Don't know what went wrong

Kev would like me to issue the following warning: I know most of you probably thought this day would never come, but Kevin is convinced the time is upon us. Now, you'll need to go get a handbasket, jump inside and strap yourselves down real tight. Kev's pretty certain you will soon be experiencing a scorching, downward plunge. I myself think Kevin is exaggerating and that everything will be fine.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, Kevin was just called into the Bishopric today, and he's more than a little nervous. His family came out in full support; it was very cool. Kevin's parents drove here from Oklahoma so his Dad could ordain him. Kevin wanted them all to sit in the very back so we wouldn't cause a big scene. I told him that was ridiculous.

Kev still can't figure out what he did wrong. He always sat in the back of Sunday school, never made eye contact, tried not to be too social--and now this.

I haven't seen him this nervous since March 12, 1996 around 4:30 am. when my water broke, signaling that Kourtney was about to be born. He was dazed and confused; he kept running around asking me what we were supposed to do. It was almost like that last Tuesday when we got called into the stake president's office.

Actually, during the stake presidency interview I was enjoying a pretty cavalier attitude about the whole thing (because I know Kevin--he may feel uncertain, but he's definitely going to rise to the challenge and be just fine) until Pres. Sohm suddenly turns to me and says something like, 'Now you know we consider the wives of our bishopric members just as much as we consider the husbands. You'll have to not only support Kevin, but also accept this calling just as much as he does.'

Huh? what? So what exactly has everyone in this room been saying for about the last ten minutes, cuz I don't think I was paying very close attention. Isn't there some sort of school for this? Is there at least like a book called "Bishropric Wives for Dummies Named Mindy"? Argh!--Move over people. There's gotta be room for at least one more in that handbasket!

Honestly, I think Kevin will be wonderful. He's patient, goes out of his way to help people, has a really big heart (etc.). He's pretty cool. I fell in love with him 13 years ago, and now more people will get a chance to get to know him. I'm so glad his family could come; even both his grandmas made it. It meant so much to him--and no, we didn't make them sit alone in the back (again, ridiculous). They sat right next to us, and we took up two whole "hey look, Kevin Knudsen is getting called into the bishopric today" rows.

My favorite brides

On Friday the girls and I saw my friends Emily and Sean in Footloose at the Murray Amphitheater. They put on a great show! Emily was the lead; she has an amazing voice, and she put on a fabulous peroformance. Grace was kinda restless at the end so I only got to snap one quick picture of Emily. It definitely, however, brought back some fun memories.

My brother Kevin perfoms in musicals every summer--this Summer is South Pacific. One year I auditioned with him for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It was a blast. Kevin and his very own wife Cecy were the leads, and I got to be a bride. The brides consisted of one other young married girl named Becca, five cute high school girls and me. Did I mention I was pushing thirty? We cartwheeled off boys' shoulders, did barrel roles and flew all over the stage for that performance. I was paired with a sixteen year old kid--he's in the orange on the slide show.

Those cute girls and I were inseparable all summer. We had slumber parties, stayed up all night fashioning eighties outfits to wear to practice one morning and had a great time. I still blog with Meredith and Becca. Hi, GIRLS, if you read this. I hope Emily has time to stop by and visit this summer, and Aubrey just became my Facebook friend. So this is for all my favorite brides!!

Cul-de-sac of FIRE! Happy 24th of July!

Forget Stadium of Fire; every July our immediate neighbors gather together to enjoy Cul-de-sac of Fire. It's great! It consists of potluck bbq--bring your own meat and some fire works to share!! As soon as dusk settles the men stockpile the fireworks and start sorting them into groups. Kev and the girls are waiting for the big show to begin.
Ashley and Grace are enjoying the anticipation.
The men meticulously consider each firework before sorting it into its correct category. Ahh--fathers and sons bonding with blow-torches in hand.
This is how Grace watched the entire fireworks show.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Cul-de-Sac of FIRE!!!

All of God's Grace in one sweet little face

Summer project:
This is a little something I've been working on for Grace's room. I love it! In fact, everyone who's seen it agrees it is pretty darned cute.

Except for Grace. This was her reaction when she saw it. Not exactly gracious.

One of her picture frames says "All of God's grace in one sweet little face." I think this face says it all.

I'm bringing home my baby bumble bee

Kinda difficult to see, but there are bees in these handy little devices.

"I'm bringing home my baby bumble bee;

Won't my mommy be so proud of me?"

Children: Hey, Mom, look at the bees we just caught with our new insect catchers found inside our Sonic kids' meals.

Mother: Wow, that's amazing! I'm so glad Sonic has provided us with hours of educational bee-catching fun! Now, children, kindly take the bees outside. Careful, those little fellas might sting.

Ha ha!!

Oh, those talented Knudsens!

On Sunday Ashley taught Grace how to roller skate! Kourtney somehow managed to snip off a section of her own left eyebrow!
Kevin created the most amazing (made from scratch with fresh blueberries) blueberry cobbler on the grill!!!

Kenny and Amber came over to eat some of it with us. Amber did not grab it away from me, and I don't even care. It was divine.

Happy 4th of July!!!

We had a fun-filled 4th of July. The girls and I started playing on Thursday. We went to the pool by our house and then to see Wall-E (Very cute and clever. Extremely didactic--if kids take it to heart they will all go green and exercise daily. They really could have cut the film in half)

On the 4th we hiked Timponogos Cave with Kenny and Amber. FUN. There was some cloud coverage so it was only about 88*. Inside the cave it was around 65*. They wouldn't allow strollers so Grace had to either walk or be carried the whole time. Kenny did most of the carrying, and Grace fell asleep on the way back down.

After the hike Ashley and I went to the Stadium of Fire to see Miley Cyrus in concert. It was quite the show!! We ran into Shallie (my niece) working there. They had sky divers and a great Olympics dance presentation with 1300 girls dancing, horses and athletes. The Blue Man Group performed, and of course so did Miley Cyrus. Oh the screeching little girls cheered and danced--nearly as loudly as the fireworks. The fireworks were pretty spectacular, as was the rain of soot and ash falling on each of us :) The whole thing was broadcast live to soldiers in Afghanistan, and local families were invited to parade in and see the show in a special area. Very cool night for Miss Ashley.

On Saturday we went to Seven Peaks.

On Sunday I crashed.