Let's Get A Pool

     For a while now I have been telling David we should go buy a pool and set it up for the summer.  David never agreed to it and in a way I really didn't want a pool because I didn't want to worry about taking care of it all summer.  Well, the Saturday before the 4th of July was extremely hot.  We were both outside and David said, "This hot weather makes me want to go get a pool."  Of course I said, "Ok, lets go get one!"  We went in the house and got on Wal-Mart's website to see what they had.  We found some that we liked that they had in the store so we were off to Wal-Mart.
     Neither of us really thouht that we would walk out of there with a pool so we took the car.  Well we did come out of Wal-Mart with one and then we had to try to fit it in the trunk of the car.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of that.  The box was hanging out of the trunk and we couldn't get the trunk closed.  We felt pretty stupid driving down the road. 

We started setting it up when we got home.  The cool water felt very good on our feet and we were super excited to have a pool that we would be able to come out and swim in whenever we wanted to. 

 Josie loved floating in the pool when the water was shallow.

 Josie's new relaxation spot.

Sammy checking things out.

     Now that we have the pool we both look at each other and ask ourselves, "What were we thinking?"  That was a spur of the moment purchase that we wish we hand't made.  Oh well, when these thunderstorms stop popping up every afternoon it will be fun to go relax and cool off in it. 

     

Our Garden

     This year we decided to make the garden dog proof.  We are hoping we will get some more veggies than we have gotten in the past when the dogs were free to roam through the garden. 

 Putting down the "foundation." 

Next we put up the posts.

 Then we put up the chicken wire. 

 
 Here is our garden!  We have lots of tomatoes growing.  Hopefully we will get some watermelons this summer.  I think next year we will make the area bigger so our big viney plants have more room to spread out. 

     

Youth Conference

     Due to school assignments and Young Women's projects I am a little behind on my blog posts.  Almost a month ago, June 23-25, my ward went to Youth Conference.  It was so much fun and I was glad that I went.  At the beginning of the year I was debating not going because I needed to work and save up money for school next year.  Due to the other Young Women leader's schedules I ended up going and loved every minute of it. 

     We stayed at Payson Lakes Campground for the weekend.  Thursday morning we met and drove to the campground, got everything all set up, and then left for Manti.  Instead of going all the way back down to the freeway the men decided to take the dirt roads down the other side of the mountain.  It was a beautiful drive but the GPS kept taking us to dead ends and when we found the road that we needed, it was still closed due to the snow that was still up there.  We did end up finding another road that took us down.  When we finally got to Manti, about 2-2 1/2 hours later, we went and ate a delicious turkey dinner at one of the stake centers in Manti.  After dinner we went to the temple to hang out till the pageant started.  The pageant was great and I think that the youth really enjoyed it.  After the pageant we headed back to camp.  We took the freeway back this time and arrived back at camp about 2:00 in the morning.  Everyone stayed awake and we didn't have any problems with deer!  I was really worried about driving back to Payson that late at night.   

     Friday morning we slept in, got up and had breakfast, had a devotional, then headed to the lake for some team building activities. 

     I think the team building activities was the highlight of my weekend.  The first activity that we did was a Trust Fall from a picnic table.  I was really suprised how willing the youth were to participate in this activity.  I even did it!  I just don't have a picture of it to prove it.

Tiffany

Zoie pushing her mom off the table. 

The next activity was to get all the youth balanced on a pallet that was on top of a broken cinder block. 

 They were all on it and balanced for about 3 seconds then it broke. 

The next activity was my favorite.  We split the youth up into groups of 3.  The object was to get their whole group across the grass while only having 2 hands and 1 foot touch the groud.  It was entertaining to see the ways they tried to accomplish this. 

                                                          Steven, Preston, and Seth

Abbie, Tiffany, and Bailey

 2 of the Young Men leaders and a member of the Bishopric decided to try.  They were very creative and so funny to watch!  People walking by were looking at them like they were crazy. 

Their crashes were the best!

After watching everyone try for awhile me and another Young Women leader decided to try.  We grabbed Zoie and we made it all the way across!  Again, no pictures to prove I did it though. 

 The next activity was the above picture.  I can't remember what it was called.  We had two groups at a time race across the grass on these ski things.  They really had to cooperate to all move the right leg at the right time. 

