Zoo in the summer... not a good idea.

I knew there was a reason I didn't go to the zoo in the summer. There are way too many people and it was way too hot. But, Dawson has been begging to see the dinosaurs so we had to go before the end of this month. And, with school starting in a week and a half it was time for some fun.

We made a stop at Liberty Park this morning before the zoo so we could wait for Aunt Heather. The kids loved the play ground and the pond. I would say the pond more but that park is amazing either way. (I only had my cell phone and apparently there was a smudge on the outside of the lens so most of the pictures have a weird glare on them...sorry.)

Cool shot huh?

TEN YEARS!!!!

This weekend (specifically the 4th) marks our tenth anniversary. Or as I saw on another blog the 10th birthday of our family. I am so lucky to have married the man I loved and knew before we even came to this earth. It amazes me still that he chose me over all the better girls out there. I love him so much and I am literally eternally grateful that we will be together forever.

For our big day we were going to spend the night in the mountains by ourselves but the weather had something to say about that. So we decided we had never been to Wendover so we booked a room and made the very long drive out there. It wouldn't have been so bad but there is nothing from here to there except a weird sculpture of a tennis ball tree and a town called Delle. Boring is the best word. It was cool to see the Salt Flats for the first time and there was even a disappearing mountain. Weird but apparently it was a mirage. It was totally weirded me out though.

When we got there we had dinner and then didn't leave the room until 10 the next morning. It was awesome and nice just to be there with no distractions and no reason to get out of bed. Not happened in 10 years so it was great.

Right in the middle of those two hills is supposed to be the rest of the mountain. You can see how both ends look like they are floating. Isn't that funky?

Our room. Who'd a thought you could get a room like that for $75. I guess when you are going to the middle of no where you can.

So long Wendover!

Another camping excursion.

A couple of weekends ago we tried a mountain range in the area that we had never been to. We were hitting ourselves wondering why we had never been there. It was beautiful and peaceful and everything we have been looking for for seven years!!!

This is Dawson saddened because he couldn't' do what Caitlin is doing in the picture below. He got his turn just not on his terms.
I had to improvise the cobbler because we forgot our dutch oven. Duh, I know that's a staple, but the little pans worked great and it tasted great too.

At the bottom of the National Forest there were a few homes and a totem pole. Why? You ask? I have no idea but it was cool.

Oy Vey!

K, if you didn't see it, count your blessings but if you did I am so embarrassed. My last post (which has been removed-I put it back so you can see what I mean. I plan to re-edit the pictures now) was from a little photo shoot I did with Cait. Now on my laptop the pictures looked fine. Not great, or even cool, but they were fun to mess around with. Well today I was totally embarrassed. I went to my sis-in-laws house to play with her nice camera and I showed her the pictures on my blog. I was horrified. They were way over processed and super yellow. I am positive that is what the rest of the world saw and ya' all were just being nice by not leaving a comment. I say, "shame on you". You should have told me they looked horrible.
I wish all computers looked the same. That is one reason I am really nervous to start any real hobby of photography because I don't know if what is showing on my computer is really what the picture would look like if it were developed? I guess I will just have to buy a computer I can trust the color on.
But on to more fun things. The kids finished swim lessons today. Cora is a total fish and it really scares me that she isn't afraid to try anything or to go off on her own. We are even considering taking her out of dance and putting her in swimming year-round? Dawson and Cait did great. And they had fun with the experience. But what kid doesn't have fun in the pool?
I once again tried new things on my camera and these are what I came up with. The only one I changed was Cora's. Hers was way too blue so I toned down the temp and that is it. If it looks horrible please let me know.

Once again, this picture looked perfect on Dave's laptop and it is way too yellow on other screens. Yikes.
This is what she is like every second of swim lessons. It terrifies me, but what do you do when it is what she LOVES?

Just goofing around!

I have always had a passion for photography. Since I got my first camera I have always wanted to take a great picture. I have so many pictures of flowers and inanimate objects from my younger years, it's ridiculous. But growing up in small town USA there really wasn't an opportunity or the funds to take the passion anywhere. Well although I am still in medium town USA, I have the means to do something about that passion now. However, I still don't have a great or even good camera, but, I have sister-in-law that does and she is being very kind to let me play with it. But, I have to wait til Thursday. :( Well I bought an ebook today on how to take a great photo. I was really excited to get practicing so I took out my little point and shoot and took Cait out for a quick session. She was bored out of her mind, but some of the pics turned out alright. On the screen of my camera they all looked really good, but then I got them on the computer and they were way over exposed and mostly grainy. I did get a few that I was able to tweek in Picnik. They aren't amazing photos but I had fun and learned just a little bit about changing the settings on my camera. I can't wait til Thursday.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

She's 4!!!

