Be it ever so humble...: August

I think the show Wall-E is brilliant. Pixar seems to have the best of the best when it comes to creativity and incredible writers. If you haven't seen the film, it's about a little waste collecting robot that takes a magical journey into outer space, and finds love. However, it's also about the human race and how disgusting we can be. It takes place far into the future when people have left earth because it has been so polluted that it became toxic. The human race fled to space where they were wined and dined, all their needs cared for by electronics, machines, and robots. Humanity spends their days hovering around in floating chairs, watching television, talking to friends via flat screens, and sucking down their "drinkable meals," as they became increasingly obese.

There is a scene in the movie where a woman is getting her hair done by a robot. The robot buzzes around, snipping and combing while the woman talks and talks and talks. The robot will occasionally utter an "uh-huh" or "tell me about it," while the woman continues to have what I like to call "diarrhea of the mouth." It's small things like these that Pixar is great at, capturing these moments with people we can identify.

Just recently I was at the gym grabbing a smoothy, when a woman captured my attention. She was talking to Gail, the lady making our smoothies, about her eyebrows. How years ago she had the arch of her eyebrow changed, (did you know people do this?) and how since then she always receives comments on how great her eyebrows look. That topic changed to a hospital open house that she attended solo because her daughters didn't want to come with her, but she met a lady there who also went solo and now they are best friends. Somehow that topic led to a boot camp class that she was a part of, then somehow to how she met her husband, how they got engaged and then were married after his service in the war. She turned her attention to me about 5 minutes in, about the time the time the hospital open house topic came up. Gail was a little busy mixing fruit and ice, the blenders were quite noisy, and truth be told, the talking woman didn't really care who she was talking to, she just needed to talk. All in all, she talked for 20 minutes. Non stop.

I tend to be a quiet person, don't have a lot to say to people, so I am a happy listener. In fact, I enjoyed this lady. She seemed fearless, and any 68 year old woman doing boot camp is A-OK in my book. However, there is something that needs to be said about people who are great talkers, but horrible communicators. Communication is the exchange of thoughts, or ideas, feelings, or anything you are conveying. EXCHANGE people. It's an exchange. Communicating does not mean you talk and talk and talk at people while they smile and nod their heads at you. After conversing with someone, ask yourself, "did I learn anything more about them from that conversation?" If the answer is no, wash the verbal diarrhea from your mouth and order yourself a robot.

All joking aside, we had a great month with fun adventures. Cam and I took all 4 kids backpacking in the Uintahs, to Ruth Lake. It was a blast, and the kids did great. They each had to carry their sleeping bag, pillow, clothes, and snacks (except Amelie, mom carried her sleeping bag). These are some tough Eggertz kids!

We spent the next morning fishing, caught a whole lot of nothin!

This month we also set up the "Ultimate Slip and Slide." Our yard has plenty of grass and just the right slope for a sliding good time! Add a little dish soap, and some neighborhood friends, and you've got yourself a white-trash party!

And finally, the end of this month marked the beginning of school for the kids. Josh started 6th grade, Daxton 2nd, and Ella 1st. Ella is in the dual-immersion program where half of her day is taught in Spanish. Muy bien! Amelie also started pre-school at Sunshine Circle.

Joshua

Josh started football this month. Heaven be thanked, it's our saving grace. I think I have mentioned on more than one occasion that left to boredom, Josh incessantly teases his siblings which in turn increases my crazy meter. But football is his aggression outlet. Run it out! Tackle it out! Get it hit out of you!
It seems to do the trick.

Playing on the Wasatch field during sun set, and under the lights!

We have more yard than we are accustomed to having in the past, and opted to buy a riding mower. It's a big plus because instead of nagging Josh to mow the lawn, he has offered to do it time and time again. Plus!

This month Josh also earned his Arrow of Light through the scouting program. He still had quite a bit he needed to pass two weeks prior to his birthday, so one day at the pool, while the other kids were swimming, Josh and I cranked it out. Great job little buddy! He now advances into Boy Scouts, where his dad is the 11 year old leader. FUN!

Sixth grade picture. He's growing up too fast.....

Daxton

Not sure why I was lucky enough to have God place Dax in our family, but I'm so thankful. He is always putting his arm around me, giving me hugs, rubbing my shoulders, or asking if I'm doing okay. He's a pretty sweet kid.

Nana Trish treated us to a movie day, with all the Thredgold cousins! We saw the movie "Planes," played at the park afterward, then headed back to her house where they each made their own little pizza for dinner. Fun day. Thanks Nana!

(Is it just me, or does Josh look REALLY big here?)

Here is Dax "fishing" in the neighborhood pond.

And more cousins! Zach and Lincoln Budge came to visit us one day. We love that baby!

Ella

We hit up Seven Peaks for the last time of the season, yet Ella was still a bit reluctant to go on the "Avalanche Racer" waterslide on her own. I first told her she would love it, trying to convince her how fun it was. That didn't work, so next I told her she had no choice, since I was the only adult and had to ride with Amelie. I promised her once it was over, she would be happy she had done it. That didn't work either, so I resorted to bribery. I told her I would purchase the crayola art set she had been pining for the last month, if she would just go down the gosh dang slide. That did the trick, and she has been cutting, coloring, and painting ever since.

Ella and Amelie having a picnic on the trampoline.

A tea party with Grandpa Scott!

Ella LOVES LOVES LOVES baby Lincoln!

Amelie

Amelie is fearless. From jumping off the side of the boat when she was a baby, to swimming by herself in the pool, to skiing, she does it all without hesitation. Most often it makes me a nervous wreck. She's a "the higher on the swings, the better" kind of girl, so this month she decided she wanted to ride her bike without training wheels. We grabbed the wrench, took off the trainers, and within a week she had taught herself to ride. Now her favorite thing to do is go for bike-rides around the block. Every now and then she will have to stop, and "stretch," where she lifts her arms high in the air, then from side to side. Next she taps her helmet with her hands, and pulls on her cheeks. Then she is good to go. Ha ha. Silly girl.

Here she is with some scrapes from her first crash on the bike......still smiling!

Eating ice cream and playing guitar with her buddy Joey!

She would run around in circles giggling, trailing behind a stuffed-bear on a string while the kitties would chase her.

Hanging out with mom on the porch, our favorite spot to read stories.

Cameron

Cam hiked the Grand Tetons this month. It was quite the adventure. They were blessed with great weather, and were finally able to summit this time. Cam traveled with Jeff, my super stud sister Shera, Mike, our neighbor Kasey Jarvis, and some other dude who's name I can't remember.

What can I say? I married a stud.

Cam also went rock climbing with a buddy before work one day. No, it's not a painting, but the view of Little Cottonwood from the top.

Cindy

My accomplishment this month was hiking up Timpanogos with Cam, Kasey and Andrea Jarvis. I completely admit to being weak sauce, yet they were very patient with me. And even though my hip flexor gave out and I had to literally lift my pant leg with my hand the last few hundred feet of the journey, it was a beautiful hike and a great day. A great day that was part of a great weekend. Shera took my kids for the weekend, so instead of driving 6 hours to Montana to bike and vacation, Cam and I decided to do a "staycation." We figured everything we would want to do there, we can do here! We went for a mountain bike ride one day, road bike ride the next, then hiked Timp the final day. It was a fun weekend. Thanks Shera and Jeff!

Sunrise

Kasey and Andrea. Notice his head lamp--we started at 5 am, hiked in the dark for a couple hours until witnessing the beautiful sunrise. 7,000 feet later, we arrived at the top.