michel chickwanene

This is Michel (mi shel). He was a child solder from Sierra Leone. When he as five years old, solders decended on him and his friends in a soccer field. They blind folded him, shoved a gun into his hands and told him to shoot! Shoot!! And when he took the blind fold off, he saw he had killed one of his best friends! Five years old! You can hear his story on the Me to We website that I have previously posted.

toronto dinner

found in toronto!!

Whew!!

getting on toronto subway

lost in toronto

Darrin and I didn't make it off the subway before the doors closed!

Me to WE Day!

Darrin and Greg at an Italian Restaurant where we ate yummy Gnocchi and delectable desserts!

This weekend, Lynn and I took Karlie and went to Toronto to Canada's National Me to We Day. The best way to describe it, is basically it's a pep rally for world peace and education for teenagers. They had many Canadian super stars and some American, speak and give inspirational speeches. You can watch the whole thing at: www.ctv.ca/metowe. We had a GREAT time and were truly inspired. Spencer West, who we went to Africa with, was one of the special speakers! We are so proud of him, you can see his speech at the end of clip 8 at that website. Awesome!

Lynn went to Canada on Tuesday so he could work a few days before we got there on Thursday. This is the sign he met us with at the airport. The first side says, "LPGA Rookie of the Year, Karlie Abplanalp." The other side said "Hair Club for men experiment gone terribly wrong, white guys shouldn't have afro's, Austin Eldrege."

On Saturday, drove down to Niagara Falls. The tree and leaves were stunning, as was the Falls.

David is HOT!

O.K. this blog wasn't posted by Karlie, and I'm not a Cougar, but David is Smoken' in this video! Looks like he has grown up a little bit. . . Just kidding.

Clean Water in Kibera!

Good afternoon! This morning I was pleasantly surprised by an e-mail I received from a jewelry store I used to frequent. They have been raising money for a campaign to drill a well by one hospital in Kibera. They raised enough money to drill 20! Not only will the hospital benefit, but there is enough water for the community around the hospital as well. Please go to the website to witness this spectacular event! www.charitywater.org/brighton

In one of the video presentations they visited Kazuri, which is a bead factory, that we visited while in Kenya. This factory gives single mothers jobs, so they can support their families. These women are amazing. So please, go to the website, and donate in any way if you can.

Powder Puff Football!

This week is Homecoming week for the Spanish Fork Dons. Karlie is having a blast in high school and has made lots of new friends. Last night she played powder puff football with her team the "Flaming Pandas." They spray painted white t-shirts and wore zebra stripped headbands around their foreheads. They looked really cute. Karlie played running back. They kept calling her play because she was the only one who could get the ball anywhere, but she kept dropping it. The "Flaming Pandas" lost, but they had a great time. Karlie only suffered minor injuries, her knee got hammered by someones cleats and she can't move, but with the care of mother, she should recover nicely.

Organized Love!

We recently ripped out everything in our closet and put in shelves and organizers. I can't tell you what a difference it makes. We now have about twice the room to hang our clothes than we did before! The first couple of days after it was installed, I could have just sat there and stared at the beauty of it. I LOVE IT!

Ian's School

Ian loves school. He is very proud of all his papers and art projects that he brings home. His teacher's name "merica" Erica. We are proud of you Ian!

A Misquito Bit ME!

Lynn built Ian a sandbox this weekend and on Monday night we finially got sand in it. Ian had so much fun playing and rolling around in it that we stayed out past dark. When we came in, Ian and I had multiple misquito bites, including two on his eye that made it swell up and look like he got punched! Poor kid!

First Day Of School!! August 20th

The summer is over and the kids are back to school. (Already?) Karlie and Sydney started on the 20th of August and Ian started today. It is traditional in our family to take their picture on the first day of school in their new clothes. So here they are!

Weekend Fun!

We had a great time with Jesson and Storme this weekend! Storme went out with a friend on Friday night and Karlie took the privilege of "schooling" us in Laser tag. She's wicked with a laser gun. On Saturday we went to the Thanksgiving point dinosaur museum. Ian loved the dinosaurs! On Saturday night we went to the Orem Owls baseball game. We sat in the front row while the Owls got spanked. Hoo Hoo! (hoe, haha) Thanks Jesson and Storme for a great time!

Which one's the mother? Which one's the daughter? Ha ha!

Such a Cute couple!

Jesson has on his fun pants.

Six Lakes 2008

Hunting for Craw Dad's. My favorite thing.

Brace Face!

Here are pictures from another fun time at the cabin at Six Lakes. For those of you who live outside of Utah, it's by Roosevelt.