Our little Miss turned 4 yesterday. At times I can't believe she is already 4 at other times I can't believe she is only 4. She is full of energy and spunk! I can barely keep up with her. But oh how we love our Miss Belle.
Belle's breakfast in bed was a mountain of donuts and OJ, courtesy of her daddy.

She wanted a doll like Cait's, but there was no way I was spending that money on a four year old, so she got a knockoff and only kind of likes her. Oh well, now the girls can play together and I don't have to hear the fighting. Even if they only play once in a while.Aren't they handsome?

Being that July 24th (Pioneer Day) is Sunday, the community did the children's parade on the 23rd. We all dressed up for the occasion. And I wish we would have gotten a family picture, cause I was cute too. :(

I don't have a picture of it, but enter a day at the pool right here.

Of course we had to do some fireworks. Cora had no clue they were actually for the state holiday so we just let her believe they were for her birthday.

And the poor little one was pooped by the end of it all. She even asked to go to bed and then put her self there with out jammies or a clean face. Oh well, that is the sign of a good day I guess.

And I'm back!

Holy Cow it has been a seriously long time since I posted. Ya see, my computers power supply was fried in a power outage (yeah I know, no surge protector, my bad), and Dave's computers power cord was broken. It has been miserable. I rely on computers for so much. I did okay without it, I just didn't have the information I often wanted right at my fingertips. Oh well, life is back to normal and I can post the happenings of late.
The Fourth Of July!
One of my favorite holiday's. For me it's just an excuse to party for two days. We go to my parents and on day one, my home town has an auction, dinner, fireworks, and this year they had a FX stunt show and an Elvis impersonator concert. It was super fun. Then on day two is the most awesome parade in the state. They throw out more than just candy. They chuck shirts, hats, Frisbee's, flashlights, pens, key chains, money even. It is so cool and everyone has so much fun. It's a chance for the adults to get in on the parade and not just the kids. AWESOME!

What parade isn't the coolest if you have Mater driving through?

Well to add to the fun, this year we went camping after the parade with my family. It was so nice and relaxing. We didn't even have to sleep in a tent this year. My mom and dad bought a new trailer so we got to sleep in the old one. We called it the bunk house or aka the ghetto of all ghetto trailers. This thing is 30 years old and broken as broken can be. The stove is literally falling off the wall, the beds are barely hanging on, it is one broken trailer. But it has been a great part of my life and I am happy yet sad to see it go.

Isn't it pretty? Hey it kept the bears out, that's all I care about.

Notice the spray on insulation coming out the window frame in the back. Ha Ha Ha!

Anyway, back to camping. We went fishing, hard not to when you are camped by a pond, we got eaten by mosquito's, hiked, drank from an underground spring, and got stuck in the snow on the Fourth of July. WooHoo!!! I loved every minute of it. Only near death part was when Cora hung herself on the ghetto's screen door. She stuck her head in a hole and then pushed away from the step. If we hadn't been there, well Yikes. It was really scary as an after thought and after the adrenalin wore off, I had to cry for a minute. But, all was fine. She had a little burn from ear to ear, but mostly unscratched.

I LOVE this picture of Cora!

I LOVE this picture of these two. Fishing is all Buddy wanted to do for three days.

Snow ball fight on July 4th. Who does that?

K, what you don't see in this picure of my brothers trying to pull the truck out of the snow is the third truck the second truck was hooked to. Ken was stuck, Craig was in the next truck pulling and my dad was in the third. It was hilarious! Ultimately it only took one truck and a chain to pull him out, but it was fun to watch the process.

When we were done camping we were very blessed to have left our kids with grandma for four days. We were kidless! It was awesome! Kind of? I wanted to paint while they were gone. The goal was three rooms. However, I decided to paint the girls room cream. Big deal, right? Well it was cream over sky blue and I had to do four coats of paint plus one of primer just to cover it up. It took me three days just to finish. I was so worn out, I got no rest while I was supposed to be resting. Oh well, their room looks super cute, even with the slight adjustments I had to make.

This is Cait's toy box with new paint and fabric seat. I love it. I am making their quilts out of that material. They will be so cute!

We had to meet my parents in Eureaka to pick the kids up. And if you have never been there, it's pretty neat. It's an old mining town and most, okay all, of the buildings on main street are old and useless. However, there was this cool old ad for Levi jeans painted on a wall. This pic is from my cell phone, but I am definately stopping again and getting a few better pictures. Loved it.

Moving on, last week I had a massive toothache all week so we did nothing except go see Harry Potter while I was happy on meds. Yea for modern medicine!
So now here we are, the third week in July (Holy Cow!). The kids have started swim lesson's, Cora turns four this week and life is moving on like usual. I hope you didn't miss me too much. I have missed you.

Oh P.S. We bought a truck. Isn't it pretty? We love it!