The Day Ended With Fireworks.

Last Saturday was our city's Heritage Days. We look forward to so many aspects of it every year. Here are a few of the highlights:
Saturday morning's car show. We saw lots and lots of very cool restored cars. Some from the 30's, some from the 50's and 60's and 70's. And even some very new ones. My kids were in heaven. We studied many an engine. Beautifully clean and sparkly engines.

Isaac was looking specifically for a 1967 Shelby. I've never heard of it. But Isaac was satisfied with many of the Ford 'Stangs.

That evening we went to the rodeo. Instead of getting there for the Mutton Bustin', which would have guaranteed seats up close, we got there after the main event began, thus seating us behind others who had already guaranteed an up close spot. We enjoyed pretzels and water (oh yeah, we know how to par-tay!) and the kids went up to the fence to watch.

I enjoy taking pictures and keeping identities private. Notice the skill in snapping the above shot with the fence rod neatly placed over the cowboy's face. I'm all about privacy. And of course, below you'll notice I got this cow gal's backside. I'm so good!

As the rodeo dwindled, the kids set out for other entertainment. There was this old minivan set aside for bashing. For just $2 you could beat on it for 1 minute. Sam won my last $2 and got to bash the van.

He made quite a few holes and dents. Daniel and I thought it might be a good idea to have something like that set up in the backyard for letting aggression fly and so forth.

We'll let you know if we come up with something...

He got to sign his name when he was finished. Ruthie snapped all the photos of him, so the guy told her to go put her name on it too. She was thrilled!

Sam in his Zombie Zone...

We set up our blanket and crap, I mean stuff, to get ready for the fire works. As young boys played football and kept crashing into people, and as teenagers (seen behind Ruthie) were running amok to show off, Ruthie chose to meditate. Isaac keeps hiding from the camera. And then when I finally have a good one, he goes in and deletes it. Isaac: if you hadn't deleted that awesome picture of you, you wouldn't be looking at this silly thang on my blog right now!

After 10 the fireworks finally began. After going to Hot Rockin' 4th last year, we decided that our city does way better fireworks! We thoroughly enjoyed theses!

Have an awesome day and don't forget to lay back and end the day to enjoy some fireworks.

Himnos En Espanol.

I used to speak Spanish extremely well. In fact, I often would be asked what part of Mexico I was from. I could speak fast and roll my r's and actually be understood. I even used fancy verb tenses.

I don't speak Spanish anymore.

Okay. I have tried. I go slow. My r's are still fantastic. My verb tenses? Well, I could use more practice.

I got my Spanish Hymn book out a few weeks ago. My kiddos were intrigued. So I began singing Spanish Hymns to them every night while they're in bed. Usually Daniel sings Hymns in English before he reads to them.
The other night Sam was having a really hard time falling asleep. He finally asked if I would sing to him. I asked him what he wanted me to sing. Spanish Hymns.

So I did.

When I sing the Hymns in Spanish, I almost feel like a missionary again. I recognize all the words and phrases that we would use to teach the gospel. Singing Spanish Hymns to my kids is one of my favorite things. And a great source of Joy.

Summer Fun!

So we made the trip up to get Vegeta. Our neighbor lent us his dog cage and we packed some snacks and left. The kiddos played with all the goats for a bit and then it was time to go. Here he is with Sam. He'd grown!
We got him up into the cage and locked him in. Have you ever been in a confined space with a goat?

Oreo didn't understand what was going on. "Whyyyyy are you taking hiiiiim?", she cried. "Don't taaaaake my baaaabbbbyyyyy..." We decided Oreo was in need of a day at the spa. We left some apples and goat feed for her.

By the time we got close to home the truck smelled. Really smelled. Bad. Stink. He had cried for a while then settled in.

He and Biscuit are friends. He is just a week older, but lots bigger. It will be interesting to see how they grow. They get along pretty well. Vegeta had bands around his horns and he was really sore. He didn't butt for a few days. Now I think he's ready for a good head butt.

Now on to other fun stuff. We got our garden in. Finally. Just too wet and cold. Now that the sun is out and it's hot stuff is growing. But so are the weeds. Rats!

We chose to get a pool this year. Nothing like going to your own backyard and swimming for a while. I went out one morning and didn't put sunscreen on because I wasn't going to be in long. I guess I was in too long. My shoulders were (are) fried. I haven't been burned like that since I went to Puerto Vallarta and fell asleep. In my swim suit. On a chair. On the beach. Very hot sun.

We spent a day at Lagoon-a-beach and then hit the rides. We are so happy with our Lagoon passes this year. They were definitely paid more than paid for in April!

We've had cousins over to play in the pool and on the tramp.

We've had a cookout on the grill.

We've planned our trip to Lava Hot Springs.

We've seen 4 of our summer movies.

We have a full calendar ahead!

Oh, and yesterday Sam took his zombie form. Here he is.

Our summer is fun. How's yours?

The Rules Of Summer Vacay.

