Klunker Stikes Again and FHE

Soooooo..... the car story continues. I got my car back on Monday, but as I drove it home, I couldn't help but notice that it was still broken---this time a new problem brought on by the original fix--the anti-lock break that was fixed is now catching and grinding and makes an awful noise and jerk everytime I stop. Very lame. Oh well.... back to the mechanic.

Monday night was fun. We went to Family Home Evening up in Tony Grove and it was gorgeous! We did get eaten alive by mosquitos, but the lake and the wild flowers were sooooo beautiful! I love going up there. I think that it is time to do the hike to Mt. Naomi or White Pine Lake-those are two of my favorite hikes in Logan.
An interesting thing happened at FHE. I was sitting in my nice little camp chair and this girl that I swear I had never seen before says to me, "Daela, didn't I take some classes with you at USU in Technical Writing?" I didn't recognize her at all, so I asked her what her name was. She told me she was Rose and that we were good friends at school. After talking to her all night, I slowly started to remember her and I even remembered one of her school projects. It was really fun to get re-connected with someone from the past. She has been living in Texas for the past 11 years and works for IBM. She was the major technical writing success story from our department. It was just kind of fun.

Klunker Ruins Fun Weekend Plans

Sooooooo, I have this 11 year old car that has been doing GREAT most of it's life. It definitely has served me well. But, since the car theme lately has been repairs, repairs, repairs for many of my friends, I too have been feeling the hit. I have had my car in for repairs at least 3 times in the last 3 weeks. This last one is a lame one though. I took the car in on Wednesday and the mechanic ordered the parts. I told him that I really needed the car no later than Friday afternoon since I was headed up to Star Valley and Jackson Hole this weekend for some camping and white water rafting. Well, he called me up today to let me know that he had ordered the wrong parts and now he has to order new parts and there is no way he can get it finished until tomorrow sometime at the earliest. Sooooooo sad!!!! I was really looking forward to this weekend with the awesome Reeder's. We always have so much fun. I am more than a little bummed about this. Oh well.... maybe it is time to get a NEW and MORE RELIABLE car. I love my car, but this just isn't fair. I guess after 170,000 miles it is ok that it breaks down now and again.... but three times in three weeks? Give me a BREAK!!!

Lake Swimming and Ketchup Potato Chips

The 4th of July weekend was great! We went up to visit my sister-in-law in Republic, Washington. Since Republic is not that far from the Canadian border, we also slipped on up to Grand Forks for some awesome lake swimming (ok, wading) in Christina Lake and a few ketchup potato chips! :) In addition, I had to pick up a large bottle of black currant pomegranite juice! We also realized that the 14 hour drive and near death experience on the road (we almost hit a deer on the way up and ended up swerving 4 times before sliding into the ditch) was totally worth it when we stopped in Grand Forks for some authentic Russian food. We had Borsch, Vareniky, Pelmeni, and my favorite-Goloubtsy (stuffed cabbage rolls).

Over our few days in Republic, we did some more lake swimming in Curlew lake (I actually did swim this time--even though it was much colder), watched a fun fireworks show over the lake while sitting on the dock, and made sea creatures for Shelby's birthday cake. She turned 10 while we were up there. It is so fun to see the girls grow up so fast. It was a lot of fun.

Russian food is pretty common in Grand Forks because Russians founded the small town.

Lake Christina is one of the warmest lakes in British Columbia since it has a thermal area underneath the lake. However, I didn't find it too warm this trip. I didn't even get in all the way and swim. It is quite nice in August though.


Ketchup potato chips are quite the Canadian treat. If you haven't had a chance to try them, find a Canadian import store online. They are kind of like a salt and vinegar or dill chip, but more of a ketchup taste. Yummy!!!

My sister-in-law lives by this lake in Washington. It is great for swimming or pretty much any type of boating.

The town of Republic is the nearest town to Tammy's house. It is a cute little mining town in the mountains. It takes Tam about 15 or 20 minutes to get in to town.

Shelby's birthday cake with lovely sea creatures. All the kids participated (even some of the bigger kids in their 30s and 40s--proving that making sea creatures is fun for all ages!)

Lavender Days

So, I am sure that most of you haven't heard of Lavender Days before--at least I hadn't. It is a small, two-day festival in Mona, Utah, and I just have to say that I LOVED it and am going back next year. It is hosted by Young Living, a company that makes essential oils and has a very large lavender farm in Mona. (The lavender did smell heavenly!) It has all the traditional things that most festivals have, such as a variety of vendors (jewelry, artisan items, home decor, baked goods, etc.), and it had all the traditional food vendors (even though you could see the lavender influence in such items as lavender lemonade and lavender ice cream), and it had a lot of the traditional festival entertainment--an assortment of bands and other entertainers. But, it had a whole lot of stuff that you don't find in a normal festival: classes on cooking, gardening, eating healthy, and lots of other things, a tour through the lavender distilleries, picking lavender in the lavender fields, a 5K run through the lavender, a midieval village including a jousting arena built on the farm, and some really great old fashioned rides, and tons of other things. It was a lot of fun hanging out with my nieces and just enjoying the day. My 3 year old niece was most excited about the Fairy Tea Party for little girls ages 3 to 12. She had so much fun learning the dances and games and eating her lavender cookie with lavender lemonade. But most of all, she was just fascinated by the lavender fairy girls. One of the fairy girls gave her some glitter and told her to make a wish. She told them that for her wish she wanted to be one of them. It was really cute!

Here are a few pics of some of the many things at the festival:

Western Village with an Old West Shoot Out Show

Jousting Tournament with Professional Jousters

Herb Garden

Old Fashioned Rides


Carriage Rides Through the Lavender Fields

Archery

Paddle Boat Rides (Here is my brother and his little 3 year old girl showing off his prowess of being able to paddle both sides of the boat.)

Rock Climbing Walls

A Scottish Pipe Band


A Midieval Village