These are growing like weeds...

and if you want them, come and get them.

The apricots are on the tree (obviously) 

and the zucchini are on the East side of the yard.  Just help yourself.  But, don't forget to close the gate--because we have a dog!!!

The rumors are true...

we have a dog.  I always had a dog growing up and so did Rick.  But, we have never lived in a place where we could have a dog through all of our years of medical school and renting, etc.  Plus, everyone always says how hard it is to have a dog--like having another child.  So for years I have just kept telling the kids we'd get a dog when we owned a house or when we got a fence.  Now we have both and i was out of excuses.  So, here he is.  His name is Hooee.

I know that is a weird name, but when we lived in Kirksville Summer wanted a dog and of course we told her NO.  So, she made up an imaginary pet dog.  She didn't say much about it after a  while, but the next year she went to school and told everyone that she had a dog.  When we went in to talk to the teacher at conference time, the teacher asked us about our dog and what kind it was.  We told her that we didn't have a dog.  She said that Summer always talked about her dog named Hooee.  So, we always said that if we got a dog it would be named Hooee.  

Hooee is a Portuguese Water Dog.  He will get to be about 50 lbs.  His hair will be wavy/curly and he won't shed.  He has a little white patch on his chest and one of his paws is white.  His toes are webbed and his tail is really thick and was once used like a rudder in the water.  These dogs were almost extinct in the 1970's.  Someone in Britain found out about them and started breeding them.  They sent one to New York and now they are making a comeback.  They were used along the coast of Portugal to help herd fish into the nets of the seamen.  They would also relay messages back and forth between the fishing ships.  One of the other dogs in the litter is going to Florida to be a Therapy Dog.  PWD are used a lot in research including the University of Utah.     

Happy to You

Happy Pioneer Day

if you don't live in Utah or you don't happen to celebrate Pioneer Day, have a good day.  We are going to the mountains to cool off and eat lots of s'mores.  Be back on Saturday.

Sierra's sad eyes...

Sierra found herself with a double eye infection last week and therefore we didn't leave the house for several days.  She was sensitive to light and it really hurt when I took these pictures.  She is sitting in front of the washing machine watching her "Tiger" blanket in the washing machine.  We washed several loads of laundry with bedding and such to try and keep this contained.  So far so good.  None of us have shown any symptoms yet.  Wish us luck.

This isn't even the worst that Sierra looked.   It was just the first time she'd let me take a pictures.

(Almost) Completed Roofing Job

Here is the finished roofing job (that's Rick and Lanny on the right with the dumpster nearly full that it feels like I filled 1/2 of myself!!)

I have a couple of things to say to some comments that were left on my earlier roofing post:

LeAnn...I don't know how in the world anyone could roof in Phoenix in 113 degrees.  It would kill me.

Melissa...I read your comments about Dan's roofing experience, I even made Rick read them and then we left for our roofing job.  On the way, Rick's phone rang and because he was driving he did the speaker phone thing.  It was Cameron Symonds.  He was trying to get ahold of Rick to see if he wanted to go fishing.  Rick said that he couldn't because of this little service project that we were headed to.  He explained what we were doing and Cameron said, "I've only had one experience with roofing.  It was in Cleveland.  It was terrible, hard work.  I had Dan Richards help me."  He went on to describe the misery of that roofing job.  And the last thing he said was that Dan taught him never to agree to haul the shingles up onto the roof yourself.  ALWAYS have them delivered to the roof.

I agree!!  Isn't that funny?   

20 year reunion pictures

Some quick pictures of my friends from high school.  Here are some tips for those of you who are a bit younger than I am...

1.  take a lot of pictures

2.  wear a lot of deodorant (it was super hot)

3.  take your yearbook with you so that when you spot a familiar face across the room you can hurry and look for a name before you make a fool of yourself.  (thanks for the tip, Mark Swenson)

making cookies with Kris

most of the time if you get a plate of cookies from me you do not have to worry about Cole's little fingers dipping into the dough.  But, with Aunt Kris, Cole gets what he wants and helping with the cookies was exactly what he wanted.  Even though we all knew Cole had his fingers in the cookie dough, the cookies didn't last long!

Lanny, Fisher, and Lance on the 4-wheeler

Seriously, How do kids sleep on such a rough ride?

rhino riding at Clear Creek

Summer and Sierra's Performances at Little MIss Pleasant Valley Days

Over the 4th of July Week End we attended the Pleasant Valley Days Celebration in Scofield.  They had a slightly redneck contest called

 Little Miss Pleasant Valley with 3 age divisions.  Sierra was in the middle age group and she won first attendant.  She was so excited to wear a tiara.  It was the funnest thing ever to watch her.  Summer was in the oldest age division and she was crowned the queen.  She sang the song that she performed at Rick's cousin's son's wedding last spring.

The competition was pretty entertaining.  The girls are looking forward to their performances next Year!! 

Cole and his Candy

This was a little experiment to see if I could upload pictures from Rick's computer.  UGH.  it worked.  that's good.  but, now will someone please explain to me what is going on with my computer! 

But, now since I can put pictures on my blog from Rick's computer--watch out because I have a bunch.  However, it will have to wait because I am on my way to my roofing job.  I will take a picture of that just so I can get more sympathy from those of you have roofing experience.

Have a good day.

Now I know why...

