Need to get better...

So I've been fighting a chest cold for almost 3 weeks.  I haven't had a sore throat or a runny or stuffy nose. I just feel like I am run down, have a low-grade fever off and on, and I just can't seem to get better. So I came to the InstaCare to get checked out. They listened to my lungs and had me do a chest x-ray and prescribed some antibiotics. They said it was between bronchitis and pneumonia.  I don't like antibiotics generally but I'm going to San Francisco in a few days and I don't want to be down with this. 

Here's my groovy chest x-ray.  Why do I think these are so cool?  I don't really see anything, except my slight scoliosis.  I was told by an anesthesiologist, during an epidural, that I had some scoliosis.  I figured being pregnant had done it and it would go away after I had the baby.  Apparently I have a crooked spine all the time.  Not that it bothers me in any way but there it is. 

Also Mark is cute.

Merril's motorcycle ride to Alaska...

So Merril dropped off his Hong Kong tour group from the eclipse and met Ryan in Jackson Hole. They set off on motorcycles for Alaska. Ryan was nice enough to stop by and pick up Merril's bike and the gear that he'd prepacked.  

They thought it would take four or five days to ride to Alaska and back. Ryan had to be back on Tuesday so they were trying to fit it then. Merril said Alaska was beautiful. 

I was a little worried about him spending 18 hours a day on a bike but he said his hair only hurt in his helmet for the first couple of days and then felt fine. They stopped at Tim Hortons, which I guess is a very Canada thing to do.

We got out the globe to track his progress through the United States, Canada, and to Alaska!  The Lego guy represents where Merril is.

Those crazy kids totally made it to the very tip of Alaska and headed back.

They did great, with only one little bike problem.  Ryan's bike needed a new tire and they stopped for half a day to get a new one put on.  

On a side note, after Merril got back, he had poor grip strength for about a week. He couldn't hold onto anything very tightly with his hands after holding on to the motorcycle handlebars for so long. If he's going to do a longer trip he's going to need to strengthen his hand muscles apparently.  Merril and Ryan want to do an 11-day rally, but it's expensive and they wanted to make sure they could do at least 5 days worth first.  I think they could do it.  We'll see if that's in the future.

New trampoline mat...

I took down the trampoline when I started to redo the backyard because it was in the way. The stitching had come apart on the edges of the mat, and so it was unsafe. The springs were popping off all over the place. The kids have missed it.  It's been gone all summer.  I finally finished the place for the trampoline and decided it was time to get it back up.  

I had anticipated maybe getting it repaired at a shoe place in St. George, but it was closed when I went by and was going to be closed for two weeks. So I decided to go to another trampoline store that someone had told me about and they talked me into a trampoline with a three-year warranty. So I purchased it and I went to go get it 2 days later. We came home and the kids wanted it up so bad that even though I wasn't feeling very good I ended up putting together the trampoline with Mikayla's help. It took 2 tries.  Apparently there's the good way to put on trampoline springs and the way I tried to do it, which was wrong.  I figured you just put them on, one right after the other.  You're supposed to go around, spreading them out and attaching every 5th spring, and keep adding as you go around several times.  I spent the rest of the day in bed because I was so worn out but look how happy they are!

My kids and every neighborhood kid on the street have been on it constantly!

New dishwasher...

So we've replaced three appliances in our kitchen with stainless steel: the fridge, the microwave, and the stove. I had purchased a used stainless steel dishwasher off Craigslist for $50 but the guy who came to do the installation said that it wasn't worth putting in. So I kept looking around and looking around and couldn't really find anything and then learned the Sears store in St George was closing. So I went over there one afternoon to see if there was anything good and I found a really nice Kenmore dishwasher that was 65% off. It's fantastic! However it's probably going to sit here until Merril gets home because I just haven't been feeling very well.

I've been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks. I feel okay one day have a fever low grade and do a few things and then the next day I feel like I want to sleep and lay in bed all day. I keep thinking I'm going to get better but I just keep relapsing with a little fever.

So weird. So this is what I've looked like for the past week and a half.  Coughing my guts out.

Merril eclipse tour...

