We Are Still Here

Dead camera batteries + no kitchen + no basement family room = chaos in my life and poor blogging history for July. I have some pictures that the kids have taken.

Kitchen {2 views} It's kind of hard to prepare meals in a kitchen like this. No, that's not Nate painting...it's Darren. I have to admit that I'm a little happy that he's not occupied right at this moment. We were in desperate need of time...or at least someone with time who could help finish the kitchen.

And here is the basement. It looks pretty cluttered still, but that's because we haven't restored the storage room completely yet. How about those deer heads? Nate put them up one day last fall when he and Emma stayed home sick from church. Maybe I'll stay home with the kids next time.Can you guess who this poodle mutt is? Yeah, she used to be cute. Nate thinks she looks like a jack rabbit now. But she really needed a haircut.Craig and Chris took the kids to rodeo on Saturday night. They had a great time with grandma and grandpa, and Sam took these cool photos. I would like to say that it was nice for them to take the kids so that Nate and I could enjoy our anniversary, but he was in Nebraska somewhere. I enjoyed reading a good book.

Yesterday we had a nice visit with my mission companion LeeAnn. It was so fun to see her and to meet her darling kids. The kids all got along and had fun just playing while we visited. While she was here Nate came home for lunch and saddled up Thunder to give the kids a ride. They loved it. Thanks for coming to visit, LeeAnn. I could use a little more of your cheerful energy and progressive mindset. You're awesome!

And, there is proof right there that there is a half on his way. {The boys call the baby "the half": as in 4 1/2 kids, soon to be 5}

More updates to come.

Fourth

We spent a quiet weekend together to celebrate the 4th. On Friday we took a drive to Utah to purchase a generator for our camp trailer. We had done the research and knew what we wanted, but we were waiting to find a good deal on them. They usually don't go on sale, and we had someone tell us that trade shows were the best place to get them. Nate is a big fan of ksl classifieds, and found what we needed for a great deal. But the bad thing about ksl classifieds, is that he likes to look for things that we usually don't need quite as much, like a horse. OK, so for me it's not a need. For him, it is. He saw one that he liked, and I knew he was serious, but I convinced him that the Suburban would be a much more comfortable ride. I wasn't interested in an impulse buy just because we had the trailer there. We drove over the top of the Uintas, stopping for a "hike" at Provo Falls. It was busy up there {for the mountains} but it was beautiful. With all the rain we've had, everything was so green and lush.

After our tour through the city, we stopped at Cabela's in Lehi for Nate to spend his Father's Day Gift Certificate. The kids love to go there!!! We watch the fish, look for the biggest elk or deer, and play at the shooting range. They're usually pretty good at not begging to buy things either. {Thankfully} We drove home on the Alpine Loop and stopped for another "hike" at Cascade Springs. A couple of weeks ago when Nate was at Woodbadge, I took the kids to Cabela's and on the way home we stopped at the Timpanogos Cave Trail. We hiked halfway up before Amelia had had enough. She didn't like the heights much. The boys were sure that we needed to make that hike again. However, I was sure that the climb would throw at least me and Sam into respiratory distress, as we are still fighting these miserable coughs. We convinced them that would be a hike for another day, but we stopped at Cascade Springs for a potty break, and Emma and Amelia were excited when they located a trail. So, we took a couple of the loops and enjoyed an evening walk. As we were walking, Emma turned around with unusual enthusiasm and said, "this is the best hike ever!" A girl after my own heart. I was able to snap a couple pictures before the battery ran out of juice.

On Saturday, Nate got up bright and early to get the horse we had looked at. {you knew it, didn't you} We cleaned up the house a bit and then put together a picnic to take up to Smitties, his grandpa's camp ground above their ranch. The boys shot their guns and bow and explored with their dad while the girls and I waded in the creek. We had a little picnic and enjoyed a quiet afternoon away from our "broken" home. As the day came to a close, Nate wanted to ride the horses back to the ranch. Clay's new horse was a dream, though. It's good for him to have a horse to ride that will give him confidence. His was shaken last year when we was caught sideways on a runaway horse. He didn't get hurt, but was pretty scared. The new horse is a paint, but is mostly black. Clay named him Storm. So now, Clay is "Storm Rider."

We got back into town just in time to see it explode with fireworks. It is absolutely amazing. In addition to the show that the city puts on, people all over town let off fireworks, the big amazing ones, and the town is just alive for over an hour with fireworks everywhere you turn. We sought refuge on grandma and grandpa's porch, and could see everything from there, even if we were a little late. We even started a tradition. Last year, we had just returned from Philmont, as in, we were driving into town at dark. So, we bought a bucket of chicken and sat on grandma and grandpa's porch to watch fireworks. We did that this year too, so it's a tradition now. I think it will be better if they don't forget to give us the popcorn chicken next time, and the girls aren't tired out of their minds and freaked out by the noise, and if Emma doesn't cry for half an hour straight. But, it was good.