We Saw Obama's "Happy Place"

 

Obama must love Palm Desert.  I guess it is close to Palm Springs and he can see our tax dollars at work every time he goes golfing there.

Law's California Adventure

We set out on our adventure on Sunday, August 4.  We stayed in the Woolstenhulme's condo the first night and then finished our trip on Monday.

This is the first time our kids have traveled in somthing with less than seven seats.  It was an adjustment, but they survived and we saved a lot of gas.  Each time they tried to complain, I was quick to remind them of the "one and only" family vacation I had as a teenager.  We had six kids and one mom in a two door Honda Accord and "we were happy!"  ha ha  That shuts them up really fast.

Lunch break at tourist central.  Not because it was somewhere cool to see, but simply because it was in the middle of nowhere and every tour bus was very hungry by then.  We did find a squished penny machine!

We drove to Palm Desert to meet two of Bo's favorite families.  WE had dinner with the Duarte family.  They made us a feast of carnitas and everything else you could imagine with it.  We had the most delicious ice cream bars (from the ice cream man) before dinner and then the most gigantic mexican pastries after dinner.  We were literally stuffed!
We had an impromptu talent show to boot.  Mariah clogged, Dave moon walked, their daughter sang and their son did a hip hop dance.  It was pretty impressive to say the least!

 

 

We got to the Torres' house after our amazing dinner.  Bo got to baptize Stella (on the right)).   The only one who could speak English was Carla, who is in the picture below by Bo.  She interpreted the conversations that were going on and she even interpretted the missionary discussions for Stella even though she isn't even a member of the church. 

It was so much fun to see the love they have for Bo and they were just so surprised that Bo really came back.  They said that all the missionaries say they will com, but most never do.  We could tell that it meant a lot to them that Bo actually did.
The two additional best things about visiting Palm Desert in August are that hotel rooms are very cheap because it is soooo hot.  The other great thing was that I was able to use the "good vibes" that we were having on vacation mode, to convince Cado and Bo that they needed haircuts!  That made the trip worth it just for that!

They Are Still So Cute At Family Prayer

 

Orangeville Days

Ready for another candy filled parade at Orangeville Days.

 

Notice the empty sacks?  They will soon be filled with candy.

Brooke was thrilled that they threw out bubble gum because that was one thing she could eat.

 

Even the adults got into the candy gathering.  Dave and Dallin were in a stiff competition for Bit O Honeys.  Orangeville seems to have a secret stash of them.

Just look at Dave's face!  Just like a kid in a candy shop.

Cado's stash.

Orangeville Days races.

 

A bit of the winnings.  Which we all spent on the Duck Races...and unfortunately lost.

Teen Survivor.  The Law's usually dominate the teen games.  This year...they were BEAT!  Next year they will be back for revenge.

 

The final Survivor challenge.  Eating gross food.  We witnessed a lot of heaving and undigested food.  Mariah is trying her hand at sardines.

Kellen saved the team by actually getting most of his food down.  And, he just had his wisdom teeth out and can't even chew!

Evan eating anchovies.

Dallin came in as the "pitch hitter" to eat the pickled pigs feet.  Even with that, the Law's couldn't pull into the lead.  We need to do a little more food training for them.  Had these been cookies, candies, cakes and etc.  these kids would have won for sure!

The Orangeville 5K

Most of the Law Family wimped out on the Orangeville 5K Saturday morning, simply because it was at 6:30 a.m. and they didn't want to get up.  We did wake up to a "cheering door" where we had all sorts of positive advice to get us going. 

Here is the representation of the Dam runners.  Can you see that Brooke AND Hunter ran!  Yep, an eight month pregnant Brooke, a 46 year old woman, an even older man and two youngsters..Lexie and Evan!

We may have been small in numbers but we still made the Law name look GOOD!

 

Here's our Winnings.  Brooke got second in her age division (remind you...she is 8 months pregnant!).  I got second female overall and first in my age division.  Can you see that money???  Yep, this is the first time I have earned my entrance fees back.  It was great.  Evan got second in his age division and Dave even got second in his.  We definitely felt like we represented the Law family very well, but we better see some more participation next year!

Us, at our door.  We will forever be known as the Dam Runners.

Cado Meets Coda

Cado had promised his most favorite second cousins, Austin and Lincoln, that he would give them a puppy this year!  Little did he know that their mom, Shandie, would also have a baby right at the same time this puppy was ready to go to their house.  Needless to say, they got their puppy and a new baby sister at the exact same time.  It may have been a little stressful for the parents, but the boys seem pretty happy with the deal.  They named her "Coda" in honor of "Cado!"  She is looking awesome and I'm pretty sure these four will be buddies forever.

Summer Home Improvements

This summer's home improvement project was to get new carpet.  I have been so excited for this.  Our old carpet really was old...at least 25 years old and when we pulled it up we were quite surprised to see the mounds of dirt underneath it.  That definitely made us even more happy that we were getting NEW carpet and cleaning up that dirt!  The hardest part of the who project was moving Dayton and Bo's giant furniture pieces.  Once again, we called on the "strong guys" to come help us and we promised them that they would not have to move this furniture EVER again!

Cleaning out our bedroom carpet.  It was white and way past time to go!  Whoever puts white carpets in their houses should be shot.

 

It was quite handy having our bed in the living room.  I caught Mariah napping there a few times.

The new carpet going in.

Once it was down, I really didn't even want to move furniture back. I have decided that I like empty rooms!

Finished family room

Finished living room

Finished bedroom

The get ready room

The new stair rail!  Love it.