Freedom!

Well, all the men at our house are gone for an entire week. Don and the boys have left for scout camp at Steiner until Saturday. They pulled out of here with 14 other boys & leaders yesterday morning. My boys & hubby were excited to go. Darek & Parker are going to work on a climbing merit badge and with lots of prayers, they will both pass the COLD water swim check & be able to earn their canoeing and rowing merit badges. The girls and I are going to go up on Friday morning and spend the night, then bring back a load of boys Saturday morning.

The girls and I have freedom for one week. That means no cooking of meals and SHOPPING! I'm having to work 3 days of the week & so not lots of time to party, but enough. We plan to do some shopping on Wed. and attend the Oquirrh Temple Open House.

I do have to say that even though they have only been gone one day, I miss them all! Our house was way to quite last night. As the saying goes, "Can't live with them. Can't live without them.

Oh My Gosh! He's 15!

Okay, it is hard to believe my first born is 15. He is growing up so fast. We celebrated Darek's birthday over the 4th of July weekend with a party at the pool. Aunt Aly rented the depot pool and Darek invited a couple of friends, Zach and Dillon Bates to come and hang out. It was also great to have lots of family. Karen & Phil were in California (and we missed them), but everyone else was there. We were glad that Uncle Paul, Aunt Barb, Justin & Mariah and their kids, and Bethany & Josh could join us. The Jones' were also able to attend and that was great.

Lucky for us the weather cooperated and we had no rain (thanks to lots of praying). It was beautiful weather and fabulous to have the entire pool to ourselves. There was lots of stunts off the diving boards (even some of the little ones tackled the diving boards), swimming races, basketball games, & little bodies going up & down the slide!

After the pool party we went back to our house and had cake and ice cream and presents. Darek received just money from everyone. He is wanting to purchase some new riding gear, so that's what he'll do with the money.

Thanks to everyone for making his birthday so great! We love you Darek & are so proud of the young man you are becoming.

God's Country

Our trip to Ibapah was terrific! It was great to have the whole family (including 7 dogs) together and enjoy the beauty of what dad calls "God's Country." The kids had fun riding ATV's, playing on the playground, feeding Kyle Batemans baby calves, and having water fights with Aunt Aly & Uncle Ty.

The first day we were there Parker decided to be "Evil Canevil" (as Uncle Ty now calls him) and tried to make a jump while riding the motorcycle. Needless to say, he didn't quit make it and landed on the front tire of the bike and sent him & the bike end over end. Miraculously nothing was broke, but he did a great job of bruising most of his right leg and arm and giving himself a good rode rash. By Saturday night he was back on a bike, but no jumping.

Our good friends,Dameon & Laurel Jones & their kids were able to come with us. We were so glad to have them join us and enjoy the beauty of this area. Thanks to Candice for taking care of Parker and making him laugh when she told him that "Chicks dig scars!"

We attended Church on Sunday and were the majority of the congregation. There was 32 people in attendance and 22 were from our family. It is rodeo time and so many of the people in Ibapah were at the Lehi roundup.

Trixie surprised us all and chased and caught her first rabbit. It was amazing! She ended up with a cut pad on her front paw and spent the rest of the time hobbling around or I think she would have caught another one.


I think one of the funnest things was the water balloon fight with Aly & Ty. Aunt Aly brought a pool which we put on the small piece of grass in front of the school. She also bought 500 water balloons and we used all of them!!! On Sunday, it was really hot and Ty filled about 60 water balloons and then launched them on the kids and Aly. It was quite a site and everyone had fun dowsing each other in water.

Swimming pool $15, water balloons $5, 45 minutes to fill the balloons and 5 minutes of priceless memories!

Thanks everyone for a great time!!!!!!!

Fantastic Trip!

The boys recently returned from a trip with Grandpa & Grandma. They went to Ohio and New York to see some church history & US history sites. Their first stop was at Niagra Falls, which the boys said was AWESOME. Parker particularly liked seeing the falls at night as they changed colors. They were able to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist and learn about how the falls came to be. They were surprised by how much power the water generates. They went and saw some of the Locks on the great lakes, which Darek LOVED! He was totally fascinated by the concept of the locks.

Next they went to Palmyra, where they visited the Sacred Grove and homes of Joseph Smith. Parker even took the opportunity to roll down the Hill Cumorah! They went down to Kirkland and visited the temple and some of the sites there. They also had the chance to visit the Amish country and were surprised by the horse & buggy transportation.

Of course the highlight of the trip was finding a couple John Deere Tractors. Some were for sale & I think if Darek could have, he would have brought one of them home. He was able to see a 9000 series tractor, which is one of the largest made John Deere tractors. He was in heaven. The boys were also surprised by how green this area of the country is and all the tall trees.

They had the best time giving Grandpa crap and listening to Grandpa's jokes (Dad came up with some good ones!) And for the first time in his life, Grandpa was in a hotel room with more boys than girls! Despite a little rain, it was a great trip! Thanks mom and dad for spending the time with them. It will be a great memory for them!