TEAM HANK 2014

September was all about TEAM HANK!!

We were so happy to be able to provide Wave Runners for a fundraiser.

I mean... look at that happiness!

We were also happy to be able to participate in this year's Walk to Cure Type 1 Diabetes at the Riverwoods.

Not only to we 100% support the cause, it was a particularly special year as Annie was this year's chairperson for the entire walk.  She put so much time in effort into this event and into all of her fundraising efforts.  It was really cool to see it all come to life, and to see all of her hard work pay off.

Unfortunately, the stupid weather decided to stir things up a bit, and was super soggy and gross early on.  Luckily, during the actual walk... it let up... and was actually really pleasant.

We weren't about to let rain slow us down anyway.

TEAM HANK! TEAM HANK!

I love this dude more than words can even say.

This kid deals with so much crap it's astounding. But, man he does it well.

We all had a fantastic time... as you can see.

These two deserve a real medal.

Not only for all they do for Hank each and every day, but also because they raised over $7,000 this year.

Unbelievable.

They are ultimate examples as parents.

Total champions in every way.

It was an honor to be part of the team again this year.

Can't wait for next year!

Back to School

Summer flew by in the biggest blur it was insane.

Before we knew it, Jack was gearing up to get back to school at Bear Hollow.

He was excited, and totally ready to reconnect with Miss Molly.

In fact, you'll notice from the pictures... this year, Tucker is showing quite a large amount of interest in the whole idea of school.  He is very aware of where Jack is heading every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and wants desperately to go inside each day. Next year will be his turn... insane!

Here's Jack on the FIRST DAY!

Little Brother was sure trying hard to look the part too.

It always chaps my hide a bit that the kids at Bear Hollow have to wear their school shirt on Day #1, but, we redeemed ourselves on Day #2 with Jack's real first day outfit.

Seriously, he's the cutest kid in preschool.

By far.

(And, yet again... little bro isn't far behind! Rat!)

Summer Randoms

Some summer photos that don't have a home....


Typical Jack:

We did our fair share of parade watching this summer.

With all of the city celebrations and fairs that we work for Wave Runners, our little carni boys spend a decent amount of time hanging around the scene of these events.

They loved this particular parade (Highland Fling) because there were two mortuaries in it.

We didn't have as much time as usual for swimming this summer  (again... Wave Runners to thank for this), but we did get our little hineys to the pool a number of times.

Jack is a baseball nut.

Quite the slugger as you can see.

Wish he was old enough to play... I guess for now we'll have to settle for soccer.  :/

To understand how long Jack has to wait for things, we often use the old paper chain trick.

By August, we had to start our Halloween countdown chain.

SOOOOOO LONG it was ridiculous.

And, as you can see...

Nothing has changed around these parts.

Tucker left me this surprise in my TMJ mouth guard case one morning.

Little nut is just as morbid as his brother.

Jack got a boob job:

And, I think that about sums up anything I might have missed this summer! ;)

Rough patch

The end of August threw us a few curve balls.

Unfortunately, these curve balls hit in the midst of an overwhelmingly busy Wave Runners stretch, where we had double booked weeks/weekends for multiple weeks.

The first real blow came in the form of a terrible stomach bug that hit me HARD.

Harder than I think I've ever been hit.

After 36 hours of hell, I thought I had seen the worst of it and was on the mend.

Brett had been working full time Rimrock, setting up WR events, and then working them all night.

I desperately wanted to help out as planned, and was feeling like I was in the shape I needed to be in to get back to the fair to help out.

I went down to work a 4-10:00 night shift at the Utah County Fair, and let's just say, it will NEVER be forgotten.

And, if I ever step foot at that event again, I will die of complete shock.

After about an hour or two in, the bug came back in full force x's 10.

I was in and out of the fair bathroom every 5-10 minutes.

I'll leave the details to the imagination.

Let's just say, throwing up and then being faced with turkey legs and funnel cakes on your way back to load inflatable balls is less than ideal.

By 9:00, my sweet employees agreed.  We had to call it.

We closed down early, and it took everything inside me to even make it home alive.

I practically crawled in the door, and endured another 36 hours of torture.

Proof:

I looked like death. 

Felt pretty darn close to it too.

Poor Brett had to bear the burden of these events on his own, while I tried not to die.

And, luckily, my family saved the day (again), and filled in every needed place in the process.

Less than 2 weeks later, Brett and I got some of the saddest news we have ever received to date in either of our lives.

Our dear friend, Chris Davis passed away.

This was particularly hard on Brett as they were best friends since childhood.

Our history is long with Chris, and it was the hardest of pills to swallow to accept him being gone.

We worked for days to compile a video for Chris' viewing and funeral, which was difficult and therapeutic.  Unfortunately, this hard time was even more complicated with stupid Wave Runners pandemoneum going on in the meantime.  Brett also had his 32nd birthday during this week, which was not one to remember.  We did our very best to celebrate, but the cloud of sadness we were feeling couldn't really be ignored.

Pretty sure basic needs weren't met for a few days, but we got through it.

I'm not sure, however, that we will ever fully get over this unfortunate and heartbreaking loss.

It's true what they say about hard times, however.

You sure learn to appreciate the good ones.