Last Thursday Zane and I went hiking with McCall's webelos bunch and the other scouts, to Timpanogos cave. My friend Alyson came along as well with her 2 kids. Alyson and I have been talking about doing this sometime during the summer, so when we heard that they were doing that for a scouting activity we thought it would be fun to tag along. Zane did a lot better when we hiked to Stewart Falls a few weeks ago. It's only 3 miles round trip,(Stewart Falls was 4 miles round trip) but he sure had a hard time. Once we were at the top and went in the cave he was fine and loved it, but then we had to hike back down again, and let's just say that it was no picknic listening to him... He even took his shirt off, cause he got sooooo hot! And here I have always heard that it's lucky we have boys cause there's always drama with girls. Hmmm. We did have fun, though, and it's something I want to do again with Derick, since he has never hiked up there before. Maybe we'll wait until next summer, that might make a difference for Zane;-}

That same night we went to the rodeo in Kamas. Our friends the Potter's were going and they called and asked us if we were. It wasn't something that we had planned on doing, but since there still were tickets left, we thought why not? It beats sitting at home twiddling our thumbs:) It ended up being a lot of fun. Derick and I like any entertainment that includes rednecks, and this definitely does:) Just going there to people watch is worth it;-}

Saturday night we had tickets to go to the demolition derby in Kamas. This is something that I don't particularly enjoy, but I know the kids love it, so we went. I said that the rodeo is a redneck thing, but holy cow it doesn't even compare to a derby. That truly is a redneck activity! It was fun until they started blending jousting into it. What a joke that was. It was a promotion for what they are showing on tv in November, but if that's what their doing I don't think they'll succeed. The guy 'announcing' it really likes to hear his own voice and it just took foreeeever for them to get to the jousting part. And even then it was pretty weak. Their jousting sticks broke like toothpicks, and I'm no expert on midevil times(although I do LOVE anything from that era) but I think they need to make their sticks a little more durable and more entertaining. I love a show called "IVANHOE" and that is all about that era. In my humble opinion, you have better luck trying to hunt down a copy for that show and watching it, then having to endure what we did. It didn't help either that it was at the end of the derby when your butt and back hurts, plus your starting to deal with tired kids that are excited for the fireworks. I know, I am complaining a lot and I didn't mean too. I make it sound like we didn't have fun, and I certainly didn't mean that. We did have fun and we enjoy spending time together as a family. I just hope that they will leave out the jousting part next year;-}

An incredibly awful and sad thing happened in Norway on Friday. A totally nuts guy made home made bombs that he set off at the government offices in downtown Oslo. As if that wasn't horrible enough, he then went to an island called Utoya, and started shooting all these teenagers that were there attending a summer camp. A lot of these teenagers decided to jump into the water and swim ashore, but that completely nuts guy started shooting them as they were running for the water. I can't even begin to understand the horrors that these poor people went through, and I am so incredibly sad for them and their families. It is so insane how one person can do such things, and on top of that he didn't even commit suicide! That right there just tells you how crazy he truly must be, cause how can you live with yourself after doing something like this? My cousin, Linda posted something on facebook from a newspaper that I posted on fb from her, and now I am posting it here too.
A German newspaper article says: "Even in their deepest sorrow the Norwegians don't get hysterical. They resist the hate. It is amazing to see how politicians and the whole country reacts. They are sad to the deepest thread of their souls. They cry in dignity. But nobody swears to take revenge. Instead they want even more humanity and democracy. That is one of the most remarkable strengths of that little country."
God bless all the families that in some way were connected with this horrible event. I don't know anyone personally that were struck by this, but it effects everyone. Tell the people in your life that you love them. You never, never, know what will happen in the next few minutes, hours, days, let alone weeks, months or years. If you have a problem with someone, don't put it off until tomorrow to get it settled - tomorrow it may be too late... To all you out there: I LOVE YOU AND I AM SO GLAD THAT IN SOME WAY YOU ARE IN MY LIFE!