Random Act's of Kindness

We decided this past week to have Random Act's of Kindness week. We sat down with a list of idea's, picked our favorites, and then went to work. Our first stop was the library. We left notes attached to one dollar bill's in books throughout the children's section of the library. On the note it told them that we we're doing a random  act of kindness, to pass on a random act of kindness to someone else, and to buy themselves a treat. I can imagine how excited a kid would be to open up their library book to find money.

We tried to pick popular books like Harry Potter so we knew someone would get the money quickly.

Hopefully someone enjoyed our little surprise, and will do something kind for someone else in return.

Next we put free bubbles in several parks by our home. After dark one night we set these bubbles on the playground in fun places for someone to find and enjoy while playing at the park.

This one will forever be a fun memory for us. We decided to take doughnuts to the fire station with a nice note thanking them for all they do in the community. When we got to the door we didn't know quite what to do. I finally rang the door bell which embarrassed the kids, and minutes later out came a HUGE firefighter. He was very tall and very muscular. His arms we ginormous. We all froze and didn't know what to say. I think he just totally took us by surprise. I finally spoke and said that we just wanted to bing them a treat, and he responded by offering to show us the fire truck. We all said no thank you and walked away. AWKWARD! When we got back in the car Aliza said "whoa his muscles were huge." and we all bust up laughing.

We took treats to members of our ward one night which was fun to ring the door bell and run. We left a nice note for our mailman with a gift certificate to get a treat, and sent love e-mails to three of our most favorite people. Lastly, we did sidewalk chalk in the driveway of some other people we love in our ward. The girls were really nervous doing the sidewalk chalk because they didn't want to get caught, but it turned out really cute. We all wrote fun messages and pictures on their driveway for our friends to find the next morning. It was a fun week of service that we will have to do again sometime soon.

Summer Fun

This past Saturday we decided to go for a morning hike. There is a trail close by our home that winds up a hill to a spectacular view of Las Vegas. Not long after we started our hike Abbie spotted a rattlesnake crossing the path right in front of her. Abbie and Micah were a few steps ahead of us so we didn't really realize what was happening until we heard Abbie scream and then she burst into tears. The snake wasn't coiled up or anything so we just stayed back and watched it for awhile. 

I tried to take a picture of the snake, but he was really hard to see in the rocks. If you look closely at the picture below you can see it. The snake wasn't very big, but we could see his rattle at the end of his tail.  We walked up the path a short distance more, but we were all kind of freaked out, so we went home.

There were a lot of cool lizards out that morning too. This lizard on the rock was really fun to watch. It was the biggest lizard I have ever seen just in the wild.

After our hike we took off to the Techatticup Mine in Nelson, Nevada. It was about a 30 minute drive from our house, but worth the trip. We took a guided tour of the mine and learned a lot of Nevada history. I personally loved seeing all the old mining buildings, equipment and how the couple living there now discovered these mines.

They have filmed a hand full of movies out there, and I found it interesting how many album covers and photography were taken out in this little ghost town. I had to chuckle when they brought out the "Thunder From Down Under" calendar with all the pictures done in that area.

They showed us a movie clip where Kevin Costner blows up a gas station and this air plane. The remains are still there which was kind of fun.

It was really hot outside but I still made the girls take a picture in front of this cool building. Even with all the grumbling, I love this picture. We ended that day with the ward pool party at the Multigenerational Rec Center. Aliza was finally able to go down the water slide because they were not checking for height requirements. She has been wanting to go on that waterside for years, and she was finally able to do it. Some of the downsides of being a shorty. It was a lovely evening with our ward members.

One afternoon last week Avery and Abbie had a birthday party to go to, so Aliza and I went on a date. Of all the places to chose for our lunch date, she chose McDonalds. She loves the idea of getting her own kids meal, and I guess it is a special treat because we rarely go there. We had a wonderful few hours together. Man I'm going to miss her when she is in school all day.

We took a trip to the Silverton hotel to watch them feed the sting ray's. We hadn't been for awhile, so it was fun. Afterward we went school clothes shopping, and ended our day with a slushy from Sonic. It was a perfect day! 

Strawberry jam making with my girls is so much fun. They are old enough to really be a big help. I love Summer afternoons with just me and my girls!

It's still really is hot outside, but we have noticed that within the past week it is actually cooling down in the evenings which means Fall is on it's way. Temperatures are now fluctuating just right above 100 degrees and even some day's in the high 90's. I'm so excited for cooler temperatures and they seem to be coming. We did venture out to a park this week, but it was still too hot. We all laid down in the cool grass to try and cool off a little which was nice. I got this fun picture of Aliza flying a kite while on the grass. LOVE IT!