Water Walk Utah 2010

Our nephew, Stephen (with a lot of help from his mom), organized a charity walk to raise money to build a well for a village in Kenya.  The goal was $5,000.00, the cost of one well.  Success!  They raised $8,000.00 

Walkers hoisted, carried, and packed water the distance of a 5k.

Water was weighed at the finish line.  No winners, just a contest between local schools to carry the most water.

Megan carried 2 gallons...dropped down to 1 1/2 gallons by the end.

Jeran carried 3 1/2 gallons.

Joie carried 1 1/2 gallons...took 1/2 gallon from Megan and crossed the finish line with 2 gallons.

Nate carried 4 gallons.

Tim carried 4 gallons.

Mary carried 1 gallon...  In my defense, I got the leftovers.

And what would a water walk be without a water fight?

Lots and lots of water.

Don't worry.  She didn't get wet.

Link to the news articles about the event:

Salt Lake Tribune Article (Great quotes from kids about service)

KSL Broadcast (View more pictures on the right sidebar.)

I love that this has our children talking about how to help others.  They all have their own ideas.  It will be interesting to see where it goes.  It was a good experience for them.

Random Summer Events Which I Accidentally Happened to Catch on Camera

Yup.  Still missing my camera.

The last pictures I took with it were the photos I posted of Tim's birthday.  I've looked everywhere.  I've even cleaned rooms that I've been neglecting to clean.  No camera.  I'm ready (almost) to buy a new one.

Meanwhile, I've captured some pictures over the summer on Megan and Jeran's cameras.  They are few and far between, but we wanted to share a few fun memories.

On the weekend of July 4th, we went to Idaho for a Campbell family reunion.  Olivia Campbell (Ben's daughter) was baptized that weekend, so we spent a few days with Mosers (Melissa's family) and Campbells together at Steadman's in Raft River (about an hour north of Juniper).

At Steadman's

The kids loved the water slide and the tower you see in the background is the top of a zip line...which they also loved.  Joie needed help stopping at the bottom because her feet didn't touch anywhere near the ground.  Nate went down with a broken toe.  (Keep in mind the self-stopping at the bottom.)  Thankfully he didn't break anything else!

We spent another evening that weekend at Malta's 4th of July Celebration, then returned to Malta EARLY the next morning for a 5k.  The kids were exhausted at that point, but ran hard.  Megan (and I think Jeran also) beat their best times.  Joie was exhausted but finished two races that day.  She ran the 5k then turned around and ran the mile race with some of the other kids.  

Getting ready to run.

34:15  

Her goal was to bean Joie's previous time.  Success!

Jeran and Tim's big finish.

Joie finishing the mile with Braden and Adrienne...after running a 5k!

Two days later Joie ran the 5k in Provo with the Woolstons and Neilsons.  

Exhausted still, but the excitement of the day won out and energy kicked in.  This time she beat Megan...32:something.  I have a feeling these two may be going at it for a few years raising the bar higher and higher (unless you ask Megan who has yet to really run a 5k.)  Joie remembered her mom running this same race, and chatted all morning about memories of that day.  (Photo above courtesy of Becky or Esther.)

We spent several portions of weeks in Juniper this summer.  My new schedule allows it, and what a great place for kids to be kids!  I loved that they had opportunities to "Work hard; Play hard."  (Our family motto)

Juniper from Ben and Melissa's yard...photo again courtesy of Becky.  

Driving was a highlight of Juniper for the kids.  This is a picture Tim snapped on his phone while driving with Megan.  Check out that grip!  

Funny story about driving in Juniper.  Becky let Jeran drive once.  Sydney (Becky's daughter), Joie, and a few other nieces or nephews were in the back of the truck.  Sydney picked up a huge bolt, probably as big as her arm and was holding it up the whole time they were driving.  When asked what she was doing she said it was in case they crashed and died.  She said she was holding onto it so if she died she could drop it on Jeran's head from heaven.  Everyone survived, and I'm actually not sure at this point how much of that story has become legend and what Syd actually said, but it's one of our favorite driving stories from the summer.  Thanks, Syd for the humor!

And we hiked a lot this summer...

These pictures were taken on our favorite quick hike trail that starts right above our house in Draper.  It became a fun evening hike for us several times through the summer.

Other fun summer memories that haven't yet made the blog...Tim and I went to Sun Valley with Tim's family in July (without kids!) while Megan was at girl's camp.   Joie got to spend a few extra days with Chris and Heather's family while we were gone, and Nate and Jeran spent time in Juniper with Becky and Ben's families. 

And somewhere between trips to reunions, Juniper, camping, etc. there was Youth Conference, Brighton Camp (Beehive Camp), Girl's Camp, Teacher's Camp, Scout Camp, 11 year-old scout camp (Jeran got to go one last time with the 11 year olds, then turned 12 and went with the scouts.)  While the older kids were camping, Joie signed up for cooking classes...French cooking week of course.  

