Bad, Bad Business Decision

Do you ever need a 10 gallon garbage can in your bathroom???.....NO!!! And yet, that's exactly what we have in ours! Two days ago I went to Linens and Things going out of business sale. I've needed a new garbage can for my kitchen...so...I saw these garbage cans that were normally $100.00 on sale for $50.00....so, I got it! I LOVE the easy open step.....a MUST when you have slimy hands from cutting chicken!! Well, I got it home and took it out of the box only to discover that it is a PIECE OF JUNK!!! It catches on the corner and won't open unless you jump on the pedal! Of course because they're going out of business there is a "no return" policy....I tried my hardest to exchange it but no go...they just looked at me and kept saying, "We're sorry, you should have checked it before you bought it. Blug,Blug,Blug,Blug,Blug!! Well, I decided to put it in my bathroom and told Bob to start blowing his nose and cleaning his ears more....he has 10 gallons to fill!!

Hey....maybe I can see if the government can bail me out of my bad business decision...you think??

Memory Lane Tag

1. As a comment (joyful journey thought) on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Thanks Angie for the Tag. Fun idea!

Zion or Bust!

What a GREAT week!!! We packed our van and headed to Zion (Utah). Amanda's friend, Maren, decided to join us also. We took a little break in Meridian, Idaho and visited our new niece...Rachel Tomlinson. Then, we dropped Amanda and Maren off at BYU Idaho for "AFY"...Adventures for Youth...not to be confused with "EFY"...Especially for Youth. (At AFY the girls were able to go white river rafter, mountain climbing, horseback riding, and other adventures plus they did baptisms for the dead at the new Rexburg temple and had devotionals and other spiritual experiences. It was a BLAST!) Bob, Nathan, Toby and I continued on down to Utah for the week and had a blast visiting family, spending too much money at my stores (Rod Works and Tai Pan), going to Lagoon, making and floating boats in the creek, and of course my favorite....lounging in the hammock and enjoying the mountains and fresh air. We tried our hardest to visit everyone but couldn't fit everything in...sorry! But, we did manage to over-spend and over eat!

Rachel is ADORABLE!!! Bob is too...although, I'm thinking in this picture he looks like Rachel's GRANDPA....OH MY!!!!

Two super cute girls.....and.....There's the temple!! I couldn't believe how close it was to campus. And, it was only 1 block away from my old apartment....I have to admit that I totally got lost trying to figure out how to get around the campus. There are a TON of new buildings and they took away the main road that went right up the hill by the Manwaring Center...what were they thinking???

Peace out....The Girls have arrived at AFY....bring on the FUN!

Saying goodbye to my cutie!

I can't believe how grown up everyone is getting!! We sure missed Paul and Cyndi on this trip! I can't wait for next summer's family reunion....add 5 more families to this picture. FUN!!

Lagoon....the "after" shot. Grandpa and Grandma were such amazing troopers and kept up with the boys....I love my Dad's expression...they were sooo tired and sore!

Nate's favorite room of the house....Grandpa's garage!!

Floating the boats they made

Which one do you think won? Jerryck's seemed to have hit a little turbulance along the way! HA!!

Picking up the girls...they had WAY too much fun!!!

Fun cousins!

Decision Paralysis

I just never thought this would happen to me. Bob's the one that can never make decisions and hates change. Am I just getting older or am I morphing into a Bob?? Our house needed to be painted- BAD! Bob just wanted to paint it the same color....how boring is that!! I figure...Here's our chance for change. I was pretty pumped because I wanted a "warmer" color...and maybe darker trim and gutters (because with all the rain...the light colors show mold...yucky!) The trick was that I had to get the right combination of house color and trim color. So, I bought some samples to paint the wall with...but, didn't like them....so, I bought more samples....and more samples....and more!!! I spent $50 in samples!!!!! I finally decided it was time to stop or else I would need therapy. So, as we sat in our chairs to ponder the beauty of my samples.....my eyes frantically scanned back and forth trying to find SOMETHING I liked.....then it dawned on me that I didn't absolutely "LOVE" any of them. So....with Bob sitting next to me saying, "I still just like the color we already have"....I relinquished....slumped a bit in my chair...it was true....why change.....so, I said, "OK...we'll paint it the same". So, after ALOT of money....our house looks EXACTLY the same...but a little cleaner :)

LET FREEDOM RING!!

