Epic Pioneer Day

Yesterday was Pioneer Day or the Days of '47.  I prefer Pioneer Day.  It's right to the point.  In 1847, the Mormon pioneers stepped into the Salt Lake Valley, and Brigham Young said, "This is the place."  There were no trees.  Just a barren wasteland.  I often wonder what went through the minds of the people following him.  Many were probably just glad they didn't have to walk any farther.  I would have said, "What?  Really?  This isn't paradise!"  But God wasn't leading them to paradise.  Just to a place where they could worship in peace.  So now every July 24th is Pioneer Day!  A state holiday.  That Kurtis doesn't get off work.  But he did yesterday!  Because it was Saturday.  We decided to go hiking at three in the afternoon.  It was probably about 98 degrees or something, but we didn't care.  We packed water, and went up the mountain.  I found a 1.5 mile hike on the Internet I thought our kids could handle practically in our own backyard.  Yeah.  They did great.  They just wanted to stop a lot.  And drink a lot.  Next time we go, we should go in the morning, I said.  "Why in the morning?" Riley asked.  He's always asking one question or another.  Sometimes like 20 in an hour.  "Because it wouldn't be as hot in the morning."  "Why isn't it as hot in the morning?"  "Because the sun is just starting to make things warm in the morning.  Right now, it's the hottest part of the day (it was almost five o'clock)."  "Why?"  "Because the sun has been making it hot all day."  "Oh."  Try putting up with that when the heat is making you cranky.  With that boy, it's pretty much endless.  I tried.  Most of the time I fail, but this time, I probably did alright.
After dinner, we lit the smoke bombs and did the pop pops.  They are still really, really loud.  But it's awesome!  Then we waited for it to get dark, and lit off the awesome ones, and did sparklers.  Fireworks are so freaking awesome!  I just like them. :D

Setting off on a new adventure!

We saw a hawk, or some bird of prey like that.

The view from the mountain.

Another view shot with the shrubbery.

An illegal beehive operation.  No, not really.  I just have strange thoughts when I am hiking that amuse myself.  Usually nobody else really understands me, though. :)

Check out my hot boys!

Just a cool dead tree.

Best dad ever.

Tank wars!

This one fell over, so we're not really sure how cool it actually was. :)

I thought these would be cool if they were lit together.  It was alright.

A volcanic eruption.

This one sounded cooler than it actually was, but there's always next year.

The moon looked really awesome.  I'm a fan.

Sparklers make cool pictures.

The epic battle begins.

A fight to the death.

A car approaches.

But it does not interrupt our battle.

The victor of the epic battle emerges, and fades into the darkness.

I Think My Husband Might Be Trying to Kill Me

Seriously.  Why would he do such a thing?  Well, I am pretty selfish.  What makes you think he's trying to kill you?  Well, he often tells me he thinks it'd be cool if I knew how to ride a motorcycle.  He thinks female motorcyclists are sexy.  Good for him.
I like driving my car.  It has four wheels.  They are solid, don't tip over easily.  But the thing I like most about driving in a car is the radio.  I love being able to listen to music.  You can't do that on a motorcycle.  I love the wind in my hair, and singing at the top of my lungs to my favorite bands.  Learning the words to the songs, just so I can sing along is something that brings me joy.  Music is the one thing that make life bearable.  When I am doing tasks I despise (like weeding or cleaning), it is the only thing that makes them tolerable.
After having said that, it would be way totally cool if I knew how to ride a motorcycle.  I mean, seriously,  wouldn't I just look smoking on this:

Oh, yeah!  I'm more of a cruiser girl.  Kurtis likes the bullet bikes. 

Here's his bike:

The kids like to ride on the back, but I haven't had much opportunity to do so.  I said on our next date, we should take the bike.  But he wants me to have a helmet first.  Sigh.  Where's his sense of danger?!

Next year, I may be taking the motorcycle safety course and getting a motorcycle endorsement on my drivers' licence.  But not this year.

Primary Parade

I love when I can blog about something the day it happens.  It's so much better.
Our Primary (Primary is Sunday school for the children ages 3-12.  It's fun.  They enjoy it.  I used to teach Primary, but don't any more.) had a Primary Activity this evening.  It was really awesome.  The kids loved it.  They had a Primary Parade!  Hee hee hee!  It just sounds so ridiculous to adults, but guess what - it's not about the adults in the Primary!  It's about the kids. :D  I love it!  Earlier today, the boys and I decorated their bikes for the parade.  Then at 6:30, I sent them down to the cult-a-sac where they were scheduled to meet.  Then, at 7:00, Kurtis and I got out our camp chairs, set them at the end of the driveway, and waited for the fun to start.

They started at the west end of the street, and holy crap, it was awesome!

