My Favorite Things.

I simply remember my favorite things ..... And then I don't feel so bad! Aah. I like Julie Andrews. And I like The Sound Of Music. Here are a few of my favorites right now.

These guys. No need to explain. They just are.

Have you tried the new Mango Pineapple smoothie from Mcds? Holy Cats Batman. Good stuff. My new favorite treat! Try it. You'll like it.

I am a dryer sheet fanatic. I have used them since I was old enough to do laundry. But they get messy. You know, they end up all over the house and fly out of the trash because they are light and fluffy. Then I tried this. You stick it in the dryer.

And you don't have to remember to put a sheet in and you don't have to track the sheet down when you pull the clean clothes out. It's lovely. The packaging says it lasts 4 months. This is my second one in half the time. I guess I do a ton of laundry. Try it. You'll like it.

And finally, my blog books. This year I got one book. I guess the blog train has slowed a bit the last year. But I love it still.

Daniel put a quote from Time Bandits in the front. If you haven't seen Time Bandits. Do it. You'll like it.

As a surprise, Daniel did an extra this year. Once Upon A Time. It's our story that I blogged a couple of years ago. On the edge there is says, "The love story of Daniel and Jennie". I love it.

And of course, he put another Time Bandits quote on the inside. Funny guy!

The Ranch and The Other Tire Story.

Hey! I'm on a roll. Here's another post already! We spent a weekend up at the Ranch with grandma and grandpa and aunt Mary Alice, uncle Richard and 2 of their kids, Austin and Audrey. We had loads of fun. One day it rained. And rained. See the rain?
Look at the grumpy girl. She didn't want to go for a ride with us in the Durango. We had new tires and could drive 2 mile road without thought. But we were disrupting 4 wheeler riding. But it had just rained buckets, so we were going somewhere else. Sam came too. Isaac got out of it.

Here's what happened to the new tires we'd just put on the Durango. Caked with mud. It had just rained buckets, remember? Duh. Driving on dirt roads that have just been rained buckets on turn to mud roads. Deep mud roads.

We sloshed and slushed and thought we were gonna die as we swished from one side of the road to the other. One side was mountain, the other? drop off. But we got some great pictures of the surrounding beauty as we sloshed and slushed along.

Beautiful flowers and stuff. Everything had just been washed from the rain and was clean and bright!

But the road wasn't. It was just deep mud. And so on we went.

It's really hard to tell how much mud was really there. My tires aren't that thick. There was like 3 inches of mud on each tire and caked under the truck. But, boy was it fun!

When we got to gravel road we enjoyed the scenery better. We also took potty breaks. But I didn't get pics of that. There were lots of cows and calves and sheep. We saw this deer, too. Did you know that the deer in the mountains of southern Idaho have one side of legs shorter than the other? It's so they can stand on the mountain side and eat. When Daniel told me that I believed him. Then I started thinking about when they wanted to turn and walk the other way... April Fool! Daniel laughed pretty heartily at my expense. Don't worry. I'm used to it. And I laugh plenty at him in turn!

I'm so glad I got so many pictures of the prettiness. But the only people pic is the one of Ruthie girl up there. Sheesh. It is pretty. But my kids are way cuter! When we got back to the Ranch Richard and Mary Alice and their kids and Isaac had gone 4 wheeling. When they came back they told us about the tracks on the road that looked like someone slid all the way through. That would be us. So glad we made such an impression!

We had a great time and got to ride 4 wheelers to our hearts' content. Eating great food, shooting guns and totally not sleeping. We slept really well when we got home and even missed Sacrament meeting. Yikes! We are so glad we have a fun place to go that even has a shower with hot water now! It's definitely a great family getaway.

Vehicle Woes and Heart Attacks.

Where was I.....

Let's go back about a month. And let's talk tires. These are the new (expensive) tires on the Durango. It's needed new tires for a bit, but we just didn't get to it. Then Sam and I went to Pack Meeting last month. We parked, got out of the truck and Sam starts to tell me the tire is going flat. Whatever. So I walk around to the other side of the truck and, sure enough, air is seeping out of the back tire. Sssssssssssss.

