Summer is Ending

School starts here next week and so as a tribute to the end of our eventful summer, here are the comments from each member of the family.

What was your favorite thing about this summer?  


Doug - that I'm not in Phoenix enduring the 110 degree oven of heat 
Michelle - all the time I got to spend with my family, extended family and old friends
Carter - well since we just moved here, everybody's birthdays and holidays
Haleigh - went swimming
Miles - toy story
Louis - da da dada da



What was the worst thing about this summer?

Doug - driving in the UHaul truck for two days in no-mans land

Michelle - giving away our dogs three times and dealing with the kids crying and missing them

Carter - pretty much getting punished

Haleigh - the lots of spiders that we saw at Salt Lake

Miles - the bug

Louis - da da dada da

Why is summertime fun?

Doug - because you can go swimming and the sun feels good and you can be outside to play, eat smores

Michelle - sleeping in, doing whatever we want every day, lots of time to play with the kids

Carter - cause you get to go swimming and get exercise before school starts and have a good time before school gets to start.

Haleigh - Because it's so hot and you get lemonade or popsicles.

Miles - go bye bye with your shoes on

Louis - da da dada da

What is summer like in Utah?

Doug - awesome...you can do all kinds of things outside, it's nice outside, there's lots to do like hiking, or gardening, or playing at the park

Michelle - the ideal summer image in your mind...laying on the grass, lemonade stands, bbq's, watching sunsets

Carter - it feels really warm that you just want to do all kinds of things...go to the park, play with friends, go swimming and just have fun.

Haleigh - fun at Utah but scorpions in Arizon-i-a

Miles - fun

Louis - da da dada da

What is the craziest thing we did with our family this summer?

Doug - moved to Utah and left everything behind

Michelle - moving with two moving vans, two cars and 2 trailers

Carter - it would have to be when we went camping and never found our camping spot

Haleigh - Daddy and me went on the water slide and we went slow

Miles - I say pizza, I say hot dog.

Louis - da da dada da

What was the most special thing we did with our family this summer?

Doug - Carter's baptism when he turned 8 and I got to baptize him; plus what Michelle says below...

Michelle - relying on our faith against all odds and choosing as a family where we want to be

Carter - going at a picnic at that castle park

Haleigh - love and be good

Miles - toy story

Louis - da da dada da

Carter's Baptism

We were very happy to host family and friends to help us celebrate Carter getting baptized into our church. Doug and he packed their suitcases with towels and what they'd need and headed off to get ready. 

My mom played piano and Tiffany led the music.  The kids were very excited to see Carter in the water.  He said the water was warm.  Grandpa and cousin John were the witnesses. 

PARTY TIME!  We headed back for dinner and dessert.  Guests included Carter's Great Grandma Theobald, His Great Uncle Roger, Great Uncle Allen, Second Cousin Mary and John Jenkins with their kids Nathaniel and Margaret, friends from Hawaii-Joe and Holly Costello, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Tiffany and cousins-JJ and Luke, Great Aunt Kathie, our bishopric, and our new friends the Rich Family. 

The final picture before sending Grandpa off to the airport.  We loved spoiling him!

Random Pics

Our trip to the Great Salt Lake...BEWARE!

Now, I don't think this post will really do justice for the horror that took place.  We had just dropped off my dad at the airport and thought that we should go see the actual Salt Lake.  I was looking forward to touching the water, smelling the salt air and showing the kids.  We went to the south side of the lake and parked at the marina.  The lot was empty and we thought we'd have the place to ourselves. 

We were approached by a park ranger who asked us to pay the $2.00 entrance fee.  He let us in with 1.42 which was all we had in the car.  Then we began to unload everyone.  As I opened the door, I thought I saw a little shadow go under my tire.  I dismissed it and hurried excitedly with the kids to the water's edge.  If you know me, then you know that I love, love, love the ocean and couldn't wait for some salt air.  What I found was brine air.  It smelled like a mixture of sewage and chemicals, or as Miles put it, "Stinky Poo Poo."  I decided that I at least was going to touch the water to see just how salty it was.  I couldn't even get close though.  My new white shoes kept sinking in the black muddy sludge that surrounded the water.  We gave up and headed back to the look out tower we saw when we drove up.  While walking there, Haleigh gave her analysis.  "I do NOT like the Salt Lake.  It's smells and it's dirty!" 

By then, we had caught up to Doug, Louis and Carter who were already frozen on the lookout.  Doug called, "Don't come up here!" which of course, I ignored and went up anyway.  To my utter shock, were thousands and thousands of golf ball spiders covering the rails, the rocks, the walls...everything.  I had never seen so many in my entire life.  Spiders are one of my worst fears and I couldn't believe how they had taken over every inch of the rocks and marina.  I crept closer with my phone to try to document just how many there were and how big.  It was like a freak of nature to see so many...like the movie arachnophobia.  Haleigh starts crying, Miles starts yelling, "'Et's get outta here!" and I could barely take my eyes off the scene.  I didn't know if they were jumping spiders, or poisonous spiders or what.  I glanced at the rocks which were like breakers.  They were blanketed in layers and layers of web with spiders dotting from the lookout tower down to the water, and those were the ones that we could see above the rocks.  Who knows how many are hiding underneath?

We took off back for the car and realized Doug left the security alarm buttons inside.  As he figured out how to get in, I went to find the park ranger and ask him why in the world would they allow the spiders to take over the whole marina like that?  Was it an ecosystem kind of thing?  Because it was way beyond keeping some around to eat the flies.  We walked towards the trailer/office and saw that the stairs, ramp to the door and door were also covered in layers and layers and layers of web.  My mind wandered to a scooby doo episode, "What park ranger?  He's been dead for 20 years..." We never did see that park ranger again and I waited as long as I could. 

Anyway, we got the car open, loaded up and drove off at full speed.  It was then that I remembered the little shadow that scurried under the car as I got out in the beginning.  The whole way home I envisioned my stowaway hitching a ride home to Cedar Hills.  I have had a spider in the car before and that three hours I'll never get back and a few nightmares.  I had Doug get home and fumigate the whole border of the house, the under side of the car, and every inch of the garage.  He kept telling me to get over it, but I compared him falling into the train full of snakes like Indiana Jones to what I had seen that day.  Same thing. 

I'll include a video of our get a way.  You gotta here Haleigh's final words on the video.  It's now a family classic quote.  "This is the Worst Day of My Life!"

I'll put the pics too but my little phone camera did not do it justice. Just assume that anything you see that looks black is a spider in the background.

Back and Bored

I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm SOO BORED!  I usually have multiple jobs, the four kids and house things to worry about.  Now, we are in a new place, still looking for jobs, the kids are in their third month of summer (that's way too long to keep them busy) and most of my stuff/projects are in storage.  It is pretty boring trying to conserve money.  Luckily, the weather outside is great, but there's only so many trips to the park you can do.  When is school going to start already?  I seriously need a mommy break or a girls night out...wish I knew more people!