Bishop Wilson and his wife on their tandem bike.  I want one! :D

Some of the parents pulled their littler ones in wagons.  Cute Pioneer girls!

This dad said he didn't think they were walking so far.  Up the street isn't that far, silly! :D

Jessica, her dad, and Carrie (her primary teacher).  Jessica is the down-syndrome girl who used to be in my Primary class.

Finally my boys passed us by! :)

Kaleb came home because he couldn't find me.  Apparently, even though I said they could find it on their own, he felt I should have gone with them, and was so traumatized, he had to sit out the parade.  Until the end when they passed out the treats.

Then, they turned around and came back down the street.

Jessica's dad decided he needed a turn riding her bike. :)

Kaleb had fun hitting his dad with the balloon.  He he he.

What a brilliant, and fun activity for our kids.  Simple to put together, and they had so much fun being the spotlight of the neighborhood.  It was really fun to watch, too.  :)

Tsunade and Marmalade

I felt like there was one more thing about what we've been up to lately in order to get all caught up.  So I went through my photos and figured out that it was this:

Meet Tsunade (pronounced Sue-naw-day) and Marmalade.  I think you can figure out which is which.  These are my new goldfish for the frog tank.  We got them at the end of June or very beginning of July.
I was really tired of all the babies the guppies were having, and the frogs not eating them (like the people at the pet store said the would), so I got rid of them, and got me some pretty fish instead.  I figured since the frogs weren't eating the guppies and they were thriving, the pet store people were probably wrong about not being able to have fish in the tank with the frogs.  They said it would kill them.  What do they know?
Also, we now only have two frogs.  Nicole and her kids came over so Kurtis could watch them, while we had a girls' night out, and I finished feeding the fish just as they arrived.  Distracted, I forgot to put the top back on the tank, and while we were eating dinner, one of them got out.  We still haven't found it, and who knows when we will?  I told the kids, "I am not buying another one!"  So we just have George Washington Jones, and Abraham Lincoln Jones.  It's pretty sad.  Poor Kaleb.  He didn't seem to care, though.  Disappointing.

It Could Have Been a Perfect Day

The day after I got sunburned, Zach got his boot off!  All I can say is:  Woo-hoo!  Summer can officially begin!  Zach can run, jump, swim, bike (if he knew how), and hike.  We are so excited.  Kurtis's rule that Zach, Riley, and Kaleb cannot play the computer, PlayStation, xbox, or wii until they learn to ride a bike is in force.  And they got grounded from them, friends, and treats for being little liar faces.  What a great way for summer to begin.  Except Kaleb.  He wasn't a little liar face.
So because I brought up the kids being liar faces, I guess I should explain.  Then this will be 2 posts in one. Not what I intended, but yay for you!
Saturday, I went to the temple to see my younger brother Ben get his endowments out.  Hmmm.  How do I explain this for my non-lds readers.  I really have no idea if I have non-lds readers.  But I like to explain anyway.  I will try.  Any questions you have later, post a comment.  I'll do my best to answer, but keep in mind, the temple is a sacred place to us, and what goes on inside the temple is also sacred.
The endowment ceremony involves making covenants with the Lord.  We promise to keep the commandments, and follow the teachings of the prophets. We also promise to serve God, and use our talents for serving Him and others.  That's pretty much it.  I love going to the temple.  It's beautiful there, and there aren't many places left in this world where I can go, and it's quiet.  It's a place where people are happy to see you, and happy to be there.  It's calm, and peaceful.  I need to go there more often.
So, it was Ben's turn on Saturday.  My bestest friend Nicole volunteered to watch my kids for me, and after we were done, we could go on a date and see a movie.  She's totally awesome!  So we dropped the kids off at her house, and went to the temple.  I texted her that Kaleb had mosquito bites all over his legs (apparently he went outside Friday night while Nicole and I having a girls' night out), and he said they hurt.  I had put some stuff on them that morning.  He seemed to be doing better.  But Nicole texted me back and said he was crying.  Great.
After the temple, we went to Outback Steakhouse.  They really don't have many choices on their menu for people who don't like steak.  I am one of those people.  But it was Ben's day, so he got to pick.  He loved it.  That's what matters.  Kurtis loved it, too.  Then Kurtis and I went to see the Sorcerer's Apprentice.  Excellent film.  A lot of fun for the whole family.  Michele, I think your friend who was unsure about her kids seeing Iron Man 2, would approve of this film.  It was a lot of fun.  I love magic and wizards.  The Harry Potter 7 trailer was shown too.  Very excited for that one.
When we got back to Nicole's to pick up the kids, she told me all about the day's adventures.  Riley kicked her dog.  Zach pretended to punch her other dog.  Kaleb cried, and she felt bad about drugging him, but eventually she did give him ibuprofen.  I said next time, just drug him.  So when I asked the kids about it, they said, "What? No! We didn't do those things!"  And cried, and cried.  So I put them to bed, and said to Kurtis, we can talk about it in the morning.  Liar faces.  Eventually, they cracked.  I mean, why would Nicole lie?  Only not-nice words are coming to my mind right now.  I have great kids.  Terrible liars.  I always know, but sometimes I am just more disappointed in them than others.  This would be one of those times.

