A Sweet Documentary

While watching T.V. with Mom during dinner, I usually try and find something out of the ordinary to watch. Today I found one of the coolest documentaries I think I've ever watched on T.V. After watching it, I wanted to see what the actual documentary was, so i googled it and here's what I found.
This documentary is called Pororoca, and it is about a couple of hardcore surfer dudes who go to the Amazon and surf the longest wave in the world, which is called by the local villagers Pororoca meaning, "great destructive noise." This wave doesn't occur very often, but when it does, it spans the entire Amazon River and is a continuous wave occuring for up to 35 minutes. 35 MINUTES! The documentary had some sweet footage of these guys on surfboards for like 20 minutes just surfin' around, and doing tricks. I searched for some other pictures and I found some cool ones:
Haha this wave just goes on and on and on and on.....
It looks really muddy and apparantly it is really dangerous, partly because of the fact that you are surfing with the piranhas and other carnivorous fish, but I still thought it was pretty much the coolest surfing experience anyone could have. Imagine just surfing straight for 20 minutes or so. One of the guys on the documentary is like, "On a normal ocean wave you get a good wave that lasts for about 30 seconds. Here you can surf for as long as you want. Its a dream come true!" Anyway, I thought that I'd share that with everyone. Haha, until next time!

Boynton Family Mission

Boynton Family Mission

Well, Andy has blogged, and Dad has blogged, I guess it's my turn.

There is a certain book that was required summer reading for all ASM 11th graders, that means Andy. About a week before school started the mother of the only other LDS student at the school called me to see if Andy had read the book. She said her daughter had started reading it and was pretty offended by some of the stuff in it. I called Andy, who was in the US and asked if he had read it. He said no, because he had started it and it was dang boring, and last year they never even mentioned the summer reading book in english. So I told him that it was fine with us if he didn't read it since some of the material in it was objectionable. Case closed.....well, maybe not! He is now trying to figure out what they are talking about in class as they discuss the book and they have a quiz on it today. Consequently, last night he was frantically studying the "cliff notes" on line (they are not called "cliff notes" but it is something similar) and skimming certain chapters in the book. Well, I could have saved him all this trouble if I had done what the other LDS mother had done which was call the school principle, object to the book and have an alternate book assigned (Great Expectations in this case), but Andy wasn't interested in that option ( why should I read a 700 page book when all the other kids only have to read a 300 page book!) Fine, they probably won't even talk about either book anyway. Wrong!

So, last night as Andy was laboring over the "cliff notes" Dad and I were wondering together what this LDS girl in the same class did while everyone was discussing said book and she had read Great Expectations. Now I have told this whole story just as a background to this morning's funny experience.

While Dad was in the shower and Andy and I were fixing breakfast I asked Andy, "so what is this girl doing in class while everyone is discussing this book neither of you read and what will SHE do during the quiz today?" Andy's answer , "I dunno".

Later I was making the bed while Andy and Dad were eating breakfast and I heard Dad ask, "so what is this girl doing in class while everone is discussing this book neither of you read and what will SHE do during the quiz today."

I laughed and yelled into the kitchen, "you don't have to answer that again, Andy". He calmly said, "Oh, I'm used to answering the same questions from you and Dad all the time. It's no problem. I'm only concerned about when I get the same question from the same person in a 5 minute time frame. When that starts happening that's my cue to leave." We told him that was when he has to start taking care of us, but he handed that duty off the the "older kids".

That's it. My first blog. It's harder that it looks. Love, Mom

Hi All. Just wanted to practice putting up some photos.

Here's one of Mom and Dad.


And here's Andy...

haha :). CIAO FROM ITALY

Thanks to my incredible kids

This thanks is long overdue. I'm still tired (at least for another 10 months) but I just couldn't let another day go by without thanking you all for your birthday notes. Your notes and Carrie's birthday and day in the Temple have made me feel very nostalgic and very appreciative for a wonderful family. I love you all and pray for your well-being every day! Are you supposed to say things like this in a blog? This is a totally new medium for me and I'm not sure what the rules are. Pazienza. Probably not the first mistake I'll make in this new high-tec world we will be coming home to.

Thank goodness for Andy! He has developed a nice helping attitude towards Mom and me with this horribly slow and counter-intuitive computer stuff. Glad you guys have it all figured out! Just don't leave the old folks behind...

We love reading everyone's stories and seeing the pictures of the kids. You all are so cute, handsome, and funny. I will try to figure out how to make comments on your blogs so I don't have to write a long story about missionary life every time I sit down at the computer. My journal writing skills are non-existant and who knows what it will take to bring me up to speed in the future!

Well, now I must sign off. It is 9:40 pm and I have to set apart a boy from Rimini who is going on his mission tomorrow. His train didn't leave there until 8:30 pm and he is arriving in Milano Centrale at 11:30 pm, then my assistants will bring him to the mission home around midnight. Then they will take him to the airport at 5:30 am! We will have zone conference in Alessandria at 11:00 am tomorrow and then on Tuesday Clyde and Linda Wilkinson will arrive here to begin their mission in the office. The Whites will leave the mission on Oct 13 and then Clyde and Linda will be on their own! We will love having them here.

Bye for now, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz dad

Cross-Country @ Aviano

Well this weekend our family traveled to the American base located in Aviano, which is about a 3 hour drive from Milan. It is a little further than Venice. I (Andy) had yet another 5K challenge there, which I would currently like to give a play-by-play account of what happens and what goes through my mind while running for 19 minutes. haha :)
Many things go through one's mind while running 5K (roughly 3.1 miles), and in this particular race, I had three large 1 Mile laps to think about. At the beginning of the race, you're pumped up and ready to go. All I want to do is get the race over with, and do as well as I can. The first straightaway is probably the most exciting, surrounded by a whole bunch of boys who have idiotically decided to RUN, of all things, everyday as their sport, all of which are wearing extremely short shorts (just like myself and teammates). The first lap passes by rather quickly, and before I know it, I'm on to the second lap. As I pass the lap marking, where Mom and Dad are cheering me on, I get the usual, "Good job Andy, keep up the good pace!" from Dad, and the "You've got a huge lead Andy! Go!" from Mom. Haha, I always get the coaching from Dad, and the support/worrying from Mom. The second lap passes uneventfully, and it is about the third lap I start to wonder to myself, "Why on earth am I pushing myself this hard? I'm so freaking tired! Why the heck did I even join cross-country?" Its when I pass the finish line that I understand why. I placed 3rd behind two of my teammates, with a time of 19:04. Not too bad for the first race of the season. After passing the finish line, it feels SOOOO good to stop running and let your body cool down, while drinking water and cheering on the rest of the team. As soon as I can get some photos, I'll see what I can do about posting'em. Anyway, thats my little bit on how I feel during a 5K. Here's Mom and Dad.

Well.... Mom and Dad are too tired to write anything they say, so they'll make a new posting tomorrow. See ya'll later.

Hi! We're just starting this blog, with no time to write yet. Arrivederci. A presto!