July 17-22

Another week of July has passed by.  This week was a little slower, at least it seemed to me.  On Monday, I had surgery to have a polyp removed from my uterus (TMI, I know).  That took all day.  It took a while for me to really feel up to snuff again.  The anesthesia was worse than anything, and for a few days I just felt dizzy.  It was large enough they couldn't just remove it in the office.  Oh well.  The kids were a great help, especially the girls.  It is nice to have older kids who can do a lot around the house.  

Sammy took care of the neighbor's dog all week while they were in Alaska.  Fortunately, it did not have to remain here and she could just ride her bike to their house, feed it, and walk it.  The kids have been really blessed to get odd jobs around here-- which is difficult since it is such a small town.  Babysitting others doesn't happen much because everyone has family around here.  They have to hold on tight to their pipe moving job, because those are also hard to come by.  Not only that, farmers are getting more high-tech and they can install irrigation pipe that is controlled by their phones, via satellite.  It is amazing what technology can do-- and at the same time how it wipes out some jobs!  

This was the weekend of the Newton Town Celebration.  As is typical in Cache Valley, each town has their own Pioneer Day celebration, and it was Newton's turn.  It was the usual agenda-- two days of celebration, and we all had things to do here and there.  I was in charge of selling the Newton Town Directories as a fund raiser for the scouts the first night.  Here are some of our cutest scouts selling the books:

That evening, one of our town citizens had purchased over $1000 worth of fireworks to share with everyone.  He and his boys set them up on the baseball diamond in the center of town.  They had them lined up on the second to third baseline, and people gathered around outside the diamond to watch.  From the looks of them, they were obviously not your typical backyard fireworks.  They were huge.  Sammy started to head to the dugout across from the fireworks to watch, then changed her mind and went with us to the church parking lot nearby.  A bunch of kids had perched on top of the dugout to get the best view.  Am I surprised that no one told them to back away further? After living here for 11 years, I am not.  The fireworks started and we slowly backed further and further away with each explosion. By the end of the fireworks show, we were backs up against the church with blankets over our heads.  Spencer's eyes were red from the sulfurous fumes.  Not only that, a couple of the fireworks had tipped over in mid-fire and shot directly over toward the dugout.  All we could see in the dark were silhouettes of teens, arms flailing, jumping ship behind the dugout as fast as they could as sparks shot in their direction.  It was hilarious and scary at the same time.  Several guys rushed over to stomp out the fire that had started inside the dugout.  And so the town celebration begins with a literal bang. 

Friday night at 10:30, I was informed that our ward was in charge of the Flag Ceremony for breakfast the next morning.  My friend, Kelli, called to tell me that our Cub Master didn't know about it since she had been out of town, so I was informally delegated the one in charge by everyone still at the party. That is what happens when you leave the town party early on a Friday night.  Fortunately, I have some great little Webelos that will do what they are asked to do (especially because they have parents that make them) and they showed up to raise the flag.  Luke was super nervous because he had never done that before and didn't want to talk into the microphone to the town, but he did great.  I have a feeling I need to get comfortable being in Scouts for at least the next 10 years.  Obviously, they just get people who they know will show up to be in this job-- you don't have to be spectacular or anything.  My kids are learning this lesson a lot lately for themselves.

Laura Lee was the only one who was determined enough to do the Fun Run Saturday morning before the festivities.  She ran the mile in 6:53 which was a personal best for her, and she won a trophy for being the first place girl.  It also got her out of moving pipe for the morning. Hmmmmmm.  

Speaking of showing up, here are the few girls who signed up to sell snow-cones at the town celebration to make money for YW camp.  They even signed up for double shifts since no one else wanted to.  Service with a smile!  No wonder they sold so many snow cones! Who can resist getting the chance to talk to such charming young ladies? 

And, oh no!  They were giving away bunnies a the celebration.  They were the most adorable dutch bunnies-- SO cute.  Spencer resisted since he already has two bunnies of his own.  This little guy is such a tender heart when it comes to little creatures.  He could sit and hold the bunnies all day.  Here he is with his cousin, Cora. 

Well, well, well.  It  looks as though the Bishops of both wards were recruited to be in the dunking booth to raise money for the next town celebration.  Isn't non-separation of church and state so nice?  I think that Rich maybe raked in the most cash.  I took a turn, all of our kids took a turn, and since his dad and two of his sisters were there-- they all took a turn, as well as several nieces and nephews.  Needless to say, he got very wet.  

Here is Luke taking a shot. 

Now Spencer:

 And here is Lisa:

All wet!

I like this picture since you can see the foam flying through the air.  It was a very hot, dry day-- so the kids just fell into the foam.  They also had the fire hose shooting out water to clean off, although my kids seemed to miss that part, and I had grass and mud trailed through my house when we got home.  

We went to Lisa's house after all the fun was over, ate scones and fruit, and the little girls watched TV on the couch with Grandpa.  Kate, the most precocious one, fell asleep and looked as if she were praying-- so of course we had to snap a pic of her looking angelic, since that is not a normal pose for her.  

Lisa was taking care of her neighbor's pool while they were away, so we were invited to come and take a dip.  It is the only real pool for miles so we enjoyed it very much. 

Need I explain this picture?  His look says it all.  And his sweaty head. 

One very nice thing about having teenagers, we haven't mowed the lawn for several years. LL sees this as a nice opportunity to work on her tan.  I just had to get a pic of her typical lawn-mowing attire.  Sound proof headphones, so she can hear her music, and her pipe boots so that when she weed whacks she doesn't have weeds whacking her, of course!

Another nice thing, they also weed the garden.  Sammy has olive oil because if you put it in little containers around the garden, the earwigs (and other bugs) will dive in and drown right away.  It is almost gross how many end up in the oil, but it works.  I relented and let the boys plant corn this year.  To me, it is just so much work, water, and toil for such little reward!  Especially since we can buy it for so cheap on the roadside stands into town.  They are excited though, so that is what matters.  I hope it tastes yummy!

I have to document every year what our garden looks like.  I am always experimenting with the layout and what I plant.  Can you see what we have?  Besides the weeds?