After a long week of rain, last Saturday we got up and saw the sun! We decided that we HAD to take advantage of the warm day and the beautiful sunshine. So after lunch we packed up the kids and headed off to Starvation Resivior. We planned a nice afternoon of playing in the water, eating snacks and just relaxing. We were going to go up and pl
ay on the beach, but when we got headed up the road there was a sign saying that the beach was closed for some construction that they would be doing that day...bummer. So we went to find some other place that would be nice. We ended up going clear around to the other side of the lake (Knight's Hollow...for you locals that know where I am talking about) and found that KNOW ONE was there, we had the entire place to ourselves. We found a little sandy beach area in between these 2 hills. We were so secluded and felt like we were on our own little island. The kids had a great time swimming, playing in the water, building sand "c
reations" 
and eating junk food. Deron and I enjoyed a little down time just reading our books and resting. It was wonderful. After a little rest, Deron and I took a walk around and looked at all the cactus that was blooming. In my entire life, I have never seen a cactus flower, they are beautiful. My pictures don't do them justice, but they were just so pretty that I had to take some shots of them anyway. We all had such a fun time. We were there for most of the afternoon and our only regret was that we didn't bring hot dogs to roast....maybe next time.
I love summer and having my kids at home. We get alot of cleaning done (always!), but we play alot to. Kimberly and Cameron have had summer jobs for the past couple of years so they aren't home much, but Halle is. The last couple of years, I have tried to do weekly "field trips" with the kids, at least with the ones that are at home. We've gone on picnics, hikes, to the zoo, to Lagoon, to the Lake to swim, fishing etc... I've tried to help them make memories and have fun during the summer, as well as teach them the principle of work. Halle and I made a list of things that we want to do this summer and are going to try and do one at least every other week (every week was setting too high of expectations for me). Last week we went shopping out in Provo. Halle had some money that she has been saving to buy some summer clothes and I thought that would be something fun for just her and I to go and do...so we did. We spent the day going in and out of stores in the Mall and she came home with several bags of goodies. She is quite the bargain shopper
and really hit some awesome deals. She planned out what she wanted to get and didn't spend her money on other things. I was proud of her ability to get what she went out to get and not be enticed by things that she really couldn't afford or things that she "really didn't need or want". We went to Cafe Rio and got our lunch "to go" and then went to a park to enjoy it. We weren't there 10 minutes when this awful cloud blew over the top of us and threatened to dump its contents onto our picnic. So we packed up our lunch and went back to the car to enjoy it...we were going to enjoy it one way or the other. Halle had been eating her lunch when a piece of it got stuck up by a tooth that was "sort of loose". She couldn't eat the rest of her food and was really in alot of pain. After convincing her that the only way
to make it quit hurting was to pull the tooth out (which she didn't want to do because it wasn't all that loose), she finally got it out and felt so much better. You would think by 12 years old that most of her baby teeth would be out, but she was late getting teeth and now she is really late loosing them. She has lost 3-4 in the last few weeks. But she isn't afraid to pull them herself. Our day turned out really fun and the weather cooperated. We had great roads both going to and coming home from Provo which pleased me 100%. Even though there were clouds and I kept thinking that any minute we were going to drive into a down pour, we were able to steer clear of any storm. Our first field trip for the summer was a hit and we can't wait for the next one.
s been 2 weeks. I know that I am preaching to the choir when I complain about this because I am sure that most of you reading this know exactly what I am talking about, and feeling the same way, because you're getting all the the rain too. I am really trying to be thankful for the moisture, but I'm having a hard time being thankful for the rain when its rotted all my seeds in my garden, preventing me from enjoying my summer, keeping me indoors, leaving mud for everyone to track into the house that I just got done cleaning (since I am tr
apped inside, that's all I do is clean), leaving water marks all over my windows and creating more messes for me to clean, and then just making me so glum. I hate it! It's getting old, actually its gone past the point of getting old, it IS OLD! I enjoy the green grass, the green shrubs and the way the rain makes everything look, but...isn't there a HAPPY MEDIUM somewhere?! Honestly, I don't know how much more I can take...I've had it!!!!!
