Our 14th Wedding Anniversary

This week Kent and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. We went to BJ's Brewery for dinner. The night before that we went to the Aerosmith concert. It was at Cricket Pavilion, so since it was about 116 that day, it was pretty hot. (Snapped this picture before we started melting... After that my hair was pulled into 2 pigtails. It totally killed my rocker chick ensemble.) We were 12 rows back from the stage so we were able to see everything really well.
While we were waiting for ZZ Top to take the stage this rocker dude sat in the seat next to Kent. And the guy proceeded to talk and talk and talk. I was dying. When they took the stage he kept yelling, cheering, singing along, etc. It was so obvious that Kent was not wanting to have an ongoing conversation with this guy. During the intermission the guy went to the railing on the side because the air was actually a bit cooler there. Kent went over there too because he all needed to cool off before Aerosmith took the stage. Before I joined him I noticed that Kent was talking to rocker dude. And he was the one initiating the conversation. So I snapped this picture. LOL
If you want to see more pictures it's on my Facebook page.

Baptism

Tonight my dad's wife, Ann, and her daughter, Erica, were baptized as members of the church. We didn't know they were taking the discussions so it was even more exciting for us to be invited to and attend their baptisms. They had really great speakers who spoke about baptism and confirmation. They had great messages, and the Spirit was very strong. It was really neat to be a part of it. They are getting confirmed in sacrament meeting tomorrow, but we won't be able to attend that. I am subbing on the organ for our sac. mtg., accompanying on the piano for a vocal solo, playing the piano in RS, and Trevor is giving a talk in primary. Since their church time conflicts with ours we can't make it work. :-(
I want to congratulate them on their decision to be baptized, and welcome them as members of the church. What an exciting time!

You know when you're really behind...

... and it feels like you're never going to get caught up? That's me. Right now. It's kind of stressing me out. I'm subbing on the organ in church for the next 2 weeks. I haven't done it for a while, but that's okay. I'm still the RS pianist so I'll be doing that on Sunday too. I also have to make sure the sign-ups for the ward talent show are being passed around, and need to drum up interest. I found out today that our Activities Committee Chairwoman is moving to UT in 3 weeks! (Yikes! I'm happy for her, but I'm going to miss you and your great ideas!) We have our huge talent show in 6 or 7 weeks and so much to do! It isn't necessarily hard work, but it is a lot of work. We can do it!

The kids start school again in 3 weeks. The summer has gone by so fast! We're still waiting to find out who their teachers are and what supplies they need. (Now that I personally know some of their teachers I really want to help contribute to the classroom when I can. I had no idea that they had to spend so much of their personal money on their classrooms.) I don't want to go school shopping right now. Really, if we have to go outside at all, even just to walk to and from the car, none of us are really motivated to do anything. We're having the hottest July on record so far, and when the temperatures are over 110* for days on end, it's just not fun to be outside- even to swim. It's midnight, and the temperature is right around 100*. Sigh. My kids keep fighting, and it started when the temps got and stayed so hot.

This week was also Kent's birthday. I have been to 4 stores to find his gift, but have been unable to find it. It's not something I can really get online either, so I'll have to venture out into the heat again at some point. I did make him a good birthday dinner with Justin's help on the grill. One of our family traditions is to find out what the birthday person's current favorite dish is and make it. This year Kent wanted rib eye, asparagus, salad (not from a bag- yuck!), and baked potatoes. I upped it a little and made twice baked potatoes. Natalie LOVED them. She is in the phase where she hates everything except 1 or 2 items,... She ate almost one half of a large baking potato. She even liked the pizzas I'd made the day before. (Amazing because she hates homemade pizzas. Apparently they're gross.) I just have to record for posterity that she actually liked 2 homemade meals on consecutive days.

Natalie went to 2 birthday parties on Thursday. The first was a polka dot party. Everything they did used circles... bubbles, dot-to-dots, etc. After that we swam at Grandma Julie's house. We left there, stopped at Grandma Susan's house, and then got her ready to go to another friend's diva birthday party. They got picked up in a white stretch limo! I've never even been in a limo. They had dinner and saw the Ice Age movie. Natalie came home with a HUGE gift bag full of stuff. She had a blast.

Justin and Trevor both had a friend over Monday night so they (minus Trevor) could have an air soft war early the next morning. I just don't get it. They had to wear long sleeve jackets, protective gear, hats, etc. I think I'd die of heat stroke within minutes if I dressed like that right now. They also have been trying to stay up late so they can play X-Box Live with their friends. I don't get that either...must be a boy thing...

I've made the kids read every day, and Natalie and Drew have workbooks that I make them work on every day. Drew's not too keen on them right now. I did promise him $5 if he finished so that's helping. He LOVES the Dollar Spot at Target. He bought a little yellow broom and dustpan there a month or two ago. He lost it, and for 3 weeks that's all we heard about. We went to several other Targets here and in UT, but they were all gone. (Remember that stubborn streak I wrote about recently? Big time in play with that thing.) Justin found it last weekend, and Drew carries it with him everywhere, cleans with it (yay!), and even sleeps with it. I need to get him to teach the other kids to be obsessed with cleaning. (I'll have to post a picture because it's HILarious! Seriously.

Alright. I'm so hot that I can't think straight. You know it's hot when the AC and ceiling fans don't offer enough cool air. I suppose I could crank the AC, but I think Kent would lose it when the power bill came. There was even a story today about AC's. I thought it was pretty funny.

I know, I know...

I know I need to update. I'm about a month behind where I want to be in my blogging. Lots of stuff has happened, and it's been so busy that I haven't had time to post. Today is Kent's birthday so I hope after I finish with dinner preparations for tonight I might actually have time to post. (I wouldn't hold my breath, though!)