We went with the neighbors to the Splash Pad. We really enjoy having these kinds of free activities around.
Derrick didn't want to get in the water since it was really windy that day. He doesn't do well with wet and cold wind.
Samantha and KayDee decided to sun bathe to warm up a bit. We forgot swimsuits so colored unders worked well...
While Kevin was gone hunting we took some pictures to say hi to him on Sunday. I sent one to him on his phone and the rest were mostly for the kids since they enjoyed talking about their dad. 
We put "piggy's" in KayDee's hair and had to take pictures to
show dad that.
We gave away four of my neighbor's puppies by Sportsman Warehouse and Costco!
The kids almost sounded like activists say "free the puppies".
It was fun to give my kids that experience, and we did give all of them away.
Samantha is in 2nd grade now and so grown up. Derrick just started kindergarten and so we have two kids growing up so fast. KayDee insists she is all grown up and can go too.
KayDee is still getting used to the idea that she is not going and for the past couple of days has finally not pouted when we drop Derrick off. I have never seen our KayDee pout so much so this is a new experience.
So, we wanted to do something special for Rachel for her birthday and we like to make her fun cakes. Kevin had this brilliant idea to make Campbell soup cakes with a mug cake recipe he has. So on Sunday we made 5 mug cakes in the microwave and I frosted them even though they were a little warm and the frosting oozed a bit. We think they turned out really good! They tasted really good too...super chocolately!
Here is the picture of our "new" truck. We really have enjoyed it. Kevin's co-worker mentioned that I was joining the other small girls that drive big trucks... I've noticed that too, but I have always driven big trucks so this one is easy!
The Primary went on field trip to the Jacob Hamblin home in Santa Clara and they took a pink bus. The bus is owned by some people in town and it is said that they were just fooling around ebay and put a low bid in and got it. It has couches for back seats but the rest looks like a regular bus. 
It was fun to tour the Jacob Hamblin home since there are so many well preserved items to look at. 
The history is really fun because it is about where we live. I'm not sure how they survived the summer heat though...
Finally, the Ipson Reunion has been reinstated and was completely successful. We set the time and the place and the family showed up! This reunion is centered around Kevin's Grandpa Ipson since he would take
his family up to Timid Springs on Beaver Mountain for his birthday, which is around the 24th of July. They would make ice cream and bring it up and hand crank it in the ice cream maker using the ice from the 
"ice caves" next to camp. His grandpa died when Kevin was almost 4 and the families tried to keep going but they stopped. I had never heard of the reunion and how sentimental it was until this year and that is why Kevin and I set the date and invited everyone to come. 
Not everyone showed up but hopefully those who missed this year will come next year.
Kevin and I made ice cream on Saturday and we invited everyone who wanted to come to go get the ice from the ice caves. His aunt gave us some strawberries and so we made a batch of vanilla and one of strawberry and then we plugged our ice cream makers into a generator. The kids watche
d a movie since the generator was on until the ice cream was perfected! Obviously, Kevin enjoyed cleaning up the ice cream hopper. I dished it out throughout the afternoon since the family 
came at different times.
We spent the weekend riding 4-w
heelers, hiking, playing in the dirt, and enjoying the Ipson family. Mandy decided to double piggy back with KayDee and Samantha. Grandma sandwiched our kids on the 4-wheeler for a ride too. We also walked around the pond they shoot cans on to sink. We had bantered with Jerolyn to put her hand gun on her 
belt and told her we would take a picture if she put it on. She came back after a while with her gun on so we gathered everyone who was wearing a hand gun, and put a gun on some of those who were not, and took a picture. Oh the fun we have when we camp and while we are waiting for ice cream.
On Sunday we went to the Junction ward in Circleville and Kevin's cousin was ordained to the priesthood after sacrament meeting. We were impressed at how large the bishop's office was. After, we went back to the Ipson home in Junction and had a potato bar dinner. Jerolyn had found some old photo albums and so we went through those, and she decided that Kevin looks a lot like an Ipson.
Grandpa Ipson gave a real silver dollar to his grandma for their silver anniversary and I took a picture of it. It was even in the original paper that he folded it in to give to her and 
the date is 1922. The other picture that I took was of the house that Kevin's mom grew up in until her teen years. She says she has the most memories in that house.
We visited LeAnn for the first time since they moved to Las Vegas at her "temporary" apartment. They will be buying a home as soon as they find the right one... Anyways, the kids went swimming and it was really fun, even th
ough the water was chilly. Samantha swam without floaters and Derrick and Mason were trading floaters with each other. Maryn was at home in the water and in contrast we got KayDee to swim around a bit. The drive was really great since we didn't have to go on I-15 through the mess of traffic. We went on I-215 which had stops since it isn't quite finished yet, but it is still really nice.
LeAnn came to our house a couple weeks later and the kids enjoyed our sprinklers and kiddie pool. We made pizza and picked really big zucchini that I forgot was growing and gave some to LeAnn. 
We also showed them our chickens and cows. The kids also requested to watch "Pop-Eye" so they laughed together for that too. We are so excited that they are close and we can do fun things together. Kevin has requested that we visit when he is around sometime too, so we will be visiting again soon!
The Laub's have their family reunion over the 4th of July, so we are busy during this weekend. Kevin's cousin read the Fancy Nancy book to all the little girls and then had them dress up fancy for a fun party.
barrel train hooked up to the 4-wheeler and Samantha rode a 3-wheeler by herself. Kevin's cousin only taught her to use 1st gear, which was a good thing because she likes to go fast!
I played softball with most of the cousins and Kevin slept a lot since he was lacking sleep from the rodeo (he finishes each night around 1:00 am). They also played the "Deal or No Deal" game his aunt made.
Everyone was in the parade this year except for me and KayDee. Justin and Rachel drove the white brush fire truck and Kevin drove the red fire truck. Samantha and Derrick rode their bikes, which we decorated with Rachel's help.
There was really no competition for candy this year, since all the kids collecting it were younger than KayDee. She brought her pink backpack to be sure to get enough for Samantha and Derrick.
People threw candy, popcicles and fifty cent pieces.
everyone to come to the flag raising ceremony, which is followed by breakfast at the park. The breakfast is really good too, it includes pancakes, eggs and potatoes.
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The rodeo has come again and the weather was exceptional this year. Usually we are watching in sweltering heat but this time it was 
overcast and threatening rain for the three days, dropping the temperature dramatically..jpg)
The kids enjoyed the usual chicken chase and boot race. The most exciting event occurred when Kevin and I finally got to do the Donkey-Watermelon Race. It was something you just have to experience to understand. Just watching it is an experience, but we actually did it! .jpg)
Our donkey set off running immediately and we both fell off just as immediate. We then chased the animal across the whole arena and Kevin finally grabbed the rope and I grabbed a watermelon. Kevin then proceeded to plow the dirt as the donkey did not want to stop. I followed as .jpg)
he kept telling me to get on the moving animal. I just couldn't do it until he stopped the donkey in the fence. I made it on but the trick was to get 
Kevin on too, which did not happen and I fell off with the melon as it cracked but was still intact. He made that donkey go in circles as he pulled the
rope to make it's head go into its shoulder. Finally, SOMEHOW we got on again right when someone crossed the finish line. There was still no chance for us to finish since our donkey had decided to go the opposite direction with no hope to turn it around. We were both happily exhausted and the watermelon was especially good.
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