August 1st rolled around, and that was the first day this summer that I heard the dreaded phrase, "I'm bored", from the kids. We almost made it to the end of summer! Maybe year round school is the way to go, with short little vacations here and there...maybe not. We've escaped it for this long. I'm hoping we can avoid it all together. We absolutely love our summers! Spending time with the kids, being carefree (for the most part) with our schedules, and letting the day unfold naturally is so fantastic.
Here's what we've been up to for the last month!
Justice & Montana were able to go to Disneyland with their dad. They had an absolutely fantastic time. Justice was super brave and rode most of the BIG rides. Montana absolutely loved it and said they were able to get on everything they wanted to several times. Even several trips on California Screamin- the best coaster ever! Glad they had a fun trip.
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| Cap'n J-Dog |
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| My beautiful Baby Girl |
Sierra and her drill team went to a camp called "Basic Dance Training" up in Park City. It is based on military type training, and they work their butts off from morning til night. Sierra was chosen as one of the top 5 dancers at the camp (out of probably 250-300 girls). They call it Top Corp. This is the third year she has been chosen. She is an absolutely talented being. So proud of her and her team! They were so cute when she was chosen- they lifted her up like she had just won a football game. It was awesome.
Mom went up with me to watch the last day of camp performances. We were able to sit with Alisha Peters from Bountiful Stars (her daughter dances with Davis High) and the three of us talked "dance studio". Studio drama, What's new with Stars, Vegas Nationals, etc. It's such a fun part of our lives that follows us everywhere we go. A lot of the girls on Sierra's team and the other school teams, are girls I have taught. It makes me so proud to see them as they grow up and continue their dance training. I'm glad I got to share it with my mom. Also, I recently found out that Britnie Thompson is the head coach for Kearns High this year. :-D Love it!
Mom & I had dinner at the Blue Iguana after the performances and enjoyed the Park City scenery and the yummy food. I love spending time with her!
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| Congrats Baby Doll |
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| "THE" Jacket |
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| Team Lifting her up! |
I've had my hands full of DIY projects lately. And none that I intentionally planned to do. The first was trying to get my car registered and inspected for the year. They told me my window tinting was too dark. Really?? I had no idea what to do about it. I initially thought it would involve new windows (geez I'm such a girl sometimes!! haha). So I did some research and found it was actually pretty easy to do. Just some special spray- plastic- and a razor blade. So if anyone needs it removed...I'm your girl.
Ended up fixing the fence gate that blew off into the yard during a pretty intense wind storm. There's nothing I cant fix with some putty and a drill!! Quite proud of that project!!
Then one day, I thought I would replace the AC vent on the ceiling. It was pretty old and yellowing. And for some reason it wasn't staying screwed in tight to the ceiling. So I got all the supplies and ready to do the job. On further inspection, I noticed that the ceiling was bowing a bit. I wasn't sure if it was my eyes, shadows, or an actual problem. So as I removed the old cover- I discovered that we had a leak in the air conditioner that was in turn getting the drywall/ceiling wet. My dad came over to discover how bad the damage was. And it was pretty bad. The ceiling basically collapsed into the kitchen with just a few pokes. And that began the month long process of fixing the AC for the millionth time this summer, tarring the roof around the AC unit, replacing the copper piping, rewiring the power switch, replacing the AC float, patching a rusted out piece of the AC unit, tearing out the drywall all around the AC vent, replacing the insulation, drywall, taping, mudding, sanding, texturing, painting, putting up a new light fixture, and then....back to the original project of replacing the vent on the AC. And now it is beautiful!! My parents are absolute saints. My dad insisted on doing the work rather than claiming it on my home insurance. I'm sure many days he wished we would have gone the other route, but it was a "fun" learning experience for all of us. One we don't wish to repeat!! They came virtually everyday for the last month and we would work for a few hours on the project. Yesterday we finally finished!!! I took them out to dinner to thank them for all their help. Paltry pay for such hard work. But I am eternally grateful!!
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| The bowing, lovely ceiling |
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| After tearing it out |
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| Making it all perfectly straight |
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| The lovely assistant |
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| Drywall up- mudding begins |
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| Finished Walls after minor painting problem |
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| Finished Ceiling!! |
Montana has turned into "Babysitter Extraordinaire"!! She is in demand all over the neighborhood. Making good money, and having fun doing it. She has made a babysitting kit with stickers, certificates, pages for coloring, crayons, markers, and charts for information to jot down. She's the first one to volunteer when she hears of a need. It's so cute. My neighbors call almost weekly to have her come over for a couple of hours. A lot of times she is with her dad or off with friends-- so I am her personal secretary. Scheduling her next available appointment, turning down gigs she's not available for. It's been a great summer for her!
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| Blonde & Tan |
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| Her new Aviators |
Sierra traveled to Thailand with her dad for a couple of weeks and had an absolutely amazing adventure. She kept a blog of her entire adventure as well as hundreds of pics. Here are the links. Blog link:
http://www.goodbyetville.blogspot.com Pics link:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150268656408673.337181.686568672&type=1 If you aren't her facebook friend, just request it and I'm sure she will add you. I will add a couple of my favorite pics here, but there are so many amazing ones you should see. She was able to trek through the jungle, stay with a native tribe for a couple of days, play with tigers (at a petting zoo), ride an elephant, river raft, stay in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and visit many temples, as well as spend some time at a luxurious resort in a remote city. I think she learned a lot about how incredibly blessed she is here in America. She has been a different person since she came back. I love that she can have adventures like that. But I am a complete basket case of worry the entire time she is gone!
Justice was able to go to his first Cub Scout Day Camp. He had such a good time. He learned about space, wood burning/carving, bought a little Swiss army knife, made friends, went on hikes and had a great time being with just boys. He told me "The best thing about Cub Scouts is there are NO GIRLS!" haha. I don't blame him. He is stuck with girls most of his life. A man needs man time! I hope he can have more adventures like that. He is really enjoying Scouts and the leaders are so great and caring with him. They really want what's best for the kids. They work hard to make sure the kids learn a lot and have fun. I've started driving the Scout carpool, so it's fun to see how excited they get on their way there.
Justice and Montana were both able to go to camping at Mill Hollow with their school this summer. It's a recreation camp between Kamas and Duschene owned by Granite School District. They have cabins, and such. So it's not too rustic. They stayed for three days. The mosquitoes loved Tana's blood, Justice did not get sunburned but Montana did- weird- J is the one with transparent skin :-). They loved the hikes, campfires, food, their bunk leaders Rain & Skye (nicknames I believe) and of course, shopping at the camp store. I was so glad they got to go together-- but it sounds like they barely saw each other. Which was fine with them!
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| Marcus & Justice |
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| Waiting for the bus |
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| Ready to kill each other...as usual |
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| Anna, Montana, Julia, Kylei |
We are planning a trip to Bear Lake in a couple of weeks so finish off our summer. It's been packed with excitement, but we can definitely fit in one more adventure. We are going for Tana's 12th birthday. She is going to bring a couple of friends. Can't wait!
Happy Trails ;-)
