All I can say is...

I wish I was an AutoBot... BOO Freakin' Yeah.

Pinewood Derby anyone?

Our ward (The Elder's Quorum put it on) had a little Pinewood Derby this morning. So imagine a bunch of young couples, lots of babies, and the occasional Derby dork are all included in this little excursion. If you have ever been to one of the functions, you know that people come ready to race. Their cars are legit, the gear is legit, and they have got their game faces on. Never have a I seen a group of adult men act like nothing is more precious than the moment you hear go. Wifes sit and cheer on their husbands car, although secretly they really don't care. Needless to say, Devan and I did not go in ready to win. We were missing the Mini a bit (can't you tell?), and decided to make our car a Mini. We went in knowing that we would be last place, and had no problem with that, as long as a little piece of our lives and our hearts could be entered into this race. After taping coins all over the car to give it a little extra weight, we were on our way. First couple of races go by and we haven't gone yet, there are a couple of cars that are going real fast... All we can think of is, "Remember how much fun the Mini was?" and not caring about what place we take, not even caring if our car made it to the end. When our turn gets up, we end up taking 2nd place, behind the car that won 1st place. I found myself after a couple of rounds making secret gestures and mouthing words to Devan of how we could place our coins and weight so that we would win... "Put it at the back. You need to put an ounce of weight at the back. Make sure you get some graphite on your wheels. I'm telling you, if you put more weight at the back we will win!.. ect." We ended up getting 3rd place overall. There were 14 other racers, so we give ourselves a high five. I can now consider myself a lover and official Pinewood Derby Dork. Here's to you Dev, thanks for making the best car there ever was!

The Elders Quorm in our ward put on a Pinewood Derby

No Time For Laugh Dr. Jones

First, a formal apology for the lack of posts for the past months. The Stiles' family has been busy. Between working lots of hours, selling the Mini (still a tough subject), looking at lots of houses, deciding to build a house, deciding against building a house, getting ready to move into a new apartment, wishing we didn't have to do the actual moving of apartments, getting really excited for Mckae and Nates wedding, being super pumped for little bro Collin to play college soccer in Cheyenne, WY, trying to figure out travel plans all over the mid-west to attend those soccer games, writing posts about my wonderful cuz Rob, having a wonderful pregnant sister ( kiddo#4) and a wonder pregnant sister-in-law (kiddo #3) seeing lots and lots of midnight movies and solid summer flicks, becoming painting extraordinaires when it comes to random pieces of furniture, becoming Handy Manny's when it comes to sprucing up your house, busy with the NBA finals, having another visit to the vet for one of the turtles, watching So You Think You Can Dance and loving every second of it, eating better, working out, losing weight, wishing we could go to Italy, Ireland or Hawaii, spending lots of time at Hokulia Shave Ice and becoming snow cone maker extrodinaires (Clint and Stef's new WONDERFUL shave ice place * see star below), and finally, having a new addition to our little clan...

Let me formally apologize for the not so great quality of pictures. All these two Stiles' managed to think of was to bring our phones, so pictures are courtesy of IPhone.

And now introducing D. Howard Stiles: He will simply be known as Howard.

Here is our new little guy. Howard is a black male Great Dane. (Here is where you insert your joke about it not being a dog, but a horse - not to hurt anybody's feelings, but yes, we have heard that one before...so yeah if we laugh, it is a courtesy laugh.) Howard is the oldest of his 6 brothers and sisters. He has 3 brothers and 3 sisters. He has white on all four of his paws and a little bit on his chest. He also has these beautiful almost tiger like stripes down his fur on his back, which we hope stays because it will be absolutely beautiful. Hard to believe that something so small will grow so quick.

Here is Howard's mom who is a 2 year old beautiful fawn great dane. She has some of the softest fur I have ever felt. She is 32 inches tall and weighs 125 pounds.

And here is Pops. Dad is obviously black and has the same white patch on his chest and paws. Dad's name is "Moose" and he is 35 inches tall and 185 pounds. Big boy, however one of the sweetest dogs you'll meet.
Welcome Howard. We promise to get you a great cushy bed and lots of yummy food to keep your big tummy full.

Sorry for the long post, it is long overdue, so I guess I felt it necessary to try and explain everything in one post. Thank you, Thank you for reading.


*Ever had a snow-cone in hawaii with the amazing flavors and ice cream in the middle? Well that is what Hokulia Shave Ice is, and if you would like more details on where or anything about it, let me know.

Ode to Rob

My cuz-in-law approached me yesterday in hopes that I could dedicate a post in his behalf. If I was smart enough to create a "Real Men of Genius" ad for you, I would have. Needless to say, I don't have the connections - so your getting a poem.
(If you don't know what "Real Men of Genius" is, turn up your speakers and listen here)

So here's to you Rob...

Rob is the man
Besides his choice in sports teams
We are glad to have him in the fam.

His love for red
And those runnin' Utes
Makes me want to drop dead.

We may not see eye to eye
When it comes to most things sports
But for being family, we sure do try.

It was obviously fate
That you married my cousin
But seriously Rob, I think your great.

*All copyrights for this poem are owned by Lauren. It was that good.*