While Luke and Alyssa were here we decided that we had to go shooting at my grandparents house and we had to make sure we did it before Conrad left on his mission! The times we had gone before he wasn't able to go so we wanted to make sure he got to experience it before he left for Argentina! I am so glad that my grandparents live on property that we can go up and enjoy. I especially love it in the fall/winter seasons when everything is nice and green!!
Shawn explaining the "game plan" with his tactical holster that I got him for Christmas
Alyssa (the photographer) and Luke
Come on Luke...it's not that loud!
Bryon and Christina...they weren't even married yet...he can't be sick of her already!
Byron....I wish I had been quicker with the camera...he did a dance before this and I caught the very end on video =(
Me killing the criminal...saving the hostage!
What?!?!
The beautiful view from my grandparent's porch (Courtesy of Alyssa)
Sometimes you just have to mix it up, life can get boring and you just have to do something different. I decided that it would be fun to have a "Green Party" for St. Patrick's Day. I found some hats on sale at Michaels and just kind of went with it. I have to admit that I didn't make any of the food, Teresa and Cat (Shawn's aunts) provided all of that, I just come up with the ideas and they do the rest!! I thought it was kind of entertaining and luckily everyone went along with it. We had corn beef and cabbage, green salad and I did provide the Sprite!! Even Grandma stopped by and wore a Leprechaun hat. It was a lot of fun and I think we might make it a St. Patrick's Day tradition! Shawn's Uncle Cody and Aunt Kat Baby Angelina..she is so cute! Herbie Shane Bryon (doesn't he look excited?) and Grandma Dylan Me, Dylan and Shawn..don't mind me looking crazy!
Last year Shawn and I went and saw a movie with some friends, it just happened to be the same night that Twilight was coming out. For the record, I am not a Twilight person...I know, I know!! I saw all of these people dressed up and decided that I wanted to go to a midnight premiere...the dilemma was deciding what movie I liked enough to go and see at midnight...Harry Potter of course! Somehow I convinced Shawn and his cousins to go with me to the midnight premiere in November. We had so much fun. It also happened to be Byron's birthday! I had class so had to meet them out at the theater. We all decided it would be funny to make homemade HP shirts and I think the boys definitely get an A+ for their creativity. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad that we went, I don't know about the rest of them but I had a good time! There were some people that got really into it, but I'm proud to say we had a couple of people say they liked our shirts!! For the record the picture posted on the back of Byron's shirt is Shawn's dad! Of course during the movie the boys were over the top. They cheered and started clapping, I'm suprised no one got mad, actually they were the trend setters. clapping and then other people would start too. It was definitely worth staying up until 3am!
I'm not sure what is wrong with me but this whole blog thing has just seemed to be a pain lately. I feel guilty for not updating it, but I feel like it's just so time consuming. I know that I love looking back on what has happened but lately I just feel like facebook has been a lot easier to update with pictures. I know that I need to write down what actually happens in our lives because those are the things that I forget. I have had an amazing summer and I know that I need to get back on the bandwagon and document all of the fun things that we've been doing. Things are still the same in the Lemon household. Shawn is working (15+ hour days) and going to school (not sure how he does it all!). I am still working and going to school as well. Hurley is wonderful and we love him more and more everyday. Life is great! Hopefully I will get most of these things documented before the year is over...oh and about that...where has the year gone?? Yikes. Anywho, hope that everyone is doing well! Happy Blogging!
Ok this is back from September when I actually went skydiving but better late then never! Luckily I wrote this out but never got around to posting pictures or actually posting this...so here you go! I have been majorly slacking when it comes to my blog....sorry folks. Summer has been crazy and I have been having way too much fun to sit down and write on my blog...but I know that I have to write about this or I will definitely forget! Today my dad, Shawn and I all went skydiving. It was incredible. The best way to describe it is that it is indescribable. There is just no way to describe what it feels like to fall out of an airplane. The adrenaline is amazing. My mom bought Shawn and I gift certificates to go. My dad and I have been talking about going since I was 18 and somehow we just never got around to doing it. My mom got sick of us all talking about it and so she finally just bought them. We all kept trying to find a day that worked and all of our schedules are so crazy that I told my mom we should just go on Labor Day. My dad wasn't a fan of the idea since he thought it would be packed but we decided to get there when the place opened and it wouldn't be so bad. We got to the Parachute Center around 8:30 and we were pretty much the first ones there. You sign your life away and "watch" a video on safety in skydiving. Going the first time is really nice because your instructor does everything, you don't have to worry about anything. I was actually fine pretty much the whole way through. There were probably about 20 people on the whole plane. We were crammed in kind of like sardines. The time when I really started freaking out was when they opened the doors and people started jumping out. I told my instructor that I changed my mind and we could just go back down. He said ok and turned around and then he pretty much lunged me out of the plane backwards. It was incredible. The first couple of seconds it was just so crazy. You're trying to catch your breath and figure out what the heck is going on. Once they pull the cord it's kind of crazy because you're so high up and you're just floating. I free fell for about 1 minute at about 120 mph and then once we landed I think I was just so relieved that I survived. I would definitely do it again and I am so glad that I got to experience it with Shawn and my dad. It is something that I will probably never forget.
I saw part of this talk on a friends blog (thanks Amy!) and it really made me think. I have become so impatient lately just wanting life to hurry up and move along! This talk came out a while ago but I think I am just now understanding how important it is to have patience and that I don't have enough of it! I am posting this mainly for myself so that I can look back and reflect on it. But if some of you get something out of it...then kuddos to me! Just kidding.