Too soon it was back to school...

One high schooler, two middle schoolers and one left in elementary school...

We miss summer already.  Nate can see a hay field from the window of his school, and says every time he looks out the window he thinks of being on the farm with Ben in Juniper...or at scout camp, or floating down the Green River, or riding bikes to the park with friends.  Summer is never long enough!

Joie de Vivre

I finally figured out why it's so difficult to blog in the summer (besides the steady stream of adventures, trying to soak in every bit of sunshine, nature, friends, family, and fun)...  Have you noticed quiet time is scarce during the summer?  It's the blessing and curse of summer, but mostly I think I'd trade the lack of quiet for a few more weeks of adventures with my kiddos.  I miss the freedom of summer...and some days the house is too quiet.

"Joie de Vivre."


French for:  "Joy of living."


Wikipedia describes joie de vivre as: "A comprehensive joy...that involves one's whole being."


In a word:  Joie, the girl who wakes up every morning with excitement for whatever she has planned for the day, and often literally runs through the day in a whirlwind of excited ideas and adventures that leaves the rest of us exhausted.

In fact, she chose her name several years ago and I've always been amazed at how she knew exactly the name that would match her zest for life, a love of life not even tragedy could take away.

But we still worry when the joie de vivre goes out of this little girl, which it seems to do around this time every year.  Earlier this year I thought for a while we'd somehow dodged the yearly struggle, but a few days later her world once again seemed to be falling apart.

This year, as luck would have it, a very smart therapist (no, not me...there must be two of us out there) suggested doing something different on August 18th, so that day would start to have different, new memories for us.  I felt myself struggle for a minute with the idea of not having that day be about Ruth, Nick, and Audrey, but the light in Joie's face suggested this was not only a good idea, but a necessary one.  Her therapy homework was to make a list of things she would like to do on that day.  As she did, the joie de vivre started to return.

"Balancoire"


French for:  "The Swing."


According to dictionary.com, "A seat suspended from above...between ropes or rods by which one may sit and swing to and fro for recreation."


According to the Campbells:  "Two huge cables hanging from massive pine trees supported by a welded rebar frame and heavy-duty metal base.  The cables are long enough to drag the swing up a hill and release it flying downward out over the hill and back again."

As you can see by the look on Joie's face, it ranks right up there with an amusement park ride.

"Bonte"

French for:  "Kindness"

Paul said to the Hebrews:  "Let brotherly love continue.  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:  for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."  (Hebrews 13:  1-3)

On August 18, 2007, earthly angels attended Joie as she lay hurt and helpless at the side of a highway.  Their names were Jeareme and Jaci Hawkes, and we can't think of August 18, 2007 without thinking of them.  Because of their love and kindness on that day, Joie's suffering was cushioned with love.  Parents of two girls the ages of Joie and Audrey, Jeareme and Jaci knew how to comfort her.

The Hawkes family (minus Jeareme who was working), joined us in Juniper that evening for the adventures at the swing.  (The oldest girls, Madeline 10, wearing purple, and Clara 6, wearing green are pictured above with Joie.)

Jaci with her youngest daughter, Leah.

"Guerison"

French for:  "Healing"

Words can't describe the peace of hearing Joie's words to Madeline.  "Your dad cradled me in his arms until the ambulance came," she said to her new friend.

Joie also talked with Jaci about her memories of that day, and unafraid of the answers, she asked questions about what Jaci remembered about the accident.  

About Joie's attempts to understand the tragedy of her life, we've said "It's like trying to make sense of senseless."  After seeing her struggle off and on to understand what happened that day, it was good to see the pieces of the puzzle coming together in her mind, and good for all of us to let her need for healing lead us to a day of living.

Joie de vivre.  Love life.  Love family.  Love friends.

May you all find joy in living.

More Birthday Pictures!

I'm just getting around to adding these other pictures from Joie's birthday to our blog.  What a fun day!

Joie!

This happens to be the only picture I captured of Joie on her birthday...

Happy #11 sweetheart!

The day was actually a lot of fun...  

If you start the day with orange julius and chocolate cupcake batter you can't go wrong!

We then drove to Juniper to hang out with cousins for a party that night.  Of the three cameras we own, none of them made it to Juniper with us.  Thankfully Melissa captured some pictures on her camera which I'll post later.

Highlights of the day included:  

• Pretzel Cake (cupcakes arranged in the shape of a pretzel...created by Megan, Joie and cousins).
• Being drenched in a downpour (while riding in the back of a grain truck).
• Pizza dinner (with fruit salad which was delicious but optional).
• Lighting her own birthday candles (took a few extra verses of the Happy Birthday song and some help from Uncle Ben to get it done but she did it).
• A sleepover with cousins on the trampoline (including attempts to jump from a swing set onto a trampoline using a blanket as a parachute).

What a "totally wicked" birthday!