DEMOLITION DERBY

Dan and I finally attended our first demolition derby this summer. We took the kids (minus Reagan) and went with the neighborhood! The Demolition Derby was supposed to be in June; however the weather didn't cooperate, so it ended up being in July. What a fun event this is, it was great to be with so many of our friends as well. I think everyone really had a fabulous time watching the cars crash, start on fire and keep going. This may have been our first demolition derby, but definitely not our last!

GRANDMA'S 90TH BIRTHDAY

We celebrated my Grandmas English's 90th birthday over the weekend. She actually turns 90 in January, however my cousin Tammy decided we would throw her a surprise party over the summer because most of the family was in town for the family reunion.

In preparation for the party we all compiled a scrapbook page that talked about our favorite memories of grandma. When I think about what an example she has been to her family and the love she has for each of us, it makes me a little teary eyed.

When grandma came into the party, she was overjoyed and tears came down her cheeks. It was amazing to be a part of it all. She also told us we shouldn't surprise a 90 year old woman, because you don't know what will happen.

We spent the afternoon visiting with family and eating an enormous amount of goodies.

CHIP'S BACKYARD BBQ

What is summer without having a few BBQ's in the back of Melissa and Chip's backyard? Not only does Chip host a great BBQ, but there is tons to do in their back yard. Horse shoes, golf, playground, trampoline, fishing, bumper boats, smores and jumping in the lake to name a few.

This particular night Jaxson decided he wanted in on the fun and wanted to jump in the lake with his uncle Scott. I wasn't going to let him jump in without a life jacket, so we borrowed Cash's. Crazy that Jaxson fits into Cash's life jacket! He had the time of his life swimming around with both Scott and Chip.

Reagan on the other hand had a ball golfing with her cousin Avery. Just look at the smile on her face.

GALLI FAMILY PICTURES

Dan's mom has her 50th High School reunion coming up in August. All of the class men were supposed to put together some information about them and what they are doing now, along with a picture of their family. In order to get a family picture done in a short amount of time, Dan borrowed a tri-top at work and we all went to Murray Park to get our self portraits done with the timer on the camera. We all wore red and white in the spirit of East High School.

I thought the pictures turned out great, plus we were done in less than an hour!

CELEBRATING THE 4th OF JULY

Over the 4th of July, Dan and I decided to take the kids to the Oakley Rodeo. Because the rodeo is in Kamas, we thought it would be fun to stay in Park City as well. We rented a room at the Canyons and had a great time hanging out as a family for a few days.

The Rodeo was awesome, the weather was a little cold, so we all cuddled up in some blankets to stay warm. Fortunately for us, the weather held up and it didn't start to rain until right after the rodeo ended. I think the kids really enjoyed watching the rodeo. My favorite part was the bull riders; however I did scream a few times because some guy nearly got trampled by the bull. Jaxson really enjoyed the stunt clown, he was actually really good and did some amazing tricks on a motorcycle.

The following day was beautiful, so we headed up to the Park City Mountain Resort and rode the Alpine Slide and Coaster. Apparently everyone else had the same idea (I cant believe how long we waited in line, but it was worth it). Later that day we rewarded ourselves with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Dipping Dots. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and went swimming and played Bingo and Ping Pong. To our surprise their was a free firework show and concert at the Canyons that night, so we loaded up the blankets and headed out to the festival. Boy was it crowded! The concert turned out to be a bust; but we met up with my brother Scott and his wife Ali for the fireworks and it was a blast.

On the 4th of July we were invited to our friends house (Summer and Brandon Mooney) for a BBQ, we ended the evening with a firework and glow stick show. The kids loved the glow sticks and I was able to purchase 150 of them at Harmon's for under just $12.00. Their neighbors also put on a firework show for us, in the sky. It was like we were at Sandy City or some other city event, the only thing missing was the music. It was fantastic!

MADI'S 5TH GRADE PLAY

>At the end of the school year the 5th grade put on a production called "The American Dream." Madison was a union solider and had a speaking part in the play. The play was filled with fun patriotic songs, including my favorite "Movin' On Out." It was fun to see her perform with all the neighborhood girls and so many of her friends.

OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES!

I just had to write about a couple of funny things my kids said to me last night. After I arrived home from work, Jaxson asked me if we could go to Books and Noble because he wanted to get a journal. I asked him why he needed a journal and he told me because he wanted to write about his private life. I told him I didn't know he had a private life and he went on to say he wanted to keep his secrets in his journal.

We did end up going to Barnes and Noble because I needed to pick up some books for my nieces 1st birthday. While we were there Reagan (who is obsessed with Mickey Mouse) found a small Mickey Mouse stuffed animal and carried it around with her while I looked for books. As we were preparing to leave, she told me I need to buy it. "Mommy, you buy Mickey Mouse" as she put Mickey in my hands. I told her to put Mickey back and we would go get some dinner. She listened, which surprised me. We proceeded to the check out so Jaxson could purchase his journal (With his own money) and the books for my niece, when we were one person from the counter and there was a big line in back of us, Reagan bolted for the back of the store. I contemplated going after her, or losing my place in line. I could she her go into the children's area and I assumed she was playing with the train, so I decided to pay and them go back and get her because it was a straight shot back to the train. Before I knew it Reagan was at my side with Mickey Mouse and she placed him on the counter. She actually went back to get Mickey and told me to buy him again. I couldn't resist, we walked out of the store with Mickey in her arms.

