Mowing Lawns

 Rockwell has his regular lawns that he mows each week. He's picked up a couple new ones this summer. I love that neighbors see his good work around the neighborhood and ask him to do theirs too. Way to be awesome Rockwell!! One of Paul's old students asked him if he could hire Rockwell to come mow his parents' yard in Pleasant Grove just one time. They are moving and so they wanted it done before they leave. The kid did not mention how overgrown the yard was, and it took them such a long time to get it all done. The kid's dad was home when they were mowing and told Paul that his son was supposed to mow it for them, but had put it off for weeks. He felt bad that his son had hired someone else to do it and paid Rockwell almost double what they had agreed on. They sure made it look good!!

Tessa and Damon have been splitting up the Martial's properties while they're out of town. It's hot, hard work, but they love earning the money it pays.

Tessa and Damon split the cost of a slip-n-slide. They have had so much fun on that this week!

It has been so hot lately, and so this has been the perfect activity to cool down with.

Rockwell and Damon played on it one day while Tessa was out mowing.

I love these next pictures! Rockwell was just chilling in the little pool of water at the bottom. You can see Damon up at the top, and he's just gestured at me to "ssshh, don't tell Rockwell." 

He slid down and crashed into Rockwell.

And Rockwell immediately started wrestling and splashing him. Haha. It's definitely much more of a rough activity with the two brothers on it than when Tessa and Damon do it together. :)

Hallee came over while Rockwell was at Wyatt's party. They had fun on the slip-n-slide too.

Life Lately

 I took the kids to Airborne to use our GetOut passes.

Rockwell and I ran the Temple to Temple 5k on Pioneer Day again. The Provo Temple has been demolished though, so it wasn't quite as pretty of a starting line this year.

Rockwell and his team got right up at the front of the start line.

He had a great run and finished in 16:55!!! My goodness that's fast! They didn't have a clock at the finish line this year, so I don't know my time. I did my best to calculate from Rockwell's watch what time we started (it was delayed for quite a while) and figure my time was right around 25 minutes again. It was a hot run, but a fun one.

Al & Keith, Wyatt, Hallee, and Lindy and her date Mathius came over for a bbq on the 24th of July. The kids played outside all evening and the adults had some great time to visit. Paul grilled burgers and hot dogs and had a good setup to try and not die of heat. :)

After Lindy and Mathius left we played Skull King with Rockwell and Wyatt. It was a fun day!

Rockwell went to Wyatt's birthday party on Friday. They swam at Katie's house and had an awesome time!

Rockwell went home with Wyatt afterwards and spent the rest of the evening there. He loved spending Wyatt's birthday with him!

Silver Lake Hike

 Mel and I met at the base of American Fork Canyon Tuesday morning and she got in the truck so we could drive up to the trailhead. I felt more comfortable driving the dirt road this time, but it was just as slow and just as bumpy and bouncy as the first time. It's one of those things that you just have to experience to truly understand how bouncy it is. :) It's very hard to explain it in words. We made it though, and were excited to hit the trail.

We saw a deer pretty close up as well as a beautiful hummingbird. There were a few times we could see the river and had to cross it once.

The lake was really beautiful!

We walked around one side of the lake, and also tried to find a trail that's supposed to lead to another smaller lake, but we weren't able to find it and didn't want to risk getting lost. We enjoyed the beauty for a while and then headed back down.

It was so nice to get out and hike! That was my first hike this year, and now I just want to go on another one. :) It was great to get all that time to talk with Mel and catch up on each other's lives. We had a good laugh on the way down the dirt road feeling like a couple of "wild gals" spending our morning off-roading and bush-whacking. Haha!

Everyday Adventures

Our Young Women class went rappelling at Battle Creek Falls. We needed to go at 4:30 so we would have enough light, so only a few girls could make it. 

It was a very hot hike up to the falls! But it was so much fun to rappel down!

Tessa tried so hard, but decided she was too afraid to sit back over the drop and jump down. The Moncur's like to take our class every summer, so hopefully Tessa will try again next year. She and Meg enjoyed playing in the water down below better. :)

It was really fun to have Roxi there with us, we love her!

Dante came over and spent a few hours with us last week. It was really good to see him and see what he's made of his life these past two years. He has a job at Harmon's that he's very good at. He's done what he needs to to be accepted into the Marine Corps, and is hoping to ship out in the next few weeks. Tessa wasn't home, but the boys sure loved having him over. He jumped on the tramp with them and taught Rockwell some tips on how to do a back flip. I'm glad he came and spent time with us before he leaves.

Tessa was at Hallee's birthday party that day. They went to Splash Summit and had so much fun! I can't believe Hallee is 12 and will be in junior high next month!!

Mel and I wanted to do a hike, but we were interested in trying one we've never done before. I read about the hike to Silver Lake up American Fork Canyon in my hiking book, but we've heard that you need a truck or jeep to get up to the trailhead. Once you pass Tibble Fork, there's 3 miles of dirt road that leads to another lake called Silver Lake Flat Reservoir. The trailhead for Silver Lake begins there at that reservoir. There are very few lakes to hike to in Utah County, and so I really wanted to do this one. I was nervous about what the drive would be like though, so I asked Paul to drive it with me so I could check it out. We threw the paddle boards in the back of the truck and figured we might as well make a date out of it.

The 3-mile drive was so intense! I could not believe how bumpy it was and how slow we had to go. Plus it's a narrow road, and you're on the cliff side on the way up. My whole body was so tense the whole time. By the time we pulled into the parking lot at Silver Lake Flat, I was 85% certain I would never make that drive again. Paul and I got on the lake though, and it was beautiful and peaceful and I started to convince myself that I was capable of driving it again. I had done it successfully, so I COULD do it. It just wasn't a super fun experience, but that doesn't mean I can't do it.

 We enjoyed the water for a while and then went over and checked out the trailhead. I really really wanted to make it happen, so I decided I would try driving down. The drive down was easier, and by the time we were out of the canyon, I was determined that I could do it again. :)

It was very sweet of Paul to drive up there with me, and so fun to have a date night at the lake with him.