Persistent.

Jordan has been working for weeks to get his transmission out of his p...finder.
He finally dropped it and surprise surprise it was so caked in dirt. He now accepts that 4 wheeling up to your mirrors in mud is a bad idea.

Gin gan gooley gooley gooley....

I mean who makes this stuff up?
Of course it was scout camp, where old, fat, men in shorts, tell tales of Indians and sing songs of travelling in bean tins and bras. Much to the delight of our 10 year olds who really went to shoot something!!
BB Guns,
Bows,
and
Boats
Oh My.








So if you want to see Ronan get excited, hand him a gun.

In search of snow.

No I'm not done with the summer sun yet but when it hits 100 degrees outside, it's fun to go in search of something rare. SNOW!!
We took the Snowbird tram, usually reserved for die hard, skilled and dumb ski/snow boarders. I only dropped off this mountain once before realizing I was none of the above. I think my descent was mostly butt to ice whilst praying but on this lovely occasion we went the civilized route. On foot :)

The Tram itself (or cable car to those who need translation) goes straight up the mountain. It's just over a mile and takes about 9 minutes to get to 11,000ft.


So these pictures are real not an airbrushed back drop and yes we did find real snow which is just as cold in July as it is in January.

We had dinner at a little Mexican Joint and yes I am wearing a hoodie, I mean 75 degrees is pretty chilli after you get used to HOT!!

Sometimes I feel a bit guilty sharing the pleasures of my life but today I just say, I have a guest room if you want to visit :)

HAPPY 4th of July

No really it was fun :)
We drove to Idaho, Sun Valley for the special little blessing of Cordell Washington Hill, (what a cool political name and appropriate time of year to be blessed)

A road trip is not my first choice for the day since all around me I hear of balloon launches, fun runs and parades. I'm not sure who came up with the term "funrun" seriously? is there such a thing?
Anyway, when we arrived up there we had an immediate change of heart. I mean how can you not.
2 boats, many toys, a beach and food.





It was so worth it, we had a blast with family and Maren's extended family.
Let the party begin:)


I know it may come as a shock to some but despite being raised and growing up in England, I have done allot more growing up in the US and so I celebrate today with my fellow Americans. I am grateful to be in a free country where I can worship as I choose, where I can work and achieve and ultimately choose for myself and my family. I pray this country will stay true to the values it was founded on and we will continue to strive for freedom from government intervention.

Chillin' at the beach

Well this is as good as it gets when you live hundreds of miles from the ocean.
A little sand, allot of heat, throw in some water and one of the coolest climbing structures.




Seems like an alright place to hang for free close to home.

And yes I do play with my kids, not just watch :)

Color Splash.

On a not so recent (hint, we need to do that again)day out with my longtime buddy, I got a dreaded, gasp, oh no, phone call. No it wasn't an accident, speeding ticket or death in the family, although I've had all of these this year. It was a full on sweaty palms "I NEED DETAILS" call.
Curtis and Asha are switching bedrooms and we are painting and we are...........I don't remember the rest as I interrupted with "WHAT COLOR?!!!!!!
My calm, collected, sweet heart, husband who is thinking "I've got this all under control and you are off on a day out relaxing, why do you need to know" nicely replies "It's a surprise"
Seriously? The queen of HGTV watchers is being told to chill and have some patience. Which of course I DIDN'T as my friend could attest.
So this prompted today's blog when she told me she still hadn't seen the color choice.

9am when I left, Asha's room looked like this

I returned around midnight to this being Curt's room.
They gutted it, the DI made out in a big way that day. They prepped painted and had the whole room put together before I got home. Both kids slept peacefully in there beds and the floors were vacuumed an all.


This was there color choice. They did a flat gloss split of the same color so when the light hits it looks really cool. They even mounted everything and changed out all the plug thingies to look industrial. He's still waiting for the John and concrete bed, well it does look a bit like a cell in this picture. We believe in helping our kids transition into adulthood. Actually, I meant a shelf and some picture frames to go up. It actually looks very lofty which was the plan.
This was what his room, now Asha's room, looked like when the holes were filled.

If you can't see there was a hole just about every 4inches.
Anyway, we have finally started Asha's room. It's a big deal since we are building a loft bed with a stage and lighting and curtains that open when you pull the string and an escalator to get up to the bed..... jk. This is Asha's request and since she drew a quite detailed picture, I feel at least obliged to execute some of that plan. (bed, curtains, lights :)


She chose the color and even enlisted a buddy to help. She asks everyday when will it be done (HINT DADDY) so who knows maybe when curt's shelf is up, maybe when we finish our garden project, maybe when monkeys fly out..... you know what I mean.