The beauty after the storm...

After that storm ravaged the neighborhood, we were left with a beautiful sight! SO I whipped out the camera and started snapping pictures.

There is always beauty and peace to be found after the worst of storms throughout our lives.

You just need to look for them!

Thare she BLOWS!

After our day of fun & frivolities, we came home and let out Minnie. As I waited up on our deck for her to do her business....I looked around. As I was surveying our back yard...I glanced to the right...and beheld this:

NICE! That outrageous storm finally blew over our fence. Granted, it was on it's way out and was being propped up by a piece of firewood...but come on.

We were so grateful for our good friend, Alan, who spent a good part of Saturday to help us fix the damage. First, it took hours to dig out the cement stump. That stinker was a nightmare! The post had rotted out and we soon found out why. Imagine a circular area of cement...then imagine placing a wooden post on the very left edge of said circle...so close to the edge that it isn't even fully surrounded by cement. Well - there you go.

The Stump

Once that was out, the rest went pretty quick.




By the end of the day we had a new post. YAY!

The fence still took a couple more days to complete. Another friend, Andy, came by and our neighbor, Robert, also lent a hand to get the side planks up. And finally, I spent the good part of the next day drilling all the fence slats up. Then...TaDAAAAA...

We had a new fence!

(And we could finally let Minnie into the back yard unattended.)

Taylorsville Dayzz Fair

We left the arts festival in time to head home quick & head down to Taylorsville. I have to work for a few hours at a Pampered Chef booth there. Chris decided to come too with the girls. So while I was "working" he took the girls to play on the fun stuff.

I actually caught them playing on the trampoline from the booth. They were so funny.

They had to keep helping Christianna bounce up and down. They still had a blast!
They also went on the other slides and playhouse things.

About 10 minutes after my shift was over we had to bolt for the car. A major rain storm came through! The wind was whipping like crazy. Victoria lost her hat & practically had a meltdown in the pouring rain. So we searched around and under the truck it blew by as we were getting drenched. We did find it and all was wet & well.

Arts Festival

Today was such a busy and fun one! We started off the day at the Arts Festival in downtown Salt Lake. There was so much to see and do. We first headed off to the kids sections. There was an area for kids to try out different instruments...this was my favorite part...as well as the girls.

Christianna actually got an excellent, clarinet-worthy sound right off the bat! Aunt Jennie - you would have been proud!


The one gentleman there helped Victoria play "Mary had a little lamb" on the cello.

They also tried some brass instruments. That sort of sounded like a wounded elephant...Thanks Mom for putting up with that until I got it right!

The next tent we stopped at had a cute little butterfly making craft.

We then moved over to the face painting tent. It was good timing too - we totally beat the rush. As we were sitting there waiting for the girls to get finished...Chris asked the one lady if she could paint a big superman symbol on his chest. He was really liking the idea of flashing it around to everyone!

He decided that he probably shouldn't do it. Hmmm, I wonder what paint would look like smeared over some chest hair? Nice mental picture?

The finished faces:

We continued to walk around, checking out all the different art stands as well as listening in on some music. Chris also had to check out all the food! We even ate lunch before we left...but the smells were great and Chris was hooked. Granted, I did get an order of scones and the girls had some ice cream, but I was good after that.

This guy was playing as we were leaving. That is the coolest instrument-the diggery doo! I wonder how he got it there?? Maybe he took Trax?

Hiking up the mountain

Our combined youth activity this month was to hike up to Ensign Point Peak. It was a pretty good hike.

Ensign Peak is a prominent hill on the northern edge of the Salt Lake Valley. On July 26, 1847, two days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and seven other pioneer leaders climbed the hill to survey the valley. From its summit they laid out in their minds the city they intended to build.

Once we reached the top, we had a little devotional and testimony meeting with the youth.

As we were wrapping things up, the clouds started to gather above us.

We weren't fast enough...it really started to come down as we were descending. It was actually quite refreshing. I think we are ready for our Pioneer Trek coming up next month.

Bring on the chalk!!

I love going to the Chalk Art Festival at the Gateway! This is the second year for us. I am going to add "Participate in a chalk art competition" to my list of "to Do's" in my life. These were amazing.

It was a bit rainy off and on today...so alot of them were covered with plastic.

