AC, HP, and BBs

It's hot, hot, HOT!  Yesterday Vancouver reached 104 degrees!!!  Wow!  That just doesn't happen much here! 

On Monday, our A/C stopped working.  We called to get a repairman but they wouldn't be able to get here until Wednesday morning.  Monday was fine, it really wasn't that hot... but Tuesday... man, that was not going to be fun!  So, Ryan decided to take a look and found that the problem was really simple.  The electrician didn't tighten the wires in the breaker box so they had come loose.  Smart.  Ryan was able to fix it, no problem.  So... Yay!  We had A/C yesterday!!!  And today!!! :)

Things will be cooling down starting tomorrow and by Friday we'll be back down in the comfy 80s. :)

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I was so hoping to go to the Harry Potter movie today... but... nope.  Rori has started to have the super fun *sarcastic* acid diapers again which rot her little bum in 2 secons flat.  I just didn't dare leave her with anyone, she needs to be changed often and gently.  Plus she needs to have ointment applied every change - and again, gently.

So, no H.P. for me today.  But, I WILL see it soon!  We'll either go Saturday night or maybe Monday or Tuesday.  I reread the book so I'd be all ready for the movie.  And soon I'll reread #6 too, in preparation for #7.  Can't wait!!!

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Tomorrow is my birthday.  :)  *Happy Birthday to Me!*

Some friends who are visiting from out of town will be coming for dinner.  Spaghetti Diablo! :)  I'm trying to decide what to do for the dessert.  Do I get myself a cake? 

I did get my birthday present early though!  I got a new mountain bike!  And we got a bike trailer to tow Rori in. :)  So now we're all Biker Babes.  See...







We're having fun going for bike rides together.  We have a great trail behind our house.  Once it cools down we'll be able to go for longer rides, maybe take the trail all the way to the river.  Lots of fun, spending time together, and getting exercise!  It's a win, win, win situation! :)

A week late... again.

I'm pretty slow getting up some of my pics from last week.  Last Saturday we went into the gorge with Landon and did a small hike, Horse Tail Falls.  It's one of my favorite hikes in the gorge and it's even better when you go further back to Triple Falls. :)  This time, however, we just did the Horse Tail trail because we were concerned Rori would get too fussy if we completely missed her nap.  We need to get a backpack to carry her in where she can sleep if she wants - then we can do some longer hikes. :)

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike!  Check out some of the pics we took...

This is Horse Tail Falls, where the trail begins:














As you can see, Cadi was in quite the posing mood.  Sometimes it is like pulling teeth to get a picture of her, but during this hike, she was posing left and right!  I guess she was inspired by the beautiful sights all around her.   Who could blame her?  :)

I'm Proud to be an American!

Wow, was yesterday FUN!

We had a lazy morning and decided to visit I-Hop for brunch, which was a great way to start the day!  YUM! 

Then, because Ryan hadn't purchased enough explosives yet *insert sarcasm here*, we stopped by another tent to spend more money on things that go "boom".  We headed up to my aunt's house with our trunk full of fireworks, one of Ryan's cheesecakes made from scratch, a fresh fruit salad, and our glow-in-the-dark frisbee.

We always have a BLAST (no pun intended) when we go to my aunt's!  And everytime, I find myself wondering why we don't visit with them more often.  The company was great!  The food was delicious!  And of course the fireworks were awesome!!! 

Here are some pics for your viewing enjoyment. :)

Acadia doing Taylor's hair:


Rori playing on their stairs... she was pretty good!  A little TOO good!  And she thought it was SO FUN!!!




Playing at the park while we wait for it to get dark:




And finally it was dark enough!  Woohoo!!!  Fireworks time!!!

These were fired off by some of the neighbors while we were still setting up...





Here is the pile of stuff that we brought.  Plus my uncle and cousins bought stuff too.  Oh yeah, it was a good show!









I was too far away to get a clear image of her, but I like how the sparkler looks in these pics...





I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of this shot!  It is one that starts on the ground, spins around, and then shoots up in the air.  Pretty cool!  And it makes for an awesome slow shutter shot!!!











On this next one, I was accidentally zoomed in... but I really like how it turned out and now I wish I had taken a few more that way!

 







And this was another favorite.  I just really like how it turned out...


Yes indeed, quite a fun night!  And today, we stopped by a tent to snag a few on clearance to get a head start on next year's show!  Crazy stuff, lol.

However you spent your holiday, I hope it was a fun and safe one for you too!

Happy Birthday America!

I love the 4th of July!!! I love our country! I love the freedoms and liberty which we are blessed with! I am grateful for all of the MANY sacrifices made and currently being made that allow this country to be the Free Land that it is!

