Scout Camp Widow

Kent left for Scout Camp today. Camp is until Saturday, however, the plan is for him to go into work Wednesday morning, come home after work and then return to camp Thursday morning until Saturday. It is always hard when he has to leave, for any amount of time, but at least there is a break there in the middle so it won't be as bad as it could have been.

(My hat goes off to my sweet sister Julie [Kent's brother Ralph's wife] whose husband is out of the country until Christmas. And the last time she got to see him was months ago. And then it was months before that.)

Like most Mondays today was crazy and full of stuff to do. My niece and nephew, Sarah and Donovan were dropped off at 10 a.m. and I got all the kids to help me put away some things and organize a few other things. Around 11:30 I got a call from Pam, Samantha and Donovan's reading tutor, that she was going to need to cancel. So, I text-paged Sean (S&D's Dad) to let him know what was happening and I loaded the kids up in the truck so we could unload all the trash collected over the weekend at the dump. The kids were a great help and we got back home faster than I thought we would.

I had just made lunch when Sean called me from his house and asked where we were. Apparently he had lost his pager so didn't get my messages about what was happening. :( It worked out nicely that we had dumped the trash though, since he needed their trailer back. So, after lunch, I loaded all the kids back up again and returned Sean's trailer and his kids. :)

And, of course, on the way home amide all the errands I had to run, the girls and I had to stop at Sonic for a 1/2 price slushy. :)

As a special treat to help combat the loneliness of Kent not being home (for the girls and for me) we picked up Chinese food and movies. The girls wanted to have a little sleepover since Dad wasn't home so I let them sleep in my bed. Not the great idea you think it would be...they have been growing but my bed hasn't. :) And we had to completely kick Teufel off the bed because there was absolutely no way he was going to fit too. :) It was a fun evening spent chillin’; just enjoying good food and good company (even if sometimes that company was a little too close for comfort ;)).

It was a jam packed day that helped chase away a little of the loneliness of life without Kent. Here's hoping the rest of the week goes by quickly.

Another working Holiday

Today is Pioneer Day for Utah which is the day we celebrate the heritage of Utah and its history in becoming a state. Because it is a state holiday most businesses elect to take the day off from work. Kent got part of the day off (he is gearing up for Scout Camp next week so needs to get a lot of projects done), however, he probably wishes he had had to go into work for a full day today.

We decided today would be our annual 'clean out the garage with high hopes of actually getting to park a car in it' day. :)

Kent's brother Ian showed up at 6 a.m. (was actually here 5 minutes early!) and helped us until around noon when Kent had to leave for work and it was getting too hot to be outside. Ian was a great help and has the muscles to do so many things I can't. The biggest pain was getting a hide-a-way couch from the basement outside. While trying to figure out how to finagle the thing into the hallway and up the stairs we realized why it had come with the house. :) Luckily Kent and Ian are strong and creative so they were finally able to get it up the stairs. Then they ran into the problem of the door into the garage. They had to hold the couch up on the stairs while I crawled underneath it and then proceeded to take the door off the frame so the couch could fit through into the garage. What a mess! But a good story we can laugh about later, right? ...much later... ;)

All in all, it went pretty well. We were able to pull most of our stuff out of the garage, unfortunately it is now spread all over my driveway and front lawn. My neighbors are so kind and understanding though, hopefully they know it won't last long. :) We have already gotten rid of several large things and have hopes of getting rid of lots more! Kent and I can't believe we have so much stuff crammed into our garage! Out of sight, out of mind I guess. And we have lived in this house our whole married life so have never had to purge things for a move. It shall plague us no more though! We are getting rid of things like there is no tomorrow! :) It is very liberating and exciting to have this project. It helps fan the flames of the other projects we have going on to organize our house. I can hardly wait to have a house of order (or as close to order as you can get with kids and dogs).

If anyone out there needs a couch or a computer desk (or knows someone who does), stop on by and check out the ones we have on our lawn! ;) (Psst...friends or friends of friends can have them for free! Spread the word!)

Tonight we met up with some friends and my brother to have sushi. Yum! It was a wonderful evening spent enjoying good food and sparkling conversation. Due to the heat and other issues I had had a pretty bad headache all day but took some meds and was feeling pretty good by the time we left for dinner. It is always so great to feel the lack of pain after feeling it. :)

Kent III got to spend a few hours with Grandma Hinkson while we went to dinner and loved every minute of it! They sure spoil him with love and attention when he goes over there and he just eats it up!

We got a lot done today and had some fun too. Tomorrow and Saturday should finish up the garage project so I am looking forward to Sunday. ;)

Hope you had a wonderful 24th of July!

They are the Champions!

Wednesday, July 23rd

Savannah's team won their City Softball League Championship tonight! Hooray!

The first inning the other team (Blue Team) was up to bat first and got 6 runs. When Savannah's team (The Sizzlers) got up to bat they got 5 runs. In the second inning the Sizzler's were able to hold the Blue team to their 6 runs. When the Sizzler's got up to bat the first batter struck out. The second batter got on First, then the third batter got on First (by this time the second batter had stolen her way to Third). The fourth batter got up to the plate and hit into the outfield. The girl on Third was able to make it home. Then girl on First was able to make it home, barely passing the catcher at home who failed to tag her out, winning the game! It was all very exciting!

A picture of the team in the shirts they got for winning:





I am very proud of Savannah and the progress she has made this season as a player. The girls on the team worked hard and deserved to win. They showed great sportmanship and were very excited to win such an intense game.

One of the Mom's got each of the girls a rose. Here is Savannah with hers:



Savannah asked me to take this picture after the game of her leaning on her bat because "I am so exhausted!" Haha!



As a treat, after the game, their very kind coach took all the girls out for a victory dinner at Sizzler's. Only seems appropriate given their team name, don't you think? ;)





Congratulations girls, we are proud of you and your hard work this season!