Roof!

I know this is a few weeks late, but we did it!

Thanks to lots of help from friends and family that, for some reason, enjoyed hanging out on our roof every Saturday for almost 4 weeks. 

We were so ready to have this project done and are so blessed to have it finished up before the snow... next up? The crack in the ceiling that was caused by having a weak roof. That will have to wait until the spring.

Rick showing us how it's done...

Aden and Philipp (Mickelle's younger brothers) were awesome helpers!

Done and DONE!

 

We sure have great friends and family! We are especially grateful for our families and the friends that came down to help/let us borrow their dads for those weeks. You're all the best!

King Leaves

This is King. He's been a part of our family for the last year or so. I've been raising Guide Dogs for the last 13 years and Rick is kind enough to let me keep doing it- and even to help me out every once in a while.While it is hard to give them up, it's so worth it to see them working and doing what they love to do.  Last week King left for the next step in his training and will be living in Oregon at the Guide Dog school for the next 3-6 months learning more about being a Guide Dog for someone who is blind. Rick has fallen in love with him and has made the executive decision that if King decides being a Guide Dog is not for him- he gets to come home and be our pet- as Rick's running buddy and helping to raise more Guide Dog Puppies.

Mickelle, King, Judith, and Rick in front of the Puppy Truck

Everyone asks if it gets easier after 11 puppies. The answer is yes and no. It's easier leading up to the day they leave and keeping in mind the reason you're giving them up- but it's definitely not easier putting them on the puppy truck.

Thank you to Guide Dogs for letting us raise these awesome dogs! We will be watching the weekly reports for King's progress! Good Luck, King!

As for a new puppy, we will be waiting until March or April to get a new one. I will be teaching a class in the spring so I won't have time for a baby puppy until after the semester is over. 

Labor Day = Bear Lake

Sometimes it seems like we travel a lot... mostly, it's just about the only thing that's exciting enough to post so it just looks like it. So here's the latest dose of excitement:

Every year for Labor Day weekend we make the 2 hour drive up to the Blue Water Resort at Bear Lake for a few days. It's definitely my kind of camping... Showers, regular toilets, Wifi, a pool, and a beach.

I'm a fan.

We feel like real campers with our huge tent, cushy air mattress, and pile of blankets because we don't have sleeping bags.

All day Saturday we lived in the water and Rick enjoyed his annual first LSU game of the season party praying that the WiFi would hold out until the end of the game. (Picture him sitting outside on a picnic bench throwing his hat and cheering on the Tigers. It's a good picture, right?) For dinner we got our traditional raspberry shakes.

Sunday we actually got seats in the chapel for church. It's usually so busy over Labor Day weekend that we have to stand out in the hall, but we got there early enough to sit.

The only thing missing from our trip was the fact that dogs weren't allowed on the beach right there so we had to take a little walk for Judith to be able to hang out on the "beach" (the dog friendly side of the beach was kind of swampy and didn't have much sand.) She LOVED getting to run and play- even if she got a little muddy.

The Tool Man

Owning a home has it's perks- as I've mentioned before- but sometimes it just stinks.

The other day our washer had decided to go out. It worked for a little bit, but then would just stop. Me, being my father's daughter, had to figure out what was going on. I googled it and figured out it probably was the lid switch and an easy fix... off to YouTube. I'm a fan of YouTube- it's help me learn how to do quite a few things.

Needless to say- about an hour later-- we were pretty proud of ourselves:

Getting Cultured

A few days ago we had the chance to take a quick trip down to Cedar City- about 4 hours away- to see a few shows at the Shakespeare Festival. We left Monday morning and that afternoon caught the 2:00 show of "Peter and the Starcatcher". It's a fun show about how Peter Pan became Peter Pan. Rick is a good sport about it all and lets me drag him along. After the show we went out to eat with my friends who are down there for the week interpreting the plays. (I did it a few years ago... it's SUPER fun, but SUPER tiring!) Who doesn't love a little Pizza Factory after a long day of driving and play-watching?

Once we checked into the hotel at about 7, we were reminded of what boring people we've become- doesn't everyone watch Full House for a few hours at night while on vacation? Of course! We really didn't have a whole lot planned and I wasn't smart enough to bring shoes to walk around in. It worked out though... we both like not really having to be somewhere.

On Tuesday we moseyed around Cedar City and found a Heritage Museum. It was deserted but we had fun checking things out, playing checkers, and practicing our lassoing "technique". (Basically, Rick is pro.)

King found a job if being a Guide dog isn't right for him- a Wells Fargo Pony!

Okay so he won... 

He legitimately roped that "cow"... really.

Before heading home we watched "12 Angry Men". It's a really interesting show and definitely more Rick's style. There was an after show talk-back with a few of the cast members. That was interesting... there are a lot of things involved in that show. If you haven't watched it- you should. It will change your perspective on what it means to be "100% certain"...

Only a few more days left until school starts up again and life gets a little more boring.

CA, Cali, California

Last week we got a chance to head down to southern California for my cousin's wedding. We had a blast and it definitely was NOT long enough. Here's a run down of the adventure:

WARNING: This is a long post... but full of awesome so you should still read it. 

We left Tuesday afternoon with 5 adults (2 of us and 3 of my siblings) in our little Suzuki... don't ask me how, but it happened.

Taylor was doing a little iPod Idol for us... Good game.

We stopped in Vegas about 9 p.m. after Rick had to stop for some Cane's Chicken. (Apparently it's big in Louisiana?) We all wanted to remain friends here, so the break was planned. We stayed at South Point Casino and Spa. If you're looking for a good place to stay in Vegas, this was a pretty good deal. It ended up being about $65/night, but well worth it. The pool was pretty awesome too.

