CUTE GIRLS

We just got the girls pictures taken and they turned out great. Good thing you cannot see me behind the camera because I was pulling out every trick in the book to get them to stay in the picture and look the direction of the camera. I wasn't even asking for a smile, a smile was a bonus. Natalie had a bottle of bubbles in almost every picture, but she would scream and cry if we took it away. Hailee was my big helper with the baby. Abby was tired and hot...it was very hot that day so I completely understand the grumpiness. Mia was a good sport. With all of that...Christie did a WONDERFUL job. We are getting ready for school to start and are very excited. It will be nice to get on a regular schedule. Hopefully. We have had a fun summer. The girls are lots of fun and make me laugh a lot all the time.

At least I didn't die!!!

So I went on my first High Adventure as YM President and let me tell you, at least I didn't die. We left at 6:30 from my house. I had been up since 2:00. I drove all the way there and felt SUPER tired, but at least I didn't die. Steve Davis and I were both swerving all over the road while the boys in his car rested, not knowing how tired we both were, but hey, at least I didn't die.

We got up to McCall and stopped at the store for some stuff, when we left McCall I made it as far as Warren Wagon Road (outskirts of McCall) and I started feeling stomach cramps and a HUGE urge to throw up. I kept driving in hopes that it would go away...it didn't. At least I didn't die!!!. We got to the end of Payette Lake and I had to stop at the Restroom there. It took a while, and a woman almost bursting in on me since the door wouldn't lock, for my stomach to settle. I went out and walked around for a bit to make sure that I was good to go. We all got back in the car and I made it just far enough to make it stupid to turn around when my stomach pitched a fit.

We got to camp and got it all set up and I ate what I had for lunch, which was a sandwich from Boise that had been sitting in my car, not sure that was the best for my stomach. Anyways, after a few more minutes in the restroom I came out and the boys were ready to go on our bike ride. I decided not to be a pansy so I got ready to go. One of the boys had a horrible flat tire, so we attempted to fix it and finally got it working and we took off. The 2 mile warm up was nice and then we got to the trail that was / <== that steep most of the time and sometimes | <== that steep...at least I didn't die. :) According to the Forest service, the trail is a beginner level 10 mile course that should have looked like ==> --~-~ that.

After grinding my brakes, having everyone but two leaders eat it and having my legs lock up from cramping, we were half way to the half way point but at least I didn't die. Cliff and I ended up taking up the rear and walking most of the hills after that. The downhills were nice, but somehow most of the trail was uphill. To make a long story short, we got to the lake. No one felt like going back on that trail, that is except Steve. He was like an Iron Man. So we talked to some people and they told us that we could go out to the road on an easier trail and then ride the road for ~10 miles. We did that trail and it was WAY easier but by that time I could barely move from the ride in and so Cliff and I took our time. Oh, and at the lake we had 3 flat tires, one that I thought was irreparable. We got past two major hills and the rest was downhill. That was TONS of fun. We were about a mile from the campground when I saw a huge amount of tire SLIME© in the trail. It was Hayden's tire again. He blew his rear tire out completely and we found him pushing his bike not too far down the trail. Let me just say this one thing about SLIME©, it is great for small punctures, but not when your tube gets wrapped around your chain and gets shredded. It just didn't work that well in that scenario. I was extremely proud of Hayden for not throwing his bike into the bushes and walking away. I would have.

We get to the camp and Cliff hitched a ride with some gentlemen back to camp and we all took off riding to try to meet them half way. We felt like we had done that when I rode up on all the boys sitting in the middle of the road. We sat and sat and decided to push on, we made it 100 yards and sat some more. Then we saw Cliff and Gaylan driving up to meet us, at least I didn't die. YAAAAAY!!! was the cheer from all of us. We made it back to camp after our 10 hour bike ride.

Upon arriving we were met by a pungent odor from the RV hookups, at least I didn't die. We dealt with that all night as we ate and had our FHE (Family Home Evening) from the boys. I thought that FHE was very well thought out and put together, good job boys. They talked about Leadership in families with an emphasis on fatherhood. I thought it was a wonderful take on Leadership. Then we played Mafia and I was the Mafia 80% of the time. It was great. We went to bed and I still have a favorite quote from that evening thanks to Conrad Davis. I am sure that he had already fallen asleep and had a thought go through his mind, "What about Breakfast?" I heard him tiredly say, "If someone could get up early tomorrow and make some breakfast that would be great." It still makes me laugh.

So the next day we were going to hike to a lake and go to the hotsprings. We did and it was a great day for two things. Car sized boulders being pushed down a hill, off a cliff and into the water. Ok, I need to add one more thing, Davis' tennis ball canon that Conrad shot, empty of course, directly into my face with no ear protection, at least I didn't die. The boys thought it was so funny but I can still hear my ears ringing slightly. We went to the hotsprings that night and got eaten alive by all manner of biting fly. I am hatching baby horseflies from my back right now, but hey, at least I didn't die. It is kinda funny cause they look like me. We then went back to camp, ate (I don't like to brag about my cooking but it was pretty stinking good), and had a few spiritual discussions. It was definitely good to hear the boys testimonies and know that they are good kids from the inside out. After that it was a blur. I remember a little more Mafia, me being the Mafia a few more times and throwing a fit when I was Mafia to get a new card, but everyone wanted me to die anyways so they claimed I was Mafia right off the bat. That is fine boys, you all have interviews with the Bishop on Sunday.

