Happy Day After Pioneer Day!

Today the state celebrated Pioneer Day. Even though Wells Fargo was open today, I took the day off to spend with the family. McKell had to go to work to take care of her little patients. She only got proposed to twice today - by the same patient!

Ron, Landon, Molli and I took a little road trip to the Uintas with our destination being Mirror Lake. What a great ride! Because it has been so wet this year, it was really pretty and green all the way up!

Molli rides in the back of the car in a carrier, but we leave the top unzipped for more air to get to her. Whenever we start off, she pops her head up to make sure everyone is buckled up and ready to go. Then, once she checks everything out, she snuggles down and goes to sleep!

This was our view on the way up the canyon. Still a little snow on top.

We stopped on the way up at some falls. The water was running fast, but there was a little pool of water where people were soaking their feet and cooling off from a hot summer day!

Here is Landon, showing that he has now almost grown as tall as the trees!

We continued on our way to Mirror Lake. It was really crowded and the garbages and potties were suffering from over-use this weekend, but once you made your way through the flies, it was beautiful!

We walked around the trail that goes around the lake. There were lots of little families fishing and hiking and camping. This was the only wildlife we spotted, though.

It was so nice! The temperature on the car was 71 degrees when we got out of our car.

Compare that to the 95 degrees when we got back to the valley.

Molli enjoyed the day and even braved getting her little toes in the water.

We made our way down the canyon, but not without taking in a couple more pictures of the scenery.

We couldn't finish off the day without a stop at the Uinta Drive In - aka Dick's.

Evidently, they have the world's best EVERYTHING (according to their sign). I will back them up on their hamburger buns...it was the best part of the burger!

Of course, Landon had his standard two grilled cheese sandwiches, but by the time I could pull my camera out, this is all that was left.

Happy 24th/25th of July!

Grandma Nanny

This is my little Granny. Last week, she decided to get up in the middle of the night for a bio-break. On the way to the potty, she fell and was spread out on the floor for nine hours before Jim and Janet found her. They got her upright and, wouldn't you know it, nature called again! This time, she fell in the little bathroom with the door closed behind her. Jim couldn't get the door open to rescue her. With some wrestling with the door and Grandma trying to move herself out of the way, they were finally able to get her back up.

After a trip in the ambulance and a few days in the hospital, Grandma Nanny is in a rehab center to work her muscles and regain some strength so that she can go back home. For those of you who know Grandma, you know how headstrong she is. She isn't happy to be in the care center and not in her own house. She will be there a couple of weeks, but tells everyone she will be home in a few days.

We took a couple of trips to see her last week. She looked so much happier the second time we visited her. She even let me take a few pictures to show off the shiner on her head.

We love you Grandma Nanny!

Girls' Craft Night

Tonight we finally got around to our crafty project that we have been wanting to do every since Miss B came to stay.

We went to Old Navy and grabbed some $2.50 flip flops:

We used a tutorial we found here, and came out with these:

We each still have another pair to finish, but we got a late start on it tonight and will have to finish up another day.

Happy Father's Day!

It's Been a While!

I can't believe that it has been about six months since our last blog update. So much has happened and it just seems like last week that I took my Christmas tree down (but, if you know me, you know it has been down since December 26th - an inherited trait).

A lot has happened: a soccer trip to Las Vegas, Grandpa's first surgery (this time around), the end of a soccer tradition (yep, L is out of the soccer game), a basketball tournament with his Jr. High buddies, M training for a marathon, the addition of a new fury family member (Molli), an unplanned bathroom remodel and so much more! Here is my commitment (ha ha) to be a better blogger for the rest of the year!

And...just to make sure there is a picture included...here is Molli Mae!

Happy Birthday Landon!

13 years ago today, I was sprawled out in a hospital bed waiting for the grand entrance of Landon! At 12:01 p.m., he made his way into our lives and it has been a WILD RIDE since!

He picked these shoes out weeks ago and could hardly wait to open them.

Just waiting for everyone to get ready for the day and then we are off to celebrate. Landon is having a family party tomorrow with everyone coming over for cake and ice cream.

Happy 13th Landon!

Festival of the Trees

We made a visit to the Festival of the Trees a few weeks ago. We haven't been for YEARS. So many trees. So many people. So many (um) TREES! After rows and rows of trees, they all started looking alike. I'm not sure we made it through the whole bunch.

McKell was hostessing with her friend Kaitlyn.

Fun day.

The Competition Team (Run 'n Gun)

Here is a little video of L's competition team.

Basketball

Basketball: a game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players; points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal hoop.

We had some excitement here last week as L made the VARSITY team at his Jr. High. As a 7th grader, this was quite an accomplishment for him. Things were pretty tense around here for a couple of days as we waited for word to see if he made first cut and then if he had made the team. It was super exciting to see his name on the varsity list.

As all major accomplishments call for, we decorated the house with balloons and banners.

So L had his first game (pre-season) last night. He did an awesome job of riding the end of the bench with the two other 7th graders.

Finally, with about 2 1/2 minutes to go, he got the call.

It was so much fun to see him play! I thought that he might be nervous and intimidated, but he came out fighting.

It was a genuine butt-whooping by the other team, but in the end they all held their heads high and boarded the short-bus for home.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Fall!

I know...I have been behind on posting, so you may get a few posts out of me today! To start off...it's finally beginning to look a lot like Fall. After warmer than normal temperatures, this last week has taken a sudden turn (for the worse if you ask me). I'm not a fan of cold temperatures, my flowers dying and having to be thrown away, or my tree dropping a mess of leaves all over my yard. But...there are a few things I enjoy about Fall.

I love to decorate for Halloween! M started begging me mid-September to decorate, and I held out until the last week of September. This is the first year that I have ever had my Summer flowers in the ground at the same time I had Halloween decorations up!

The next thing I like about Fall is our annual trip to Pack's Pumpkin Patch. Ron and the kids always make sure we go at the beginning of the month to get the best selection of pick-your-own pumpkins.

And finally, this thing about Fall makes me a little bit sad. The rule in our house has always been that if you are out of Elementary School, you are out of the Trick-or-Treating scene. Well...this is the first year in 19 years that I haven't had someone to dress up. Sad, huh? Fortunately, I got a little satisfaction when L had to dress up for a food drive edition of Trick-or-Treat in our neighborhood. He revisited the Mad Scientist again and had a lot of fun.

Happy Fall (finally)! I'm pretty sure winter will be right around the stinkin' corner!