I'M Fired!

I am officially fired for not posting on our blog this past month. Once I give you the low-down on what we have been up to, I am sure you will understand.

Some of you may or may not have heard about Adam's brother Sheldon passing away. He was 29 years old. He and his wife Milka lived with their four kids in Kanab, Utah. It was a very sudden passing. He had a knee injury from high school and had re-injured it exercising a few weeks ago. I guess the re-injury made his body form blood clots in his knee which quickly traveled to his lungs. They life-flighted him into St. George so they could do surgery but he never made it into surgery. His heart had to work to hard to help him breath, and after a while his body shut down. He passed away on July 24 at 5:30 pm.


The funeral was very beautiful. Here is a picture of his wife Milka. She was explaining to her kids that they were to get a flower to put on the grave site.

We are so grateful for the Gospel ... and for the comfort it has been to our family. It is so hard as it is to see someone you love leave this life, but we know that the Lord's timing is different than ours. What may not make sense right now, will all be understood someday. We appreciate all of your emails, cards, calls, and prayers. You sure have all been a strength to Adam and I during this difficult time.

We have done a lot of fun things this past month too, so we thought we would post those fun events!

Starting this past week. I was asked to go to Cleveland, Ohio for a day trip on July 30-31st to film a product demonstration video for a chain store back east. It is called AC Moore. Here is the link to the one I did two years ago right after Adam and I got married.
(I say "thats right" way too much ... I know :)
http://www.acmoore.com/Files/VideoFiles/334/VideoFile/106-9.wmv

Previous to our week in Kanab, I was in Chicago for another convention. I was able to meet up with Adam's youngest brother and his wife to eat dinner. It was a GREAT to see them. Adam wasn't able to come with me this time, but his entire family made it to Kanab for the funeral to be together, so he was also able to see Josh and Kalie this month.


My boss also bought all of us who went to the convention tickets to the broadway musical, "WICKED". It was the most incredible broadway I have ever seen. It was funny, and touching. If you have never seen Wicked, or know nothing about it, you really need to look it up and see it! I heard it was coming to Utah in 2009, so keep your eye out!


Previous to Chicago, Adam's friend from High School, Tim Clarkson, his wife Rebecca, and their three kids invited us to a cabin in Johnson Canyon (near Kanab, UT). He is a real estate agent and was "showing" the cabin to potential buyers. He asked the owner if we could come up and stay the night and the owner agreed. (and no we are not even looking at any cabins to buy ... just to clarify!)

On the way up, we accidently herded goats. Every time we honked our horn, they would start running. It was a hoot!

In the middle of the night Adam and I heard a really LOW gruff voice yell, "HELLO? WHO IS THERE? HELLO?". Adam and I replied that we were there with Tim. Tim woke up and explained who he was. I guess he was the owners brother and had come to stay there from Vegas for the night. The owner didn't communicate to him, I guess, that we would all be there. It gave us a fun memory to laugh at to say the least!

The following pictures are above the cabin overlooking the Pink Cliffs (near Bryce Canyon).


We left the cabin on Saturday morning, so we could finally have a Saturday at home and paint our house. Adam decided to have a little fun on the wall before we painted over it. I haven't taken pictures of the finished product yet, but that will be something to look forward to on the blog!


That same weekend we went to help a friend work on their new house.

While we were helping them, they showed us their little friend who decided to join them in their new home. This is supposedly a small one compared to some that people have seen in Page!

We also found a little friend outside of our garage. We named him Freddy ... Freddy the Frog.

The week before that was the Fourth of July. Adam and I were up in Utah for work the two days before the Fourth of July. We were also asked to come back up the following Monday in Provo for work meetings again. It was really tiring but we did get to do a few fun things!

First, we were one of the few cars that made it through the wildfire that swept through central Utah. This was on Friday June 29th. It was really sad to see all of the burned areas!!

Then we got to spend Saturday evening (June 30) at Riverside Country Club with my brothers family, who has taken over a membership while his friend has temporarily moved away. There were so many pictures to choose from, but these were our favorites. We had a swim and BBQ Party. It was so fun to get together with everyone.

Just a few more things I promise!

Adam and I spent the morning of the fourth in Kanab watching the parade with his family. Then went and grabbed some lunch with his parents, and headed back to Page.

On June 22-23 Adam and I were asked to travel with the youth of our Stake up to Manti for Youth Conference. We met at the church on Friday at 7 am and drove to Cove Fort. Neither of us had ever seen Cove Fort, nor had we seen the Joseph Smith movie, so it was a great experience to see both. We were glad to see Cove Fort before everything around it was burned by the fire. We are just amazed that Cove Fort didn't burn!

After Cove Fort we went to Richfield, Utah to play games, and take a break. Then we headed to the Manti Pageant. I am not a huge fan of the Pageant but that is just me! The kids seemed to enjoy it, and people were shocked when we told them we drove from Arizona to see it! After the Pageant we drove ALL the way back home that night on a bus. We arrived at 4:30 am, had a testimony meeting and ate breakfast. We got a great nap that day and returned that night at 9 pm for the Luau Dance! It was a fun filled weekend to say the least!


Well that is all for now folks! We have had such a busy summer, but glad we were able to fill it with fun activities, family and friends! We love you all!
Adam and Mandy