yuba with a paddle board July 2014

Summer means lake and that makes me a happy person.  I do love the lake, have I mentioned that before? This post actually consists of 2 separate days at the lake.  Our first time was just our little family.  We invited others but they apparently had better things to do.  It didn't matter we had a great time all by ourselves.  We played a little football, rode the wave runners, tried out the paddle board, drove the wave runners, played in the sand, rode the wave runners, you get the idea.  The weather worked out perfectly for us and the water was even warm enough to get in.  

The second trip to the lake we had others come with is this time.  It was also nice but a little windy here and there.  This often happens at the lake but it wasn't windy enough for us to cut our day short.  The new paddle board was a hit with everyone even my sisters dog had fun.  However I think my Jenni loved it the most.  She took to it like a fish to water, we couldn't get her off of it.  

My own children are getting braver and with the help of cousin William tried knee boarding.  This proved to be a little difficult because we didn't have the proper kind of rope, but at least he tried.  Next time we will be better prepared.  When I was little we went boating often and my dad had us water skiing at a fairly young age.  I am having a hard time trying to not be overbearing in getting them to try this sport.  They are afraid and my Sweetie never learned so he doesn't understand why I want them to learn so badly.  I guess this is just one of those things where I am going to have to be patient.  Sometimes I hate being patient. 

Lehi Parade then Rodeo 2014

The 4th of July is not complete unless you go to a parade. Even as and adult I actually still love parades.  The rest of my family is less than excited about them so for this parade I just took my Peter Pie on my moped and headed out toward the parade route.  We got their just in time, luckily my mom had saved us a seat. This parade was a little lacking in the float department.  I was somewhat disappointed.  But Peter was not and I was happy I could make some memories for him.  There were a handful of marching bands American Forks being the most awesome.  They even got invited to do the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade this year. There was also a pipe band so that made me happy and made up for the missing floats.
Right after this parade we headed to the air show then immediately following that adventure we trucked over to the rodeo.
Lehi is known for its rodeo and for good reason.  The riders and ropers were spectacular.

the Lego movie double decker couch

these guys always make me laugh

Kate and Maria

Drew and Daisy

The other great thing about the rodeo is that its a family affair. My brother usually hosts a big BBQ (this year we were too late getting back from the air show to go)  We all go and get to sit next to each other.  This year I brought my whole family along and I think I could have left the boys home.  While there was plenty of things that were "boytastic"  I noticed them getting a little restless. Peter really wanted to wear a cowboy hat but we just didn't have time to find one so he decided on a fedora silly Peter.  Once we got their TK was more than happy to let Peter borrow his cowboy hat.  I think that made his day. The actual rodeo itself was exciting, bulls dragging cowboys, cows escaping, barrel racers racing and clowns being hilarious.  The kids favorite was Juan Diego. (Juan was a sombrero on top of a remote control truck)  He was pretty funny.  They kept making comments about how he was so brave he didn't even move when the bull charged him.  Then when he stopped working the quick thinking MC said he was frozen in fear and had to be removed. But my absolute most favorite quote of the night was after a cowboy was thrown pretty badly, as he got up he was holding his arm and we were all hurting for him when the MC piped up and said "That cowboy is tougher than lips on a woodpecker."  The imagery was perfect.  There is just nothing quite like a rodeo.  It always makes me think back on those times I would ride horses every Sunday with my dad. Or the times I would go do round up with my best friend Kortnee, and even the times my friends and I would saddle up our horse to ride in our backyard mountains.  Those were good times filled with fond memories. One specific memory that always comes to mind is when my friends and I were riding in the mountains racing. My horse jumped a log that just happened to have a beehive in it.  When my horse jumped she kicked the log and the bees came out with a vengeance.  Trying to escape the stings my horse took off we came across a wide ditch in the middle of a meadow, I knew my horse wasn't really a jumper but we were going too fast to stop in time.
My only option was to push her harder so she would clear it.  I think we both held our breath as we soared through the air and landed safely on the other side.  With my heart beating out of my chest and a huge sigh of relief I took her to a trot and circled back around amazed that we were still in one piece.