Sleep :-P Steve snoring in 5 seperate patterns at once. Wake up. Eat, pack, leave.

Rafting!!! That was very fun, but I think the award for most fun has to go to Gaylan. The oldest and wisest of us all knows how to have fun on a river. We had him standing up in the middle of rapids, chanting, boarding the other boat to throw people off and initiating huge water fights where our whole boat stayed dry and theirs was soaked. Cliff has to get the award for colateral damage since I was trying to get everyone in our boat wet and he was always in the way. I am surprised that he didn't attempt to have me walk the plank. The thing that I enjoyed the most was seeing Steve and Garrison get ejected from their boat over a rapid, the second most enjoyable was getting to float the last mile or so in my life jacket. It was so relaxing, and at least I didn't die.

That was our trip. Pictures will come when I get them.

It's my turn Mitch

Well, I guess it is my turn to publicly express my love for my little hot momma. Out of the next 10 days I will be gone 8 and it got me thinking this morning about how I don't always appropriately say goodbye to my wife. So here it goes:

Kim, you complete me. I see life differently when you are around. You are my glue and my sanity. You have been with me for 9 years and I have been your husband for 8 1/2 of those. Those years have been the best of my life. I have never been so committed to anyone else's happiness. I dream about you almost every night. Not those kinky, dirty dreams but dreams about us just hanging out. I adore your laugh and just being near you. You are the nicest person that I have ever been around. You never think about yourself even though I wish you would sometimes. I know that you care about me more than anything because you show me. You are always there to help me out when I haven't had time to eat or when I have been working out in the yard you always have a cold drink there for me. You are patient with me when I have a bad day. You support me and what I do 1000%. Yes that is one thousand. You don't question my dreams, you just listen and say, "Let's make it happen." You don't know how much that means to me as a man and as your husband. I hope that I give you even a fraction of that. You make me who I am. You make me want to be better, To treat you better, to be a better dad, to care about others more.

I love to read your love notes. I still have all of them. I have one hanging in my office right now. I read it when I am having a tough day. I cannot think of being with anyone else and am entirely happy to have found you. I found love in you. I thought that I knew what love was. I thought that I loved before you. I was wrong. I see my love for you like one that that is eternal. My mind and my soul are bonded with you. I would go farther for you than I would go for myself.

You are the mother of our children. You have the ability to create life and what a group of wonderful lives you have created. You have turned them into the cutest kids ever. I see little parts of you in all of them. Hailee has your commitment. She loves being around me because you love being around me. She sees how you treat me and she wants to do the same. Abby has your sassyness. She is so cute and knows how to get her way. She sees how you are a strong woman and knows that she wants to be like you. Rooster has your sense of humor. She loves to be around you and get tickled and she comes running when you laugh. She wants to see what you think is so funny. Mia has your indecision. She can't make up her mind if she wants held or not, if she wants a bottle or not, if she wants to go to sleep or not. I see you in all of them and they LOVE you.

You are my wife and are truely my best friend. Most guys say it but when they get around their friends, they forget about that and just want to hang out. I usually cut my hanging out short just to get back to you. You are my heart. Without you it would cease to function. I'm forever grateful for your love and proud to be your husband. I will see you in my dreams as I am away.

Waterskiing with the YM

We had a good old time last night. I will preface this story with the fact that I have tried to go wakeboarding so many times. I have never been able to get up, ever, not even close. Well yesterday we went out for YM's and the boys all went. I didn't think that I was going to go because I knew my previous experience and it sucked to be drug around by a boat in 10 foot increments for 4 hours. Well, they looked like they were having so much fun so I decided that I would give it a try. I did and was in the water for what seemed like an hour, but was probably more like 20 minutes trying to get up. My forearms were on fire and I decided to hang it up, saying I would give it another try later. Well, later came around and I didn't want to do it. My excuse was that it was too cold. My reality was that my arms were on fire and I knew that I was just going to sit in the water for another 20 minutes, swallow water and be all bitter about wakeboarding afterwards. Steve Davis convinced me of the fact that it wasn't cold and I didn't want to bring up my real excuses because, well, I am a man dangit. So I got everything on and jumped in the water. I assumed the position but took on a new grip that I saw Steve use which is the baseball grip. It got ripped out of my hands so I got gloves on. The first time it worked. I was suddenly standing and went for a while before I tried some "moves" I reversed stance. It worked well, then I hit the wake and ate fish. I tried again and failed, then I got up 3 more times. Adjusting my stance from decrepid old man to 31 year old unconfident man worked a little better. It was awesome. Thanks Blake, Conrad and Steve for the good times. Even though I am in pain trying to type this message because my forearms are killing me, I had a lot of fun.
PS, that is totally me last night. I pulled off a flip my 3rd time around. :)

