Pioneer Day Celebrations

Yesterday was Pioneer's Day. It also marked the day 8 years ago when we left Anchorage, Alaska in what we now call the "ghetto van" and drove with the girls and very little of our belongings to start a new life in Utah. This "new life" was only supposed to be for a couple of years-long enough for Darren to get through graduate school. It is now 2008 and we are still in Utah! My feelings about this are mixed and much bigger than this blog space.

We celebrated Pioneer's Day with hamburgers and hot dogs at Darren's parents house. After dinner we retired to the front lawn to watch fireworks, which I have always been deathly afraid of. I have no reason for this fear other than a recent experience my brother told me about when he was 10 and "maybe" blew off his pants pocket with fireworks. So, my firework fears are really unfounded, but they are very real to me! So, to make a long story short, I endured the fireworks while Delaney, Addy, and the cousins lit the smaller fireworks. I endured the fireworks when Darren and his brothers started lighting the bigger fireworks-some of which were homemade. I yelled and quickly drove home when Darren nearly caught on fire when trying to light too many explosives at once.

Happier times before the singeing of the leg flesh and yelling of the wife!

The "mother-lode" of fireworks!

Delaney looks a little unsure about the situation-smart girl!

Addy looks mischievous. I think she loves fireworks!

Fun Things We Want to Do This Summer (Since we aren't going to Alaska)

A few weeks ago we each wrote down things things we wanted to do this summer. Here is our compiled family list:

• Miniature golfing/go-carting at Lagoon


• Tubing down the Portneuf River at Lava Hot Springs


• Seven Peaks water park


• Bear Lake


• Pineview Reservoir


• Buy a "labradoodle" (This is a mix between a lab and a poodle. I will let you guess who wanted this to be their summer activity!)

Since Darren has the month of July off we are trying to squeeze in as many of these activities as we can in between the huge "honey-do" list I have for Darren and the girls. Yesterday we took the day off from the "honey-do" list, packed the cooler and beach stuff, and headed off to Pineview Reservoir. The girls and Darren spent 4 hours playing in the water and sand. I spent 4 hours with 50 SPF sunscreen under a canopy reading a book! In May I had a bit of a scare with several moles that were a bit "funky", so I am now a little paranoid about being in the sun. Although Darren and the girls applied sunscreen a couple of times they all ended up a little crispy. Addy probably got the worst of it. Delaney said that Addy looked like she had on red tights. You can see from the pictures below that a good time was had (despite the sunburns). Notice there are no pictures of me! Delaney and Darren took a couple, but since I have the password to my blog I get to choose what is posted. Addy asked me why I didn't want pictures of me in a swimsuit. I said it was because I didn't want people to see that I was a little fat. She looked at me as if to say, "Mom, I think they already know that!" Aren't kids great??!!

Hot & Sweaty

Our air conditioner finally gave up yesterday-it literally blew up! It shot oil and other stuff (we're not quite sure what it is) out of the air conditioning unit and all over the ground. We had hoped to not have to replace it until September, but something kept telling me to schedule an appointment with the air guy anyway. So, a few weeks ago I made an appointment for July 10th but still kept thinking that maybe I would cancel and wait until the fall. Boy, I am glad I didn't cancel!

Temperatures are expected to be at all time highs during the next couple of days, with a little reprieve over the week-end (low 90's). So...for almost the next week we will be living in the basement where it is much cooler, eating lots of popsicles, sitting in front of fans, and being very thankful for the fact that we can have central air conditioning again very soon-for the mere price of $5,400!

Missing Alaska :(

This is the week that we usually head to Alaska. However, due to the outrageous cost of airline flights and an ailing heating/air conditioning system that needs to be replaced, we are not able to make our beloved trip this year. Here are some of the things I will miss about our AK trip:

1. Seeing the MacDaddy (TD) in action with his own little family.

2. Having my dad ask, "Hu are you going to be seeing today?" After 20 years it is still funny (but a little annoying).

3. Rafting down the Kenai with Dave & Christy without losing Darren on the Naptown Rapids.

4. Halibut fishing with Uncle Jack.

5. Shrimping with Mom and Dad.

6. Going to town with Jeannie to do "whatever".

7. Seeing my Nana.

8. Going to the cabin and stopping for ice cream at the little store in Ninilchik.

9. Watching Mom and Dad treat Harley and Duffy much better than they ever treated David, Jeannie, and I!

10. Watching my girls spend quality time at the bar with their grandparents!

I love all of you and hope to be able to make a trip next summer!

Water Fight

We had Darren's family over last night to party one last time before his brother Doug & his family returned to Minnesota. We grilled burgers, the kids ran the lawnmower course in the backyard (Darren can explain this to you), and then a huge water fight broke out. I think Darren is the one who started things with his "water weenie"! Notice Donnie in the background-He looks naked, but really does have pants on! He got a little too wet!

Family Pictures

I think the last "official" family pictures taken on my side of the family were done when my brother got married. Everybody looked pretty good (especially the bride and groom), but my dad looked particulary handsome-like somebody who had just stepped out of "Gunsmoke". The only other family pictures I remember (other than those at Dave & Christy's wedding) were done by a family friend, Donna Truesdell, who had a love for photography and a cool little darkroom in the basement of her house!

This week we had family pictures taken with Darren's ENTIRE family since all the siblings were in town. There were lots of discussions about what to wear, who would take the picture, where it would be taken, etc. I was very pleased with the decision to go with "casual" dress-white shirts and jeans! We ended up having a friend of the family take the pictures at North Canyon Park. It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, although it was somewhat tricky to get all the little kids paying attention to the photographer (and not the butterflies that seemed much more interesting).

Grandma & Grandpa with all of the grandkids!

Smith-Morehouse Reservoir

This past week we spent two nights at the Smith-Morehouse Reservoir with Darren's family. Although I have fond memories of the many camping trips my family made in Alaska (Deep Creek being my favorite), camping is not on my list of "fun" things to do as an adult. I think it has something to do with sleeping on the ground with a back that has arthritis issues, using an outhouse (the smell never improves), not to mention all of the clean-up upon arriving home (especially the pine sap that somehow made its way onto the butt of my dog). Despite my lack of love and joy for the great outdoors, the kids had fun. Well, at least one kid. As you can see from the pictures below Addy had a great time. Delaney spent most of her time reading and wishing she had cell phone service to text her friends. She did manage to have some fun when her cousin, Nicole, taught her how to roast StarBursts.

We rented a kayak, which everybody loved.

Addy and her cousin Josh both caught Rainbow Trout.