4th of July

Here's another catch-up post. For the 4th of July weekend we had a family reunion with David's family in Shumway, which included a Wiltbank family reunion in Greer. Michael, Shannon & Rafe were able to come from NH and stayed at our house on Thursday night, then we all headed up to Shumway for the weekend to stay in the "vacation home" (David's parent's house that still hasn't sold...let me know if anyone is interested!).

We left later than planned on Friday (of course), because David was putting the final touches on the Jeep to be able to tow it up behind the truck, but we got up there in time to have a barbeque at Pioneer Park with David's mom's family. We ate good food, great home-made ice cream, played some ultimate frisbee and racquetball, and enjoyed the visiting and nice weather.

Saturday we went up to Greer for the family reunion, David and his brothers played paintball, and we and watched the Taylor fireworks from the deck of the house. That house has such a beautiful view! (On a side note, I guess they had a riderless horse at the Taylor rodeo in honor of my dad. That was really nice to hear.)

Sunday we went to church with Grandma Wiltbank and hung out, played Rook, etc.

Monday we got to play some frisbee golf on the course that Thomas and Daniel set up around the house, David did a little jeeping, we rode the quads, and then had to pack up and head home. David had to work the next day and I had a basketball game that night. (Speaking of basketball, we ended up getting 2nd place in the tournament--we lost to the red team with the MCC girl. That's for you, Deanne.)

Some of the other fun things we did while in Shumway:

• Played ping pong. I've still never beat David. I got really close the first game of the weekend, but progressively got worse as the weekend wore on.


• Ate really good food.


• Watched the 3 little boys play together. One time when Josh was sitting in the high chair eating and yelling, and Joseph was sitting nearby at the table Joseph suddenly said, "Joshie, chill out!" It was quite funny.

Here are some pictures:

Josh giving Rafe a ride on the "walker".

This time they are both pushing. It was nice that Rafe showed Josh how to turn it after running into something. Previous to this, Josh would push it in a straight line, run into something and start crying because he couldn't keep going.

Joseph, Rafe and Josh intently watching the action below the deck. I think David and his brothers were flying remote control airplains at the time. Cindi got the boys two sets of matching outfits with the hope that we could get some pictures taken of the three of them. They didn't want to cooperate by posing for us, so this is one of the best we got.

Josh blowing some sweet spit bubbles with Grandma during the family reunion up in Greer.

Josh playing with Aunt Jalayne's fun necklace...he always loves Jalayne's jewelry!

Me playing "frisbee horse shoes" with Daniel. The wind made it a little challenging. George and Ashlyn are playing this fun golfball game where you try to toss the strings with golfballs onto a rack with three levels.

Another shot of the 3 boys in their matching outfits.

Josh and Joseph trying to catch the goldfish in Grandpa's pond.

Michael striking a sweet post after throwing the frisbee with Thomas looking on, enviously.

And here is a video of Josh laughing in his sleep on the way home from Greer. He did it several times, but I was only able to catch a little of it on camera. He must have been having one funny dream!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Another Tag

My friend Kiri tagged me with another list of questions:

How long have you and your husband been together? It was 2 years in May when we started dating; our 2-year anniversary will be this October.

Who eats more? I hold my own sometimes, especially with ice cream, but it's usually David.

Who said I love you first? David did.

Who pays the bills? I do, but David always knows what's going on.

Who cooks dinner? Me usually, but David helps out a lot and will often cook Sunday dinner, or at least help with it.

Who is more stubborn? I guess it depends on the issue.

Who kissed who first? David kissed me first. Afterwards I went into the condo and Vicki, Tona and I went out for ice cream.

Who is more sensitive? Again, it depends on the issue, but generally me.

Who wears the pants? Probably David, but I think we're pretty equal.

What was I doing 10 years ago? Let's see, that would've been the summer before my senior year of high school. I would've been doing volleyball and basketball camps, working on the ranch and all that fun stuff.

What snacks do I enjoy? Hmm...today I've been snacking on some frozen cookie dough leftover from a couple weeks ago. I pretty much enjoy any junk food, especially ice cream.

What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire? Pay tithing first (of course), buy a house (with a sweet garage/workshop for David and a big pantry and laundry room for me), probably buy a few clothes and save/invest the rest.

3 bad habits.

1. I worry too much.

2. Playing with my hair. I have lots of little new growth hair all the time, but I can't stop!

3. Being lazy. I did laundry today, but that's pretty much it (besides play with Josh).

5 things people don't know about me.

1. I got my nose broken the summer before my junior year while playing softball. I still don't breathe exactly right out of one side, so it's horrible when I get a cold.

2. I love to read but don't have a "favorite" book.

3. I was one class away from "getting" a minor in music at ASU. I couldn't fit the last class in my last semester, but decided it wasn't worth extending school for. Now I've forgotten most of my music theory stuff anyway.

