An Unfair Sentence

Today was an emotional day for us. On Feb. 7th, 2008, I was a witness to a fatal car accident. (You can look back in my blog to that date). A 21 year old man had way to much to drink and got behind the wheel of his car. His BAL was over 2 times the legal limit to drive. He was driving behind me at an estimated speed of over 100 miles per hour. When I noticed that he was driving close and recklessly behind me, I pulled over and he passed me and went over the median and hit a car...killing the man inside it instantly. The 21 year old drunk driver survived and was found to have open bottles in his vehicle. Today was his sentencing. During the sentencing I learned a lot about the 21 year old. He has prior records for reckless driving, driving too close to others, driving at speeds of over 100 miles per hour, etc. His brother also killed someone last year in a driving incident. He also admitted that he has on several occasions drank until he passed out. He is also a high school drop out. He showed no remorse in the court room at all and never had the COURAGE to say that he was sorry. I felt horrible for the family that lost their brother/son/dad/uncle/friend. He was 45 or 46 years old and had a son who is about to turn 8. All he wants is his daddy back, but he will never get this. He will never get the chance to do things with his daddy again! It was soo sad hearing the impact statements and seeing the sadness in the eyes of those who miss their loved one! What was the saddest thing of all though was the 21 year old only got a sentence of 48 months. He will only serve 2/3 of the time in prision. He also will subtract time served. So if he does a good job in prison, he will be released in about 2 years. This seems soooo unfair! This man took away another man's life and will serve hardly ANY time at all. The family of the man who is gone, will never see him again. They will never get to say good-bye, have another birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc with their loved one. How fair is that???? He knowingly got behind the wheel of his car after drinking as much as he did and he took someone else's life. I think of all the people who are serving time in prison for doing things that seem so much more minor than drinking and driving and killing someone. What kind of a message was sent today? I feel really sad for the family that lost their loved one!

Apple Orchard

Jamma and Riley on the wagon on the way to pick apples.

Aiden and I on the way to pick apples.

Riley and Aiden taking a break from waiting in line! The line was over an hour long...

Riley trying to reach for apples. He filled two bags and was so upset when any of them fell out of the bag!

Riley taking a break from apple picking.

Riley was so proud of all the apples he found!

Riley and Aiden in an apple tree!

Aiden would say, "Does this look like a good one Mommy?"

He loved taste testing the apples. He would say that they were a little tart and sweet!

Aiden showing off his apple!

Riley taste testing an apple.

Look at all the apples that we picked! It was a fun afternoon at the apple orchard!

RILEY THE STUNT MAN

Riley has been doing bike tricks for the past two summers. He wants to upgrade his bike to a motor bike some day! This weekend he asked if I would take pictures of him doing his bike trikes! We are so proud of how hard he tries to do something that he wants to do! :)

Flowers

Aiden and Jamma planted a bunch of flowers this summer. They are finally in full bloom. Aiden said, "They are looking good!" He is pointing to his favorite red one in the pictures!

Aiden's 5th Birthday!!!

It's hard to believe that our baby turned 5!!!!

One of the biggest hits of Aiden's birthday was teaching grandpa how to play the Wii! Wow! What belly laughs we all had!

I am five today!

Aiden got lots of Bionicles for his birthday! That's what he wanted!

Big smiles for his birthday!

Aiden liked playing with his big balloon!

Aiden got a camoflague outfit from Aunt Rachel and Uncle Dan. He loved wearing it. Riley had to find his matching outfit!

Aiden blowing out the candles on his cake!

Aiden wanted a Bionicles birthday cake for the longest time. About a week before his birthday, he decided that he wanted a pumpkin cake for his birthday! Aunt Becca made this for us!

Riley's First Day of First Grade

Riley is all ready to start FIRST GRADE!!!
Riley is waiting in line with his classmates!


Cousins...Lindsey and Riley on the first day of school. They both are in the same school this year!

Aiden missed his big brother. When Riley got home, Aiden came running to him!

Maxwell

One day after school, the boys and I took Maxwell out for a walk. He loves to stop and smell the flowers. Thought this was sooo cute. We were worried he might get stung by a bee...they were all over!

So cute!!!

What a day!!! Aiden is tuckered out and looked sooo cute tonight as fell asleep. I have a lot of posting to do...have pictures of Riley's first day of school and Aiden's fifth birthday! Will try to get them up this weekend! I had a root canal today! Want to rip the left side of my face off right now! WOW! Riley made it three weeks of school without getting sick...but was home today with a fever. Still had it tonight, so will stay home tomorrow. No strep! Yeah! Jamma stayed home today with the boys...was kept busy! Will try to post more later!

State Fair Fun!

At the end of the fair...the boys walking with Daddy!

They loved driving the tractors...lawn mowers...golf carts, etc.

Daddy and the boys!

How cute are they?

Aiden and Daddy on the Pirate Ship!

Riley on the Pirate Ship!

Mommy and the boys!

Look at the smiles! It made me sick watching them on the rides.

Hold on tight! Look at the smiles!

Yeah! I am tall enough!

The hit! Back scratchers!!!
The boys loved the balloon ride!

Posing for the camera!

Aiden and his back scratcher! It was worth going through part of the grand stand for these!

Icees!

Aiden was dipping his french fries in his icee!

Aiden's hit! He is such a fry guy! He doesn't care where we eat...as long as there are fries and ketchup there!

Smile!

Looking at the guys on the swing!

Riley called Becca. He started to cry when he talked to her. He was sooo excited! She was finally home from spending almost a month in Romania! He missed her soo much!

Aiden and Daddy in the Butterfly Garden. The butterflies were everywhere and landing on us!

Riley caught a butterfly! He was soo excited!

The boys on top of the giant slide!

Say Cheese!

Aiden freaked out when the butterflies landed on him. He was not sure what to think of them!

Riley loved catching them!

We went to the State Fair last week on Sunday! It was 76 degrees out and we thought it would be a perfect day to go! So did 200,000 other people. We were packed like sardines in the fair grounds and it really was not that fun! The boys enjoyed the couple stops that we made...but we didn't make many. We didn't go through the grand stand or enjoy many of the yummy foods that we usually do because the lines were way to long! The boys had fun on the rides! Overall, it was a fun day, but next year we probably will go on a weekday, early in the morning!