Been a While :)

Okay, so I've been gone for a couple of weeks and didn't blog for at least a week before that, so now it's been almost a month. We've had a lot of fun so I'll try to catch up a bit.

Well, when school ended, we just swam everyday and tried to prepare for the heat that was coming. I did 900 loads of laundry, reorganized every bedroom, put winter clothes away (not sure why we even have them) and cleaned out my downstairs closet (quite a feat). I weeded the garden well because I knew I wouldn't do it again (the garden is lucky to survive through July here) and I moved my outdoor plants into shady areas so they could have a shot at surviving the desert heat. I cleaned our garage and organized it a bit, but it's already disorganized so that was a waste of time. :)

After that week, we went to Bass Lake, CA to attend my neice's wedding. Celine was her flower girl and my nephew the ring bearer, so I posted some of those photos. Melissa was a beautiful bride and the day was really nice. I'm partial to the cute flower girl of course :)


Princess Celine


Pretty girl..she was very brave and
walked down the isle throwing
the flower petals.

Celine and her cousin Robert

The wedding was at a resort so we got to spend lots of time swimming in the lake and the pool. My older brother had a boat and took the kids out tubing all over the lake. I think that was their highlight of the trip. About two hours before Melissa's wedding, the skies got dark and it started thundering and lightning. Rain trickled down a bit, but we were fearful it would ruin her outdoor ceremony. But sure enough, it cleared up about an hour before and it actually cooled off the area to a nice temperature (it was 100 before). This was the same lightning storm that sparked over 800 fires in CA that week. The ceremony was beautiful and I send out my best wishes to Austin and Melissa. It was great to reconnect with friends and spend time with family.


Melissa and my brother, Michael

The Newlyweds

All the kids right before the wedding.

The day after the wedding, we headed to Yosemite. All I can say is BEAUTIFUL! I wish I could live somewhere as nice as that. The waterfalls and rivers were breathtaking. We stopped to hike up to a couple of the waterfalls and rivers. The kids enjoyed throwing in sticks and racing them. Definitely something to be said about the simple things in life.


The kids and I at the top of Yosemite


Bridal Veil Falls


The boys hiking around


Beautiful river and forest ... you can't really
see the waterfall in the background.


Trajan by the Merced River

We then came home for a day to do laundry and repack for our next trip. We were then off to Utah for Wayland's family reunion and spent about week there. It was so much FUN!!! Every day we had different activities to participate in and on Saturday it was Samoan day. The kids learned much about their culture by weaving baskets, making polynesian food, and learning some of the language. The kids and I stayed on a couple days to go to Seven Peaks and enjoy the Utah weather. Needless to say, I did not want to return to Vegas. I really can't stand summers
here :( Just too hot!

Logan and his cousin Atoa


Kira with her cousins


Wayland and Junior with Keenan and Dallin


Celine with her "best cousin". They were
pretty much inseparable.

So now we are to today, which is inside our boring house of course. I've been cleaning up and doing laundry, watering my plants again to try to save them, and trying to be creative for the kids. We are excited because a niece and nephew on Wayland's side came to Vegas to spend the weekend here, so I hope I can make it fun for them. Of course, swimming is on the agenda, but I need to get some other ideas....so any help will be great! We plan on a BBQ for the 4th, two baptisms on Sat., and hopefully a date on Sat. night. ( I wanted to see Get Smart...we'll see). Trajan needs a physical for scout camp next week and two boys to sign up for football, so I have a bit of running around to do. It's nice to be home in my own bed though :)

So here are some little things I learned over the past two weeks:

Tidbit #1. Remember that great teaching job I was hired on to? Yep, one more stumbling block. The state of Nevada has a huge deficit in it's budget and of course a huge chunk is coming out of education. They have placed a hiring freeze on all teachers and will take teachers out of specialty programs to fill the needed spots for the next year. Guess I will be making a resume up....any employers out there??? I'm definitely looking :) Honestly, keep your eyes and ears open. I will be needing a job :)

Tidbit #2 Don't go down the turquoise tunnel slide at Seven Peaks water park with a child on your lap. I almost drowned Celine at the end of the tunnel. The sad thing was the life guard couldn't stop laughing. Nor could the one at the top of the slide who was trying to hold my tube with her foot so I wouldn't slide when I wasn't supposed to. Poor thing got me twice

Tidbit #3 Utah has mosquitos...forgot about that.

Tidbit #4 I have gained five pounds in one month without eating much of anything. Of course I'm not counting the junk food in the car. Maybe I'll just go stand outside and sweat until I lose it all.

Tidbit #5 When you go on vacation without your husband, you love him even more when you get home. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Tidbit #6 Be careful in K-Mart. We had to do a scavenger hunt all over Orem and had to try on clothes in K-Mart and take a picture. The security guards almost arrested us. Luckily, one of Way's uncles was a cop. Could the clue that we weren't really shopping have been that Wayland needed to try on a blue dress?

Tidbit #7 The new swimsuit I got is great when I'm not on a water slide. The skirt flipped up so high I couldn't even find it. Could that be why the guards were laughing so hard?

Tidbit #8 Tan fat is much nicer than white fat. I noticed that on myself as well as others while observing the patrons of Seven Peaks.

Tidbit #9 Watching people fall down makes me laugh really hard.....even if they're hurt. I don't know why, but it is the funniest thing ever.

Tidbit #10 Having a good old fashioned water fight with friends and family is a blast. I sit back too often instead of just jumping into life and going for it. Life is too short cherish every minute.

So for now, off I go to swim in my skirted suit with a black and white polka dot top. I know that's a sight you can all picture. :) haha hee hee