Spud Day and Birds of Prey!

This past weekend we decided to go to Shelley to Spud Day! It was so fun. The girls loved the parade. Then we went over to the park for the booths and games. We were looking for the petting zoo, but this year they didn't have one. That was what the kids really wanted to see. So instead, we wandered around for a while and then went back to my moms.

The parade this year was mainly farm equipment which was weird but fun at the same time.

My niece Reese kept telling us all the names of the tractors. (Her daddy is a farmer). The girls thought that was awesome that she knew the names of everything.

The Tractor - they also had a combine, but I didn't get a picture of it.

An old fashioned car.

Sami hanging out at the parade.

my cousin Eric's little girl Caitlin - she just sat on top of my grandpa's truck and waited for everyone to bring her candy. Which of course we all did. She loved it.

The kids waiting for the parade to start. They were ready with their bags to get lots of candy.

Madison

Driving home on Sunday, we got to about Ogden and could smell smoke really bad. We couldn't see any fires, so Kelly got on his phone to see where and what was burning. He found out that the mountain just south of Herriman (South end of Salt Lake County) was burning. The fire started at Camp Williams while the National Guard was doing Machine Gun training. A bullet bounced off a rock and started some weeds on fire. Because of the dry conditions and the wind, the blaze was soon off and running. Almost the whole town of Herriman had to be evacuated. This is a really rural part of Salt Lake County with a lot of livestock. Luckily their is an equestrian arena close by in South Jordan where the residents were able to take their horses. As of today, Wednesday, the "Machine Gun Fire" has burned close to 4500 acres and destroyed 3 homes. The fire is 50% contained and luckily everyone has been allowed back into their homes.

A friend of a friend took this picture. I thought is was beautiful and wanted to share it.

They labeled this "Heaven and Hell". I thought it was appropriate.

This is of the Machine Gun Fire with the Draper LDS Temple in front of it.

On Wednesday we had a really good thunderstorm move through the area. After it was over, Sami & I went outside to enjoy some fresh air. All the birds in the area were chirping really loud and flying around. I started looking around to see what was going on and this is what I found....

These are called Turkey Vultures. They are nesting around our neighborhood somewhere. After the rain storm, they were hanging out in the trees drying off their wings. It was so cool to see them. I counted 10 of them just hanging out. The red head ones are the adults. The brown head ones are juveniles. We had seen them flying around before, but thought they were hawks. Little did we know, they are really vultures. How cool is that?

Also this past week, Sami learned how to roll over. She hates being on her stomach, so as soon as she turns over she screams until someone turns her back over. But then as soon as she is on her back, she rolls over to her stomach and we start all over. Go figure.

What a goof ball!