So we went into Pack Meeting. I mean, what was I supposed to do? Daniel was on his way to us from work, so I would leave it to him. I had a few dads come and ask me if I wanted them to change it or drive it somewhere to get fixed. I thanked them and said Daniel would come and rescue us.

He did. He got it home and changed to the spare and the next day took it in for the inevitable. 4 new and expensive tires. My garage smelled like a tire store for weeks. They are really nice tires and they will come in handy at another time.
You see this?? Only Daniel's lonely and sad car in the garage. By itself. The kids and I go to see summer movies with my friend Kim and her girls. A few weeks ago we got out of the movie and into the truck and started out of the parking place. This weird noise began. So I pulled into another place and got out. My first thought was that the front bumper that I bumped another car with and had to have Daniel pull up with something to hold it there had fallen down and was hitting the tire. (Whew) The bumper was fine. But then Isaac saw all the fluid foaming out of the engine. And the trail of stuff we left behind us. I got back in to park better and realized what was leaking out. I couldn't steer. It was power steering fluid. I called Daniel and Kim mentioned the Napa auto store right there. Daniel suggested it was most likely a hose. But we went in and got the youngest and shyest of employees to help. He came out and put the stop leak in and then the steering fluid. I started the truck and all that new fluid came bubbling and gurgling out again. Bummer.

So Daniel left work and I made Kim go home and the kids and I went back into the theater to watch a movie until Daniel arrived. After looking for what the problem was (not a hose) he decided to drive it to get it fixed. This was Wednesday.

The next morning the car place called back and said it was a little part attached to a bigger part but they couldn't just replace the little part but had to replace the entire part (translation:expensive) and it would take some doing. Only they used better and more fitting vocabulary.

Meanwhile, I had a doctor appointment to get an EKG done because I'd had chest pains for a while. So Daniel stayed home so I could take his loverly vehicle and he could be with the kids, just in case. Just in case a what?? A heart attack on my part because as a diabetic I have to treat my heart "as if I've already had a heart attack" and any chest pain is something to sweat about. Anyway, the EKG was fine but I had to go into the hospital in a few days to do an exercise stress test (you know, the treadmill kind where they run you ragged and you sweat like a hose and then fall off the treadmill because you can't keep up) and the car place called and said it would take about a week to get the part to put in. Hell's bells.

So Daniel took a few more days off to help me and because we just didn't have enough vehicles to get things done and because we were a little bit worried about me. We decided on Friday to just go to Lagoon (because a ride on a roller coaster is awesome for a possible heart attack) but had to stop by the car place to grab our parking pass. Umm. The truck was gone. When Daniel went in they said it was done and they were getting the alignment done at another shop. Hip Hip Hooray. So we came back home and waited for the call to come get it. Then we went to Lagoon and then we enjoyed our weekend. Aahhhh. I love 2 vehicles in the garage. I had just tucked them in...

On Monday I went to the heart institute and it really wasn't that bad. I was only on the treadmill a total of 10 minutes and the cute nurse guy kept telling me that all I had to do was tell him to stop the tread mill and not just jump off. Hah! He also kept telling me what a fantastic job I was doing. Maybe because I was sweating but hadn't passed out? Hmm. The heart doc said it's not my heart. It's actually very healthy if you must know. It comes down to my chest wall being a bit inflamed and it's gone now. All's well.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my heart. It's awesome. I'd also like to thank the tire guys for the new ones and the other car fixing place for getting my Durango back in such a timely manner. That's all.

Birthdays.

We have 2 summer birthdays that we celebrate. The first belongs to our nation. 235. Now that's what I call a birthday. We celebrate with my family with a BBQ. Then the fun stuff. My parents' neighbor makes homemade ice cream to share and my dad and brother in law provide and set off the fire works. We all sit in our camp chairs and eat ice cream and plug our ears for the loud ones.
This year, because firework laws have changed, we had a more spectacular display. I don't have pictures. But there was lots to look up for. Aren't they cute?!
The second birthday is our dad! He turned 41 this year. Still a young buck. His mom hoped he would come on the 4th. But he waited until shortly after midnight on the 6th. But still, we just say the country celebrates with him. He is awesome afterall!

