Happy Birthday to me---and America!

Brian took me on a date for my birthday on July 1. We went to a favorite Mexican restaurant in Sandy and then did some shopping--we bought flooring for my studio and looked at couches for downstairs, because that's what you do for you 31st birthday date, 

 Deciding on the right grouping downstairs was a happy argument/battle. I tend to be more formal in my tastes and Brian really, really wanted a sectional downstairs. I kind of hate sectionals. So there we were, in RC Willey, looking at furniture. I knew he really wanted a sectional. So, we started looking at sectionals. We both agreed we wanted leather ones, so we started looking at leather ones. Then we decided to get reclining ones since I really liked having open space downstairs, but I love to have my feet up. Long story short, we found one we really liked that satisfied all of our needs and some wants too. I liked how it looked (not as sectional-esque as so many out there), we both loved that we have 4 reclining sections in our sectional, and Brian won a decor battle. It was a good compromise, and everyone is happy. (The picture above is NOT the sectional we ended up going with).

On Saturday, Brian spent all day installing a hitch on our Mazda. Yes, ALL DAY! I felt so bad because it was only supposed to take an hour, but the screw holes were pretty rusty, so he spent all day on his back for me because....

On Monday, July 4, we rented Jet-skiis and headed to Utah Lake for a fun day on the water! We invited Lea and Shayne to come celebrate with us. I'd been looking at that lake for 5 years, and I was so happy to be out on it, even though it is pretty sludgy and gross. The views were spectacular, and it was so fun racing across the lake on the jet skis.

Our original plan was to launch on the west side of the lake, but Brian was worried about the hitch since, despite all his efforts on Saturday, he only got two bolts completely tight. Since we rented the jet skiis in Provo, he and Shayne decided to launch off the Utah Lake State Park in Provo. Lindon had a nice marina, so Lea and I drove to Lindon's marina, and Shayne and Brian drove the jet skiis from Provo to Lindon--with Michael and Rachel.

We had everything all set up at the Marina by the time Shayne, Michael, Brian, and Rachel arrived.

Gabe had a rough time of the whole thing:

 Of course, that was sarcastic. He was such a champ. He loved being outside all day. The kids had fun in the little bay/beach area.

 Lea made me a cherry pie for my birthday cake:

 We had a little storm blow through while I was out on the skiis with Hunter and Cole. The water got really choppy, and I accidentally threw Cole off the tube into the choppy water and he kind of skipped across the water. We decided to head for the bay after that. I felt so awful. Brian caught up with us about that time, and I had Hunter ride back with him to better distribute the weight. When I got to the dock, a law enforcement officer approached me and almost gave me a ticket for not having three people out with me while I had the tube. Thankfully, he just explained some rules/laws and no one got in trouble.

We came back to our place at the marina to discover that Lea and Shayne's shelter got destroyed when the little storm hit. I felt bad about that, even though I didn't make the storm happen. The storm chased a lot of people away, and then immediately let up. We had a nice, calm quieter evening after that.

 Around 7:30, Shayne and Brian headed back to Provo on the skis. Cole must have gotten over being skipped across the water because he and Hunter went with them. Lea and I packed up our day camp, and then headed home. Just before leaving, I got a call from Shayne saying that he was stuck and couldn't get a hold of Brian. Did I mention that Utah Lake is really low this summer?

Lea and I made it to our separate homes, wondering about those boys still out on the lake--Shayne stranded and no news from Brian. I got the kids in bed and then sat out on my curb and watched all the fireworks going off in our neighborhood--some were quite spectacular. I kept checking my phone, hoping to hear something. When I called Brian, it kept going to voicemail.

Finally, around 11 p.m., Brian called to let me know that they had finally made it off the lake. About that time, I heard sounds of vomiting in our hall and looked to see Michael fly by on his way to the bathroom. I wasn't sure how he got throw up in all the places that he did, and when I hung up with Brian to go help him out, I found this scene:

Michael was sound asleep. I decided I better get him cleaned up first and get him back in bed. When I woke him up, he started freaking out to find vomit on his jammies and himself in the bathroom. He had no recollection of his vomit walk--he'd been completely asleep, which explains how the mess ended up in weird places. I helped him change his jammies, wash his face and hands, and then back up the ladder to his bed. I figure he got a little heat exhaustion from being out on the water all day without getting enough to drink. He was totally fine the next day.

Brian finally got home just before midnight and told me the whole story. Shayne and Hunter had left first, and then Brian was trying to catch them. He hadn't seen that Shayne was waiting for him, and he was in such a hurry to catch up to them and get the tube we had rented for the day back to the rental shop on time that he didn't see Shayne and Hunter waiting for them. He just zoomed to Provo. Once he got there, he tried to find Shayne, but couldn't, so he had to plug in his phone in the car to call Shayne.

Meanwhile, Shayne saw Brian pass, and was trying to catch him, but he didn't notice how shallow it was until he got completely stuck on a sand bar. He tried pushing it out, but couldn't do it. He tried calling Brian, but Brian's phone was dead. So he called me, sounding very frustrated. I felt bad, but there was nothing I could do. I started trying to reach Brian too.

Brian finally got through to Shayne and found out that he was stranded. He went to the rental place to let them know what was happening, and the guy there offered to go out with his boat and a long line to pull Shayne out. They set out to find Hunter and Shayne, and finally found them. But, the lake was too shallow for the boat to get over by Shayne, so Brian had to go alone to try to help. Brian says he walked in shin-deep water for about 200 or so feet to get over to Shayne. Lots of pushing and pulling later, they finally got going. By then, it was completely dark, and they were trying to find the Provo State Park Marina without the help of any lights. The boatman told them to look for red and green lights, and eventually they found them.

Brian got stuck briefly in the marina, but they were finally able to get the jet skis out of the lake and onto the trailer. Apparently, they forgot to attach/do something with the trailer--a minor thing--and they realized it when they were returning the jet skiis. Shayne played distractor while Brian hurried and fixed it before the owner noticed anything. They told the owner about the sandbar incident, and we all crossed our fingers that everything would be okay and we wouldn't have to pay for jet ski repairs. Thankfully, the next morning, everything checked out. Shayne told Brian that all is well that ends well, and they now have a somewhat epic story to remember for years to come.

The next day, we lit off fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July, since Brian got back to late to do it on the actual 4th. We did it while it was still light out since our kids go to bed before the sun. Nothing too fancy--lots of sparklers

 And a few fancier ones:

 I remember one Fourth of July when I was a kid where my grandma came over with sparklers, and even though we were about to go to bed (we may have already been in bed), we got to light them and run around the yard with them. I want to say I was about six or seven. I can still see the pajamas I was wearing when I think about it, and I think about it every year, which is why my one requirement for the Fourth is that we light sparklers.

I hope that everyone had a spectacular Fourth of July, and I want to thank Brian, Lea, & Shayne for giving me such an incredible birthday. I've always been a water baby--I love lakes, rivers, creeks, and canals, and spent all my summers growing up in them--and I was so happy to be out on the water for my birthday. Thanks for putting up with sandbars, sludge, and "hitches" in plans to give me such a special day.