Leaving the Vegas hotel.

The next day we hung out around the strip (M&M World and Coke World) for a few hours, made it to the Disney Outlet store (another worthwhile stop on the way to Disneyland.), then headed to Redlands, CA about 4. Another squished car ride, but everyone sucked in their guts and we made it. A huge thanks for my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Jeff for letting us crash at their place for a few days.

On our way to Disney! Excited face!

Thursday, the whole family (all 12 of us) packed up for Disney! Best Day EVER! We love Disneyland! It was really fun to go with the little kids. Cheese walked around the park "Mitey Mouse! Mitey MOUSE! Where are you?!" It was fun to watch Ali (the 5 year old), who is in love with everything, see Minnie and go on the rides. She said her favorite ride was "Small World".

About half way through the day we met up with our friend Brooke, who took us to California Adventures. She works there and gave us the grand tour. We were in charge of Philipp (10) and Aden (8) along with the other older kids (Keil, Spencer, Kaleigh, and Taylor) I'm pretty sure Disney was made with Magic.

Rick's face was covered in about 1/2 of the pictures... Tall brother problems.

With only one day in Disney we were determined to stay until it closed... too bad we are old people and ended up leaving about 11:30. Not bad though. We were probably all walking funny because we hurt so bad and we dragged through the last ride... needless to say we've learned that one day at Disneyland is not enough and can't wait to go back again.

Ali and Rick dancing

The next day was the wedding in L.A. We got up early and made it to the temple on time- only to realize I had left my temple recommend in Redlands. Awesome. We got to stick around outside the temple with the little kids and help them stay entertained for the 2 hours everyone else was in the temple. (Yay for iPads!) After a "recovery nap" that afternoon we headed out to Huntington Beach for the reception. Rick wasn't super happy about the pasta bar, but I definitely was. (Seriously, who doesn't like pasta?!) Rick got to dance with his girlfriends. Ali is pretty sure one day she's going to steal him from me...

Saturday was our day to just hang out. We made it to Downtown Disney, ate some beignets, Rick was weak and bought Aden a Lego set from the Lego store, drove to Corona del Mar beach (hoping to see the tide pools, but couldn't find them.), and got to watch my cousin open his mission call. (L'viv, Ukraine Mission) Super busy day = Super tired Rick and Mickelle...

They made a pretty awesome sand castle

Rick and Aden, Eating beinets

Sunday was church day and we walked around Hollywood before heading home on Monday (Luckily we traded one of the backseat adults for a much smaller backseat 10-year-old.). We made it home by 8 pm and were VERY glad to sleep in our own bed again...

Cheese

For those who know Rick but not me very well- you need to know that I come from a big family... like nine-kids-big-family... and the youngest just turned 4. Yes, Rick has a brother in law that is 4.

We call him Cheese (His real name is Matthew. It's a long story...).

He likes to sit in the crate and wait for King to follow him in. He LOVES King.

Cheese is super cute.

He sometimes forgets that he's 4 and not 2. Okay, all the time he forgets he's 4.

He loves to come over to "Kelle and Ick's house" for a "Dayte" and to play so last night he came over with the 3 other younger kids (10, 8, and 5) for pancakes for dinner and some playtime at the park.

In the meantime, Rick was getting ready to leave for scout camp. Because Cheese loves to help out, Rick asked if he wanted to help him put some things in the cooler. He was so excited that Rick asked him to help! Rick handed him a dozen eggs (first mistake) and asked him to go ahead and throw it in the cooler (second mistake). Next thing we knew we were watching Cheese literally throwing the eggs into the cooler... Luckily only a few eggs were broken, but sometimes all you can do is clean it up and laugh.

I can only hope when we have our kids that we can't just send home to Mom and Dad that we just remember to laugh.

The story of the metal boxes that saved our lives

The problem with buying an older house is the... um, character that comes with it.

We love our house, don't get me wrong, but there have been several fun improvements we have been forced gotten to work on in the last 18 months that we have been homeowners.

One of the major things that hasn't happened yet- but arguably will- is the addition of Central Air.

We bought our house in December and the furthest thing from our minds was "Does this house have a cooling system?" By the way, the answer was "No.". So, here we are, two summers later and trying to beat the heat in our own way.

Last year we bought two window units off of KSL for a pretty good deal. So now basically we owe our lives to two glorious metal boxes from which flows our saving grace-- cool air. One unit is in our kitchen and one is in our bedroom-- some days I do the dishes just so I can stand in front of the AC for 15 minutes. And sometimes I just sit on the floor in our bedroom, right under the AC unit with the fan blowing from the other way to prevent having to take another shower at 10 am.

I used to care about the cost of the electric bill, but over the last few weeks of heat wave and during the rest of the months of July and August- I'm sure I could let those boxes run all day long and be just fine paying a $500 utility bill. (not really guys... I would probably freak out if it was that high. I'm kind of um... Rick would call it cheap, I call it frugal.)

Obviously, I was not the one who lived in South Carolina or Louisiana...

So, hopefully next year (It was supposed to be this year but for some reason the roof thinks it take priority...) we will have a nice cool house.

Rick says he would like to live in the South again one day...Probably, I would melt. Someone should tell him melted wives do not make good wives.

The Pilot Episode

I've always been a wannabe blogger.

I like reading about other people's life, crafts, food ventures, and travel stories.

I love stalking other people's memories and pictures.

Today I decided to join ranks and become one of them.

We both have friends and family outside of our immediate area so we figured that blogging was a good way to share the recent goings on.

Now we get to be official bloggers.