"In the 1960s, a professor at Stanford University began a modest experiment testing the willpower of four-year-old children. He placed before them a large marshmallow and then told them they could eat it right away or, if they waited for 15 minutes, they could have two marshmallows.
He then left the children alone and watched what happened behind a two-way mirror. Some of the children ate the marshmallow immediately; some could wait only a few minutes before giving in to temptation. Only 30 percent were able to wait.
It was a mildly interesting experiment, and the professor moved on to other areas of research, for, in his own words, “there are only so many things you can do with kids trying not to eat marshmallows.” But as time went on, he kept track of the children and began to notice an interesting correlation: the children who could not wait struggled later in life and had more behavioral problems, while those who waited tended to be more positive and better motivated, have higher grades and incomes, and have healthier relationships.
What started as a simple experiment with children and marshmallows became a landmark study suggesting that the ability to wait—to be patient—was a key character trait that might predict later success in life.
Waiting can be hard. Children know it, and so do adults. We live in a world offering fast food, instant messaging, on-demand movies, and immediate answers to the most trivial or profound questions. We don’t like to wait. Some even feel their blood pressure rise when their line at the grocery store moves slower than those around them.
Patience—the ability to put our desires on hold for a time—is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter.
Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace.
When I was 10 years old, my family became refugees in a new land. I had always been a good student in school—that is, until we arrived in West Germany. There, my educational experience was a significantly different one. The geography we studied in my school was new to me. The history we studied was also very different. Before, I had been learning Russian as a second language; now, it was English. This was hard for me. Indeed, there were moments when I truly believed my tongue simply was not made to speak English.
Because so much of the curriculum was new and strange to me, I fell behind. For the first time in my life, I began to wonder if I was simply not smart enough for school.
Fortunately I had a teacher who taught me to be patient. He taught me that steady and consistent work—patient persistence—would help me to learn.
Over time, difficult subjects became clearer—even English. Slowly I began to see that if I applied myself consistently, I could learn. It didn’t come quickly, but with patience, it did come.
From that experience, I learned that patience was far more than simply waiting for something to happen—patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn’t appear instantly or without effort.
There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf
My friend Jodi sent this to me and it is the video (newer version obviously) of the marshmallow experiment. The kids are too cute!
Back in April Shawn and I took a weekend jaunt to Texas. I know it's kind of random but Shawn was taking a fire test there and I didn't want to miss out on the fun so I decided to tag along. We left EARLY Friday morning out of the Sac Airport and were going to go to Denver for a quick layover and then make our way to Texas. The first flight was perfect, nice and quick and then we landed in Denver. That's when the disaster started. I thought we were never going to escape! Our flight was supposed to leave around noon and around 12:30 an airline attendant gets on the intercom and says that our plane is having technical difficulties. Now granted, I never want to get into an airplane that is having technical difficulties, but at this point I was just ready to get on an airplane! Well the lady tells us that they are going to take a look at the plane and see if they can fix it, move us all to another airplane or cancel our flight. Up to this point in my life I have been pretty lucky in flying, i've never had a flight cancelled, moved or anything like that. I had no IDEA the nightmare this was going to be. So...long story short about an hour later they tell all of us that our flight had been cancelled. It was a mad dash to the customer service counter, across the airport. (If you've ever been in the Denver airport you know that it is gigantic. Oh and if you ever need a tour, let me know. I'm pretty sure I have the whole place memorized.) Needless to say they put us on 3 stand-by flights and the next flight they had confirmed seats was for 8:30 that night. We got to see a whole lot of the Denver airport. When our names actually did get called for the 6 o'clock flight they only had one seat left, trust me I was tempted to just hop on that airplane and never look back. Of course I didn't because unfortunately I'm not old enough to rent a car and it not cost me an arm and a leg...so I had to wait for Shawn...but if it hadn't been for that, let me tell ya! We finally make it to Dallas. I don't think I have ever been so happy to get out of a airport in my entire life! The trip was really short but pretty fun. I honestly think the "fun" was kind of sucked out by the whole airport fiasco...but oh well. Good memories. HAHA. I think this was after we had been in the airport for about 6 hours...I was over it. This was the amazing view!! (Insert sarcasm here) The other amazing view! The next day, Saturday, afer Shawn's test we decided to go try out this hamburger joint. We have heard about it from a radio stadion that we listen to. The guy on the show is from Texas and he is always talking about Whataburger. I have to say it was pretty good, but then again I am not a huge hamburger person...but I would probably eat there again. Anytime Shawn and I go somewhere we drive around forever just looking at different areas. Fortunately we did that in Texas and came across this little gem. Catfish Corner. It was the stinkiest place ever! The Dallas temple. I was amazed at where it was located. Most of the time temples are on hills or somewhere that they can be easily found. This temple was hidden in a neighborhood, but it was really pretty regardless. I am so mad at myself that I didn't get a picture of the old Dallas Stadium. After we got home I was watching the news and saw that they had demolished it. I was so bummed that I didn't get a picture! So pretty much we didn't get pictures of crap. Oh well...better luck next time!
All in all it was a fun trip with my hubby!! I love him so much and we have such a good time together...even if it is in an aiport! The moral of the story is...just get a direct flight!!!
