Eureka!!!!!!!!!!!

Finishing our own basement has had its ups and downs. For over a year, I've had a problem that's been plaguing me. One of our walls in the basement makes a distinctive banging noise in the early morning hours, usually on the dot of 5:49 a.m. At first I thought a piece of framing that I'd installed was shifting so I cut a hole in the drywall and tried a couple things to fix it. And then I went downstairs in the early morning hours to listen the wall to see if it'd bang. While sitting there at 5:49 a.m., the wall that I was positive was the culprit, didn't make a sound but the laundry room made the distintive knock. Puzzled, I decided to abandon my wall and concentrate my search in the laundry room. Last week, I went down and listened and determined that the south wall was not making the noise and that it had to be the north or east walls. So this morning, Merril and I went down and listened and determined that the east wall makes the knock. Satisfied that our search moving forward, I went back to bed. Merril was meeting his brother to go mountain biking at 6:00 so he left to meet up with him. As Merril walked outside, he saw the sprinklers had just finished watering the front lawn. While driving, he started to putting together this puzzle!

The water supply line to the house is a 1-inch flex pipe that comes into the basement and runs right behind the east wall in the laundry room. Since the water pipe was there before I framed the walls for the laundry room, we neglected to attach the pipe to the framing in any way. So when the sprinklers valve would kick off in the morning, the pipe would jiggle, sometimes called water hammer, and knock on the framing. That's the reason the knock happened at the exact same time every day!!!

When he came home and told me about his theory, I ran out to the sprinkler timer and set the sprinklers to 1 minute. I ran down to the basement and waited. Sure enough, the wall knocked just as predicted!!

I am filled with peals of excitement because it's going to be an easy fix!! All I have to do is knock a few holes in the drywall and secure the pipe to the framing. I'll patch the holes and be ready for paint!! And since I followed the advice of a few basement finishing websites, I took a ton of pictures of the framing and electrical before the walls were closed up. Therefore, I know exactly were that pipe runs and just where to punch the drywall. Here's a picture of the stinker! It's the large white flex pipe. I feel so wonderful today and have called Merril a genius about 10 times already!! Wahoo!!

Fair faces and Merril's 50-miler...

On Saturday, the kids and I cleaned the house and then to prevent it from becoming dirty again, we left to go to the county fair. We played in some bounce houses and did the rock climbing wall but the highlight was a lady who did some really cool face painting. Maxine and Jack decided to go feline. Maxine was a girl kitty and Jack was a tiger.


And then they had to do their fierce cat faces for me. Here's Jack! Rarrrrrrr!

And here's Maxine!

The painting was a little pricey but it's what they wanted to do instead of ride the rides. I had a hard time convincing them we had to wash it off before bed. Maxine wanted to sleep in it and then wear the face to church.

And Merril made it home around 7 on Saturday evening. We planned a big, fancy dinner for Daddy's homecoming! Merril took our old digital camera and snapped a few pics along their hike in the Uintas. Here he is in Jared Hummel's scout shirt. Man those things are ugly.
Here's one he snapped of a lake. I'm not sure what he was trying to do but I thought it came out looking cool. I asked him if he did it on purpose and he said, "Nope. Just came out like that."

Here's one, over the shoulder, of the scouts as they were hiking!
They did great! Nobody was injured and Merril lost 5 pounds from a week-long diet of water, fish and some dehydrated dinners. He weighed 199 when he came back!! It's been a long time since he's weighed less than 200 pounds and he was thrilled to bust the 200 mark! Good job babe! Wahoo! It's nice to have him home!!

As American as Apple Pie...

Pie is one of my very favorite things. There's something very simple and homey about a slice of pie. I'm a fan of all pie: pumpkin, coconut creme, pecan, cherry, chocolate silk, you name it. My least favorite is apple, which just happens to be Merril's favorite. Also, apple is very time comsuming to make. I have to peel the apples, slice them, core them, blah, blah, blah. But, I've found that apple pie's edible as long as I drizzle my whole slice with caramel sauce. Then it's more like caramel apple pie. Yum!


So as a homecoming present for Merril, I started making apple pie last night. I finished up around 10:30. Here's the pie right out of the oven. So yummy!
Here's the pie this morning. There wasn't enough light to take a good picture last night so I waited until this morning. I've got a nice tub of vanilla bean ice cream to make it apple pie ala mode. Maxine has hidden the pie in the pantry because she wants it to be a surprise for Daddy! Yum! Hooray for pie! Any other pie lovers out there??

The big 100!!