Merril took a tour of people from Hong Kong to see the eclipse in Rexburg, Idaho. They started out in Las Vegas and went to the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Zion and Bryce before going to the eclipse.  Merril thought the eclipse was amazing!  He couldn't believe how dark and cold it got!  Then after the eclipse they went to see Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park.  There were a few people on the tour that complained a lot and Merril said people from Hong Kong aren't as easy to take on tour as people from Japan.  They were constantly late getting back from the bus and that kept throwing the schedule off.  Merril couldn't wait to be done so he could go on his motorcycle trip to Alaska!

It was a photography tour so everyone had loads of camera equipment.

 Yellowstone.

Old Faithful gyser.

I think this picture is funny because it looks like Mikayla in the background but it's not.  We were very far away.

Bryce Canyon...

Merril left on Tuesday for a Japanese tour, which is really a Chinese tour because the people are from Hong Kong. They're here to see the eclipse and take lots of groovy pictures and they're also seeing some national parks along the way. Merril said he got a hotel room in Bryce Canyon and wanted to know if we wanted to come up for the day since he was going to be gone for a long time, two whole weeks! So we came up and met him and had dinner with him and then he left early the next day and the kids and I went hiking in Bryce Canyon. 

It's a really cool hike down into the canyon and we did part of it. I'm starting to get sick and so I didn't want to push it super hard.

  

Mark and Mikayla are cute.

Julie and Jack or great posers.

By chance, we ended up seeing Merril when we barely finished our hike  We came to the top and he happened to be standing there. We gave him hugs, he took our picture, and we went on our way back home.

Lake and a floating tire...

Since Merril's going on a big tour, and it's getting towards the end of summer, we decided to hit the lake up. As Merril was backing the boat down and getting the boat into the water, Jack noticed that one of the tires was floating away and said, "Hey, I think the spare tire is floating away!" I thought to myself, "We don't have a spare tire on the boat." So after the boat got off the trailer, Merril jumped out and got the floating tire out of the lake and looked at the trailer and realized that the bearings had all come apart on the wheel and the tire fell off. It's fine! 

So he threw the tire onto the trailer and away we went in the boat. It ended up being a really nice lake day even if we were kind of boneheaded at the ramp.

When we packed it in for the night, we had to tie up the suspension on the trailer so it wouldn't drag all the way home.

We ended up driving home slowly on 3 tires.  It's fine!

Wet 'N Wild Las Vegas...

We wanted to do something before the kids go back to school on Monday. We kicked around the idea of going to California but ended up just going down to Wet 'N Wild water park in Las Vegas. The last time we went to Wet 'N Wild, Maxine must have been about 1 year old. They've torn down the Wet 'N Wild that we went to and have built a new park, that's actually right where we used to live in the southwest corner of Las Vegas. We got there and it was going pretty good for about an hour and then it started to lightning and so they cleared the pool.  Then it started to rain really hard and we realized the windows were down on the Expedition. I ran out and rolled them up.  It rained a ton!

Then the sun came out again and we swam for a few more hours.  Lightning returned and by then we were tired of swimming and being wet and so we came home. It was lots of fun and it wasn't too expensive!

There goes my hero...

The Tahoe was purchased right before Mikayla was born. It's the car that we became a huge family in and it has carried us faithfully to the sand dunes, the lake, California, and countless other adventurous locations. It's been my command center, my diaper changing station, a place to sleep and eat and it's going away. Some people cry when their children get on the bus for the first time in kindergarten. Not me. But I darn near cried as it drove out of sight.

Rapelling...

Merril wanted to take the kids rapelling in preparation for bigger, canyoneering trips.  Julie is cautious and moves slowly but steadily.

Max has the most experience and comes down normally.

Bubbies came down with Merril.  He was nervous but had Dad with him so he was fine.

I love this picture.  They were almost done.

Mikayla...danger is her middle name.  She goes right off with no fear.

Jack did well but the picture is crappy.

Little Jamaica...

So Jack and Merril are at Scout camp, Maxine had to work and I wanted to do something fun with the kids. We had talked about going to Little Jamaica as a family but I couldn't wait anymore and summer is running out!

So me, Julie, Mark, and Mikayla went by ourselves! I wanted to hit it earlier in the morning so it wouldn't be so busy. So we got there around 10:30 a.m. The weather was beautiful, the water was clear, and we were the only people there! We had a ton of fun!

What a perfect little oasis tucked away in the desert!

After a while a college couple and another family showed up when we were getting ready to go home. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves and we had the best time!