Our Summer of 2012
We had a couple outings this summer with friends where we'd go out to the woods with our 4-wheelers and rangers and whatever else we had and ride! We'd cook and talk and play games and have a great time! The above picture is Vance and I cooking Krispie Kreme Burgers. We learned about these delicious little bites of heaven from my brother, Kevin, and now we have everyone up here hooked on them! Ha ha!
We did a wedding for some good friends of ours up here in exchange for using their backhoe. We had a bunch of trees that needed to be pulled out. Vance let the boys do some of the work and they loved it! This is Josh working the backhoe.
The picture above is what our yard looked like after we filled in the pond, but before we pulled out the trees. When Vance ran out of trees to pull, he loaded up the boys! All 3 of them! Yes, JoJo got in on the fun!
And it got really hot working out there so the boys and I took a break and filled a bunch of water balloons and threw them at Vance. You can barely see one of the balloons above the backhoe below.
This picture below is what our yard looked like after the trees were removed. Ready to plant grass!
Vance and the boys were having so much fun (NOT) relocating this rock wall!
The picture below is of something that has been plaguing our lives ever since we bought this house! Right before we bought it, the septic tank was caved in and everything was hooked into city sewer. Not quite. Our kitchen sink has been backing up every time we use it or the dishwasher and we couldn't figure out why. This is why. They forgot to hook that pipe to city sewer. It was just running into the ground and clogging up. So while we had the backhoe, Vance dug it up and ran new pipe and we're good to go! Its so wonderful to have a sink that drains now!
Layton has taken over for Josh now in the lawn mowing department. Look how great he looks behind a mower! Go Layton!
Here's a picture of Layton doing some backhoe work around 10 pm. We really work our kids around here. All work, no play. Even after bedtime!
Josh and Vance removed the light fixture that used to be in the kitchen and installed some can lights that let us actually see in the kitchen! It was a cave before. It looks like there's more standing around and looking than work being done. I'll have to crack my whip a little louder next time!
Ok, here's where they get to start having some fun. Josh and his friend, Loye, took their quads out in the mud. What else would they do?
Even covered in mud, he's such a cutie!
This is where JoJo spent most of his summer days when we kept the doggie door closed. If he couldn't physically be outside with the chickens, he had to sit in the window and watch them from afar. Its a rough life. I finally had to open the blinds for him cause he kept trashing them trying to see out when they were down.
JoJo is very polite when he needs to go out to do his business. He scratches lightly at the door.
Pioneer Days is a huge holiday up here. There's always a parade and a BBQ, a craft fair, and a rodeo. Good times! This year, Stephen and Nichole came up to celebrate with us. They haven't been up to see our new house yet so it was fun having them here.
When they left, Carlie came up and we went to another rodeo! Woo hoo! Can't ever get enough rodeo! Or shaved ice!
We also drove the ranger out to Pinedale in the rain. FUN!
To keep the kids entertained on hot summer days, we took the kids to Show Low Lake to swim, where they proceded to whine that the water was too cold. But they got in! We went with Brenda Willis and her kids.
This is Josh Willis and Layton trying to decide if they want to swim or not.
We should have done this before we swam and then they would've jumped right in! It was so hot! I've never heard of geocaching before coming up here but we were introduced to it by the Willis' and it was fun. You can punch in your coordinates on an app on your i-phone and it will give you directions to a geo-cache. People leave hidden treasures in remote places for people to find and if you find it, you leave something behind.
The treasure was hidden in an old mining shaft at the top of this rock cliff. The boys climbed up and found it. The girls stayed down below and got eaten by mosquitoes!
This is what we do when someone has a birthday. While they sleep late at night, we fill their yard with paper candles and balloons and posters. This was for Brenda's birthday. Then we did it for Gail's. I have a sneaking suspicion I'm next.
I am the Cub Master in our Ward and I love it! Our Day Camp was yesterday at Camp Silver Creek. Our boys had a great time!
We were there with lots of other troops, about 200 boys total, and we in charge of opening ceremony.
They got to go canoeing...
They found gold...
They did an obstacle course...
They got to shoot BB guns, do archery, make neckerchiefs and slides, learn how to fold a flag, sing songs, go swimming, get fingerprinted by law enforcement, learn first aid, knot tying, go on a hike, and lots of other cool things! It was a long, hot day, but lots of fun!
The annual Taylor Sweet Corn Festival is coming up in a couple weeks, where our town celebrates their crops coming in. Again, we will have a parade, a BBQ, a rodeo, and a craft fair. Vance and I are in charge of making our ward's float for the parade. Stay tuned for photos. I have decided to have a booth in the craft fair this year. I've never done it before so we'll see how it goes. I've been busy the last couple weeks making stuff for my booth. Here is some of what I want to try and sell...
Football season has started and the boys are loving it! This is Layton's first time ever playing. He is the tallest and the fastest kid on his team. He hasn't had his first game yet. Josh is playing JV football at Snowflake High School. He says its weird not being a Gilbert Tiger but I think he'll get used to being a Lobo. I'm excited to go to his games! The picture below is of one of Layton's practices. He is the kid in the blue shirt way out front. Thats my boy! He runs just like his dad used to. Maybe he'll be a track star too! (But I'm really hoping for basketball :))
On top of eveything else going on in our lives, we stay very busy in our church callings and in life. Vance was recently called to be our Young Men's President so any time he isn't at work, he's doing something with the young men. I'm planning our August Pack Meeting for Cub Scouts and I'm also on the Enrichment Committee and we will be having our Mother/Daughter Activity this week. We are playing some super fun games! I can't wait! We have our Town Clean-up and Ward party this Saturday, and after that, we will keep working on the float for the parade and then we will be going down to the valley for Josh's Eagle Court of Honor.
Life keeps rolling along up here, and its hard for me to find the time to keep up with this blog, but its good to be busy! Thanks for checking in!!!
