It's HOT...and in some instances on FIRE!

This summer in Utah has been HOT.  With several days if not weeks over 100 degrees we have been trying to get creative on how we can keep our girls and ourselves cool while having fun doing it.  Yard work has turned into an activity that can only be done after 8 pm at night and sometimes even that is pushing it.  So this summer we have decided splash pads are where it is at and our girls couldn't be happier.  We just had a Badger family reunion at a splash pad near us and here are some photos.

Try and find Sophie and Molly in this one. (hint they are right in the center)

These girls were born to be water babies through and through.

 

 

 

 

Our girls other favorite past times are

Bubbles

Eating Otter Pops on the back stoop

And Yard Sales...Sophie got this chair at a yard sale for $5

I would be remiss if I didn't also discuss the wonderful blessing that have been very evident in our lives this past week.  

Blessing #1

My job, as I have previously discussed has become almost unbearable and I have been interviewing for other positions.  One position in particular is very appealing to me and I had an interview on the 3rd of July and hadn't heard anything back one way or another and two weeks had passed.  I had a particularly horrible day at work where I was racked across the coals by a power hungry boss for a mistake he made and came home distraught and dejected.  I told B that I was trying to keep the faith and not get frustrated with the Lord when I felt I was doing everything I could to find new employment and life at my current position was only getting worse and worse.  In tears I told B that I need the Lord to either open the window to let me move on or make this work bearable if I was supposed to stay here and then I stated twice..."I need the Lord to do something RIGHT NOW!"  Within ten minutes of saying this I got a call from the man I had interviewed with asking if I was still available and interested in the position.  I said I was and he said he would call me the next day to set something up for a follow up interview.  I found this interesting that one he would call at 6pm well after hours and two that he called when he didn't have the schedule to set something up and why didn't he just call the next day....well we know why.  The Lord reached down and said that I needed it right then, which I did and he called.  What a blessing!

Blessing #2

I came downstairs on Sunday morning to find B in tears.  After some prodding she confessed that she is having a very hard time adjusting to the new ward and not knowing anyone or not having friends to call or go on walks with and how lonely she is.  She expressed frustration that she hasn't recieved a calling or even been assigned as a visiting teacher (which mind you I count as a blessing that I haven't been assigned yet as a home teacher).  I tried my best to comfort her and we went to church wondering if this week would be any better.  Well wouldn't you know it.  A woman walked up to B and said we have made you a visiting teacher here is you assignement and families.  B looked at me and said...He heard!  Yes He did!

Blessing #3
This morning was B's turn to get up early with the girls and she took them outside to swing and play while she got some weeding done in the cool of the morning.  I got up a little later and took a shower and came downstairs and immediately smelled something burning.  It smelled like plastic melting and there was a haze around the house.  I called to B and she came in and smelt the same thing and saw the smoke but we couldn't find where it was coming from.  B grabbed a neighbor who helped us look but none of us could find the source and we have had a lot of electrical work done and so thought it might be an electrical fire.  After calling several people who all told us to call 911 we caved and called.  They told us to get out of our house as it could explode and flare up if it was an electrical fire so we left and sat on the front lawn to have several fire engines show up sirens on to the delight of the neighborhood and our embarrassment.  They immediately scattered inside our house looking for what was burning as they could immediately tell something was.  We finally found the source in our furnace as the electrical panel was on fire and melting the plastic.  They said we were lucky to find it as it could have burned our house down and all of mom and dad's stuff with it.  So now we have no air conditioner for the hottest week of the year as we wait to see when the part will come in to fix the furnace and to see if we will need to replace the entire furnace.  But we are alive and our house is still standing and we are blessed. 

4th of July...WE LOVE AMERICA!

So this past week was the 4th of July and I am a little slow in getting these photos up but wanted to make sure that I did.  The 4th is a major holiday in my family.  Besides Christmas I would say it is the biggest.  Maybe it is because it is a celebration of America but also of all of the blessings we have by being American's and having the gospel in our lives.  Maybe it is because it screams summertime.  Maybe it is because we gather as a family with our kids running around like wild animals while getting wet and throwing poppers at each others feet.  Maybe it is the sense of community of everyone coming together to celebrate each other and our past.  Most likely it is a combination of all of them but there is a reason we cry at parade's and love the smell of fireworks...it is because we are so grateful for our blessings!

In my family we all gather on the 3rd in our (what was my parents) backyard for a nice dinner and sleepover.  We were all worried this year because it was so HOT this year...record heat of over a week around 104 degrees (KILLER) but it ended up not being to bad and we mixed it up by being inside and out to cool ourselves off.  That blur you see in the middle is Nate doing 'the Dougy' which is a dance move.  He and Sophie usually are only seen in blurs because they never stop moving.

 

Sophie and Lucy discovered a new hiding spot and at one point were both inside with the door closed.

