Our favorite missionary turned 22 yesterday! Here in her own words is how she spent her birthday in Brazil.

Now I will tell you about a birthday I will NEVER forget!  The day started like any other day… except for the fact that we lost an hour of sleep due to daylight savings here.  My companion surprised me with a cake and a banner that said Happy Birthday (in English).  We hurried to get ready and went to church.  Of course I wore my favorite outfit- because you have to look good on your birthday!  During Relief Society (which is first in this ward)  I was holding someones purse on my lap.  After a while something dripped onto my foot… To my surprise it was coming from the purse on my lap- grape juice- All over my skirt.  Luckily it was my flowery skirt, and you couldn´t really tell.  However, I was pretty wet so I went into the bathroom to clean up a little.  On the way out of the bathroom one of my favorite members stopped me to wish me a Happy Birthday (he is in is 70´s and he and his wife always have us over for lunch, they have the cutest little house and garden).  I was talking to him when I heard a commotion, and someone go, ´´blaaaaaa´´.  I then felt something warm all over my arm and back.  My first thought was, ´´why is someone throwing water at me?  Is this a birthday tradition in Brazil?´´ Noooooooope.  The source of this warm liquid was a very sick 4 year old (in the arms of her horrified mother).  Now, you my be imagining a little bit of throw up on my arm and shirt… Noooooope.  I´m talking about projectile vomit ALL OVER ME (and my favorite outfit… on my birthday).  At this point I kind of stood there shocked not knowing what to do, as everyone backed away from me.  My companion was in another room (Sunday school had started) and I motioned for her to come out.  As soon as she came out she plugged her nose, because I apparently smelled really bad at this point.  We ran home so I could shower, luckily we live close!  Also, luckily it was not in my hair!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAAAAAAA.

The rest of the day was great though!  Everyone wished me a happy birthday, and some tried to sing in English which was pretty funny.  We had lunch with a family- the dad is from Italy, and his food was amazing! That night we had an activity at the church with a lot of cake and food.  The activity was all about Joseph Smith, and it turned out pretty great.  In the end everyone sang to me, which was a great end to the day!  So, it was defiantly a day to remember start to finish!

It’s Balloon Fiesta time!

Bill and Baden have birthdays a week apart.  In fact, Baden was due on Bill’s birthday but he was a C-Section baby so he was delivered a week early.  We didn’t do anything exciting – no parties.  Just some cake and some presents.  Baden loves playing in the sand box at Grandma Dunow’s house so it only seemed natural to get him his very own so that was his big birthday present.  He was really surprised.  He also picked out what kind of cake he wanted.  Nothing fancy just a confetti cake with confetti icing.  He had a fun day.  The next week we celebrated Bill’s birthday.  He didn’t want cake so I went to the local bakery and got some cupcakes.  His big present was panniers for his motorcycle.  The boys got him Portal 2 to play on the computer.  So our two August birthday boys ate cake, opened presents and are sure to have their birthday wishes come true.

With the start of school looming over us, we decided to take a quick trip to Durango, Colorado.  We rode on the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.   I have never been a big fan of heights and have heard about the trip from Durango to Silverton, but I was determined not to let anything bother me.  We rode in the open air gondola.  It was really neat.  We had to wear our sunglasses the whole time so we wouldn’t get cinders in our eyes.  We did get a little dirty since we were in the open air car.  We were a little sooty, but nothing that deterred us from having fun.  We got to Silverton, which is one of my favorite towns, and had lunch.  Then we just walked around until it was time to get back on the train.  The ride back seemed so much longer than 3 hours.  The next time we take the train, I think we will take the train up and take the bus down.  It rained us and yes, we were still in the open air car.  We did have an umbrella so that was good.  We made back to Durango and visited the train museum and then headed off to the Lightener Creek Bed and Breakfast.  It was nice and comfy and we were so tired.  Bill’s mom and Alice joined us for the ride.  It was nice to spend time with them.

So after Cub Scout Day Camp, my nieces Hannah and Emily came to spend a couple of weeks with us.  We really enjoyed having them here.  The boys love their cousins.  They were great helpers, too.  They took the boys to the pool for me and helped around the house, too.  I really didn’t want to send them back home, but they had to go back to school.  We really didn’t do much while they were here.  We just hung out and enjoyed each others company.  We did go to the Aquarium and the Botanical Gardens.  That was fun. We also made daily runs to Sonic for Happy Hour!  Love those Cherry Limeades. It was just fun to have them visit and get to know them better. They also got me hooked on the Glee Project and I don’t even watch Glee.

So after our trip to California, it was time to move in.  The boys stayed at Camp Grandma in Utah and had a good time.  This gave us much needed time to get the rest of the things packed and the house cleaned up for the final inspection from the property management company.  So thankful to the women from the Relief Society that came and helped me. They were lifesavers.  So after we got moved if, for the most part, Billy, Baden and I headed to Cub Scout Day Camp.  It was fun, but it was hot.  It was also four very long days.  It was worth it and Billy has earned several belt loops and signed off some achievements in his book for Wolf.  He will get those awards when he joins our ward’s pack in January when he turns 8.  I didn’t get a chance to take a lot of pictures while we were there, but here are a few of Billy at his favorite stations, archery and BB gun.  Baden had a blast at the tot lot.  The camp director was very excited to have Baden Powell visiting camp every day!

More pics from our trip…

and then my camera died. 🙁

In June, the boys and I headed to California with my mom.  This was a much anticipated trip.  We had a great time. We are much indebted to our tour guides and inn keepers, Jeff and Blanca.  They had our trip planned out and it worked out great. We went to see my sweet Grandma and really enjoyed our visit.  She is living in an assisted living facility, but it was hard to leave her there. I just wanted to snatch her away and take her with us.  After our visit with Grandma, we headed back to Glendale.  We went to Universal Studios and had a fun time.  The boys loved seeing all of their favorite characters.  The rides are a lot of fun although the Revenge of the Mummy roller coaster ride scared me! I screamed and screamed.  We headed to Hollywood and Highland and enjoyed being right in the heart of Hollywood. It was cool to be in the place that is so often shown on movies and TV shows.  We also went to the Hollywood sign. Billy really enjoyed seeing the sign and sat on a rock and gazed at it.  We also were able to be there for  a special occasion, the baptism of Hannah and Emily into the Seventh Day Adventist Church.  They were so excited to be baptized and it was nice to be there to share their joy.  We also got to see Hannah show off her acting chops in the musical Elijah and Emily’s prowess as a stage hand.  It was a fun trip and the boys are already asking when we are going back.