I love that in the Book of Mormon it says (2 Nephi 1:5-7) that EVERY person who comes to this land is brought by the hand of the Lord. Think about what that means. It is NOT an accident or coincidence that we live here and enjoy these wonderful blessings. Whether we came here ourselves or our ancestors did, it's the same. The Lord led you here.

I also appreciate that the Lord promises that as long as we serve Him, this will remain a land of freedom and He will protect us. Sometimes it feels like as a country we are not living up to that. We need to keep working hard to serve the Lord and encourage others to do also by supporting and electing leaders who will lead our country in righteousness, upholding the values and standards that this country was founded upon.

God Bless America, Land that I Love!

One Week Ago Today

Last week, after all of the family had left, we tried again for Mt. St. Helens.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day!  It's really too bad that the weather didn't cooperate so well when we tried to take the family. :(

Here are some pics from our day there...

This is taken from the first visitor center, this is as far as we got the Friday before when we had our family with us, but of course that time we couldn't see the mountain at all.  This time was much different:



Acadia reading about this tree in the Johnston Ridge visitor center:


It's very humbling to see just how huge the blast in 1980 was.  For MILES it either completely obliterated or flattened trees.  Still, over 25 years later, trees that were once giants lay dead on the hillside.



About once an hour there was a ranger out there talking about the mountain, the original erruption in 1980, the current erruptions taking place at that very moment, and the future of the mountain.  She was a great speaker and you could tell that she absolutely LOVES her job and that mountain! 



This is a close up into the crater.  Look into the crater and see the new dome building (it's the large chunk of rock not covered by snow in the upper right) and if you look closely, you can see steam coming from it.  The volcano is having erruptions constantly but it's lava is thick like peanut butter so it just keeps building this lava dome right there in the crater instead of flowing out.





It's amazing to realize just how much this mountain is doing to rebuild herself!  After the erruption in 1980, there were many small erruptions that continued for 5 or 6 years.  A lava dome was created and then the mountain went back to sleep. 

Then about 2 1/2 years ago, she woke back up!  We began having earthquakes on a much more frequent basis and then the erruptions began again.  In just the last 2 1/2 years, there have been 7 NEW lava domes created and collectively they are more than 2 times the size of the first lava dome from the 80's!  She is working hard to fill that crater!  It is really cool to go back and see that growth and change!



I also really like seeing the new plant growth slowly return.  Everytime I go, I see more green and more flowers.  This area was once a very dense forest!  With trees that were up to 8 feet in diameter!!!  Now it looks like a desert!  But you can see brush and grass returning and you can even find new trees trying to grow back! 





I love going to Mt. St. Helens!  If you ever get the chance - go!  Just make sure it's a clear day because she surely isn't so impressive when all you see are clouds. lol

11 Months Old

I can hardly believe that in less than one month Aurora will be a year old!  That is amazing to me!
 
I took these pics on the 28th, it just took me a couple days to post them.  Sorry. :)  She was actually pretty patient and let me take a couple while she was laying down.  But that didn't last long... within moments, she was up and walking away. lol

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.

This weekend Acadia was baptized! 

For those of you who are not familiar with our church, we believe in baptism by immersion at the age of eight (or older).  Why eight?  Because that is usually when a child is able to understand right from wrong and can start being accountable for their choices.  Do they know and understand everything yet?  No way!  I don't think any of us do, no matter what our age! lol  And will she still make mistakes?  Yep!!  But for the most part, she is old enough to know how to treat others, how to make good choices, and she is old enough to have started developing her own testimony of God, church, and other spiritual things.

So, Sunday was the day!


The program was really nice.  Cadi had asked family members to participate by providing the music, prayers, talks, etc.  I even played a musical number!  Just after I started playing, the vent for the A/C turned on and started blowing my pages.  Fun stuff. lol  But it still ended up olay. :)

It was such a great feeling to watch Acadia get baptized!  I am so proud of her for making this decision!  She had been looking forward to it for weeks!  Every week, she would tell me, "I wish I was getting baptized today!"  When she came up out of the water, she was so sweet!  She was near tears.  I was in tears. lol  She told me she was really happy!  While she changed out of the jumper and into her dress, we talked about how that feeling she was having right then, was the Holy Ghost telling her that she was doing the right thing and that Heavenly Father loves her and was so happy for her.



In honor of Acadia's special day, I put together a slideshow.  We shared it with the family when we had our BBQ the night before the baptism.  I want to share it with you here too.  It's a little long, about 10 minutes, but I hope you enjoy it...



If you can't see the video, here's a link.
Congratulations, Acadia!  We love you!!!