I love it when my house has the flag flying in front!! One of my FAVORITE places to visit was Fort McHenry. As we sat in the visitor center theater, we learned all about the critical war of 1812 and the story of Frances Scott Key. It was quite moving. Then, at the end, the Star Spangle Banner started to boom through the speakers and the HUGE curtain on the wall to our right started to open up.....there it was....our beautiful flag flying over Fort McHenry. Tears came to my eyes as I watched that flag flying high in the wind. Since this experience, I have loved our flag even more!! If anyone goes and visits Washington DC....Ft. McHenry is a little ways north....but WELL worth it.
I have always loved July 4th! It's a holiday that at some point gives me the goose-bumps and makes me so grateful to be living in the USA. Right now there just seems to be so much emphasis on the negative....but not to me. I LOVE this country!! I am grateful for our wonderful men and women who are fighting now and who have fought in the past to protect us and keep our freedoms. I love the men and women who have given their lives for this country and the families who have had to suffer the loss of their loved ones. They are heroes to me.

This year we were lucky to have family close by so we could get together.....that's the BEST!!! Thanks guys for coming over!!

Kambree and Amanda took a break from Nancy Drew and made some pretty patriotic cookies!! Always a must have!!

Are they cute or what??.....I'm talking about the girls, not the cookies! But the cookies are cute too....just not as cute as the girls....anyway....well...you know what I mean :)

Okay....this is what it is all about!! Bring on the FOOD!

The indoor picnic....it was raining off and on (only in Oregon!!) so, we just brought it all inside...still used paper and plastic though...gotta love the clean-up! (Can anyone see the scavenger....Toby? He popped his head up just in time...crack up!)

Dan and Holy were brave and let Amanda take them for a drive. I think Dan is suppose to be looking scared....but...welll...ummmm...to me he looks like he's trying not to do something in his pants....OH MY....the driving was that bad!!! Dan and Holy are the BEST...thanks for making Amanda so happy!!

Always have to have one "creative-pyro" in the group to push things to the limits. Dan twisted the fuses of 6 smoke bombs together to make the "ULTIMATE" smoke bomb.

SUCCESS!

The boys who had a "BLAST" ---hee-hee...get it "blast?" Okay...I guess I breathed in too much smoke....a little loopy!

So, I don't know....this picture just cracked me up.....WHO'S watching the fireworks?? It looks like it's just Holy and the very concerned, Toby the dog.

THE PHANTOM TOOK OUR KIDS!

We are hooked on these Nancy Drew computer games! A few summers ago I bought one for Amanda to do and we've been oddly fanatic ever since! I will even stay up until 3:00am to finish them......maybe I shouldn't admit that. A couple of weeks ago, we introduced them to our niece, Kambree, and now we have brought another soul over to the dark side. The new one just came out so Kambree came over to spend the night and the kids gathered as much junk food as they could and were glued to the computer for 9 hours....they finished it! Then, they continued to do 2 more "old" games that Kambree hadn't played yet. Now, we don't do this all the time....but, it was a riot walking by the den and seeing them all hunched together....plus, the conversation going on in there was priceless.....all three of them talking and giving their opinion of what to do. They are super sleuths!

Hey Nate....got any pretzels?

Way too much fun!

To work or to play?....we choose PLAY!!

Here's our "to do" list for our Saturday.....

1. Set nails in baseboards, putty, and paint

2. Finish sealing the tile /grout

3. Laundry

4. Clean Bathrooms

5. Mop floors

6. Vacuum

7. Finish planting Garden

8. Hook up drip system

9. Mow Lawn

10. Weed

11. Fix shower

12. Clean Garage

13. Grocery Shopping

Hmmmm....weeelll.....Here's what we actually did

Ohhh yeah!! We went to the Beach!! The day was soooo nice...and it was going to be close to 100 degrees....so, we just bagged everything and took off! Now that's showing maturity and responsibility....don't you think?

Got the Boogie Boards

And the skim boards

And of course you need to dig your trench and build your bunker for the upcoming war!

Then you've got to finish it all off with a nice bowl of clam chowder at Mo's restaraunt! ooohh-la-la! It was a great day and the only dummy to get sunburned was Julie.