Saturday, September 12, 2009

Sam's Birthday, Part 1

Grandma, this post is for you!!

Around our house birthdays and holidays have to work around Tom's schedule. Therefore, we celebrated Sammie's birthday a week early (actually it's been more like a week long celebration!). She hadn't had a birthday party in three years, so we told her she could have a big one for her 10th, and she chose cosmic bowling. It was so fun! She ended up with a lot of cousins, as well as aunts and uncles, in the mix. Cousins, bowling, pizza, cake, balloons and presents--what more could she ask for?

I promised Jen I'd take lots of pictures (I tried, but it was chaos with so many people!), so here goes:


Part of the birthday bunch: Quincy, Lynsie, Kalia, Tyler, Susie, Carly, Sam, Spencer, Travis, Nicole, Grant, (Tommy's hiding), and Ty-ty (try saying that ten times fast!!)

Sam, Nicolette (sorry Nicole, love my nicknames) and Kalia

Little Ems wasn't exactly happy to be stuck in the stroller!

Tommy trying to "help" Lynsie


Aww, cousins--Quincy, Sam, Carly and Susie

Travis after a strike (what a kid!)

Ty sporting some bowling shoes

Bruno, the Frenchman--we love him!

Aww, sisterly love--Lorena and Shari

Aunt Lorena rescued Ems from the stroller

Tom, aka Daddy, spent most of his time filming (I've yet to see that birthday video, Tom!)

Tyler (not happy I took his picture!)

Eric, Bruno, Jen, Carlita (sorry Carls, you know I love nicknames), Lorena, Matt

The (almost) Birthday Girl!

I don't know if Matt's imitating Susie, or Susie's imitating Matt . . .


The Busy Baker Bunch

Bishop and Sister Baker (and Ty-ty's head)

Lorena and Granti-grew

Aww, Lynsie and Spenc--they do like each other occasionally
One of the few times I saw Miss Emily cry on the whole trip--what a good baby!

Getting ready to cut the cake

Tommy looks a little drunk, but look at cute Nicole (who also has a birthday soon!)

Scotty-roo (too much noise and confusion, so Clint and Scotty ditched us for a while)

Travis, our drummer, and Tyler on lead guitar (I think I heard all kinds of nice things like "you stink, you're an idiot") Aww, brotherly love . . .
Enough confusion for one birthday, right?!?!

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Friday, September 11, 2009

Where Were You?

I remember hearing my mom say that she could remember where she was when she heard JFK was shot, or where she was when she heard Elvis died.

So where were you on September 11, 2001? It was the day before Sammie's 2nd birthday, and I was standing in my bedroom in front of the television with nothing on but a towel. At the time, we lived in South Weber, Utah, and I had just gotten out of the shower--getting ready for daycare kids to come. Right as I was climbing out of the shower, the phone rang. My mother-in-law was on the other end and told me to turn on the TV. At this point the first plane had hit, and there was some confusion as to what was going on. About five minutes after turning on the TV, the second plane hit the second tower. It was then that talks of it being a terrorist attack unfolded.

Tom was in Sierra Vista, AZ, where he was based back in the day. I called the "crash pad" to wake him up and have him turn on the TV as well. By this time the towers were collapsing.

I was glued to the TV in disbelief, but I had daycare kids to look after and two flooring guys coming to replace some of the wood in the entry that had been damaged during a previous storm. I watched on and off throughout the day in shock as the dust and smoke rose in the blue sky. I watched as the FAA shut down the whole air system. All flights were grounded, which meant Tom was stuck in Sierra Vista. I watched so many people screaming and crying. I remember the news replaying over and over clips of people jumping to their death from the towers.

By that night, I was in shock and scared; you see, I'm a worrier by nature, and this whole day was like something out of a movie. I just wanted Tom home with us. Since he couldn't just hop the next flight home, Tom and another pilot, Kyle, and Kyle's wife and baby, rented one of the last cars and headed north--Tom to South Weber, and the others on to Boise. I think he made it about 5:00 the next morning.

September 11th is a day that will forever be etched in my memory. So where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
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