I've hit 100 posts on blogger! Wahoo! When I think back on my posts, I really can't think what they were about. But I hope that some were funny and made you laugh.

*sigh* Merril will be home in about 2 days from now. I seriously feel like he's dead. Since I can't call him, I type into a Word document when I have something to tell him. So far I've got about 2 pages. It's just funny stuff the kids have done, how I'm feeling at the moment, ya know, things I'd normally just call and talk to him about. But we've been doing okay. Maxine went to Grandma's house for a sleepover yesterday so that was nice. I think we'll hit the lake this afternoon because it's such a nice day!! (No, we won't take the boat. I might have considered it but the trim motor isn't working so the prop won't go up or down. Other than that, the boat runs fine!)

And on a nostalgic note, I scanned the photo from our wedding announcement. Hee hee hee. Seriously, who let's kids this young get married? Anybody else used to perm their hair ladies?? Man I love that bike, I mean Merril. :) P.S. Thanks again Jared for the pictures. These were taken with the Canon AE-1 camera that Amy was messing around with on her blog.

Jacky snacky...

When I had a boy, I figured that he'd be dirty and rowdy and all over the place at once. He's definitely dirty but has a serious concentration that cracks me up. He's inherited A LOT of Merril's mellow disposition. He nevers wanders and stays enthralled and quiet with the same toy for hours (left unbothered).

We were buying Maxine a bunch of things for school today so I felt like Jack needed a new car. He picked out a 'Cars' car: Doc Hudson. While I was making dinner, he played outside in the dirt. After dinner, he said he wanted to go back and continue his game. After watching him lay in the dirt and drive his car, I had to get the camera to capture his supreme focus.


I'm usually not very good at just hand or feet shots but I liked this one.
Jacky's was showing me that Doc has blue eyes.

I wish the my camera had focused more on Doc. It focused on Jack's thumb. It's still my favorite though.
He's my sweet boy. I've always felt super lucky to have had daughters and a son. Some people never have this much good luck! Today was a good day.

He's gone!

Merril left 2 minutes ago for a hike in the Uinta mountains. He'll be gone until Saturday night and will hike 50 miles. Ohmigoodness! Merril told me to look on the bright side and get lots of little projects done after the kids go to bed. (I tend to waste time and goof off when Merril's around.)

The part that bugs me the most is that he'll be out of cell phone service the whole hike. Usually when Merril takes off for a while, he can still call me and we gab about what we're doing. But I won't be able to talk to him until Saturday. *sigh* It'll be the longest we've been apart since he did that tour guide bit for the Olympics back in 2002.

But the best part about today is that we're going to Grandma and Grandpa Campbell's house for dinner and then eating cake and ice cream for Aunt Rachel's birthday. By the time we get done up there and drive back, it'll be bedtime. Give your hubbies a big hug tonight ladies! I'll be missing mine.

Lagoon!

We went to Lagoon (amusement park) to meet up with some of my family and play! It was great to see my sister, Jo Anna, and some cousins. Mostly, we took the kids on rides and catered to them but Merril and I were able to go on a newish ride called Wicked. It was kind of a lot of work but Maxine had a blast. She was able to take off with some cousins and go on lots of rides. Here's Jack on the Dinosaur Drop with Merril. He had fun once the ride started but he seemed scared as he sat there. Jack had the most fun playing in some dirt with his truck after lunch. *sigh* He's easily entertained by dirt. Other than that, it was Baby Boats, Little Airplanes, etc. The Animal Kingdom Train ride was also a bit hit. Jacky thought the little train was extra awesome! (I really should've cropped this one before posting but I'm in a hurry!)

And of course we have the carosel. Maxine thought the horses were beautiful and imagined she was a princess.

And lastly, and totally unrelated, I'm finally going to get a zucchini from my garden and I'm super excited!!! (I know, everyone can grow zucchini but me.) I've been out there pollinating for months and the work has paid off! Zucchini and squash just don't like my back yard, it's super hot back there in the afternoon. My squash keep meandering but I've yet to even see a female flower on it.This year, my carrots have been the most fun for me! They're fun little surprises waiting to be plucked from the ground. (They pretty much taste like store carrots so the fun is all about pulling them up.) I think they'll make a nice side dish with part of the greens still attached at the top and not chopped at all.

Oh whoops, one more thing. Merril got a trampoline from his Aunt Margaret. I don't think she gave it to us; rather, we can keep it at our house and let our kids jump on it and if she ever wants it back, she can have it. It's old school: no net to keep the kids from flying off. The ground in our back yard is so hard, I'm sure I'll have some broken bones by the end of the week. (No one's jumping because it's hot outside.) And Merril's going to be gone ALL NEXT WEEK for a 50-mile hike with the scouts so I'll be posting lots of pictures of me looking glum and worn out.

