Car Antifreeze

Overview of the engine. "Right side" of the engine is as you are standing looking at it. Same for the left. Click on the photos to see them bigger.

Closer-up of the left side. The white rectangle is the radiator overflow. The radiator at the front is covered by a plastic shield. You can see the hose that comes over top from the overflow tank and goes to the radiator.

This is if you walk around to the left side and look at the engine from the side. The white overflow tank. The radiator is covered by a plastic casing on the top. There is no round cap to open into the radiator.

Now you are standing in the front of the car, looking at the right side. The only cap you can see are two: down on the lower right and is the windshield fluid. The other is on top of the white tank, don't know what it's for. Just has a yellow symbol on the cap that says DOT.

This is coming around on the right side, standing on the side of the car.

Same view, but a close up. This cap is down on the bottom of the engine, have no idea what it's for.

Goofballs

Okay, forget backtracking on stuff that needs to be blogged. Let's move on from here, because if I don't, I will probably NEVER blog again. And that would be sad. Here's today's offering, random goofy pics I took tonight:

Gil stuck his Disco costume "fro" wig on Sammy.

Emma's super cheesy face.

Connor's cultured offering.

Where Has the Time Gone?!

Man, what do I even write about? I've been so focused on my weight-loss blog this summer, that the family blog got really neglected. I barely got the Bear Lake Reunion posted, and here's a list of things I should have posted about, but didn't get to:

1. Zen's Allred Family Reunion, same weekend as the Bear Lake Reunion. Zen and the teenagers went on a 4-wheeler day-trip up in the mountains with the Allred clan.

2. Susie's visits, & fun times at the pool

3. Lots of cute Sammy, Emma, & Connor pics, and Dani and Gil being cute with the little ones

4. Still want to post the cards from Mother's Day and Father's Day

5. A trip to Cokeville to see Lily in the Junior Rodeo. It was really fun!

6. Connor's birthday, Dani's birthday

Maybe I could tackle one each day this week, but who am I kidding? At least two big posts are happening on Tuesday - Gil and Dani are going back to school in Gil's first car! And Connor starts kindergarden that day, too!

Ughh - could I freeze time for about a week, so I could catch up? Just when I sit down to do something and get into a groove, I have to do something for somebody. Will I get some more time when 3 out of 5 are in school? We'll see... And hello, could I get my Medical Transcription done?!! We are constantly on the razor's edge of "what should we pay with this paycheck, and what can we put off?", so many extra bills have piled up, mostly medical and dental, that it's a trick just putting food on the table right now. It just makes me want to cry. Zen is job-hunting on the side for something new, and we are praying constantly for a better job, something extra to happen so we will not be scrambling for money all the time. I need to get my brain in gear, so I can focus on the Medical Transcription, and get that done PRONTO. That probably means giving up some of my focus on my weight loss, but that's another saga. I know there are plenty of people in much worse circumstances than we are in (Sue and her family have been through the ringer this spring and summer, and are just coming out of it,) not just in this country but around the world, and I count my blessings, but I still keep hoping and praying for some relief.

Bear Lake Reunion 2010

Hold on to your britches. There are 32 pics here. Maybe that's why I haven't blogged very well here on my family blog lately. I knew I had this big post to deal with. And yet, it still feels like only a tiny portion of this year's reunion story will get told. It was hard this year, dealing with two reunions on the same weekend. It meant missing some or all of our Cox Family Reunion. We compromised this year, going to Zen's family reunion on Friday, and our family's reunion on Saturday.

Not everyone is picture perfect, but this was the best overall shot of all of us on the beach at Bear Lake. I'm glad there were so many of us here! But I hope we get to spend more time together next year. I'm really excited that David and his family are planning on coming next summer. Wahoo!

It was all about the sand this year on the beach.

Sassy frass!
Two days before, Gil took Connor for a ride on the motorcycle on Zen's parents' farm. Of course, he wrecked it, and fortunately it was pretty minor, but I was constantly irritated with Gil and Zen every time I watched Connor hobble around on his injured foot. I'm not sure he's completely healed yet, but I don't know if it's due to an actual chronic injury, or he just got used to limping.

Again, no hot chicks allowed on the beach!

Don't you just want to squeeze his chunky thighs?!

Josh can always be counted on to get out some serious gear to help the kids with their sand castles.

I think Lily managed to get sand everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE.

Dani had a blast in the water all day, and a sunburn to prove it!

My coolio man, who also managed to lose his keys in the water. Oops!

Woohoo! Watch out!

This was pretty much Emma's opinion of deep water for most of the day, "Lemmee out! Lemmee out!"

Gil, goofin' off in the kids' tube.

The Montmeny's brought their turtle, whose name I think was Checkers, and he was very interesting to all the little boys, and some of the girls, too.

This was as close as Emma wanted to get to the water for most of the day.

Our headquarters on the beach, with the state flags from Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming represented. Maybe we can get a flag for David next year!!

Sand makes a lovely condiment.

Liz was definitely the Quilting Queen with her show-and-tell this year, a fabulous nursing quilt!

She was also working on a great quilt inspired by the children's book Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton, a favorite at our house.

Pajammy to the left, pajammy to the right... oh, that's another book.

Mom organized a great lunch. This was probably the point where I threw in the towel on counting my calories. Mom also had wonderful jars of apricot jam to give away from the tree she planted eight years ago in honor of Hope. What luscious jam! We've gone through two jars already, and the third jar isn't going to last much longer, with the many grilled PB&J sandwiches the kids have fallen in love with this summer.

This was probably the last year of the quilt giveaway. All enthusiasm for handmaking quilts has died out. What should we do for next year? Maybe we should just have a big show-and-tell. Actually, I think that could be pretty fun! If you're not crafty, then make up a posterboard or some little presentation of activities that portray your own special kind of talents.

Connor had a blast out in the water, too, and had a matching sunburn just like Dani's. In fact, his sunburn made such an impression on him, that for weeks afterwards, he kept talking about how the sun was out to get everyone.

No, it's not a snowball, it's a sandball.

Tickle toes, tickle toes!

Sleepy Bennett. I think all the kids were feeling like this by the end of the day.

Zen and Dani finally coaxed Emma out into the water.

Dani is so awesome with little kids. I get compliments about her all the time at church, as people watch her with Connor, Emma, and Sam in sacrament meeting.

Miraculously, we had enough energy left after we got home, to clean out the van. Zen even vacuumed it out for me. Fifty gold stars for you!

Dani and Gil were less than enthused about cleaning up.


A little sidenote - Zen had to point out the evidence of my "lead foot." See, over the past ten years I've worn a hole through the car mat, and even through the carpet.

Dream Home Toy Room? Maybe Not

You know, in my dream home there is a BIG toy room, where all the kids' toys will live and the kids can go in there and mess it up to their hearts' content. But would that work, really?

After wallking through a pigsty for three or four days, I put my foot down and the kids and I cleaned the upstairs. Connor and Sam's room, also known as the toy room, often gets neglected, but I was tired of carefully stepping through the mess like it was a minefield. So, we put all the toys away in the right places and vacuumed the cracker crumbs off the carpet. See how clean and lovely it is? But did Connor want to set up his trains in there?

No, he hauled everything out to the hallway and main living area, where all the action is.

I think in my dream home, the toy room will have to merge with the tv room in one big living area, or I'm still going to find toys all over the house! Dang kids!

Four Months Old

Sweet baby Sammy, four months old yesterday. I kiss your little toes! Stay little just a little longer!

Happy Birthday Sookie Sue

Gorgeous, darling, gorgeous!