     My camera batteries died after this and I didn't have anymore for the rest of the weekend.  After the team building activities we played in the lake for a while.  I worked on homework during this time while soaking up the sun.  When everyone was done playing in the lake we headed back to camp and hung out and relaxed.  We played a good game of Signs with all of the youth and some of the leaders.  Talk about some major confusion!!!  I think a couple times 3 people were passing the sign all at once. 

     Dinner that night was super yummy.  A member of the Bishopric had his wife, sister-in-law, and father-in-law come up and cook us a dutch oven dinner.  Sweet and Sour Chicken, Cheesy Potatoes, and Cobbler.  I need to get some dutch ovens and learn how to cook with them.  I think dutch oven food is my favorite.  After dinner the Bishopric did a devotional and we spent the rest of the night around the camp fire telling stories and jokes. 

     Saturday morning we woke up, had breakfast, packed everything up and left camp.  We were home by 12:00.  I loved that we came home early so we had the rest of the day to put things away and do what we needed to do. 

3 Years!

     Today is our 3 year anniversary.  I can't believe how fast the time has gone.  Everyday we fall more in love with each other and learn to appreciate each other more.  There has been some interesting moments during the last 3 years but they have made us stronger.  There are moments when I have to repeat a quote from "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days," which is, "I love you but I don't have to like you right now."  That usually make us both laugh and forget about our differences and the argument that we are having. 
     We had a pretty low key anniversary day today.  We both went to work and David surprised me by coming home earlier than I thought he would.  We picked up take out from Cafe Rio and came home and watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  We have just spent the rest of the night on the couch watching TV and relaxing.  This weekend we are trying to plan a short get-away somewhere but haven't decided where yet.  We better get something figured out quick!
     I love you Honey Buns and look forward to an eternity together!  To eternity and beyond!!! 

President

     Today I was sustained and set apart to be the Young Women President in my ward.  I am really excited for this calling.  Life will be busy with this calling and school but I know that with the help of my Heavenly Father I will be able to get everything done that I need to.  I know that Heavenly Father knows what I can handle and will help me through everything that I will face. 
     During the past couple of weeks since I first met with the Bishop and he asked me to accept this calling my love for the girls in my ward has increased so much.  I know that they are all daughters of our Heavenly Father and I have been called to teach them their divine roles and prepare them for their future families.  I am grateful for the opportunity that I have been given and hope that I will fulfill my calling the way my Heavenly Father wants me to.  I am grateful for the examples that my Young Women leaders always were to me as I was growing up.  They helped prepare me for this calling.  I am grateful for my counselors and secretary for the love and support that they give to me.  I am excited to work with a new counselor and get to know her better.  I know that the church is true and that the Young Women program has a great purpose. 

Summer!

     I'm proud to announce that David and I have successfully made it through another semester of school together. We have had a week of freedom and it has been wonderful. It is so nice to come home from work and just do whatever we want to do and not have to worry about homework. If it ever gets warm we are looking forward to evenings spent in the yard, going hiking, and visiting family. I love the summer!
     I have completed the first year of the dental hygiene program. In one more year I will be graduated! I am so looking forward to that day. I have decided to get my bachelors degree in dental hygiene. I was totally against getting my bachelors degree until I realized how close I already am to getting it. With a bachelors degree in dental hygiene you don't get paid any more than if you have an associates degree but you are able to teach. I don't ever plan on teaching but as I was talking to a family friend who is a hygienist she recommended that I get my bachelors degree just because it might be a benefit to me with how many dental hygiene schools there are now in Utah. Because of this I am taking classes this summer. Not exactly what I wanted to do with my summer but I don't think it will be too bad. I just have 3 classes and they are all online. The classes are easy and one of the classes is only seven weeks long. I decided to just get it done this summer instead of going back to school next summer or fall after I have graduated with my associates degree.

A New Job

     This last Monday I started a new job.  I have really liked it so far.  I get to drive one of these monsters around all day.  I am working for the Davis School District mowing their  large playing fields.  Here are some facts about the mower...they say it has a top speed of 20 MPH but when I drove past one of those radars  that shows your speed I didn't get over 18 MPH...the mower has three mowing decks, front, left, and right and each deck has three blades...with all 3 decks down I can make a 16 foot sweep of the field...when the decks are down and the blades are on the top speed is only about 10 MPH...I'm by myself all day, just mowing and listening to my i-pod, and when it finally gets warm I'll be soaking up the sun!  My route includes schools in Kaysville and Farmington. 

It has been a week filled with lots of adventures for sure.  Here is how my week went...

