Happy Aquisitions

I feel like a grown up.  Not for the first time mind you, however this is one of the few times I have actually liked it!   We bought a boat.  We have been talking about it for a while.  In fact we had planned on  buying one in the spring, but after a few changes in the court calendar it looked like we would have to wait until next summer.  But a few weeks ago we decided to rethink things.   We decided that it would be better to get something smaller and not quite as nice as we had wanted,  rather than wait.  Patience, as we all know, is not one of my strong points.

I found a clean little boat that is in excellent shape for way less money than we thought we would need to spend.  Jeff happily indulged me and bought it.  He has been consumed by finding just the right tower and racks for the boards,  and the speakers he ordered for my music came this week.  I've lost track now, but I know that I spent 9 of the first 14 days we owned the boat out on the lake.

The result has been a permanent grin on my face, and my children telling me I am too tan. I have mastered hooking up the boat, backing up with the trailer, unloading it into the lake and loading it back up again...all by myself!  In fact last week I took my friend Brandi and four kids out to the lake for a few hours.  After loading everything back up to go home she grinned at me and proudly stated, "Jen, you da man!!"  I took it as a compliment...

Jeff has come out with us as often as he can,  but his day job doesn't include entertaining a bunch of young boys and mine does.   Needless to say this is MY toy, and I spend as much time out in it as I can.  Usually behind the drivers seat, but I have snuck in a handful of rides on the wakeboard!

Already we have created so many memories. 

 Countless hours of family fun are awaiting us and we can't wait to take advantage of it!

Heavy Hearts

Looks can be deceiving.  You might look at these pictures and see scenes that look just like most of our summer nights this year.

A bunch of friends BBQing for the 3rd,4th, or even 5th night in a row and cooling down in the Rickard's pool.  You might see all the smiles and imagine all the laughter that was definitely there.  

You'd see what is obviously several families, but probably not know that we have become just like one big family.  

 You'll notice packs of boys all the same ages who wrestle around like brothers. 

Groupings of little girls who giggle and play and squabble just like sisters.  

 If you look very closely though  you'll see behind the smiles are more than a few red rimed eyes. 

You won't be able to see the heavy hearts, or the ones that are slightly cracked or in the process of breaking, but it's true, they were.  This wasn't just like every other summer night, as much as we tried to make it be.  

This was the last night our big family had together before saying "see ya later" to the Poulsens.  Goodbyes are too hard and too sad.  South Dakota is a bit far for a weekend at the beach, a birthday lunch, or a morning run,  a round of golf, mat time at Bad Donkey Wrestling or a session at the batting cages, a kid swap for sleepovers on Friday nights, or dinner and a movie just to get out of the house with the grown ups.  Two years isn't forever but to young best friends it sure can feel like it.  

For old ones, we just know that a lot can change in two short years, and all we can do is hope that the plan doesn't change course. 

 Lucky for us South Dakota isn't too far for regular phone calls, silly texts, sending yummy treats, or planning fun vacations.  We also know that when seeds of love are planted in our hearts it doesn't take proximity for them to grow or flourish!  

Disneyland

It has been called the happiest place on earth, and on July 22 when the youth and several families from our ward invaded Disneyland, that was definitely the case!

We laughed and danced our way through the long lines, starting with Space Mountain!

We took silly pictures

And we took the traditional pictures...

Never have I screamed as much on a ride, as I did my first time on Tower of Terror.  The veteran riders, Shelley, Kylie and Garrett were happily screaming and laughing as our picture was taken.  Drew and I are the newbies here and you can see it on our faces.  I had to just sit and catch my breath after the ride was over .  Whew, but what a blast!!

My favorite ride for screaming remains California Screamin'.  We all looked more than a little wind blown after that one!

Some people even let out a little scream as we passed by this tough lookin' cat in Tarzan's tree house!

After all the excitement of Indiana Jones we were ready for a  little down time on Mark Twain's Steamboat.

  

When there was just time for one last ride for the night, we decided to make a final attempt to get onto the  Grizzly River Run.  We missed the heat of the day for this one because of maintenance and then exceedingly long lines.  We decided the ponchos sold at the gift shop were going to be a necessity.

We lucked out!  The lines were short and we made it on twice!  Our $6 ponchos however didn't keep us entirely dry!

We went home that night wet, tired and deliriously happy!   What a day at the Happiest Place on Earth!