May was WARM here so we opened up the pool early to enjoy our pool season.
Roxy HAS to be inside the fence when we swim. She doesn't like the water,
but likes being near everyone and running around the pool barking at the kids
while they try to splash her or grab her and pull her in just to watch the poor dog
struggle with her short legs to make it to the steps and get back out.
Warmer weather also granted us the awesome opportunity to do some much needed work
in the backyard. Some times when I think about the hassles we've had with this house
I want to curse the idiots that sold it to us and didn't disclose the issues with the basement.
School ends about the second week of May here, and that brought graduations for Xander.
The first from Let's Play Music.
I really like this program.
This is Xan Man with one of his best buddies Teagan.
There is like two months and six inches between them.
:)
Then Xander graduated from Preschool.
His teacher was Miss Meshan. We loved her!
And he learned so much.
On May 20th we had a Solar Eclipse. It wasn't a total eclipse.
But for a few minutes we got to see the wierd greenish color it turns outside
when the Moon moves infront of the Sun.
Then it was Pinewood Derby time.
Trenton had a great year his first time, but was disappointed with his placing this year.
Trav and the boys went on the Fathers and Sons campout in the beautiful
Colorado mountains.
The end of June we met up with two of Trav's brothers in southern Utah to camp in the desert.
I actually had a lady from my ward show up at my house to tell me that she heard where we were camping and really couldn't believe it and felt like she had to come over and tell me how hot it would be and how much of a mistake she thought this was. She is one of the sweetest ladies I know, so I wasn't offended.
And she was right.
It. Was. HOT!!!
Four wheeling every day made the heat do-able.
We got to see some cool old mines. And they were nice and cool inside.
It was seriously like 112* most of the time we were there.
And we only had a tent!
We hiked some cool places.
It was my 34th birthday while we were there.
And Trav made me some yummy Jambalaya to celebrate.
He also took us to hike Little Wild Horse Canyon, one of my favorite hikes we did together before having kids. After a long day of hiking he took us into Goblin Valley State Park and gave me my birthday present.
A SHOWER!!
And I tell ya. I needed one!!
Abby and Roxy enjoyed the shady spots in very different ways.
Me and Miss Abby in Goblin Valley. We both were having a bad hair day.
Travis had been teaching Abby to "plank". While we were in Goblin Valley she decided to "Plank" all on her own! It was cute and so funny!
Trav snapped this picture of Kyle video taping our awesome dinner.
So I couldn't get all the pictures in order but I want to share with everyone our last day there. So it started off HOT, as did most of the days there. We broke down our tent and were packing everything up when we realized that the Suburban had a flat tire. We later found out that all though GM puts expensive tires on their SUV's, they are NOT made for any kind of off roading. Go figure. So Trav and his brothers took care of that. We needed to take a couple of potty breaks and Shaun, Trav's younger brother, talked us into one more four wheeler ride to a trail he had found the day before. So off we went. I had Trenton and Abby on the back of my four wheeler since it had a large hard back seat. Trav had Xan and Jacob with him. After about ten minutes Trenton said that Abby had fallen asleep so we stopped and tried to reposition her in a way that he could be comfortable and still be able to safely hold her. The only thing that seemed to work was for him to hold her in a cradle position. The trail Shaun found was seriously bumpy. Now, when it comes to my kids I tend to be overly cautious about where they go and if things are safe enough. I was not feeling super comfortable, but we were too far into the trip to just turn around and Shaun said that he was sure that just over the ridge it got straight and smooth. Infact we could see the road he was talking about and it looked very smooth. Well, somewhere along the way we took the wrong turn. I came to the top of a drop, and felt a little like panicing. I said a quick prayer in my head and proceeded down very very very slowly. I was feeling ok, and the big boulders had turned into very fine gravel. I still don't remember seeing it but Travis was behind me and said that as I was taking a sharp turn my front left wheel hit a big rock that threw us up the side of the hill. What I remember was loosing control, and falling on my side. As soon as I hit the ground I heard this distinct voice say,"Stick your foot out!" I did and caught the four wheeler before it had a chance to continue to roll over. I yelled for help and turned to see if the kids were ok behind me. I saw that Trenton had rolled away and was standing up and ok, but Abby had been asleep and would have been right in the path of the four wheeler had I not stuck my foot out the second I did and stopped it. Never have I felt such fear and gratefulness for the Lord and the power of answered prayers. I was a bit of a wreck after that and Trav and Shaun and our nephew Chandler took over driving the kids. When we got back to camp, we cleaned up and got ready to leave. Trav autostarted the Suburban so that the AC would have a chance to cool things down. Well to autostart it you have to double lock the car with the key fab. I had a door open while Trav did this and after starting it he reached through my open door and stuck the keys in the ignition and then shut the door. After a few minutes we realized that the Suburban was never UNlocked and now the keys were locked inside while it was running. Yep. Shaun and I jumped in his truck to try and find a cell signal to call Onstar and have them unlock it. It took us about 15 minutes to find a signal, by then Chandler had gotten a branch or something wedged through the window and popped the lock. So Trav and the kids met up with us on the road. I got out to hop in the Suburban and head home when we noticed that we now had a SECOND FLAT. So we called Onstar and they sent a tow truck from an hour away to come and get us and take us another hour and half into Moab. Shaun was nice enough to drive the kids and I into Moab while Trav and Trenton waited and road in with the Tow Truck. Since we had the dog with us we had to stay in a super yucky hotel, the only pet friendly place. It wasn't until about noon the next day that we were able to get the tire replaced and be on our way. It was one of those trips where while it had its "fun" moments, I don't want to ever repeat it!
