Meg that story was so cute. I read it for family night and the boys were talking about it for a long time after, thanks!

Jen

Thank You

I just wanted to thank all of you for being so supportive during this hard time in our lives. It is through your support that we are able to keep one foot in front of the other and beat this hard trial. We love you and wish we were closer. Thank you so much. We love you all.

Hailey,

Thanks for the invite, I will send Meg one!!! I just wanted you to know how much we are praying for Sam, and how much you are in our thoughts. Mer and Meg have told me how great you are being and how strong you are. He is very lucky to have you and Nick for parents. What a cute blog, Meg you would love it if you could see it!!!

love you all

jen

Sampson's Blog address is:

www.mighty-sam.blogspot.com

If you haven't been invited (Hailey doensn't have your email) You can use Mikell's
username: mikelldemille@hotmail.com
password: christopher

I would give you mine but I haven't been invited.

Meg

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bars

These are amazing. I'm including the changes I made, but I'm happy to give the original recipie if you want it. ( I double this and put it in a regular jelly roll pan, the 9 x 13)
2 1/4 C Flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 C butter (room temp)
1/2 C granular sugar
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
2 large eggs beaten and room temp
1 T vanilla
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa (Giradelli is way better than Hersheys)
2 C Chocolate Chips ( or anything else you like MM etc)
1 C Nuts

Preheat to 350
Sift dry ingredients
Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa. Stir in dry mix untill combined. Add candy and chocolate chips.
Pat into a 9 in square pan bake at 350 for 20 t0 25 minutes.
(When it comes out, lift it a couple inches off the counter and drop it flat. This makes the air push out and it will be more dense and moist!)

You are gonna love it.

Great story for FHA

Two ChoicesWhat would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one.. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.Where is the natural order of things in my son?'The audience was stilled by the query.The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'Then he told the following story:Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.In the bottom of the ninth in ning, Shay's team scored again.Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.However, as Shay stepped up to theplate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!Run to first!'Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home..
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!Shay, run to third!'As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.Shay didn't make it to another summer.. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process ?A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.May your day, be a Shay Day.

I forgot to ask everyone to keep Sampson (Hailey's baby) in our prayers. He has been in the hospital with pneumonia. He could use everyone's prayers. Thank you!

Our First Fieldtrip
We will be meeting at the Front Runner Station in Farmington (take the Park Lane exit. You will see it directly west of the freeway. There is an entrance off of the overpass). We'll meet at 12:20. It leaves at 12:42. The cost is $10 for 4 people roundtrip (I thought this was a great deal). We will ride to Gateway. At Gateway the kids can run through the fountains. I'm going to pack a lunch ( you don't have to do this). I thought we could get icecream there as well. Hope to see you there!
MiKell (my cell: 678-0290)

Everyone get excited. Our first fieldtrip is this Tuesday. I just got in town and I'm trying to put this together. I am pretty sure that we are going to ride trax either to Gateway or to Ogden. I will post more details tomorrow. We will leave between 12:00 and 12:30. Hope to see you then!
MiKell

Here is the summer schedule for all those who are interested. I hope that it doesn't appear that I am trying to be the President of the summer time activities. I have found in my own life that if I don't plan something and tell someone else that I planned it, it doesn't ever happen. The first boating trip is this Tuesday the 9th. We will meet at Smith's at 11:00. We will shoot for every Thursday thereafter, except for family vacation weeks or holiday weeks we might switch it to Wed. If you will email and let me know if you are going that week, I will divide up the food for lunch and send out assignments.
The field trip activity will be on Tuesdays at 12:00. Each person will have a week to be in charge of planning the activity and posting the details on the blog. The activity can be as simple as a hike or exploring a new park or as big as Raging Waters. You choose.

Here is the schedule for the Field trips:

June 16th Meg
June 23rd Jenny
June 30th Mar
July 14th Mikell
July 21st Heidi
July 28th Natalie
August 4 th
August 11th
If your week doesn't work, see if you can switch with someone.

Thanks!!

Meg