A peek at Girl's Week

I thought I'd put up some pictures from this weekend. For some reason I feel like starting at the end, so here are some from after most all the fellas had gone. Girl's Week as the Gundie gals called it. All my little nieces are so fun to be around. I'm glad we got to stay a few extra days and join in their fun.

Only these girls would have a musical finale to a water fight. Pretty cute. Can you believe how much they're all growing up?!

Girly time wouldn't be complete without facials, pedicures, and manicures.

It wasn't all "Girls Only". We had a few boys around to spice things up.

A little Forks anyone....

Once upon a time on March 28th of this year we were driving home from our trip to California on my birthday. It was an all day drive with not much room for stopping to celebrate so Garth, who was feeling bad about the circumstances, asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him I wanted to read Twilight to him while he drove so he could get a glimpse into something I loved. He was very happy to have something that would make me happy so he eagerly agreed. About 5 hours later when we were stopped out of gas on the Las Vegas freeway (and listening to Twilight was now interesting and not a duty) Garth again was feeling bad about my birthday.

I told him I would love to go to Forks, WA with my Edward (that is Garth in case you were confused and Forks is where the books take place for the Twilight impaired).(OK I don't think it was that cheesy but the sentiment was the same.) Being the trip kind of guy that he is (and glad that I was referring to him), he again agreed eagerly.

About three weeks ago he made good on his promise and I could not have asked for a better present!!!!! We drove around and looked at the scenery while listening to the Twilight books on CD.It was GORGEOUS!!! So much more vivid and beautiful than I even imagined! As an added bonus Garth fell in love with it too. (Still nursing Will or else he would definitely not have been invited.) So we saw & took pictures of all the sights!

Port Angeles, where we had Italian...

We went out to LaPush ...

Rialto Beach was Garth's favorite . . .

And First Beach . . .
We hiked through the forest...

We had a great time and highly recomend the trip to anyone. We hope to go back with or without the kids soon!

Brit

Say...was it your "bert"day?

I know Dad is in Milwaukee and will probably not see this post for a while, but I just wanted to put up a little something for him. He's such a stud! We all love you so much Dad! Have fun on your trip with Mom. Can't wait to give you a big squeeze when you get back.

A little A of F 13 . . .

So, I came across a book that has helped me more with my golf game than anything I've studied in 3 years of trying to be a better golfer. Steve Williams, caddie to Tiger Woods, recommends that in order to execute a perfect golf swing you have to not make any value judgements on the situation you've gotten yourself into on the course, but clear your mind of conscious thought to allow your subconscious to take all variables into consideration and create the ideal swing for what's at hand. He indicates that any specific idea of the individual that creates conscious thoughts or pressure to perform are the reason why more people aren't great golfers. The ability is there already for those who have a basic understanding of the golf swing, but the desire to execute great swings are hampered by an inability of adults to give up thoughts like "what will my friends think if I screw up", or "this is a crappy place for my ball to be". Adult golfers are so affected by what people are going to think that it stymies ability. This is why kids are unhampered by failure - they don't put value judgements on them - they allow their entire brain to receive the data and execute better next time. If this wasn't the case, my baby Will would sit down a cry when he fell down the first time and never learn to walk. As it happens, he cries if he's scared or hurt, but doesn't worry what we thought of him falling on his butt. To this point, that's why adults say you can't learn once you get to a certain age. Really we all have the ability to continue learning how to be great, but decide we care more about what people think than learning something new.

The reason I'm sharing this on the blog is not just because I'm excited about learning how to be a better golfer, but because his book is the best "how to" idea on how to become more like a child than anything I've ever come accross reading church books. That doctrine is smattered throughout the Book of Mormon and Bible and I've heard a bunch of people from the pulpit say become more like a child, and I've felt the Spirit tell me what they were saying was true, but I've never had any great ideas on how I might do this. This book is full of great ideas on how to do it! Nothing has ever resonated quite like the advice Stevie gives for golf. The thing is there are wide applications of this true principal outside of the game. I already thought of a bunch, including some that will make me a better husband, dad, and provider.

Anyway, if you don't catch the spirit of my post, hopefully you had a good laugh over it. That would have made it worth it. No matter how you take it though, the book is $14 at Hastings and I recommend it to you all.

I finally posted some pics of Claire.

Check out Bethany's blog. I finally was able to tear myself away from Claire long enough to post about a million pics. Thanks for all those who sent us messages and came to visit over the long distances. We love you all.

PS. We would like to bless Claire in our ward before we move to Boise so we are planning to do it on August 17th. Anyone free is more than welcome to come but we understand that its a very busy time of year and won't feel bad if you arn't able. Also if that date just doesn't work for anyone, our bishop said we could do it on a week day and we're open for sugestions on the days surounding the 17th if you'd like.

Morgan

Good news! (in a weird way)

I am recovering well from taring my iliotibial band in my left leg.  I can limp around again and am off the narcotics now.  (Morgan....you're amazing.)  They found a mass in my uterus that is most likely responsible for my abdominal pain, back pain and hemorrhaging.  It is not a cancerous mass, so I opted to wait to have surgery until Aug. 26th after school starts.  They will be removing my uterus and cervix but leaving my ovaries.  They will laser off any endometriosis that they find and repair my bladder.  They may possibly remove my appendix as well since they are going through my abdomen.....might as well. (Don't want to pull a Lee or a Melinda later in life!)  

I'm exited for less pain and no more embarrassing bleeding moments!  Although this surgery will do nothing for my breast and neck swelling and pain, that's okay.  They have ruled out all cancers and it will just be something that I have to deal with three weeks out of every month until I go through metapause.  Not too fun, but I will have tons of empathy for all the new moms in our family when they get mastitis.

