Visitors from Vegas

Today we hosted Nathan's Aunt Adele and Uncle Victor.
Although we've seen each other few times since, the last time they visited our home was when we lived in married student housing at BYU . . . . . more than 11 years ago. The last time Nathan visited their home was during a professional conference.

They are retired and staying out of the Vegas summer heat visiting different parts of the country. Not far from here for the weekend, they called to see if we could get together.. We attended our ward together and brought them home for our traditional "just home from church meal" PANCAKES.

We talked about food storage, blogging, serving in a Spanish speaking ward, their recent travels, two new grand-babies, and much more. They invited us to their cabin and we found out Vic is 193 centimeters tall.

It was delightful to share a few moments with them. And that's what it felt like, because all too soon, they were gone. Thanks for coming out of your way to see us!

**** The High Park fire is out! (And we had a ton of rain this week).

Independence Day

Today:

One walk.
Two loads of laundry.
Three trips to the hardware store.
Four "Hungry, Hungry Hippos" (played heavily during the afternoon non-nap hours).
Five kids watched "Mary Poppins"
Six times I said to Nathan, "I can't believe how bad the smoke is today!"  *****
Seven happy mouths
Ate (8) our first homemade ice cream.

We wanted a quiet, stay at home and get work done kind of day--it was nice.

My mom gave us her ice cream maker, too. We are going to use it.

In TX, a neighbor gave us a loft bed he'd built. We love it and have used it ever since. The first modification was to add a ladder. Today's modification was to add a bunk at the bottom for another bed. It's not done yet, but it's a lot closer.

Every picture of Nathan was blurry . . . except when I asked him to stop moving. I can't keep up.

****The fires are not very close to us physically, (ie we are not in direct danger). The biggest change is the air quality. Most days are not too bad, we carry on as usual. Today was one of the worst I've seen. I didn't want my kids outside longer than they had to be, which isn't typical for this time of year. The smoke was strange . . . not too bad in the early morning, but changed during the 30 minutes we were in Lowe's. It is like the campfire you can't get away from--so smoky. You think things are OK, but sometimes when you are out driving you think to yourself, "Hmmm, I can't see the mountain today."

I've been praying for help for the firefighters, but perhaps I should pray for rain?


Dear Dad: I did wash all those dishes. They are back under control. For now.