What a nightmare...

Do you ever have those dreams that seem so real that when you wake up, you're convinced they happened for a little while? I had such a dream, rather nightmare. I was in the bathroom staring at a positive pregnancy test. (Now I know that this doesn't seem like a nightmare for some of you, but for me, I was scared out of my mind. Apologies go out to anyone trying to conceive.) I screamed into the air, "NOOOOOOO!" (Now I'm not saying that I'm never gonna have another kid but not for at least a year, if at all. So the thought of being pregnant again just about sent me over the edge.) In the dream, I waited around the whole day and thought, "What am I going to tell Merril?" (Merril supports everything so I don't know why I was worried in the dream.) So I wake up, roll over, and think to myself, "Ug. I'm pregnant. What a bummer." And then reality starts to take hold and I think, "What a minute, I'm not pregnant! Wahoo!" Talk about close calls. *wipes cold sweat from brow*

This last bit is just a picture from the 24th of July parade. Grandpa was playing with the kids and making them laugh until the parade started. Jack loves Grandpa.

SaY GoOdByE!!!

Yikes! I got my hair chopped! Here's the before picture:

Here we are at the salon, right before the first chop. Juliet sat on my lap the whole time and had hair all over her when we were done. Icky:

Thanks to Jeannie for being able to come and help with my kids!

And here it is now!

Are you ready?

Here it comes...

Whoa! I think it makes me look old(er). Jeannie says it makes me look like my Mom. It's the shortest it's ever been but I had to go this short to get enough to donate. My Mom is gonna cry. She loves the long-hair look and always dislikes it when I get my hair cut short. Sorry Mom. It'll grow back. And it'll be good for summer. Nice and cool. Every time I look in the mirror, I'm still surprised to see the new do.

Parade...

For the 24th of July, we volunteered to help the Primary by providing the flat-bed trailer and Tahoe to tow it for the parade in our little town. I took a couple pictures of Juliet and Jack with Grandpa and realized the batteries were almost dead. By the time Merril came rolling down with the float, my camera wouldn't take any more so I snapped these with my camera phone.

I'm planning on chopping my hair this afternoon to donate it again. Pictures to follow soon.

I just mopped!

I don't know what kind of cosmic forces are at work but an event happens every single time I mop. I usually mop after the kids are in bed so the inevitable 'tracks across my clean floor' don't occur. The floor dries, I smile at a small achievement for the day, and go to bed. I awake the next morning to a deliciously clean floor and smile as I get the kids' breakfast. Without fail, at least once during the day, something will get spilled. And not just crackers or something that I can just sweep up. It's always something that requires 3 rags and me on my hands and knees. Sometimes it's a whole bowl of sugary breakfast cereal milk. Sometimes it's a whole glass of sticky juice. Today, it was most of a strawberry-blueberry smoothie. What is the deal?!? Does a clean floor just cry out to be spilled upon? Why can't I keep the whole floor clean for more than a day?? I don't know what the deal is but it happens every, single time. (Good thing I only mop about once every 2 weeks!) :) Happy Tuesday people.

Camping...

Earlier this summer, I asked Maxine what she wanted to do and she replied, "Go camping." Then I started thinking, "When was the last time I went camping?" and it was before I got pregnant with Juliet, about 2 years ago. So we went camping over on the other side of Zion National Park. We started by going to Moqui Cave. It's a cave filled with fossils, dinosaur tracks and rocks that glow under a black light. It was once used as a tavern and the kids are sitting on barstools made from logs and vinyl.

Then we went drove to our campsite and pitched a tent that we borrowed from the Hummels! (Thanks guys!) Here we are at camp.And then came the traditional roasting marshmallows. I think we burned 3/4 of them and left them in the fire. Here's Maxine with her triton for roasting marshmallows and goo all over her hands and face.

We rode the 3-wheeler a little bit the next day and then took off again! Juliet was saying, "Whee!" even though she doesn't look like she's having very much fun in the picture. Then we went fishing. Okay, mostly we just played with the nightcrawlers. Maxine would squeal and shake with one in her hand but Juliet was fearless and even tried to eat them. She kept trying to pull them apart and I had to wrestle it out of her hands when we were getting ready to leave. That worm was pretty much dead. Notice the worm in her hands.