 

We also set up the water table and pool for the little kids and had water balloons for water balloon volleyball.

 

Water balloon volleyball turned into a good old water fight among some...mainly led by Nate's obsession with getting wet and even!

 That night we headed down to Ben's house to let off fireworks.  Because of fire restrictions we couldn't let them off in our circle.

 Most of the kids ended up sleeping outside with Ben and Becki (such troopers) only to be chased inside in the middle of the night from a freak thunderstorm and heavy showers.  It was great to have the rain because the next day was a lot cooler although a little more humid because of it.

Each year on the 4th we go to the Centerville parade where we sit in the same spot each year.  Ben is great and reserves the spot every year which means hours of staking it out before we can put down chairs etc.  This year as we were setting up a lady came and put a blanket down right in the middle of our chairs and we said 'sorry we are setting up and this is our spot' to which she remarked, "you don't own the grass" to which we said "since 2pm yesterday we do"...needless to say she moved.  Here is a view of what our set up looked like.

Each year I take snap shots of the grand-kids so we can see how they change year by year.  Here they are in order of age. **As a note, none of Rick's kids were here this year and Tyler (Ben's second) is missing because he was in a float because he is a student body officer next year for Centerville Jr.

 

 This day is also special because I proposed to B at this parade.  So every year we also take a family photo so we can see how we have grown over the years.  I proposed 4 years ago and we have lived in two homes and have two kids and the same dog Libby.  I'm a little fatter and B is more beautiful with every day that comes around.  You may notice I don't have my ring on my finger in the photo...I realized a few days after boating that I lost it in the lake.  This is after I told B not once but twice that I was worried she would lose her ring in the lake and to take it off...should have listened to my own advice.  We are tired parents but we are happy and realize that with all the work and toddler tears and tantrums there are these shining moments in our lives where we KNOW we are blessed!  Happy 4th everyone.

Boating with the family!

This has been a very busy week with a lot of time spent with the family and enjoying (if not trying to escape) the HOT weather that has hit us and enjoy my second favorite holiday (behind Christmas) the 4th of July.  To kick off the week we, meaning all of my siblings and families, went to Pineview Reservoir where Kelli had arranged for us to use her brother Jason's boat for the day and spend time together.  Here are a ton of photos from the day.

Here is B and Sophie ready for a day under the sun!

 Molly and I enjoying the surf...this was Molly's favorite place for the day.

So Kelli brought her and Nikki's paddle boards up and after seeing all the kids jump up on them and make it look really easy us adults decided to try our luck.  Here is Kelli making it look REALLY easy and Becki making it look pretty easy (inside joke)

So I decided to try with Ben's help...First I tried standing up...how hard could it be...SPLASH!!

 Then I tried kneeling....Can you see the look on my face saying take the *$%^ photo already this whale is going down...SPLASH!

Ally kept making fun of me because I couldn't do it so there was only one solution...DUNK HER!  She wasn't too happy but all is fair when you mess with me!

 I decided to leave it up to others it just wasn't my thing...not that it was hard I just didn't enjoy it..wink wink!

 Luckily for me I wasn't the only one that struggled.  Can you see the same look on Rick's face.

 

As I mentioned before Kelli's brother Jason was kind enough to take us out on his boat where the boys wake boarded and we all rode the tube.  

Watch out Ladies the boys of Summer are in town!

What you need to understand about the tube is this...It was Jason's main goal, with a little help from Ben's goading, to eject you from the tube if you were the boys or the adults and although it looks easy trust me it's not.

Megger's would get really made at Jason if he didn't do exactly what she wanted.  You can see her doing the thumbs down which meant slow down.  What you don't see in this photo is most of the time the other three were doing the thumbs up which means speed up behind her back.

 But she survived and made it back to the boat unscathed.

 Jason's Boat 

 This is a view of us all happy...little did I know what I was in for.  First round out Ben ejected me from the boat and then somehow convinced me to get on with just Rick and I where we were thrown for our lives.  After Rick was thrown twice I was alone and had it coming.  I managed to fly off once doing a full 360 above the water spread eagle before going in and then the second time was thrown at such force my body skipped across the water like I was a stone...the last one I felt. 

When we weren't on the boat we hung out on the beach enjoying the water or the shade.  This was our home base on the beach.  

Sophie loved playing in the sand and being in the water.  She was born to be a water baby.  When we were out on the boat she would beg to be dangled off the side and float.  Now every time we pass a lake or water of any kind she begs to go boating.

Molly loved the water as well but preferred to sit on the beach and have the water hit her in the chest to floating.

  Mason won for best hair at the end of the day.  He looks like he just came out of salon back in the 80's and had a whole blow dryer treatment done.

It was an amazing day and we are so grateful to Kelli for arranging the day and the boat.  We all decided we need to do it every year (we just have to convince Jason).