Here is Zach having his celebratory "I got my cast off!" Slur Pee at Nielsen's Frozen Custard.

Ben and his girlfriend, Melinda in front of the temple.

My hot husband at the temple.  No, really.  It was way hot that day.

Rodney at Outback.

Mom didn't want her picture taken.

My uncle Steve, and Grandma Day.

Late-comers Jeremy and Emily.

Ben and Melinda.  She's awesome! :)

Burned

"Oh, yeah.  I was supposed to blog today,"  I said to Kurtis out of know where, just barely.
"Why?"
"Because I am not caught up on all my awesomeness."
I'm almost there.  I promise.  I know all this blogging is really obnoxious.  I mean, really, who cares, right?
July 14th, we went swimming at my bestest friend Nicole's mom's backyard pool.  Well, I didn't.  The kids did.  I was a way super cool mom, and even let Zach go in.  Eh, he gets his boot of the next day, it's not going to hurt him.  It didn't.  But he was afraid to walk on it with out the doctor's go ahead, and when he needed to go to the bathroom, he wanted me to carry him there.  Which, he is just too big for me to do that.  Besides.  Ew.
Nicole and I just laid in the sun.  That was a really bad idea.  I got burned.  Nicole, got a little red, but nicely tanned.  :P  Give me a break!  My suit is a halter top, so my cleavage burned.  Not a good place for a sunburn.  Oh, but I must say, I totally deserved it.  I did not put sunscreen on.  I didn't think I would be in the sun as long as I was.  Now, I am starting to peel, and it's really hard for me not to peel it off.  It's like when your friend has something stuck in her teeth, and so you tell her so she can take care of it.  I need to take care of it!  Ugh. Other than that, it was a pretty dang fun day.

Happy Birthday July Babies!

There are a lot of July birthdays in our family.  Ben's, mine, Rodney's, and our mom's.  So this year, Ben and I thought it would be fun to have a party for all of us born in July.  Well, actually, since Ben's is the 7th, Rodney's is the 12th, and mine is the 10th, we thought why not just have a combined party for the three of us.  Then I thought, what the heck, let's just throw Mom in there too! :)  Hers is on the 21st.  We had it on my birthday.  And boy did we party!  We had ice cream cake.  It was a devil's food cake with cookie dough ice cream.  So yummy.  There was cheese and crackers, candy, and soda pop.  What more can you ask for in a party, eh?  Then we opened presents.  The kids played PlayStation games, and the adults chatted.  After presents, Ben wanted to leave so he could get back to his girlfriend.  She couldn't come because she had to work.  What a bummer.  Ben and Rodney didn't invite any other friends.  Which I thought was weird.  Hel-lo!  It's a party!  Ben told me there wasn't any one cooler than Melinda (his girlfriend) to invite, and Rodney said, "I'm going out with my friends on Monday."  Lame.  So my bestest friend Nicole was the only one of my friends (that I invited) who could make it.  Well, they missed out.  It was awesome!

Isn't this cake scrumptious looking?!

Ben is 19, Rodney - 26, Me - 31, and Mom will be 58!  Hooray for us! :)  My dad said we should do this every year!

Here's Mom opening her Mo-Tab DVDs from Kurtis, me, and the kids.

Rodney got her a Paul Simon CD, and she loves it.  This is when Nicole and I told her she didn't have to turn her Cd's of just because her kids said to.

Then it was Rodney's turn.  He really liked the books we got him.

I asked Ben what he wanted for his birthday.  He said, "I don't know."  And I replied, "Well, you're no help."  Then like a week later, he texted me, and said, "I thought of something you could get me for my birthday."

"What's that?"  "A giant box of fruit snacks."  Emily said, "Is that really a box of fruit snacks?" when she saw the box.  We laughed, and said, "Yeah!  It's what he wanted!"  :)

I went last because it was my birthday.  I told Kurtis to take pictures of me opening my presents, and he took a bunch of pictures of my face.  So here's one of me actually opening my presents.  It's from my sister in Minnesota.  It was some raspberry syrup from the Split Rock Lighthouse.  Awesomeness!  I love that stuff!  Thanks, Michele, Mom, Nicole, Kurtis, Grandma Day, Grandma Sharp, and Aunt Sally for all my great haul!  You rock!  :D