Then we hiked to Cascade Falls. It was a 1/2 mile hike up by Duck Creek and the falls were cool. There's just an opening in the rocks and the water just shoots out. It's kind of by Cedar Breaks so the rocks are orange and beautiful. The hike felt long because we were carrying Juliet and Jack on our shoulders. (We didn't think to bring the backpack because it was kind of a last minute thing.) In an attempt to get more photos of the whole family together, I've been trying to remember to set the timer on my camera.

On the way back, we stopped at an overlook to see how high we were. I forgot how much fun camping is! We had a great time!

New pegboard...

I bought a pegboard for Maxine to have in her closet because she has a lot of items that need to be hanged, i.e: capes, cowboy hats, backpacks, fairy wings, etc. I decided to let her paint it and I figured she'd want the back blue and the pegs pink or something. It actually turned into quite the little piece of artwork. She wanted grass on the bottom, sky on top, with flowers, clouds and a sun. We painted a truck for Jack. Here's the finished product! Maxine loves crafts so we thought it was lots of fun.

Do you have a red boat??

Merril went to the lake early this morning to go wakeboarding. I often, okay always, stay home because: A) I don't like to get in the water when it's cool outside (in the morning) B) I prefer to sleep in C) I don't want to wake up the kids and throw them in the boat. But Merril asked if I'd like to go to the lake around 10:00 a.m. I said that'd be great. So the kids and I get up and eat breakfast and get ready for the lake. Merril shows up around 8:30 a.m. and says that he left the boat on the trailer in the parking lot so we should probably head back as soon as we can. We leave shortly thereafter.

So we pull up the ranger station to get our pass checked and the gal asks, "Do you have a red boat??" Merril's like, "Yeah, I left it parked up there. Was I not supposed to??" The gal walks away and an older and more official looking guy comes up and says, "Your boat started rolling through the parking lot and you need to fill out an accident report." Merril and I both look at each other with 'uh-oh' looks on our faces. Ranger continues, "It's all right, you can go up and look at it and come back." So we head up to the parking lot by the boat ramp and the boat has rolled down to the edge of the parking lot. The front of the trailer, as well as the front half of the boat, is sitting the dirt. The back wheels are bumped up against the curb, stopping the boat from rolling any further. Just beyond the front of the boat lies a nice hill. "Whoa!" I was extremely grateful there was a nice curb to stop the boat from rolling down the hill, otherwise this story might have ended tragically. However, the only casualty occured when the trailer jack hit the curb and snapped the pin to hold it in place. That'll be easily fixed. As for the rest of the trailer and the boat, everything else was fine. We pulled the boat out of the dirt, hooked on and put it back in the lake. The kids and I played while Merril went back and filled out an accident report.

Woosh! That was a close one. We were also very lucky there were no other cars or trailers in the way when the boat decided to take off. So when Merril got back about 10 minutes later, we took off for the beach and played in the water for a couple of hours. The water was a balmy 80 degrees, the wind was calm, the kids didn't fight and we were the only ones there. It was fantastic.

What to do while we change the oil???

While I was in town, I found myself with a couple of hours to kill and ended up getting the oil changed in the Tahoe. While we waited, we walked to Arctic Circle for burgers and fries. I took some pictures with my camera phone because we were having such a good time. We got an oreo shake, ohhhhh yummylicious.

Good job bro. And now the girls. Juliet has also become exceptionally aware of cameras and picture taking and pulls out her fabu smile on command. So when I pointed the camera at us, she snapped to with elation and pearly whites.

Juliet also got caught in the pantry today, sneaking cracker contraband. When I snuck up behind her with the camera and said, "Juliet!!" She whipped around and said, "Cheese!" (or something like it.)

Busted sistah. She knows it too.

Oh how I love construction...

For me, the sight of new commercial construction has always made me get excited. New things happening and new stores to look forward to! The first thing I'm excited for is a new church. (These pictures were taken with my phone and I apologize if there a little...what's the word...awful!) This is the new building we'll be going to once it's finished. It's just a couple streets over from my house and we would be able to walk to church! I'm very excited! Currently we have to drive about 5 minutes to church. (I know, all you who live far away from their buildings are saying, "5 minutes, that's nothing!" At one point in Vegas, we had to drive 20 minutes to get to church. So I know 5 minutes away isn't far but I'm excited nonetheless.)

