so HOT!!!! (meaning the concert was awesome, but the temperature was hot, too.) Sugarland was supposed to be there too, but the lead singer injured her vocal chords and had to cancel. Bummer. I kind of have that effect on concerts. When I took Lacey to see the Backstreet Boys, Shaggy was supposed to be there but the concert had to be postponed so I didn't get to see Shaggy either. Back to the concert: We watched Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, and then Kenny Chesney. We had terrific seats. The concert started at 5:30 at the Rio Tinto Stadium on July 23. It didn't get over until about 11:15. Lady Antebellum performing.

Miranda Lambert's turn. She is a wild woman.

Miranda Lambert again. Her lead guitarist with her here is from Salt Lake City.

Heeeeeeeeere's Kenny!

Wow, what a performer.

Kenny's cute with his Ute's hat on.

On the 24th of July, we went to Fairview for the parade.

It was a great parade. I have never seen the kids get so much candy!

Grandma Kjar and Madalynn enjoying a BBQ.

Cody was mesmerized by Grandma Kjar's cane.

Two cousins--Spencer and Taylor.

In the backyard, enjoying each other's company.

More backyard pics.

The boys LOVE to wrestle with Chris (Tommy calls him "Curr").

Can't forget Jayleigh!

Sparklers are always a lot of fun.

More sparklers.

Visiting in the backyard.

Fireworks!

Watching fireworks.

Quite the crowd.

Curt's graduation certificate and bottle of sparkling apple/cranberry soda. It was so cute when he walked out with this on his last treatment day.

Curt, I am so proud of you for your patience through this ordeal. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers on his behalf.

OK, I Know It's About Time I Update! . . .

We have a had a great month of July, so far. The following pictures were taken during July. Curt will have his final treatment (39 of them!) on July 30--our 30th anniversary. On July 3 Chris, Amanda, and Cody were here so we went up the mountain for a BBQ. Chris, Amanda, and Lucky rode on the 4-wheeler. Curt, Cody, and I rode in the red truck. We had Curt's "fabulous" (Audrey's favorite word) mutton. It was great. Cody loves to "cheese" it for the camera. One of the few moments Curt will actually relax. Notice, you don't see me in very many of my posts? I'm the designated camera woman so I don't get in many of the pictures.
Waiting for the mutton to be done. Cody had a fun time in the mountains.
Cody and the rest of his family (+ Lucky) on one of Cody's favorite things in the whole world--the 4-wheeler. All he has to do is hear one and he whips around and tries to see it. On this day, Chris said, "I think we'll take the red one" meaning the Honda 4-wheeler. He didn't even say the word "4-wheeler" and Cody was already making the "pbbbbb" sound. He knows.
On the 4th, Cody and Jayleigh took part in the fashion show. Here's Jayleigh . . . .

. . . . and here's Cody. Aren't they cute?

Cody ran in the 1-year-old race at the park and won. He didn't even give the other 1-year-olds a chance. He really ran. I think it's because Grandpa was at the finish line whistling at him. He knew just where to go!

Cody holding his 1st place prize. It was some toddler puffs.

Jayleigh with her cute little 4th of July outfit that her Grandma Twitchell got for her.

On Saturday, July 11th, we traveled to visit Cashelle and A.J. They took us up the canyon where we could look over the Tooele Valley and the SL valley. This is the Tooele side.

Looking over into the Kennecott Copper Mine. What a view from the top! It kind of took my breath away--but you probably all remember I am petrified of heights. On the drive up (I was driving, too!) we saw some pretty steep inclines. I had a scary feeling in my stomach all the way up--and down.

The kids walking on a hill by the overlook. On the way up, Madalynn and Audrey rode with us. Madalynn asked us "What does trespassing mean?" She had been reading signs when we were almost at the summit that said "No Trespassing." Mind you, she just finished 1st grade. She is quite the little reader.

Curt with his binoculars--his favorite pastime. It looks like it drops right off here. It is quite steep. I was still scared to walk over to the edge. It didn't bother Audrey.

Happy Father's Day!

I wanted to take this opportunity to say Happy Father's Day to my dad. He has been gone several years now, but I still miss him and think about him about every day. He was a great father and grandfather. We want you to know you are missed. We love you, Dad! Next on my list is my dad-in-law--but he was like a second dad to me. We miss you, too, Grandpa Ben. I couldn't let the day go by without telling you how much you are loved and missed.

