Preston Arenacross 2010

On August 14, 2010 we headed up to Preston, Idaho for the annual Preston Arenacross. We go every year to sell and race. It is always a good time up there. The support we receive in Preston for Ballz Racing is unreal! We stayed really busy when we were selling and after all the races we were swarmed with people! We are so grateful for all of the support that we receive from our awesome racing friends. We were able to go and throw some of our products into the crowd... that was really fun... but for everyone who knows me... it was really embarrassing! Haha.

Taiya ran the show while Ethan was racing and while we were throwing products into the crowd. She sold one thing while we were gone and she was very proud! She is going to be a business woman...

Here are some of Eth's pictures... He is 3rd from the right on the starting gate!
Ethan did awesome! He got 3rd place in his heat race and he got 4th for the main event!! He would have got 2nd place... but he crashed! We are so proud of how well he did! He has beautiful style and a good head on him. I think that he will go far. He has made huge improvements over last year... he was coming in second to last or last in all the races last year... but this year he sure has picked it up! I am so excited for him and what he will achieve in the future!

I am so grateful that we had a safe and successful weekend! I am grateful to everyone who supports Ballz Racing and our family! We have some great friends out there! I hope that everyone else had an awesome weekend!

Adversity!

I know a few people who are really struggling in life right now, whether it be marriage... kids... jobs... and/or health problems. I read this talk from President Uchtdorf and was very touched by it. I hope that it brings as much comfort to those who read it as it did to me!

"How beloved you are of your Heavenly Father. Though it may seem that you are alone, angels attend you. Though you may feel that no one can understand the depth of your despair, our Savior, Jesus Christ, understands. He suffered more than we can possible imagine, and He did it for us, He did it for you. You are not alone."

"In stories, as in life, adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise. Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way. Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy."

I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has sent us modern Prophets and Apostles to guide, direct, and comfort us. I feel so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so grateful to have the Book of Mormon in my life. We live in troubled times and I am so grateful to know that we can have the Prophets to give us advice, love, and hope.

Our Garden!

This spring we decided that we would try our hand with gardening! We own an acre and a half... so we have plenty of room for one. On Memorial Day we spent 10 hours prepping our garden and planting! It was a nightmare! The kids thought it was a blast to put the seeds in. We planted corn, green beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, pumpkins, tomatoes, watermelon, and cantoloupe! It is very time consuming to have a garden! Weeding and watering takes forever! At first, I spent most of my days off weeding... but now I am sad to admit that the weeds have won this battle.

Having a garden has taught me a lot about patience (which I am still working on). We have had problems with mice in our garden... which means problems with Luna in our garden trying to get the mice (which means she has dug up most of our peas). The wind has knocked down most of our corn... and the grasshoppers... oh the grasshoppers. I have so much respect for the pioneers. At least I know that if my garden does not make it, I can just go to the store. They did not have this option... if their gardens died, it meant they didn't have food! Even though it is a pain to have a garden, I am so grateful that we have had one this year. It is so fun going out there and picking fresh vegetables!

Here are some pictures of our garden and some extras from this summer!

This is some of our fresh loot... this is just one picking... we still have a lot of green beans to pick!