Lots of FUN with NO Pictures to Prove It

We are having a crazy fun, busy month, but ironically I have no pictures to document it. The crazy thing is that we have a new really nice camera. Since it is so nice I don't want to throw it in my purse and carry it around and it no longer occupies a place on my desk like our old camera. It is safely tucked away in a camera bag. Without the camera right in front of me I don't think of taking pictures, and taking pictures isn't something that comes naturally to me anyway. (We did take the camera to St. George and to take pictures on campus so if you scroll down you can see some awesome pictures we have taken with it.) I guess I had better get the old one out and start carrying it with me or at least put it in it's old home on the desk so that I take an occasional picture.

I have to tell you about our new camera. If you believe in the law of attraction this is a great story. If you don't believe in the law of attraction then we are just lucky and it is still a good story. When we went to Disneyland in the spring we stayed with a friend of mine, Angela, in Vegas. Angela and I have never known each other well, but I follow her blog and admire her immensely. I knew she would welcome my family in her home because she is just that kind of person. We were trying to do the trip as economically as possible which is what gave me the courage to intrude and ask her. Angela and her husband Mike were extremely hospitable and we enjoyed our time with them. At one point in the evening Josh noticed a camera. He picked it up and began admiring it. Josh loves cameras! He told Ang that was the camera he had been wanting and asked how she liked it. She told him that it was dropped a year earlier and had been sitting there because she couldn't bare to throw it out. She had considered getting it fixed but was quoted 100's of dollars so she decided to get a new one. SHE GAVE THE CAMERA TO JOSH. She gave him the receipt, the box, the warranty, everything! Josh was obsessed with getting it fixed while we were at Disneyland. One morning he took a trip to Fri's Electronics and got a few things and was ready to take it apart and fix it himself. I am not sure of the details but he started working on it, and it ended up being rather simple to fix. He has been so excited about this camera. He obsessed for a couple of months and got a portrait lens for it rationalizing that he NEEDED it to take my sister Connie's engagement pictures. Thanks Ang and Mike! It has been fun to have a great camera. I just worry about braking it myself.

I don't think my kids have been to bed before 10PM this month. We kicked of the month by having all four Low boys at our house for three full days. Dave and Erica were being session directors at an EFY session so I had the boys from about 8:30 AM to about 10:00 PM each day. It was a nonstop party around here with 8 kids 7 and younger. The kids had a great time and I did good too. I didn't expect to get anything done except caring for the kids, and that is exactly what I did. We even ventured out a few times. We spent four hours one day at the splash pad at the park. It was play group and I didn't want to miss. We also went to the city aquatic center. That was a little crazy, but I put the six non swimmers in life jackets and parked myself in the wading pool with the majority. Josh, Connie and Colby were also there to help. The hardest part was getting them all showered and in dry cloths. I will admit that was mass chaos. The great thing is that the Lows took my kids this Friday and Saturday while Josh and went to Park City for a little retreat to celebrate our 9th anniversary. Tending is also easier when I know I am going to get my turn. Of course I love the Lows as if they were my nephews.

Friday, after having the extra kids for three days, we went to the Red Neck Water Slide in Wellsville. Imagine a hard core slip and slide going down a steep mountain with 100+ yards of flat landing at the bottom. We also enjoyed fantastic friends while we were there. We are so bless to be around such inspiring people. Friday night was the fireworks at USU. We got to see them from a special spot on top of a building. It was AWESOME!

The partying didn't stop on Saturday with Dawson's (one of the Low boys) birthday party and a huge bounce house/water park. It was great fun for the kids. Sunday we had a few friends over for homemade doughnuts. I was introduced to homemade maple bars on the 4th of July last year so I thought doughnuts might be a good 4th tradition. There were fireworks going off all over the neighborhood which kept us up late on Sunday. Then Monday was Independence Day. The weather has been beautiful this week and wasn't too hot of the parade on Monday. If you measure how good a parade is by the amount of candy a kid gets then the Hyrum 4th of July Parade is as good as it gets. The kids never sat down! We had an amazing barbecue at the Lows on Monday night and watched all of the neighbors fireworks. When Caleb asked Josh if he would buy some fire works Josh said, "I would get more excited about watching money burn." Josh is usually a party animal, but obviously he doesn't get into spending money on fireworks, but our neighbors do so we benefitted.

One highlight so far this summer is the fire pit that Josh and the neighborhood boys put in the empty lot next to our house. We are friends with the lot owner and they are really cool about letting us use the property while they are working in China. The only problem with the fire pit is that the kids would like to roast marshmallows every night. Josh has big plans for that lot. He would like to move the dirt a little and make a bike track around it. (Actually that was my idea. He would like to scrape the lot and put turf down or fill it with sand for volleyball.) We did get a basket ball hoop from my parents house and there have been some good evening basketball games in our driveway. Life is good!

Josh and I enjoyed our anniversary trip to Park City. The highlight was dinner. We had some of the best food I have ever tasted at a Italian restaurant in Deer Valley. Dinner was part of the hotel/dining package I got through travel zoo. We stayed at the Chateaux at Silver Lake and ate at the resort restaurant, Cena Ristorante. My mouth waters just thinking about it. The bad part of the trip is that Josh's back is acting up again. I can't stand it when he is crippled with back pain. It makes me mad at him, as if it is his fault. Thank goodness going to the chiropractor seems to help. After a weekend of hardly being able to move he seems to be doing better today after an adjustment. Oh the adventures of life!