I have never seen a 38 year old female roofer. Roofing is way to hard for any right minded 38 female to do on a regular basis. My brother needed a new roof on his house and we all thought it would be an easy enough task. The bid was for $6,ooo and the supplies were less than $2,000. We we figured if we did it ourselves we would certainly come out ahead. So, we started on Monday afternoon. Me, Lanny, and Jon. Shoveling and hauling 2+ layers of crappy shingles off the roof. I don't think there is a dirtier job in the world. Bryan joined up when he got home from work and Brandi and Jason joined just a short time later. It was horrible. TERRIBLE. Rick wasn't there on Monday because he took the easy way out by working 14 hours and getting home at 3:00 am. Tuesday, I took the easy way out--I had YW and housework--and Sierra with her nasty double eye infection. Lanny and Bryan worked on Tuesday without us as they finished hauling the rest of the shingles off the roof. Wednesday we got an early start at about 10:00 am. Lanny tore off the old, rotten patio cover. Rick and Jon laid tar paper and started with the new shingles. And I was the gopher girl. In the meantime I was picking up more crumbling shingles off the ground and throwing them 4 feet above my head and into the dumpster (more horrible dirtiness). We stopped for lunch and a quick trip to Lowes to pick up a few more supplies. I was the only girl with this crew of tough looking roofers so I was trying my hardest to keep up on the "toughness" scale. The guys were all grabbing their stuff at Lowes and the only thing they would let me do was push the cart! So, when we got back to the worksite I was determined to keep up with the boys. I hauled old boards to the dumpster, hauled new shingles up to the roof, cut down a few trees in the back yard. We got the front half of the house completely shingled by the time the sun went down last night and I have to say those guys were moaning about their aching bodies as much as I was so I didn't feel too bad. Today we meeting at about 3:00 to finish this dirty job. I must say I have a new respect for those roofers I see out there. That is tough work. Now I know why none of them are 38 year old women.
So, my friends, if you wonder why I have not been at kick-boxing this week it is because this 38 year old woman is TOO old to be a roofer and my body would not have been happy with me adding to its burden this week.

Family Pictures

I still cannot upload pictures from my own computer. But, (HEHEHE) I can steal them from other people's blogs and post them here. I stole these pictures from Shannon's blog. Pretty convenient that they are pictures of my cute little family. Shannon has been taking pictures of my kids ever since Summer was a baby. She took these pictures of us on Friday evening. This is just a little sample. I can't wait to see the rest of them. Thanks Shannon--and Erin.

The Host

somebody better really convince me to keep reading this book:


I'm on page 100 or so and I seriously can't stand this book for one more day. My order from Amazon came this morning with my copy of Sarah's Quilt and I may just give up on the Host and start reading Sarah's Quilt.
PS. I still cannot post pictures. I have gone through all of the help items on blogger and nothing works. Also, Summer cannot email from her gmail account on my computer. Does anyone have a solution for me? I am using a mac if that helps.

fritos recipe for Kris

Cup-a cup-a

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup light karo syrup
2 9-10 oz. bags of Fritos

Combine first 3 ingred. in saucepan and bring just to a boil. Pour over Fritos, stir, and lay out on cookie sheet to cool. Enjoy!

housekeeping tips from Grandma Nan

since I can't upload pictures of our funfilled summer...I will pass on some wisdom sent to me from my mother...

Always keep several get well cards on the mantle.....
so if unexpected guests arrive, they will think you've been sick and unable to clean.

Thanks Mom, I will head out to Hallmark first thing in the morning.

prayer request for Mr. Henry

I just got this email from my friend, Shaun, in Mississippi. Summer is upstairs crying.
Here is the email:
Hey, all...we were just outside and Mr. Henry drove by and stopped to visit. For those of you who have not had the absolute blessing of knowing Mr. Henry, he is one of the sweetest people I have ever known. He has been my boys bus driver since they were in the first grade. Every year he gives every child that rides his bus $5 for their birthday...and if their b-day is in the summer he mails it to them. He gives them little gifts for every occasion...Christmas, Easter, Valentines. HE IS PRECIOUS! He found out he has cancer and it is in his lymph nodes. They are not sure where it started originally, but they think it might have been his tonsils. He will have radiation in his throat tomorrow which will make it very difficult for him to eat. Tomorrow he will have a port put in so he can take chemo. With all this going on with his health...he has worried about the kids that ride his bus since he obviously won't be driving at the beginning of school. Please say many prayers for complete healing for our beloved Mr. Henry and pray that his treatment will not be too horrible. I hate to think of that sweet man suffering for one minute.
Many thanks, Shaun

I agree with Shaun. He is the sweetest man I have ever met. I remember him calling on the Sunday evening before Hurricane Katrina struck Mississippi. He wanted to call each child who rode his bus to let them know that school had been canceled and that he would not be there to pick them up for school in the morning. If I was ever at the school in the afternoons for one reason or another, Summer would always choose to ride the bus home with Mr. Henry rather than ride home with me. Sierra would always be out waiting for the bus and Mr. Henry would always be sure to say "Hello". He still sends us Christmas cards and we send school pictures of the girls to him. We will keep him in our prayers as well.
(I have a cute picture of Mr. Henry on Summer's last day of school in Mississippi, however Blogger and my computer are still not getting along so just use your imagination again.)

I need some help...

I am making some aprons to sell.  My aunt works at Capitol Reef National Park and they have a little crafty store and I just sent her some aprons to sell.  So, I need a little name for my aprons and a cute, little crafty tag or logo to go on the apron with a little story about the apron--since no 2 are the same!

So, I need your help.  I need a name.  I need a logo.  I need a means of identification  There will be a little "Happy" for the person who sends me an idea or logo or something that I can use to identify my little aprons.  

I'll be back in town on Monday, July 7 and I will pick a winner.  

Happy to You, America

Happy fourth of July!!