A Mission to Toca-door

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Julie received a mission call to Ecuador, or as Asher told Crae, (in a loud, highly-enunciated voice) A MI-SHUN TO TOCA-DOOR (duh). After two weeks in the MTC they arrived in Ecuador last Saturday. We are all very super excited to hear about their adventure as they go and have frequent conversations within our little family about what they are doing, what they are eating, what kind of a building they are living in, etc. It has brought much focus on missions and missionary work in general to our lives for which I am grateful because I have to say, I often find it amazing how much information the boys don't absorb. Mostly when the information is delivered to them via my voice. Not even in one ear and out the other, but usually right over the tops of their heads. Then, every once in a while, I find it amazing how much information they actually retain. At their farewell, Dave used the analogy of the seeds in an apple compared to missionary work. You can count the seeds in a an apple, but you can't count the apples in a seed. I think. Now, you have to realize that our bench, which held all boys and cousins, was a slightly rowdy bench. Pretty much nothing got through. Then yestereday, which was about 4 weeks after the farewell, I was peeling peaches and Asher was asking me about the pits. I told him we could plant a pit and it would grow into a peach tree. Out of the blue, Hayes piped up,"Yeah. That's just like what they say in church. You can count the apples in a seed, just not the seeds in an apple." Not sure the actual meaning penetrated, but it just goes to show that when grandpas speak, especially in church, boys listen. At least a little. So, Grandpa Dave and Grandma Julie, we love you, we miss you and we can't wait to talk to you! Thank you for being such great examples to us all:)

Baby Z!

Due to some not-fun complications, our sweet Baby Zoe made a surprise appearance almost eight weeks before scheduled on August 12 at 11:39 am. She weighed in at 4 lbs 1 oz and was 17 inches long. I think I might have been the most swollen, miserable person on the face of the earth. Ok, maybe not the entire face of the earth, but it did feel that way. (Hello-look at my hands and nose and, ok, entire face. Super cute) Baby Z is still in the hospital, but improving and getting bigger everyday. Learning to grow some patience is not an easy thing to do when your baby isn't living at home with you, but we feel so blessed that she is healthy and has no major issues other than smallness. We have lots of pictures and lots of updates that may someday actually make it to publication, but for now, Welcome to the world Miss Zoe! We're so excited you are here:)

Yay For SnowBird (In the Summertime)

It's always one of the highlights of our summer. We're lucky enough to get to stay at Snowbird for a whole week every year with Tyler's family-they've been going for somewhere around 30 (yes, that's three-oh) years now. And every summer, without fail, someone asks me, "What do you do at Snowbird in the summer time?"

Well, we do a LOT of this:

Some of this kind of stuff:

Dax playing Minute to Win ItShooting off rockets

The ever-popular GAME ROOMGrandpa Dave doin' it Shuffle Board style

And then of course we throw in some of this:Tyler and Asher on the new ropes course(yes they are each wearing a safety harness)Ren, Max and Hayes

Dax and Hayes-too cool for for school or parents on the lift and the Alpine Slide this year

Asher and Porter mastered the Bungee Tramp

Dax on the whatever this thing is called

All the cousins at the top of the tram

Asher, Hayes, Dax and Max

So as you see there is plenty to keep us occupied. These were just a few of the five gazillion pictures we took this year. In the measely ten years I've been we've also been known to fish a little, hike a little and even craft a little. There has been story time, birthday parties, golfing, x boxing and girl's Spa Day. You name it, the Geldmacher's have tried it. While all of this stuff is totally fun, my favorite part is that we mostly do a whole lot of hanging out with family we don't see very often. And of course we engage in a TON of my most favorite pastime- eating. But as I try not to take any pictures of my huge seven-months-along self, let alone with food in my mouth, you'll just have to use your imagination for that part. Trust me, it tastes fabulous, it's just not pretty.

And that's what you do at Snowbird in the Summertime.

Summer Chores are Hard

We started a chore chart this week. After about two days, Hayes said he didn 't really like it and he's tired of folding his own blanket-which is the easiest thing on his list. Yeah, I'm tired of folding that blanket too. I guess he better get used to it. I'm pretty much a slave driver.

They didn't seem to mind this particular chore so much. How often does the car need to be washed?

Summer is in full swing around here, and we're trying to soak up every minute. We've already finished a session of swimming lessons. The best part is that Asher finally got to participate in his own class and not just watch from the sidelines. And you know that means I got to sit in a chair in the sun all by myself for 30 uninterrupted minutes nine days in a row. I love swimming lessons. A lot.

We Heart the Yankees

After skipping the whole baseball scene last year, the boys were really excited to play again. And holey moley what a difference a year makes. We have a little catching up to do, to say the least. But they have an awesome coach and have made up some serious ground. They're both doing waaay better than I even thought possible during the first practice. And I can't believe how much fun it is to watch them play. The amazing thing is that for a coach pitch team that isn't even supposed to keep score, they've won every single game. Ask them:) Dax with a totally powerful base hit

Hayes right at home in right field. I swear that's what I always played too. So again, maybe sometime soon they'll start to take after their dad where sports is concerned...

Trying out second base

Bless his heart, the coach even had enough patience to let Hayes try catching. Slightly painful to watch, but everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?

And last, but certainly not least, the infamous Crotch Shot. Because Real Men and Ball Players don't care who's looking.

R.I.P. Leopard Head

Hayes owned Leopard Head for just about a month and a half when his life came to a gruesome and untimely end. We really try to be good lizard owners, but happy, healthy lizards just don't seem to be in the cards for the Geldmachers. Remember Skid's tail incident? Please don't turn us in to whatever animal protection agency out there might find this alarming. We really do try. The boys love the lizards kind of like Tommy Boy loves his sale/roll/pretty new pet. Anyway, Dax, Hayes and a friend were in their room last week when one of them came screaming-I mean really, really screaming down the hall, "we killed Leopard Head! He's DEAD!" I ran to the room to find Dax and the friend sobbing. And yes. A very severely injured Leopard Head. Apparently someone-not sure who- was holding the lizard and he jumped out of the hand to the ground. I also don't know if Dax jumped out of the way, or tripped, or what exactly but he stepped on the lizard. And squished it. With his bare foot. And I don't mean invisible-to-the-naked-eye internal injuries here, either. This was gruesome blood and actual guts stuff. Dax and the friend were seriously traumatized. Sobbing, upset, traumatized. Hayes never cried or really acted upset. And to his credit he never blamed Dax or got mad. I think he could tell Dax felt bad enough already. He just asked me to help dig a hole in the flower bed, which I did, although I too was slightly traumatized at the sight of the guts. Hayes colored a few pictures for Leopard Head and made him a paper headstone. I called Tyler and asked why does this kind of stuff never happen when you're home??? Dax cried some more. He felt very sorry and responsible. Hayes just kept telling Dax that it was ok and accidents happen. The next day Dax came home from school with this:

It's about the size of half of a poster board, so it's not small. I asked Dax when he made it and he told me he just asked Mrs. Moody if he could do this while the rest of the class worked on something else. Okaaayyy...... The guy with the tear on his face just about breaks my heart. You can't tell in the picture, but the drawing of the water bowl says "I will buy you a new lizard." Not sure if that's a good idea. But I do like the use of just a little glitter and there was also a candy glued to it. Awww.

So there you have it. Rest In Peace, Mr. Leopard Head.