I'm Alive!!!!

I have not blogged forever but it's for a good reason. . . . .LIFE! I have been so busy, that even thinking about blogging has no room in my brain. we have been busily finishing our yard and I can now say I have a yard free of mud and clay pits. I actually have grass. Unfortunately, after all that hard work, we will have to tear some of it out. I know, it's only been like a month since we installed it. Due to recent down pours, our basement has flooded twice. Actually, our basement flooded three times but the first one was due to my children leaving the hose on for three hours. That was a lot of fun. I still need to make cookies for the dear neighbors that helped us. On the list for today! Anyway, the big problem is that the lot behind us is simply an empty lot that slopes like a water slide towards our home and our rock wall provides for a beautiful waterfall when the deluge of rain commences. Add to that, our concrete patio installed by the builder slopes towards our home and under the back porch there is a very low area that acts as a lake, and then a river drains into both window wells against our home and empties into our basement. Silver lining-basement is not completed yet, area flooded only contains wood furniture that is set up on casters so there is minimal contact with the water, and the builder did an excellent job with the drain in the basement. All the water from all three floods has had no problem emptying into this drain and has held all of it with no problem. If my house starts sinking, then I will retract the last of those three. So we thought we were done, but oh, were we wrong!

The good thing is that we know about it, we are going to fix it and it will no longer be a problem. Besides being so busy with my yard, I have also been busily installing my garden, which isn't doing as well as I would like it to. I know the problem though; I never fed my soil, so my poor plants are starving. The other problem is that I purchased my organic compost from the West Jordan Landfill and it was full of grubs-no fun. Don't you love purchasing something and then paying more money to fix the problem caused by what you purchased? Unfortunately, our sod was in the same category-full of grubs when we laid it. When I mentioned it to the sod company they explained that all grass has grubs and told me how to treat it. I'm sorry, but not all grass has grubs. The sod I purchased for our Provo home was grub free and we never had issues with it.

The kids have been busy this summer with the Lehi Arts summer production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. They begin performances next Friday, and then we can finally go camping again! I am so glad they were a part of this, but it has kind of put a damper on our summer vacation time. We hope to make up for it in August with a couple of trips to Jackson Hole and Flaming Gorge and then a trip to Lake Powell in September. We also want to go to Mesa Verde and White Rocks if we can find some time. Kaleb and Karly have also been busy with boys and girls club that I put together with a couple of neighborhood moms and their kids and Ashly and Amy. We meet every Wednesday for two hours and they learn about sewing, cooking, hiking and edible plants, animals, fire safety, gun and knife safety and so on. They seem to really like it. Kaleb sewed his very own pillow case. He even picked out the fabric!

We just added a new member to our family a few weeks back. Her name is Chloe and she is a Shitzu Pug-Which I have been told the proper name is a shit-pu but I just think that is too many potty words in one name, so we just call her Chloe! She is black with little white streaks and patches in different areas-mostly on her chest and toes. The kids love her- a little too much. We are trying to teach her not to bite the kids right now. It's a bit crazy and I don't know that I am completely ready for a dog, but we will manage and make it work. Surprisingly, Gary is the one who really wanted to get her and they have a special bond already. As soon as He gets home, she follows him everywhere.

Tanner is so excited to start Kindergarten next month-aaaahhhh, it's already next month! I don't know if I am ready for that!? I hate when the kids go back to school but I also secretly love it because my house stays a bit cleaner and it's quiet for a while. Tanner has his hair all long and curly and it is so blond right now. He is so tan and adorable-he looks like he belongs in San Diego. So if I don't get to visit home, I at least get a little reminder of what it would be like when I look at him.

Evan is finally starting to come out of the tantrum stage. He still throws them but they are getting less often and he is much more easy to talk to. He is so tan as well and his buzzed blond hair looks so precious! His vocabulary is improving a ton and he is always the one to remind us to pray over our food-especially at restaurants.

Ryan is growing and has become my official climber. He is always climbing on something. I often find him on the table, counters, stove-yikes!, and bookshelf. It's hard to keep him off things without nailing everything to the ceiling. Gary recently purchased a lock for the pantry door to keep the kids out of the food. We do feed them, but now I can come downstairs to carpet that isn't covered in cereal strewn from here to yon. Kaleb and Karly know how to break into the pantry but hopefully they also know better than to do that.

Gary and I have been trying to eat less and eat better. We have reduced our soda intake to almost 0; we did have root beer floats the other night for dessert, but before that, no soda for over a month. It's summer time so that means Gary is never home and is super busy with work. The Lord continues to bless us in so many ways and I feel like I am always falling short of where I need to be to show my gratitude and appreciation for my blessings. I have been really struggling with scripture study since summer began. It feels like as soon as I get up, there is something to do. I tell people I go to bed exhausted and wake up exhausted.

After my triathlon in May, I stopped working out because I needed to finish my yard and because my knee was giving me problems. I would like to start working out again, but I need to find the time.

We did go out on the boat for the fourth of July. This was the first year we didn't go to Provo for the Parade or freedom festival or the balloons! It was somewhat sad but nice at the same time. We went to Yuba lake with Grandpa and Allison and Myron. We had two boats out there and spent the whole day knee boarding, tubing and wake-boarding. Gary and Myron also slalomed. Tanner got out on the kneeboard after I bribed him with a pack of gum. He did really well until Gary stopped and the knee board tipped over and went on top of him. He didn't like that too much. Overall, it was a blast and we didn't get too burnt at all. That night we went out to dinner at winger's and then spent some time at Ashly and Drew's eating homemade ice cream and watching fireworks. We were so exhausted that we headed home early and crashed.

All in all, life has been really good and I am grateful for all my blessings that I have been given-especially my wonderful family. Sometimes I get a little down because of the turmoil that the world keeps spewing, and the stress of running your own business and finances, but then I try to re-focus my life back to the Savior and re-center my priorities. When I do this, I am able to still function in the same environment with the same pressures and stresses but with more calm and peace that the Holy Ghost gives me. There are days that I plead with my Heavenly Father to just send the Savior already and let s get onto the millennium with peace and happiness, but I know that it's not time for that-no matter how much I want it to be. I just want this life to be easier sometimes, or at least have people be nicer and more respectful and willing to really help one another instead of being stuck in their own selfish desires. I put myself in that category sometimes, but I try to be more willing to serve. OH Life! Anyway, getting off my soapbox now, I have to say that I am so grateful to have the opportunity to live where I live and have the comforts, privileges and freedoms that I know I take for granted. If only gas prices would come down, I think I would enjoy them so much more. That's enough for now!