PRESENTS!!!

Since our birthdays are only six days apart, it is common for us to buy one big gift for each other that we both will enjoy. We decided to do that again this year and got a (drum roll please)....

So far we both really enjoy the Wii Fit! It makes working out not feel like you are working out. I've enjoyed the yoga and strength training part of it while Dave really enjoys the "activities." He is getting really good at the downhill skiing and the hula hoop! I love also that you can track your progress and set goals for yourself. Lets hope we can keep up the motivation and lose some weight!!

This year my mom also followed our example and bought us one big gift. She got us the Wii version of Dance Dance Revolution!

We have had a ton of fun with this game! We've invited friends over to play as well and everyone really seems to enjoy it. I am amazed though at how much harder it is from just one level to the other. For me the basic level is almost too slow, but the next level up is entirely too hard. One of these days hopefully I can figure it all out. Dave likes to challenge himself and do harder levels. We both get a good laugh out of that!!!

The Big 3 - 0!!!

Dave turned 30 yesterday! For his birthday he decided that he wanted to go camping and invite his immediate family to go with us. Camping again you say...well, we enjoy camping and are trying to use the trailer more. It also helps when you have a nice new vehicle that will actually pull the trailer!

At the reunion earlier in July, Zach, Dave's brother, mentioned that it would be fun to go camping at Bloomington Lake in Idaho before the end of the summer. A group of the Kents went camping at Bloomington Lake for the 4th of July a couple of years ago and we all have wanted to go back. Dave decided it would be the perfect time to go back!

In Utah the 24th of July is a state holiday (Pioneer Day) so he had an extended four day weekend. We had a great time! It was nice to relax and be with Dave's family for his birthday. Typically I either hog Dave all to myself or take him to Kansas around his birthday so his family really hasn't spent many birthdays with him since we got married. With this being a milestone birthday, I'm glad he got to do what he wanted to do!!

Dave chopping wood

Holly in the trailer (I just got done taking a shower...it is nice to be able to camp & still enjoy the luxuries in life!!)

Dave & the trailer

Missy "protecting" the campsite!

Dorothy (Dave's mother)

Beautiful view from our campsite!

Dave & our niece, Gwen (look at those beautiful eyes!)

Isn't she so cute?!!

Buddy doesn't like to get dirty so he is always in a camp chair relaxing

Zach getting ready to go to the lake (it is about a 15 min. hike from the campsite to the lake, but well worth the journey)

Jake (Dave's brother), Megan & Gwen on the way to the lake

Tammy (Zach's wife) & Holly hiking to the lake

Dave by the glacier at Bloomington Lake

Jake & Gwen enjoying the lake

Video of Dave tubing down the glacier

I didn't feel like swimming & the dogs needed someone to "watch" them (they both don't like the water much) so after sitting on a rock & having my butt go numb I decided to take it easy in a tube

Bloomington Lake

Dave's 30th birthday cupcakes

Singing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy

The birthday boy!

We both had a fantastic time. We mainly relaxed at the campsite and made just a couple of trips to the lake. The first night we were up until 2 a.m. visiting with Zach and Tammy at their house before we left in the morning to make our trip to Bloomington. The second night brought with it lots of wind. I was a little worried that our trailer might tip over. When Dave got up to check on things everything was still in its same spot including rugs that were not staked down. The third and final night brought a herd of cows in to our campsite. It is open range up there and I guess Friday night is the night the cows migrate through. Zach had the job of shooing the cows off. So, we had some sleepless nights, but the good company, great conversation, relaxing days and just spending time together made the trip entirely worth it!

Dave, I love you VERY much and hope you had a wonderful 30th birthday!

Ward Camp Out

This past Friday night our church had a camp out at the Rock Canyon Campground up Provo Canyon. Because of our new vehicle we offered to take our neighbors, Wes & Michelle, with us. All four of us had a good time! It was fun seeing people from chruch in that environment relaxing and having a good time together. We decided to leave the pop-up trailer home this time and "roughed" it. We got a cheap little tent at Wal-Mart that was almost too small for our air mattress! I know, we are big time wimps and can't sleep on the ground anymore! Besides the VERY delicious dutch oven desserts, homemade ice cream and French toast breakfast I think my favorite part of the entire trip was when Wes played his guitar while we all sang church songs around the campfire! I think Dave really enjoyed having his new "truck!"

Captain Dave

Wes & Michelle

DIRTY!!

Our little tent

Jake (Wes & Michelle's dog)

Dave helping set up Wes & Michelle's tent (it was their first time camping together as a married couple)

Having fun

Posing for the camera

Wes entertaining us all

Cooking breakfast

EATING!