4. Speaking of forgetting stuff...I have a good short-term memory (school-wise), so I was pretty good at cramming for tests. I was lucky that way, but I've probably forgotten way too much.

5. When I was little I wanted to be a cashier at the grocery store when I grew up, because I thought they got to keep all the money they took.

I tag Mindy, Jennifer (Brandon's) and Jewel... but I won't feel bad if you don't do it.

Rocky Point

I know I'm way behind, but In an effort to update the blog on all (or at least some) of our recent happenings, here we go:

June 18-21 David and I went to Rocky Point with some of my family. Notice how I didn't include Josh in there? Yes, David convinced me to leave him with David's parents while we were gone. I was a little nervous about it, but it all turned out wonderfully. Don't get me wrong, I missed him like crazy and was very excited to get him back, but he did just fine (according to David's parents) and came home like nothing had happened. The other people who went with us were: my mom and my niece Shelby (David and I drove down with them), Mindy & Chad and their kids + 2 of Chad's sisters, Haylee & Heather, Tyler & Jen and their kids, and Charlie & Tiffany Ballard and their kids + Tiffany's sister Kami Nichols.

We stayed in the Las Palomas condo resort. Chad's boss has a couple of condos that we were able to rent for a pretty good price. My mom & Shelby, David & I, and Mindy's family stayed in a 3 bedroom condo with an awesome view, and Tyler's family and the Ballards stayed in a 2 bedroom condo a few doors down. The resort was really nice because it was right on the beach, but it also had several pools, a lazy river and even a little water slide that the kids all loved after they got tired of playing in the ocean.

David and I forgot to take our camera with us. We did get a little disposable camera there, but I haven't gotten it developed yet (oh how I love digital cameras!), so all the pictures I'll be posting are some that Mindy took.

Spencer is jealous of my sweet ride.

What a hottie!

Riding the "Red Shark". From left to right: Tyler, Kami, me, Shelby, Heather, David. While we were riding we saw a few dolphins that were swimming really close!

David and me getting ready to parasail.

And we're off!

Ahh...how sweet!

Mindy & Kami are ready for their turn.

Having fun with Mindy's camera while they are up in the air. Don't mind the glistening faces!

In addition to those fun things, we had fun looking for cool seashells (I couldn't believe the difference between high tide and low tide), reading, eating (of course!), and shopping at the "dirt mall" that is now paved. Thanks Mindy and Chad for inviting us!

I've Been Tagged

My sister Mindy tagged me, so now I have to share 8 random facts about me. Here goes:

1. I LOVE to get good deals, and I am a bargain shopper. When it comes to clothes, I will probably won't buy it unless it's on sale (and a pretty smokin' deal). My sister Kayla and I were joking that whenever anyone says to us "Cute shirt," we pretty much always respond "Thanks, I got it for $__." I totally look at the grocery store ads and compare prices. I usually only end up going to Fry's (because I can usually get the biggest bang for my buck there) and price match the other good deals at Wal-Mart, unless there is a smokin' deal going on. I've also become a fan of the Sister Savings website, because it lists all the grocery store deals in one place.
2. I'm a CPA who doesn't do taxes. Well, I've done my own (and mine and David's) for about 5 years now, but that's it. When I was working for the accounting firm I was an auditor (not for the IRS), in which businesses would pay us to come and look at their books for them to make sure there wasn't fraudulent activity going on. It's kind of one of my pet peeves that everyone assumes that I know about taxes. I took one class in college on them, and that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge (and I've forgotten most of that, I'd have to look it up).
3. I suffer from "Mom-nesia." I seriously think that my memory has gone down hill since I had Josh. I don't know if it's because I'm not using my brain in the same way anymore or what, but I forgot things all the time! I know I used to forget things before I had Josh, but it's even worse now.
4. Because I suffer from the above disorder, I am a list maker. I have to make lists for everything, or else I'll forget it. I have a grocery list, a Wal-Mart list, a list of things I need to remember to take with us to Shumway this weekend, a list of memories of my dad that have come to me over the past few weeks that I don't want to forget, a list of possible gift ideas for David, etc. When I first got tagged for this, I started a list of random things I could write about myself, because I knew I would forget them if I didn't write them down.
5. I won't drink a glass of milk, but I will drink the milk in my bowl after I finish all the cereal in it. David thinks it's weird that I grew up on a ranch and don't like milk. I say, there are a lot of people who don't drink milk, many in my family included.
6. I'm afraid to try new things if I don't think I'll be good at them. I guess I worry too much about what other people think of me.
7. I was cut from the 8th grade volleyball team, which was probably one of the best things, sports-wise, that ever happened to me. It made me work a LOT harder.
8. It kind of bugs me when people don't use adverbs correctly. It must be because I was dubbed a grammar policeman back in HS by Miss Cunningham. It used to be that I would verbally correct someone if I would hear them use an adverb incorrectly, but now for the most part I keep it inside. (I probably shouldn't have have listed this last one, because there are probably a lot of grammatical errors that I make on a regular basis, including the improper use of adverbs.)

