Fast for our Soldiers

I happened to be blog hopping (or stalking if you'd rather) and I saw this. Thanks Missy! It means a lot to me know that other people think and pray for our soldiers too!

NATIONAL FAST FOR OUR SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES - August 3rd (which is also International Friendship Day....interesting!!!)


I know our Heavenly Father loves us, and he is watching over our soldiers. I know that the power of fasting can bring great results. I have faith that if we just trust in the Lord, he will provide a way. I know it's unrealistic to think our soldiers are all going to be safe and sound, and that all of them will return home, but I do know that we can pray for the strength and courage to face the heartaches of war. I know we can heal the heart of the soldiers who come home who have seen more than we could ever imagine. I know we can restore the faith and happiness in ALL of us who stress and worry about our soldiers.

I know that regardless of religion or creed, God loves ALL of us, and wants us to live happy lives. We are all brothers and sisters. Let's reach out to those that have less than us, those who have lost more than us, and those who fight for our rights, even at the cost of their lives.

........WILL YOU JOIN ME?

Horse Back Riding

We took the boys horseback riding the other day... or more specifically I should say that Ed took the boys horseback riding. Unfortunately, I am petrified of the dang things! My parents have four horses so you would think that this is something that we should be very familiar with but we're not. Okay, Ed totally knows what he's doing on a horse because he worked at a Dude Ranch for a summer, but I am totally clueless! The boys had a blast though!

They rode together for a while and then they each took turns riding with Ed and Papa.

Even though I'm scared of the horses I'm glad that my kids had the opportunity to ride. Hopefully it will be something that they will be able to experience a lot more!

The Rainbow at the end of a storm!

I was able to capture this beautiful rainbow the other day. It was just a good reminder for me to remember that even though life may have storms and trials there is usually a "rainbow" at the end! Heavenly Father has blessed us with so many wonderful things in life that I tend to take for granted that I just wanted to stop for a minute and enjoy the rainbow!!

Family Barbecue

We have been having a very busy summer and I am sure that most of you are too! We had a fun family barbecue. My brother Kris that just got home from Iraq in June is home for a 3 week leave and then he will be stationed in Kansas. Here is Tegen and his cousin Braxton. They look so cute! It's too bad he lives so far away!
Here is me and my dad and my brother Kris.

Talen and Grandma Marianne. We don't get to see Grandpa Kevin and Grandma Marianne very often but Talen sure loves her. He followed her around for two days straight and begged her for lip gloss and candy. They look so cute together!

On Sunday morning before church my dad, Marianne and my brother Kris came over for breakfast. Kris showed us a lot of pictures from Iraq. They were so interesting.

We had a fun weekend! It was so fun to visit with family. The time went by way too fast! I am so proud of my brother for serving in the army. It sounds like he had such a hard job over in Iraq, but he did so good!

The Fourth of July!

I realize that I am a bit behind in posting about the 4th, but since I am using my blog as my journal /scrapbook so I figured it's better late than never! We started out our morning by going to the parade with my sister-in-law's family. The kids enjoyed the parade a lot this year. Ed and Lance yelled at all of the people to throw us candy so the kids ended up with a big loot! From left to right: Mason, Tray, Taylor, Tegen and at the Bottom: Talen & Alyssa.
Talen was exhausted so by the time we made it down to the river he was sound asleep. We decided to let him rest for a while before the "big show"! I'm not sure how he was able to rest with the hundreds of people all around us.

Talen begged Ed to buy all the kids glow sticks, so when the guy came around everyone got a glow stick. How come I can't ever think of selling something like that? I mean that guy made a fortune that night! It's probably because I am WAY too lazy to walk around in big crowds and beg people to buy stuff. Yea-- I would rather park myself on a blanket and enjoy the warm, carefree afternoon!

We went to the river this year with our friends the Killians. The boys had a blast running around with Tabrie and Briley. They are so cute!

I absolutely LOVE the fireworks. The Fourth is always one of my most favorite holidays. I love how warm it is, the barbecues, being with family, the parade, the crowds and of course the beautiful firework display. I must say that I think we have one of the best firework shows around! I just love the booming feeling that you feel to the center of your body. This is not a great picture I know- but oh well!

This is me and Nichelle just waiting for the show to start! Ed grabbed the camera and took a picture of me. I guess I posted this one just so that I have proof that I am involved in my kids' lives. I feel like I am always the one trying to capture every moment so there's not a lot of proof that I am actually there. So there... this shows that I indeed WAS at the fireworks!

I hope you all had a great holiday! I am hoping that the rest of summer slows down a little bit because it is just going way too fast!!! I can't believe that it's time to start thinking about the dreaded school clothes and supplies already. Bummer!

The Murdock Family Reunion

I feel like I have dropped out of the blogging world lately. I missed all of your posts while I was gone and I have tons of posts to catch up on (yours & mine). I went on vacation for a week and man it was like Heaven on Earth! I absolutely loved being with my family for a whole week. There is nothing more that I love in this world than uninterrupted time with my family. I sure wish that vacations never had to end, but sadly they do... We truly enjoyed ourselves at Bear Lake. It was the Murdock family reunion. We enjoyed camping in a large group site in St. Charles Canyon. It was beautiful and would have been absolutely picture perfect except one minor nuisance... you guessed it- mosquitoes! And tons of them! We had to slather ourselves in bugspray constantly, but other than that we ate a lot, relaxed a lot and played a lot! It was the best! Here are the pictures to prove it....

Our Baseball Season is Over!

We enjoyed baseball this year. It kind of got off to a rocky start because it was so cold during the beginning of June, but the season ended beautifully! I am sure thankful that there are people out there who are willing to coach because I have to admit that I know absolutely nothing about baseball. They talk about forced outs and blah, blah, blah.... really I don't get it! They sure looked cute playing though! Tray did a great job. Towards the end he started running all over to get the ball and trying to get people out. I think some competition with a couple of his buddies really got him excited about the game!

Tegen was in Pitching Machine this year. It sure is faster paced than T-ball! Tegen did a great job. It took him a few tries to learn to hit off the pitching machine, but once he got it he did awesome.

Well- one more year down. Another mom asked me the other day if I love sports- hmmm??? My answer? Well- I will learn to like them! I have the feeling that this will be my life for the next 18 years. Going from one game or event to another to support my kids. I sure do love them though and even though I feel a little stressed out when I am trying to be in two places at once (yes, their games almost always overlapped) I truly wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world! I guess now we take a break and wait for football/soccer season to come around.