cute cowboy Wyatt

Air Show July 2014

This week has been turning out to be one very patriotic week.  Scott was dead set on going to the air show to see the Thunderbirds in action.  I was not against it so we loaded the car with all 9 of us complete with some drinks and snacks for the road.  Scott's sister and her kids came with us.  Last time we tried to see the air show it got rained out and when I say rained out I mean buckets and buckets of water were falling from the sky making it not only miserable for the spectators but very dangerous for the pilots.  THIS time around the weather cooperated perfectly.  Once we finally found and parking spot and walked about 3 miles we got to experience all the cool aircraft.  Of course we checked out the enormous cargo plane, which you can't even grasp its size until you are inside.  Then we checked out the smaller planes not quite as large but equally impressive.  The boys got to climb on the tanks as well as other large vehicles to which I don't know the names of but they looked cool.  They were all uber excited to hold the guns.  This outing was like a little boys dream come true.  Once we checked out all the hands on stuff it was time for the Thunder Birds to take flight and amaze us all, and amaze they did.  Being up close and personal we could feel the shock wave from the planes as they zoomed past us in unimaginable formations. We were so stunned at all the close calls, we would forget to cover our ears for the inevitable break of the sound barrier. Planes from all directions were shooting skyward and dropping into death falls then crossing each other just feet apart.  It really was quite an adrenaline rush and we were just the spectators.

With all this amazing stuff going on my favorite moment is when I looked over and saw ALL my boys completely riveted to the display in the sky. Scott was smiling from ear to ear.  It was like Christmas for him (I had no idea he loved planes this much) William was equally engrossed and had a million questions about each plane and stunt.  Brennen was just awed, while Peter didn't even blink for a full five minutes. So I will say it again, this outing was every boys dream come true.

Fathers day to beat all fathers day's May 2014

I decided to be the best wife ever and get Scott that gun he always wanted for Father's Day.  I enlisted my big brother in the search.  I don't have that much knowledge in this field and I knew he had more than enough for both of us.  We both searched for a month looking for this particular gun that no one seemed to want to sell.  It came down to the final week and there was an elaborate plan to go down to St. George to work out a deal.  The morning of the trip, my brother called me with a new lead.  I jumped on it and told the guy I would meet him at noon.  I packed all the kids in the car because we were going to do some other errands in that area.  You should have seen the kids, they were so nervous.  

I pull up in the back of a grocery store parking lot to purchase this gun out of the back of a truck.  My children were questioning my judgement. "Do you know what your doing mom"?  You can just drive up in a parking lot and buy a gun out of the back of a truck!  Do you even know who this guy is?  He could be some serial killer. Is it even a real gun, because you will be giving him a lot of real money.  that's cash money mom!"  And so it went on and on until the deed was done.  

NO I wasn't nervous.  What they don't realize is that I grew up with my dad who would often employ a sketchy crowd.  I learned to deal with those kinds of people, in reality they are all just people.  The purchase went smoothly and I even talked him down in price just a little.  Mostly I was happy that I finally got the gun he wanted and I was going to have it in time for Father's Day.  I think the smile on his face tells how happy he was to get it. Maybe for our anniversary he can get a tactical light that goes with it. 

Jarom

Kelsey

Ellie

Tracie

As for the official test drive of the new fire arm I offered to take the younger ones grocery shopping while Scott took his sister 2 of her kids and Ellie out to the range to teach them all how to shoot.  I did this on one condition. . .  That he take me out for a date night to the range so I can get some practice in.  Of course he readily agreed.  Ellie was a pretty good shot.  She stays calm under pressure and like her mother, turns her nervousness into incredible focus.  The other ones were quite a bit more shaky but it was good for them to have the experience.