HOMEWORK SUCKS

As a mother I can say I am really looking forward to school ending next week. I have spent the last week doing homework with my kids and I thought I had already graduated. The sad thing is I know this is only the beginning and I don't think I can go through Algebra again. I didn't understand it the first time around and in a couple of years I'm going to have to help my kids understand it.

Madi has been working on her state report for the last several weeks in school. It was a tough go around at first because every state she wanted, someone else had already picked. So her teacher said she could do Utah. When she came home and told me she was doing Utah, I wasn't pleased. I told her the purpose of doing a state report was to learn about something new, not the state you already live in. (I think her teach was just trying to do something nice, because she ended up being the only person who did not get one of her top three picks) After much debate, research and some tears, Madi agreed to do her state report on Kentucky. They started this major project in school; however we were responsible for making a miniature float about the state and finishing up anything they didn't get done in school. Well that ending up being a lot. Madi and I came up with a plan to do her float centered on the Kentucky Derby. It was well planned; however took a lot of work. We spent hours one Sunday afternoon putting it together; in addition to some late nights. The crazy thing about this report was we thought everything was due on Friday the 26th, but on Monday the 22nd Madi came home from school telling me that she had to give her oral book report on Wednesday; which meant everything had to be completed by Tuesday night. So we spent Monday and Tuesday evening finishing up her poster, oral speech and float. Both nights we were up until 10:30 or 11:00 working! By Tuesday evening I told Madi I was done with homework! By the time everything was complete it looked fantastic and we both had a great time learning some new and exciting facts about Kentucky.

Next came Jaxson oral book report. I was informed a week prior that he had to give a book report to the class. This included being in costume and using props and making it fun for the child not stressful. (How about stressful on the parent). So over the weekend we purchased a book on sharks and I had Jaxson read it every day so we would know all the facts. Thursday night I put Dan in charge of helping him. They didn't get far because of Jaxson lack of focus and the Dan's lack of knowing what to do. So I stepped in to assist, I decided to print some pictures of different types of sharks, so Jaxson could tell detailed information about all the many kinds of sharks. By the time we got around to this it was after 10:00, so we sent Jaxson to bed because he wasn't retaining anymore information. Dan told him we would get him up early in the morning to finish. What he meant to say is that mom will get you up early because I will be out of town.

Friday morning we got off to a fabulous start. Reagan woke up at the crack of dawn and with a bloody nose; in addition she cried over everything little thing including not having a Capri sun and a sucker for breakfast. (We didn't have any Capri Suns and I wasn't about to give her a sucker either) Having her is such a pleasant mood put me behind schedule because when she is grumpy, she wants me to hold her. Next I woke of Jaxson to him wetting the bed. I told him to jump in the bath and take the quickest bath of his life because we needed to complete his book report. As he is bathing, I am finishing up my hair and doing Madi's hair as well and pulling off sheet to put them in the wash. Next I found Jaxson down stairs watching TV instead of brushing his teeth or eating breakfast. At this point I completely lost it because we had less than 15 minutes before the bus. I started yelling and Jaxson, asking him why he was watching TV when he knew we needed to hurry. I also asked him if he knew what he was going to say during his report and he told me no. I continued on my rampage, by blood was thick and knew I was having a melt down. I told Jaxson I wished he just wouldn't act like a kid all the time. I contemplated calling my office and telling I couldn't come to work today because I couldn't pull it together, all while Jaxson was crying. I finally took some deep breaths and asked Jaxson if he was ready to do his report. We spent the next 20 minutes practicing. Obviously he missed the bus and I took him to school. I turned around 45 minutes after arriving at work to go back to the school and watch him give his report. He did an AMAZING job! He pulled it off and I had other moms comment to me how well he knew his subject matter. I was so proud of him.

After the report I went back to work and turned around 2 hours later to visit the fifth grade state fair. Madison had one of the best presentations and floats in the class. She even completed a word search for everyone to do on the state of Kentucky for extra credit. After the fair I went back to work for the third time that day.

Needless to say I am ready for summer break!

TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE

We took Madison and Jaxson through the Oquirrh Mountain temple last week. On the way there we sang I Love to See the Temple. It gave me chills to hear my children singing that song as we drove up to the temple grounds.

We also had a quick lesson and the importance of temples. I asked Jaxson if he knew why we had temples? He told me, with question in his voice "To get married?" I told him he was correct; however there were other reasons we had temples. We talked about how there are many people who have passed away that did not get the opportunity to be baptized, or married in the temple and they are waiting up in Heaven for someone to do the work for them. So they could become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and live with their Father in Heaven forever. We talked about how important it was for us, to do this work for them and how special temples are.

As we walked through the beautiful temple, Madi told me how excited she was to turn 12 and be able to do baptisms for the dead through temple work. I am so proud of her and her desire to do what is right and serve the Lord.

My favorite things in the temple were the beautiful, star shaped chandeliers hanging in the Celestial Room and Sealing Rooms. I also loved the etched windows. On the top floor as you are exiting the sealing room you can see a picture of Jesus Christ through every small circle in the glass. It was amazing!

There is such a peaceful feeling when you go through the temple and when you know it is the house of the Lord. I am so blessed to live in a city where we have two temples within minutes of our home. I am also blessed to be able to give my children the opportunity to go through the temple so they can understand the importance of temples and so they can look forward to entering the temple as they grow older and prepare themselves for missions and marriage.