Day 03 - Lots of Water and Buckets 'O Gold

Today started out early when we got a frantic call from Heidi asking if we could watch Mae and Penny so she  and Jayson could take Calvin to the hospital.  Apparently, Mae has been exposed to a friend's child who has whooping cough and last night Calvin began coughing quite a bit.  This was very scary for everyone because of the seriousness of this disease in babies.  (Heidi and Jayson's close friend lost a child last year from whooping cough).

After Heidi dropped the girls off at Joy's, where we are staying, Deb and the girl's called Craig and wished him a happy birthday.  Then they took a walk up to the park and also to Mae's preschool to visit the many animals that are there in the farmyard that is part of the property.  They had a lot of fun and it eventually tuckered Penny out.  After her mom got home with Calvin, Penny went home to her bed to take a nap before coming back in the evening for Joy's birthday party.

During this time, I traveled up to Orem to get some parts and tools to repair the outside hose bib and the pipe that split this winter when it froze.  I then went to Costco to get some chicken to marinade for Joy's dinner.  When I returned, Mae helped me repair the pipe while grandma Deb went shopping for Joy's birthday.

Unfortunately, Teresa called and said they decided to sit the party out rather than take a chance and expose Haylee and Oliver to the risk of whooping cough.  (Though the doctor feels Calvin is probably safe, they went ahead and started him on antibiotics and took a blood test that takes 48 hours to receive the results).  We missed having them here, but it was a good choice to be safe.

While we were grilling the chicken and veggies (which were delicious), a good old fashioned desert cloudburst came rolling through.  It was in the 90's so it reminded me of the rain storms we would get when I was a kid living in Gila Bend, Arizona.  It smelled good when the rain started to fall.  There was a few really good thunderclaps that came with the storm that I am not too sure Penny was fond of.

Joy and Penny joined Mae in the stormy fun!

What can you say about this cuteness...

A beautiful double rainbow followed the storm...

Grandma and Mae have never met a mud puddle or stream of water that they do not  like!  Mae eventually "went swimming" in the puddle at the end of the street that was left behind by the storm.

Calvin got to see his very first rainbow...

Jayson posed with a very wet Mae while he sat and took a very much needed break from a very hectic day... (besides the hospital experience, he drove to Park City to cater this afternoon and then drove back in time to attend the birthday party).

We had a great meal, finished off with grilled peaches and pluots filled with ice cream, as we sang Happy Birthday to our daughter Joy!  We had a nice time as we enjoyed the laughter of the kids and grandkids... a sound we will never get tired of.

Nature's show finished off with a nice sunset...

Tomorrow, we will leave Utah and continue our journey to the east as we travel to Tennessee to see our son Brandyn and his family. 

We need to be there on Friday next week and we want to explore the country as we go... It is always a surprise where we will end up along the way...

Stay tuned to find out.

Scott.