Since i am up

I decided to make a post about what we experienced today. I will start with earlier today. Actually since it is 3am, I will have to say yesterday. Hailee and Abigail started piano lessons and Kim went to drop off Hailee to start them. She pulled away from the teachers house and poor Natalie must have thought that Kim was just leaving her there for good. She cried all the way to the store with Abs trying to console her the whole way. Kim then went and picked Hailee and dropped off Abby. Well this did not sit well with the Rooster either and she was freaking out again. She finally calmed down when they picked Abby up. Kim was about to leave and she heard Rudy say, "Mom?", "Yes Rudy?", "My turn?".
Poor kid, she wants to do everything that her sisters do and she always gets left behind. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry. She is very smart for a 2 year old and she knows what is going on. She feels so bad when she doesn't get to do what her sisters do.
So we had a ward member over last night who works in Airport security. Every time I go through he harrasses me. I invited him over to show the girls what to expect when they go through. He is such a nice guy and he agreed to come over last night. He was all dressed up in his uniform and he stayed and talked for a while about what to pack, how to go through the line, etc. When he was done we closed and gave him some cookies to say thanks. He hung out for a while talking and i am so glad that he did.
I would call myself a patriot and say that I am blessed to be an American. With that pride comes an almost unhealthy obsession with the military. I love and appreciate our servicemen and try to learn as much about what they do and teach my wife and kids what I know. Well this guy had lots of really neat experiences in the military. I mentioned how much I liked Tom Clancy and he said that a few of his missions were like some of his books.
My dad served in the Navy and I know what it is like to have a close relative as an ex-serviceman and it is funny how a vast majority of these guys belittle what they do for our country. I am amazed that they put their lives at risk and then can talk about it like it was no big deal. Well it is a big deal and even if they didn't get hurt or cannot talk about what they did, we are blessed to have servicemen and women that are willing to put their lives on the line and for their families to experience all the emotional distress for us and our great country.
An example of this is the non-chalant way that Kim's grandpa talks about his WWII experience. He was in all of the big areas of the Pacific Theater just after major conflict. He says that it wasn't a big deal but I know through studying a lot of what went on "after" the fighting and many times it was as scarey as the major conflicts.
If any servicemen or ex-servicemen read this, I want you to know that the Munn family appreciates what you sacrifice for us. I will teach my children to respect you for what you did for our freedoms. As I tell all of the servicemen and women that I see, "THANK YOU for YOUR service."

Getting Ready

We are getting ready for the big family vacation this year. Everything is paid and we are ready to get into it. We are having a guy from our ward come over tonight who does Airport security and hassles Mike when he tries to go through. He is going to teach the girls how to get through easily. Then we leave Wednesday morning and go see the sights in Seattle. We are all very excited and should have plenty of pictures and stories for everyone when we get back. Our biggest obstacle is the first and last thing that we will do. We have to get 4 kids on a plane and convince them that it is okay and help control their screaming as to not annoy the other passengers. Abigail is going to be by far the worst. She is crazy obsessive about stuff that scares her so we have her convinced that it will be SO much fun. Everyone wish us luck ~ 9:42am on Wednesday when the pilot hits the gas and lifts up in the air.

Biggest Loser Here We Come

We started working out this week and are determined to lose weight. I have been going twice a day hoping to see some results sooner than later and Mike has been going at night after work. Mike informed me yesterday that he has already lost some pounds, so i hop on the scale thinking I have worked out twice as much as he has so maybe I would have lost a couple pounds also...............no I gained 2 pounds. How the h*$# does that work? I hate to curse because it isn't very lady like but holy cow talk about irritating. Anyway, on the plus side, I have felt better during the day and had more energy, ohh and at night I am sooo tired that my head hits the pillow and I am out.

The girls have been great at child watch at the YMCA. They were so excited to get our pass again so we could go swimming. We went for family night and Natalie was so excited she about drowned 5 times with Mike and I right there. She thinks she can swim and even after falling in and about coughing up a lung to catch her breathe she would turn around and do it all over again. Then right before we leave Natalie decides she wants to go down the little slide and she climbes out of the pool and we see she has a HUGE terd in her swim suit( we didn't have a swim diaper but we thought she would tell us if she needed to go poop) so we booked it out of there FAST. A big thank you to Mike for stepping up and washing out that swim suit. Nasty. Never a dull moment. :)

Abby is done with preschool and is a big helper with Mia. She is so excited to go to kindergarten in the fall. Hailee and Abby have learned too get on the computer and play games and print lots of different things. They have gone through tons of paper and ink with this new found fun. Hailee is also a huge helper. She makes sure I get to sleep in by helping Abby and Natalie in the mornings. She has no idea how much I appreciate that. I am thankful for my girls, they always make me smile.