I've seen a lot of "tags" on blogs lately, but I don't remember reading any on these peoples' blogs, so here's who I'm tagging: Tiffini, Danielle & Carli. (But I won't be offended if you don't want to do it, guys!)

Another Video of Dad

Here is a link to a segment that Horizon (a PBS political discussion show) did about my dad a couple of days after he passed away. It's kind of long.

http://www.azpbs.org/flashplayers/linkplayer.php?thevid=horizon/HZN06_10_08Tue_1&url=908

Also, I really enjoyed my friend Anna's post on my dad's memorial service (this is mostly for my family, who will enjoy reading it).

Thanks to everyone for cards, meals and words of encouragement over these past few weeks!

Daddy

Oh, where to start? So much has happened since my last post. My dad, Franklin Lars "Jake" Flake passed away last Sunday (June 8th) morning, and the past week was truly a whirlwind. (Because I use this for my journal, it may be more detailed than you care to read. I won't be offended.)

I can't even remember anything that happened the week before last, other than our basketball game on Monday night, which we won. Oh yeah, I did take Josh swimming at Celeste's pool on Thursday with Mindy's family. We had fun, but I didn't have any floating thing to put him in, so I just had to hold him the whole time. It was fun, but since then he's been a little hoarse.

On Friday night David, Josh and I went up to Snowflake for my nephew Shiloh's wedding on Saturday. We attended the wedding and the reception that afternoon up in Show Low. Shiloh and Danica (pronouced Dan-EEK-ca) look very happy. My dad was also able to attend both the wedding and the reception, in addition to dedicating a grave-site for one of his friends that day.

That evening Dad was pretty tired from all of the day's activities so appearantly that night he was going to sit down and relax for a while before putting his oxygen tube on and "going to bed" in the hospital bed that was set up in the family room for him. (I guess he would often switch between the bed and my mom's recliner during the night, because he would get uncomfortable.) On Sunday morning he woke up after having fallen asleep in the recliner, and had never put his oxygen on. He said he'd had the best night's sleep since his accident, and was pretty happy about that. Teresa joked with him that the reason he'd had such a good sleep was because he was probably passed out most of the night from lack of oxygen. He was playing with the grandkids that morning and joking around with us. Then he got up to go to the bathroom and made it as far as the doorway to my parent's bedroom where he passed out and fell on his side (the side with the broken ribs from his horse accident 2 weeks prior). My mom was still in the bedroom, and David was at the other end of the hall and Travis, Teresa and I rushed in there. Soon Evonne Boone, one of our neighbors/relatives got there and Dad was still breathing and snoring a bit and acknowledged our questions with grunts. With Travis' and Evonne's help my Dad rolled onto his back (we were worried about him laying on his hurt ribs), but then he stopped breathing and Evonne (with Travis' help) started CPR. Soon the paramedics got there and continued CPR, which they did all the way up to the hospital, but they were not able to revive him.

While I am very sad about losing my Dad, I know it is only temporary and that I will see him again. I really feel that the horse accident he had was in preparation for this...it just started the turn of events that Heavenly Father had in store for him. I'm so thankful for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the fact that our family is sealed together for eternity.

I am very grateful that David and I were able to make it home for the wedding and see him again. Very, very grateful. I'm also thankful that Dad was able to get to know Josh for a while. That's one of the things I'll miss most...my children getting to know (and remember) their grandpa.

Anyway, last week was very busy and full of a lot of late nights and little sleep. Thanks to Paul Senseman (my Dad's Chief of Staff when he was Speaker, now a lobbyist) and Mitch Menlove (a lobbyist and LDS bishop), we had a wonderful memorial service for Dad down here in Phoenix on Wednesday. Then we had a viewing on Thursday and another one Friday morning before the funeral. My family and I have felt so honored as people share how he has touched their lives. We have received many visits, phone calls, e-mails, etc. He was a friend to more people than we ever knew. Almost everyone that knew him loved him and he loved them.

I'm grateful for the wonderful father I was and am blessed with and for all of the things he has taught me, including working, managing money and the especially the gospel. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful dad.