Last, but not least, I want to wish my hubby the bestest Father's Day ever! This was taken on our trip to Alaska last year. We were so blessed to have good friends (Lacey's in-laws) invite us to go with them. It was a trip of a lifetime for us! Curt, I love you so much. I know you are having a difficult time at the moment with your radiation, back problems, rain that won't stop so you can get the hay baled, but just hang in there. I love you. Happy Father's Day!

Work Day/Family Reunion at Grandma's

This past weekend was our annual work day/BBQ/reunion day at Grandma's. We spend the morning cleaning her yard and then gather for a family BBQ when we're done. After the BBQ we had the Manti Aquatic Center rented. I didn't take my camera since I was swimming (and so was Curt). So I hope other blogs will have swimming pictures. Mother Nature tried to ruin the swimming party--but she didn't succeed! We just swam in the rain. The water was nice and warm even though out of the water it was a little chilly. Before the yard cleaning this year, A.J. had bought us all matching shirts from Old Navy for family pictures. Thanks, A.J.! This first picture is Curt and I with our six grandchildren. Spencer and Jayleigh are crying, Curt's looking at the kids, Madalynn's looking at the crying babies along with Thomas and Audrey, Cody is looking I don't know where, and I am looking at the camera. Go figure. The second picture of grandma/grandpa with the six grandkids. Jayleigh is still crying, Spencer is looking at Jayleigh and wondering why she's crying, Cody is thinking the same thing, and the rest are kind of looking at the camera.

Our whole family with Grandma. I think the shirts was a terrific idea.

Our kids and us with Grandma.

We tried to get some quick family groups--we hadn't started the yard yet so we had to hurry. Here is Chris, Amanda, and Cody.

A.J., Cashelle, Madalynn, Audrey, Thomas, and Spencer. Lacey and Landon didn't stick around long enough to get their cute little family picture. The mosquitoes were trying to carry Jayleigh off.

This is after the hard work and we are enjoying each other's company in the back yard.

Another group . . .

And another group--Kaylee broke her foot so she couldn't do much. Besides that, she is about 8 months pregnant. Poor girl.

Quite a pile of shoes. The kids were all playing on the trampoline, swinging, and playing volleyball while the adults visited.

This is the whole group that came--minus me (taking this particular picture) and Ross was taking a picture, too. This is what happens when two people fell in love (Grandma and Grandpa).

Playing on the trampoline.

Volleyball buffs.

Another group eating.

Wow, What a week I don't want to repeat!

You know how things all seem to happen at once? Well, let me first fill you in on Curt's progress, then I'll tell you about a week from the "hot place." Curt has now completed 6 of his 39 radiation treatments (for prostate cancer. Yes, he had it removed last year because it was cancerous, but some cells must have escaped). We are having to drive up north five days a week. The treatment takes about 10 minutes--isn't that sad to drive 1 1/2 hours for a 10-minute session? I'm not complaining, really. I thank Heaven above that he can be helped--it will all be worth it when it's over. We'll count that as number 1. Anyway for the week from Hades (besides the 46 total trips we need to make for Curt's radiation treatments): 2) We have been using Grandpa Kjar's white Chevy because Curt's rear end (on the truck, tee hee) has a problem that we need to fix. Anyway, Chris took Grandpa's truck to work one day on his job at Spring City and the fuel filter went out--$525 (gasp!) to fix it. 3) Curt's rear end problem with his truck. 4) Our upstairs toilet flapper thingy disintegrated. While Curt was removing it, the post it was attached to came off. We now have a leaky toilet that still needs to be fixed. 5) Our furnace/air conditioner quit. We have had to order a new furnace. Thank heaven's the past week or so has been cool so we haven't needed either the air conditioner or furnace (let's hope it stays that way for a bit). 6) Our microwave quit as I was fixing dinner for Chris and Landon--we just bought a new one from Costco yesterday. 7) Curt pulled a muscle in his back which he is struggling with. That's all I can think of at the moment, but I'm SURE there were other things to add to the list. I'm just having a hard time remembering them all. They say things happen in threes--ours have been happening in sixes!