Summer is FINALLY here!!

Mother Nature took her sweet time sending us summer, but we are making good use of lost time!! We have spent many LAZY days in the Burrells "swimming hole", gone fishing, been bowling, and have seen EVERY current movie.


We celebrated the 4th of July on the 3rd of July because, well, I guess that is what Utahan's do when the 4th falls on a Sunday. Anyway, Shawn, Terry, and all the kids went fishing up at Catherines Lake, and Kathy and I spent the morning getting toesies done. We then went looking for new furniture for her formal living room. TOTALLY fun.... who knew we had such different opinions about furniture! We headed to the grocery store and then headed home to get ready for a simple BBQ.




While the "guys" took well deserved rests, we all assembled in the Burrells backyard to make homemade "pinwheels" and 4th of July commemorative t-shirts. We dipped pipe cleaners that were bent to make "firework" shapes into glitter fabric paint and made firework shirts! A little messy, but fun!!


Dinner came next. We ate BBQ ribs (the best ever!), corn on the cob, BBQ beans, potato salad, and a fresh corn, avocado, cilantro salad. We drank a concoction of sprite, with red (fruit punch powerade) and blue (blue raspberry powerade) ice cubes. Looked COOL!!















After dinner came the fireworks!! Terry and Shawn both bought TONS! We started out with sparklers and snakes, but quickly progressed to the big guns! After fireworks we finished with ice cream sundaes and watermelon cookies.

GREAT DAY!!!

ROAD TRIP!!

Have you ever felt the need to JUST GET OUT OF THE HOUSE?? Well this is how we felt on Saturday. Terry suggested a road trip to Salina/Richfield to look at PROPERTY. What exactly do you ask does "Property" mean?? well to Terry it means that he wants to find a few acres in the middle of nowhere where he can park a trailer and let the kids go four wheeling and bike riding etc. To me, it means driving aimlessly through small towns looking for ANOTHER section of barren land that looks EXACTLY like the last one we looked at. Oh well, at least it was out of the house. We ate good food and then checked into the Hampton Inn for some swimming. I got to read in the car and got some good pictures out of the whole deal. So it was a win win trip for me. Colton had me take a "PIC" that he could send to his friend Becca. I think this one is AWESOME! He is turning into a hottie : )

No More Excuses!!!

I told myself that as soon as I got a decent camera, I would start blogging again!! Well....... the kids and Terry got me a nice touch screen camera for Mother's Day, so I have NO MORE EXCUSES!!! I still do not know how to use it : ) but I will keep trying.

I THOUGHT that summer was finally here, so I bought TONS of pretty flowers to plant in the front yard. I bought strawberry plants, tomato plants, herbs, and (I hope) perennials. Terry bought me a Topsy Turvy for the tomato and the strawberry pants. Of course, I could not wait for Terry to hang them, so I took it upon myself and broke the screws off into the wood. I HOPE that it will support the weight of the grown plants, since they are hanging on by ONE screw!! That is, if the plants even survive. I planted THREE DAYS before the big SNOW STORM : (
They look pretty for now though.



On Memorial Day weekend, we decided to stay in town and try something new. We took the kids to Momentum Climbing and learned to rock climb!! Terry had looked into it and we decided to surprise the kids on Saturday. I figured it was like when you go to the school carnival, I read a book, and the kids climb a wall with a guy helping them up. NO! NO! NO! that is NOT how this works! We arrive at the place, and we are given harnesses, climbing shoes, and belaying breaks. What are these you ask? well so did I! You get all rigged up and then an employee takes you over and TRAINS you on how to belay. This is where you learn to tie a figure eight knot (So the kids do not fall to their death) and pull it through a "break" that weighs about 8 ounces, and yet holds the weight of a human being. Anyway, we learn how to put up the slack in the rope so that if the kids let go, they do not come hurdeling through the air, and then how to bring them back down when they reach the top. Once I got the hang of this it was SUPER fun! We climbed for a few hours, left for lunch and a nap for mom, and then back for a few more hours. I TOTALLY recomment this activity! Colton climbed some VERY impressive formations, and even Brysen had a blast. It is great excersize even if all you do is belay. (hold the rope). A very nice man, who was a pro, told Colton that he had a nice form.


