Clint's handywork

I am so lucky - and also so cursed - to have a very handy guy for a husband. I say lucky because I get to enjoy the handy work in our yard and home without having to pay multiple arms and legs for someone else to do the work and get exactly what we want. And I say cursed because it seems there's always a project (or 10!) taking up his time. His latest two projects are our new mailbox and a new easel for his oil painting.

So talented! If you were to look closely at the photos of the easel taken in the garage, you might get an idea about all the projects he has going on. That's a 3-car garage folks, that only has room for my one car because of all the other things going on! Maybe someday he'll build his shop in the back and we will use our garage for the cars it is intended to hold. Of course, our backyard is still a "work in progress" but someday it will be as nice as the front yard...

"Mommy, I want a pony!"

Erin has been hearing about our neighbor's horses for a year now and finally got to meet them in person a few weeks ago. It was her first experience with any horse and she was so fun to watch. I didn't realize how great I had it as a kid because my aunt and uncle always had horses and every time we went to visit we would get to ride them. I'm no equestrian but I'm comfortable on them for the most part - especially knowing that I have already lived through falling off one running at full speed as a teen. Because horses were a natural thing to me, I hadn't even considered that it might freak Erin out at first. She was in awe of their size and at one point looked up at me with these HUGE eyes and said "can I touch it?" When she did, in the side, the whole horse twitched like they sometimes do and she jumped back like she'd been shot. I took a picture but she was so freaked out it came out blurry....

After we collected both of the horses from their homes in the stable and took them to the arena, Erin got her first ride. She was on Jamaica with Ace because she couldn't fathom riding alone - it totally freaked her out. By the end of the trip, she was a pro and rode Cedar all by herself while I led them around the arena.

It got dark and windy and time to head home and Erin was so sad. As we bid farewell to the horses, she said to me in this forlorn little voice, "Mommy, I want a pony!" I'm sure I'm not the first mom to ever hear those words but man they were so sad and funny to hear from her. I just laughed and agreed, "I want one, too!" Unfortunately, we'll both have to wait a while since owning horses in the city isn't a very easy task. In the meantime, she is looking forward to Girl's Scout camp even more because we'll be at the camp with horses. Now that she's had a taste of what that means, she's hooked! Ace, thanks for the great spur of the moment outing!

The July Holidays

Because we live in Utah, we get two holidays in July... yippee! Clint calls the bonus one "Polygamy Day" but most locals know it as Pioneer Day since it marks the day the Mormon settlers, escaping persecution from Illinois because of their practice of polygamy among other things, decided that THIS is the place.

The 4th of July was marked with a family BBQ with slip-n-slide action for the kids at my sister's house on Friday (since no one had to work) followed by neighborhood fireworks the next night on the actual holiday after we had eaten at our favorite Mexican food place. One of our neighbors pointed out how kind of ridiculous that is to eat MEXICAN food on the holiday marking the birth of our nation - we hadn't really given a shit since the food is killer and we don't care what day of the year it is!

The crazy cousins posing for photos

Erin doesn't like to actually "slide" on the slip-n-slide... what a princess

In line for the slip-n-slide
I had to include this photo of my brother in a never-before-captured-on-film moment... witness the "Ruoti Belch"

The 24th of July was kind of low-key with Erin dragging me to a neighborhood breakfast (while Daddy worked on a stucco project) at the ungodly hour of 9am - ON SATURDAY - so she could ride her bike around the block with her friends in the kid's parade. I guess it beats her wanting to go to the ACTUAL parade which would have taken much more effort on my part. The first person to actually inform my child that such a thing exists in our city will most likely get shot so be forewarned! After the rest of a leisurely day, we did more fireworks with the neighbors.

Me and Ace - making root beer floats in folding chairs... what talent!

The men... and their adult beverages quietly enjoyed while the 12-year old performed the annual pyromania show

Erin, right before her smile was wiped off her face because she couldn't have a sleepover

The kids toting the fireworks to the road

The Finale!