Remember the Alamo!

To escape the two bedroom apartment blues, on Friday, we took a mini-trip to visit the Alamo in San Antonio. We started our trip with an IMAX film about the battle at the Alamo called the Price of Freedom, and then we visited the actual Alamo. I could have spent a lot longer reading and looking at the old artifacts. After visiting the Alamo we went to the River Walk. What a discovery! The River Walk is built one story below the main street level and reminds me of the river lined streets of Europe. The walk is lined with lush landscapes, waterfalls, and quiet pools, the follow the San Antonio River as it winds through the city. Quaint shops and restaurants line the river walkway. Thanks to Dover’s 50% employee discount at Landry’s we were able to enjoy a great dinner at Salt Grass Steak House on their outdoor patio overlooking the River Walk. I can’t imagine a more perfect experience. We enjoyed feeding bread crumbs to some beautiful birds while we waited for our main course. It was an absolutely beautiful and peaceful setting. While eating we talked about what the price of freedom is. I think the general consensus was that the price is self control. After eating we made a fast trip to the Tower Over the Americas. It’s a tower 750 feet high. The wind at the top is intense as you can see from the pictures! We were able to get a quick view of San Antonio from the sky and enjoy a 4-D theater ride called Skies over Texas. The high light of the show was being spit on and poked by a bull; the snake wasn’t too bad either. Then we rushed home to get Dover back to work by 5:30. We highly recommend a trip to San Antonio.

Announcing CHIA!

We added a new addition to our family.  A darling princess of a little dog that after much disagreement between Dover and Daenon was finally named Chia!  She is a Chihuahua/Dachshund mix and the most perfectly behaved dog I've ever know.  We've heard her bark only once and we've had her now for almost three days.  She is Daenon's buddy although it was Dover that made the first request for her.  With the two moves we've had to tell the boys no so much that we decided to say yes to the small dog.  We got her from an animal rescue shelter.  She is almost a year old.  She's spent most her life at the shelter but must have been well cared for because her behavior is nearly perfect.  She is affectionate, and playful, but calms down easily and she doesn't bark.  Her house training was a breeze.  We have to pinch ourselves she's been so easy. I think Brandon might even like her. 

Catching Up!

The past month was a whirl wind.  We took a nearly 3 week trip to Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona and logged over 60 hours in the car.  We were able to watch 3 of Auna's games and 3 of Shalayne's game and spend time with a lot of our family.  We also got to go through the temple with Caleb. Brandon was able to be his escort. While we were gone Dover got a job at Applebee's as a host.  He enjoys it.  I'll post pictures of him in his Applebee's attire later!  We had quit a job getting everything back in order when we got home and I started teaching immediately. I've never worked this much so it's a new experience in balancing my time.  The next week BYU came down to play two games in Texas, one in Houston and the other in Austin.  Auna had an assist in the Houston game against Rice.  She set up the only score in that game.  Later that week the boys talked us into getting a little surprise for the family.  I'll be blogging about that in minute!  Also they called me to be ward choir director.  HELP!  I'm great with children and music but utterly unqualified for ward choir director!

Dover's 17!

We spent Dover's b-day at the beach.  It was beautiful and the temperature of the air and water was perfect.  What could be better than eating fresh peach pie on the beach with sandwhiches from Quizno's? Maybe watching Dover and Daenon enjoy playing together.

Happy Anniversary Kylee & Ryan!

2 years ago today our cute red head added this wonderful red head to our family.  They do make each other better and our family better.  We appreciate the love and support they constantly give to us!  They are a delight and a great blessing to us!  Happy Anniversary Kylee & Ryan!  We love you, to see their blog click HERE.

2-A-Days!

Auna and Shalayne are back at soccer with 2-a-day practices and lots of scary fitness tests!  We are looking forward to the season.  For Wyoming's schedule click HERE, for BYU's schedule click HERE.

When you dream, dream big

Those of you who know Brandon well know that he is a thinker.  Heaven to him is sitting down and having a deep exploration and discussion about topics that really matter.  He never looks at things on a surface level, he is always exploring to better understand an issue or to make a process more efficient.  He is both a dreamer and a hard worker.  As with most dreamers failure (by the terms of financial success) has been his teacher, but from it he has learned much about what is really important in life.  He has created a fictional novel that shares his insights into what is important.  His novel, The World’s Greatest Spectacle, talks about the importance of seeking truth. Galileo said, “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”  Brandon has a dream to help the world better understand and discover truth.  This book is the start of his big dream.  When you have a minute visit the books website at: www.worldsgreatestspectacle.com.