Sand Dunes

We went out to the sand dunes on Friday night and met Kathryn and Jason and their kids. The weather was terrible the whole way out there and we were sure we had made a mistake by going. But miraculously, the rain stopped and the skies cleared and we were able to have a few hours of fun! The kids were loving every minute of it and were absolutely covered in sand! Thanks Kathryn and Jason for letting us use your toys - we had a lot of fun!

I am so not a daring person and was really nervous to ride the motorcycle, but I did try for a little bit and did OK. I stayed in 1st gear the whole time and just putted around the campground, but hey, that's about the extent of what I dare to do!

Addi and Emma having so much fun in the sand.

Emma and Landon

Kathryn and Jason in their super cool outfits- they are quite the riders!

Daniel was an animal on this thing! He was fearless and was rippin' it up! I had to post this video of him because he was just a natural at riding and flipping donuts! He's crazy!

One more video- you can get a little idea of why they were so covered in sand! Good grief!

Look at her go!

Four year old Emma just learned to ride a two wheeler! It took her all of about 30 minutes! We were all super impressed- she even learned faster than the boys did! Here's the trick, if you have any kids that will be trying to ride a two wheeler you need to do this because it really works and then you don't have to run behind the bike holding on to the seat and there is really no falling down. Take the training wheels AND the pedals off. This way they have to use their legs to push, coast and balance. It works best if you have a small decline for them to coast down. They can ride this way for a day or two or a just a few hours. In Emma's case, 20 minutes did the trick! Way to go Emma Jae!

Life is just a bowl of cherries

Last night we went to an orchard and picked cherries! They are the most perfect, beautiful cherries ever and I cannot stop eating them! Have you ever eaten them frozen? (pitted first, of course) If you haven't you simply must try it! We all had a lot of sticky, sweet fun!

This morning while Daniel was helping "pit" the cherries he said, "Hey, we're docking the cherries!" Yup, taking the nuts out and getting sprayed with cherry blood!

So....cherry pie, cherry crisp, or cherry cobbler?

Flower power

My mom is a super talented lady and she loves doing projects. She is always crocheting, cross-stitching, sewing, recovering furniture (remember my couches!), painting, decorating and just being super creative. She gets an idea in her head and stops at nothing until it is done and done well. She is amazing and has a really good eye for things. She noticed some "empty" space in my front room and thought a big flower arrangement would be just right. Of course I never hesitate to let my mom do a project for me because #1 she does an awesome job and #2 it beautifies my home! She just went to town and put it all together and viola! Thank you so, so much mom! I love it and it looks gorgeous. By the way, the pictures don't really do it justice. You kinda have to see it in person to understand how big and beautiful it is, but I think you get the idea!

Docking

Richard took the boys down early this morning to go docking. If you don't know what that is, let me enlighten you. (I didn' t have a clue what it was until I met Richard- I'm a city girl and I don't know these things!) Each year all the baby lambs have to have their tails cut off, have their ears marked (usually a few slits with the pocket knife) and their testicles (for the boys of course) removed. They used to do that last part with a pocket knife as well, but now they use little rubber bands that are tied around the boy parts and eventually they just fall off. It is a very bloody process and they need a whole bunch of people to get the job done. Today they did over 1300 lambs! Richard said that's the most he has ever done in one day! Richard was one of the cutters, while the boys helped with things like holding the lambs and putting powder on their tails to control the bleeding. I've helped with this before and it is very interesting, even though it is bloody and a little sad for the lambies. The boys had a great time and were exhausted by the time they made it home this afternoon.

The boys may still be a bit small to hold lambs, but they did their very best.

Below, Landon is holding the powder that he put on the tails after they were cut. If you zoom in you can see the piles of tails under the truck! Daniel branded a few sheep with the red paint you see next to him.

Just a little video of the boys trying to help.

I wanted to post this picture of one of the older boys who held sheep so you could see just how bloody it can be. Their little tails squirt blood everywhere after they are cut. I've got all their clothes in the wash right now and I'm hoping it all comes out!

What I hear

I love my kids, but on a daily basis these are some of the things they say, and then there is what I actually hear.

"Can I help you do that?"

What I hear: Can we make this project/cooking dinner last twice as long and make twice the mess?

"Can I be excused?"

What I hear: Can I have something different in about 20 minutes?

"Can I play with a friend?"

What I hear: Can I just not do my jobs today?

"Can I do it later?"

What I hear: Can I not do it at all?

"Can I hold Kate?" (This is mostly Emma)

What I hear: Do you mind if I make Kate cry?

"Can I watch one more episode before I go to bed?"
What I hear: You don't care if I'm super cranky tomorrow, do you?

"I'm really, really sorry about the counter."

What I hear: I didn't think that permanent jumbo marker would go all the way through the paper.

I really do have great kids and I love them and fortunately they give me lots of hugs and kisses where they don't say anything at all.

What I hear: "I love you"

Free Concert

This is just a little FYI in case anyone wanted to know. Voice Male is performing for the Temple Square Summer Concert Series tomorrow (Tuesday) night. It is free but usually fills up pretty fast, so you might wanna come a bit early.

8:00 pm

Brigham Young Historic Park

(Directly east across the street from the Church Office Building.)

I think it will be in the Assembly Hall if the weather is yucky!

Layne and Jill, are ya'll going? What about the rest of the week?

Love this smile!

I just want to gobble this baby up!  I honestly have to physically restrain myself from biting her!  Does anyone else love to bite their babies?  I love her toothy, cheesy little smile- it makes me happy!