Happy 40th Anniversary continues...

The Lion House was a fabulous place to celebrate their special day! We had a delicious turkey dinner complete with all of the caloric rolls, honey butter, salad and dessert. Note the gorgeous flowers arranged by talented Julie!
Even though it was Annissa who thought of starting the whole celebration at the temple and I thought of the Lion House, it was Jennie who pulled everything together. She took charge of arranging the dinner/menu and putting together a memory book complete with family and friends' memories and feelings about Mom & Dad. She also took on the project of scanning all of their pictures to compile a DVD that was shown that night (with the help of Matt). It was "hats off" to her as she really grabbed this whole celebration by the horns:)
She put together "the basket" to present the memory book to them. She even wore the dress that my Mom wore to her wedding breakfast!
After the DVD, a beautiful piano solo by Cami and a touching vocal solo by our one and only "Pop" (Steve), it was off to the surprise carriage ride around SLC for Mom & Dad. I think it was fun for them and added to the strong feelings of love that were there that night:)
More carriage ride...

40 years!! "Go get 'em Tigers!" We are just 25 years behind you! Watch out--time flies!

The Lion House grounds! Gorgeous girls! Just Beautiful!
Julie and Jennie had a cake replica made. They even had the original cake topper on it. It was so fun!
We tried to get them to smash the cake in each other's face j/k-but everyone was way too full from dinner to really cut the cake! It was such an incredible night to spend together as a family and cherish many years of memories in a few hours! We love ya Mom & Dad!

A Lifetime of Love...at Mile Marker 40 (Years)

My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary Sept. 19, 2008. We wanted them to have that day to do what they wanted but told them that we wanted to celebrate with them on Sept. 20th. All they knew was that we were meeting at the SLC Temple at 4:00 p.m. to do sealings together as a family and then we would like to take them out for a nice dinner!
Being in the sealing room in the temple was an incredibly spiritual experience for me. I had the "money shot" (sitting next to the sealer and Steve who was a witness when my parents were at the altar) of my parents' faces and the light was coming in through the elegant white curtains. To see their expressions and have all of my siblings and their spouses in that very room (dressed in white); the spirit was very tangible. No matter how cliche it is...It was a glimpse of heaven for me and I knew we were all going to be together forever!
We took pictures afterward. We asked one sister outside to take our family's picture. We could all see the camera move as she took it (several times) but there were not a whole lot of other people there to ask and we didn't want to hurt her feelings by asking someone else to take our picture after her! We'll pretend it was one of those awesome angled shots!
The tree that Steve and me had one of our wedding photos taken by (15 years ago) has apparently been moved. We found it and had memories of our freeeeeezing wedding day photos by that tree!
After the temple and pictures, we headed past my mom's old place of employment (the Church Office Bldg.) and surprised them with a family dinner at the Lion House. Here is a picture on the way over there, in front of the beautiful flower gardens. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! (More details in next post:)

Scrapbook Weekend!

Two times a year, my sisters, sisters' in law, parents, (and my brother Matt) come together for a relaxing weekend at my parents home. We try to leave behind all of the stresses of the world and our lives and just enjoy our time together! We actually scrapbooked years ago but it has evolved into a time where we can also get a project or two done or simply catch up on a movie and a nap! We also try to work in an outing or a lunch to make sure we actually shower once in the 72 hours! (I am so proud of myself for walking on the wild side and not showering one day! I think that is a first for me since I take 1-2 showers/rinses a day!) Here we are after eating lunch at Texas Roadhouse.
My Aunt Linnea and cousin Alicia were able to make the lunch as Uncle Kent was visiting from Florida.
Poor lighting on this picture but what handsome brothers! We miss the good ole days with Uncle Kent in Utah! He is quite a character and so fun to listen to.
More pics of the Gus relatives!
Of course my posts just wouldn't be the same without me posting pictures out of order (sorry I always forget that only 5 pics will upload at a time and it throws off my groove:) I was welcomed home by my kids--here are the boys showing off their "guns!"

My Mom makes the best fudge ever and she "whipped up" (2-3 hour process) a double batch before we returned to our homes. This fudge is a very fond memory for me and always reminds me of her Mom and all of the West Weber relatives! We might all be diabetic but you can't beat the good cookin! (Right after my 10 pieces of fudge, Kimi and me declared to each other we would lose 10 pounds by Thanksgiving. Jennie gave us her coveted diet and exercise tips to follow. Game on!)
Here are Timi and Tami working on their projects! Oh-"I apologize!!" It's Kimi and Cami! (Inside joke for us always accidentally messing up our two sister-in-laws' names! They are good sports to join such a wild and crazy Gus family! We love you guys!
Annissa set up her family's blog (Whitehouse Whippersnappers) and Kimi set theirs up as well (The Gus Squad). All of my siblings are now officially connected through the blogging world so we can know each other's inner-most thoughts! Jennie is such a great resource to all of us-- "Jen-nay wannabees" with her techy skills and cutting edge knowledge on everything. Behind Annissa on the computer is my gorgeous sister "Jul-lay" (not pictured at her request). She was in pain the whole time with an undiagnosed "aneurysm/stiff neck/migraine/MUCHO pain-o!!" We felt so bad for her having to use her only break from life to nurse her neck and head! She will be going to the doctor tomorrow to update us right!!?? Hope you are felling better Julie!
Here's the whole gang at lunch! We paired up so we could get the 2/$15.99 special! It was very good! Our waitress learned to like us within 10-15 minutes!
Mom & Dad continued their 40th Anniversary celebration since we had to have someone "ride the saddle" while we were there! After lunch, the girls slipped out to the movie "The Women." We thought it was pretty good. It was wild that there was only one man in the audience (with his wife) and the rest of the 20-30 people were women. It was funny how they nailed exactly how women talk and act. Home for more food (each of us took a meal cooking) and a chick flick. Thanks Steve and hubbies for doing such a great job with the kids! Thanks Mom & Dad for hosting! Thanks sisters for being so fun to hang out with! Thanks Matt for coming (until you guys have kids:) to keep us so entertained, help with sacrificial lamb errands, and just being so awesome! Until April everyone...goodnight!

