Scalloping 2022

One last fun excursion while the Parker's were here was we decided to go scalloping! We drove out Sunday evening and stayed the night to save us from having to get up so early the next day. Well as we were getting ice and fueling up, Jackson noticed the boat was sitting on the trailer's wheel well. Not good. A steel part of the trailer that holds the boat up had snapped. We were in a bit of a pickle because we didn't want to drive any further with the boat like that. But we needed the boat off the trailer to fix it. But if we couldn't fix it there would be no way to get the boat back on. Here is where Daniel's handy dandy brain always is clutch. We unhooked the boat and left it at the gas station momentarily. Went to a trailer parts store nearby and then went to Home Depot. About this time Ryan is here with his crew. They jack the boat up, (also to note, Daniel always brings his power tools with him - luckily) take the runner out, drill in a replacement bracket, drop the boat back down and Voila! We are ready to rock and roll (just a couple hours later). It put a little bit of a damper on our day because we got a late start, and then Daniel also didn't want to be driving the boat home in the dark so he could keep an eye on that wheel well so we didn't scallop for very long... only a couple hours when we usually stay all day. We still had a good time. And we found a decent amount of scallops. But I only snapped a picture of the deck swabs shucking the scallops once we got home. Hopefully next year will be a little more successful. 

The 4th of July

We had been in our house for exactly 1 week and 2 days when the 4th of July rolled around. Ryan and Heather had the Parker's in town for the sealing and wanted to use our lakefront to take them out on the boat. We still had some extended family from Utah in town for the sealing and we needed a place to party for the 4th... looks like it was going to be us, ready or not!! Since we were already having so much family coming, why not just invite anyone that needs a place to play for the 4th? So that's exactly what we did!! Bring your own chair and bring something yummy to share! We broke in the new outdoor kitchen and grill, provided the hot dogs and hamburgers and had the most fun day! There was a ton of food and drinks left over from the reception Saturday, including paper goods, that Heather brought over. Ryan had his boat and was taking people wake surfing. We had spike ball going on, corn hole, paddle ball, a game of football at one point, people paddleboarding. We had bought a huge floatation device from Sam's club that the kids played on in the lake. There was something for everyone and was a huge success. I remember looking around at one point, seeing everyone busy doing something somewhere with friends, family, people visiting, laughing, playing, etc... and my heart was so happy!! Just exactly what I wanted for our house to be. The weather was perfect and no one ever even needed to come inside. We had at least 80 people!! Isn't that crazy?! Didn't seem like it. But it was perfect... a few plastic spoons stopping up the pool vacuum and maybe I had to look the other way when I saw a young child dump a cup of Diet Coke into the pool... but all in all, it was a great holiday. We saw some pretty amazing fireworks from across the lake and lit some sparklers of our own. 

Maddie and Ben's Sealing

Just a short month after our return from Ireland we attended Maddie and Ben's sealing in the Orlando Temple. It was a beautiful ordinance and the reception afterwards at Wild Florida was an absolute blast! I just only took a couple pictures and none was of the bride and groom. But Ivy was in all of them! 

A few more from June...

Can't resist these 2 game playing cousins. 

Snagged a quick family pic at Kaden's mission call opening.

Father's Day! Breakfast in bed for this fantastic father!!

Ivy and Benny got to skip out on moving day and attended our stake primary day camp. Corn hole and Gaga ball were just a couple of the fun activities.

And this cute little pup seemed to not miss a beat with the move... he loves running around the property and has figured all his new spots out just fine. 

Our New Pool

The kids love the new pool. Especially that hot tub, even when it isn't hot. Super fun sitting, diving, hanging, etc... 

June Fishing

Jackson tried to show his new friend, Ty, the ropes this summer. They had me drop them off in Harmony. Jackson did catch 6 fish and enjoyed it but Ty caught none. So not sure if that is considered successful or note. 

Fishing the Nova Bay pond would soon be a thing of the past so they got in as much fishing as they could... and it wasn't too bad!

Gulf coast red snapper run was successful. They drive 2 hours by car to the gulf coast, motor 3 hours out by boat, try and catch their limit, and then turn around and come home. 10 hours commute for 2 hours of fishing.... worth it? You be the judge. (they do it every year so you know their answer!)

The House!

We have some nice photos of the house once it was all done that our builder took with their drone, but these are just my progress pictures through the month of June. We saw some really big, fun changes happen. We had sod laid everywhere. That made a huge difference!!! All the cabinets going in was super fun to see. The stairs got finished! We had our garage floors done which was a little bit of a splurge but we are so happy with how they turned out! And finally the pool got filled!! So fun to see everything come together!