Yard Work

Ben installed our sprinkler system this summer. We bought and spread a couple loads of top soil. We planted a couple of trees. We also had curbing installed and last week we had the hydroseeding man come. Lucy loved watching them from the window. We had a ton of help from our next door neighbor! He was so nice.

Spreading the topsoil.

The curbing for the trailer parking before it dryed.

 Topsoil spread and the curbing in!

Here's the hydroseeding truck. They used that black hose in the back to spray the hydroseed. 

Spraying the hydroseed and watching him from the window. 

I couldn't get a picture of our whole lot but here's what it looked like after it was hydroseeded.

This is what it looked like up close. Really messy paper mache. 

One week later and it's already growing!



Nana and Papa Come to Visit

My Nana and Papa came from California to visit at the end of July. They stayed at my parents' house in Draper along with my Uncle Chris and his wife Kresten and his son Dawson. I had only met Kresten one or two times and I don't even remember meeting Dawson and he's nine! Chris was the same as he always has been, goofy and down to earth. I couldn't stop looking at him because he looks so much like my dad and it was freaking me out. Kresten was so sweet and kind. She seems like the kind of woman I want to be one day. I really admired her. Dawson played so well with Lucy. He loved her and carried her around the house.

My cousins Mitchell and Christian were also there. I hadn't seen them is probably 10 years. They were no longer little boys, but men. And they were amazing. I was so impressed with how well they carried themselves. They were true gentlemen. They also had quite the sense of humor that kept us laughing until our stomachs hurt. If we lived closer I could definitely see Ben and them being great friends.

It was the first time Lucy had ever met any of them including her great grandparents. I made sure she knew who Nana and Papa were before we got there. I love Nana. She is so funny and so German, if I can say that. She says what's on her mind whether you like it or not. Papa has definitely aged. He slept most of the time but was definitely in good spirits when he was alert.

We had a yummy BBQ and then played a hilarious game. It was so fun!

I love this. Mitch was trying to get Lucy to smile.

All the cousins!

We made sure to include Papa in all of the happenings.

 Chris, Kresten, and Lucy

And a whole bunch of pictures of Nana and Lucy because I couldn't just pick one!



It was such a good evening full of games and love. I'm so excited to visit them in September. California here I come!

4th of July

We celebrated our first 4th of July in Grantsville. We had some good friends, John and Rika and Macks, over for breakfast. Then we headed over to the parade together. I was really impressed with it. I though it would be really small but it wasn't at all! Lucy did a wonderful job collecting candy for mommy. She had her own little bag that she had decorated for the candy and she did great. A few weeks before we had attended the Miss Tooele Pageant and Lucy got to sit on the "princess' " lap. Well, she was in the parade and waved at Lucy!

 Candy!!

I can't decide if she's stealing candy in this picture, or sharing. 

Lucy's princess friends.

Afterwards, we headed to the Grantsville celebration at the high school. They had a ton of carnival-type activities and it was all FREE! I have never been to something like this for a whole city that was free. Lucy had a ton of fun playing in all of the bounce houses, obstacle courses and going down a massive water slide. It was fun. Now that we know about it we will be a little bit more prepared next year for it.

This first video is awesome. Lucy is so much more brave than I ever was. She loved it!

Later that evening we had a mock BBQ at our house with some other friends Britney and Danny. Later that evening we saw the Grantsville fireworks. They set them off from the high school's soccer field and they allow you to sit on the bleachers around it. We were really close. It was the best firework show I have EVER seen! It was all done manually and they had 9 firefighters with flares constantly setting them off. The whole show was like a finale and then the actual finale was pretty much a mega-finale. I don't know how else to describe it. My father-in-law would have loved it. They also had a DJ and music to go along with the show. AMAZING!

The Zoo

On July 3rd, Ben took the day off of work so we could go to the Hogle Zoo as a family. We got there soon after it opened and Lucy was thrilled. It was a hot day but she did really well. She loved the monkeys. We got to see a small elephant demonstration and a bird show. We left the park to eat our brown bagged lunches and then went back for more. Lucy even got to pet some of the animals. Lucy and Ben went on the Merry-Go-Round and then we went on a little train ride as a family around the zoo. After a fun-filled day, Lucy slept on the way home.

GORILLA!!

 TIGER!

 The new polar bear exhibit!

These bears were kissing the whole time we watched them. It was so sweet. PDA overload.

Lucy was pretending to feed this lion and she jumped back and yelled, "Ouch!" The statue bit her! 

She wasn't too sure about this spikey guy. I wouldn't be either!



The Joys of Grantsville

This is probably going to be a boring post. But it's something I've been thinking about for a while now.

Grantsville is awesome.

I love living in a small town away from all the hustle and bustle of the city. It makes the days really quiet. The nights are really dark. The hospitality is great.

I also really love living where the population is predominately LDS. It helps me to feel more involved in the community when I can recognize people from church at other places around town.

We live on the edge of Grantsville next to TEAD (Tooele Army Depot). TEAD supplies equipment to all services and they give base support to the Deseret Chemical Depot that is also near us. The Deseret Chemical Depot pretty much burns chemicals that aren't allowed in warfare anymore. Anywho, the point is that TEAD tests explosives and they blow up old army bunkers. We are completely safe. However, as a result, several times a week we hear explosions that shake our entire home. I found this map on the Army's website to prove how close we are.

Yeah. They blow stuff up right there. With Tooele County being predominately employed by all of these U.S. Army Depots and at Dugway (another army place that no one really knows what is done there...maybe they keep aliens there), it is also predominately Republican. Which it's kind of nice to be able to share your opinions and not be considered crazy and hateful. Just a random plus to good ol' Grantsville.

I also love our mailman. I have never met our mailman, or woman. But whoever it is has a sweet ride. Since Grantsville is so small the post office doesn't provide USPS cars to all of its employees. Down the street this is what one mailman drives....

But OUR mailman is even more cool. I don't have the exact picture of his awesome jeep but here's a nicer and less rusty version of what it looks like....

Yes! Our mail service is awesome!

Another joy of living in Grantsville is the farmland. Horses are everywhere. Out here, Ben and I are not lame because we don't have a second car. We are lame because we don't have a horse. I should add chickens to that list too. But chickens are in the plan, so I guess we're moving up in the world.

The other day, as in a month ago, some cows in the field across the street got through the fence and this is what I saw...

Okay, so I'm not that stupid to get that close to cows walking down the street. I stole this picture from Google. But I COULD have, that's how close they were to my house. Plus, we have curbs on our street, no trees, and no hills like in this picture. I actually tried to take a picture but our terrible camera had a dead battery as usual.

The neighbor across the street saw the cows and got out his 4-wheeler and herded the cows back to where they belong. It was so exciting for me to see.

Besides all of this cool stuff, we are getting a library soon. I think they started building it in February. Woot woot! Lucy and I watched a movie called "Elmo and the Bookaneers." In it, Elmo informed the audience that every town has a library. LIAR! Grantsville doesn't have one, yet.

Anyway, I love Grantsville. And the explosions.