Some memories of my Dad I have had this past week:

1. Cutting his toenails. Sounds funny, I know. My dad's toenails are pretty gross, but I was happy to do it for him. It felt like I was repaying him in small part for all he's done for me, some how. He even bought a special set of "tools" for me to use. On Saturday night he asked me to cut them for him again, because they were starting to snag on his socks. So luckily he now has pedicured toes up in heaven.
2. Cutting cows. Whenever we would go branding, we would have to "cut" the calves away from their mothers, or separate other cows for some reason. Often, especially at Monument Hill, he would have me help him while the others started the branding. I always felt good when I was chosen to help him, I felt like he was showing confidence in me.
3. Burning both ends of the candle. One week during high school I was particularly busy. I think I had stayed up really late finishing a book report, and then woke up early to practice the violin before 7:00 Madrigals. My dad came in while I was practicing and told me I was "burning both ends of the candle" and told me to go back to bed and not go to Madrigals that morning. I really appreciated him looking out after me.
4. Going on trips with him. Because I was single for so long I had the opportunity to go on a few trips with my parents and Kayla. Orlando, FL for a Farm Credit meeting, New York City for the Republican National Convention in 2004, and Chicago, IL for a Fiesta Bowl committee trip to watch a Notre Dame, USC football game. My dad was in meetings most of the time during some of those trips and I actually spent more time sight-seeing with my mom, but they still bring back fond memories of Dad.
5. Living in the condo with him. Before I got married I spent 6+ years living in my parent's condo, and taking care of it for them while they were gone. I treasure those times, because I got to see my dad a lot more often than I would have otherwise. He would often come down on Sunday evenings to a house full of our friends and he put up with our noise and even chatted with our friends and got to know them.
6. Dad "firing" me from the House of Representatives. I had been working as an administrative assistant at the House for almost 4 years when my dad became Speaker of the House, which would have technically been my boss. Because of the nepotism rules there, my dad effectively had to fire me. It was pretty funny at the time, because my dad mentioned it during his speech on opening day and the papers wrote a little article on it. I was very sad to have to quit there, but really it was the best thing for me at the time. I ended up getting an internship with an accounting firm (Nelson Lambson & Co., later named Schmidt Westerday & Company), who later hired me on full time after I graduated. I spent 4 1/2 years at SWCO until I quit after having Josh.
7. Talking with my parents and getting a father's blessing from my dad after the 24th celebration before David and I got engaged. Things were starting to get serious between the two of us, but something David did that weekend upset me. I started for home, crying as I was driving, and about the time I got to the Temple View chapel I decided to turn around and go and ask my dad for a Father's Blessing. I talked with both of my parents about things for a bit and my dad gave me a blessing that calmed me down a lot. Both of my parents are really good about giving advice, which I'm so appreciative of.
8. My dad coming to the hospital after I had Josh. I love the picture I have of him holding Josh. Even though Josh was his 54th grandchild, he was still excited.
9. Dad holding Josh on his lap Sunday morning, not long before he fell and passed away. I thought about taking a picture of the two of them that morning, but didn't, since Dad didn't have a shirt on over his garments.

Here are a couple of video segments and pictures of my Dad:

During one of the many parades he campaigned in


At the Republican National Convention


One of my favorite pictures--Dad on Chester


Dad showing my nephew Trey how to eat carrots


A tribute from my cousin Jeff Flake on the floor of the US House of Representatives

The segment Channel 12 did on my dad's funeral

Also, David wanted me to say that my husband (meaning him) is the hottest ever. I agree. (He didn't really think I would post it.) :)

We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

The news of this week is that David had to go out of town for work. He went to IBM's headquarters in Maryland, since they are working on a project with IBM. Luckily, he was only gone from Wed. to Fri. night, but we missed him nonetheless. I know many of you have husbands who routinely go out of town for work, and I don't envy you at all! David tells me that since I quit work I am much more talkative during the evenings...I really missed being able to converse with another adult during the evening. Talking on the phone just isn't the same.

We went and visted Mindy and her kids on Wed. afternoon, and she invited us to stay for dinner. It was nice to have a mutual-free night, since the girls had just returned from girls' camp the day before. Josh got to play with Spencer, Bryant and Karalee...he loves to have kids to follow around.

To help pass the time during the evenings I borrowed Season 1 of "Gilmore Girls" from Vicki's roommate and got a few episodes in before David got home late Fri. night. I was lazy all Sat. morning and watched most of the rest of them. It was fun to watch all the beginning episodes again, now I'm ready for Season 2. Anyone out there have it and want to let me borrow???

Yesterday Josh's 2nd top front tooth finally broke through, so now he has a jack-o-lantern smile--two teeth on the top and one on on the bottom. Hopefully the other bottom one will come soon to even things out a bit. He's getting to where he'll stand on his own for just a second. Maybe walking isn't too far off. This week he'll be 10 months old. Where has the time gone?!

Hopefully you're not too tired of my pictures, but here are a few from this past week:

Spencer, Josh, Bryant and Karalee swinging in Mindy's back yard

Josh showing off his first top tooth.

One of Josh's favorite things is to play with my old business cards. If you come to visit, there's a pretty good chance that they'll be strewn about the back room. You might even find one or two in the kitchen and living room.

I couldn't resist this one...that smile is just too cute.