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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Ben's Birthday




This is our Ben. He turned 7 years old October 28th. We are so excited about seeing him grow and develop. Grandma and Grandpa Mundy gave Ben the D S that he was so wanting. He was so excited. The only glitch was that Ben's Dad and Mom have a NO video game rule on Sunday. But of course we all know and love our Ben, he tried to find ways to get around that rule.

Dad: Ben we said you can't play on Sunday.
Ben: Dad I just turned it on to check that the time is set on it. Really Dad, it was only that.

Michael and I think that Ben has and exceptional talent of always finding reasons to do what he knows he should not do. And the best part of his talent is that he has such creative and logical reasons when he is trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

Ben also received some very neat toys. Nana gave him a Lego toy when we all went to Branson for the family reunion. Ben was lucky to have Areos to help him put his toy together.

(I need to tell all about Branson still, so many stories to tell and so little time to tell it)

Mom made Ben a very simple cake but Ben was happy none the less. That is our Great Big Boy! Mike and I think he is Awsome!

Meeting Dalin H. Oaks or was it Rusell M Nelson?

Last weekend Michael and I went to the Winter Quarters Temple. We had a wonderful time full of spiritual feelings and great love and gratitude. Afterward, we went to the Pioneer center and had a big surprise. As we walked in we saw that all the sister missionaries were lined up shaking the hand of two men and their wives. Before we knew it we realized that one of the men was one of the special witnesses of Jesus Christ here on the earth. Since the previous Sunday we had had Elder Russell M. Nelson reorganize our Stake Presidency, Mike and I thought that it was President Nelson. We commented with him about his granddaughter that is serving as a missionary in our ward. But as this gentleman shook our hand a little perplexed, we realized that we had the wrong General Authority. It was Dalin H. Oaks. Opps!

President Oaks, took my hand and looked into my eyes. His gaze looked into my soul. I felt we shared a special moment as our spirits recognized each other as followers of our Savior. I felt a confirmation of his special mission as an Apostle of Jesus Christ. It was an unforgettable moment for me. As we toured the Pioneer Center we found ourselves in the group of President Oaks. What a blessing these men are!

Michael and I enjoyed our time at the Temple together as well as our tour of the pioneer center. We feel so greaful to be together and have the gospel in our lives.

Sam the Ham


























Today, we went for our traditional family hike before church. We ended up in a park. Sam tried his first time ever on a big boy swing! He did great and he was THRILLED!













Sam is the joy of our household. Everyone wants to play, hug, kiss, and make Sam laugh.








All of the kids compete asking Sam time after time;

Areos: Sam, Who's your favorite brother?
Sam: Areos!
Areos: Yes Sam, I'm your favorite brother.



Brandon: Sam, who's your favorite brother?
Sam: Areos!
Brandon: No Sam Brandon is your favorite brother. Sam, who's your favorite brother?
Sam: Brandon!
Brandon: Yes Sam, I'm your favorite brother.

Axel: Sam, who's your favorite brother?
Sam: Ben!
Axel: No Sam, I'm your favorite brother! Who's your favorite brother?
Sam: Axel!

Ben even asks: Who's your favorite brother?

and on and on it goes.

Except Sam sometimes outsmarts them all.....

Brandon: Sam, who's your favorite brother?
Sam: (pauses)........ Mom is!....................................... (and of course he points at me....yupeeeee!!!!!)

Omaha Weekend

























Last weekend we went to the Winter Quarters Temple. Michael and I took Areos and Ashly with us. We spent the night in Council Bluffs Iowa.
After the Temple we went to eat a buffet dinner at Valentino's. The kids got their face painted and we ate sooooo much.
We then went on a bike ride in down town Omaha Nebraska. We rode over Dad's bridge. It is so amazing! Dad took this picture, he is a contest winner picture taker.
We also saw bronze statues of the Pioneers. This bike ride was our first long ride with Areos and Ashly. It was so cold but we had a blast.


They were all picture moments.
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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Cycling Buddies

These two bronze horses were found posing for passing cyclists in Omaha this last weekend.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Park

One of our favorite things to do is go to the park and play. Ben has so much energy and is always up for a race with Ashly. Sam can climb all by himself and just needs Mom to stand by him. Dad is the official time keeper and race planner.

We do have a blast!


Autumn



















































It is Autumn and therefore there are leafs galore......... so of course we had to play outside. The weather was phenomenal! We had all afternoon to build leaf forts, bury each other, slide, and have some good old leaf throwing fights.

I love Autumn. I especially love playing with my kids.

Sometimes words are just not needed. Pictures say it all!

Taco Cookout





This past weekend we had a great time with the kids. We went off and had a taco cookout. Areos started the fire and we all ate yummy! Sam just wanted the meat and Ben was so excited to start his own fire.






Ben: Can I use some more of this? ....(starter fluid)....

Dad: That is only to get the fire started Ben, you already used some. You have your fire going...

Ben: But my fire is not big

Dad: Blow on it Ben

Ben: But Dad, I want it to get bigger

Dad: If you blow, it will Ben.