So, after eleven pregnancies and years of crazy times.......we are taking out the internal nursury!  Thanks for all your love and prayers.  We are exited to see all of you at the reunion.

Mignon   

Coming Soon......

The reunion info page has been updated with the new information on where we will be staying. Check it out to see pics of the new place.

We are also planning on using the reunion comments section more for ideas that we want every one's input on. I updated it with something we have been thinking about. Let us know what you think.

Baby, Oh Baby

Here is Morgan and Bethany's little beauty born this morning!

Maryn Jenny Quigley

We got to go visit Bryant and Jenny and their precious little Maryn in the hospital today. They asked if I'd do a little post for them. Here are a few of the shots we got.

Maryn Jenny Quigley
Born: Monday July 14, 2008 @ 12:44 am
8 pounds 13 ounces and 20 inches long

Everyone is doing great. Jenny is sportin some sun on her face from all the walking she did trying to get Maryn to show her little face. Poor girl walked miles in the heat trying to get her contractions to pick up before heading to the hospital Sunday night around 6:30. She looks great though. It sounds like things went pretty quickly after she arrived, and she's recovering well. Maryn is a sweetheart! She looks so much like her older sister, and has a TON of beautiful dark brown hair.

Cousins together at last! Maryn is so fresh and bitty that little Eve suddenly doesn't look so small. It'll be really fun to watch these two grow up together being so close in age.

Can you tell these two Moms are happy to have these cuties in their arms and out of their bellies?

Summer lovin'

I don't post on this site very often so I thought that I give you all a shout out from Kansas City. Jordan is doing really well this summer so far. We are working hard so that we can come back a little earlier than planned to make it for the temple dedication in August. Keep us in your prayers so we can make our goal in time. Also, thanks for all of the calls of encouragement! We don't work cookie cutter hours so it can be hard to reach us sometimes. If anyone has any ideas for easy, healthy meals, I would love some advice! Jordan usually doesn't get home until 11PM or later due to the fact that they are knocking in Topeka, KS right now. Needless to say, I don't like to cook something big when I get home from work and then eat it right before we go to sleep. We stay up so late, it's ridiculous.

I hope everyone is doing great! Go luck Jenny and Bethany with your upcoming deliveries.

A month has flown by.

I can't believe a month has already passed. Eve is awesome, Miles is doing great, Brenden is the best biggest brother, Greg is in full swing at school, and I'm sleepy. :) That pretty much sums us up. I did want to let everyone know about our plans for blessing Eve. We've decided to do it in Kaysville, Utah on August 3rd. Greg's brother Adam is getting married on the 4th, so it will give much of his Canadian family the opportunity to be a part of Eve's blessing. Greg's other brother, Chris, will also be blessing their son Aidan that day. We fully don't expect you to come, but we'd like to invite you. Mom and Dad are planning on coming with Gwen's kids. I think that'll be it. It'll be weird not to have tons of Quigleys around, but it's all good. If you do want to come let me know and I'll get you times. Love you all!

it's been awhile

I realized that it has been awhile since I posted anything on the family blog. We spent the last week hanging out with Morgan & Bethany at their apartment & at the cabin. We had a blast! It was so nice to get away for a little bit. After last months activities, I think we needed the break. Anyways, I thought I'd share all the pics that I took at the Idaho Falls fireworks if you want to check them out. Here is the link to all of them: Firework Pics. It was fun to hang out with the Gunderson's for the evening and watch the show with them.

On a side but sort of related note, while we were up at the cabin, we were able to go check out the cabin for the reunion. It's hard to believe that during a normal year the reunion would be any day now but this year is still 6 months away. After seeing the cabin, we are even more excited. It is actually a different one than the one we posted pictures of awhile ago. We are planning on updating the reunion page and have a lot of other things regarding the reunion that will be put on the reunion page too. Since the reunion is getting close, it is probably time to start getting everyone excited about it. Anyways, stay tuned.

WADE & MARTY'S BERTDAYS

THOUGHT THE FAM WOULD ENJOY SEEING YOUR GRANDPARENTS/GREAT GRANDPARENTS QUIGLEY AT THEIR LATEST BERTDAY CELEBRATION. DAD IS NOW 81 AND MOM IS 79!

SBJ, R&L AND I INVITED THE FOLKS TO A SPECIAL BERTDAY DINNER, HELD IN THIER HONOR IN GOODING. WE PUT ONE OF MY FRESHLY-CAUGHT IDAHO SALMON ON THE BARBEE, ALONG WITH SOME MANGO SALSA, CRUNCHY PASTA AND FRESH GREEN PEA SALAD, SPINACH AND GREEN SALAD WITH HOME-MADE BLUE CHEESE DRESSING, AND SOME WONDERFUL SPECIALTY BAGGET BREADS AND BUTTER. GRAPE JUICE TO DRINK. OF COURSE, THERE WAS HOMEMADE CARROT CAKE AND ICE CREAM FOR DESSERT. NUMMMMMY!

WE, ALONG WITH RON AND REBECK GAVE THE FOLKS A FANCY BAKERS RACK AND TRAYS TO GROW THEIR WHEAT GRASS AND SPROUTS ON. DAD AND MOM WERE TICKELED PINK.

WE HAD A WONDERFUL TIME, JUST THE SIX OF US. KIND OF DIFFERENT, THOUGH. THEY ARE SURELY SWEET AND DEAR PARENTS. WE MISSED YOU KIDS AND WANTED TO SHARE THE OCCASION BEST WE CAN. LUV...mom and pops