Old Faithful in Our Backyard

Who needs to pay $25 a day
to go to a water park?


Just wait until the sprinklers
in the park next door
break

and create fountains
that flood your yard.

Hours of entertainment
and gallons of mud.

All for free.

Projects Number 18, 4, 24, and 17

Project Number 18
was painting the
bench and quilt rack
for the front room.

Project Number 4
was hanging
the black shelf.
First I had to paint it
Then figure out how to hang it.
It weighs 1.5 million pounds I think.
So no easy task.



Project Number 24
was gluing the high chair back together

and painting it.
(My bum sat in this chair when I was a little girl)




Project Number 17
was hanging shelves in the water heater closet.
This became more difficult
than I originally thought it would be.
But I now know how to hang drywall.
So I guess we can count the whole experience as a success
especially since all this
crafty/ scrapbook stuff
is no longer taking up all of Caden's closet.



And
what would any project be
without
the peanut gallery
cheering you on
in the hot garage?

More projects to come but
my camera is hating me again.
So we may be back to stealing Caden's camera
and all that that entails.

Moon Lake- Part 3- Dirt

Camping With Kids

equals


Constant filth

and
more stickiness
than any amount of wipes
can overcome.

Moon Lake Moments- Part 2- Fishing

I convinced Ryan
that
it would be fun
to take the kids out fishing on the boat
all together.


They were
beyond excitement
and they hopped and danced
all the way down to the lake

It was evening,
so the water was beautiful
and the temperature was perfect

Our
Handsome Captain
Took us to all the best spots

and then
gave Caden some pointers
on casting and trolling

He wasn't big on the waiting thing
He just wanted to
catch the fish immediately
and move on to the next one

We caught two,
but one hopped right back off the hook
and jumped back in the water
before we could grab him.


The kids thought
I was laughing at their silly dancing
all the way back to camp.

I was really wondering
how they could even walk
with the intense life vest wedgies
they had going on.

Moon Lake Moments

Shortly after arriving at
Moon Lake
the men were already fishing,
and
the natives were getting restless.
So we decided to head to the lodge for a treat.

He we are being Kangaroos
on our walk up there.

I looked up from talking
and thought,
how cute,
they must have found
a caterpillar
or a butterfly
or a grasshopper
or something.
( I so wish I could still sit like that)


Not so much a grasshopper!

and as soon as we finished shrieking
and yanking the kids away from it
Bryn decided to stick her brand new shoes on it
and squish it some more.

I almost puked,
and Holly the germ-o-phobe
didn't know what to do.
One of us screamed
and one of us yanked her off it.
It was a blur of grossness.
(Forgot to take a picture I was so grossed out)

We eventually continued on our way
and ended up at the lodge for blow pops.

You better believe
we took an alternate route back.

To our supreme happiness
The Carcass was gone the next morning.

For the Love of My Mother in Law and All Things Mongolian

My Mother In Law

has this insane memory
for names and faces
Her address book is about a mile thick.
She remembers and keeps in contact with
friends from 50 years ago.
And considers them friends still.

And so two weeks ago,
while having a family reunion of sorts,

The MIL anounced with undisguised excitement
That we were all expected to attend a wedding reception.
All of us.
All 6 of the kids, All of the spouses
and all of the grand kids.

For whom?
you ask
I have no idea,
I went to the reception
and I still have no idea.
A family friend
from the military's daughter
is all I remember

It was at the Provo Library
In the smallest of the small rooms,
that was quite possibly
smaller than my bedroom.
We couldn't even fit in the door.
Half of the people there couldn't
We all ended up loitering in the hallway.

This gave us the perfect view however,
when the blond haired, blue eyed
bride
came out
dressed like this
to throw the bouquet.

I was confused
because I had seen bridesmaids
that looked like this,
and from the glimpses I had seen from the doorway
of the inside of the reception
the swags and decorations and such
were sage green and lilac.

We finally got into the room
as everyone else was exiting
in order to catch the bouquet
so we could get the cake
that the kids were screeching for

Notice the lilac table clothes,
(Now picture the bride's screaming red dress)
Confused?
See what I mean?


The food threw me off too.
Normal wedding food
at a
half Mongolian
themed wedding.

We had just settled down at a table,
when the brides father,
in full military dress
to add one more genre of clothing to the mix,
announced
that reception was over,
and could everyone start helping take things down.

Ryan shoveled in a few more bites of his plate,
and got up to help.

All the girls and the kids escaped
to hang out on the Provo Library Steps
While the boys helped with the tear down inside.


I told my sister in law Tiffany
That when she got married
If she even thought that I would wear a dress like that
she had another think coming to her

and that if she decided to wear a dress like the bride wore,
I would laugh through the entire day.
Not that it wasn't stunning in its own way,
but I decided that I am big on finding one theme,
and one culture,
and sticking with it
for the entire two hour reception.

As we were walking to our car
I caught sight of this,
and had to run over for one more picture

Seriously?
I have no idea what the Chinese
(or whatever that is)
says
but if my family even thought
about writing that on my car,

We would have a serious throw down,
and just when I was getting over that

I saw the back.

Wow.

To my new acquaintances (the newlyweds)
Ashley and Munktur
(I had to text the MIL
and of course she remembered their names on the spot)
Best of luck in your future together.

and to the MIL
I still and always will
love you
Thank you
for providing me and the fam
with such a diverse cultural experience

and
in case you were wondering
the Coconut Chocolate Things were delish.

Moon Lake here we come...

We're off on our yearly camping trip
to
Moon Lake

Ever been there?
You should go.
It glorious.

Wonderful pictures are coming,
just you wait.

Making laundry cool again... One clothesline at a time

It all started with
this

My traitorous dryer

and really,
I can't complain too much,
because
it was free
six years ago.
But STILL...

Which led to
severe anxiety
expressed in this post

because my laundry
was backing up faster
than I could blink
and a new dryer
was not exactly in the budget.

The only thing
(besides my kitchen chairs)
that I could dry things on was this.
and that holds
approximately five shirts,
not the three loads a day
that I needed it to hold.

(photo courtesy of Vanessa Zink Photography)

I was yearning for a huge old clothesline,
Like this Rockin' Amish one
but I didn't have the poles
or the line,
or the know how,
or the finances,
to fund this project.

And then I thought of
This very large box of Cat 5 E internet wire
that Ryan rescued from the dumpster
at Walgreens
5 Years ago.
That has been taking up
prime real estate
in my garage
and not being of any use.

Some wire cutters,
the use of the fence posts,
and some handy boy scout knots
gave me
these beauties.

The hot July Sun,
and the never ending Lehi wind.
Have given back to me
my laundry sanity

about 30 minutes
and these babies are warm and dry
Ryan hates that the towels are a little stiff.
It reminds me
of my years on the farm in Indiana,
so I don't mind a bit.

and who knew
that they even created these cute little bags
to hold the clothespins for you
while you are
doing your laundry business.

Got a clothesline?
You should try it out.
See what kind of
laundry bliss
it can bring to you.