Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

We decided that we were going to have a garage sale on the 4th of July, to help our kids earn some money. Ben and I drove over to my parents Friday night in the un-airconditioned truck to pick up a couch (anybody need one?!?), some stackable tables, and a couple of other odds and ends.

(image from the internet)

When we got home, it was later than I wanted it to be and I was less excited about a garage sale the next day. I also disovered a little water coming up through our floor in the kitchen. I had seen this before and knew it wasn't a panic situation, so I went to bed.

(By the way, I had also just finished reading "Enrique's Journey" and this made me think that every Latin family that came to the garage sale had family back in Mexico or Guatemala or Honduras or wherever that they were sending clothes to. It made it hard to get excited about selling anything...just take it, please.)

We also got up early and baked cookies and packaged them very nicely. That would give Emma something to sell. Thanks, Pele, for buying some cookies! :-)

So, what was the final tally? $31.00 plus $4.50 for the cookies. I guess having a garage sale on a holiday is not the best idea. We'll try again...after all we still have a couch and t.v. to sell.

Back to the floor AND the water...

Our refrigerator and our floor have been enemies almost since day one and the refrigerator finally won. I have barely tolerated our floor since it became water damaged years ago. It was only a matter of time before we ripped it up. That day was today. It was clear that water was underneath it out to the middle of the floor. Who do you call when this kind of thing happens?? We, fortunately, call Brian's dad...Jimbo. He is awesome...and a fix-it guy. He also happens to be our favorite Veteran. Marine, all the way! So, on the 4th of July, this Marine was again giving service, right here in his own back yard, Mesa, AZ, to our family as he has done on many occasions before.

We thought we had the problem fixed after tearing out the floor (Yay!!) and fixing one of the leaks under the fridge. Jim and Barb went home. Not long after that, the leak came back, and eventually so did Jim. It should be known that Jim is 76 and has a couple of compressed fractures in his vertebrae that he is dealing with.

The problem was bigger than we thought.

Jim knew how to fix it with this: 

And some of this:

Add a little of this:

Fixed that problem...but when we went turn the water back on outside. It wouldn't turn on! Oh, no. We had made plans to go over to our good friends up in Cave Creek for a BBQ and Fireworks, but it looked iffy. Brian and his dad stayed to fix the NEW problem, replacing 3 valves with Jimbo's sautering skills. They turned out beautifully. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Thanks to Brian's dad, we had water on Sunday AND Brian made it up to Cave Creek just in time for fireworks. (Did not mean for this to get so long, but I have to throw a few fireworks pictures in to what turned out to be a wonderfully LONG day!)

Last, but not least, probably one of my faves. It looks like something you'd find deep in the ocean.

The sky was incredibly black where we were...it felt like the middle of nowhere. Made for a nice backdrop for the fireworks. This was my first year photographing fireworks. Looked it up on the internet before we headed out and now I can't wait for next year. If you are bored and want to see ALL of my fireworks photos, you can here.