Demolition Derby

We wanted to do something fun with our kids before we took off for a week to Myrtle Beach! The Demo derby was in town and Carter always wants to go, so we bit the bullet and went. Everyone was supposed to wear masks and free ones were given at the entrance, but no one really wore it.  What can you do...it was hot. 

Brielle was unsure at first but within 10 minutes she was cheering along with everyone else!

Carter was of course most excited. 

The derby didn't disapoint! Between every heat, the kids would run down closer to get a look at the damage. 

We slurped icees to stay cool. 

The best part was watching Carter! He was so funny and overreacted at every crash! He's always loved cars and it makes me happy to see how much he still loves them. 

Serious destruction! Cars were flipped and on fire and totally squished!

And as the sun went down we had the prettiest sunset! It made a great evening even more perfect. 

 What a great night! Thanks Tooele Co for the great show and allowing this to happen! Great times!

New furnace & AC & Blessings!

Back in Jan when we were trying to decided if we could go to Washington or not I told Chad that if we didn't have any house emergencies we could probably do it ...hoping that we could not touch our savings and make this trip and our Myrtle Beach trip happen and not tank us financially!......

Enter Chad's car dying in May! $5000 gone! Thankfully Mr. Trump sent a stimulus check for $5000 and we were able to pay cash for our new car! Phew!

THEN a new truck engine at $5000! I wasn't quite sure where this was going to come from. We had already been talking about refinancing because rates were so low and we started the process to refinance our home and pull some cash from our equity. We maxed our $5000 credit card until we got the money. 

At this point, I'm thinking nothing else can break.....then one day our house just seemed hot! The temp kept rising while the AC was still pumping but it was not cooling the house off. We have known for years that our AC unit and furnace size didn't match the size we needed for our house.We knew some day we would have to swallow the $10,000 pill of replacing them but who has an extra $10,000 laying around? Not us. But we knew it was time. 

We contacted our bank and changed our refi number and pulled more to cover the cost of this upgrade! But with the original furnace we knew if we didn't do it on our watch, we would have to do it on someone elses. So we found a company and the next day we had a new furnace and AC unit! It took all day for the indoor temp to drop from 84 to 74 but it did get there and it felt lovely once it did! 

 While it would be easy to complain that everything is breaking, I feel extra blessed right now. Somehow we were guided to this refinance at the right time. We received money we needed for a new car the same month it died. Who could have picked a better time for our AC to give out than right before we finalized our numbers for our refinance. And whats even better is after we have pulled out a significant amount to cover these things, our house payment is still dropping. What a blessing!

To summarize, we were still able to go to Washington, and still have plenty of money for all of these extra big things! Such a miracle in my eyes! 

I know the Lord is in the details. He knows about dying cars and furnaces and AC units.  He knows when we need these trials and he knows how to help us go through them. I am in awe at how he cares for the little insignificant things ALL THE TIME! We have not lacked in blessings in this hard time in the world. I have faith the Lord knows exactly what I need at the exact time I need it. He is so good. 

Oh Washington!

We had so much fun last summer, we knew we had to go back! With Covid hitting Washington hard, we didn't know what to do. But in the end, we went for it and it did not disappoint! Chad was so excited to surprise his brother at his office in his romper that he wore it the whole day in the car on Tuesday! (We left Monday night after a soccer game and made it to Pocatello, then hit the road early Tues.)

We ate at Cafe Rio in Montana and I was sure Chad would get beat up amid the cowboys in big trucks! HAHA he got a few great comments along the way. 

This view wouldn't ever get old! Pine Trees as far as you can see! Amazingly beautiful! And I didn't get car sick this time!

Mindy suggested Chad act as one of their Reps and ask to see Chet. The front desk ladies couldn't hold it in and busted up laughing about his outfit, but they were good sports. 

When we arrived at their house, the motor machines were hot and running! Brielle was ecstatic to show us that she has been DRIVING the 4wheeler!

I'm surprised we didn't leave more of a track in their grass wit how much these machines ran!

And the day we got there, Bri lost her first tooth!! Unfortunately she really LOST it in the carpet. But the tooth fairy still came!

This year, we rented a house down at Lake Roosevelt just minutes from the water! We got packed up and headed to the house Wed morning and asked a local where the closest beach was to us and he was super helpful and showed us a great little beach in a cove. The kids wasted no time in hopping in the water!

And in no time, Mollie's lips were blue! The water was pretty warm and it was hot, but where we were it was a bit colder. But look at this place!!!!!!

Once my toes hit the sand, all my unsettled feelings from the previous months melted! I didn't think about covid hardly at all this trip. My soul needs sunshine and I got just that and much of it! 

I played with the kids on the beach while the others got the boat ready. They were all ready to go and we were on the water all afternoon and evening!

We had several karaoke sessions and dance parties on the boat. So much fun partying with cousins!

The pictures do most of the talking and really we just played and played and played! Rylee napped in the boat every day and all the kids did so good. 

Sweet boat...even sweeter kids!

We had more time to play on the beach while it was windy one day and the kids just loved it. 

I made this little stack of balanced rocks just for fun but after looking at it I realized how symbolic it was for my life right now. I need balance so bad! In my social, spiritual, physical, intimate, relationships, and me time. Right now it is all out of wack! Sitting on this beach reminded me of some areas my life is lacking in and set some goals then and there of what I'd do better once we got home to get my life back in balance. 

The kids kept plenty busy building forts, sand castles, trying to hop on the surf board in the water and using nature around them to create fun things. 

We were way excited when we looked up and saw not one, but TWO bald eagles! So cool! They are so large and majestic. 

And every time we left the house there was a group of deer bedded down somewhere or eating fruit off the trees. It was so fun to see them everywhere!

We did not want to leave this gorgeous place but we know we will come again sometime. We love Chet and Mindy and their family and absolutely cherish this time with them. We can't wait till next time! 

The only thing that made leaving easier is getting to see Clyde and Evelyn on the way home!! They got permission to come home for Kari's wedding and we got to stop in pocatello again on the way home and spend the day with the rest of Chad's family! It was so great to see them. They seem so peaceful and happy. We are so grateful for their righteous examples for our kids. We sure love them and loved getting to see them for a few hours before they headed back on the road to Indiana!!!