I have 3 kids. We've been on summer vacation for 3 weeks now. Besides the fact that we get bored easy, no one was brushing their teeth. Or eating breakfast. So I made some rules.

This is the initial rule list. Eating breakfast MUST happen by 9 am. Otherwise they are out of luck and are hungry until lunch time. And lunch happens when I say it happens. Mean mom. But we have clean teeth, full tummies and things are generally more tidy. Oh. I'm also making money off my kids' lack of following the rules!
I had to throw some limits up for every day. And some ideas for boredom. Sometimes we forget that there are fun things to do. I threw in the $5 for reading a grade level chapter book on a whim. My summers as a kid were filled with book reading. So I'm making my kids read. And it will help Ruthie and Sammy earn faster for their DS systems. My goal is for them to have money to buy before we travel to California for our Disneyland trip.

There are other things that should be on this particular list to do this summer. Then I realized last night that the Manti Pageant ends next week. We won't be going this year. One big highlight is Lagoon. We have been going once a week since it opened and I now feel we have earned the right to never have to go back. Ever. But it's fun and we only spend a couple of hours each time. We will be going to Lagoon-a-beach with Daniel next week. The movie deal this year still includes our wonderful friends Kim and Jessica. But they've been added to. Cute EmmaLi is here. She's new from China and we think she's a doll. If we make it to all 12 summer movies (think really cold theater with soda and popcorn when it's 100 degrees outside) we get 4 free movie tickets each! We are looking forward to Autumn movies.

I'll let you know when we do the KOA Kamping. We have a destination, just need to find the dates.

Tomorrow we will add Vegeta to our pasture. We are so excited!

What A Day.

Being a Cub Scout Den Leader is fun and has some perks. Luckily I also have a Cub Scout. He happens to be a Bear, but we still get to share some fun things together as Dens. One such thing is Day Camp!!! Yay! We spent all day Wednesday up to Day Camp and had a blast. 20 of our boys came and they all had tons of fun.

We started with BB Gun shooting and then moved to Archery. Sam is in the hold position until the other boys are done shooting their arrows.
We did some Leave No Trace training and then got to do some leather working. Sam is pounding his leather to soften it.

We then moved on to a fun nature walk. There was so much water, but the boys were great about staying away and staying safe. We had lunch and then went to the water. Sam got to help paddle his boat. Look at that determination! After the water we went to the Trading Post to do some shopping and then did a fun obstacle course.

Sam and I were exhausted when we got home, but it was worth it! This is the last Cub Day Camp we get to participate in with our boys. Next year he'll be a Webelos and go to Webelos Camp and then it's on to Boy Scouts with Isaac.

One perk about 8-11 year old girls is they get to go to Day Camp, too. Look out next year...Ruthie will be shooting BB Guns and Arrows and paddling a boat. Just like her brothers!

And There Was Rejoicing All Around.

Little Buscuit is lonely. She cries. I'm really sad when she cries. Then she escaped! But only into the yard. But still. The kids watched to see where she was getting out and blocked those places. Then she got sly. She jumped the white fence and trotted through the neighbor's yard and then jumped back through the white fence and into our yard. Silly goat. So we had to chain her up. Sniff sniff. The chain was heavy. She cried. But she stayed put. We knew we needed to get a friend. Cass won't be bred and back until September. Way too long for a little lonely goat. So we looked at a couple of options. One: Go back to where Biscuit came from and get another goat. Two: See if we could fanagle something with Unlce Lewis.

Hmmm.

Remember this little guy?? Vegeta! He'll be coming back to us to stay this Saturday!
He's bigger than that now. He was born a week before girlfriend, here. He's already been wethered (fancy farmer speak for He Cain't Make No Babies) So Biscuit won't be breeding before her time.

The kids want to go get him tonight. Umm. It's like a 3 hour tour. A 3 hour tour. Sorry. Got swept up in Gilligan's Island memories. But really, it will take about 3 hours all said and done. Saturday morning we will rise and shine and give God the glory, glory and go get Vegeta!

Pictures will be forthcoming. And the rejoicing can be expected to last for quite some time.

A Thought For Thursday.

I saw this somewhere once and thought it was awesome.

******

Be the kind of

WOMAN

Who, when your feet hit the floor in the morning,

The Devil says,

OH NO, SHE'S UP.

********

Make A Meal.

And it's even Monday! Today's meal is an easy and yummy one.

Ham And Cheese Stromboli

You'll need:

1 frozen loaf of bread dough (thawed)

8 oz thinly sliced ham

8 oz sliced Swiss cheese

4 oz shredded Cheddar cheese

4 oz shredded Colby cheese

8 slices precooked bacon

Garlic powder

Roll out thawed loaf dough to about 18x12 inches

Lay out cheese, ham and bacon up to 1 inch of each edge

Sprinkle with garlic powder

Roll up jelly roll style long ways

Place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Then cover loosely with foil and bake another 15-20 minutes

Let stand 10 minutes before slicing

Serve with raw or steamed veggies

ENJOY!!

