When Mike's Away!

So this week Mike is in Portland; he says, he has a "killer" view of the Columbia River! I can't wait to see his pictures!

That being said, we have had a GREAT couple of days, too! You know Abby and I hanging out, pedicures... (Not that we don't have fun girlie days when dad is home, cause we do, it's just different) Saturday, I had a Scentsy party at my house. We had fun visiting with friends and neighbors... FYI, my party is open until this coming Saturday, so if anyone is interested, let me know :D

Sunday came around, I was talking to Mike on the phone that morning and glanced at my wall. I had a water pocket in the paint, NOT A GOOD SIGN. To make a long story short, I called my home teacher (we have the world's best), he came over before church. That evening he brought over several other men from our neighborhood. Not only did they diagnose the problem and fix it, but we have scheduled a time when our ceiling will be patched. All in record time!!!

When Mike comes home he won't need to worry about the water problem because there won't be one; or for that matter, many more days with a hole in the living room! I just want to publicly say, I love my neighbors very, very much. Thank you!

PS- My home teacher also offered to help us tile our bathroom and vanity in the master bath. Now I am WAY excited!

ABCs with Abby

Recently, Abby has been coming up to me,showing me different letters in sign langauge. It is very cute! She does a pretty good job. So I decided the next time she showed me a letter, I would be ready with my video camera, we would go through the alphabet. Enjoy!

Note: Please excuse Abby's appearance! She had just woken up this morning. If we all waited till we looked perfect, we wouldn't get half the cute stuff taped that we wanted!!! :D

Holy Smokes, Family?

In the pioneer village, they have an old fashion merchantile. Mike and I love to poke around in it everytime we visit. Today was no exception. While we were poking around, I heard my name being called. I didn't immediately turn around because during the pony rides, parents of a little girl with my same name kept calling it out. I did finally turn and who did I see...? My cousin Mark and his family; Jilleen, Jessica, Taylor, and Emma. We had fun catching up. The last time I saw them was at my Grandma's funeral a year ago February. They live in Boise, but were traveling through.
They were at the park most of the day, spending quite a bit of time at the "Children's Rodeo". I took some photo's of the rodeo as we rode the train. Reviewing my pictures tonight, I realize I caught my cousin in this shot.

4TH OF JULY 2008 - This is the RIGHT place!

Today was a 13 (out of 1-10) in the Preas Book of Holidays. Everything that could go right, did. We had a blast! We went to breakfast this morning, then on to This is the Place State Park. Here is a photo diary of today's highlights...

Abby at breakfast. Look at that smile...

On our way to the park, we were behind a car from Hawaii... He must have taken the "freeway tunnel"! One of MY favorite places, must be a good omen...

We loved this "Train" (it had wheels instead of running on a track) so much, that we rode it twice!

This is what I am most proud of today! Abby rode this horse without ANY help. It was the largest of the three ponies giving rides. Even when the horse picked up his pace to keep up with the others, Abby held her ground! ...She also rode him twice. Mike and Abby in the petting zoo. Abby listening to the directions of a game to be played Abby and a "pioneer" outside Mary Fielding Smith's homeAbby riding on the "Children's Train" with a conductorAbby at the caboose!

We did several other activities at the park, but there are just too many to post! Then on to dinner and a fireworks show. Mike and I hadn't seen a professional show since Lee lived in Aggie Village while going to school at Utah State more than 10 years ago. I had forgotten how fun they were! This day will surely go down next to those great memories years ago!

Wipeout!

Mike and I have a new favorite summer program! We LOVE laughing at all the wipeouts and listening to the funny commentary. Sometimes we talk about how each of us would do on a particular "event" only to make us laugh harder. This program reminds me of all the hysterical Japanese game shows we watched together years ago.

I will say, I watched the first airing by myself, it wasn't near as fun alone, so I suggest watching it with your someone! I uploaded a link above for you to enjoy!

New Pictures of Abby

These were taken at the Children's Museum in the Gateway. Alex and Abby really had a good time. Abby LOVED the helicopter, she wouldn't leave without a fight!

Tomorrow is July!

I can't believe tomorrow is the starting point of the last half of the year! The month of June has really flown by. Surprisingly, June started out especially cool. We didn't use our air-conditioning at all until about the 15th of the month; today being the 30th, well I am SO glad we have it. Today is supposed to reach 101 degrees; to quote Paris Hilton, "That's HOT!"

These last few weeks have been particularly busy. Mike had a business trip to Chicago (which was great, he was able to spend an evening with my brother and his family) during that time, Abby and I completely let our girlie side take over. We spent quite a few days hanging out at the pool. Abby has started to really enjoy swimming; between swimming in our pool and hanging out at the Bountiful Recreation Center we have had quite a bit of water time. We also reconnected with friends and went to lunch with them and also with family visiting from out-of-state, we had pedicures, watched Kung Fu Panda, and had a few shopping excursions. Our Desert Star Theater tickets were also last week so I went with friends to see the play. This was all just to keep us from missing Mike (wink, wink! :D) By the end of the week we were really ready to have Dad home.

In just five weeks, Mike will have completed his Associates Degree. He has really enjoyed this last term's classes. One in particular being American History. I think he was only 17 points shy of getting a perfect score out of the whole five weeks. His last paper, he had to write on a topic of history; how he would have changed the outcome. Mike wrote about the American Revolution and if our fore-fathers had tackled slavery then instead of waiting till the Civil War. Mike's professor noted on his paper that not only did he do what the assignment asked for, but that he had a terrific understanding of the Revolution.

After his Associates, he/we will only have about 14 more months till his Bachelors Degree is completed (He is full time, all year long). I can't wait!

I have accepted another job starting in the fall. I will be working at Mueller Park Junior High as the Resource Room Assistant for three hours, then I will be selling junk food to the student population during lunch. For those of you from Royal, I will be Linda Hebdon! :D (That makes me laugh. I would have never guessed growing up and in school that I would be getting that job!) This job is SO perfect for our schedule! Abby will be starting pre-school in the fall and our hours almost mirror themselves with exception to Fridays, she will need someone to watch her for those five hours. My commute is a straight shot up the hill, only a two minute trip... I am really excited!

Well, thats what's new for us! We have completely enjoyed our summer. It's been a great last couple of weeks!