Ben: But Dad............

Needless to say Ben tried leaves, paper, wood chips, blowing, and yes, lighter fluid too!


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Engagement Continued



Here are some of our most telling pictures....

Some sweet and tender......

Others just down right silly.........










Others still are down right masterpieces.....(if I do say so my self......hahaha












This is my engagement ring. It has a wrap that goes with it as the wedding ring.

I truly loved all our pictures. Some are oh so funny though!



Next it was time to set the date............................

The Engagement



Michael proposed in a not very Mike kinda way.

He did it at a mall. And maybe you guessed ......

We managed to get locked into the mall.

It certainly makes for a great memory!

It was so late that by the time he had purchased the ring and we had gone to find a secluded spot where we could talk, the mall decided it was closing time.

We never noticed of course. We were all about gazing into each others eyes and communicating our love for one another.

It never occurred to us that the mall would decide it was time to lock all the doors. We ended up having to find a restaurant that would let us in it's mall entrance and then let us out it's front door. That left us on the opposite side of where we had parked so it was a moonlit walk for us. (and yes, I was in high heals....hahaha)

We are lucky to have a great friend from our "Mingle" days. She offered to take our engagement pictures. They are all so beautiful. We went all over to some of Mike's favorite spots here in Liberty to capture our happiness. It was a lot of fun and we have lot's of memories captured in pictures.



Courtship


Michael took me to meet his parents in St. Louis. We went to Dad Wes and Mom Debbie's house first and had a great time with them. We met for dinner at Sal's, which was yummy. They sure know where the great food is to be found. We latter ended up back at their house for a get together with the girls. Madison & Bridgett of course had to sniff me out and see if they approved. After wonderful talks and finding out if Dads rifle was taller than me or not (no, I will not give up that secret) Mike and I said our goodbye's .

We then did some sight seeing throughout St. Louis. We went to the Art Museum and the picture was taken on Art Hill. He took me to see the famous Arch and a drive around some of the beautiful streets. Of course we had an eye open for the architecture. Thank heaven I love old buildings or else I would have been in trouble with my favorite Architect
.

In the evening we hunted around for some ingredients that I needed to cook Mexican food for Mom Lylene. Did you know that St. Louis does not seem to have authentic Mexican products? We ended up buying some Asian dish that we could just throw together. We spent the evening meeting Lylene and getting to know each other better. Thankfully she could tell that I adore her son and we had a wonderful time having some deep conversations.

Now we were ready for the next step.............


Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Let us go back to the beginning.


Our story began when Michael came to Utah so that he could drive the rental moving truck to Liberty Mo. What an adventure!
We drove 17 hours to get to our new apartment. The good thing was that we were able to make a pit stop half way or else it would have been fulminating to drive such a long stretch with kids, stuff and ourselves.
Mike had tones of time in the truck with Ashly and Areos. Ashly proved to love Mike's music and be an avid singer as they blasted song after song.

The great thing about that experience is that the younger kids especially
got to know Mike. They thought he was super great!





Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Wedding Bliss


Yes, this is us in our Wedding Bliss. It seems so amazing that we were able to have all of our "KEY" people there to share with us.

It was very funny how we ran out after the ceremony. Michael had wanted to get it all over with, hahaha...... I still don't know what was the hurry. *Wink* We ran out of the ceremony and went with our friend Meg to take these beautiful pictures.


Here are a few of us at Mike's favorite park. We go there often with the kids to hike and skip rocks. Those are always fun occasions. Two weekends ago we went with the four little ones and got all muddy being adventurous. When we finally made it to the stream we realized that there was no practical way across. Ashly reminded us that the pioneers had crossed worse. She was the voice of encouragement since the memory of Nauvoo was fresh on her mind. Just that previous week we had gone on a two day trip to Nauvoo with my Mother, Ashly and Areos. Therefore, at the stream we all took courage and with Ben's urgings ......Let's do it Dad!! we decided that sure enough the Mundy family had what it took to cross a little old stream. Dad had Sam on his back and Mom had her spanking white new tennis-shoes on, with Areos leaning on a good walking stick we all forged ahead. Sam was the only one that crossed and remained clean as a whistle. Ben had a little dip in the stream when his foot slipped but other than a wet bottom and soggy shoes we were all successful in proving the adventurous spirit of the Mundy Family!
Yes, just three weeks married and already we have a whole store of Great memories together!

Settling In

The new Mundy family is settling in. There have been many changes in these past three weeks. Dad has gone off to work in St Louis and we only get to see him on the weekends. Yes, we are adjusting but we all sure do miss him. All his cheering squad back home thinks he is wonderful.

Last weekend Dad gave each of the older children a PPI and a Fathers Blessing. The three that have had that experience with Dad felt super special. Brandon is still waiting for his.

This weekend we will have Ben and Sam come home as well as Dad, we are so looking forward to the "Happy Eight" being all home again. Those weekends are such tender mercies for me (Mom).

We are all grateful for the together time we have and also for the blessings of being a family.