In the Market

Well the "Money Pit" is finally gone, and by the "money pit", I mean the Chevy van that we used to drive, that sucked the money out of us.........literately it did.

It went somewhat peacefully when the engine blew. It was filled with and surrounded by family when it happened. A great effort to recover the body and it's stranded victims was made. A couple of days later Justin laid it to rest in a Wyoming junkyard, where the working parts could be used to save other vans. Friends and family gathered to remember it's short but painful life. Later it was determined that the reason for the blown engine was the failure to pray before getting in it.

It is a sad but true story. Luckily we were not in the van when it happened, unfortunately Justin's family was.(So sorry...... again guys :)

So we are in the market for a new Van. Any advice would be great. It can be good or bad things based on your experience with different vehicles. We are looking at going foreign maybe Toyota, Nissan or Honda. But I am looking for all the help I can get, I don't want to have to buy another van for a very long time, so let me know what you think.

But I will leave you guys some excellent advice

NEVER BUY A CHEVY VENTURE VAN, AND NEVER EVER, EVER, BUY A VAN IN YAKIMA, WASHINGTON!!!!!

Fun ! Fun! Fun!

Here are a lot of pictures from our summer so far. They are in opposite order from most recent to a while ago. Hope you enjoy!!!

We got back a week ago from Oregon, so here are some pictures from there :)

My uncles own some propriety of land up in the mountains, growing up we always went there for family reunions and camping, it was a lot of fun and a huge blessing for our family. So whenever we visit my family we always go there. It has a pond with rafts and paddle boats, gazebo, swings and my favorite part indoor plumbing (I refuse to use outhouses.....gross).
Wait is that Justin shooting a gun????

I spent a lot of time practicing my shooting. Sometimes I was better than others, I am really not that consistent. But my Dad told Justin that if I am ever angry at him and have a gun, he is in for it, ha ha!!

This is how Sydney spent most of her 4th of July. She loved watching the fireworks, but didn't like listening to them.

Bailee found out the hard way, what happens when you fall out of a tree and land on your nose.

She was lucky that it didn't break, but it did swell and bruise nicely.

I did manage to catch a few of these while visiting my parents. Aren't Grandmas wonderful!!!!
Moving on to my family reunion in Cedar City. The pictures are once again backwards so this is the end of the trip, that is why I don't look very good. 4 days of camping with no make up or sleep and a huge spider bite that swelled and covered my forehead will do that to a person.

Me, my bro Nathan, sis Patty, and bro Timmy(who is still single, if anyone is interested:)

Swimming at the hotel

Camping!!!! The place that we camped at was amazing it had a lot of trees, lots of picnic tables, camping spots and plumbing!! We stayed for 3 nights and 4 days at the camp spot, then we went to St. George and stayed in a hotel for the other night. It was a lot of fun. All my family but one sister and her family were there. All the cousins had so much fun. This is where the kids spent most of there time, at the "fort" as it was called. By the end of the trip the kids were so dirty and tired, but it was well worth it. I loved sitting around the camp fire late at night after the kids went to bed, talking and laughing with my fam. It was so hard to say goodbye, I love my family so much!!!

Time spent boating and fishing at the lake.

Proof that you are never to old to engage in a pine cone fight.

Justin and his nieces Adele and London

This was on Fathers day, doesn't he look so happy.

This is at the Zoo again, we were able to go earlier in the morning when the animals were actually up doing things and eating.

Up close on personal with the Cheetah

I am glad that there is a glass separating that Leopard from my kids, it was eyeing my kids and looking pretty hungry.

This was our trip to Idaho, with Justin's mom and his sister Jen. It was a lot of fun. We were able to see the Idaho Falls and Rexburg temples. Visit our old "stomping grounds", see how much the BYUI and the town has changed. See some friends hang out with family, go on a picnic and sit in a hot tub.

Couldn't have asked for anything better......except for maybe warmer weather.

So far I would say a pretty good summer! After last summer with the worry of finding a job and not getting a job and all of the stress that came with it. I wanted to make sure that this year my kids have a good, fun summer filled with happy memories.

Project 101

Whenever I come to my parents house I get in the mood to do projects. A lot of that is because of the "Perry" genes that run through me. But this project I just couldn't resist. This is the playhouse that my mom and her siblings grew up playing in. Since I grew up, living right next to my grandparents I was able to play in it almost everyday. Now my kids get to play in it. It is kind of surprising how long this house has lasted, but unfortunately the furniture in it did not, except for one piece.

So after 3 different thrift stores and several yard sales, I found these jewels. Priced at $4 and $5, I was so excited!!!!

And transformed them into this......

Perfect furniture for the play house!!!!

A cute little fridge

The Stove before

and after!!!!!

Now I can't take the credit for all of this, my brother and wonderful husband helped out a lot, and my mom took care of the kids so I could work on it. But now that it is done, I am itching for another project...... Any ideas?

Bummer

My marathon training has come to a halt. Hopefully only temporally. Because I really didn't listen to my husband and I decided to run, run,run, in my cheap little 5 dollar shoes. I have shin splints. You know the kind where you are just sitting there than all of a sudden you get that awful sharp pain in your shins. Then when you think that they are fine, you go and test your running legs only to find out that it still hurts. Not to mention my knees feel like bone is grinding on bone whenever I run. Since I don't have any health insurance, and I don't want to injure myself, I have had to put that on the back burner. I am not happy about that because I was doing so well. I was able to run 6.25 miles easily, in 1 hour and my fastest mile (which I know really isn't that fast, but for me it is) was just over 9 minutes. So I have been able to accomplish more that what I thought I would.

So rest for now, let myself heal, than I will be back on track!!!!!!!