Lovesac Party in Dallas

Shawn invited all the buddies to the Lovesac party in Dallas, TX. Merril was the only taker and so off we went on another adventure! We went to this huge gas station, Buc-ee's, that makes Maverik look like a peasant station. There was a whole jerky station. They boast the largest convenience store in the world.

Looking around, we discovered that Dallas is where JFK was shot. There was a memorial.

I standing next to the grassy knoll, right next to the road where he was shot. There's a big X on the road where it happened.

The party theme was western themed. We shopped at goodwill for a hat. We only found one. It didn't really fit on my head and didn't fit Merril at all. 

The party included a Flo Rida concert. I only knew a few songs but it was still fun. Shawn and his kids played a few songs at the beginning. They're so cute. We ate some great food and spent time together and now it's back to real life! 

Beaver MTB

Beaver has a new venue this year.

Selfies!

 Juliet started 13th and bumped up to 9th. She's killing it! She really wants to qualify for state!

We're proud of her. This year she's a captain and she wants the all in award. I'm sure she'll get it.

Tahoe Issues

Okay so the Tahoe has had some issues since we got it. I drove it to Midway for the girls trip and it was shifting weird. I asked Merril about it and we had it checked out by a transmission shop and it needed a whole new transmission. Lame. We got a really great deal on on the Tahoe and we feel like if we fix it, it will be a reliable car for a long time. It's just annoying to drop $6,000 on a transmission right after we got it. Oh well, c'est la vie! About 2 weeks after it was fixed, a sweet college girl clipped it in the parking lot of TJ Maxx. Oh man!

It's so cherry and I finally got rid of the Expedition with its messed up bumper and now this one got hit in the exact same spot. Sadness! The sweet college girl went into TJ Maxx and had them make an announcement, "Will the owner of a Red Chevy Tahoe come to the front of the store?" 

She was shaken up and I tried my best to calm her down and thanked her for coming and finding me. It was Mark Madsen's daughter. We got it fixed a week later and now it's amazingly perfect again!

Around the same time, Merril's rear differential broke on his truck. We have a ton of cars but we were struggling to find something to drive. Old reliable, the Expedition bailed us out a few times. But now everything's fixed and we're good.

Surfer Boy

Welcome to Jamie's Hair Salon where you might or might not get the style you want but the price is always free. :) Mark wanted bleached hair and so we gave it a go! Bleaching hair makes me nervous because if it gets overdone, then it breaks off. Yikes! I erred on the side of caution and didn't quite get it super bleached. 

It's a little orangey so I bought some purple toner and it should help. 

I missed a spot here and there but overall, it turned out pretty good!

 

Blind taste test

The blind taste test is a game our kids have played for years. You basically blindfold the taster and the other looks for things to feed you in a spoon. Some things are tasty and some are gross. Then they switch. I wanted it remembered.

Other Sunday randomness: Mark got his hair braided. It's getting long and needs a cut. 

 

HOCO and the Zucchini

The garden grew a ton of zucchini this year. I don't know where the squash bugs were but we had a great year. So Juliet asked Will to Homecoming with a ridiculously huge zucchini. Whatever, funny, good times.

Fast forward to the day of Homecoming and they both look amazing!

Juliet wanted me to make the corsage with just baby's breath to match her dress.

But Will had kept the zucchini in the fridge and they went to Sakura for dinner. They asked the chef if he'd cook it and he said YES! Juliet has the funniest video of Will with the zucchini in his coat. That chef was super nice to them.

Other than that, the dance was normal and they had a good time!

Smokey

We woke up the other day and it was so smokey! We heard that Southern California had a lot of wildfires and the smoke made its way here. 

We couldn't even see Pine Valley Mountain. Mountain bike practice and a powder puff game were cancelled because the air quality was so poor. 

It made the sun a lovely amber color though. 

Spooky Scary Skeletons

I know it's not even close to Halloween but sometimes you just need another skeleton in your life. The new Halloween decor has dropped at Walmart and if you don't get it early, you don't get it. I don't really need another soft blanket or skeleton but I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! Mark was chillin' with the skeleton in the morning before school.

Rough Week

When I was helping with pit zone takedown at the panguitch race, my phone was in a bag and somehow got stepped on. The screen protector was cracked but the actual screen looked okay. I discovered later that the screen actually is cracked and all of this inky blackness started to take over my phone. The touch screen was also completely unresponsive. Bummer. I switched my sim to Jack's old phone and I'm using that until I can decide what to do.

 

Peach Days

We went Thursday night to get desserts and Texas Twister.

Friday night we went back for dinner and to see the displays. 

Maxine has compared Peach Days to Christmas. Woah. She really looks forward to it! She hasn't been able to go for 3 years because of her mission and she was up at USU.

On Saturday, Juliet was in the Peach Days parade with the robotics team. We watched her and then ran back to the house so Maxine could have the car. 

Saturday night, Juliet wanted to go to the Peach Days Rodeo. It was down by the airport and I've never been to the new equestrian park.

This year they switched the canal hike to Monday (Labor Day) morning. It doesn't conflict with the parade and there were a ton of people there! Merril and Maxine were good sports and came along.

I'm a fan of the tunnels.

A fantastic Peach Days weekend! Wahoo!

Merril: Our Man in Japan

Merril went back to Japan to work on some business things with Shota. While he was there, I accidentally called a messenger group chat. It was Jack's Pday and I called him, Merril and Maxine. I was on my way to the bus stop and I could hear Jack in my pocket saying, "Hello?" I pulled my phone out and they were all there. I woke up Maxine, she was just in bed.

Merril went to the ocean with the Watabes!

They've had a baby boy since we've seen them last. Kenroku-en Japanese gardens in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan. Ren, Gunji, Geoji.

The foooooood! I want to eat that!

Sensō-ji buddhist temple in Tokyo.

While Merril was racing Baja last year, he came upon some Japanese competitors. The oldest guy's dirt bike battery was dead and he was having a hard time communicating. Merril and Darryl stopped and to help him. Merril looked them up when he went to Japan. They wanted to go ride but Merril didn't have enough time before his flight home. They said to make sure to ride with them next time!

Merril had a little time before his flight to find the Tokyo Japan Temple and send us a picture.

Mountain Bike Race #1: Soldier Hollow

Juliet and I were by Soldier Hollow for the girl's weekend but now we're back for the first mountain bike race of the season. Juliet looks so cute!

The rest of the family was doing other things so it was just the two of us. 

She clipped a tree and fell down. Luckily she didn't hurt herself.

We were both tired and there was no one to drive us home but us. 

Juliet staged 14th but fell back to 25th. She wrecked at practice a few weeks before the race and couldn't train for a week and a half. I think she'll get it back over the season.