Dinner time rolls around and I always have a hard time thinking about what to fix. As you know I have been trying new recipes for awhile now and have found some really good ones. I have also found one's that WEREN'T so good....I don't blog about those. Tonight I made a recipe that I have been wanting to try for awhile now. I was a little worried that it might be too spicy for those in my family that aren't CRAZY about a "little ZiP"...but it turned out wonderfully. EVERYONE loved it and we ate most of a 9x13 pan, ALL GONE....there won't be much for leftovers and I am afraid that it will be a fight to see who gets to eat them tomorrow for lunch.
A long time ago...in a far away place I had a little girl. Her name is Daynalee. She was born today, June 9th at 11:00am...23 years ago! She was such a fun baby. She loved to laugh and play with her uncles. Dayna is not only my first child but my first daughter. I had no little sisters, just brothers, so when Dayna came along I found out how much fun little girls can be. Dayna and I have always had a very close relationship, from a tiny baby all the way up until now. I had the opportunity to coach her on the Drill Team for 4 years, which was a special time for the both of us. I got to spend time with her that I wouldn't have gotten to otherwise. I got to see her develop some of her talents and work hard as a leader. She and I worked side by side and both got to be a part of the 1st time ever 1A State Championship drill
hesene High School, she a member of that great team and me as the coach. It was a neat experience that we both treasure, not really the winning (that was fantastic as well), but the time we got to spend with each other. She lights up my life and can bring a smile to anyone's face. There are so many reasons that I love this beautiful daughter of mine...but I am just going to share a few:
She is strong minded and strong willed and sets a great example for her family to follow. 
One of the draw backs of summer here, and probably everywhere, are those nasty...most dreaded bugs, the blood sucking mosquito. I hate the fact that you usually don't even know they are sucking your blood unless you catch them in the act or until after they have flown away to land on some other helpless victim. I went outside last night and knew that it would be short lived, as they were just landing on me left and right, chewing away at my very white legs. And today I am feeling the "itch" from their vicious attack last night. My dad is the Mosquito Abatement director here in our county, and I have to say...he does a fine job!! I have had many a talks with my dad on the subject of mosquito's and I have learned alot. I wished that there was some way to really get the word out and have people understand (and take serious) the fact that some of the responsibility falls back on us as citizens of our community and county, to help control the rapid growth of mosquito's. It takes a VERY LITTLE amount of water for mosquito's to grow and hatch. They go from larva stage to adult life in a matter of 3 days, and you can have several thousand hatch from the amount of water that sits in a horseshoe print. We all have things in our yards that collects water, either from the rain or from sprinklers. We need to make sure that we turn buckets and cans over so that water doesn't collect in them. We can make sure that we don't let water sit, as the mosquito's will lay their eggs in it and before long we have helped multiply and replenish the mosquito population. The Mosquito Abatement can only do so much. They go around and treat problem areas with chemicals that help kill the mosquito larva but there is only so much that their limited amount of people can do. They can't treat every puddle, bucket, empty can, tire, cup, etc.... of standing water, that's where we have
to step in and keep those emptied. They fog with a special chemical, which kills some of the mosquito's but they can only fog between the hours of 8pm and 8am. There are gnats that resemble a mosquito and for most of us that aren't trained to spot the different breeds of mosquito's, they all look the same to us. So EVERYTHING that is biting us isn't always a mosquito, even though it looks like it is. My dad and his crew at the Mosquito Abatement work really hard to keep the mosquito population down the best that they can. There is no way that they can or ever will be able to extinguish the mosquito population here in our area, BUT they do their best and try to keep them under control. When it rains alot, it leaves alot of sitting water therefore causing more mosquito's to be produced. They really DO try to stay on top of things but there is only so much that their crew can do, there AREN'T 100's of employee's and the few that they have are covering the ENTIRE county. I hate mosquito's as much (maybe even more) as the next person does, and just because my dad happens to be over the Mosquito Abatement doesn't mean that I am somehow am protected from getting the nasty creatures buzzing around my head too. I am affected just like anyone else, but lets us as neighbors, citizens and people who are on a quest to help rid the world of mosquito's, do our part to help where we can. Watch for sitting water, make sure that we aren't the neighborhood culprit that is helping to breed the nasty pests, eliminate the places that we might have in our yards and on our property that would help breed mosquito's. And the next time you see one of our Mosquito Abatement workers out doing their job...stop and say "THANK YOU", or just call and tell them that you appreciate the hard work that they are out there doing. Its a thankless job....BUT I am sure GRATEFUL THAT THEY ARE OUT THERE FIGHTING them for me, so that I can at least be somewhat free from the nasty little blood suckers!
