Family Fun at Bear Lake

We usually go on a family camp out every summer. This year we went to Bear Lake. It is so beautiful there. I just love going there. We went July 9-11. It was a lot of fun. We had 2 boats and 2 jet skis. Kristi and Lloyd bought a boat this year so they brought their boat up and then Kelly borrowed his father in laws boat and jet skis. It was a lot of fun but very hot. I got a little sunburned, okay a lot sunburned. I didn't use as much sunscreen as I should have. Always trying for the tan but usually end up getting burned. You think I'd know better by now. The cousins all had a great time together. After spending all of Friday at the lake, we were all pretty worn out. We went back to camp and Mom and Dad had made a yummy dinner of roast and potatoes. It was like Sunday dinner in the mountains. It was fun sitting around the campfire and chatting and roasting marshmallows. Mom also had some fun crafts for the kids to do. It got pretty cold at night even though it was so hot during the day. The mosquitoes were really bad this year too. Noah and I slept in the back of our car. It wasn't too bad and stayed pretty warm in there. On Saturday, we took our time coming home. We stopped by Cherish's dads house and went and toured the new "mansion" he is building. It is amazing. Here are some of the pictures I got. I always wish I would've taken more pictures but sometimes its a hassle to try and take them when you are trying to have fun.

Let Freedom Ring

We just celebrated Independence day last Saturday. It is so awesome that we live in this free country and have so many things in such abundance. We are so lucky. It's so nice to have a day that we can spend with friends and family and honor this beautiful country. This year, we went to Kelly and Cherish's house for a BBQ and fireworks. We had a great time. The kids had fun playing together. We had good food, played badminton and did fireworks. Oh and I can't forget that we spent a while watching some of Michael Jackson's old videos. Talk about memories. The weather was great. Do you like the name of this post? I was trying to think of something creative and that was all I could come up with. Well, I'm on a blogging roll and there are lots of pics.

MJ

Okay, I'm probably pretty pathetic to have a post about Michael Jackson but I couldn't help it. He was my teenage heartthrob. I remember when the Thriller album came out and I had to have the record. Yes, back then it was records. I loved all of the songs on it and listened to it all the time. I especially loved "Thriller" and the Thriller video. Me and my sister Kristi would constantly watch MTV waiting for the video to come on. Of course, we had to wait for when my parents weren't home because they wouldn't let us watch MTV. The picture I posted is what he looked like when I had a crush on him. As time went on, he had plastic surgery and started changing his looks and I didn't really think he was attractive anymore. It also seemed like he got kinda weird and there were accusations about him molesting some children. I hope these things aren't true but who knows? Well, as everyone knows, he died on June 25th. He was only 50 years old. There are speculations as to the true cause of his death ranging from a heart attack to drug overdose. It has been all over the media since. It seems like at the time of his death he was sad and lonely. Who would think that someone with all of his fame and fortune could be sad and lonely? It just goes to show that money can't buy happiness. It really makes me sad that he kind of had a sad life in many ways despite his fame. I feel like a part of my childhood is gone now. I know, I'm lame. I still love his music and will continue to listen to it. I hope he is in a better place now and free of the pain he experienced here. RIP MJ.

Scout Camp

I ended up going to scout day camp again this year. I was only supposed to help drive but one of the other leaders was sick and they needed me to drive and stay up there with the boys the whole day. The day I went was the "Galaxy Quest" day. It was fun for the boys but a little boring for me. I was only in charge of 4 boys and I had another leader from my ward up there with me too. They got to learn about the solar system, do an obstacle course, make rockets to launch, do archery and even went on a little nature hike. I was kind of dreading going but it was okay. Noah liked that I was there.

Doing the obstacle course
These are the 4 boys I was in charge of


Archery

Summer Happenings

I can't believe that a month of summer has already come and gone. I guess it hasn't seemed like summer yet because of all the rain we have been getting. We went to Lagoon a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. I even got Noah to go on the big white roller coaster and a few other rides that I didn't think he would go on. It was a nice day and not too hot. It was only in the 70's that day so it was perfect. We got the bounce back special so we might go again before the summer is over. Noah went to a basketball camp at the beginning of June for 3 days. It was at Franklin Covey and he went for 4 hours each day. He had a great time and says he learned a lot and made some new friends. He is really loving basketball right now. He loves the Jazz and is always talking about Deron Williams. Noah also went to Lake Powell June 23-27th with his dad. He had fun and wasn't even sunburned when he came back. He said he did the knee board for the first time this year. I didn't get any pictures at Lagoon because I didn't really want to have to carry my camera around. Maybe if we go back, I'll have to try and get a few. So far, the summer has been good but is going by way too fast.

New Old Job

So, these past few months have been looking for a new job. I've been working "perdiem" which means on an as needed basis. In this position, I didn't have health benefits, sick, vacation or retirement benefits but got paid more hourly. It has never been a problem to get hours and so I've worked full time hours but at the perdiem rate. I've been doing this for about 10 years. Then University recently has been trying to get all of their perdiem employees to either go part time or full time. I didn't really want to do this because I figured I would take a big pay cut and not have the flexibility with my schedule. One of the nice things also about being perdiem is that I can pick and choose when I work. I don't have to do any holidays. After looking around and having some interviews, I ended up getting a position in the resource pool at the University. This was really the job I wanted because I can still have the flexible schedule, I just have to work my 32 hours/week. The resource pool is the float pool for the hospital and you get sent everywhere, where ever there is a need. I was worried about my pay rate but found out that since I have been a nurse for so long, I actually am going to make a little bit more per hour than I did perdiem. I'm excited to have good health benefits and sick and vacation time too. I call this my "new old job" because I used to work in the float pool in the late 90's but I'm excited to start there again especially in this crappy economy, I'm grateful to have a good job and benefits.

Hogle Zoo Field Trip

The last week of school, Noah's class had a field trip to Hogle Zoo. He likes me to go on the field trips with him and since I don't have any other kids at home, it works out. Anyway, it was fun. I was in charge of Noah and 3 other kids in his class. They were all good kids. The weather was perfect that day too.

I had to get a couple pictures of these penguins. They were so cute. Usually, whenever we have gone to the zoo, the penguins aren't out but they had tons out today.