Chili, Chilly.... nope, CHILE!!!!

I was very excited, if only by way of phone call, to be part of my parents very big moment yesterday. To hear my mom read the words that they have been called to serve as missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a very proud moment for me... I am very proud to be your son mom and dad. The cheers went up in the background as mom read that they will serve in the Chile, Santiago mission. Having gained a real love for the people of South America through Alexi, my parents are thrilled to be also given the chance to live and serve the people in this are of the world. But I must make the point that even the Lord thinks they are meant to be on the coast looking out at the Pacific Ocean :)

Bullies... wow

So I know I just added the update blog yesterday and pics today but events from yesterday just shocked me. I came home from school to find Lara hanging out in the front yard while the boys rode their bikes/scooters around the block. As Lara and I were talking Elijah was up on the neighbors driveway when some punk kid older than him rides up on his bike (this kid was from just down the street) and blocks Elijah's path. No words were said so Elijah simply tried to back up, turn his scooter and go around. Then the punk kid scooted his bike up again to block Elijah's new path. Elijah, confused, and coming off a good lecture the day before for hitting his cousin Nate when Nate was being mean to him, once again tried to simply avoid the situation. This kids then proceeds to push Elijah in the chest. Lara spotted this act and hollered over to the kid to cut it out. The punk replied by staring Lara down as he rode his bike away. We kinda laughed this event off, although we were in shock with the attitude of this kid. So then a few minutes later Kaleb is riding his bike over near the house of this kid and his two older brothers. The oldest of the brothers (about twice the size of Kaleb) then proceed to start swearing at Kaleb and taunting him to fight him or something. From a far I simply saw Kaleb being surrounded by these 3 bullies. Kaleb attempted to just ride away but the oldest kept following him taunting him. I only heard the last couple taunts as I arrived on the scene to (and I assure you I was very kind in my manner) stand up for my boy and give it to this punk bully. I was very proud of both my boys as in both situations they showed the maturity often not shown by older men to just walk away from the bully. They definitely taught me a great lesson today.

Pictues Pictures Rah Rah Rah!!!

Yeah Pictures... 4 month summary of events....

yes we do still live in Beautiful Britis..... I mean Saskatchewan. Despite the snow its actually starting to grow on me.




During those winter months when the temperature drops down to -40 degrees Celsius our boys find it important to stay in shape... now if only the parents felt that same drive...





I think Grandma has a serious spider problem... she says we brought it with us when we moved in... I am not too sure.


For Christmas we wanted to give the kids something special and something we could all enjoy together... and since a family that rocks together stays together...


We have two sets of drums... little boys love to play with things and that lead Kaleb to breaking one of the symbols... so that set are for Elijah... this way he can come and go during the song and it does not get our act boo'd off the stage.




New Sunday Duds... although Lara doesn't like it Kaleb loves to style his hair... the crazier the better. He often goes to the "bathroom" in church and comes back hair soaked and dripping on him, but fully spiked.



Lara is alive and she is still the favorite girl of the three boys in this family... Elijah tells her every day that she is the prettiest.



Easter is always a fun time for kids. We try to leave Sunday as a religious, Christ centered day... which gives the bunny time to go to see everyone else and then hit our house the following day. The boys had a great time finding their chocolate treats.




Finally the snow is gone and we are able to come out of the cave and start using the big back yard...


... and what is even nicer is how fast the ground goes green around here. I took this picture this morning.

What?!... Inhale... Exhale.... Go

So I am told that this thing doesn't just update automatically for me... mmm... must create new technology. So its been only 4 months and a few things have happened in that time... and despite questions no Lara is not going to be prego again, even if Adam put "maybe" in her writeup :).
So lets start this update process...

Adam is definitely enjoying being back in school again... even if his waist line isn't too happy about its growth. But I do have the eternal promise to myself to start working out again.... we shall see. I am currently mid semester for my summer classes and all that entails. Summer classes are a different experience, as one of them is 8 months of classes crammed into a 6 week course, the work load is intense.

Lara continues to work at Extra Foods and has even brought her sister Lisa into the now "family business". She is also the proud new owner of real Eye ware, not the stunning pair she had been using for driving for many years. And the verdict now that she can actually see is that she still loves me.

Kaleb is approaching the end of Kindergarten and we are amazed at how quickly he is learning. Reading and writing skills are progressing wonderfully and through some work with the speech therapist he has learned to finally pronounce his C's, T's, and K's. He now likes to eat Cookies and not tooties. We have bought him a new bike and this is the year the training wheels go off, more to come on that later.

Elijah is adapting to all the changes of moving in with Grandma and Grandpa and having Mom and Dad not be there anymore. He is really enjoying the nice weather that has finally arrived and finds many ways to get into trouble in the back yard.

More updates and more importantly pictures to come... we will try not to wait 4 months till the next post.

And so it begins...

In an effort to write more about the things we do as a family and to take more pictures, we as a family have decided to give this whole blogging thing a try. Our family consists of 4 people at the moment.

Adam Neil Runquist


Adam is currently attending the University of Saskatchewan earning his Bachelor of Arts in History. School seems like it has been going forever as Adam has definitely taken the slow track. With his degree Adam hopes to find employment in education as he actually enjoys teaching youth. Adam's first and most important achievement is his family. He also has a passion (though Lara would call it a disease) for sports of all kinds. He is especially loyal to his hickey team the Vancouver Canucks and his football team from across the pond, Manchester United.


Lara Jean (Kilistoff) Runquist


Lara, due to the lovely financial situation in the world today, has pulled up her skirt yet again for this family and taken on a new job at Extra Foods, providing the family with a little extra money while Adam attends full school full-time. Lara is the most giving and kind person in the world, and as such we feel blessed as a family to have her. Lara loves to read more than anything, and the daily phone call from the local library letting us know the latest book she requested is in stands as a testimony to that fact. Despite a late start, Lara has expanded her culinary ability to extend far beyond her days of only making Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and has definitely followed in her own mothers footsteps, becoming quite the cook (yet again her family is thankful).



Kaleb Donald Runquist


Kaleb was born on April 11, 2003 and hasn't stop moving since then. He has made us smile since day 1 and we feel so blessed to have him our life. He started kindergarden this past September and is just loving school so far. Mid year we made a family move and Kaleb had to go through the unenviable task of changing schools. Not only has he taken on this new challenge with a positive outlook, we recieved a great gift from his former teacher Mrs. Black when we picked up his school supplies. She was very sad to see Kaleb go, stating that "why does it have to be Kaleb? He is almost always the first to finish his projects and then clean up. And then he always goes around helping others with their projects and clean up." Kaleb always thinks of others first, especially his little brother, with whom he has proudly taken on the role of idol.


Elijah Alan Runquist


Elijah is our youngest (and maybe last) child. He was born on December 6, 2004. Elijah came out of the womb ready to rock. He is always the one to tell us that we need to turn the music up in the car or at home, and he loves to really rock out. Not a day goes by that Elijah doesn't find a way to make those around him laugh, pull their hair out, and then laugh again. He does things at his own pace and on his own schedule. His uniqueness is just one of hte many things that makes us love him so much. As is the case with his older brother, Elijah seems to have endless energy, always ready to wrestle with Daddy, and unfortunately ready to get into trouble if his energy isn't focused. Elijah is also fiercely protective of his mother and has been since he felt big enough to be. If Daddy tries to tickle Mommy, also she has to do is let out one loud laugh and in come the cavalry, with arms a flying. As daddy has learned, Elijah does not hold back and is fearless with his flying tackles.