Bear Lake Reunion

Playing games
Making sandcastles
water sports
The Gang

John's family had a reunion at Bear Lake last weekend. We had a great time boating, playing on the beach, eating, and playing games. The kids had fun hanging out and playing with cousins. Cousin Aaron just returned from his mission in Ghana, Africa and it was so interesting hearing about his experiences and seeing some of his pictures.

24th Pioneer Celebration

Our Friend's tank pulling a covered wagon--ha ha :)
Natalie riding with the Art City Royalty
Jake and Natalie are a members of the city's youth council and I am one of the adult advisors of this group. I chose not to walk in the parade. :)

Every July 24th our little city has a pioneer day celebration. It starts with the fire trucks and police cars driving around at 6:30 am with their sirens on to wake up the city. There is a flag ceremony, fun run, pancake breakfast, parade, old fashion carnival, bike give away, free concert and fireworks. Suz and her kids joined us for the festivities and her kids even rode on Mike's church ward's float. In the evening we sat on the lawn and listen to Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band. It was a great concert and Suz's Timothy danced for 2 hours straight!!! The fireworks were incredible! I love the Small-Town America activities and feel of this day.

Bear Lake with Oma and Opa

Last week I took the kids on an impromptu trip up to visit Oma and Opa at Bear Lake. Mike and his family were there also. On Monday we had a perfect day at the lake. Mike drove the boat and pulled kids on the tube. The rest of the adults just hung out on the beach. The highlight of the trip for my kids was the "sniper shooting" instruction Opa gave as they shot at soda cans 200 yards away. They all hit the targets. Bear Lake is so peaceful and was a great break--we head back there in a few weeks for John's family reunion.

Junior Miss

Cousins and friends
Oma and Opa came to cheer her on. (John in background is not crying--he got something stuck in his eye--haha)
Natalie in her interview suit in front of her poster board.

Natalie participated in the Junior Miss program last Saturday night. It is a scholarship program for juniors in high school. They are judged on their scholastic (high school transcript, ACT), talent, interview skills, athletic, and self expression. Natalie went to workshops with the other girls a month before to learn the aerobic routine and opening number. This is something she has never done before and she felt like she learned a lot from the experience. She preformed a monologue from Shakespeare's play Much Ado about Nothing for her talent.

She did wonderfully and really shined on stage. She "sparkled" as she preformed the opening dance number, her aerobic routine, and monologue. She also was very confident and poised with the self expression question. We could not have been prouder!!! She was not one of the overall winners, but she won the 200 dollar Be Your Best Self scholarship award and $1700 scholarship to some random Alabama schools. Yeah Natalie!!!

Summer Jobs

Caroline and Natalie have restarted the bagel business. They renamed the business, Bibbity Bobbity Bagels. They made samples and fliers and took them around a wealthier neighborhood. They went to about 10 houses. They ended up talking to 5 people and leaving fliers on the other houses. They had one success, but 4 rejections. They hated this and refused to go to any more. John and I were in the car laughing and thinking what a great experience this was for them. We told them this is what Josh does everyday. Which Natalie stated, "I am not going on a mission!" They plan on going around our neighborhood to people they know. They have about 6 returning costumers from when Caroline did the business and hope to get more.

Snow Cone Shack

Jake and Natalie work at the snow cone shack a few times a week. It does not pay well, but they have fun and usually their friends drop by to visit them.

Soccer Tournament--"Mud Pies, Anyone?"

Natalie and I just got back from her soccer tournament. I was really looking forward to the warm weather of St. George and watching Natalie play, but on the first day it was only 37 degrees and rained all day. The tournament was held on a turf farm and the parking lot turned into solid mud. Cars were sliding and many became stuck. Natalie had two games on this day and was very cold and wet. She played 3 games on Monday and the fields were even muddier from two days of solid rain. Needless to say, instead of enjoying a lot of sun, I did many loads of laundry. It was a very memorable trip.

This was the parking lot!! ha it was crazy!!!

Natalie's team after winning one of their games and diving into the mud to celebrate (Natalie with red headband).
My cool rain boots my friend and I developed because we had already ruined one pair of shoes. Some guy told us, "great idea, but a little dorky." ha ha I didn't want to ruin my Dansko shoes!!

Natalie after her championship game. They came in 2nd place.
Everyone had checked out of the hotel by the time the team played their last game--so we took all the girls to the car wash and sprayed them off and they changed in the car before heading home. :)

Remodel

We have been slowly remodeling our kitchen. We put in new counter top surrounding the island, new sink, new faucet, plumbed in a gas line for a new gas stove top and new double ovens. We also stained the floors a darker color and put a new banister to the stairs going downstairs. This week we had the cabinets painted white and the island painted black. I picked a little off white (Swiss coffee-behr)--but after it was done it looks very very white. Maybe I just need to get used to it. This is a picture of our house right before they painted. I had to empty everything from the cabinets and put them in the family room.

Going through that pile was the worse part of the remodel, but it forced me to get rid of, sort and organize everything in the kitchen. Now the insides of the cabinets look as good as the outside. I am going to be more careful what I pick up at yard sales this summer. :) I will post a after picture soon.