We Miss You Mom!

We miss you SO much Mom! But hope you had a GREAT Scrap-Book Weekend! (As my mom puts it a little break from the house not the kids) :). Mom we just want to let you know how grateful you are to us and our everyday lives! Thanks for everything you do for us, such as gymnastics, karate, football, piano (hopefully one day we will be grateful that you had us do it), etc.! You are so great to have us all involved in the things we love! You are always working so hard for us and we hope you know how much we appreciate all the things you do! We love you so much, and to the moon and back! (that is in one of Kennedys books).
WE LOVE YOU MOM!!

-Mikelle, Dad, and the Kids

Ellis Island in Sandy, UT!

This weekend we were able to visit Sandy City's "Healing Fields" which were a tribute to the losses of 9/11 as well as simulation process of becoming a "True American!" (Process of immigration testing). Here we are at "Ellis Island" with a great view of Lady Liberty!
It was spectacular to see the hundreds of flags (on two fields) on such a gorgeous day!
As you walked through the field of flags, there were milestones/citizenship commitments to read through and initial on your "passport," indicating your acceptance of these principles.
Next we took our Citizenship Test and oath of Citizenship. Thank goodness we passed:) We then had our "passports" initialed by an Ellis Island Official and received our Citizenship Certificate.
It was a fun experience for the kids and then we headed out for a family dinner at Chilis!

The Rat Family

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Mikelle and Steve...the 8th and 9th Wonders!

As part of the 6th Grade curriculum this year, Mikelle had to make a model of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. She wanted to create the statue of the Greek God, Zeus. Off to Savers...came home with this hunky fireman doll and wall hanging to start the creation!
After a little bit of yarn hair and beard and a toga robe (material dipped in paint to mold it), she was on her way!
After the black coat of spray paint, Mikelle went to work on the gold!

Good Job guys! Looks like an A+ to me!!

Remembering 9/11...

I will never forget the morning of 9/11. The boys were babies and I had the 3 kids strapped in their high chair seats doing the "mass breakfast feeding" when I flipped on the TODAY show in the kitchen and saw the first building on fire. My jaw dropped and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was just in time to witness the 2nd plane crash into the WTC. I think everyone knew at that moment that it was terrorists instead of a possible horrible accident. Our lives (as Americans) have never been quite the same.
We love our great country and try to show our patriotism by lining the driveway/yard with flags.
Maybe we'll just have to get one big one to display instead:)
We are so lucky to have the freedoms we do!
We will never forget the horror of that day and will try to never take for granted our lives, liberty, and happiness! God Bless the USA!!

In Memory of... Beaker Dimond

Last weekend was kind of rough as we lost Steve's bird of 27 years. Cameron saw Beaker on his pole Saturday morning and he "didn't talk" but that afternoon, Kennedy comes running out of her room to tell us that "Beaker's dead." Of course we didn't think it was true at first as this bird has lived forever! He has survived multiple wing injuries where he caught his wing on the ladder in the cage etc. (losing blood). Sure enough, she was right. We were all in shock as we knew this day would come but never knew when. It was a somber and sad day for all of us.
By the time the shock passed, we were all in tears as we recalled his famous whistle, cute songs he would sing, and of course "barking like a dog" and "being a chicken." He loved to interact and talk to whoever walked by.
Our friends the Bakers were over at the time and probably thought we were nuts being so sad over a bird but it was a tear-jerker! Steve dug the grave and Chrisitian was the pallbearer:)
Christian placing him in the grave.
Our bunny marker now sits on the grave. We will miss you Beak! Beaker is irreplaceable so for now we won't be getting another bird. If any cousins want to "borrow" the condo-cage for their own bird experience, just let us know!

Thrown to the Wolves!

Two new wolves ready to join the cub scout pack!
Make that three of us! I had no sooner asked the RS Ed Counselor to "think of me" if there were any VT Superviser positions open when little did I know there were already changes in the works for new callings! I am one of the new wolf den leaders! Since the boys come into the den in about a month, Sister Wardell didn't mind if the boys start now. We have got some awesome guys. It will be fun to "get a clue" about scouting!
We made the trip to the scout store and dropped all of our Christmas money!
This will be a fun new adventure for all of us! How great to get to spend more time with the boys and have your calling directly benefit them at the same time! Go Scouts!:)