The Dog Days of Summer

Few things make my heart smile as much as watching our boy play with our dog. Hudson loves drenching Oakley with the hose and I think Oakley enjoys it just as much, if not more. They are so good together. This totally makes up for when Oakley was an indoor puppy and would chase Hudson around and bite onto Hudson's arms and clothes, putting holes in them (his clothes, not his arms) and I would cry in frustration. And it makes up for the chewed drawer in our bathroom, the chewed up vacuum cord, and all the housebreaking accidents. He's a good dog. And Hudson's a good boy.

Jeff was mowing the lawn at the same time they were playing, hence the green dog. He just rolled and rolled in the fresh cut grass.

The Bees Knees

We've been so busy lately with our foster care classes (tonight will be our 6th out of 8....almost there!) and swimming lessons (Hudson doesn't like them very much and cries most of the time), and doctor appointments and dentist appointments....and laundry and dishes and life in general. Whew. Hopefully life will slow down a little after July. But I thought I'd post a couple of pictures to keep you updated.

Hudson has decided he wants to start wearing a tie to church. He doesn't have one of his own so he has borrowed Daddy's for the past couple of weeks. I'm trying to be the mom that lets him express his personality even if it's not something I would choose. I think it's adorable in a goofy kind of way and he gets lots of compliments at church about it.

This is a wasp nest that has been growing in our basement window since early spring. We thought it was kind of cool and decided to leave it so we could watch it grow and it got huge (I would say roughly the size of a cantaloupe)! Luckily none of us have been stung, but the wasps were starting to get pretty plentiful, so we decided it was time for it to go before we got stung. We wanted to keep the nest, though, so we had to come up with a plan to kill the wasps without damaging the nest. So we waited until night when all the wasps (and neighbors, in case something went wrong) were in bed, covered the window well with a tarp and sealed off all access. Then Jeff opened the window in the basement and put a fogger in the window well and shut the window. Then we were able to watch the madness. All the wasps started to fly out of the hive and boy were they ticked. We put our ears to the window and we could hear the buzzing. There were a ton of wasps and it was so cool to watch them writhe in pain! Moowahahahaha!
The next day we cut the nest down (I was surprised at how heavy it was) and found it was full of wasp larvae and there was still a live wasp in there. We tied it up in a plastic bag and will probably put it in the deep freezer for a few days to make sure everything is good and dead.

4th of July

Pretty much the only reason we went to Provo's 4th of July parade was because my Grandpa Schumann was in it (ok, and I like parades. Jeff...not so much). As the picture shows, he is a World War II Veteran. Words can't describe the love and respect I have for this guy. He's the best guy in the world and I am blessed to call him my grandpa. My heart was swelled up with pride as he went by and I wanted to shout to the crowd "This is MY grandpa!" and show him off to everyone. Almost all the girls in our family ran up to him and gave him hugs and kisses and I was happy to do the same.

Isn't he the cutest?

Our little family practically melting at the parade.

After the parade we met up with Jeff's family and drove up Payson canyon to Maple Lake. We ate fried chicken and then went fishing.

Hudson caught one.

Jeff decided to go for a swim in the lake. I was so tempted to join him but with the thunder clouds rolling in and with things to still do for the remainder of the day, decided against it.

Going for a ride in a kayak that Jeff's nephew built.

You have to eat watermelon on the 4th, of course.

After the lake we switched families again and met my mom and fam for fireworks. I thought I forgot our camera so I didn't get any pictures, but later found out it had been in the car all along. Argh. Oh well. We were a little disappointed with the fireworks this year. Oh well. It was still a fun day. Long, hot, and tiring, but fun.
I am so grateful for the freedom we enjoy and for the sacrifices of those that have served and now serve our country. Thank you. I love my freedom and I'm proud to be an American!