Yard work----getting ready for Chad's wedding reception!!

We've known for several months that Chad is getting married and that we needed to get our yard looking better- (lots better!!) Its been 4 years since we've had a wedding reception, so the yard has definitely been neglected. The sprinkler system stopped working, so the yard had lots of places where the grass had died out. Dad has been NOT wanting to do this, but I kept nagging him, so with less than a month to get the grass growing, we got started!

 We needed new heads in the front yard against the

house so that my windows weren't always getting sprayed!

 Of course nothing is ever easy! While trenching Dad

busted 4 water lines!

 It has been so dry that our back yard looked terrible too!

 This is the sprinkler system mess. We'll deal with this after the reception! At least now all the new heads are in and working!

 This whole section of grass had died because it never got watered. We didn't have enough time to plant grass, so we bought sod. Wow, that's the way to go, instant grass!!

Ta da!! Grass!! However it just made all the old grass look terrible! So we then had to rake all the dead spots, plant new seed and cover it with top soil. It was LOTS of work, but we got it done right before all the rains started. Its been raining now every day and the new grass is coming in good. Our back yard is looking pretty good for Chad & Luann's reception. (yes, the wedding pictures are coming!)

LATE misc. JUNE pictures

I have been SO busy I have NOT posted any pictures in June, so here they are. We got to have Kingston and London come stay with us for a week, that was really fun! 

They loved the old 'Guess Who' game I still have from when my kids were little!

Then around June 20th, Kari came from Hawaii to stay a month with us. Kirk has been deployed to Japan for 6 months. Lisa was with her for 10 days helping her while she went to Girls Camp.

Lisa, Kari, Rivers & Elijah

Rivers playing at Gma & Gpa's house.

Blake & Rivers- favorite cousins

"Open wide"

Chad & Eli

Best buds!

I have LOTS more to post, so even though some important events have already happened, they will have to wait until I post the old ones. 

Dad's 2nd fishing adventure- Lake Powell!

So Dad went to Lake Powell with a couple of buddies. They had heard that the fishing was GREAT, but you know how fishing stories go. This time, however, the stories proved to be true! There are over 8 million stripers in the Lake and so there is no limit to the amount of fish you can catch.

They put in at Antelope Point.

They got there in the late afternoon and by the time they got out to the fishing spot, it was dark, but that didn't stop them from fishing! Don't pay any attention to dad's finger, he was having a great time!

The first night, Dad put up his tent and made a little camp fire! Wood was pretty scare! His buddies slept on the boat.

They started fishing early the next morning and
just kept catching them!

They are called stripers and they have a very mild flavor, so they are wonderful to eat.

This is one of his buddies, Ross Carpenter from St. Johns. 

Early morning was when the fishing was the best. The lake was calm and they were catching them so fast, Dad said he was trying to eat a fruit cup and they caught 4 fish before he could finish it!

Now that's a FISH!

They filled the live well to over flowing....

 then filled the ice chest!

The problem with catching 100+ fish is that they have to be filleted.  That was a lot of WORK!

Dad wanted to lay them all out to take a picture, but there was just too many. Plus he didn't want them heating up in the sun.

So they just did a few at a time, then they put the fillets in gallon zip-locks and back in the ice chest.

So they started filleting...

Ross found a nice flat rock to work on. It was hot, back-breaking WORK!

Dad brought a nice flat, 2 foot board. He said he now knows how to fillet fish. He had a lot of practice!!

Dad taking a little rest! 

In the afternoon, the wind came up, so they found this little cove that was nice & calm.

It was really cool, Dad went exploring way back in...

....while his buddies took a little nap.

When it calmed down, it was back to fishing. I mean catching!

This is his other buddy- Larry Hoopes. 

Catching more fish, means more filleting!

They found a little cove that was nice and shady and cool.

This is a reminder of where they fished!

So that was a run down of Dad's  2nd great fishing trip. Now he wants to take all his boys fishing! Its a trip they would never forget!

Chad's engaged!

A day we really thought would never come, has come! Our son Chad is engaged to Luann Maner, a wonderful lady he met last summer at a special singles activity in Snowflake, AZ. She is a sweetheart, and we are so happy for our Chad. She is teaching 5th grade, but is really a librarian, with a Masters in Library Science.  They actually got engaged in April and the wedding is set for July 13th, in the Snowflake Temple. We will have a reception that evening there, then one at our home in Eagar the following Sat. after they return from their honeymoon!