I love my Tank!

Lately I have been seriously wishing for the time when we can finish paying off our van and get a smaller vehicle just for running errands and such. The gas mileage would be so much better and parking and getting around would just be easier than in my extremely large and lumbering vehicle that henceforth will be known as "the Tank".
I am now more grateful than ever for this beast. Plastic and fiberglass parts were not used much in it's construction so it is made of good old fashioned steel and on a commercial truck frame so it sits higher off the ground than most vehicles around it. Tonight I was turning left out of a shopping center across a 4 lane road and managed to get in a nice little fender bender. (Oh, and the kids were NOT with me, just in case you were concerned.) I will come right out and admit that it was my fault. I looked left and there wasn't a car on the road. I paused for a car coming on the right and as soon as I pulled out I hit a small truck barreling in from my left. I'm not sure if he had pulled out of one of the driveways a little further up from where I was or if he had turned the corner onto that street after I had looked that way. In the end it doesn't matter I know you look left then right then left again and I didn't. I hit his passenger side back quarter panel which messed up his rim and busted his tire along with some good dents to the body. Luckily it was an older truck and was made of pretty heavy metal for a little truck so it's not as bad as it could have been.
The impact with the speed he was going and the busted tire caused him to do a 180 in the middle of the road though. It looked pretty bad with him spinning around and it sounded awful between the metal crashing and the tire exploding. I called 911 as soon as I got out of the traffic lane and went to check on the other driver whose truck was now behind the van, I was glad because I was afraid to look at the damage to the front knowing it had to be considerable. It didn't register right away that there was no debris or anything. Anyway neither of us were hurt and when I finally went to look at the damaged I was shocked. I dented my front bumper, it's metal so there's no cracking or breaking apart and looking funky it's just dented. Granted it's a really big dent, or series of dents actually, but still no broken headlights, busted grill, airbag deployment or anything more serious.
I am very grateful to my Heavenly Father for his protection. With greater appreciation I can now say I love my Tank!!!!!!
Shiloh

My Little Ninjas

Ok so they are not all little and by the time the picture was taken they were already getting messed up but these were our ninjas and Cole who decided to go as the "annnoying teenager", his words, not mine. I wouldn't let him take his paintball gun around the neighborhood, but he wanted it for pictures.

I have a very bad headache so I will let Emily write the commentary on Halloween later, but I knew if I didn't put up pictures now, it probably wouldn't happen.

Eight is Great!!!

The last few weeks have been very exciting! Our first big eight is Adrianna! We had a birthday at the end of July and Odie Podie turned eight! She had been talking about turning eight and being baptized since she turned seven. It was a great day, we all went out for the first annual Ella Memorial 5k and had a great time. Then just spent the rest of the day with Grandma Cindy having fun! We had a birthday party that night.
We had her baptism on Sunday evening and all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and Nana and Poppa from North Carolina all got to come down for it. We are so proud of her and the decision she made to be baptized!

Another big eight is we've added an eighth child to our household. His name is Cole he's a young man that we knew through church and he'll be with us indefinitely... well until he leaves on his mission in two years. He's great with the kids and everyone seems to be adapting to the household changes really well.



And of course we can't forget baby number eight . Yes I know everyone has been waiting for months for this announcement so it should come as no big surprise to anyone that I am pregnant. Baby number eight, from here on referred to as Aswell or Aslan, will be due about March 26, 2012. And yes I remembered that is Grandpa Bill's birthday, and our niece Caitlin's. What can I say we have great timing (not like the baby will be born on the due date anyway).

So on that note, I hope everyone has a happy Sabbath, and a great week ahead!

At least he apologized...

So this morning I overheard this conversation between my 9 year old outdoorsman-power-ranger-wanna-be son and my 5 year old strawberry-shortcake-barbie-princess and her 10 year old protector:

Jonas: Lydia, I owe you an apology. What I told you before wasn't really true.

Lydia: Really?

Jonas: Yeah, I just made it up. Do you forgive me?

Lydia: Oh...well...okay.

Emily: What did you tell her?

Jonas: That I liked lizards...

Emily: So?

Jonas: ...And that lizards see everything in black and white except for the color pink and they will attack anything with pink especially people wearing it.

Emily: What!?

Jonas: I apologized!

Bikes and Butt Cramps (written by Emily)

Mom and Dad went on a bike ride with a few friends that went from our house in Columbia at 3:00 AM to Charleston at about 8:30 PM. Aunt Heather drove our van, & Billy, Brian, Matt, Andy, Mom, & Dad biked. Dad got butt cramps (or at least it hurt so bad he finally admitted it). Mom got huge bruises on her knees. I don't know about the rest of the crew. We kids stayed at home. Madison and Mackenzie Hendrix baby-sat us for hours and hours. But(t) that's all I really know. Call my mom for any further details!

And the Beadhead Award Goes To...

Lydia's wild hair in the morning always makes me smile! We forgot to take out her ponytail last night so she woke up with Cindy-Lou Who hair. I love it!

Look what I did!!!!!

Ok so I kind of have a minor issue with starting little projects and they turn out bigger and grander than I plan on. The latest is no exception. I needed to paint the girls' bedroom. Now I've had the paint for a few months I just was having trouble actually getting it done. I finally decided this was the week. The original idea was lavender walls, white trim and one accent wall with pale pink harlequin style diamonds. Pretty, classy and fairly simple. My pink turned out to be a little brighter than I had intended so I was trying to figure out how to still use it yet tone it down. I still wanted to do something fun, yet original. Long story short I decided to create a plaid wall. I couldn't find a pattern so I just made one up as I was taping and hoped for the best. It turned out way cuter than even I anticipated. When the girls saw it this morning they declared it to be the coolest wall ever. Once I get the room put back together I'll post pictures of everything. Including the new window seat and finished bookshelves. But here is the wall with Emily, Adrianna and Adam this morning.I even managed to go around the door. Oops looks like I need to put the smoke detector back up.