AND

THEY'VE STARTED PUTTING UP THE WALLS FOR THE NEW WAL-MART!!! (Again I apologize for the picture.)The new Wal-Mart is going to be a couple blocks from my house. Maxine's so excited to be able to ride her bike to Wal-Mart. (I don't know what we'd be buying that she could ride her bike but whatever.) Now I know there are some people out there that don't love Wal-Mart and I don't blame you. That's fine and everyone is entitled to shop where ever they choose. But I'm just excited to have a place to get the things I need without having to drive 15 minutes into town. I don't mind the drive, I really don't! But some days I'm just running late and don't have the time. It should be done some time this Fall, I'm guessing Thanksgiving? All the money I'll be saving on gas will be spent on little trips to the store. Seriously, I'll be in there all the time.

And if that didn't top all, they're building a Walgreens a couple miles away. I don't know why but there was a Walgreens on ever other corner in Vegas. Weird. I got to like they're funky sales on holiday merchandise. I don't have a picture of their new store so we just have their logo. Yeah, yippee, yippee!

Flowers for no reason...

Merril got a call on Monday around 4:00 p.m. from a friend, saying their ward was going to the lake for Family Home Evening but didn't quite have enough boats and asked Merril if he'd be willing to bring our boat to help out. Merril asks if it's okay that he goes to the lake on FHE, even though he was taking the 11-year old scouts the following day for some swimming certification. I say it's fine and we bump our FHE up earlier so he could leave by 6:00. So we do our FHE and Merril leaves. Me and the kids are goofing off and decide to read some books. The book reading isn't going that well because Maxine says she can't see the pages and Juliet's crying because Jack is touching her. (Blah, blah, blah.) Merril calls. (Juliet still crying in the background) Merril says that he saw a fellow 11-year old scout leader on the way and he tells me the scout leader says, "You're going to the lake? We're headed out there tomorrow, isn't that enough?" Merril laughs. And Merril says, "So I just called to tell you that the scout leader said I had a great life!" (Juliet STILL crying. My frustration building slightly.) "Okay, well, I got to go." and hang up.

So I think about it more and more and I'm a little ticked off that he had to call and tell me that he had a great life going to the lake to play while I was home with the screaming kids. So I do bedtime and clean up a little bit and watch some tv. Merril comes home and I don't really say anything. So we get ready for bed and as we're laying there to fall asleep, I say to him, "It was kind of jerky for you to call home to tell me what a great life you have while I'm at home with the kids." Merril says, "What?" I repeat myself. Then he says, "I didn't call home to tell you I have a great life. The scout leader said I have a great wife. I called to say I have a great wife." I pause. "Oh." Merril continues, "That would've been jerky." (I guess my cell phone reception wasn't great at the moment because wife sounded like life.) "Woops. Sorry." "Sorry."

So I thought that was the end of it until Merril came home from the gym the next morning with these. He apologized if they were a little short, he had to fit them in his backpack to ride home because he was on his motorcycle. I love that stainless vase. I got it for Valentine's 2 years ago and it's still my favorite. Thanks, babe!

4th of July and some other stuff...

Last week, we went up to my Mom and Dad's cabin in Kolob so that Merril could look at their broken generator. The kids were getting restless so we started playing with the camera. I guess this face comes in pairs.

For the 4th of July, we were invited to Justin and Rachel's and Kevin and Sara's place (Merril's brother and cousin). They were irrigating when we came so the kids changed into swimsuits to play. This is Maxine with Samantha. Kevin and Sara have the most amazing orchard and we took home a bunch of apricots! Thanks for inviting us guys! The food was great!

Juliet liked her toes in the water. I know this one is a bit soft but I like her little face.

And she's decided she knows how to smile for the camera. When I pull out the camera, she starts pulling this face. She squints and hams up the smile.

Then we set off sparklers and some fireworks and headed into town to watch the big display. Juliet slept on the way and was happy while we watched. Yeah!

The spell...

Juliet has been my fussiest baby but if I can just get her interested in something and leave, she'll play contently. However if she sees me again, she instantly forgets about what she was playing with and whines for me to come get her. I don't like to hold her all day because it doesn't help the situation and my arm just gets tired.

On a side note, I hope that all who heard Merril's comment the other night will forgive us someday because we seriously had NO IDEA about certain recent events! (We've been out of town a lot lately.) Sorry.

We'll end with 2 pictures. Juliet's favorite new game is unloading the dishwasher. Think it'll last into the teenage years?

And secondly, we'd been at the lake all afternoon and Maxine and Jack were playing on the computer. When I came in again, Jack was TOTALLY asleep on the back of the chair. They're both in their I LOVE NY t-shirts we brought back. That's the only thing we brought back for them. I kind of felt like a loser parent that we didn't even manage a toy or a book, just a shirt from a street vendor. They seem to like them.