July 2014 Happenings

1) Weeding, weeding and more weeding.  Burke was totally workin' it in this Saturday morning getup as he worked in the garden.  I had no idea how much work a garden, flower beds, trees and a lawn can be.  Our neighbor across the street gets really nervous when he sees me out mowing, but I like the exercise and it doesn't seem to bother baby.  We've begun to see the fruits of our labor in an abundance of squash, zucchini, chard and basil with tomatoes, carrots, onions, and cucumbers starting to produce and pumpkin, watermelon and corn growing and working on producing.  Our peach trees were bit by the late spring snows, but our apple and pear trees are doing awesome!

Our flowerbed out front has done well, but we didn't think out our design or colors before planting, so it's a bit of a hodgepodge of colors.  Can't wait to try again next year! 

2) One particularly productive Saturday was so enjoyable as we spent the morning gardening and mowing, had a lunch made almost entirely from our garden, went back outside and pruned the fruit trees and hauled all the cuttings over to our "fire pit" to burn, then went to Home Depot and bought two ceiling fans for our bedrooms.  We came home and I read to my lovies under the tree while Burke fixed the picnic table the Kirbys hand-me-downed to Daphne (can you tell how pleased she was with the stable finished product?).  Burke then spent 3 hours figuring out how to install the new fans making them our first home improvement project since we bought the house.  I was so proud of him for doing something new and unfamiliar and doing such a fantastic job.  I had been getting really hot at night and I have been soooo grateful for those new fans! 

Burke being a gymnast as he prepares for fan installation #2.

Daph thinks her Daddy is hilarious. 

3) We started burning the fruit tree cuttings a little at a time since we don't have a truck to haul them off.  Daphne roasted one of those giant marshmallows and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

4) This hunk of a hubby turned 33 on July 14!  We had planned for months on having some kind of 3 Amigos fiesta in honor of the character El Guapo who turns "33" in the film.  Please observe. (Just watch the first minute - they're some of the best lines from the movie!)

In the end, we (meaning me) just didn't have the energy to put a big party together.  Instead, on a whim we decided to go to dinner at The Ninja, a hibachi grill in town and sent out a last minute text to invite the family.  Nellie and Chev were so nice to drive up from St. George, Alan and Marie came down from Parowan and Krissy is here in Cedar and popped over as well.  Marie cracked us up and brought Burke "a sweater" as joke in reference to the El Guapo clip above.

It was so nice to go out to eat and they even gave Burke a rousing Japanese round of "Happy Birthday" singing and delicious fried icecream.  Yum!

Afterwards we set up the projector in our basement and watched "The Three Amigos" with the fam.  It's funny how much you don't pick up on in movies as a kid.  I do not remember half the swear words or inappropriate jokes and I felt kind of silly that Kevin and Nellie's kids were there, although Kevin was smart and kept them occupied in the play room most of the time.

Burke says this is the year of "El Guapo" where he wants to get in killer shape!  I plan to cheerlead him 100% and join him in the journey once this baby comes. :)

5) Our awesome neighbor gave Burke about 75 rootbeer bottles and Mike taught him how to make homemade rootbeer one Sunday evening.  Burke was so excited to learn (he's been talking about doing this since we were first married) and he was totally bummed when he bought the wrong kind of extract, so they didn't turn brown, but it still tasted great after sitting for the requisite 4 days - if you like 4 tablespoons of sugar per bottle that is.  Yuck!

Before

6) Daphne's hair was growing in extremely uneven, but I haven't wanted to cut it since it took her so long to get hair in the first place!  We finally went in to a Great Clips on a whim one day and decided to bob it.  She was an absolute champ during the whole process, making faces at herself in the mirror and giggling with excitement.

During

I can't believe how much fuller her hair looks now.  It's a great look on her and is much more convenient as she won't let me do her hair most days anyway, so at least she doesn't look too much like a ragmuffin when she wears it down straight instead!

7) That same day Chev and Nellie were in town for a doctor's appointment and surprised us with a visit and pizza for dinner.  Luke, Daphne and Hallie were pretty stoked to play and eat popsicles together.  Cute little cousins.

8) Another trip to the bowling alley on a restless night.

I couldn't stop giggling when Daphne legitimately beat Burke.  Not his best game.