Monday-Training...sat around for at least an hour before watching a 30 minute movie on how to operate the mower.  Finally went outside and was able to drive the mower around the parking lot.  There was 3 of us starting Monday so after we were comfortable with the mower in the parking lot we drove 2 mowers and a truck over to Antelope Elementary and practiced mowing and driving the mower around the field for the next 2 1/2-3 hours.  That got really boring.  When it was finally time for lunch we drove the mowers back to the shop and took a lunch break.  After lunch I found out that my mower needed to be drove to Davis High and parked so it was ready for Tuesday morning.  That was really really cold.  It took me and hour to drive the mower from the Freeport Center in Clearfield to Davis High.  20 MPH all the way baby!!!  As soon as I left the Freeport Center it started to rain.  Of course, just my luck, and I had left my rain suit in my car.  When I finally made it to Davis High I called the 2 other gang mowers to come and pick me up.  I had to wait outside for about 30 minutes while they drove up from Bountiful.  Once they picked me up we drove around Kaysville and found some of the schools that are on my route. 

Tuesday-This was the big day of adventure!  The first day out on my route by myself.  They assigned me and another guy or own DSD trucks for the summer and told us to go see if they had keys in them.  Neither on of them did so we sat around for about 45 minutes while they tried to find the keys.  Once the keys were found they couldn't get the trucks to start.  They told us to go outside and someone would meet us to jump start the trucks.  It took about 30 minutes to get both the trucks started and then we were off!  Or we were supposed to be anyway...I put my truck in reverse and noticed that the gear indicator on the dashboard didn't move.  Oh well...I pushed on the acclerator and nothing, I just rolled forward a little.  Oh no,

there was a building right in front of the truck.  Next I pushed the brake with my left foot and hit the acclerator hard, still nothing but rolling forward.  I tried again but my foot got stuck and I couldn't get the brake fast enough...I rolled the school district truck into the building.   Oops!!!  The guy that jumped the truck was still putting his cables away and ran over to make sure I was ok.  He got in the truck and he couldn't get it to move either.  He was so mad that the district even keeps trucks like that.  He said that the truck didn't have a transmission.  They finally found a truck that would work and I was finally off to Davis High.  When I got to my mower and started to go to Windridge Elementary I couldn't get the mower into high range.  So instead of being able to go 20 MPH I could only go about 10 MPH.  I wasn't going to go all the way to  Windridge and Farmington going only 10 MPH!  I called the mechanic and she didn't answer.  I waited for 20 minutes for her to call me back and of course it was something dumb and easy to fix.  When I got to Windridge I was able to mow the entire field and I got stuck on my last sweep of a hill.  I called the shop again and waited for someone to come pull me out.  While I was waiting my uncle, who also works for the district, happened to pull up for a job at the school.  He thought it was pretty funny.  Looking back on it now it was.  They finally got me unstuck and I headed to Farmington.  All these events happened in the first 3 1/2 hours of the work day.  Great way to start my first day on the job.  Surprisingly I was able to get 3 1/2 school done Tuesday even with all the delays I had. 

Wednesday-Flat tire.  I drove my mower all the way to Famington Jr. High and finished most of their field and got low on gas so I called the shop to have the gas truck come fill up the mower.  When he got there he noticed that I had a flat tire.  He called one of the mechanics and they said they would be there as soon as they could.  I sat outside and read my book for about 20 minutes then I got cold so I went inside to hang out.  Within 15 minutes the mechanic was there.  He said he needed to take the tire to Les Schwab so I could just  hang out in the school.  I went to the library and read a book for an hour.  Finally he got back and I was ready to mow again.  I didn't have any other problems the rest of the day. 

Thursday-I didn't have any problems.  Just mowing all day. 

Friday-I got stuck again.  This time at Fairfield Jr. High.  The west side of their field was extrememly wet and I had decided that I wouldn't come out this far in the field next go around.  Pretty much right at that time I got stuck.  I called the shop and they sent someone out to pull me out.  When I finally got out there was a rut from the tire that was about 8 inches deep.  Oops.  The rest of the day went pretty smoothly.

     I was able to finish my whole route in the first week.  I think when I get my route down better and how to get to the schools I will have quite a bit of down time.  My brother has done this job for 3 years and he said you just drive the back roads a lot wasting time because you have to have 8 hours a day.  Works for me.  I will just listen to my i-pod and get tan.  :)