A view from above (off in the distance you can see Utah Lake which is close to our house and the mountain range on the other side of our valley)

Posing

Cool rock formation from wind and rain

Wes, Michelle and Jake

Flashback Friday

We've been through many different vehicles in our marriage just like we've moved a million times! Over the years we've made some good and bad decisions when it comes to vehicle purchases. Call me weird, but for some reason I like to take pictures of our vehicles at some point during our ownership of them. This Flashback Friday post is dedicated to our many vehicles. There is a surprise at the end of this post as well so keep reading!!!

When we got married I had this Dodge Neon. Dave hated it from day one so he was always trying to convince me to get rid of it. After replacing the head gasket I decided it was time to part ways. (This pictures is from when Dave got it stuck in a snowbank)

The girl who bought our Neon essentially traded us this Honda for it. She gave us cash for most of the Neon, but also gave us her Honda as a trade-in. We both absolutely LOVED this car, but it was old and started having problems after a while.

Dan, one of Dave's brothers, gave us this Ford Tempo for FREE. They were moving from Vermont to Alaska and didn't want to worry about getting it up to Alaska. We just had to get it from Vermont to Kansas and it was ours. This car was AWESOME! It finally died when it had almost 300,000 miles on it!!!

After the Honda died we got this Kia Sportage. We were in need of two cars so we had this and the Tempo. The Sportage was one of the worst decisions we ever made as far as car purchases go. It never worked quite right and spent lots of time in the shop (good thing it still had a warranty). We finally traded it in and had a lot of negative equity on it unfortunately...bad decision!!!

We got this Toyota Carolla when we traded in the Sportage. We had a HUGE car payment on this because of the negative equity on the Sportage. This car was fantastic! We had this one for the longest amount of time before we decided to sell it. I put a ton of miles on it working for the American Cancer Society in Kansas and Colorado. We sold it last fall because we got sick of making such a huge monthly payment.

After the Tempo finally croaked at 300,000 miles Dave decided he wanted a truck for his next vehicle. He got a Ford Ranger. I never really liked this vehicle and actually never got a real picture of it. This is a picture I found on-line of one that looks similar except the Ranger we had was blue. We were a one vehicle family for quite a while (the Corolla only) before we made this next purchase.

Two summers ago we bought this Toyota pickup. This was another bad decision we made on vehicle purchases. Only after owning it for about a month it started having problems. We put a lot of money into this truck! We finally decided to get rid of it when we realized this month that it would cost almost $1300 to have it tagged this year. In Utah older vehicles have to be inspected every year for safety and emissions. It didn't pass this week and our mechanic said it would be about a $1300 fix. YUCK!!

So, we traded it in and got our newest vehicle....

We bought this 2004 Chevy Tahoe on Wednesday. We couldn't be more excited! We wanted a vehicle that could tow our pop-up trailer easier, but could also fit a car seat. I'm not looking forward to having car payments again, but it will be nice to have a dependable vehicle since we only have one. I hope this turns out to be a good decision!

Foxtail

I noticed today that Buddy's foot had a blister-like sore where he has been licking it recently so I decided it was time to take him to the vet. The verdict is that he has a "foxtail" stuck under the skin.

I had to leave him at the vet's this afternoon so they can sedate him to surgically remove this pesky piece of grass! He'll be done and ready to go home on antibiotics at 6 p.m. Oh boy!

Updates to our house

In our extra bedroom (aka my office) the sun shines in during the hottest part of the day. It gets entirely too hot in here while I'm working so I finally convinced Dave that I need a ceiling fan and he installed one this weekend!! I'm going to have to paint the ceiling at some point because there is a ring left from the old light fixture.

This weekend Dave also installed a new kitchen faucet for us. Our old one was leaking water and had seen better days. We aren't sure, but it might have been the original faucet from when these townhouses were built 13 years ago. It needed updating! We decided to go with a white faucet to match the sink. We also liked the idea of being able to pull the nozzle out and use it for a sprayer. Let's hope we made a good decision...there are just so many choices!

Flashback Friday

Our recent camping trip for the 4th of July got me thinking about all of the fun times we have had throughout our marriage on camping trips. We both enjoy being outdoors and love to go camping! Early in our marriage we camped a lot because it was much cheaper than renting a hotel room. We would camp along the way from Kansas to Utah/Idaho to see family. This particular camping trip was down to Oklahoma City in the summer of 2001. One of my friends was getting married in the OKC Temple so we decided to spend the weekend at a nearby campsite.

As we drove up to the campsite we both were very worried that it essentially would be in the middle of a corn field with no trees, no water, NOTHING. After we turned off the main road and headed towards to actual campground we dropped down on this dirt road into a huge hole in the earth essentially. We were all of a sudden surrounded by tons of trees and red rocks lining the walls. It was beautiful! We had a hard time believing we were still in Oklahoma.

Behind our tent was a ladder that had been built by someone else so that you could climb up and go exploring. We had a great weekend wandering around the trails and attending the wedding in OKC! Maybe someday we will be able to go camping again at this same campground???