GUESS WHAT?!

When Daniel got home tonight he had the kids pull the long roots from a big nearby tree out of the ground that is our garden because the roots have been sucking the water out of our poor garden and so I got a quick picture of the pulling. And I got lonely for a goat. So I got on KSL and looked at some goats that went up yesterday right here in our neighborhood. And this is what happened. As the roots were being pulled.
I called and left a message for the gal to call me back. We knew her first name and know a family who lives nearby in which the hubby/dad is the brother to Daniel's brother's wife who has the same name as in the KSL ad. So our cousins are their cousins. When she called me back it was the right last name! Yahoo! I told her which goat we wanted...an 8 week old weaned doe. She started to sigh and I immediately said, "Oh, is she gone?" And she said NO! I was hoping for a really nice family to take her and I'm so glad you want her! Here she is.

We loaded the kiddos in the car and ran over to see all the goat kids. This kid is older than the rest because the billy got in the nanny pen and, well, the 9 year old daughter told her mom when she saw him in there that he was really calm. Sooooo, she kidded out weeks before the other nannies. This little one's sister got a new home a week ago and the human mama wanted a really nice home for this one. So we got her and took her home.

She's just smaller than Vegeta was when he left us. And she got right under the gate as the kiddos walked away. So now there are bricks there to keep her in. Poor baby. She needs a friend. She's making lots of noise out there. Sorry neighbors.

The kids went through dozens of names and finally one stuck. Her name is "Biscuit". And it fits. So if you missed coming to meet Vegeta and want to come visit us, give me a call and come see Biscuit. And us. We like visitors, too.

My kids will be up early!! We are happy we have a goat again. She is a cute kid!

And if you look closely you can see her Lady GaGa lashes! Could you just die?!

Mud And Curls.

Yesterday the kiddos went crazy. Wild. Dirty. They went to play in the backyard and turned on the hose. Like we haven't had enough water! But they were out there for hours.

This one came in first. He got cold. They each had to take a shower and get clean.

When Ruthie got out of the shower I showed her these. They're rags. I also needed her hair wet. She got nervous. "What are you going to do to me?!" I assured her she would love it. It's what my mom did to me when I was her age.

Wrapping the hair up in rags and keeping those rags in over night...

Results in beautimous curls in the morning.

For a girl with bone straight hair, I think we've found a great answer for curls!

Oh. And they all cleaned up very nicely. Even the boys.

Holy Long Time No Write Batman!

So it's like this. I haven't blogged in over a week. Does that make me a bad blogger? Um. No. I've been busy. Looky here. You'll see...

We needed new shoes. Stat. Stat means now! So we hightailed it over to the shoe store and replenished our footsies with new summer shoes. In case you can't see Sam's tennie there, it is in serious need of some duct tape to keep his toes in. Ruthie is showing off her new foot ware.

Why is it that kids can be so offended that their shoes are so worn out that we can't give them to DI?? I ask you! The last week of school was full of stuff. Kid school stuff. I already showed Isaac off in the 5th grade Wax Museum. Here is Sam in the 3rd grade reader's theater. The class offered 3 small readings. Sam was a Chicken Pig in his group's reading. He was an awesome Chicken Pig. "Cluck cluck here and a cluck cluck there..." Isaac finally had enough money save to buy his very own DS. We have paydays on Saturdays for our kids. Tithing is first, missionary fund is next, then comes the fun money. They can do whatever they want with it. Isaac saved for something. Then it occurred to him...DS. Now the other kids are saving frantically for their own. Somehow it just means more when you have to work hard for it! On Thursday there was the annual Field Day. I did popcorn. I have been on the PTA popcorn committee all year. It's so fun. It was a cold day, but fun to see all the kids and pass out popcorn.

Friday was the last day of school and the beginning of the family reunion up at the Ranch.

We got all our goods out and ready to load into the truck. Then we were off! Our first stop was in St John to see...

Uncle Lewis' goats.

Hello!!! It's Oreo and Blackjack!

And Cass!

Breeding doesn't happen until August. So we'll get Cass back in September.

As we drove away Sam called out, "Goodbye Cass. Have fun getting pregnant!" And of course, Vegeta.

He butted and played and wouldn't leave the side of the truck when we were ready to leave.

He was so happy to see the kids. My kids. He's getting big and Uncle Lewis even told us that the kids trained him well. Whenever he goes to see the goats and leaves his car door open, Vegeta jumps right in. Silly goat.

There was also a llama.

We stayed away from the llama.

We also found piggies.

Such cute piggies.

We came home in the rain on Saturday night and on Monday set up a new trampoline. The old one bit the dust. It was still cold and rainy on Monday. We did grill however. Poor wet Daniel.

We are in our first week of summer vacay and just when you think the weather is awesome, it gets cold and threatens rain. We are praying for those whose lively hoods are threatened by the rain and snow runoff. We are wet, but we are safe.
And maybe I'll blog a little more....