Happy Birthday dear! We love you!

The Drat Files. Period.

Some weeks ago there was a run of vandalism in our neighborhood. Some of our school's windows were broken. Some of our church's windows were broken. Trees were uprooted in our park and there was damage done to the restrooms at the park. Inside the house part of the neighborhood there was mailbox destruction. And then this... The nice tree in our front yard.

But this wasn't done by vandals. This was done by Mother Nature herself. Rats! The wind cracked our tree. Oh, and the our flag pole. So, no, we haven't gotten stagnant on our patriotism. The pole is just busted. And the tree is gone. Drat!
That weekend we went to a local demolition derby. We LOVE these things. Destruction. Noise. Dirt. Fire. You know. Just the normal stuff. But before this one even got started, the sun was beating down and we got cranky. It was flamin' hot and miserable. Our water got drinked really fast and so we left early. So. Yeah. Drat!

Even though there will be more drat to come, there is lots of fun coming!! Just you wait!

Oh Yeah. This Blog.

I have neglected this poor blog. I'm not sorry, though. We've been having fun. Lots of it, too. So I figure the best way to catch this darn thing up is to start where my pictures start. And just go from there. But no guarantee on the timeliness. We still have lots of fun to take on.


Here is our garden. The backyard veggie kind. We have potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, corn, zucchini, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers, radishes, peppers and I don't know what else. All our fruit trees are gone. Sad. But the garden is growing now that the rain has stopped and the sun has been shining and hot. We are happy about that. I want to add that I have absolutely nothing to do with this garden. Until we get to eat it. Daniel is the gardener here.
Some months ago I said my goal was to beautify the front porch area. Whoo hoo. I think I've succeeded. The day lilies were each split up and replanted to spread the beauty. Look at 'em! They lived and grew. I love my day lilies. They are the longest grown flower at our house.

For mother's day Daniel got me a climbing rose. I inherited the obelisk from my mom this Spring. (The rose is in the obelisk) My brother Aaron built it. He also built the bench and bird houses you see in these pictures. I think those were built out of old fence planks from my parent's house. I'm so glad I have these fun things Aaron built before he died 9 years ago.

Now, I'm a firm believer that a spot of such immense beauty must have a dose of reality. My dose of reality came years ago when my kiddos were very young. I sent them out to the front porch with paint and brushes and pumpkins. I told them to paint the pumpkins (because carving was waaaay too messy for my liking at the time) and then I walked away. Like into the house and closed the door. And this is what I walked back out to. See the lovely paint? Some guy who was delivering something at my door some time later made a comment about how unseemly it is to have paint on the brick and gave some suggestions to get it the heck off. Or even rebrick. Well. It's still the heck on and I love it. It reminds me of a super fun afternoon my kiddos had out on the front porch painting pumpkins for Halloween. So there!

Okay. Back to the beauty. There are wild flowers growing in the front area here. I added some flower pots I kifed from the neighbors across the street who said I could take whatever I wanted as they were vacating the premises for time and all eternity. The pots spoke to me...

I planted some pretties in the 4 pots and now they are a beautiful addition. Ruthie helped pick out all the flowers we put in. Believe it or not, this was my first attempt at potted flowers. And I think I'm hooked. Especially since I have really nice pots!

This year Daniel added several lilies to the flower patch. These are the yellow. There were also pink and white lilies. I LOVE them. There are also some calla lilies (my all time faves!) but they aren't fully bloomed.

I think it's safe to say I have successfully beautified my front porch area. It's flowery and pretty. I like it. If you happen to notice all the weeds, you are more than welcome to come pull them out. I put those down as another dose of reality in my spot of beauty!

BLOG?

WHAT BLOG?

Been busy.

Be back soon.

Promise.

Oh Happy Day!

235 years ago we became an independant nation. Able to speak, write, believe, act and think according to our God given rights.

And I think that's something worth celebrating!
Enjoy your 4th of July with family, friends and fireworks.

And remember those who gave all to set the standard of liberties we enjoy.

And those who continue to fight and give all to guarantee we keep them!