Hooray!

Mason got a job!!!!!

I'm happy for his sake and mine.  I have really enjoyed playing with him all summer being school has been out.  But it's been WAY too long.  

Bless those people who hired him.  

Bless them.

(Don't ask me what he does... I'm not quite sure yet.  Haha!)

24th Of July

We went up to a Bee's game for the 24th.  When we got there we found out that the game had been canceled by the other team (they were thinking Swine Flu) but they still wanted people to be there for the fireworks show.  So they had a home-run derby and then we watched high school league teams play instead.  We still had a lot of fun and being the game was canceled they gave us two tickets each to two more Bee's game, two Jazz tickets, and two Motorcross Sports event tickets.  So I'd say overall it was a good deal!

I love going to these types of outings just for the experience of the crowd.

You can't really tell but it was probably one of the best fireworks shows I have ever been to.  It was fabulous!

Ice ice baby

I saw this while driving the other day.  I couldn't not pull over and take a picture.

Online scrapbooking

I'm looking to start online scrapbooking but there are a million websites out there.

Which do you use?
Which is the best pricewise - if you know.

I can't seem to look anything up online that compares them and I'm clueless.

Help.

First Harvest

We just got back from a family reunion with the Lefler's.  I didn't take any pictures!!  I'm disappointed in myself.  Anyway...  When we got home from Arizona we were rewarded with the first fruits (or veggies) of our labors.  Presenting....

Our romaine lettuce, snow peas, and our first (and only so far) cherry tomato!!

And then I just remembered this video.  A couple of weeks ago we were house sitting for Mason's parents to keep the cat company.  Strange I know...  This is not your normal cat.  It needs a certain amount of attention each day or it goes crazy.  Kinda like me.  Anyway... one morning we woke up to this...  BTW - I forgot my camera video records sideways... so this is a video of me looking at the window, sideways.  Hope you don't get a kink in your neck.  It was pretty funny.

Arizona Activities

We have been having a lot of fun down here doing all kinds of things. Mason left to go home last Thusrday but I stayed here a bit longer. I'm coming home tomorrow. It's been fun hanging out with my parents. Here are some of the things we did:

Went tubing on the Salt River with Kyle and Stacey...

It's relaxing and fun!

This was the bus that everyone piles in to and it takes you to the top of the river.

Then we went to the place that gave my hometown it's name. The Casa Grande Ruins. It's a huge Indian temple out in the middle of NOWHERE. It was BLAZING hot that day. Mason asked me how I ever grew up in such heat. I think it was pushing 115 - I told him I had no idea.

Despite the heat it was awesome to see. I had been there on a field trip in 5th grade, but you know how you don't really pay attention to anything so it was fun to learn about.

Here we are standing in a doorway.

Then we went to visit my cute little Mexican grandfather. He is 92 and still going strong. He asked me if I had a little 'bambino' inside. I told him no... is that his way of telling me I'm getting chubby... it's true - I know it. It was hilarious.

Then we visited my Grandma up in Phoenix. We went to a candy factory where they give tours. Here she is pulling some taffy.

Now it's our turn! See the bambino?? That's my next goal... to lose him.

This is 300 pounds of chocolate!!! That might take even the biggest chocolate lover a while to eat!!

It's been fun. Like I said I'm coming home tomorrow. It's been a great vacation!

4th of July

We decided the night before to make the drive down here to Arizona for the 4th of July. We got up early that morning and made it in time for everything. Our family usually has a BBQ and then goes swimming... when we were little it was always so fun for us because it was the only day of the year my whole family actually went swimming together.

Here's Kyle cookin' the burgers.

My cute 'little' brother Eric. Don't you love the new addition to his face? He's hardcore.

Then we all went swimming... Eric looks like he's trying to escape in this picture.

CHICKEN FIGHT!

A 3 tiered chicken fight!

Then we played some Wii. Mason had to beat everyone's Wii Fit records.

He's hardcore too.

This is Stacey feeling anxious because she holds all the records that Mason is breaking.

Then we went to our city's fireworks show. It's a colorful event. We were in the extreme minority. I don't remember it being like that, but it was still fun. Mason ran in the 20 yard dash with the 25-50 year old men. He won 3rd place. This is the ribbon he got. He was very proud. It's probably because every other contestant was intoxicated - but it was well earned.

Here's our little spot!

I hope your 4th was as good as ours!

River Rafting Trip

We just got back from our river rafting trip.  We drove up to Riggins, Idaho.  I never knew Idaho was so pretty!  It was about an 8 hour drive but it seemed so quick.  It was gorgeous!  We camped on white sandy beaches on the river.  Below is a picture of the beach that we camped on.  You can kinda see the rafts and the tents set up.  I am standing on a bridge.

This is Quintin.  He is one of my best friends from high school who has the best job ever.  I'm considering becoming a river rafting guide so I can play all day too.  I asked him to give me his best river rafting guide face and this is what I got.  Perfect.

Mason and I sitting on the front of the raft.

There were spaces in between the rapids where there wasn't much going on... so Mason decided to take a nap on 'Sunburn Stretch.'  I believe that was the name.

 

So there were two boats that went down.  Our boat, where Quintin was the guide, and then the supply boat.  They packed everything on this raft.  The tents, stoves, food, outhouse (portable of course), and then Josh (another guide) floated along with us in that one.

There was another couple who went down with us, Kim and Josh (which I don't have any pictures of... dang it).  They brought their darling baby Jonas.  He didn't ride in the raft with us, but he got to eat lunch with us.  He was the cutest thing ever!  He liked to eat sand.

This is the company.  Their website is: www.epleys.com.  Check it out.  I highly recommend them!  Also there was a photographer on the side of the river who takes pictures of the rafts as they are going through one of the rapids.  I haven't ordered any pictures from the site yet but you can check them out.  They are pretty funny.  I will put the link to my favorite one and you can look at the others.  Just copy and paste this address into your browser:

http://klobetanz.smugmug.com/gallery/8771038_SBGjy#580719540_7V237

So after we were done rafting that day we didn't want to drive all the way back home so we drove 30 miles south to a BEAUTIFUL little town called McCall.  We found the perfect (as you can see) little camping spot right on the lake.  Totally secluded... we watched the sunset and rise from our tent.  It was beautiful.  The next morning we woke up and went swimming in the lake.

It really was amazing.  Actually every spot we camped at while being up there was beyond amazing.  Who would have thought??  Idaho!?

This was right at sunset.  It was quite the romantic getaway!  (If you like camping I suppose)