Lake Water

Lately, I've been calling Aydri "Trouble Monkey." Monkey because she is a climber and Trouble because she's always in a sticky situation.

We took the kids to the Lake at the Hills to swim with their cousins. Kendi had a blast. Aydri must have had a blast, but it was miserable for Jared and I. Aydri preferred to have her face at the bottom of the lake-bed. I could not keep her head above water. She would try to run in the water, which is hard for anyone to do, and fall on her face. I had to have my hands and eyes on her the whole time. I fished her off the bottom of the lake at least six times. I was even more anxious because I couldn't keep an eye on Kendi as much as I would have like to. We won't be taking Aydri back unless we have a float tube to put her in.

Here is the Trouble Monkey getting ready to splash.

SPLASH!

We tried to teach Kendi how to float. I'm not sure how that lesson went. I was preoccupied. I do remember her saying, "Mom, watch this." She would plug her nose, close her eyes and put her chin under water.

The water was surprisingly warm and not too crowded. It's nice to have a beach close by.

Day Four

The back hoe broke down at the end of day three so they spent a lot of today fixing it. They finished digging out the middle of the house so that now they can dig around the edges.

Day Three

More dirt. Bigger hole.

Wearing a tutu, playing in the dirt. Typical Kendi.

Day Two

We started digging the hole. It was exciting to finally be able to break ground. . . until it wouldn't break. Apparently, the ground was extremely hard and the hoe needed new teeth. (My dad's words exactly). That did the trick and now we have started to move dirt. This used to only take a few days, but now you have to over-excavate and wet the dirt as you move it. Then you have to pack a few feet of dirt back in and have a geo-tech approve the compaction.

Day One

Clearing sagebrush and staking out the house.

Whew!

It's been a fun and busy summer so far and we have tons of stuff still planned. So much stuff that we won't be able to do all of it.

Lately, we've been able to enjoy the shady evenings in my parents back yard while the kids play in the water. Good times. Aydri looks really sweet in this picture, but you should see the girls fight over this chair. You'd think they'd like the pink one more.

Aydri's favorite thing to do with the slip and slide is try to drink the water. She holds this position forever until her thirst is quenched.
Right before Cari left to be an RN at a summer camp in PA we took the kids hiking to Kanarra Falls. We didn't make it all the way to the falls with the kids, but itwas fun.
I try not to make any plans for the Forth of July. It seems to be more fun when everything is spontaneous. Of coarse, we went to the parade.
Kendi has a little friend in our ward who she has been through Nursery and Primary with. She has an older brother who has always been especially friendly to Kendi and always gives her some extra attention. When he started holding her hand at the parade and helping her catch candy I started thinking that his intentions might be more than friendship.

This picture is for Cari. We miss you.

My Aunt just got back from boot camp and they decided to have a spontaneous lunch at the Ranch. We had BBQ hamburgers, hot dogs, dutch oven potatoes and a lot of other good stuff. It was nice to see some family that we really should see more often.

After eating, riding the four wheeler and visiting with family. Jared, Jana, and Adrian went for a bike ride down the Virgin River Rim trail from Navajo to Wood's Ranch. Jared forgot to give me the keys to our car so I got stranded up there. I didn't mind. I could stand a few extra hours in the mountains. Stac and Rob rode to where the trail crosses the road to catch Jared and got my keys for me, thank goodness. We got home just in time to run to the theater and catch the new Eclipse movie. Sorry, I thought it was dumb, but I'm not a movie person. Books are always better. Jacob is a psychopath in the movie. We got out of the movie just in time to see the fireworks. I was so tired, and a little disturbed from seeing vampire heads fly, that I couldn't even put a sentence together.

Kendi loves baking with her Easy Bake Oven. I have to limit how many times a week we make treats. She is always creative with how she makes them. By the time she is done, she has licked so many spoons and bowls that she doesn't end up eating the finished cakes. Frosting on the forehead.

Aydri was playing peekaboo while we baked.

This is what we've been doing the most of lately. Riding around in the car looking at houses and lots for sale. The kids have always been good in the car, but this summer we have pushed them to their limits. Poor Kids. Fortunately, we have settled on building a house. . . ourselves. I absolutely love the lot that we found in a great neighborhood and can't wait to get started. My dad is letting us modify a home plan that he has built several times so it will be exactly what we want in a house. I think it will be a place we will live, raise our kids, pay off and retire in.

There was not AC. I was dying.