On Monday, Memorial Day, we took flowers to my mom, and then went to This is the Place Heritage Park. I have not been there since I was a teenager. No one was very interested, but because we could not come up with a better idea, I won. It was a blast!! I love a day where you have fun AND actually learn a thing or two!!

Trip to Lagoon

This could be the last post for awhile so I have to get everything in. We took the kids to Lagoon on Labor day. What a blast! We let Colton invite his friend Hagen, which gave us an even number. Colton and Hagen took off together with the understanding that every half hour they had to take a picture of themselves in front of whatever ride they were in line for, and text it to Terry. How cute! These were the cutest pictures! Anyway, with the OLDER boys taken care of, it left Terry and I with Drake and Brysen. Everyone was tall enough this year to ride all the rides!! We started with the Bat, and Brysen was VERY scared. He loved it! Next we rode Jet Star II (my fav), and so on and so forth. It was so nice to NOT have to stay in kiddie land all day. I was so proud of Brysen. He rode Colossus! He kept his eyes closed and screamed ALOT, but he did it!! And Drake. That boy got in line for Cliffhanger when NO ONE ELSE in my family would. He rode it with Hagen (see pic) . We enjoyed about an hour at Lagoon a beach, and then finished out the day. It was totally the PERFECT outing!
We had a nice lunch, played games, had some ice cream. For the first time, we went to an amusement park and no one fought over where to go, and what to eat, etc. FUN FUN FUN!

We took the kids to the new Real soccer stadium to see the monster truck jam. As you can see from the pictures, the kids were wiped out. They had gone fishing all day with Terry and the Burrell's. They caught TONS of fish!! We were able to cook fish tacos for BOTH families! They said it was a great day. Anyway..back to the truck jam. They look tired but I think they enjoyed it. It is VERY loud (notice the earplugs). We got seat right up front so they could see everything. Our favorite part of these events is the freestyle event. They trucks get to jump other cars, spin out, and do other amazing things! Grave Digger is our favorite!

Back To School!

I obviously am NOT good at this!! I need to play catch up. The kids started Early Light Academy (no, it is not as catholic school, although the name sounds like one) Charter School. I have been nervous, but wanted to move to the charter school because it is K-9 and Colton would only have 75 kids in his grade. I felt that he got lost in the system at the regular middle school. The charter school is a uniform school. I thought..Yeah!! but now, after ironing their clothes five times, I think..Uggg! It's to early to tell, but I think it will be good. They have VERY different ways of teaching the kids. I will have to get back to you on that one. I have to send home lunch everyday. What an adventure in meat! We have the pantry stocked with Ham, Turkey, Roast Beef, etc. And snacks!! it takes up two cabinets in the pantry. Atleast I know what they are eating, and its not so bad making samiches every day.

So...everyone is doing it....and I am going to as well. No! NOT what you are thinking!! I am going to BLOG silly. Get you mind out of the gutter : ) I am not sure that there is enough going on to write an entire BLOG, but I must keep up with the Jones' (or at least the Burrell's ha ha ).

Summer sure has gone by fast! I cannot believe that the kids are going back to school soon. I think it has gone by fast because of the new job. I have not worked in nine years, and finally was talked into getting a part time job by my friend Kathy. I work at Dubs Scrubs selling .... you guessed it, SCRUBS!! Its actually pretty nice. Nichol and Adam (the owners) are great to work for, and are very flexible when it comes to needed time off for the kids. And..for a retail sales job, it pays pretty decent too! Can beat that!! I feel a little overwhelmed but I am sure that I will be able to get into a routine soon. After the kids head off to school it will be easier.

Speaking of school, I have mixed feelings about the new Charter School we will be attending. Early Light Academy, is opening this year, and I chose to move the kids there because it is a Kindergarten through ninth grade school, and Colton was feeling a little lost at the HUGE middle school. I have many Pros and Cons about this, but will have to see as it goes. Pros: Uniforms!! Traditional schedule. Early day for Colton as well as Drake and Brysen. Progressive curriculum with more attention per kid because class sizes are smaller. Cons: No busing : ( No hot lunch : ( Not a lot of electives for Colton.

So...We will check in later on that issue. That's it for todays blog. I will keep you posted on anything new....MAYBE :)