Kind of a funny (but not really at the time) story to tell.  Steve's parents were here for a week and his brother, Gary, was here for the weekend with his two boys.  Steve and Erik were gone for several hours on Saturday.  Tanner, age 8, and his cousin, Caden, age 5 (soon to be 6) went outside to eat popsicles.  We hadn't heard from them for a bit so Gary went to check on them.  He looked for about 10 minutes and told us he couldn't find them, so mom, dad, Gary, and I took off to look for them.  Not an easy task on lots of land with a river and a canal running through it.  Gary was on the Polaris Ranger.  I was calling neighbors and Steve .  We couldn't really remember how long it had been since we had seen them, but we knew it was going on over an hour because that's how long we had been searching.  We were up and down the river, the canal, and the little creek that runs by our driveway.  Nothing!  I was starting to get that panicked sick feeling in my stomach.  I was thinking, "how long should I wait to call the police or search and rescue?", or whoever they have here.  We just didn't know where else to look.  We asked dad to go look one more time in the basement and SURE ENOUGH, there they were!!  They were in a back room, door closed, lights outs, laying on pillows watching Monsters, inc. on Tanner's little DVD player!  AAAHHH!  Gary and I had a little chat with them (I did most of the talking!).  I was trying to explain to the boys that we had been looking for them and that I had even come in the basement (so had Gary) and called Tanner's name.  I didn't call very loudly because Gary's little guy was sleeping.  I directed the call towards Tanner's bedroom and they had been at the other end of the hall.  I said, "Didn't you guys hear me calling?"  Tanner said no, but Caden said, "I did!"  His dad asked why he didn't answer and the only thing I could come up with is that I didn't say Caden's name.  When I told the boys we were getting close to calling search and rescue, Tanner said, "what's that?"  Caden's reply was, "oh, they're like superheroes."  It was all his dad could do to not crack up laughing.  He had to turn his head and try not to let the boys know he was chuckling.  I said, "well, I guess they could be like superheroes."  It was hard to get too upset with the boys since they had been in a safe place and really had done nothing wrong.  We just let them know that when they come in to check in with us and when they go out to check in with us.  Whew. . .that was a scary hour and a half!

After that it was time to get ready for the Demolition Derby.  We went up the canyon to be with some friends who were having a big group dinner before the derby.  It started raining just before we got there and by the time we left it was pouring.  The car temp showed 67 degrees.  It was about 85 when we left our house.  I didn't even think of it raining.  I debated over whether to wear a long sleeved shirt or not, but I  thought, "no, I can handle the cool air for a short time."  But I wasn't planning on it raining!  We got to the derby and it seemed to be clearing up.  The weather changed quite a few times while we were there.  In addition to the rain, cold, and wind, there was dirt flying from the cars spinning their tires.  I would cover my face until I thought the dirt and dust had passed by and bring my hands down just in time to get a face full of dirt!  It was killing my eyes.  Finally my sister, Cristi, and her husband, Jeff,  and I decided we were miserable enough.  We left at 8:30 thinking it wouldn't last much longer, but we waited for everyone else until about 10:00.  It wasn't even over then, but the kids had had their fill.  They were ready to leave.  It was over 3 hours of demolition derby!!  I just can't remember it lasting that long in the past. . .but maybe the bad weather made it seem longer.  You would think I would know after a year of living here to be prepared for any type of weather!

Steve and Erik left today for a week long scout camp, and Tanner has day scout camp today and tomorrow. . . .WOOHOO!  But don't get too excited for me yet. . . Holly and I have the wonderful task of moving sprinkler pipes this week.  That's usually Erik's paid job for the summer, but what's a wife and mother to do when the boys are out of town?!?  We have to keep the alfalfa green and growing!  We are up at 7:00 a.m. to move them, then we turn them off at 7:00 p.m.  It's quite a workout.  I'm hoping for bulging biceps by the end of the week!

Still waiting for a letter from our missionary this week.  His p-days are Thursdays and we usually get a letter by Saturday, but I don't know how things worked in the MTC over the 24th.  It's not a national holiday, but it is a state holiday.  We better get one today.  I'll update when we receive a letter.