I think this was the youngest artist there.

I think I should start practicing on our driveway.

I would like to thank...

All 15 or so of my faithful followers! I am sure you have been wondering where in the world I have been the last month. (If not, I like to think you are wondering...) Summer is here and that means the girls are home all day. We have been filling our days with activities and getting out of the house - even if it is for a bike ride around the neighborhood! We are not letting the awesome rainy weather cloud us! Personally, the fact that I have yet to water our lawn and garden for about a month and it is mid-June, makes me so happy!

I am just wanting to let you all know that I WILL UPDATE!! A little here and there...but scroll down periodically and see the fun stuff we are up to...not to mention the randomness in my life that seems to define who I am.

Bring on the BBQ

After Chris & Victoria returned from the Motor ride, we all packed up the car and headed out to the mountains. There was a Ward BBQ - and where I know of BBQ...I am THERE! Hah!

First of all, we all ate. There was some delicious marinated chicken and salads. That is very important for you to know.

There was a fish pond there, so the kids were able to feed them. That was fun. They were jumping all over the place once pellets were thrown in! (Oh - I mean the fish.) We were weary of the little ones falling in, the fish would have gobbled them up in no time!

The guys filled their time with a riveting game of football. I hated standing on the sidelines! I REALLY wanted to play. I had my big chance when one of the guys needed a potty break. YAY! Tag football with all the guys & me...a little awkward...but I made the most of it. I think they underestimated the sneakiness which I possess.

After that we gathered around the fire pit. It had rained most of the day so there was a lack of dry wood. But the kids were so proud that they had gathered wood for the fire - didn't have the heart to tell them that it was for naught.

It was so cute how the boys lined themselves up on the bench to watch the "men" build a roaring fire. Alan was hilarious! At least to me...he was the bellows for the fire. I seriously think that guy breathed smoke for the next week.

Q: How many people does it take to build a fire?

A: Many, especially if the fire is smothered with good intentions.

It was a great night and we had such a fun time. It also helped us to get to know a few more people in our ward a little better.

100 Years and counting!

Today marked a very special occasion. 100 years for the Salt Lake City Motor Squad! Chris felt "compelled" to participate. Ok - he really wanted to, even though they STILL haven't called him to the squad. Victoria really wanted to go too. The weather was calling for rain, so they each packed up their rain gear and jetted off together.

As Chris was taking this picture, Victoria said,"I'll drive Dad!"


How cute they are!

They pretty much drove most of the day through some canyon or other...details to follow. (Chris is currently at work. As soon as I can have a chat with him, I will update the info!) They ended back in Salt Lake at the City building and had lunch.

The EPIC water battle!

Victoria had her friend birthday party a couple weeks after her birthday. We were able to get all the invites out before school was over. We invited boys and girls, but I have a sneaking suspicion that most of the boys never got those invites to their mothers. Mainly because, only 1 boy showed up and his invite was handed to his mom personally by me! You are awesome Kinball!

The party theme was All American competitions. Kind of an Olympic feel to it. First, we played a rag tag game. The object was to not let any one get the rag hanging off your belt but to try to get everyone else's off. Last one standing wins.

We then pulled out the wheel barrow races. Kudos to the kids - our grass was pretty scritchy since it is going towards the "dead end" of life.

We also had a shoe hunt race. I took all their shoes and tossed them all over the other end of the yard & then they had to race over, find their shoes, put them on & get back to the starting line.

We then moved into the house for a little cooling off. They had a blast playing Limbo. Here Chris was giving some pointers.

It was funny to see the kids do this one. So many of them didn't get it. What is this world coming to when kids do not know how to properly do the Limbo???

We saved the very best for last. After we ate cupcakes and treats, we teamed off in the backyard. Everyone was armed with a super soaker toy and a bucket of water. Once the rules were explained, we were ready to rock and roll.

TEAM 1

TEAM 2

Ferocious bunch!

They were all so excited to finally get to the water fight. They had continually asked when it was going to be throughout the entire party! Well, at one point, I was trying to even out the little cheaters on team 1. That turned into a mutiny on "Victoria's Mom." I get pretty soaked! But we sure had a blast.

After all was said and drenched...we got a group picture.

Chalk that one up to the winning team!