Oh so busy

I am proud to say that we have been oh so busy the past month with anything and everything! So once again I will let the pictures tell the story and give my two bits here and there!

Michael's first fathers day was awesome! Kayla gave a dad a home made card and a certificate to go on a daddy daughter date!

Madi stayed with us while my parents were in Brazil picking Cameron up from his mission and while they were gone Madi turned the big15! I think she had a pretty good birthday!

 I had to take Madi the other day to get a MRI and Kayla was so good and happy! All the nurses who walked by, Kayla had to sit and talk to them! She was so cute!

 Well this is an entertaining story. My friend Emily and I and Madi went to Walmart the other day. We finished shopping and my car wouldn't start! I had Madi track down Emily and we attempted to jump my car using Em's car (with the help of a manly man that we tracked down). He was unable to get it to start as well even using his nice jeep! We decided to say a quick prayer and try the car one last time! On our second try another man stopped by to help us. Well his much older mother who was from England began to yell at him because they were going to be late to wherever they were going! She even told us "can't you go find another nice man to help you?" We didn't even ask for his help! Well he kept telling his mom to get into the car because it was going to take her ten minutes to get in! It was all too comical. So Em ended up taking Madi and I home. Mike and I ran back over to WalMart later and had it towed by Andre the (very dirty) giant! It is hard to tell in the picture but the guy had to be Mikes age and 7 ft tall! He made Mike look short!  

The best news as of late is Cameron came home! We were all so excited. My parents and brother Logan actually went to Brazil to pick Cam up and they did a little sight seeing. We of course made a scene at DIA when they arrived. Homecomings are amazing!

Kayla is so happy and loved all the action at the airport!

Kayla's first time with uncle Cameron! He was a little unsure about the who things but no worries, he is attached to her now!

Madi and I made the Brazil shirts that for the most part turned out pretty good! A few people asked if Cam had brought them back from Brazil! Hahaha that made us feel good!

After we picked everyone up, we went to lunch at Chipotle which is what Cam had missed a ton. On the way to lunch Kayla had the largest meltdown of her life! She screamed and cried so hard like something was hurting her for like 15 minutes! Cameron of course was sitting next to her and was amazed and not sure what to do. We all tried everything we could think of. We got stopped at a light for awhile and so my dad took her out and she STILL cried! I could not believe it! Cam totally thought it was him... poor kid was traumatized! Not to mention all those who know Kayla knows she can can but once you pick her up she is just fine. Not this time. It took Mike and I about 10 minutes to calm her down while walking around trying to settle her in the parking lot! Once we changed her diaper and fed her we got her to sleep. The rest of the day she was a little off. I still have no idea what happened because she was just great all morning!

ANYWHO..... after lunch we headed up to Aaron's Camp which is a young men's youth cam that our Stake does every other year. Land, Dillon, my uncle Sterling, and cousin Sebastion were all up there as well as our stake president who was releasing Cam! We were only there for a few hours but it was wonderful! Below is our first complete family picture in the last 4 years!

I am sure that many of not all of you have hear about this next part. The Waldo Canyon fire started Saturday June 23rd. This was taken at my parents house that afternoon about 3pm. At first it started off as a fire in the mountains.

This was taken on the way to dinner Monday night. It was slowly getting bigger and bigger....

Then Tuesday late afternoon hit. It was one of the hottest days we have had this summer, it was windy, and unfortunately made for the perfect fire storm. My dad called us about 4:00 and said that he could see the flames from the office! We ran outside to look and this is what we found. It was one of the craziest things I had ever seen. It was almost like a volcano erupted! We could see the fire racing down the ridge headed towards HUNDREDS of homes and businesses. We could see the fire burst when it hit a large clump of trees. The smoke became bigger and bigger with each passing moment. We continued to watch the news and they were saying it was not as bad as it looked. So we turned off the TV for about 30 minutes and then Madi received a text from someone saying that one of our favorite places, the Flying W Ranch was burning down! We quickly turned on the TV once again and watch the smoke encompassed everyone and everywhere. The news was showing some of the major roads over in the area and one moment we it was light and the next all the cars had their lights on and were racing away from the mountain and EVERYONE was being evacuated from the area.

Over 6,000 people were evacuated that night. I hate to compare anything with this but here is the only way I know to describe how the next few days felt. It reminded me a lot of 9/11. Everyone was glued to the TV. We all just wanted to be with loved ones and friends. We had no idea how many homes and businesses were gone and how many were going to continue to burn. It was a very scary time.

Our hearts go out to many who have lost their home. My good friend and co-worker Jackie lost her home in the fire. It was one that did not completely burn down but there was a fire in the attic and there is severe water and smoke damage throughout her home. It has been deemed unfit to live in. I know their hopes are high and they have a wonderful attitude towards the situation. They, like many of us know that the most important things in life are not things, they are our friendships and our families!