You're Never Fully Dressed without a...

...Smile! I took the older girls to see Annie at Tuacahn last weekend. (Chad was away mountain biking with the Young Men.) That place is so beautiful. We had to have a photo shoot before the play began.

This is the backdrop of the theater. That black car is poised to drive across the back of the stage and pick Annie up from the orphanage. We weren't allowed to take photos once we went in to be seated, so this is from the side. You can still tell that it's NEAT-O!

In the fountain.

One of the side washes. And two cute girls!

Ah, Summertime

I finally just bought cushions for the porch swing, as the safety-pinned blanket just was NOT working out. The pillows were a success though. It has been the girls' favorite place to hang out and read in the mornings when it's cool. It's 105 now. Lily's boxing the wii, and Lexi's in her room.

I was doing my hair one Sunday morning and I put Sagie in the sink so she would be occupied while I was busy. She turned on the water to play in it. The water ran harmlessly between her feet and down the drain. She looked so sweet that I got out my camera and took lots of pictures.

I finished and lifted her out of the sink. She had stepped on the stopper, and was sitting in a fairly full sink of water. Soggy-bottom girl!

What do you do when the Summer's not blazing hot yet?

Go to the Valley of Fire! We went on Thursday...

...and found...

...this.

Samuel and I took a break and watched the others climb for a while.

Then he headed on up.

Gary found a friend. The antelope ground squirrel (Why antelope? I don't know.) liked the smell of Lexi's vanilla-mint chap stick and kept coming over hoping for a lick. He was cute and fearless.

With love, from the desert.

Dog Food

Usually here in June, you can't go outside without feeling like you're going to ignite. Not yet this year. I don't think it even hit 90 today, and it's not supposed to for the next 5 days! I have been reveling in the cool breezes and cloud cover. Today we had a picnic in a tent we made this morning out of a hula hoop, some sheets and a bungie cord. Then the dog ate it. To do list for tomorrow:

1. Fix tent.

2. Find a place to hang it where the dog can't reach it.

This project may keep us busy all Summer, or at least for the next 5 days.

Announcement

Eden said to me last night, "Mom, do you want the new baby (there's the announcement) to be a girl or a boy?"

I responded that it didn't matter to me.

She replied, "I used to want it to be a girl, but Aunt Alane's baby is a boy, and it's still cute, so it doesn't matter to me either."

Tanks

Chad took Samuel out for some one-on-one time tonight. They bought some icecream, then went to the water tank across the freeway to climb it, eat their treats, and enjoy the view. Don't worry, the tank is not dozens of feet in the air, but sits right on the ground and looks like a birthday cake with a big flat top. After they had driven to the top of the hill where the water tank overlooks the valley, their conversation went something like this:

Chad: Wanna go up on that water tank to eat our icecream?
Samuel: What tank?
C: That big one, right there.
S: I don't see any tank.
C: That huge grey thing that says "Bob hearts Vivian."
S: Oh. It's really tall.
C: Yep. Climb on up. I'm right behind you.
S: Dad, I think I'll just eat my icecream right here in the dirt.
C: No, no, no. Up you go.
(They climb up the water tank and get situated right in the middle.)
S: Dad, why is this a water tank?
C: They used to put water in it.
S: It's hollow? Are we going to fall in?
C: No, no.
S: Why do they put water way up here?
C: To create pressure.
S: What's pressure?
C: Um.... It's what makes the sprinklers work down in the valley...
S: Oh. How do they get the water up here?
C: They pump it.
S: How do they pump it?
C: They... um... Can you see our house from up here?

Not that pumps aren't Chad's specialty, I just think that wasn't quite the conversation he'd envisioned having with his son on their outing. When they got back, Samuel told me all about it. Then he, you guessed it, had a question for me. "Mom, what does that tank shoot?"